Welcome to our second episode examining 1994's Star Wars classic TIE Fighter. We discuss the story in greater depth, as well as the various storytelling modes and how they cross over between each other. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.
Sections played:
Battles 4-7
Podcast breakdown:
0:31 Segment 1: Story and storytelling
50:32 Break
51:00 Segment 2: Feedback
Issues covered: expansion packs, setting of the campaign in the Star Wars chronology, adding new technology as a way to expand the game from the movies, a game's power curve, making the player part of the story, how the secret order ranks work, point bonuses and happy accidents, not knowing what you've missed, modern design removing mystery, stretching the character of the Emperor, medal ceremony, Star Wars story melodrama, military careerism, depth of simulation vs breadth of options, beam weapon, wingman commands, component targeting, flight sim complexity in the early 90s, use of the beam weapon, mastery for perfect puzzle play, use of the simulators, the damage system, prioritizing repairs, various screens, energy management, dumping lasers into shields, starting with one ring of shields (forcing player action), experimenting as a result of failure, most difficult missions, hard failure (funeral and prison planet), having to pay attention/less directed play, map, scale, WWII clips influencing Star Wars film battles, strategy guides and game development, Tim the submarine operator, 15-pin serial connections, recharging your lasers, digging around for joysticks at the local Best Buy, nostalgia bias, no perfect games, letting games go, games as "just a job," healthy self-regard, corporations as psychopaths, overwork.
Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Gilmore Girls, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Totally Games, The Madness of King George, Jedi Starfighter (obliquely), Republic Commando (obliquely), Wing Commander, Rogue Squadron series, Call of Duty, Battlefront, Brian Taylor, Kurt Strock, DLC podcast, Ken Levine, Janos Flosser, Shall We Play A Game podcast, Silent Service, F15 Strike Eagle, Their Finest Hour: Battle of Britain, B-17: Flying Fortress, ARMA series, Star Citizen, Elite Dangerous, Freelancer, House of the Dying Sun, Aaron Hansen, Waka2234, Warcraft, The Last Guardian, Kurtbamf.
Links:
George Lucas on WWII and Star Wars
Next time:
Battles 8-10
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