WC1 SM2: Firekka 4 (Re: Bossman [Spoiler if you haven't played])

sgupta

sgupta

1st Lieutenant
So just a quick random question about Bossman's demise:

Just finished WC1 SM2: Firekka 4 (protect two Exeters that jump out). Protected both, 14 kills, Knight got 1. Mission passed and I'm told Bossman got killed on Angel's wing. No bronze, but that's fine (think I needed that 1 kill I didn't get).

I always check the game scripts (Wedge's and also the PDF script kindly pointed out by Shades) to make sure I didn't miss anything major, and both resources show Bossman having a funeral, but for some reason I didn't get one (though I've seen it before).

Looked up a YouTube playthrough and there's no funeral scene for that person either (and he got the medal, so it's not that).

Anybody know what the criteria is for the funeral scene, or is this some kind of bug or a version thing (using regular DOS here)? Just curious! Thanks!
 
I'm pretty sure that's the way it was - no funeral for Bossman, and note that he's not marked KIA on the killboard. This is because WC1 did not include a mechanism for scripted death, either on-screen or off-screen. So, as far as the game mechanics are concerned, Bossman is alive and well - it's just that he doesn't have any more appearances in the recroom or in flight.

I'm not sure why the scripts include a funeral. It may be because someone was working from memory and you know how that goes - well, if you play WC1, you see funerals time and again for all characters, so when you reach the point where the only scripted death of WC1 occurs, you're likely to be dead certain afterwards that the Bossman funeral you saw earlier also occured here. It may also be that the KSaga version was modified to force a funeral scene - but I'm fairly sure it wasn't....

I actually wonder now whether it would be possible to modify the mission so that Bossman does actually die and trigger a scripted funeral. Maybe if an additional ship, piloted by Bossman, were placed at the Tiger's Claw navpoint, at the exact same position as the Tiger's Claw, he would end up dying in collision, and then the game would mark him down as dead?
 
Hi Quarto and thanks for the response. Welp, played it again, and not a bug; it just doesn't play. (Did win the bronze this time...with I think 1 less kill however that works lol.). Still no funeral, but interstingly, Chen *does* appear as KIA on the killboard.

Interesting hypothesis about trying to force the kill/trigger the funeral scene. I did note in the debrief Halcyon says they're waiting for Angel to recover and Boss's wife to come out to attend the funeral, so in a sense, no funeral scene makes sense. I just found it odd it's listed in the various walkthroughs I found, but you could be right that it's just for reference (doesn't say that anywhere if that's the case).

Any more feedback of course welcome.

BTW, this is the first time I've played the Secret Missions (1 or 2), and I'm having an absolute blast! =)
 
Humm.. This is interesting. Everything from my scrips are supposed to be a direct rip from the game files but it appears that in my first draft (from 2004) I added this. All subsequent unfinished drafts do not have this. It would appear in bit of nostalgia I did what Wedge did and added the funeral scene from WC1 and SM1. I will make sure this does not appear in the next draft I release. Sorry about that.
 
sgupta said:
Hi Quarto and thanks for the response. Welp, played it again, and not a bug; it just doesn't play. (Did win the bronze this time...with I think 1 less kill however that works lol.). Still no funeral, but interstingly, Chen *does* appear as KIA on the killboard.
Click to expand...
Oh, that is interesting - sounds like my recollection is flawed too, then :). I distinctly recall him not being marked KIA, but if you're seeing a KIA out there, then I must be wrong.

Interesting hypothesis about trying to force the kill/trigger the funeral scene. I did note in the debrief Halcyon says they're waiting for Angel to recover and Boss's wife to come out to attend the funeral, so in a sense, no funeral scene makes sense. I just found it odd it's listed in the various walkthroughs I found, but you could be right that it's just for reference (doesn't say that anywhere if that's the case).
Click to expand...
That's right... I very, very vaguely recall that from the last time I played through SM2. I found myself thinking, "hey, that's a cute way of masking the fact that you can't trigger the funeral on command!" :). I do wonder why they did it that way, though. It's standard practice for a modder, to work around the game's limitation, but come on, these guys were building a new executable for SM2 anyway, so why not add something to trigger a funeral scene? Of course, when you've got a tight deadline, it often turns out that seemingly simple code changes are impossible, because they set off a chain reaction of problems to deal with. I suppose that could have been the case here, though I can't imagine what the actual problems would have been.

By the way, all this Bossman funeral talk makes me wonder - has anyone ever tried playing SM2 with Bossman KIA already? I mean, did the game include alternative dialogues (no distressed Angel and so on) for the occasion where Bossman doesn't die on Angel's wing, or did they just assume that everyone always replays missions to keep wingmen alive?
 
Paladin and Bossman's funeral scenes were removed from SM2 and replaced with Jazz and Doomesday.

As far as I can tell there is no alternative dialogue for Angel. SM2 must change the imported games and "resurrected" Bossman.
 
Quarto, maybe it depends on the version or something. I always check the killboard before heading out on a mission and I know he wasn't listed as KIA prior; only after this mission (but I did double check and it's definitely there now). Could also have to do with the save being used I suppose. During SM1 I had to use the WCSAV utility to fix a mission to prevent Spirit's incorrect death due to the overflow error. I suppose it's possible if you played the KS version, KIA doesn't work the same too, though we might both be talking about the DOS version. Interesting.

Shades2585, no need to apologize =oP. The nostalgia made sense and I actually really liked being able to read it; I just was wondering why I didn't get it is all. Now at least I know that's normal. =)

Interesting conversation about what happens with Bossman already KIA; looking forward to meeting the new pilots soon; this is my first time getting to play SM2. ^.^

(I can't even tell you how WC1 *still* blows me away with what it can do to this day.)
 
Sgupta, as those scripts have not been tested I'd appreciate any constructive feed back you can give me. If the flow of a conversation is wrong. please let me know how if flowed so that I can fix it. I'd really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Shades

PS: As you like WC so much I hope you've been looking into Star Citizen. It looks to be truly mind blowing.
 
Hey Shades, if I notice anything else, I'll be sure to let you know!

I've been a WC vet for a while. My first was actually WC3 back around the time of its release, so now I'm going back to try to play most of the Chris Roberts collection. (all the Wing Commanders, Privateer, and possibly Strike Commander).

And yes, I'm a pledger (a little too much so sometimes...) over on Star Citizen with a shiny Super Hornet (among others) in my Hangar. ^.^ [Alistair Harkness CS WolfpupNX over there]. VERY excited about SC!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top