It's just too difficult

[regpath]

Hi

I'm playing Wing Commander 1, but most missions are just too difficult for me.
For most missions, I should try at least 10 times to succeed in the mission.
I don't mind going to the 'losing track', but I really want to finish it. (experience the last mission)
My goal is to finish all the WC series (1~5, privateer 1~2).

Are they all that difficult as WC1?
By any chance, is difficult adjustment available in some series?

 

[ChrisReid]

WC1 is difficult, but it was also completely typical for the era is was made. Games were hard - you didn't get a save spot in the middle of a mission, and you had to replay levels over and over and over. Unfortunately, The Secret Missions expansions are even harder. But most of the later games in the series do have difficulty options.

While "difficulty settings" were pretty rare back in the day, cheat codes were very common! You can find the WC1 cheats at https://www.wcnews.com/cheats.shtml

 

[sgupta]

Heya regpath - it is a tough game, but a rewarding one, and if you practice you might find yourself getting much better! (That's not to say some missions aren't *still* beasts...).

You might want to mention any areas you're having particular trouble with; we might be able to give some tips. (I'm doing the same as you and on the Wing Commander 2 special operations at the moment.)

 

[Oggy]

Control method might make a difference, I play at my best with a joystick and at worst with the mouse, whereas others play awesome with the mouse. How are you controlling your ship?

 

[Toast]

Difficulty settings are available in some of the later installments in the series - definitely by WC4, probably earlier.

How far along are you? The game is challenging, but it's usually not too bad until about five missions in. Some things can make life difficult if you overlook them, though:

1) remember to accelerate up to combat speed when you see enemies. The Scimitar's cruise speed is 150kps, for example. If you try to fight at that speed, you won't be able to catch up to your targets, you won't be able to chase them off your transports, and once you get hit, they'll hit you again and again unless you do something besides turn slowly to avoid fire. At 150kps, you might as well be sitting still in a dogfight.

2) afterburners are for escape - the moment I take even one hit, I usually try to get some distance in order to give the shields time to recharge. Puttering around at the same speed after taking a hit is a good way to get hit over and over again.

3) never use afterburners in an asteroid field

4) always use afterburners in a minefield

5) never take a Jalthi head on

Let us know how a typical engagement starts for you and maybe we can come up with specific suggestions?

Also, the losing path in WC1 is *very hard*. Quite a bit harder than the winning path.

 

[Klavs81]

Nobody ever said an interstellar war against a race of sapient carnivorous felines was gonna be a cakewalk, sonny!
Best thing to do is consider yourself dead until the Kilrathi make it so. All of us are dead. The best thing there is?

Try and take a few of them with you!

 

[Dondragmer]

First, try slowing the whole game down. The GoG DOSBox version defaults to 4,000 cycles, but I find WC1 unplayable above 3,300 cycles.

Are they all that difficult as WC1?

The games are difficult in different ways.
WC1 is mostly a targetting challenge. Lead your target, fire a burst, evade while your energy regenerates, repeat.

WC2 makes the targetting easier (on ships with ITTS) but the Kilrathi are more accurate and have more powerful guns. Also, WC2 has a rarely-mentioned debug feature, where you can adjust the AI difficulty. It's mentioned here - use the "Origin" command line parameter, then while in flight press "Alt-i" to increase AI skill, and "Ctrl-i" to decrease it. If it's working, you'll see red text saying "Dynamic Intelligence = #". You may need to use the shortcut multiple times before the number changes; possible values range from 0 to 10. Also, when you destroy ships the number silently increases, so you'll need to lower it again periodically. Just to be clear, this is a cheat code like any other - but it's much more subtle than the commonly-used alt-delete "finger of death". If you want to experience WC2 without spending months mastering its quirks, use it. For me and my suboptimal reflexes, it makes the notorious final mission of Special Operations 1 an interesting challenge instead of a frustrating curb-stomp.

WC3 is very different, and not just visually. As others have said, you finally do get a choice of difficulty levels. It's also a more tactical game, needing more thought and less twitch reflexes. You'll face multiple Kilrathi ships simultaneously, and need to decide which are the most immediate threat, and plan ahead to get them in your sights.

WC4 is like WC3, except it has quick-time events every 30 seconds where you're told someone has missile lock and you hit the "launch decoy" button.

Privateer can get tedious. You definitely want to upgrade your ship a lot, but enemies scale with it. So, don't just grind for cash and then fit your ship with the most expensive gear available - grind for cash and fit your ship with the most cost-effective gear available. Other people have better advice here than I do.

Also, the losing path in WC1 is *very hard*. Quite a bit harder than the winning path.

This is good advice, with one exception. If you just can't beat Kurasawa 2, accept the loss and go to Rostov.

[Edited to change the command-line parameter "Origin -k" (which also grants invincibility) to "Origin" (which still enables the AI adjustment).]r

 

[Ijuin]

Privateer can get tedious. You definitely want to upgrade your ship a lot, but enemies scale with it. So, don't just grind for cash and then fit your ship with the most expensive gear available - grind for cash and fit your ship with the most cost-effective gear available. Other people have better advice here than I do.

I agree. For one thing, you have absolutely no need for any guns more expensive than Tachyons, EVER. The pricier guns have less range and lower energy efficiency than Tachyons, and except for the Righteous Fire version of the Plasma guns, the DPS increase over Tachyons isn't all that great either.

On the other hand, must-have upgrades for your Tarsus that you should buy ASAP are the Tungsten Armor (only 2k credits, and gives you an extra 10cm of armor on all quadrants), the Afterburner, and the level 1 Engine upgrade (to get enough power to actually use the Afterburner). Getting these are an even higher priority than upgrading to guns stronger than Meson, and you definitely want the level 1 Engine upgrade if you plan to use such guns--you will only get three or four shots at a time with the base reactor power otherwise.

 

[cff]

Mesons is far the best bang for your Buck as far as guns go. Wehther you prefer Tachyons or Plasma is a matter of taste. I usually do better with Plasmas or even mixed, but your fighting style might differ.

 

[Mekt-Hakkikt]

And Mesons make a great sound when fired .

I never had much use for the Plasma guns. I had a soft spot for the Neutron and Ionic Pulse cannons but objectively, they weren't very good.

 

[Halcyon]

I agree with what was said. WC1 is probably the hardest, but my favorite along with Privateer. I think if you stick with it, you'll have good experience by the end of it.

The advice regarding controls and proper PC setup/speed is very important for WC games in general and can make your job as a ace fighter jock much harder if incorrect.

 

[centaurianmudpig]

The fun is in the challenge. I got my arse kicked by the Wing Commander series many times. It was very frustrating. Now, it's a different matter. It took many hours to get there. It was a game series that captivated me and kept me playing. It still frustrates me today. Not as much. For now, survive to fight another day.

 

[Ijuin]

And Mesons make a great sound when fired .

I never had much use for the Plasma guns. I had a soft spot for the Neutron and Ionic Pulse cannons but objectively, they weren't very good.

Neutron hits the hardest of the "cheap" guns, despite the short range. If you prefer heavy guns up close, they can work well once you have the level-1 Engine upgrade to power them.

 

[Toast]

Back to WC1 for a moment (since OP seems to be asking about how to get through that game), take a good look at the stats of the fighters you're facing. You'll end up developing your own rules of thumb for how to deal with them.

Two examples:

1) Salthi are fragile. While this seems obvious, since they're the smallest enemy fighters, they're actually fragile enough to be destroyed outright by a single missile hit to the rear. If you're being swarmed, fire an IR or FF missile at one and then turn your attention to a different fighter. That missile stands a good chance of killing that Salthi on its own; even if it doesn't, it will send that Salthi into evasive mode, leaving you with one less fighter to deal with for about a minute while you shoot down one of his buddies. This is much better than getting tag teamed by two Salthi at once.

2) Gratha and Jalthi have incredibly thick forward shields and armor; you can hit a fresh Gratha or Jalthi with all the power in your gun capacitors, but you will still practically never kill them in a single pass this way. They'll still be flying and fighting, and your guns will be empty and recharging. Not good. If you can, afterburn around these fighters and turn around behind them. Their rear armor and shields are not anywhere near as strong as their front, and you *can* kill either of these fighters with a full gun capacitor on a Raptor or Rapier from behind. These guys are also not very fast or maneuverable, so once you're behind them, it's not too difficult to stay there.

Two more tactical points:

3) If you haven't learned how to do an afterburner slide, learn how! There is almost never a reason to suffer a head-on joust with an enemy fighter where you trade blow for blow. Use the afterburner slide when facing off; you can hit him, he won't hit you. Much.

4) Despite the advice your wingmen give you about saving your missiles for big ships, don't. There's usually no reason to. Big ships and transports are mostly helpless against you; use the missiles on the fighters. The only exception to this is when you're trying to take out a capital ship or transport that is running for a jump point and will vanish if you take too long to get around to hammering it. In this case, do save your missiles for the big ship, and throw everything you've got at them before they manage to jump away.