Quote Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard View Post
TIEs are cheap and easy to produce, and even then the Empire began experimenting with models with shields at the time of the OT (I believe Vader's TIE was essentially a next generation prototype that had them and maybe a hyperdrive). Considering that twenty years before ANH the only interstellar starfighter we see required a large external ring but X-wings have one as standard it's possible that it wasn't until the time of the OT that the tech became cheap enough.

Because a TIE is pretty much just an engine with guns and wings.
Oooh boy, now I feel all the time I played the old DOS game, TIE Fighter, and obsessing about the different spaceship models didn't go to waste

I don't remember the details of all the ships, but the thing is, TIE isn't a ship model, it's a whole line of ships used by the Empire (basically all of their small military craft). The bowtie-looking ones are TIE Fighters, the most basic models, and IIRC it's the only one that doesn't have shields. It's about as bare-bones as it gets. Then you have TIE Interceptor, a somewhat higher-quality fighter, TIE Bomber which has a double cockpit and heavier weaponry, I think Vader's ship was a TIE Superior or something like that... most of those have curved wings, unlike the flat ones on the TIE Fighter, which is an easy way to tell them apart. Not 100% sure which of those were made up for the games though, I'm under the impression TIE Bombers aren't in the movies. I should look those ship models up though, it's been years and I've forgotten most of it...