Situational Awareness is a rather basic topic that covers some essential stuff in TIE. This may seem mundane, but if you don't have everything detailed in this section of the notes down, it often results in your untimely demise in a fierce battle. That said, situational awareness is the art of knowing what's going on, where the party is, and who's trying to crash it.

The primary way to attain Situational Awareness is through your sensors. Hit [U] to see the latest Flight Group to enter the area. Use both your Threat Display to see exactly where this latest threat is and what it is doing. Checking periodically with your mission goals [G] to check a Flight Group's relevance (or the relevance of its target) can help keep you ahead of the game, and help you determine whether you need to ID, attack, protect or ignore any given ship or Flight Group.

If you miss a radio message, press [L] to check it. Often, the messages being radioed to you will keep you in touch with how your mission is progressing, and inform you as to what steps are necessary for continued success. Oftentimes, TIE is a bit slow in displaying the message on the main communications console near the bottom of your screen, so constantly be checking the log file. If you have the music turned on, TIE has certain music that it plays when certain events happen, such as a goal being accomplished, enemy craft hypering in, and other things. By playing TIE enough, you can get a feel for this music, and check the log file instantly to see the new happenings.

You must keep in mind that Situational Awareness includes knowing your enemy's strengths and weaknesses. Example: Your Primary goal is to keep your Sovereign alive. In this scenario, B-Wings and Y-Wings would be viewed as bigger threats to the mission than A-Wings, and diligently keeping track of any new bomber arrivals could make the difference between victory and defeat. Always be wary, however, for looks can often be deceiving. Several nasty missions will have a group of Z-95s attack a capital ship, whom you are supposed to defend for your primary goals. Only Z-95s...no problem, right? Wrong. Sometimes, these little buggers will be packing some major heat; heavy rockets. For this reason, make sure you scope out all enemy craft by hitting the 'Z' key. This will bring up a status display of the craft you have targetted, including its distance from you, its current target, distance from its target, and all the weapons it carries. Knowing the full make-up of your opposing craft can often result in either victory or loss for the Empire.

If you start taking fire from a non-capital ship, hit [E] to target your aggressor. From here, you can either order your wingman to attack him (this can be done by pressing [shift-C], but only works while you are under fire), or you can turn on him yourself. This is a good example of how knowing your wingmen's positions can ultimately save your life; if you call for cover and they are out of position, you MAY NOT have time to change your plan.

The [T] button targets the next ship in the cycle, while [Y] cycles in reverse. [R] will always target the closest enemy fighter.

Remember, it is not always beneficial to try to kill everything. The mission goals are your reason for being here, and if you are KILLED, then the mission is an automatic failure. Of course, to score higher, complete as many secondary and bonus objectives as possible.

In essence, Situational Awareness is life. If you don't know what's going on around you, you WILL die.