Star Wars: The Battle of Endor

Star Wars: The Battle of Endor from 2004 is a freeware action game created by a single author, Bruno Rojas Marcos. It is a fan tribute to the space battle from the finale of the original film trilogy: the player climbs into an Alliance fighter and dives into the chaos above the forest moon of Endor, among capital ships, fighter swarms and fire from every direction.

The game bets on immediate action with no lengthy preparation. No campaigns, no hangars — the moment it starts you are in the battle, and it does not end while you are still flying. This arcade approach, close to old coin-op machines, won considerable popularity among Star Wars fans, and the title spread through gaming websites around the world in its day.

By 2004 amateur games could manage full 3D graphics, and Battle of Endor demonstrates it: simple models, but a brisk pace and a screen full of ships. The sheer density of the battle was its main trump card — few commercial games let the player face so many targets at once.

Freeware built on famous licences is a fragile thing; projects vanish together with their authors' websites. That makes cataloguing such titles as part of fandom's gaming history all the more important.

OldGame.cz keeps a card for this fan-made battle, with its year of origin, its author and pictures from the melee above Endor.