This release was originally going to be small but like all things XWAU, it exploded into something bigger! We have brand new models, updated versions, great new Simulator images and more. It also includes some recent improvements to the VR experience. Everything is now ready for you to download!

Death Star Upgrade

A project that was started about a year ago and was considered impossible for a long time. We can finally bring you Death Star II Upgrades! blue_max and Vince T, with help from Marco Antonio created these beauties. Brand new models for set pieces like the Entrance, Focus Chamber and Reactor Core. All the tunnel elements now have 3D details, not just smeary flat images. The reactor room has a new force field. Core explosion has been greatly improved and it's now procedural. Textures are higher resolution. All the things you want to see looking better when you pilot into a small space deep inside the Death Star!

XQ-6 Platform and updated Platforms XQ1-4

That's the last of the XQ-series Platforms finally done! It comes with animated lights on the landing platforms and color-coded hangar force fields, indicating the Hangar for players to use when landing. As all platforms, it comes with a custom hangar model which you can use in your custom missions!

Along with this I've updated all my other platforms to have the same features as this one, including:

- Animated lights

- Color-coded force fields

- Skins!

In addition, Platform XQ3 comes with a new set of "under construction" profiles which you can toggle in custom missions.

New TIEs by DTM

DTM closes 2021 with two more of his amazing looking TIEs: The TIE Defender and my personal Favorite, the TIE Advanced (or Avenger). Both ships have been rebuilt from the ground up and come with highly detailed models and textures. To top things of, the TIE Advanced comes in two version, one with a round cockpit, like you see it in the early TIE Fighter game, and one with an edgy octagonal cockpit, looking the way it did in XvT: Balance of Power.

Space Colony 1 v1.1

I've made a minor update to the station itself, adding animated antenna lights. In addition, I've created a custom hangar model for oyu to use in custom mission.

ATR-6 Assault Transport v2.2

I have updated the ATR and replaced the old Turrets with new HD versions matching those of the Upcoming ETR-3. It now also comes with a Blank Skin for custom makers. A material file has been added and an improved LOD version.

All-new Simulator Battle Menus

Compiled by Ace Antilles with new images by Forceflow, all battle images from the vanilla game have been completely recreated using XWAU models and better visuals. Recent hook improvements now allow us to add Flight Simulator Battle images for missions 8 and beyond! Ace has made a Dat file which allows you to replace the template images with your own for Battles 8 – 20. You must have a working custom edited Mission.lst file to make use of these features.

Millennium Falcon v3.3

With Master Qui-Gon’s permission, Ace Antilles has made many improvements to the ship and its pilots. Material files have been added. The 3 separate Falcon versions have been merged into one using Object Profiles and Skins. So now changing between Han Solo or Lando piloting the ship can be switched with object profiles via Babu Frik’s Configurator or via Mission INI files.
The pilots also have had an overhaul! Lando & Nien Nunb are now wearing outfits matching those in ROTJ. There are now 4 different looks of Han Solo based on each trilogy movie he appeared in.

New Special Effects

Everybody, give a warm welcome to MechDonald who joined the team for his fantastic work on updating the ingame pyrotechnics! Thanks to his efforts we now have completely new explosion effects, hit effects, particles as well as brand new rubble! Trash has never looked this good!

Automatic greebler

blue_max has created some new improvements which are first implemented in this release.  In a few words, this new shader can automatically add details to any surface as needed, depending on how close you are. The basic idea is that no matter how close you fly to an object, there will always be small details on its surface.

Custom HUD colors

A new feature by blue_max which can be added to a flyable craft's ini file: [HUDColor] allows you to customize the color of the HUD so you no longer are limited to the four options we have in the vanilla game Options. The HUD color is specified on a per-craft basis. It works like RGB, so you can alter your HUD and Reticle color any way you like.

VR Improvements

With big help from m0rgg there’s a new CockpitLook released Hook to fix the jittering experienced in VR. The cockpit shake is no longer used to implement positional tracking. VR was never intended for XWA. So it’s still a great bonus.

Other Updates

Along with these new features there's a whole bunch of general tweaks and improvements to both the game, the Installer and Launcher. Also included are all the latest hooks and Effects.

Update 5 is expected to be our last major release for 2021. Our 2020 Mega Patch has grown hugely in size. It's time for something new!

Next up is going to be an XWAU 2022 Mega Patch! We've got lots of cool ideas and improvements to bring you in the future. We hope you enjoy this release and will keep an eye on the forum for more updates as available.