XWSE20 is a ship editor which allows you to change various
characteristics of any ship in LucasArts' X-WING Space Combat
Simulator. Although its premise is not original, its design and
purpose was for pilots who have obtained the newer versions of
the game and require modifications to their fleet. To the best
of my knowledge, this is the first ship editor that supports all
versions released by LucasArts.
The currently released versions are:
v 1.0 Original X-WING release
v 1.1 Imperial Pursuit Mission Disk
v 1.1a Imperial Pursuit Fix *
* - available on CompuServe in the GAMEAPUB forum.
XWSE20 uses a character-based, graphical user interface, and supports
input from both the keyboard and a mouse. Although all of the functions
can be accessed by the keyboard, you may find it more convenient to use
a mouse. Since X-WING takes advantage of using a mouse, I presume most
of you have one installed on your PC.
XWSE20 is the second iteration of this ship editor and supersedes any
previous versions, either Beta or release versions. Previous versions
were named XWSHIPED, but that naming convention has been replaced with
XWSExx since the "xx" reflects the version number in the name itself.
INSTALLATION
------------
To install XWSE20, simply copy XWSE20.EXE to your XWING directory.
To start the program, type XWSE20
If you are going to use the mouse, be sure your mouse driver is loaded
before starting XWSE20 or else you end up working in keyboard-mode.
NOTE: Before running the program, consider backing up your FLIGHT.OVL
file as this is the file that will be modified. For those of you who
work with the Wallendas, proceed at your own discretion.
FEATURES
--------
XWSE20 allows greater control than its predecessor and will now allow
you to modify the following:
Short name used in CMD display
Long name used in message bar
Cockpit graphics file used when in flight
Overall ship power
Maximum engine speed
Hull thickness
Front and rear shield strength
Acceleration, roll and pitch rates
Weapon types installed on ship
Weapon rack locations on ship
Number of projectiles in appropriate racks
Laser link mode used on ship
Unlimited laser power toggle
Unlimited projectile toggle
Mission timer toggle
Restore any or all ships to factory settings
Edit basic pilot file parameters
INSTRUCTIONS
------------
Once you have started XWSE20, you should initially see a message box
which indicates the version of FLIGHT.OVL present in your XWING
directory. Click on the OK button or press the ENTER key to carry on.
When you see the main screen, you will be presented with a form which
contains a list box with the ship names and fields for altering certain
ship characteristics.
At this point, it's basically self-explanatory, but for those who
require assistance, here are what the fields represent:
Short Name -----> Name used in target scope
Long Name -----> Name used in message bar
CP FileName -----> Selects cockpit graphics file
(a ship's cockpit graphics can
be assigned to the other ships)
Power -----> Overall amount of ship's power
(to be divided among shields,
lasers and engines) *
Hull -----> Thickness of hull **
FShld -----> Full front shield strength **
RShld -----> Full rear shield strength **
Speed -----> Maximum speed at full engine power *
Accel -----> Acceleration rate **
Roll -----> Roll rate **
Pitch -----> Pitch rate **
* - see note about ship power
** - see note about relative units
CHANGING SHIP CHARACTERISTICS
-----------------------------
To change a field, you can simply point the mouse to the field and
sweep its contents while pressing the left mouse button. This will
select the contents of the field and you can type in a new value.
This action can also be accomplished with the keyboard by moving to
the desired field with the TAB key.
To select a different ship, point the mouse to the ship you want to edit
and press the left mouse button to highlight the ship. The parameters
for that ship will then be displayed in the fields. If the ship you
want to edit is not visible in the list box, you can scroll the contents
of the list box by pointing the mouse on the vertical scroll bar on the
right edge of the list box. Pressing the left mouse button while
pointing on the arrows will scroll the contents up or down one line.
Pressing the left mouse button in the shaded area of the scroll bar will
move the contents several lines at a time.
To select a ship with the keyboard, press the TAB key until the cursor
is in the ship list box. You can then move the list box's contents
up or down by using the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys. Again, as each
ship is highlighted in the list box, its parameters will be displayed
in the fields.
Ship Power
----------
After a certain amount of experimentation by myself and Beta testers, there
is some mystery about the power allotment and usage in the ships. Presumably,
by setting overall power at 1500 units, you would expect that much to be
available if the lasers and shields were not being charged. However, that
does not appear to be the case. In fact, there seems to be a peak/plateau in the
power curve within the game, meaning at some point there is no overall effect
in having a larger amount of power assigned to a ship. At the present time,
there is no information available to validate this theory.
Another mysterious relationship exists between overall ship power and the
speed of the ship. The speed field allows you to set the maximum speed of the
ship, but it is often unlikely that this speed will be obtained during actual
flight. It may be plausible that the speed setting is really the maximum rated
speed possible for the engine. Of course, the possibility of the engine
providing output at that rating would depend on situational factors. The rating
may also exist to serve as a theoretical upper limit that could technically
be achieved, but which the likelihood of occurring is rare.
The only comment I can offer on this subject is to experiment with the
settings and tune them to a point which you deem satisfactory. If the power
curve is indeed as theorized, it is still possible to configure your ship to
outrun anything in space including missiles. With this, the limitations
described would not be enough to hinder your ship's performance versus other
ships.
One area which seems to ignore all of the above drivel is when flying your
ship in the Death Star trench. Initially, I had plenty of trouble in the final
mission with the laser towers and TIE fighters. I decided to crank up the power
and speed on my X-Wing to help alleviate this problem. When I actually went down
into the trench, my ship went into a turbo mode. With my speed value set at 550,
I was able to reach an average speed around 480! Make some adjustments and take
a spin in the trench to see for yourself. Keep in mind, the turbo jump won't
take effect until you get INTO the trench. After that, you can ride along at the
top of the trench to avoid the cannons below and on the Death Star's surface.
Relative units
--------------
When running the editor, you will find that the numbers displayed for speed,
hull thickness, and shield strength do not correspond with the values found in
the Farlander Papers. It seems the game uses an integer value that represents
the item's setting in its respective measurement unit. For instance, the
editor displays the initial shield strengths for an X-Wing as 2500, but the
Farlander Papers describe the shields as 50 SBD. Obviously, the two figures
are not the same, but in the long run I suspect it really doesn't matter.
When you think about it, what unit does SBD represent? This whole business of
relative units is just that: relative. Use the values in the editor to express
something meaningful to yourself. For example, if the field shows 2500, you can
think of it as 2500 SBD, 2500 cm, 2500 inches, etc.
The only field which seems to correspond to the published values is the Power
field.
Numerical Limitations in Fields
-------------------------------
Most of the ship data is stored in the file structure as integers, thus
the maximum value for any field would be 32,767. In order to make life
easier for you retrofitters, the maximum value in any field has been set
at 32,000.
Conversely, since 32,000 is very close to the limit, there are no
provisions for negative numbers in ship parameters. Thus if you enter a
number less than zero, the program will kindly set it to 32,000. This error
check is there mainly to prevent some F.B. from putting stupid values in the
fields. If you think about it, who would want to set something to a negative
value? I assume you downloaded this editor so you can kick some butt.
One last caveat: please do not enter alphanumeric characters in the fields
that obviously want numeric entries. What you see on the screen is actually
string data that has to be converted. If you type in "abcde", what you end up
with may be OK. Then again, it might be HBT (hosed big-time).
String Limitations
------------------
The size of the strings used by the Short name, CP FileName, and Long name
are all preset, so you will not be able to exceed their limits. The size
of the strings are as follows:
Short name -----> 3 characters
CP FileName -----> 5 characters
Long name -----> 24 characters
You can make up any character strings you like for the Short and Long names,
but the CP FileName must be one of the following (and entered as shown below
in upper case with no punctuation):
XWING
YWING
AWING
The CP FileName field tells the game which cockpit graphics to use when
you're flying a ship. You can tailor this to your own liking, but I think
the choice is obvious for anyone who's played the game.
For all string fields, any characters you type in beyond the limit will
be truncated.
CHANGING WEAPON CHARACTERISTICS
-------------------------------
This is the major feature new to XWSE20. The previous version of the editor
only allowed you to change the weapon rack locations on the ships and the
number of projectiles in racks which had projectile-type weapons. Obviously,
this minimal amount of configuration did nothing to add firepower to your
ship. Now you will be able to completely change the character of a ship's
armament in order to get you through a tough mission. Or perhaps you want to
install a non-standard weapon to eradicate the memories of when you may have
screamed "If I only had a %&*#$ missile!"
Before changing the weapon assignments and rack positions, it is imperative
to understand the givens as far the game is concerned:
- There are two weapon types that can be used on a starfighter:
Energy-consuming
Projectiles
- Rebel lasers, Imperial lasers and Ion Cannons are considered
energy-consuming weapons.
- Proton torpedoes and Concussion missiles are considered
projectile-type weapons.
- Each ship has 12 weapon racks, which can be individually
configured for location on the ship and projectile count.
- Each ship has four weapon type designators. The first two are
assumed to be energy-consuming, while the last two are assumed
to be projectile-types. The weapon types and number allowed are
hard coded into the game and cannot be changed.
- Each ship allows a maximum of two energy-consuming types and
two projectile types, for a total of four different types of
weapons.
- The weapon types have two values which indicate their placement
on the ship:
- The range of eligible racks for the weapon type. The range
always begins with the first rack (rack zero) and can end
anywhere from the second rack and the twelfth rack.
- The rack in which to start placing the weapon. This value
provides the flexibility to place weapons in ranges without
having to begin from rack zero.
- Energy-consuming weapons must be assigned to a contiguous
range of weapon racks. The range can be any number between one
and 12 racks. Once assigned, all racks can be fired in single fire
or fire linked as standard options. Some ships come equipped to
utilize the dual-fire mode, and those that do not can be
configured to do so. If a ship has been configured to use dual-fire
mode, it will be available only on the first energy-consuming
weapon type specified.
- Projectile weapons must be assigned to a contiguous range of
weapon racks not exceeding two. If a range of more than two
racks is specified, only the first two rack positions will
be used. Dual-fire mode is not available on projectile weapons.
Weapon Type Assignment
----------------------
To assign the weapon types used on a ship, click on the menu bar item
labeled "Weapons." From the menu displayed, click on the choice labeled
"Choose Weapons To Install." This will display a dialog which will allow
you to select the four possible weapon types: two energy-consuming and
two projectile.
If any weapons are already assigned, the fields in the column labeled
"Weapon Type" will be filled in with the name of the weapon. If a weapon
type is blank, you can enable it for modification by clicking on the check
box on the far left column. Once the box is checked, the drop-down combo
boxes for weapon type, rack range, and starting rack will be enabled. If
you want to remove a weapon type from a ship, simply click the check box
to remove the "X". All of the corresponding fields will be cleared and
disabled for input until the box is checked again.
To choose a new weapon type, click on the down-pointing arrow next to the
box in the column labeled "Weapon Type." A drop-down list will be displayed
containing the possible types of weapons which can be installed. The
convention of the dialog is that the first two weapons assignments will only
allow weapons of energy-consuming type, while the last two will only allow
projectile-type weapons to be assigned.
Once you have decided on which weapon type to install, you must specify the
range of weapon racks on which the weapon can be placed. The racks start at
zero and end at 11, for a total of 12. Although it may appear confusing, all
you are really setting is the upper limit of the range of the eligible racks.
The zero position is preset for all weapon types and a range is always zero to
the limit you specify.
After you have the range of racks specified, you need to indicate the first
rack at which the weapon will be installed. This allows you to places weapons
on different racks, without having always beginning with rack zero. You can only
specify a starting position that is within the range you specified. The weapon
will then be installed on the racks beginning at your specified starting rack
to the rack which was indicated as the upper limit of the range. The weapons
must be installed in a contiguous manner and cannot be split into two or more
separate ranges.
Here are a few examples to illustrate the concept:
Example 1:
Requirement:
You want Rebel lasers on all racks (0-11)
Solution:
1.) enable weapon type if needed
2.) set weapon type as R Lasers
3.) set the range field to 11
4.) set starting rack at 0
Example 2:
Requirement:
You want Ion Cannons on racks 4-5 only
Solution:
1.) enable weapon type if needed
2.) set weapon type as Ion Cannons
3.) set the range field to 5
4.) set starting rack at 4
Example 3:
Requirement:
You want Imperial lasers on racks 2-9 only
Solution:
1.) enable weapon type if needed
2.) set weapon type as I Lasers
3.) set the range field to 9
4.) set starting rack at 2
Example 4:
Requirement:
You want Rebel lasers on racks 0-1 and 8-9
Solution:
1.) two separate ranges are not possible. You
are limited to one contiguous range.
2.) decide on a single range
3.) enable weapon type if needed
4.) set weapon type as R Lasers
5.) set the range and starting rack
Laser Link Mode
---------------
The mode used for the firing of the first energy-consuming weapon is determined
on a per ship basis. Although you can select the laser link mode for every ship,
the selection does not affect all energy-consuming weapon types on a ship. All
ships utilize single fire and fire linked mode as standard equipment. If want to
alter the standard configuration, perhaps to handicap the fight for the enemy,
this can be accomplished by setting the desired laser link mode.
Dual-fire mode provides greater control for the firing of weapons, but can only
be applied to the first weapon type specified on a ship. The reason for this is
XWING itself assumes the first weapon will be a laser, and the second (if used)
will be an ion cannon. If a ship's default configuration does not specify dual
fire mode, you can select it by simply selecting the "Dual-fire mode" button on
the Weapons Installation form. The dual-fire mode will to divide your specified
number of weapons into two alternately-firing banks.
"Tracer" projectiles
--------------------
Where there is order, there is usually disorder. Weapons installation is not
immune to this fact. As mentioned earlier, rebel lasers, imperial lasers and
ion cannons are considered energy-consuming weapons. However, because of a
vagary in the game, it is possible to install these weapons as projectile-type
weapons!
"Tracers" will launch and track targets in the same manner as torpedos and
missiles, but their existence is much like their original properties. Eventually,
they will burn out if they do not strike their target, thus their effectiveness
is reduced as the target's distance increases. However, in close combat, they
can be highly effective since they travel at a much higher velocity than torpedos or missiles.
In the interest of aiding the Rebellion, I have provided these weapons for
installation on your ships. When "tracers" are installed on your ship, they of
course will not have that name displayed on the message bar. In fact, you may see
some unintelligible name displayed when you select a "tracer." Rest assured that
it will be a "tracer" when you need it. If in doubt, blast off a couple rounds
to ease your mind.
Finally, please remember the limitation of "tracers" before engaging any
hostile targets:
- the maximum range for "tracers" is the same as the weapon in its
pure form. Generally, a "tracer" will max out at about one kilometer
when on a linear course. An exception is when a target is successful
in evading the "tracer" on its initial pass. The "tracer" may burn out
before striking the target. This will be evident as you use "tracers"
in close combat where the target is within one kilometer.
- "tracers" will track a target much as projectiles do, but they are
subject to their normal physical attributes. This can be an advantage
or disadvantage depending on the situation.
- They are most effective when you need to fire on a ship, but can't stay
on the target constantly. The projectile lock will give you a small
fudge factor in time and/or aiming, as you can usually get projectiles
to track a target even while the targeting box is still yellow. Also,
be aware that "tracers" will attempt to readjust course as soon as the
target lock is achieved. Laser "tracers" will adjust almost
instantaneously, while Ion "tracers" do not move or turn very quickly.
The Underrated Ion Cannon
-------------------------
For some, it may come as a surprise that the Ion Cannon (or Ion "tracer") can
be a devastating weapon when combating Imperial starfighters. Originally
conceived to disable large ships such as freighters, Ion cannons on an ship
make it much more dangerous ship. Although Ion blasts move in a slow, javelin-
like manner, they are unsurpassed in destructive power. Ion blasts seems to have
a longer duration while in flight as compared to lasers.
This can be an asset when you want to put up a "flak blanket" in the path of
oncoming TIE fighters. TIE pilots seem to know the secret behind Ion weapons and
avoid them religiously. This technique is invaluable when you have formations of
TIEs descending on a helpless shuttle. Pump a few ion blasts in their path and
they will immediately break formation. At that point, they may be in the midst
of evasive maneuvers, which is a great time to lock on a torpedo. Try this when
the TIEs are between one and two kilometers away, which will provide sufficient
time to achieve target lock.
The reason TIEs avoid Ion cannons: Two ions hits will generally shut down a TIE's
engines cold, while three usually destroy it! NOTE: This doesn't mean three clean
hits to the hull. You can blast a TIE three times PERIOD and he's in big trouble.
The same cannot be said for lasers. If you doubt this, install them on an X-Wing
and go for a ride in Historical Mission 1 for an illustration.
If you're in a really good mood, go out on patrol with another X-Wing and just
disable a TIE fighter with your Ion cannons (remember, two hits). Then swing
around and watch your wingman blast the hell out of the squealing Imperial slug.
If you get really bold, you can soup up your X-Wing, whack out a Star Destroyer's
shield generators and then proceed to DISABLE the beast. It's pretty neat to fly
around a Star Destroyer with no opposition. While they figure out what happened,
drop back about a kilometer, shut down your engines and point your ship at the
Star Destroyer. You can sit there and take pot shots until you decide to blow
the whole thing to pieces with a torpedo barrage.
Weapon Rack Configuration
-------------------------
To configure the weapon racks locations used on a ship, click on the menu bar
item labeled "Weapons." From the menu displayed, click on the choice labeled
"Weapons Rack Configuration." This will display a secondary menu which
allows you to configure racks 0-5 or 6-11. Click on the set of racks you
want to configure.
This will display a dialog which will allow you to configure the axis of
each weapon rack and if applicable, the projectile count. Changing the values
for the weapons is the accomplished the same way as changing the values on the
main form.
Each rack is positioned on the ship by the use of a three-dimensional
axis system which relates to the center of the ship:
X Axis -----> relative horizontal position from center
Y Axis -----> relative vertical position from center
Z Axis -----> relative distance position from center
Unlike the main form, negative values can be used for the axis since
they indicate their position relative to center. The best way to grasp
this concept is to imagine an X-Y-Z axis at the center of the ship. The
origin of the axis would probably be slightly behind the pilot's seat.
The X-axis runs from wing tip to wing tip in a horizontal direction. The
Y-axis runs from the top of the ship to the bottom in a vertical direction. The Z-axis runs from the front of the ship to the rear in a longitudinal direction. Each of the axis extend beyond the limits of the ship and out
into space. You can place weapons anywhere on the axis. For a graphical
representation of the axis, see below.
Axis of an X-Wing
Front End View Side View
^
| \ / ===
| \ / ===
| \----/ ---===----\
Y-axis | | | **\--------\
| |::| | \
| /----\ ---===----------------
| / \ ===
^ / \ ===
<------- X-axis -------> <------- Z-axis ------->
On some racks, the field labeled "Projectile Count" will display a non-zero
number. This number, of course, is the number of projectiles that are loaded
that are loaded on board for that rack. The editor fixes the maximum number
of projectiles to 255 for each rack. If you need more projectiles, consider
turning on the unlimited missile option.
Weapons numeric limitations
---------------------------
From what can be determined, it appears the game uses the axis on a
-32767 to 32767 scale. Most of the starfighter ships uses axis which
well within this limit, but the larger capital ships use huge axis. You
can set your racks to values which would be theoretically floating in
space, but they work so you may want to experiment a bit with the axis.
NOTE: If you choose to set the projectile count to a two- or three-digit
value, the cockpit display will not show the figure you selected. The
projectile instrument panel contains a single LED and can only display a
maximum of nine missiles. This of course, is not the case if you were
generous in your armament. The display will continue to read "9" until
there are actually nine projectiles on the rack. At that point, it will
decrement the LED normally.
GLOBAL SETTING TOGGLES
----------------------
In order to provide the maximum advantage during combat, it is now possible
to toggle on and off three crucial global settings used in the game:
Unlimited laser power
Unlimited projectiles
Mission timer
Each of these toggles can be accessed by clicking on the menu item labeled
"Options." From that menu, click on the menu item labeled "Global Settings."
At that point, you can select the toggle you want to change, and the value to which to set it.
All of these toggles should be self-explanatory if you are acclimated with the
game. But here is a brief description anyway:
Unlimited laser power
---------------------
Toggles on/off the ship's laser energy banks. If this is toggled on, firing of
energy consuming weapons will not deplete the energy stores used for weapons.
You will be able to fire away at will, without concern of running out of juice.
It should be noted that the other functions of the laser energy banks are still
in effect, such as the shifting of power to shields and engines. If you do not
set the laser recharge to at least a "minimum" setting, the banks will drain
normally and will eventually be exhausted. Despite having the unlimited laser
power setting on, if there is no energy in the banks, you will not be able to
fire energy-consuming weapons.
Unlimited projectiles
---------------------
Toggles on/off the ship's projectile storage indicator. If this is toggled on,
the firing of torpedos and missiles will not decrement the ship's stores. It
should be noted that the game only allows a limited number of objects on the
screen at any given time, so you will not be able to simply fill the void with
loads of projectiles. Eventually, you will be forced to wait until a projectile
either hits a target or self-destructs before firing again.
Mission timer
-------------
Toggles on/off the mission timer. If this is toggled off, the timer will remain
at the initial time as of the start of a mission. This can be a great help when
you are struggling with a mission that always seems to run out before you have
accomplished your objectives.
RESTORING FACTORY SETTINGS
--------------------------
If for some reason, you want to restore a ship back to its original parameters,
you can do so by clicking on the menu item labeled "Options". From that menu,
click on the item labeled "Restore Factory Settings." You can then choose to
restore the ship which is currently highlighted in the main form, or all of the
ships.
NOTE: When resetting ships back to their factory settings, it is best to save
the changes immediately. If you work with any of the settings before
saving, you may not restore completely back to factory specs.
PILOT FILE EDITOR
-----------------
Although not a full-featured pilot editor, it is provided within XWSE20 as a
convenience while editing ships. Only a few parameters are available, but are
handy, especially if you are rearming you ship and you need to bring a pilot
back from the dead. The pilot file parameters supported are:
Tour of Duty score
Rank
Rating
Killed status
Captured status
To access the pilot editor, click on the menu item labeled "Options." From that
menu, click on the item labeled "Edit Pilot File." You will then be presented a
form which contains a list box with the names of the pilot files, and several
fields for changing the above mentioned data.
Once the data has been edited, you save the information by clicking on the "OK"
button. If you want to abort your edits, click on the "CANCEL" button.
KNOWN DISCREPANCIES
-------------------
After a trial period of Beta testing, it appears the editor is very stabile and
should not cause any problems. However, there are some known discrepancies which
should be pointed out as to dispel any confusion which may arise:
- when configuring an A-Wing to use dual-fire mode, you may see some
extraneous goop in the upper-left corner of the screen. Usually, it
appears as a CMD targeting display. Most of the time, the extra
stuff is confined to the canopy frame of the ship and does not
obstruct the view outside the front of the ship. This problem may also
occur if you assign another ship to use the A-Wing's cockpit graphic
file (CP FileName). I haven't found the problem that causes this
anomaly, but it a small price to pay for dual-fire mode. This problem
has not been discovered using the X-Wing or Y-Wing cockpits.
- the power function of the ships is unknown. The values which you
specify may not represent any real values either documented or
in reality.
- installing energy-consuming weapons on racks which are also used by
projectile weapons, thus having a projectile count, will be
decremented by BOTH weapons. To avoid this problem, you should
either move the energy-consuming weapon to another location, or turn
on the unlimited projectile toggle.
- all known bugs reported from the first version have been fixed.
LEGAL INFORMATION AND DISCLAIMER
--------------------------------
XWSE20 was created by Mark Schlageter and may be freely distributed
in its original form as FREEWARE as long as this document is not modified
and accompanies the executable file.
The author makes no representations or warranties to any portion of this
product, including, but not limited to the software or documentation.
No warranty for any purpose should be implied by the user, who agrees to
use this software at their own risk and on an "as is" basis
The author is in no way affiliated with LucasArts. None of the files contained
herein shall be distributed with any of LucasArts' products, nor shall they be
represented as having been approved for any use by LucasArts.
DISTRIBUTION, TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND BUG FIXES
---------------------------------------------
If you like XWSE20, please use it to your heart's content. Pass it along
to any friends or BBS you choose. If you hate it, then delete it, wipe it,
erase it or desecrate it in your favorite manner. In whatever way you use
this program, you don't need to send me one thin dime. XWSE20 is FREEWARE
to all fellow pilots.
My waiver of any compensation is a response to some of the infamous
shareware "programmers" who put out crap and actually believe people will
pay money for it.
If you find a bug in the program, please let me know at your earliest
convenience and I will attempt to fix it promptly. If you have any questions,
comments, suggestions please contact me via email:
