Tweaking Settings

XWAU and TFTC feature a large number of settings that can be tweaked to tailor the TFTC experience to your liking.

The X-Wing Alliance Upgrade (XWAU) project has included many new features and settings that can be tweaked to your liking. Some of these can be easily altered by using the Babu Frik Configurator which can be accessed from the game's launcher menu as shown below:

Let us go now through the different options available:


  • Starship Configurator: This option will allow you to change the default models of several XWAU models. Simply check the box to see what options are available, you will be given an expanded list of options below to choose from.

  • Main Configurator: This allows some modifications to change your control method, customise your aspect ratios/resolutions and the use of a splash screen.

    • Joystick Emulation: This option will allow you to turn on the Keyboard + Mouse control method. If you do not possess a joystick or other controller device, you can use this method instead. The mouse usually will control your flight mechanics while the keyboard works normal. It is also possible to use only the keyboard for flight controls if you so choose.

    • Customize the Graphic Resolutions: This option primarily allows you to set your aspect ratios for ingame, cutscene and Concourse screens. The game and HUD will default to your desktop resolution normally.

    • Use a Splash Screen: This option will simply turn on or off the splash screen during certain ingame loading screens.

  • TIE Fighter Total Conversion: These options are specific to TFTC.

    • Players TIE Fighter Strength: You can set the hull strength of the player's fighter here (not just the TIE Fighter), this can help if you are having any difficulties playing.

    • TIE Fighter Soundtrack: This option allows you to change the current ingame soundtrack of TFTC to one of four different available options. By default the Remastered soundtrack is selected.

  • Customize the Special Effects: This option contains the most extensive list of sub options which can allow you to enable or disable many of the modern graphical effects the XWAU team have added to the engine. Disabling some of these options can help improve framerates. Below shows an example of many of the options available:

Advanced Tweaking Options

If you really want to get stuck into the advanced options available to tweak the various settings XWAU provides, you can open up the configuration files (CFG extension) found in the root folder and change them from here. These files can be opened with any text editor such as Notepad. Please make sure you make a backup of these files before you make any changes in case of any issues it may cause. Below are the most relevant files for you to look at:

  • Bloom.cfg: Here you can fine tune many of the individual bloom options right down to the level of bloom distances and spread amount on individual light sources such as lasers, suns, cockpit displays etc.

  • ddraw.cfg: Here you will find many of the advanced settings used by the XWAU such as MSAA, FXAA, Anisotropic Filtering and more.

  • SSAO.cfg: Here you will find more advanced graphical options to tweak which are specific to Screen Space Directional Occlusion (SSDO) or Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) settings. These settings are important for the updated lighting and shading system of XWAU as well as a few other settings.

  • VRParams.cfg: Here you will find many settings to fine tune your VR experience. If you need any help with your VR setup, please join our Discord server and head over to the #vr-help section for assistance, the community will be happy to help try and resolve your problems!