Download of the Week: PPJoy
PrintTIE Fighter is the single greatest game ever created; that fact is undeniable, so let’s not even bother trying to address it in a flurry of comments to this post. Case closed.
The problem? This is 2010. TIE Fighter came out in 1994. We’ve seen great changes in the computing industry within that sixteen-year gap: The growth of the multi-core platform. The death of the space-sim genre. And the uber-death of those strange contraptions called, “joysticks,” which one would use in said space games to fly about and rip things up with lasers or what-have-you.
Do I plan to go out and purchase a joystick just to play a sixteen-year old title? Or, for that matter, any game in the space-sim (or racing!) genre that requires such a device? No. That would require effort and money. And why should you invest those in a retail product when applications like PPJoy can give you exactly what you need to play such titles using the very devices that already sit at your fingertips!
Yes, in this case, I’m talking about your mouse.
Here’s the deal: PPJoy is a joystick emulation program that allows you to remap the inputs of a number of different devices (yes, even a Wiimote) as virtual joysticks within Windows. I, however, only mostly care about the app’s built-in “mouse remapping” function, which basically transforms the movements of your fairly typical input device into the x/y-axis movements of an average joystick. Buttons too—if you’ve got one of them fancy gaming mouses, you can use it to mimic the multi-button setup of those, “ripped out of an F-14 cockpit” kinds of joysticks.
Using PPJoy could not be eaiser. In fact, running through the default options for any of its setup screens (and turning on the mouse emulator) is all you need to do to get a space sim like TIE Fighter up-and-running sans real joystick. But the real beauty of the app comes not from its ability to allow one to fly for the Empire, rather, from the simple fact that someone out there was able to reconfigure a fairly common device into a fairly uncommon device using the power… of software! I mean, there's no reason why a digital input shouldn't be able to be mapped into, well, anything... right?
Download it here!
Technology journalist and former Maximum PC Editor David Murphy was a proud member of the secret order of the empire once upon a time. That tattoo was a pain to cover up in grade school.
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jasonricard
October 20, 2010 at 11:08am
Is this just going to be of use for old games? I'd like to see more games supporting modern joypads, so would prefer if the software worked the other way round.
Jason @ Approaching Women
jjetfire
October 15, 2010 at 10:17am
Ahhhh TIE Fighter... Time to dig out my old CD... :-)
What a great game, might have to find an old machine and just load windows 98 for the joys of playing TIE Fighter... First game I really got into, well, that and SimCity 2000.
Lhot
October 14, 2010 at 9:45pm
Dave, do ME a favor...I'm 54 years old and was raised on the Microsoft Sidewinder Joystick....find ME a free app that allows me to use my Sidewinder with any game on a desktop PC....IMO controllers suxxors and are only for those raised on them or aliens with 16 tendrils on each hand :)
Since I'm sooo old and learning new things is hard for me...it must be simple interface, where all I need do is point the app at the games executable and it will auto set itself up...well...hopefully.
P.S. I have a few older games, circa 1998 to 2004 that work with both joysticks and controllers...and I can whoop anyone using a controller with my Sidewinder, just need an app that allows me to use it.
P.S.S. Actually game devs should include the option to use a joystick in every game, it has more than enough buttons, etc., and no matter what ANYONE says...using a keyboard to play any game is simply ridiculous. I've already found an app called Joyshock, but at best it's worse than Xpadder for setting up the controls. THAT'S what I want for Xmas :)
Jer Stryker
October 14, 2010 at 2:48pm
I know you can use PPJoy with FreeTrack, to get your head movements to move your view around virtual cockpits in old sims that didn't support head tracking.
And yes, Tie Fighter is THE best game of all time, and the best version is the first 1995 CD-ROM version, with the iMuse score intact, but the hi-res 640x480 flight graphics and full voiceover. I still play it with my Logitech G940 via DOSBox. It's ironic that you can run the DOS version on Win 7 64-bit but not the Windows remake.
bonus45
October 14, 2010 at 10:36am
Best game of all time. I too have the 64 bit curse though. Has anyone played around with this conversion ... Tie Fighter Conversion ? I've been meaning to, but haven't found the time.
TheMurph
October 14, 2010 at 12:01pm
Yes. And there are modifications that allow you to install xwing alliance on a 64 bit machine (which, of course, you'll need to run the conversion)
Emmit066
October 14, 2010 at 10:27am
So that joystick that I have stting on my desk so I can fly in Battlefield 1942, Desert Combat, Battlefield 2, AIX, N@W, 2142, & Heroes is something I shouldn't have?
GaryIKILLYOU
October 14, 2010 at 11:00am
MaxPC did a review on a $500 joystick, not what, 3 days ago? The TM Warthog ring a bell. Personally my X-52 Pro from Saitek is awesome, and to be honest, I still use it every day!!!
US_Ranger
October 14, 2010 at 10:23am
When are they going to remake Tie Fighter and X-Wing? I think the nostalgia factor alone would bring in a lot of sales. Those 2 games remind me of being a happy little kid. I'd come home from soccer practice and load it up. I miss those days.
I Jedi
October 14, 2010 at 7:58am
David, I'm going to let you finish, but Half-Life had thee best story/game play of all time.
DOOMHAMMA
October 14, 2010 at 7:50am
Still own a Joystick here, Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X, I love Tie Fighter. I play the whole campaign again every 3 years, it's a ritual for me lol.
WETAFROMAN
October 14, 2010 at 3:45am
I love both of those games so much but i have not been able to find a way to run them on my 64-bit OS. And all my computers now are 64-bit.
So if someone can tell me how to get it to run or what kind of free ware i need to run it i would be so grateful.
TheMurph
October 14, 2010 at 12:02pm
http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/do1fn/did_you_love_xwing_tie_fighter_andor_xwing/
themohawkadmin
October 14, 2010 at 5:58am
I have the same problem! For many (not all) old games, I use Sun's (I guess now it's Oracle) xVM virtualbox running a 32-bit copy of Windows XP. Virtualbox has decent enough DirectX capabilities, and it seems to work on most older games just fine. It also solves the problem when games don't like multiple CPU's (like System Shock 2).
Hope this can be of some help!
gothliciouz
October 14, 2010 at 6:19am
last time i checked 3d accelerator wasn't available for virtualbox or any virtualization software, i don't know if tie fighter even requires it but other old games requires it(sw:racer, sw: rogue squadron) games that uses software renderer (diablo, starcraft) runs fine.
aether
October 14, 2010 at 10:47am
3D acceleration has been supported by virtualbox for at least a year now and has been around (unofficially) since 2007, simple google searching will point that out. I have even played Warsow in a VM that was running Sabayon Linux with high settings. Granted...there is most certainly performance losses incorporated with 3D acceleration in a VM.
carage
October 14, 2010 at 1:25am
If my memory serves me correctly, I think you don't need a joystick to fly either X-Wing or Tie-Fighter.
I think I finished both with my trustworthy keyboard and mouse.
TheMurph
October 14, 2010 at 12:02pm
Ahh, I was referring to the X-Wing Alliance conversion of TIE Fighter. er. flip that. reverse it.
Keith E. Whisman
October 14, 2010 at 12:20pm
I still have X-Wing Allience and it still kicks much ass. In X-Wing Alliance is a subgame called the simulator, basically Tie Fighter. Definitely needed a joystick for that game.
Keith E. Whisman
October 14, 2010 at 11:00am
True, however, both games are far more entertaining and suck you in so much more if played with a joy stick.
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