The classic Star Wars real-time strategy title Empire at War has gotten a new update patch almost a decade and a half after its initial release. Even before the days of DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront and Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, LucasArts partnered with various developers to produce video games set in the legendary Galaxy Far, Far Away. Old-school Star Wars fans might fondly remember titles like Star Wars Episode 1: Racer, the original Star Wars Battlefront games, and Star Wars: Dark Forces - the latter of which is set to receive a remaster from Nightdive Studios early next year.

One classic Star Wars game that may have fallen under the radar for many is Empire at War, an isometric real-time strategy title that was developed by Petroglyph Games and released in 2006. Set between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Empire at War allows players to take command of either the heroic Rebel Alliance or the tyrannical Galactic Empire as they battle for dominance across several classic Star Wars planets. An expansion pack titled Forces of Corruption was released later that year, adding a third faction in the form of the criminal Zann Consortium alongside new playable units and a “corruption” mechanic.

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Star Wars: Empire At War has received various patches and updates over the years, with the latest coming out November 20. The official Steam community page for the game outlines the specifications for this patch, which allows Empire at War and its Forces of Corruption expansion to run on 64-bit systems. This will prevent any memory issues players might have encountered while trying to run Empire At War on newer computers in the past, as it was originally meant to run on 32-bit systems. The newest update also addresses multiplayer syncing issues to allow for more stable online connections between players among other quality-of-life fixes.

Previously, Star Wars: Empire at War had its multiplayer servers discontinued when GameSpy was shut down in 2014, before Steam reactivated them in addition to adding workshop support in 2017. While the actual game itself has somewhat faded into obscurity in the wake of Disney’s purchase of the Star Wars franchise and the many newer games released since, Empire at War still enjoys a considerable following of players and modders who have added fan-made content based on the later Star Wars movies, shows, and video games.

These players can now enjoy Star Wars: Empire at War on newer 64-bit systems without experiencing crashes or other memory issues thanks to this latest update patch. Both Empire at War and its Forces of Corruption expansion are considered by some to be forgotten gems of the pre-Disney Star Wars era, and these efforts to update and maintain them will surely be appreciated by fans of isometric real-time strategy games set in the iconic sci-fi universe.

Star Wars: Empire At War Update Patch Notes

• [FOC] Stop command functionality was partially lost in the port from EaW to FoC. Units in FoC would immediately start to move and attack units in their idle-attack range. Stop command functionality has been restored to its EaW state.
• [EAW/FOC] When destroyed, ship names were repeatedly used again. Game now selects randomly from the entire list of ship names instead of beginning at the start of the list.
• [EAW/FOC] Improved targeting range upgrade path for Crusader Gunships, Interceptor IV Frigates, and Keldabe Battleships was not applying to units correctly.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed an issue where on some PCs, beam-type weapons or ability effects (e.g. hack turret, super laser beams, Force lightning) would cause the game to crash.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed an issue where using Yoda and other Force users could "freeze" when using their abilities.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed an issue in Skirmish Mode where allied players on the same team would have their projectiles counted as hostile and would be shot down.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed units with targetable hardpoints being healed inconsistently.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed difficulty settings were not retained correctly while user-generated galactic conquest maps.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed bad references in data to optimize loading of assets which could cause “load-looping” and increase load times.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed hero health bar was not displaying the correct amount of health above the selected unit.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed an issue where all hardpoint units (including space station hardpoints) would rebuild and then self-destruct when hyperspacing heroes into the map while being subject to a health-increasing effect.
• [EAW/FOC] Fresia and Byss land maps contained areas in which the AI would underperform and get stuck on the map’s islands. Both maps have been updated.
• [EAW/FOC] Venator and MC80 shield meshes did not completely cover their respective ships which resulted in visible holes. Shield meshes updated to correct the issue.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed a bug where specific circumstances would cause starting units to not always respawn in space skirmish.
• [FOC] Fixed a bug where starting units lacked the flag on their unit icon in space skirmish on initial spawn.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed a bug where if Mon Mothma or Grand Moff Tarkin was the only unit on a planet, invading armies would be deleted and invasion would never begin.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed a bug with constructing buildings preventing planet control from changing after a tactical battle.
• [EAW/FOC] Restored skirmish multiplayer lobby functionality to have 5 or more players of the same faction.
• [EAW/FOC] Faction requirement has been removed, players can choose any combination of factions to play with and don't require Rebel or Empire faction slots to start a multiplayer match.
• [EAW/FOC] For user-generated content, global object IDs are now accessible by lua.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed a bug where enabling hardware mouse would cause the cursor to flicker.
• [FOC] Fixed an issue on Galactic Conquest Felucia Space where turrets were set to the incorrect faction.
• [EAW/FOC] The following space maps support two special structure slots, but only one marker was available for use, which prevented the second structure from appearing: (Honoghr, Fondor, Kuat, Muunilinst).
• [EAW/FOC] The following space maps support two special structures but three were identified in data. Adjusted data to support the correct number: (Byss, Corellia, Fresia, Coruscant, Kuat, Mon Cal, Nal Hutta, Sullust).
• [FOC] Fixed incorrect fire visuals attached when players deployed the Gargantuan onto the planet surface.
• [FOC] Fixed an issue whereby the skirmish land maps for Hoth, Mandalore, and Bothawui had incorrectly assigned pads.
• [FOC] Galactic Kamino space map updated to remove unintended Zann Consortium units.
• [FOC] Fixed the Crusader Gunship, where it had the wrong damage multipliers applied to its hardpoints.
• [FOC] Dathomir skirmish landr map had missing AI data which resulted in the AI underperforming on this map.
• [FOC] Yavin skirmish space base map had an asteroid located too close to the base, causing it to become preoccupied firing on that asteroid. Extended map boundaries to correct issue.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed mismatched damage multipliers for the Acclamator’s turbolasers.
• [FOC] Updated map previews due to visuals being inaccurate between the map and the preview. This was done for both land and space multiplayer maps, all space maps (including missions), and Underworld space missions.
• [FOC] Rancor now has a restored attack animation for unfortunate infantry that get too close.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed Vader’s Force crush ability so that crushing a pod walker does not cause the crushed object to float in mid-air.
• [EAW] Fixed GC Hoth Map so that the attacker starts with a captured landing zone.
• [EAW/FOC] The destroyed version of some pirate frigates used a different scale factor. Corrected by adding new art for leader and captain.
• [FOC] Units with hardpoints that are garrisoned in a vehicle no longer leave their hardpoints behind.
• [EAW/FOC] Video options now allow higher screen refresh rates, especially in resolutions greater than 1600x1200.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed a rare crash that would occur when group-selecting units.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed locked planets in story campaigns sometimes still being accessible.
• [EAW/FOC] Fixed AT-ST barrage area stop firing bug (for real this time :) )

Other Internal Game Changes:

• The Forces of Corruption story lua scripts are now available in their uncompiled form and included in the 64Patch.meg.
• Added new event params to the LOAD_CAMPAIGN story reward: <Reward_Param3>: Difficulty level (0 = Easy, 1 = Normal, 2 = Hard), <Reward_Param4> Tech level (0-5).
• Added new xml tag <MoveAttackWhileStopped> that can be added to units. It defaults to false, making units fully stop when the stop command is used (EaW behavior). When set to true, units will immediately start to move and attack things in their idle-attack-range (pre-patch Foc behavior).
• Added new Get_Name() lua function allowing to retrieve the name of a ship as defined in <ShipNameTextFiles>.
• Added new functions to expose global object IDs to LUA: Get_Object_ID() for Galactic Conquest and Get_Parent_Mode_Object_ID() and Get_Parent_Mode_ID() for tactical.
• [FOC] Unit targeting inaccuracy now applies to multiple different unit categories instead of just the last defined one.
• UPDATED MAP EDITOR:
• The map editor has been updated to be 64bit compatible.
• Enabled new functions: Decal, Tracks, Animations, Cinematics and the Object Overview Dialog
• Editor no longer deletes shaders and textures not in a .meg file
• The divider between tools and map view in editor can now be dragged, helping with certain resolutions
• Fixed several causes of crashes