PC Media 6/PC MEDIA CD06.iso/share/jdos/xwtips/general.txt

Text File | 1995-01-01 | 13.4 KB | 229 lines

                         X-WING SPACE COMBAT SIMULATOR
                                General Notes
                       compiled by Hoang Pham & Jim Kerr



   The game consists of: the Pilot Proving Ground, the Historical Missions,
   and the Tours of Duty.

   The Proving Ground has 8 obstacle mazes for each of the 3 ship types.
   You need to complete mazes #1 & 2 to be able to enter the Tour of Duty
   area.  Complete to #5 to become a flight officer.  Complete to #8 to
   receive a flight badge for that ship type.  You can keep on going beyond
   eight and get a higher score, but all subsequent levels are the same as
   level 8.

   The Historical Missions section has 6 training combat missions for each
   ship type, plus how ever many Tour of Duty missions you've successfully
   finished.  Upon finishing each training mission, you get a battle patch.

   There are 3 Tours of Duty.  Each has 12 missions, and the 3rd Tour has
   an additional 2 missions on the surface of the Death Star, making a
   total of 38 missions.

   Bragging Rights & How to Keep Them:

   There are various ranks, ratings, and awards as you go along.  The
   highest are General ranking and Top Ace rating.  The Diamond Eyes is
   the last award you'll get, aside from the award at the finishing of
   each of the Tour of Duty.  You can get an award every time you
   destroy a star destroyer, up to the Diamond Eyes.

   After a successful ToD mission, exit to DOS and make a backup of your
   pilot (file with .PLT extension).  You don't need to do this for the
   Historical missions, as there is no chance for losing the pilot.  To have
   more experienced wingmen (the default are rookies), copy the .PLT file to
   different file names, then assign the "clone" pilots to whatever ship in
   whatever flight groups there are.  Each pilot will have a different
   picture.  There is at least one picture of a female pilot (if you give
   a female name), and one of a Calamari pilot.

   Shields & the Art of Staying Alive:

   At the start of a mission, set shields & laser to max recharge, then
   transfer just enough laser energy into shields to keep the lasers at the
   higher power band (glowing red instead of dull red).  Once the shields
   are maxed, then set them to normal and leave laser at max recharge.  This
   is the normal combat setting.

   When your shields are taking hits, learn to "equalize" the fore & aft
   shields by hitting the "S" key three times in quick succession, and to
   reinforce it by using the "'" (apostrophe) key.  In heavy fire
   situations, such as when attacking a capital ship, set shields also to
   max recharge.  Don't leave shields on max recharge when dogfighting TIEs,
   as you'll be too slow to follow them.  To replenish shields, pull into a
   continuous loop while turning on max recharge for both lasers and
   shields, then transfer laser energy to shields as needed.

   Remember that a live chicken is always better than a dead duck, so
   whenever you get to the single-band shield level, turn tail and scoot,
   and transfer all laser energy to shields as you opt for a safe place to
   recharge your systems.  If things get really hairy and the old-fashioned
   loop-turning still gets you a smoking rear, then zig-zag as you loop.

   Laser/Ion Cannons:

   Use dual fire against all targets.  When in a X-Wing, use linked fire
   against any target other than TIEs, gun boats, or shuttles.  This
   dictates that you have to aim before you shoot (always a good idea
   anyhow).  The advantage is that, with the Y-Wing's closely-spaced guns,
   you only need half the number of hits, as you would hit with both bolts.
   With the A-Wing and X-Wing's wider angle of convergence, you still have a
   better chance to hit with 2 bolts side-by-side rather than one following
   the other.

   Max range of lasers is 2 klicks, but the small "aspect" you can acquire
   at that range makes it impractical against anything other than large or
   non-moving targets.  Dogfighting range is usually at 0.3 klick or less.

   Normal range of ion cannons against stationary or slow-moving targets is
   0.5 klick.  Ion cannons is the only weapon capable of disabling ships.
   For both lasers & ion cannons, remember to always have them at the higher
   power band for more damage and further range.

   Torpedoes & Missiles:

   To use your proton torpedoes or concussion missiles, select the firing
   mode you want, then select the target.  When the target is within range
   (varies depending on size, about 2 klicks for TIEs and 6 klicks for
   larger ships), the crosshair square will turn yellow.  After about 5
   seconds, it will turn red, indicating a lock, and you can then fire.  If
   you fire without a lock, the missile/torp will go straight ahead.  A
   concussion missile does less damage than a proton torpedo.  It takes one
   missile/torp to kill a TIE, and two or more to kill anything larger (thus
   you may want to use dual-fire).  TIEs, especially interceptors &
   fighters, can usually outmaneuver torps/missiles.  Against them, it is
   best if you fire from behind and at short range.

   Things are straightforward when you are on the receiving end of a
   pursuing missile:  If you have full shields, then just ignore it and let
   it hit (it will take out one full band of shielding and a little more),
   then equalize/reinforce your shields afterward; if your shields are low,
   then you may want to target the missile and fly to keep it at your side
   instead of at your front or back (i.e. keep it at the fringe of your
   radar screens and not at the center), and wait until it explodes of its
   own accord.  Exceptions are when there are two missiles instead of one,
   which means you should avoid them even at full shields, or when you are
   flying escort and can't afford the time to dodge missiles, even if your
   shields are low.

   Capital Ship Busting:

   It is feasible to destroy a star destroyer (STD) singlehanded, by first
   destroying the two small towers on top of the ship.  These are the shield
   generators, and destroying them will bring down the shield.  They take 3
   proton torpedoes apiece to destroy, or the equivalent of force in laser
   shots or concussion missiles.  Always use linked fire and max shields
   when attacking capital ships.  Aside from better protection, the slower
   speed also gives you more time to aim and dish out punishment.

   Upon approach, switch on dual-fire torps, and hit each of the towers with
   2 torps on your first pass.  Switch back to single-fire, turn around and
   hit the towers again with one torp each to destroy them and take down the
   shields.  It's best to fire without lock (I don't think you can lock onto
   the generators anyway), since it's not practical when you want to hit the
   generators one right after the other.  To minimize the chance of a miss,
   fire at point-blank range.  If you are flying an A-Wing, remember that
   concussion missiles do less damage than torps, and it will take more to
   destroy the towers.

   Normally, there will be TIEs flying cover.  In the tougher cases (e.g.
   the STD Immortal in ToD #2), the STD will release additional TIEs as it
   is being attacked.  Move away from the STD so you don't have to contend
   with its point defenses, then destroy all TIEs except for one in each
   wave (I skip any TIE that is #1, it makes accounting them easier).  This
   makes for less opposition and no new TIE waves.  After you've whittled
   down the TIEs, then again have at the STD.

   After the shields are down, swing to the back of the ship to where the
   glowing engine exhausts are (the point defense is less intense there) and
   keep shooting.  If you have a Y-Wing, use the ion cannons to disable the
   STD (after the shields are down), as it is much faster than trying to
   kill it with lasers.  The disadvantage is that you have to operate at a
   closer range due to the limit of the ion cannons.  You can kill the STD
   at your leisure after it is disabled, after destroying the TIEs that are
   flying cover.  When your shields run low, weave your way out to 2 klicks
   away from the STD, pull loops while you recharge, then turn around and
   come back in to pick up where you left off.

   Depending on how much patience you have, it is also possible to destroy a
   frigate--or any other vessel in X-Wing, for that matter.  As the shields
   of all these large ships seem to be non-regenerating (or at least very
   slow in regenerating), it's only a matter of time before you bring down
   the shields.  Unlike the historical missions, the ToD missions are not
   limited by the game clock, so if you had already accomplished your
   objective and want to bag some big fish for a change, try a frigate.
   Factors that can slow down the process are the aggressiveness of the
   frigate, i.e. the intensity of its point defenses (it varies depending on
   the scenario), the presence of TIE cover, the presence of mines, etc.  If
   you'd rather tempered your patience with knowledge of your progress, then
   have a practice session with invulnerability turned on, and park next to
   the frigate and count out how many shots it takes to pop the shield.

   Swatting Flies, er, Killing TIEs:

   TIE fighter: 2 hits.  TIE interceptor:  3 hits.  TIE bomber:  5 hits.
   Against those TIEs that are coming after you (instead of the ship you're
   assigned to protect, if any), destroy all except one in each wave, as the
   game won't send a new wave until all ships in the present wave are
   killed.  If you have a Y-Wing and are fighting against slow targets like
   assault gun ships, shuttles or transports, use your ion cannon to disable
   them.  They are in effect dead, but again, no reinforcements will come
   out to replace them, as the wave is still in play.  (Keep in mind that a
   disabled ship isn't the same as a destroyed ship as far as mission
   objective is concerned.)  Don't use ion cannons on TIEs, as they are too
   maneuverable for the slow-moving bolts, and if hit, they are destroyed
   and not disabled.  In certain missions, a hull-damaged TIE bomber or
   interceptor sometimes turns and runs, delaying the arrival of the
   replacement wave.

   The initial head-on approach merits some mention, as this is the one time
   where the TIEs fly straight and can be killed fairly fast.  It's not
   normally a good idea to try and out-shoot T/F's or especially T/I's in a
   head-on pass, as they can aim better than you can, and usually there are
   two or more of them.  For these, approach on a tight tangent, bobbing up
   and down to avoid fire.  Swing around immediately after they pass by and
   pick one out to dogfight.  Against T/B's or any TIE group that is
   targeting some other ship (and not shooting at you), you can use lasers
   (remember to lead your shots if necessary) or get a torp/missile lock.
   For the latter, slow down to 1/3 or 2/3 for more time for a lock.
   Personally, I prefer using lasers (and save the torps for the big mama
   afterwards), as locking torps head-on is not very reliable, even against
   the slower T/B's.  And for the time it takes for a lock, you can probably
   destroy a TIE with lasers already.

   There are many escort or "protect" missions in the game, so it is
   important to determine which enemy waves are the most dangerous (i.e.
   those that target the ship you're assigned to protect, which is a lot
   easier to kill than you).  Be on the look-out for TIE bombers, since they
   can launch torpedoes at their target from 5-6 klicks away.  Use the Map
   frequently to check on the position and identity of the ships in play.
   For slow targets like TIE bombers, assault gun boats, transports, etc.,
   you may need to slow to 2/3 speed to not overshoot them when pursuing.
   Use BkSpc, bracket, and \ keys to control speed, rather than +/- keys.

   Mines and the Successful Combat Engineer:

   Against mines, set your lasers & shields to max recharge, then cycle
   through the mine targets to determine those closest.  Optimum range for
   shooting mines is from 1.3-1.4 klicks out (you can destroy mines from
   1.42 klicks away, but the targeting square won't register the target
   until you are at 1.40 range).  Remember to STOP when in this range before
   you start shooting, lest you blunder in too far and be shish-ka-bobbed by
   laser fire before you can even say ouch.  If you're under time pressure,
   you can move in closer (1.1-1.3) to acquire a larger "aspect" on the
   mines for faster targeting, but your shields will suffer.  Turn tail if
   your shields get too low and let them recharge (but then you defeat the
   purpose of moving in closer in the first place).

   The mouse should be used for mine clearing instead of a joystick for
   better pin-point shooting.  Unlike most other games, in X-Wing both the
   mouse and the joystick can be active concurrently.  Use linked fire to
   maximize chance of a hit.  Aim until you register the target (green box
   lights up), fire twice, then immediately cycle to the next mine without
   waiting for the current mine to blow up.  You can save about a second for
   each mine this way.  After you've cleared out all the mines within range
   (remember to cycle through all the mines to check), then move in closer
   and repeat the hop-stop-pop routine.