The 5 Deadliest Pilots

And I have to agree with DCook...Primate is almost always my primary wingman in WC4. Hearing that line was great every time.

Kind of off topic, but you know what I really missed from WC3 onward (and I can't remember if WCP let you choose your wingman or not, I haven't played it in forever)- being forced to fly with certain wingman. I always kind of thought the idea of picking your wingman detracted from the experience in later games, because 90% of the time (at least for me) I would tend to stick with the same wingman. I really liked in WC 1 and 2 having a variety of wingmen you were forced to fly with, from a really good wingman like Iceman to a "WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!?!?!" wingman like Maniac- it really added to the experience, especially when the difference in wingman skill was so pronounced.
 
In Prophecy and Secret Ops, you return to the WC1/2 model, as Casey was no more a commander of a carrier's flight wing than Blair was before WC3.
 
Well, when the next "traditional" style WC game comes, I hope they take the "can't choose your wingman, can't choose your loadout, can't choose your ship" model of the earlier games (and if they want to make it so you can choose all those things, make it a bonus that opens up after you beat the game and want to play through it again)... few things got me going like the old SM 1 missions where they would throw you back in a Scimitar and have you face off against a bunch of Jalthi/Gratha.... you earned those kills :)
 
I would like a compromise--you don't get to choose your wingmen or your ship, beyond choosing whether to be in the escort or the bombing part of a mission (as in some WCP missions), but you get to choose what orndance to load.
 
Well, when the next "traditional" style WC game comes, I hope they take the "can't choose your wingman, can't choose your loadout, can't choose your ship" model of the earlier games (and if they want to make it so you can choose all those things, make it a bonus that opens up after you beat the game and want to play through it again)... few things got me going like the old SM 1 missions where they would throw you back in a Scimitar and have you face off against a bunch of Jalthi/Gratha.... you earned those kills :)

Yeah, I was pissed at Halcyon for sticking me in a Scimitar because "the other fighters are being repaired", because I brought my Raptor home without a scratch on her, thank you very much! :mad:

On a vaguely topic related point (;))... anyone ever wonder how good a pilot Shotglass may have been in his day?

My God, how awesome would that be as an Easter-Egg style bonus to unlock in a future game? Get to fly with Shotglass! :D
 
I dunno, I always felt the loadout was part of the character of the ship you flew- for instance, in WC1, not having Imrecs on a scim or hornet was part of the experience. The fighters of WC3 + 4 lost some of their distinctiveness when you could load up every hardpoint with imrecs or FoF's if you wanted to
 
To name the five most lethal pilots... Hawk would definitly be on the list. I'd be afraid just to fly with the guy, he's nuts!

Other then that, I'd have to say #2 Jazz (he was the best wingman i had)

#3 Iceman... what can I say, i like the artists touch.

#4 Cobra... the bitch was just plain mean!

#5 ...hmmm... i guess blair.
 
Having been playing WC2 again, I have to say Shadow's pretty good. Well, until she dies, anyway. But up to that point, she's really something, though she's fighting easier ships, obviously.
 
I dunno, I always felt the loadout was part of the character of the ship you flew- for instance, in WC1, not having Imrecs on a scim or hornet was part of the experience. The fighters of WC3 + 4 lost some of their distinctiveness when you could load up every hardpoint with imrecs or FoF's if you wanted to

True enough - having or having not the Imrecs really makes difference out there. But... if a Tarsus (which is the most primitive and outdated design) can change its loadout, why Hellcats and Thunderbolts, which are much more fresh - can't?
 
I dunno, I always felt the loadout was part of the character of the ship you flew- for instance, in WC1, not having Imrecs on a scim or hornet was part of the experience. The fighters of WC3 + 4 lost some of their distinctiveness when you could load up every hardpoint with imrecs or FoF's if you wanted to


Exactly my feelings.
 
True enough - having or having not the Imrecs really makes difference out there. But... if a Tarsus (which is the most primitive and outdated design) can change its loadout, why Hellcats and Thunderbolts, which are much more fresh - can't?

I'm not sure if it's known that Tarsus is older than Hellcats and Thunderbolts for sure- a lot of the WC3 fighters from my understanding are relatively as old as the hills too.... and just because one can do something within the game universe (like load every hardpoint with ImRecs, or Torpedos, or whatever) doesn't mean it's a great idea from a gameplay standpoint.

It makes more sense to allow the player to pick his loadout in a game like privateer, for two reasons- first, because financially speaking, he's responsible for every missile he fires, so at least there is an incentive to conserve (unlike WC3-4, where you could pick the same missile every mission and never run out). Secondly, Privateer also did not have a defined mission structure like the other WC games, nor were you operating off a carrier featuring several different types of fighters with defined mission roles- there was a linear storyline in Privateer, but you could follow it at your whim, and your one ship had to be customizable to handle whatever type of mission you could decide take, because you (or your colonel) couldn't assign yourself to a dramatically different ship for just a short series of missions- In Privateer, your ship had to be able to reconfigure to deal with missions varying from exploration, escort, trade, pirate whacking, or striking Kilrathi military targets. Hence, Privateer's nature required allowing the player to customize his ship.

Personally, I wouldn't mind allowing customization of fighter loadout in a reimagining of Armada- you basically manage the strategic and logistical aspects of a carrier group (including fighters and capital ship assets) with the option to fly off your carrier after you give your task force commands to follow in the moments before engagement (e.g. Carrier hang back and offer logistical fighter support, all cruisers close within gun range of enemy destroyers, all medium fighters protect cruisers, all light fighters protect carrier, etc.)- kind of like a hybrid of Armada and Rainbow Six. Again, it makes more sense here because A. the gameplay is open ended (you're in command of your carrier group's missions), and B. you face logistical issues in having good missiles in the future if you load all your good missiles up for fighting in a single engagement.
 
Hey, didn't we have the chance to change our missile loadout in WC3?

Right, obviously it's not a technical limitation in many cases. With enough modification, it's possible to put a torpedo on a Hellcat in the Wing Commander CCG. It's foremost trying to balance the needs of gameplay with some consideration of the abilities you'd expect junior/senior officers to have.
 
So, what about Grayson Burrows? I mean, how many pilots can kill even a light fighter flying so well that it hits it's own missiles in a feakin' TARSUS!?
 
when *I* play Grayson Burrows, I definitely give all the top aces a run for their money on sheer kills.. what with the expense of a centurion and all, thats alot of pirates to kill just to keep up with expenses.

besides.. trading missions are for pansys :p
 
1. Maniac (lady luck is on his side)
2. Hawk (completely nuts)
3. Jazz (In WC1)
4. Primate (i always choose him and Hawk in WC4)
5. Iceman
 
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