How great is Wing Commander?

F

Franz29

Spaceman
So, I built a machine to run my old Wing Commander III and IV games and I just finished WC III. I have to say, for a game that is 12 years old and pre-3D acceleration it holds up remarkably well. The graphics don't look that far behind the times and the gameplay was just more immersive than anything else I have played on the latest generation consoles and PCs (Including Prophecy, which I finished last week!). And on a high spec machine (for the game at least), I didn't have the long load times I got used to all those years ago.

Best news of all, I found an old copy of the Kilrathi saga at a car boot sale (think garage sale for our cousins across the pond) this past weekend and the guy didn't know what he had so it cost me less than a fiver; so now I have the dilemma of do I play WC IV next as originally planned, or play the series in order (and maybe III again) over the Christmas break. What a great problem to have. Leaning towards playing in order, I never finished the original back in the day, so now might be the time to do it.

Looks like Christmas is going to be full of Wing Commander goodness (with maybe some Resident Evil IV thrown in for good measure ;) ). I loved WC III all those years ago, and the thing just got better with age.

Stephen
 
Probably carry on with WCIV. That to me, is by far the best one. But then again all WC games are great!
 
WC IV was a great game, I have not played it in awhile but I remember there was no cockpit view, (dont quote me on this) and wasn't fond of that aspect of the game. But, I did like the missions, that gave you a choice of differnet paths to take. It was an excellent game!
 
I prefer to play them chronologically. I haven't been able to do that in a while, hopefully soon though I'll have a machine just for old games. Can't wait to get back into the cockpit.
 
I don't see why the downgrade of cockpits in WCIV is such a major bust. Personally I prefer the flight scheme better than WC3. Prophecy actually had amazing cockpits and you can still see most of space outside.
 
Cockpits added immersion. It helped you to feel like you were inside a cockpit instead of a freely floating entity that shoots lasers. This among many other things was what made WC so fun was being totally engrossed in this awesome Sci-Fi movie.
 
I decided to play WC IV then go back to I and II (probably play III and IV again too ;) ).

I don't have too big a problem with the "floating cockpit". I rationalize it that modern cockpits are designed for maximum visibility and you mostly look at the HUD anyway. If you have to look at the cockpit, you are doing something wrong. Having said that, I did like the cockpits in III. Oh well, not too big a sacrifice for me.
 
Dundradal said:
I prefer to play them chronologically. I haven't been able to do that in a while, hopefully soon though I'll have a machine just for old games. Can't wait to get back into the cockpit.
Click to expand...
Heh, through various circumstances I played the entire series in reverse order. Kind of an interesting way to experiece the story.
 
Well, I was into Wing Commander 1/SM and 2/SO big time when they first came out, then for several years I found myself computerless and out of touch. By the time I rejoined the technological world, Prophecy was in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart and I was instantly re-established as a Wingnut. I had a heck of a lot of catching up to do and managed to find WC3 at a yard sale and WC4 on Ebay.

Then I happened to stumble across the CIC and was absolutely floored that there were actually other people who felt the same way!!! So, in answer to the original question, Wing Commander is not only great, it's the greatest sci-fi series ever created in any medium - which makes the CIC the greatest site ever created since Al Gore invented the internet.
 
I think you have to read the actual article there... Snopes is a neat site, but they're pretty bad about marking things "false" a bit too easily. It's very, very easy to go from the actual quote to the 'invented the internet' bit (and otherwise awkward not to).
 
No, I agree, it clearly does say in that snippet that he did, in fact, create (not invent, though) the internet, but this is one of those occasions where even Snopes is lacking. The section of his response prior to this WAS about the initiatives he had been involved in developing to better secure the internet for business and how he was part of the group that was responsible for (at least in the US) the ability to conduct business securely online. I couldn't find the full reference (then again, I didn't really do a lot of looking for it, I just remember the discussions we had in a politics class about it, where we had the full transcript).

Even then, it is a stretch to see that Gore developed anything other than the guidelines for such activity, but as is the case with all politicians, he likes to claim responsibility to enhance his reputation. In this case the statement came back to bite him in the butt, big-time.
 
Cockpit

I never was a fan of the clunky cockpit in the early WCs. Besides taking a whole lot out of your visible space it seemed pretty archaic. Fighter pilots have been using HUDs for a very long time. Even some new BMWs use HUDs. I was only too happy to see it go in WCIV.
 
I think it is all about simulating the combat experience over the accuracy of the cockpit. Sure, you climb into an F-16 and you certainly can see all the instruments and the physical switches and various flight controls that enable the aircraft to operate. Despite this, the pilot spends the majority of the time looking forward through the HUD or around the outside world, maintaining situational awareness.

I think that until computers can effectively simulate a 3D environment through the use of a visor or something equivalent (virtual reality), taking half of the screen up with a physical cockpit is not accurately simulating the combat experience.

That said, there is something to be said for the 'ol Hornet cockpit
 
Don said:
I don't see why the downgrade of cockpits in WCIV is such a major bust. Personally I prefer the flight scheme better than WC3. Prophecy actually had amazing cockpits and you can still see most of space outside.
Click to expand...


Eh...Prophecy's cockpits compared to WC1-2 are seriously wanting. To me, the lack of cockpits did a lot to break that 'you're really there' experience. That immersive feel i got in Privateer and WC1-2 with the full cockpits was awesome, and definately lost later on.
 
I started with WC3 and didn't really understand why people were so big on cockpits. I turned them off so I could see better and justified it because in real life you could look above and behind you (especially in the arrow), so taking the cockpit out was a better simulation than only seeing a small square in front of you.

When I played WC1 though, I could really see the difference cockpits made. I felt like I was in a much sturdier ship the first time I flew the Scimtar and it really did help with the immersion. I also disliked how the information was set up with the radar above you instead of having all the info you needed in the same spot.. but I also liked this because it simulated how different fighters have different quirks that make them more or less desirable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top