Star Wars : Empire at War Star Wars : Empire at War ( sometimes abbreviated EaW ) is a real - time strategy ( RTS ) game that takes place in the " Star Wars " universe . Promising to end the perceived mediocrity of past " Star Wars " RTS games ( like " " and " " ) , " Empire at War " started from the ground up . The game was developed by Petroglyph , comprising many former members of ( known for the series ) . This company has developed a completely new engine specifically for " EaW " known as Alamo . It uses several higher - end shader effects such as soft shadows , specular lighting , and particle effects for dust clouds and explosions . The game spawned an impressive mod community , and was followed up by an expansion pack , " " , taking place between the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin and the Battle of Endor . Gameplay . The game features a brand new style of play to make things a bit more realistic . Instead of building workers , gathering resources , and recruiting individual units , players are granted resources based on how many planets the player controls . Controlling worlds increases a player ' s cash flow and provides unique bonuses depending on the planet ( e . g . , Armor increases , discounted prices , special unit production ) . Battles are carried out both on a planet ' s surface and in orbit . Whoever controls the planet ' s surface , controls the planet itself . There are different factors to keep in mind depending on your status as an attacker or defender . Attackers must secure Reinforcement Points to increase the number of units they deploy , while Defenders may deploy up to 10 " units " on a planet immediately . Attackers have their advantages , though . They may call in bombing run s if they have Bombers in orbit . Likewise , ground - based installations ( like the Ion cannon and Hypervelocity gun ) can fire upon units in orbit during space tactical battles . Unlike in " " , shields will form an actual physical barrier that must be penetrated and protect bases from artillery and bombing runs . Assorted building pads litter the playing field in both space and land battles . These pads allow the player to build useful structures ( e . g . , turrets which can easily destroy enemy units , bacta healing stations ) " Empire at War " takes place between and , concluding with the construction and possible destruction of the Death Star . " Empire at War " features three factions , although only two are playable . These factions are the Rebel Alliance , the Galactic Empire , and the Black Sun ( playable with modding ; see below ) . Units in this game are a mix of Clone Wars – era and New Order – era . The Empire ' s advantages include powerful ships and swarms of TIE Fighters , while the Rebels , on the other hand , must rely on swifter ships and Raid Fleets ( small ground troop fleets that can bypass space defenses ) . Like many RTS games , " Empire at War " features a " Rock - Paper - Scissors " unit usage style — for every unit there is a counter - unit . Brett Tosti , the LucasArts producer , has stated that this encourages players to create diverse armies and fleets with units that counter other units , as opposed to building a bunch of " super units . " Players are also able to call on reinforcements during battle , including heroes like Darth Vader and Obi - Wan Kenobi . Players can also construct planet - borne ion cannons , factories , and space stations . Over forty locales are featured including Yavin 4 , Tatooine , Dagobah , and others from the movies and Expanded Universe . The destruction of Alderaan cannot be prevented regardless of the player ' s actions . Hidden Items . The following are units and planets that were removed for the final version and are hidden or mentioned in the internal game files . Some have been unlocked via XML and MEG editing . A few of these planets ( such as Kamino ) & units ( such as Luke Skywalker ) were included in the expansion pack . < br clear = " all " > Endings . There are two different endings to " Empire at War " campaign mode depending on the side the player chooses to fight for . The end of the Rebel campaign closely follows the canonical ending of Episode IV . A cutscene shows Luke Skywalker ' s X - Wing destroying the Death Star and the award ceremony that follows afterwards . However , this ending should not necessarily be treated as canonical , as the final battle with the Death Star can take place over any planet in the game . Moreover , it is still possible for the Rebellion to " win , " even if the Empire destroys other planets besides Alderaan , including Yavin 4 . The end of the Imperial campaign is non - canonical , as it is intended to be more of an " alternate history " in the vein of the Infinities universe . The ending cutscene depicts Darth Vader leading a ground assault on what is presumed to be the main Rebel base , the Rebel defenders are quickly crushed as Vader orders his troops to move in . If the player uses the Death Star in the final battle , the game plays a different cutscene where Moff Tarkin successfully fires the superlaser against the last Rebel world . Afterwards , a shuttle is seen flying to the Death Star , flanked by two TIE Fighters . In a scene reminiscent of the Emperor ' s arrival in Episode VI , an assembly of Imperial troops is shown waiting in one of the battlestation ' s hangars for the shuttle to land . As the shuttle deposits its contingent of Royal Guards , the Emperor disembarks , greeted by a kneeling Lord Vader . Palpatine congratulates Vader , claiming that the last Jedi and the Rebellion are defeated , and that it is all as he had foreseen . Two other non - canon endings can be seen in Galactic Conquest mode . If the Rebels defeat the Empire without destroying the Death Star , or the player loses the game as the Empire , the ending cutscene depicts a pitched space battle over an ecumenopolis , presumably Coruscant . A Rebel fleet closes in on an Imperial Star Destroyer with Darth Vader aboard . As the Imperial defense crumbles , Vader chokes the Star Destroyer ' s captain for his apparent incompetence and escapes in his TIE Advanced x1 moments before the ship is destroyed . From there , the same award ceremony cutscene follows that was in the campaign ending . Also , if the Empire destroys the last Rebel planet / one with Mon Mothma on it , the battle will be replaced by the Death Star destroying a planet , followed by the Death Star cutscene . Modding . As revealed in early press releases and interviews , " EaW " is marginally open source — with much of the game being controlled through ( * . txt ) , files ( * . xml ) , files ( * . dat ) , and ( * . lua ) . Anyone with the knowledge and software needed to alter these files can do so . The text files are easily edited in most text - editing programs and control the unique ship names that appear on many of the capital ships as well as a fair amount of the stories used throughout the Galactic Conquest mode . The XML files control much of the data responsible for the appearance and behavior of units and buildings . These files are often , by default , launched in a web browser which allows for viewing only . WYSIWYG web editors ( e . g . , or ) , text editors such as Notepad , or proprietary XML editors can edit XML ( though the latter two are most common due to their relative ease of use ) . DAT files require software capable of reading the information embedded within . In " Empire at War " , DAT files store almost all of the text found within the game . Lastly , the Lua files are used primarily for high - level scripting and AI . The decompiled files come with the Map Editor , and can replace the scripts in the EAW directory without having to compile them . It is now possible to create new ground and space maps with the map editor released by Petroglyph . Included in the map - editor download is a plug - in for 6 that can export models into . alo format used by the Alamo engine . However , 3ds Max 8 users who patch their software to the Service Pack 3 version are able to use the separately released 3ds Max 8 exporter in conjunction with the shaders provided with the map editor . Modified shaders created by " EaW " modder Mike . nl fixes an issue where the models in the viewports using Rskn shaders are invisible . 3ds Max 8 SP 3 is also necessary in order to use the exporter included with the " Forces of Corruption " map editor . The community has been pressing forward in terms of modding , going so far as to implement diplomacy , create new particles , and even have detachments of transports assigned to a specific fleet in Galactic Conquest mode . There exist some fan - made programs to assist with the editing of what can be edited , such as an . alo file viewer and importer . Demo . Before the full game , a demo version was released . It consists of one Galactic Conquest mode not featured in the full version . In this mode only three planets and a few units are available . The story is set some time after the establishment of Echo Base on Hoth as the Rebel Alliance learns about an Imperial base in Vergesso asteroids . Fearing that it may detect their presence , the Rebels send Han Solo to deal with it . After the base is destroyed , Han is sent on a mission to liberate Tatooine . There he finds out that the Imperial forces are commanded by Boba Fett . The demo ends after the player captured the planet . This may contradict other sources as Tatooine appears under Imperial control until after the Battle of Endor . But it can be assumed that the Empire simply recaptured the planet later . Expansion pack . An expansion pack was announced at E3 May 9 , 2006 . It adds 40 new units , 13 planets , a new faction and new warfare and features . It was released October 24 in the U . S . and October 27 in Europe . Continuity . The game has several inconsistencies with established canon . Some of those in the following list may be an issue of game balance or mechanics . Reception . " Empire at War " was well received by fans , and many considered it the best of the " Star Wars " RTS games . Gamespot called the game " the RTS fans had been waiting for . " Others were disappointed that a sequel to " " had not been made . Some critics , at the worst , claimed the game to be shallow and repetitive , while others considered it fun but basic . The game holds an overall rating of 79 . 88 % on aggregate ranking site Gamerankings and a 79 on Metacritic . Individual websites such as Gamespot praised the game ' s " epic - looking battles , " " spot - on sound effects , " and contrasting gameplay styles between the two factions , the Rebellion and the Empire . However , the game was not without fault , as Gamespot found the battles somewhat repetitive and the land battles lacking compared to other facets of gameplay . Another popular gaming website , IGN , reviewed the game , giving it a 7 . 6 / 10 . They said that it provided " an authentic Star Wars experience , " relating the experience to playing with " Star Wars " action figures as a child . IGN also complained of the game ' s repetitiveness and relative lack of variety , although recognized that the game ' s creators were somewhat hampered by the setting .