The Art of Wing Commander Arena - Part Ten (October 15, 2007)

Bandit LOAF

Bandit LOAF

Long Live the Confederation!
This is the third of three Wing Commander III/IV ships updated for an early Wing Commander Arena concept. This is the Bearcat, which is unquestionably the most changed - it looks like a cross between the original ship and the Wing Commander I Rapier (which the game ended up including)!


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This is part of a series of beautiful Wing Commander Arena concept images graciously provided by Gaia Industries. You can find the original article here. You can thank the guys at Gaia by picking up Street Trace NYC on Xbox Live Arcade!

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Original update published on October 15, 2007
 
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Interesting concept here. It almost looks like they also used a lot of Hellcat V influence as well, although it seems like there is very little in this design from the original Bearcat.

It would be great if we could get some of the insider thoughts everyone at Gaia had during the ship selection process. There is always such great stuff on the cutting room floor.
 
I would never have guessed Bearcat. Rapier II from WC 1 (PC) and the Razor from WC 4 (the snout) was my thought. It looks very nice.
 
Mekt-Hakkikt said:
I would never have guessed Bearcat. Rapier II from WC 1 (PC) and the Razor from WC 4 (the snout) was my thought. It looks very nice.
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The razor didn't even pop into my mind, but now that you mentioned it, yeah the front section really reminds me of it as well.

The cockpit shape and engine bussards are the only things that are really calling out Bearcat to me.

Bearcat was a pretty good fighter as well, it's just too bad it got introduced so late in WC4 that it was quickly forgotten in favor of the Lance.
 
Sweet, keep releasing those concept pictures. Gives me something to model :). The longbow and and ummmm bearcat look great. The excalibur looked ackward, two conflicting styles (round and boxy)
 
Dundradal said:
The razor didn't even pop into my mind, but now that you mentioned it, yeah the front section really reminds me of it as well.

The cockpit shape and engine bussards are the only things that are really calling out Bearcat to me.

Bearcat was a pretty good fighter as well, it's just too bad it got introduced so late in WC4 that it was quickly forgotten in favor of the Lance.
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I probably thought of it because I like the Razor for reasons even I don't know. :)

I never liked the Bearcat, neither on the "good-to-fly"-level, nor on the feeling-level. I think it is the most boring super fighter.
 
I see a little of the Bearcat in this ship's nose and cockpit, but it definately shares much more with the Rapier in terms of lines than the Bearcat. Its a nice looking ship though, I would love to see it and some of the other designs you've been posting added to Arena as part of an expansion pack.
 
Mekt-Hakkikt said:
I probably thought of it because I like the Razor for reasons even I don't know. :)

I never liked the Bearcat, neither on the "good-to-fly"-level, nor on the feeling-level. I think it is the most boring super fighter.
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The bearcat was definitely a dull fighter. I liked its simple, solid looks, but its guns were next to useless up close, where I do most of my fighting.
 
Even without the gun's positioning problem I wouldn't like the Bearcat. Its looks were ok to me but all in all, I find it to be...well, dull, as you said.
 
I actually liked flying the Bearcat, but it definitely suffered from comparison to the Dragon. I would imagine that the Bearcat's stats were specifically designed to be fairly unremarkable, in order to ensure that people would appreciate the Dragon's superfighteriness.

Just imagine the Bearcat as a replacement to the Hellcat, though - dull and unimpressive? I think not :p.
 
Positioning problem? Weak gun loadout?

Are we talking about the same Bearcat? 4 Light tachyons with autotracking made it a very deadly dogfighter. Although I often turned off autotracking because it would mess up my leading of targets.

I think it might be "dull" to some because it really is like an Excal lite. It incorporates most of the Excal's features, but removes some weapons. I loved the look of the Bearcat, it's just too bad, again that it was overshadowed by the Lance.
 
Quarto said:
I actually liked flying the Bearcat, but it definitely suffered from comparison to the Dragon. I would imagine that the Bearcat's stats were specifically designed to be fairly unremarkable, in order to ensure that people would appreciate the Dragon's superfighteriness.
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I think the Bearcat's stats are very powerful, I would classify it as a super fighter. But it's just such a dull design, boring, uninspiring, I don't know how to put it. I just don't like the Bearcat, it's a superflous superfighter in my eyes.

Quarto said:
Just imagine the Bearcat as a replacement to the Hellcat, though - dull and unimpressive? I think not :p.
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Well, when you compare something to a Hellcat V it'll always win. :p

Seriously, I don't think the Bearcat is unimpressive statswise just flavour-wise. But I have the same dislike towards the Hellcat V (which is unimpressive statswise) so it kind of figures. I also have a hard to explain problem with the fact that the Bearcat has the same length and mass as the Hellcat.


Dundradal said:
Positioning problem? Weak gun loadout?
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Weak gun loadout certainly not, but positioning problem yes, even with the autotracking.
 
Mekt-Hakkikt said:
Weak gun loadout certainly not, but positioning problem yes, even with the autotracking.
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How so? It's tachyons are mounted in roughly the same position they would be if you were in an Excalibur. It's been a while since I've played WC4, but it might even be more on centerline than that so I don't see how there is a problem with their location.
 
How so? It's tachyons are mounted in roughly the same position they would be if you were in an Excalibur. It's been a while since I've played WC4, but it might even be more on centerline than that so I don't see how there is a problem with their location.
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No, they aren't - the Bearcat has noticeably wide-apart guns which make close dogfighting hard.
 
Dundradal said:
How so? It's tachyons are mounted in roughly the same position they would be if you were in an Excalibur. It's been a while since I've played WC4, but it might even be more on centerline than that so I don't see how there is a problem with their location.
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The Excalibur had a pair of reaper guns on the centerline.
 
Dundradal said:
How so? It's tachyons are mounted in roughly the same position they would be if you were in an Excalibur. It's been a while since I've played WC4, but it might even be more on centerline than that so I don't see how there is a problem with their location.
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Well, LOAF already adressed it but, no , the guns are on the extremes of the wing tips which seem noticably wider apart than on the Excalibur.
 
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