James Pero

Gaming

Someone made a perfect X-Wing simulator so you can blow up the Death Star in VR

Project Stardust puts you directly in the cockpit during one of Star Wars' most epic battles.

For Star Wars fans, there are few moments in the franchise's history more memorable than the battle of Yavin in which rebel fighters outmaneuver the Empire to destroy the Death Star for the first time.

While the franchise may never be able to deliver a dogfight that's quite as exciting or pivotal as the battle of Yavin, we've got some good news for anyone looking to relive that piece of cinematic history.

Meet: Project Stardust

This VR simulation created by self-described "Coding Master Jedi," Dylan Stout puts players directly in the cockpit of an X-Wing where they can test their mettle against some formidable TIE Fighters.

Project Stardust is modeled after a 1983 Atari game called simply Star Wars and was designed by Stout, who also does AI and VR research at the Utah School of Computing, as a research project on virtual reality sickness.

Though the game was made with research in mind, it's also designed to appeal to Star Wars fans and gamers on an entertainment level.

“Pilot an X-Wing as you destroy TIE fighters, Turbolaser turrets, and avoid Darth Vader while making an attack run.”

Project Stardust

The game is still currently being updated regularly and will soon introduce a new survival mode which, "pits the player against an overwhelming Imperial force."

While Project Stardust is an impressive recreation of an iconic Star Wars moment, it may soon take a backseat with the release of Star Wars: Squadrons, an action VR game published by EA that lets players battle it out in high-def interstellar dogfights set to be released in October.

Until Then...

Project Stardust is free and is now available through Sidequest VR, which allows people to sideload content onto their Oculus Quest. Sadly, it's also only compatible with headsets that are tethered to a PC.

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