Monday, December 28, 2020

XWAU 2020 Mega Patch Update 1 Posted by Ace Antilles

Now available is our first XWAU 2020: Mega Patch: Update!
This Update contains new releases, updated items and bug fixes all rolled into one installer.
So all you need is the original 2020 Mega Patch and the current update. The previous Fix Pack v1 is included in the Update.
We made this update as a simpler way to release stuff to you rather than multiple individual installer.

We've added a bunch of stuff old and new. So please read the full release notes in the Readme or Forum for the full information.
We wanted to end 2020 with a final new release so we hope you enjoy it :)

NEW RELEASES

XQ2 Platform v1.0: Brand new release of the XQ2 Platform and Hangar by Vince T.
Another brilliant Station to use in game with HD textures and 4 subtly different Hangar Maps depending on your Faction.
You can see pictures and videos of the XWA Upgrade releases in the Showcase section on our website.



Discuss this release in the Forum here.




Effects by Blue Max v1.5: Blue Max has updated and improved on areas of his great Effects package.
There are new procedural shaders for Lava and Explosions as well as for the Death Star used in Endor mission 4.
The Reactor Core explosion has been replaced with Duke's explosion shader and other visual fixes.
For full information read the Special-Effects-Readme.




Hooks - Skins: JeremyaFr's Hooks have been updated with the latest bug fixes and new features.
There is also a great new Skins feature. Essentially it allows anyone to add their own custom looks to an Opt. You can add flightgroup colours or new textures from a folder rather than being built into the Opt itself. So mission creators now can have a lot more options for customised ships. It's something that will be used more by the XWAU Team in future releases.
Discuss this release in the Forum here.


There's also been some minor updates to some Opts: XQ1 Platform, Calamari Cruiser Defiance and Imperial Star Destroyer II.
Plus bug fixes to some campaign missions and more.
We've already got lots of cool things in the works for 2021 which I can't share with you now but the team never slows down!

As we've pointed out on several occasions it's likely Internet Security programs will flag our downloads as trojans etc.
We can assure you these are False Positive results and nothing we can do about them. Virus software is getting more protective and cautious all the time. Just select to allow/keep etc the file and you will be fine.

Discuss this update in the Forum here. Happy New Year!

Friday, December 25, 2020

Forum has been updated Posted by Forceflow
Dear all, the forum has been updated to it's newest version. Hopefully nothing broke while doing that. Everything should be the same, though note that the ULR has changed to:

https://forums.xwaupgrade.com/

Old links will still work, though in case you have the forum bookmarked directly please change it to the new link.

Other than that things should behave just like before. (You might have had to login again) There are no notable new features other than that it is now possible to tag users @Vince T This will only when you make a new post, not when editing posts! The board will provide you with a userlist as soon as you type the @ Symbol and the first letter of the user you want to tag.

If you do not wish to be notified when someone tags you you can do so in the UCP under Board Prefferences --> Edit notification options

There it is the last option: Someone mentioned me



That's it, please let me know if you run into any issues here!

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Merry Christmas to all! Posted by Forceflow

While globally 2020 was a monumentally sucky year for pretty much everyone, it was a pretty damn great year for the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade.

We had a record year of releases and advances with lot's more to come and a refreshed community with many members, old and new, working hard to get even more stuff to you. For this I am very grateful and want to thank every one involved. I know a lot of the guys have been working extra hard this year to make this all happen. I would have never though that we would stay active for over 20 years much less to see the XWAU being so successful.



With that said pretty much every one locked down for Christmas now and while there might be a small release yet to come this year I think we are pretty much ready to call it quits for now.



So I wanted to wish everyone here a merry Christmas. I hope you can all enjoy it with your family even if it is only virtual during this trying times. Please everybody stay save and healthy. Have a great New Years Eve and I hope to see you all back here in a hopefully much better 2021!

Wish everyone a Merry Christmas here

Friday, November 27, 2020

THE X-WING ALLIANCE 2020 MEGA PATCH Posted by Ace Antilles



Welcome Pilots to our brand new release of the XWAU 2020 Mega Patch!
2020 sure has had it's ups and downs for everyone but XWAU has had more releases than maybe any other year!
This lead to the installation and setup process to be very time consuming, confusing and generally not being a good experience.
So to remedy that we are now finally ready to present you the newest all-in-one XWAU 2020 patch! A massive remake to make the whole experience a lot easier.
As there's been a lot of changes I'll cover the basics here and you can read more details on the Forum.

The "XWAU 2020 Mega Patch" is a total remake of our old Craft Packs from the ground up. It contains ALL the previous 20 years of releases in one installer.
So you no longer have to install Ships, then Effects, then Cockpits, Hooks etc. It's all been bundled into a brand new clever installer from DTM and JeremyaFr.
Now there are only a few simple choices it will guide you through that you need to install it and run the game.
No more need to download 42 different installers. One installer to rule them all, one installer to bind them...
A more detailed look at some of the changes can be read in the Forum here.

DTM has made a nice new video which highlights this update well. Watch it on YouTube here.

Then you get to meet Babu Frik! Babu Frik's Configurator is a new program which is accessed from the Launcher.
It allows you to change the game to your liking. You can choose variation versions of the ships available, configure the graphic effects and toggle the different options for VR or TrackIR and more. It won't be necessary to reinstall XWAU 2020, you just go back and alter the options to whatever you prefer to use.
All the choices from the previous XWAU individual installers are included in Babu Frik to give you tons of options to customize the design of your game however you like.

That's not all though! There are also several new ships too that have never been released before now!
An updated Calamari Cruiser Defiance and Stormtrooper Transport, a brand new Modified Strike Cruiser and several options of the amazing new X-wing and Y-wing!
You can see new pictures and videos in the Showcase and more on the new ships in the Forum here.





We also had a close look at the missions themselves and Jaeven has spent lots of time going through the campaign to make sure that it's balanced and playable.
So many missions have had small fixes or improvements so that your play through is fun and enjoyable. They also use some of the incredible new flightgroup ship colors.

Another new tool is the Palpatine Total Converter. Use the Converter to save one or two versions of XWAU 2020 modified by you, without the need to install multiple copies of X-Wing Alliance on your Hard Drive. The idea of this is if you want to have the original game but also want a custom version with new spaceships in different slots, custom missions etc, then the Converter will allow you to save multiple installations.
Read the relevant Palpatine Total Converter Readme file for more on this feature.

We've created a new Beginners Guide to XWAU on the Forum to answer some questions. You can read that in the Forum here.


The XWAU 2020 Mega Patch must be installed over a fresh copy of the game! So make sure you make a backup of your existing game, uninstall it and any other patches you installed before and install X-Wing Alliance. Then run the XWAU 2020 installer and follow the on-screen options.
You will need roughly 7GB of additional free space for installation due to adding so many updates in one pack.

Thank you to all our loyal fans for your support over the last 20 years! Here's to another 20 ;)

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Small Teaser and Update Posted by Forceflow
Hi Folks,



we are getting really close to releasing the XWAU 2020 update. The team is working hard on it and we are putting the finishing touches on it. Hopefully we will be able to release it very soon. (No promises though) We do want to tease two updates that will be included in the patch. The keen eyed among you might have noticed that Spyder has joined the XWAU Team a while back. And I am sure you all are aware of his incredible X-Wing. Well, with him on the team the XWAU 2020 will have the choice of not only using his X-Wing but also his incredibly Y-Wing. Both ships show incredible detail and are simply stunning. But you don't have to take my word for it. Below two new render videos that I whipped up to show just home much of an improvement the models are compared to the original opts:









We are all very happy to have Spyder with us and we are hoping to see more of his great work! Be sure to give him a warm welcome to the team!

You can do so here

(Webmaster: Forceflow)