https://github.com/pagej97/xwjoy-redux/releases/download/v2.0/XWJOY.COM

xwjoy-redux

Throttle Support for DOS X-Wing / TIE Fighter games

About

xwjoy-redux is an updated version of a utility from the '90s for LucasArts' X-Wing and TIE Fighter games (DOS versions, 1993-1995) that added joystick throttle support. I am not the original creator of that utility, and don't have the original source code. But, since that utility was so small, it was relatively easy to recreate the original binary with new source files and add new features.

I assume that original utility is freeware. Nobody gave me any permission to use, modify, reverse-engineer it.

What functionality does xwjoy 2.0 offer?

xwjoy.com currently has two significant improvements over the original joy.com.

• Continuous throttle: Throttle adjustments are in ~3% increments (the native unit within the game), instead of the 33% increments in the original.
• Persistent calibration: Throttle calibration data is stored on disk and loaded from there. (The original joy.com required calibration every time it was executed.)

Installing

Overview

Simply copy xwjoy.com to the disk and execute xwjoy.com (execute once and only once per boot cycle) before running X-Wing or TIE Fighter. On the first run, it will prompt you to move the throttle to its limits and press a joystick button at each limit.

Download

https://github.com/pagej97/xwjoy-redux/releases/download/v2.0/XWJOY.COM

Installing in DOSBox (GOG version, possibly similar on Steam?)

1. Copy xwjoy.com to the game subdirectory.

• Linux: /home/user/.local/share/STAR WARS Tie Fighter Special Edition/data
• Windows: C:\GOG Games\Star Wars - TIE Fighter CD (1995)

2. In the GOG DOS CD-ROM version of TIE Fighter, there's a file dosbox_tiecd_single.conf. Before the line tie.exe, add a new line xwjoy.com.
3. If it doesn't work, you may need to set swap34=true in dosbox_tiecd.conf/dosbox_xwingcd.conf, as rudder axis may be read, instead of throttle. Recalibrate after changing this setting.

Recalibrating

Calibration data is stored on disk in a file called xwjoy.cal. If you want to recalibrate your joystick, delete this file and run xwjoy again. Be sure to reboot if you run xwjoy multiple times per boot cycle, before playing again.

Building

If you'd like to build it, requirements are:

• DOS-compatible environment: MS-DOS, DOSBox, etc.
• MASM 6.11: Other MASM versions untested, may work. Install into the devenv/MASM611 directory, if you want to be compatible with the included dosbox-devenv.conf.

There's an nmake-compatible makefile in the devenv/xwjoy directory. Running that will assemble the source.