TIE-TC 244: Lord of the TIEs

Battle Information

Game platform: TIE Fighter
Missions: 6
Release date: 2012-07-30
Last updated: 2020-01-14
Creator:

LC Tempest

Average rating 4.0
Reviews: 14
Bug reports: 0
Times completed: 42
Patches used: None
Platinum COMPOST Membership Card
Battle Medal:
Platinum COMPOST Membership Card

You are to participate in the 'Lord of the TIEs' competition, which will test your abilities in the classic, unshielded TIE models - Fighter, Interceptor and Bomber.

This battle was designed as a challenge for TIE Fighter veterans and is therefore quite hard; please be prepared for that or choose another battle.

Battle Reviews

CM scottrick

5

2023-11-15

An extremely well crafted battle. However, the high difficulty means they are not for everybody and I found myself quite frustrated with the first mission in particular (that third ATR!). Overall, a great example of fan created content for Tie Fighter.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmLhWaotz1oUTB4IaZ3ExslgUqqPVlYrw


VA Locke Setzer

4

2023-11-05

I'm very torn on how to rank this, because I do believe that the craftsmanship of this battle is top-notch (particularly the briefings), and unlike anything else in the compendium. It's also far more difficult than anything else (at least for TIE) in the compendium, although I would argue that playing it on Easy sits it at something more reasonable (final mission excluded).

In spirit of the battle itself, I'll lean harsher.

For those who are not aware: when only the Secret Order figure is present, you only need to complete the secondary goals. Completing (or failing) the primary goals is meaningless for anything other that the small point boost. The use of primary goals in those missions is a technical flaw that should not be present in a battle as well designed as this.

Destroying a CRS, T/As, T/Ds, and Missile Boats in a TIE Fighter in Mission 6, all with missiles, on Easy, is beyond what I think is fair for that difficulty level, even with a battle noted for its ridiculous difficulty.

But all that said, it's an incredible accomplishment, and one I would encourage everyone to give a try.


CM Vanguard88

3

2023-10-30

The missions themselves aren't that bad, what is frustrating is the way that the game AI interacts with the missions themselves. Sometimes the AI will behave in ways different than it should normally (firing missiles without a full lock, waiting until point blank range to even try shooting at you, not going home when hull goes below a certain % of hull, AI suddenly switching from one target to another. These factors, combined with the slim to none margin of error make it more trouble than it is worth for most players.


CPT Asen Starlancer

3

2022-11-20

This Battle is just insane and incredibly frustrating. I've never been so happy to have completed a battle. Mission 3 and 5 are just sick and I just don't know how anyone can complete on hard difficulty here. Kudos to everyone who can do it.

As for the mission design, it's just really well done and very well thought out. Someone put a lot of effort into it and that deserves all the credit.

I'm glad and hope I don't have to do this again. :)


GN Coranel Both

2

2022-10-08

This battle is very well written like everyone else has said, and the briefings are very fascinating. However, I'm giving it a two because I found it insanely hard. Playing on Easy I could not figure out how to get past mission 3 despite meeting the victory conditions and getting the "primary objectives have been completed message." I flew the mission about five times before frustration made me give up. I want to give this a 1, but I'm bumping it to a two because of the positive things I led with. Flying with cheats on and on Easy shouldn't still be impossible to complete with no idea why you keep failing the mission. Sorry. :(


MAJ Colo Delste

5

2021-12-18

A very tough, but in the rewarding, battle. When even Mission 1 (in shielded craft) is tough, you can see how the rest will go. Not for the faint of heart, but joining the select few in COMPOST is worth it!


LCM Marek Ny`Irfa

5

2020-10-24

Okay I have to admit I started this battle with... Reading previous comments. Despite the high ratings it got in the most recent ones, I had an impression this was just another stupidly overwhelming battle and failed to understand where the hype for it was unti... I tried it for myself! Do not get me wrong, this battle is one huge pile of frustration for every single mission up until you finally learn how that specific mission is supposed to be completed. And even then the frustration does not cease as one random laser flying through space is enough to ruin even the best of runs for you. I still am impressed on how those missions are crafted. They have very much thought given into them and surely they are possible to beat even on the hard difficulty. This battle is what triggers your learning process if only you are eager to learn and not willing to give up. I for sure brought a lot out of this one, but in all honesty I do hope I will never have to do it again. Even on easy, even with cheats enabled! I haven't flied a lot of TIE missions/battle yet but this does seem like a true pearl among them all.


COL Phalk Sturm

4

2020-09-13

The briefings have a level of crafting unheard in the whole Battle Center compendium. As someone has pointed out before it is the most frustrating battle I had the pain to fly, facing endless waves of T/Ds in an unshielded TIE Fighter, is only for those who want to bite the joystick several times in a night and go heavy on the pills. Challenge becomes a nightmare and the game seems to mock you in return.


RA Genie

5

2020-05-19

This is a rare gem. The briefing and the missions are well-designed. Everything is controlled in a positive way, from start till end. Humour is added while also giving you tips, should you need any. In several other missions I gave a 4 or a 3 when they probably deserved a 3 or 2 respectively. This one deserves a 5. I know it is not for everyone as it is quite difficult. For those not willing to go through the pain, the easy setting offers a much ... easier experience (as it should). Fly it and enjoy both the missions and briefing. We need more missions and battles which are as well crafted as this one.
To give some examples, even the speed of the craft is cleverly manipulated to be doing exactly what it needs to be doing. I will not give any spoilers as to what each mission does, just ensure you talk to both the Cloaked figure as well as the briefing map and enjoy the ride (until you have to fly that is!). Once you feel ready, come back for more in the hard setting, whereby your armaments are limited and the opponent overwhelming! And people accused me of making hard missions!? :P Everything is intentional and well crafted and despite its difficulty, the knowledge of that gives me comfort. Try it, test yourselves (and just like Rando, at some point I tried to break the mechanics as well)


HA Plif

5

2020-01-23

Bar none the most fantastic briefings of anything from the Battle Center, which is just the very first indicator that attention has been paid to every facet of this masterpiece. Every mission has been meticulously crafted to push the player to their limit, offering a challenge at every difficulty level whether the in-game cheats are used or not. What’s also unique about this battle is that almost every mission pits the player alone against everything else going on, there aren’t any friendlies that will accomplish the mission goals for you. Mission 1 gives you the most assistance with a number of friendly fighters on the map, but the scenario still forces the player to make the right choices in order to succeed. Mission 5 stands out as an intensely personal challenge to the player; either you’ve mastered energy management and maneuvering or you won’t make it. The final mission does a great job of putting everything together between the dogfighting, situational awareness, and problem-solving skills that the other missions tested. But I think the thing I enjoy the most about the battle is the entertaining premise and the way it’s fleshed out in the briefings, the pre-flight questions, the missions themselves, the post-flight questions, and even the Readme file. The battle isn’t just memorable for how difficult it is, it’s also a master class in storytelling and design and deserves nothing less than the highest rating.


LC Rando

4

2020-01-22

Where to start with this ridiculously difficult, frustrating battle? It's full of gimmicks and gotchas that are absolutely designed to frustrate you. It requires memorization of what to expect, sheer repetition and perseverance until you succeed. It's clearly intended to test the limits of not just your skill, but also your patience. Especially on hard difficulty. There's even an aptly named 'Fu' squadron. Lots of time will be wasted trying and learning from your mistakes. Whether insta-failing the mission or simply killing you, your fate is already decided if you stray from the correct path. The first mission is a fairly straightforward capture operation while flying the mighty T/A, but its gotcha comes at the very end with the transports. It's not super difficult, but it's not a pleasant experience to instantly fail after sinking so much time and effort into a single attempt. The second mission is where the real gimmicks begin, and completing them requires deeper knowledge of the game mechanics and how to exploit them. The puzzles take some thinking, and the difficulty comes from both solving them, and executing them well. Unfortunately there's a lot of luck involved too. A stray laser, damaged flight controls, or extra salvo of rockets can end a mission rather quickly, through no real fault of your own. Mission 5 was personally the most difficult, and marks the first time I've ever enabled cheats just to see how the mission is supposed to unfold before attempting it for real. It demands perfect execution, and that's not an understatement. While I suppose I could've beaten it on hard after enough attempts, ultimately I ended up dropping the difficulty to easy, which I'm sure will give Tempest great pleasure to read. The final mission isn't too bad, luckily it's the one mission with a couple gimmicks that actually make it somewhat easy, even on hard. Tempest can't be fooled here, as my own clever attempts to outsmart the design often proved futile. I was even called a chicken for my efforts. Overall the puzzles are moderately satisfying, especially mission 3 which featured very clever use of warheads. But the satisfaction of completing the puzzles and finishing the battle aren't enough to outweigh the overall frustration. Getting salty only makes things worse, and the humor in the briefings wore thin as the competition ended. If rating on fun-factor alone, I would probably give it a 2. Difficulty for the sake of difficulty, gimmicks and luck-based perfection aren't my cup of tea. But it wouldn't be fair to call this a bad battle, or merely average. Everything about its design is fully intentional. It's rather well designed and clever, even the briefings and its ASCII art of the TIEs. I give it a 3.5, grudgingly rounding up to 4.


LT Mirei Seppen

1

2020-01-14

Well first incident in the short time I played the mission that I had to say is I personally do not like mines. So clearing the minefield in mission one was not the best fun I ever had but it was done well, not too aggressive but very dense. So I guess you can say it wasn't too bad in that sense with the station not shooting also. The second incident I will point out is the diversion with the transports in the beginning of mission two. Natural instinct would be to leave the escort and go save it which is the wrong thing to do. I failed twice to this. The third incident I will point out is that one unshielded, unmissled TIE escorting a large group of TIE's did not seem realistic with all the constant attacks going on. There should have been a wingman or at least some form of help. This is the type of battle I dislike. I play these for fun, not to have a horrid meat grinder so I can consider myself l33t. I will say mission two was therapeutic in a way that I will not list here.


What can I say? Among the best battles I ever played, on par with Impact! free mission, Hammer & Anvil, most of Colonel Beef's stuff and other few pieces of fine art. The plot is splendid, it's quite innovative in many ways (yes, a TIE battle which is innovative in 2012! Those LA guys never actually used the true potential of the game engine they created), it's *VERY* funny being those animated briefings the best I've ever seen (beware the adult only stuff! ;P), it involves knowing a few gimmicks of the TIE engine in order to complete it, it's completely bug free and... its best feature: it restores all glory to the shieldless TIE line where it is due! Could we actually ask for more? Sincerely, if you don't fly this one while being able to do so and/or don't like it there's something really wrong with you and you're different and strange. All your friends think LotT is great (DooM II dixit). Thank you, Lt. Colonel Tempest, you did it again you bastard! ;D


FA Pickled Yoda

5

2014-03-02

Lord of the TIEs is a magnificently crafted battle. It earns the maximum rating for the briefings alone, which have been meticulously crafted. The premise is original and entertaining. This is an extremely tough battle, but it's clear that attention has been paid to each difficulty level. It's not for the fainthearted, but I highly recommend it.


Battle Bug Reports

There are currently no open bug reports for this battle.

High Scores

Battle Total: 329,911 LCM LPhoenix 2023-11-17
Mission 1: 62,953 CM scottrick 2023-11-13
Mission 2: 63,278 LCM LPhoenix 2023-11-17
Mission 3: 72,282 CM Vanguard88 2023-10-29
Mission 4: 38,492 RA Genie 2022-11-26
Mission 5: 18,139 RA Genie 2022-11-26
Mission 6: 90,710 CM Vanguard88 2023-10-29

Top Ten

(of available records)

1 329,911 LCM LPhoenix 2023-11-17
2 311,107 CM Vanguard88 2023-11-17
3 309,405 LCM LPhoenix 2023-11-14
4 298,639 CM scottrick 2023-11-13
5 298,463 CM Vanguard88 2023-10-29
6 295,959 LCM LPhoenix 2023-10-23
7 290,499 LC Tempest 2012-07-29
8 283,731 RA Genie 2022-11-26
9 265,361 LC Tempest 2020-01-21
10 247,699 HA Daniel Bonini 2014-03-07

Battle Completion Statistics

This battle has been flown by 31 pilots a total of 42 times.

COL Aardvark - 2022-11-29

MAJ Aldaric - 2018-04-22

HA Anahorn Dempsey - 2 times, last on 2019-12-27

CPT Asen Starlancer - 2022-11-20

MAJ Colo Delste - 2021-12-18

HA Daniel Bonini - 2014-03-07

LCM Dougal Ceallaigh - 2020-10-23

GN Doyon - 2020-01-03

GN Elwood the Brave - 2014-03-19

RA Genie - 2022-11-26

COL Gyssler - 2017-10-14

AD Hav Antiel - 2017-10-16

MAJ Hermann - 2020-10-10

GN Jarek La’an - 2015-01-31

MAJ KEBLAOMEGA - 2 times, last on 2022-11-20

LC Kyle Kroan - 2014-06-09

VA Locke Setzer - 2023-11-05

LCM LPhoenix - 3 times, last on 2023-11-17

LCM Marek Ny`Irfa - 2020-10-24

LC Michael Emrys - 2013-06-15

HA Pete Mitchell - 2017-07-22

COL Phalk Sturm - 2020-09-11

FA Pickled Yoda - 2 times, last on 2015-01-31

HA Plif - 3 times, last on 2020-01-23

LC Rando - 2020-01-21

CM scottrick - 2023-11-13

CPT SL8c8 - 2020-01-11

LC Tempest - 3 times, last on 2020-01-21

CM Vanguard88 - 2 times, last on 2023-11-17

COL Westric Davalorn - 2 times, last on 2023-11-01

MAJ Wolve Excelsior Berkana - 2022-07-17


        __________  _ _____ 
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      / /    | |   | || ___|___________________________________
      | |    |_|   |_||_______________________________________ \
      | |                                                     \ \
      | |    ___          ________  ________    ________      | |
      | |   |   |        /  __    ||    __  \  |    __  \     | |
      | |   |   |       /  |  |   ||   |  |  \ |   |  |  \    | |
      | |   |   |      |   |  |   ||   |  |   ||   |  |   \   | |
      | |   |   |      |   |  |   ||   |__|   ||   |  |   |   | |
      | |   |   |      |   |  |   ||    __   / |   |  |   |   | |
      | |   |   |   __ |   |  |   ||   |  |  \ |   |  |   /   | |
      | |   \   |__/  ||   |__|  / |   |  |   \|   |__|  /    | |
      | |    \________||________/  |___|   \__||________/     | |
      | |           ___   ____   ______ _   _   ____          | |
      | |          /   | / __/  |_   _/| |_| | / ___|         | |
      | |         | || ||  _/     | |  |  _  || ___/          | |
      | |         |___/ |_|       |_|  |_| |_||____|          | |
      | |    _______________ ___     ________   __________    | |
      | |   |              /|   |   /  __    | /    __    |   | |
      | |   |____     ____/ |   |  /  |  |   | |   |  |   |   | |
      | |        |   |      |   | |   |  |___| \   |_ |___|   | |
      | |        |   |      |   | |   |______   \_   \_       | |
      | |        |   |      |   | |    _____/     \_   \_     | |
      | |        |   |      |   | |   |   ___   ___ \_   \    | |
      | |        |   |      |   | |   |  |   | |   |  |   \   | |
      | |        |   |      |   | |   |__|   | |   |__|   |   | |
      | |        |___|      |___| |__________| |__________/   | |
      | |                                                     | |
      \ \_________________  _   ___  _   ____________  ____   | |
       \_____________  ___|| | / __|| |_|  _   _  ___|| __ \  | |
                     | ___|| || |_ ||  _  | | | | ___||    /__/ /
                     |_|   |_| \___/|_| |_| |_| |____||_|\_____/




TITLE         : Lord of the TIEs
MISSIONS      : 6
GAME PLATFORM : TIE Fighter
MEDAL         : Platinum COMPOST Membership Card
AUTHOR        : FM/LC Tempest/Gamma 2-3/Wing I/ISDII Hammer (EH_Tempest@gmx.net)

Installation Instructions:

Install the file in your TIE Fighter directory:

1] Double click the .EHM file, the EH Battle Launcher will install the battle.
2] Press the TIE Fighter button to start TIE and fly the battle.
3] Start TIE Fighter, create a new pilot, and select Battle 1. Enjoy!

THESE LEVELS ARE NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY.
ELEMENTS TM & (c) LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY.



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Description:
-----------
You are to participate in the "Lord of the TIEs" competition, which will test your abilities
in the classic, unshielded TIE models - Fighter, Interceptor and Bomber.
If you haven't played TF in a while (or were never any good at it at all), or if you prefer
superfighters like the TD, you will find this battle quite hard. That is intentional and no
reason for bug reports. :)
This battle uses the difficulty slots, but even on easy it will not fly itself. Be prepared
for that or choose another battle.
Tested on TIE-CD, TIE95 and TIE95/EHSP.
No patches required.



                                        /  _  \
                                       |-=(_)=-|
                                        \     /


Battle overview:
-----------------
As you enter the briefing room, you are surprised to find it empty. The briefing screen is
blank, too. You think you got something wrong and are about to leave again when a cloaked
figure emerges from the darkness and tells you that you have been chosen as a candidate for
some elite competition. He tells you how to activate the briefing screen and disappears
again.
Highly sceptical, you punch the screen's keypad and learn from the briefing - which has
obviously been programmed by a madman - about the LotT ("Lord of the TIEs") competition,
which is held by COMPOST (the "COMmission for the Preservation Of Shieldless TIEs" - who the
hell comes up with such silly stuff?). Since it uses only old shieldless TIE models which
are no longer in active use, your first task will be to scrounge some of these fighters -
from the rebels.

M1 - Prelude: TIE acquisition
The Dreadnaught "Lordship" brings you to a former imperial outpost that stores some of the
old TIE models. Problem is, it's been in rebel hands since shortly after Endor. But in your
TA, you can surely overcome the defense forces very easily, help with the station's capture,
and enter its hangar to grab yourself one of those vintage TIEs.
-
The defenses are stronger than expected, but you succeed - of course. As you climb down from
your TA's cockpit, there is still some fighting going on - you can hear blaster fire from
somewhere, and alarm signs are flashing everywhere. One of the infantry officers in charge
of securing the station gives you the directions to the hangar with the old TIE models. You
jump into the next best one that looks ready to go, and you take off.
 
M2 - Prelude: TIE acquisition (continued)
Rebel reinforcements have arrived surprisingly quickly. There are a MonCal and a Frigate,
and they are launching fighters! All of them are trying to stop you and your comrades before
you can get back to the Dreadnaught "Lordship" in your freshly liberated TIEs. Intercepting
the attackers and staying alive at the same time seems like no easy task.
-
You make it back to the hangar at the last second: The rebels just launched Escort Shuttles
and A-Wings! You are very relieved to hear the Dreadnaught's hyperdrive powering up. The
LotT competition is about to begin!

M3 - Lord of the TIEs, Round 1: TIE Bomber
The first task sounds easy enough - just shoot some heavy warheads at asteroids. There are
also some X-Wings and Escort Shuttles to make your life more difficult, but you can manage.
-
That patronizing bastard in the cloak starts to get on your nerves. This wasn't half as easy
as he said it would be! And that completely insane briefing screen doesn't make things
better. At least it's some comfort to learn that a number of your competitors have already
failed the first round, so your chances of winning this thing have increased slightly.

M4 - Lord of the TIEs, Round 2: TIE Interceptor
In the second round you have to chase around in an old imperial scrap yard and fend off all
attacks on the central platform. The speed of the TI helps, but it's nevertheless quite
challenging to always be in the right place at the right time.
-
That briefing screen acts weirder every day... and definitely a bit too human. You hope that
the whole COMPOST thing is not just another name for a mental institution. All members you
met so far certainly didn't make that idea appear too far-fetched. Also, you're all alone
in the LotT competition now... everyone else apparently dropped out or got cold feet. Still,
you still need to beat the third and last challenge to lay your hands on the trophy...

M5 - Lord of the TIEs, Round 3: TIE Fighter
It's an interesting idea of COMPOST to send you on a kind of space racetrack - it reminds
you of basic training, the one with those tubes you have to fly through. But it's not so fun
with all that stuff shooting at you, especially in a thin-hulled TIE Fighter and with a time
limit as tight as that. But you will do your best, of course!
-
As the last waypoint marker blows up and the timer on your display hasn't reached the ugly
big zero yet, you triumphantly thrust your fist into the air - you did it! You're the "Lord
of the TIEs"! However, your exaltation turns into confusion when your sensors inform you of
the arrival of the VSD "Sinister" - that's the flagship of the TAC officer! You have been
careful to never ask this directly, but you don't think that the LotT competition is an
official TAC-approved one. So someone's gonna be in trouble. And as the winner of the comp,
that someone is probably going to be you.

M6 - Aftermath: Crash rebel party
Turns out that your bad feeling has been entirely justified. Intel apparently has discovered
some sort of rebel competition being held nearby, and you are going to bust their party. So
far so good, but Dempsey has decided to send you in alone, and in the very TIE Fighter you
only just climbed out of! She claims there wouldn't be time to assemble a regular attack
force, while you are conveniently ready to go - right! She is probably just mad because she
didn't get an invitation to the LotT comp - after all, she has a reputation for being quite
a good pilot herself. Ah well - spilt milk.
You guess you have no choice but to go out there in your TIE Fighter and kick some serious
rebel butt.



                                        / _  _ \
                                       |=(_)(_)=|
                                        \   "  /


Known issues:
------------
The picture on the galaxy map in the battle selection room will only look proper in TIE-CD
(and TIE Disk). The Win95 version uses another, pretty useless palette (only blues, greens
and pinks in there). The picture will appear at half size and in wrong colours. It can't be
made to look good on all versions of TIE, so one has to live with that.
In mission 2, the player's craft depends on the chosen difficulty level. The launch
sequence, however, always shows a TI, even if you are in a TB (hard).
And finally, when starting missions 2, 5 and 6, TIE-CD may give you an error message about
the CD-ROM not being inserted. This is a common problem with TIE-CD when there are more
inflight messages in a custom mission than in the original one (probably because it is
looking for matching voice files) - you can just ignore this.
/edit 2019-12-28
In mission 1, you and other members of your flight group can enter the rebel FAC's hangar
even before the FAC has been captured or even disabled. While this has confused some people,
it is not a bug. Entering that hangar is the mission's goal, so the FAC is set as your
mothership. TIE Fighter does not allow to set or change motherships halfway through the
mission. Besides, technically, I guess it would be possible to enter an enemy hangar.
Suicidal, but possible. :)


Bugfixes / Updates:
------------------
2019-12-28; mission 2
Under some circumstances, X-Wings Red would attack their own Y-Wings (Striker) or even their
mothership (Scylla). This was probably caused by the use of different player's crafts for
different difficulty slots, and TIE Fighter therefore failing to identify the actual
player's craft correctly. It's hard to tell since it happened so sporadically, but I think I
fixed it. 


Credits:
-------
ASCII art by
 + Jussi Hannula (TIE Craft)
 + Ingo Garz (Troll), http://www.ingo-garz.de/asciiart.html
 + Joan Stark aka jgs aka Spunk (Bikini girl and the pic that she herself describes as
   "people hugging in a vertical position - to keep it G rated"), http://www.ascii-art.com

Many thanks to those who helped me with the testing: Daniel Bonini and Zosite K. Styles.
/edit 2019-12-30
Thanks to Anahorn Dempsey and Pickled Yoda for their help with the mission 2 bug.


Now good luck with my battle... I hope you'll enjoy it! ;-)



FM/LC Tempest/Gamma 2-3/Wing I/ISDII Hammer
MoH/GOE/GS/SSx2/BSx4/PCx9/ISMx11/MoI/MoT-gh/MoC-DoC-PoC-GoC-SoCx2-BoCx10/IS-PWx2-PR-GWx19-GRx4-SWx18-SRx2-BWx29-BRx8/LoC-CS/OV-9E/CoB/CoLx3/LoA
[TSRS] {IWATS:TM/1/TM/3-TT-CTW} {IU:CBX, GFX, M/1/2, SM/2/3}
COMPOST Director

May 12, 2012









































































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