Star Wars: X-Wing Collector Series - TIE Fighter 95

A game by LucasArts and Totally Games

*Unofficial* MSI Setup v1.0.0.0 by Markus Egger

Installation instructions

Note: This setup uses WiX' VolumeLabel functionality which requires the CD to be correctly labelled ("TIE95").

Uninstallation note: Seems I presumed too much MSI knowledge from the user base. There is no "separate" uninstaller; MSIs are self-contained and thus maintained using Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs. Use ARP to repair or remove any MSI-based installation. Regarding my setups, search for strings beginning with Star Wars:. The (un)install capabilities of the LucasArts Launcher or any other uninstall links won't work for obvious reasons!
When removing MSIs, Windows Installer doesn't remove any registry or filesystem items (files, folders) that have not been part of the installation process itself. As a result, pilot files, mods or configuration files may be left behind during uninstallation. This is expected behavior and I don't really want to mess with that because I prefer a defensive approach as well. Just think upgrade packages would delete your pilot files ...
It's up to the user to backup and/or delete these remaining files/folders.
If there is anything that doesn't match the pattern above, tell me. If there's something I can fix, I will.

• Prerequisites - download and install from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/
  (refer to Add/Remove Programs whether they are already installed on your machine):
  • Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable
    (not needed for Vista and higher!)
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)
    (grab the one with the latest Service Pack level - SP1 at the time of this writing;
    for this MSI, the x86 redist is obligatory - the x64 redist alone won't work!)
• Create a temporary folder on your hard disk (eg. C:\TIE95) - about 300 MiB free space is needed.
• Copy the contents of your Star Wars: X-Wing Collector Series CD 2 (TIE Fighter) to that folder.
• Let this self-extracting archive extract to that folder (eg. C:\TIE95).
• When asked to replace Setup.exe, confirm.
• There should be 4 new files in your temporary TIE95 folder:
  • Instructions.html (this file; may be deleted at discretion)
  • Setup.exe (new version)
  • LA.ico
  • XCS - TIE Fighter 95.msi
• The TIE95 CD already includes a folder named Support containing Top Ace pilots - you may store files you regard important there (like the Windows Installer and C++ redistributable files).
• There is an official mission patch for TIE Fighter 95 to fix a certain issue. You may get it from:
  http://www.lucasarts.com/support/update/tie-xcs.html
• There is, however, another unofficial patch enabling 3D acceleration within both games (XW95/TIE95). Without the patch your game will crash when turning 640x480 3D Hardware mode on and launching a mission. The patch may fix other potential problems as well. I'm very delighted that this nice patch by Craig Perry is indeed working on my Vista Ultimate x64 machine (you'll find a new .sdb file under %WinDir%\AppPatch\Custom after installation). Just use the provided .EXE installer:
  http://www.lucasfiles.com/index.php?action=file&id=653
  The patch may be installed whenever you like - before or after the TIE95 setup doesn't matter. But you should install it before launching the game and switching to 3D mode ;-)
  Since it's a compatibility layer, it only has to be installed ONCE for BOTH games!
• As stated above, you may place the VC/MSI redistributables, unofficial patch and source setup package in the Support folder.
• Burn the contents of your temporary TIE95 folder (! - not the folder itself) to a blank CD-R and label it accordingly in the CD burning program of your choice (eg. Nero). The original CD label usually is: TIE95
• Use your new "Installation CD" to install Star Wars: X. C. S. - TIE Fighter 95 on your computer by either double-clicking on
  • Setup.exe or
  • XCS - TIE Fighter 95.msi directly.
• !!! Obligatory: To be on the safe side, use your original X-Wing Collector Series CD for playing from now on. There might be copy protection, missing CD-Audio or stuff like that. Store your new "Installation CD" in a safe place ;-)
• A little goodie for Creative Labs ALchemy users:
  
  [Star Wars X. C. S. - TIE Fighter 95]
RegPath=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC\TIE95\1.0\Install Path
Buffers=5
Duration=10
  
  
• Launch/enjoy the game!
• (Uninstallation see above - but who really wants to do that? Just kidding ;-) )

Disclaimer

This setup is Freeware and a gift for the community. It shall ease the pain of all fellows in misery failing to install this game on Vista x64 (and other modern Windows operating systems like XP64). It is neither supported nor endorsed by LucasArts. Use at your own risk! Original CD required (developed/tested using X-Wing Collector Series English version - may or may not work with localized editions).
MSI tested under Vista Ultimate x64 and Windows XP Pro SP2 (x86).

You may only redistribute the original archive when done free of charge and all files are left intact (no additions, removals or alterations).

The MSI is fully Standards-compliant: It passes all ICE validation tests except ICE66 - which is an irrelevant warning since the MSI is not meant to be Vista-only (tested with WiX Light v3.0.3229.0 and Orca v4.0.5299.0).

Created by Markus Egger <markus@NOSPAMmarkusegger.at> using Visual Studio 2005 Standard and the Microsoft WiX 3 Toolkit/Votive. Downloaded from http://www.markusegger.at/

Star Wars, X-Wing Collector Series, X-Wing (95), TIE Fighter (95), LucasArts, Totally Games, Microsoft, Windows, Vista, XP, Visual Studio, Visual C++, Windows Installer, WiX, Orca, Nero, Creative Labs, ALchemy are (C) and/or (TM) of their respective holders.