Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance - PCGamingWiki PCGW - bugs, fixes, crashes, mods, guides and improvements for every PC game

Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
Developers

	Totally Games
Publishers
	LucasArts
	Disney Interactive Studios
Release dates
Windows	March 24, 1999
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Shooter, Vehicle combat
Vehicles	Space flight
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Sci-fi, Space
Series	Star Wars: X-Wing

Star Wars: X-Wing
Subseries of Star Wars
Star Wars: X-Wing	1993
Star Wars: TIE Fighter	1994
Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter	1997
Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance	1999

Contents 1 Availability 1.1 Demo 2 Essential improvements 2.1 Patches 2.2 Skip intro videos 3 Game data 3.1 Configuration file(s) location 3.2 Save game data location 3.3 Save game cloud syncing 4 Video 4.1 Anisotropic filtering (AF) 4.2 Anti-aliasing (AA) 5 Input 6 Audio 6.1 Localizations 7 Network 7.1 Multiplayer types 8 Issues fixed 8.1 Installing retail version on 64-bit versions of Windows 8.2 Graphical corruption when running in 3D-accelerated mode 8.3 Interface flashes rapidly 8.4 Fonts in-game are messed up 8.5 Can't activate 3D-audio 8.6 Can't enable 3d acceleration 8.7 Steam Controller doesn't work 8.8 Force feedback not working On Microsoft Xbox 360 Accessories 9 Other information 9.1 API 10 System requirements 11 Notes 12 References

Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS, shooter and vehicle combat game in the Star Wars: X-Wing series.

This game requires a controller or joystick to start and play it. XWA Upgrade Mega Patch includes Babu Frik's Configurator which provides an option for joystick emulation, bypassing this requirement. Another option is joystick emulation via external tools (eg. vJoy). Still, a joystick is strongly recommended to be used.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Guide using a mouse as input using third party tools

Steam Community Discussions

X-Wing Wiki

X-Wing Alliance Upgrade project Community dedicated to enhancing the game.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		OverSized DRM with illegal TOC and unreadable errors.
EA app (unavailable)		No longer sold since June 13, 2022.^[1] Currently only available through EA Play Pro.
GamersGate

GOG.com
Humble Store
Steam

Demo

A free demo version is available from GameFront.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch 2.02 is available at community.pcgamingwiki.com and at soggi.org.

XWA Hacker - utility with useful tweaks and fixes. Requires game to be patched to 2.02 to work.
Steam to XWA Compatible patch - modifies Steam's executable in order for it to be compatible with XWAHacker. Do not use it on non-Steam version.

Skip intro videos

Start `xwingalliance.exe` with `skipintro` command line argument^[2]

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\config.cfg^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/361670/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\<user-id>.plt^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/361670/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
EA app
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Use XWAU.
Multi-monitor		Use XWAU.
Ultra-widescreen		Use XWAU.
4K Ultra HD		Use XWAU.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See Anisotropic filtering (AF).
Anti-aliasing (AA)	See Anti-aliasing (AA).
High-fidelity upscaling	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS	Game is locked at 24 FPS. Use Justagai's X-Wing series 60 FPS fix or rdoeffinger's DDraw wrapper.
120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Color blind mode	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Patch the graphics to 32-bit before forcing AF from the level of graphical drivers. See Widescreen resolution. Automatically enabled if using xwaupgrade patches or ddraw.dll wrapper (e.g. https://github.com/rdoeffinger/xwa_ddraw_d3d11/releases)

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Patch the graphics to 32-bit before forcing AA from the level of graphical drivers. See Widescreen resolution.

Forcing antialiasing might make in-game fonts distorted, to prevent that, enable "Alternate Pixel Centers" if you have an ATI card. Alternatively, force Supersampling anti-aliasing (SSAA) to resolve font distortion.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Required to run the game; this can be bypassed with a tool such as vJoy or XWA Upgrade Mega Patch.
Full controller support		No controller support in menus.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback		For XInput controllers see XInput force feedback vibration in DirectInput games.
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Steam Input
Steam Input API support
Hook input (Steam Virtual Gamepad/Legacy mode)		Requires replacing a launcher with game's EXE. May require vJoy if fails to start.
Steam Input prompt modes
Steam Deck button prompts
Steam Controller button prompts
Motion sensors support
Official controller preset(s)
Cursor detection

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, engine, effect, cockpit sound, exterior sound
Surround sound		Need A3D. See DirectSound3D restoration software.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		A3D 1.0 (2.02 update mandatory)
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech				Fan - 1
French				Retail only.
German
Italian				Retail only.
Spanish				Retail only. Translation Download (From Clan Dlan archives). Mods translations by Clan Dlan: TIE Fighter Total Conversion – Classic Edition, X-Wing Redux.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8
Online play		4	The official multiplayer service was shut down.

Issues fixed

Installing retail version on 64-bit versions of Windows

Use otvdm^[3]
The game installer is a 16-bit program meaning it will not run natively on a 64-bit machine. Download otvdm from here. Run `SETUP.exe` from the `INSTALL` subdirectory of the CD (NOT the one in the root) using otvdm by dragging and dropping onto `otvdm.exe`, opening with `otvdmw.exe`, or directly after installing otvdm.

Use otvdm^[3]

The game installer is a 16-bit program meaning it will not run natively on a 64-bit machine.

Download otvdm from here.
Run SETUP.exe from the INSTALL subdirectory of the CD (NOT the one in the root) using otvdm by dragging and dropping onto otvdm.exe, opening with otvdmw.exe, or directly after installing otvdm.

Installing a game using alternative installer^{[citation needed]}
The game installer is a 16-bit program meaning it will not run natively on a 64-bit machine. Go to Markus Egger website and grab the appropriate installer (note that there is one for the German version of the game and one for the English/Italian). Follow the instructions here to create a fixed disc. Notes If the autostart-menu doesn't pop up run SETUP.EXE directly from the disc. Run the game from XWINGALLIANCE.EXE not ALLIANCE.EXE

Installing a game using alternative installer^{[citation needed]}

The game installer is a 16-bit program meaning it will not run natively on a 64-bit machine.

Go to Markus Egger website and grab the appropriate installer (note that there is one for the German version of the game and one for the English/Italian).
Follow the instructions here to create a fixed disc.

Notes

If the autostart-menu doesn't pop up run SETUP.EXE directly from the disc.

Run the game from XWINGALLIANCE.EXE not ALLIANCE.EXE

Graphical corruption when running in 3D-accelerated mode

Install XWAHacker^{[citation needed]}
Download XWAHacker (requires game to be patched to 2.02 to work) Extract it to your game-folder. Run `fixedclear.bat`. The .exe should now be patched to fix this issue. You can also try downloading this ddraw.ddl and put it in the installation folder.

Interface flashes rapidly

Turn off Crossfire/SLI^{[citation needed]}
If you're using Crossfire/SLI - turn it off.

Fonts in-game are messed up

Replace fonts^{[citation needed]}
Download Font set or alternative font fix by Guru Redeye.

Change anti-aliasing^{[citation needed]}
Text corruption might also be caused by forcing anti-aliasing (to prevent that, enable "Alternate Pixel Centers" if you have an ATI card).

Can't activate 3D-audio

Edit settings of Creative Alchemy^{[citation needed]}
If you're a using creative sound card and have Alchemy installed try adding the following to it: [Star Wars X-Wing Alliance] RegPath: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC\X-Wing Alliance\v1.0\Install Path Path Buffers=5 Duration=10

Edit settings of Creative Alchemy^{[citation needed]}

If you're a using creative sound card and have Alchemy installed try adding the following to it:
[Star Wars X-Wing Alliance]
RegPath:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC\X-Wing Alliance\v1.0\Install Path

Path
Buffers=5
Duration=10

Can't enable 3d acceleration

Use Direct3D 11 via DDraw.dll from XWA Upgrade.

Steam Controller doesn't work

Replace game's launcher with the game's EXE^[4]
Go to `<path-to-game>`. Rename `alliance.exe` to something different. Make a copy of `xwingalliance.exe` and rename it to `alliance.exe`.

Force feedback not working On Microsoft Xbox 360 Accessories

Install DirectInput Force Feedback Driver for XInput by Masahiko Morii^{[citation needed]}
Download DirectInput Force Feedback Driver for XInput - Masahiko Morii. Install it. Notes For non-Xbox 360 controllers (e.g., Xbox Wireless Controllers, DualShock 4, or DualSense 5), you need to map them as Xbox 360 controllers using software like ReWASD or X360ce before they can be used.

Install DirectInput Force Feedback Driver for XInput by Masahiko Morii^{[citation needed]}

Download DirectInput Force Feedback Driver for XInput - Masahiko Morii.
Install it.

Notes

For non-Xbox 360 controllers (e.g., Xbox Wireless Controllers, DualShock 4, or DualSense 5), you need to map them as Xbox 360 controllers using software like ReWASD or X360ce before they can be used.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6
Software renderer

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 200 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	131 MB (minimal installation)	275 MB
Video card (GPU)	2 MB of VRAM	4 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/361670/.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (361670) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Upcoming Changes to the EA Origin Catalog - last accessed on 2024-12-07
↑ Verified by User:Suicide_machine on 2017-09-12
It has to be xwingalliance.exe or its copy. It cannot be a launcher!
↑ Verified by User:orson53 on 2025-08-04
↑ XWA Getting Steam Controller Working - last accessed on 2025-05-24