Privateer 2 Wingman Bio Purpoisefully Changed at the Last Minute (January 25, 2023)

[Bandit LOAF]

On the left we have a pre-release Privateer 2 screenshot published in the December 1996 issue of PC Review, seemingly from a review build. On the right, the same wingman listing for Delphinius from the finished game.





What does this tell us? Someone very, very late in the process decided to remove a SPACE FIGHTER PILOT PORPOISE from the game's lore. The final version is such a weird joke, too... it almost feels like it was written to cover up a bug but... Delphinius is just a normal wingman?





Of course, we all know the Wing Commander universe has always been very, very careful to avoid borrowing anything from Larry Niven's Known Space.





I wanted to make sure I was right about Delphinius being a normally skilled wingman, so I hired him and there we go, he's happily battling a pirate.




--
Original update published on January 25, 2023

 

[tarsus]

Is it possible that this was done since originally it would work with "the Darkening" and adding "Privateer 2" to it meant they needed to be coherent with the universe?

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Is it possible that this was done since originally it would work with "the Darkening" and adding "Privateer 2" to it meant they needed to be coherent with the universe?

No.

 

[Bob McDob]

I'm guessing that they never finished the porpoise art on time.
Too bad, a Duress would have stayed useful the whole game.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Back in 1996, the review build actually leaked and showed up on Warez sites. I refused to download it at the time and I'm kicking myself now because it would be one heck of an artifact. But keep an eye out as old pirate disks get archived, we might be able to find an older Privateer 2 someday!