Farbourne
Rear Admiral
I had a question, or perhaps just a comment, regarding something that often rubbed me the wrong way about Wing Commander, and I thought people here might like to answer, or at least discuss it. I have never had the opportunity to play Armada, Academy, or read any of the novels, so maybe this issue is addressed there; if so, please enlighten me. Sorry for the length...
In Wing Commander I, there's some collection of fighters and capital ships in service--some old (Scimitar, Tiger's Claw, Dralthi I?), and some relatively new (Rapier, Hriss, Snakier). Fast forward 10 years to WC2, and we see the respective arsenals have almost completely changed. The newest WC1 fighter (Rapier) is still in service in a modified form, but is now one of the oldest fighters, and the cap ships especially have all been completely replaced. This makes sense--there were 10 years, after all, and two completely new technologies developed in that time (phase shields and torpedoes) that probably completely changed the nature of warfare. Plus flak guns and transport-mounted turrets got a lot deadlier, stealth technology was implemented (though Confed didn't acknowledge it), AM guns became common on capships in response to phase shields, the old WC1 designs surley couldn't compete. Furthermore, a number of the new ship designs kind of resemble the old designs (Dralthi I --> Drakrhi, Jalthi --> Grikhath, Exeter --> Gilgamesh, Dorkir --> Dorkathi, etc). So we see in a 10 year span with several dramatic new technologies almost a complete change in the respective arsenals, but the new one kind of resembles the old one in some ways.
Now fast forward to WC3. I believe the time span between the end of SO2 and WC3 is only about 2~3 years. There are no major new technological revolutions except for missile decoys, "phase-penetrating" technologies (which probably forced capships to re-adopt conventional shields) and jump-capable fighters, which, while significant, seem to be the sort of technologies that could be retrofitted on existing ships rather than requiring completely new ship designs. Yet none of the WC2 ship designs show up in WC3--even the relative new ones (Gothri, Sabre, Morningstar, Crossbow) or the very deadly capship designs that presumably would have some longevity (Fralthra, Ralatha, Waterloo). And none of them even resemble the WC2 designs in the slightest (except for the Grikhath --> Vaktoth and the Dralthi, of course). The only crossover is the crashed Concordia. And to cap it all off, we're expected to believe that the Victory has been in service for years, despite the fact that no ship remotely resembling the Victory has appeared in any previous games.
I know the practical reasons for this--every game had a new engine and wanted to introduce new ships. But what are the "in game" reasons why it takes 10 years and some amazing technology changes to almost completely change both fleets, but then takes less than 3 and no new design-changing technologies to completely change the fleets, to the point where the new ships bear no resemblence to the old? Maybe the battle of Earth accounts for the Terran side--they lost all their "newer" WC2 type ships, and had to revert to "older" WC3 designs that had been in mothballs, but what about the Kilrathi?
Thoughts?
In Wing Commander I, there's some collection of fighters and capital ships in service--some old (Scimitar, Tiger's Claw, Dralthi I?), and some relatively new (Rapier, Hriss, Snakier). Fast forward 10 years to WC2, and we see the respective arsenals have almost completely changed. The newest WC1 fighter (Rapier) is still in service in a modified form, but is now one of the oldest fighters, and the cap ships especially have all been completely replaced. This makes sense--there were 10 years, after all, and two completely new technologies developed in that time (phase shields and torpedoes) that probably completely changed the nature of warfare. Plus flak guns and transport-mounted turrets got a lot deadlier, stealth technology was implemented (though Confed didn't acknowledge it), AM guns became common on capships in response to phase shields, the old WC1 designs surley couldn't compete. Furthermore, a number of the new ship designs kind of resemble the old designs (Dralthi I --> Drakrhi, Jalthi --> Grikhath, Exeter --> Gilgamesh, Dorkir --> Dorkathi, etc). So we see in a 10 year span with several dramatic new technologies almost a complete change in the respective arsenals, but the new one kind of resembles the old one in some ways.
Now fast forward to WC3. I believe the time span between the end of SO2 and WC3 is only about 2~3 years. There are no major new technological revolutions except for missile decoys, "phase-penetrating" technologies (which probably forced capships to re-adopt conventional shields) and jump-capable fighters, which, while significant, seem to be the sort of technologies that could be retrofitted on existing ships rather than requiring completely new ship designs. Yet none of the WC2 ship designs show up in WC3--even the relative new ones (Gothri, Sabre, Morningstar, Crossbow) or the very deadly capship designs that presumably would have some longevity (Fralthra, Ralatha, Waterloo). And none of them even resemble the WC2 designs in the slightest (except for the Grikhath --> Vaktoth and the Dralthi, of course). The only crossover is the crashed Concordia. And to cap it all off, we're expected to believe that the Victory has been in service for years, despite the fact that no ship remotely resembling the Victory has appeared in any previous games.
I know the practical reasons for this--every game had a new engine and wanted to introduce new ships. But what are the "in game" reasons why it takes 10 years and some amazing technology changes to almost completely change both fleets, but then takes less than 3 and no new design-changing technologies to completely change the fleets, to the point where the new ships bear no resemblence to the old? Maybe the battle of Earth accounts for the Terran side--they lost all their "newer" WC2 type ships, and had to revert to "older" WC3 designs that had been in mothballs, but what about the Kilrathi?
Thoughts?