TIE Fighter: Collector's CDROM

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TIE Fighter: Collector's CDROM, a classic game if ever there was one. This guide will show you how to get TIE Fighter going on modern/new systems.

The game simply has more problems getting to run than VDMSound could fix. Even when I was able to get the drive letter right for the game to start up, it had a funny habit of pausing slightly all the time and 640x480 mode simply didn't work.

In comes DOSBox, a fully fledged x86 DOS emulator.

1 DOSBox
2 External Links

DOSBox

I was running DOSBox from a Windows XP machine, so some of the commands will be slightly different in relation to mounting drives if you are using a non-windows OS.

Download DOSBox

Method

Fire up dosbox
Create a C drive

mount c g:\games\dosbox

note: the directory g:\games\dosbox can be anywhere on your system but it needs dos file naming conventions, so no long file names, keep it simple.

Mount the CDROM with the following command line

mount d e:\ -t cdrom -usecd 0 -ioctl

note: obviously e:\ should be where you've put the Tie Fighter Collectors CD.

Go to the mounted drive with

d:

start the install

install

choose maximum install, at this point it will ask for a folder, just accept the default and it will start copying.
Once copying is complete it will ask for sound setup, choose "C" for custom setup.
Select "Sound Blaster 16" for Sound card
Port: 220
Then "Detect"
You can test sound at this point, exit and save settings.
At this point you can exit the installer. You'll have the option to start playing, go ahead if you feel like it!

To start the game again you need to mount the cd as well as c drive again.

The game can be started by typing tie in the default install folder

c:\TIECD

The commands to do this are as follows

c:
cd TIECD
tie

DOSBox Configuration

You've probably already discovered that the game is running slow. You need to edit your dosbox.conf file, you can find a link to it in your dosbox start menu group.

Look for the line that specifies "cycles" and change it so that it reads

cycles=auto

Look for the line that specifies "output" and change it so that it reads

output=overlay

Solution to potential joystick problem

In dosbox.conf, change the line "timed=true" to "timed=false". Your joystick might not work when you start the game, but do not worry. When in simulator, hit alt+c to calibrate the joystick a second time, and everything should be fine, but the joystick might still not work off-simulator so use your mouse there instead.