Wing commander 2 cutscenes question

K

Knight2001

Spaceman
I am thinking about doing a WC2 remake and was wondering something.
I would like to recreate all the cutscenes with better gfx and audio, however I need to see all the cutscenes in order to do that. I downloaded the WC2 script, and have the mission walkthroughs so I could play the game numerous times and record every possible combination of cutscene / mission briefing, but that would take a lot of time.
Is there anyway to view/create/modify WC2 cutscenes/mission briefings or access character gfx?

Any info on the file formats, tools, etc that might help me dissect the cutscenes would be helpful.

Thanks,

Knight
 
I don't think anyone has created a tool that will allow you to just watch the cutscenes. When you say remake WC2, what exactly are you talking about? Are you talking creating a brand new engine? (ala 3d engine?). Are you talking about recreating all the cutscenes? You planning to redraw the scenes or make 3d enactments of them? Sounds like a lot of work ahead of you...
 
By remake I mean to recreate the entire game using more current technology.
Wing Commander 2 was a good game but played horribly. It was plagued with bugs and the gfx are really outdated now. I can barely even play the game on my computer without it crashing and I have heard about many others with the same issues.

The game itself would be the same.. more or less.

I thought about redoing WC1 but someone else is already doing that, plus it runs fine using Dosbox and other software. Privateer was a great game, but way to involved for me to learn game editing with. WC2 is fairly simple from a design standpoint so a great place to get me feet wet as it were.

I would like to use an engine like FreeSpace Open to do it. As for the cutscenes I would use Poser or Maya to create and animate them. I would be trying for as realistic looking characters as possible. I would also add full voice to the game and bring in numerous new features. I guess in a way it would be more of a WC2 Enhanced or slightly re-imagined game. With FreeSpace Open I could have more impressive missions with capital ships battling it out. Overall the story would remain the same only look better. It will also sound better as I would redo some of the music as well.. Well technically my wife would, she’s the musician. One thing at a time though. My first concern is 3D character animation and cutscene creation. If I succeed at that then I will move on with the project and make it official. If I can’t do that then I will concede defeat and let it die.

Granted my abilities right now are limited so it will be a learning experience. I have not done a lot of 3D work and never made a game mod, but I figure if I’m gonna learn how then best to start by redoing WC2 as it could use it. I could make my own original game, but I want to start off an existing game to make my life easier.

I know this will be a massive undertaking, but I need a new challenge. 
It will be a spare time project so it will probably take a long time.

Then again EA/Origin might pop up with a Cease-and-desist and game over anyway. Though they have generally allowed remakes so far.
 
Knight2001 said:
Wing Commander 2 was a good game but played horribly. It was plagued with bugs and the gfx are really outdated now. I can barely even play the game on my computer without it crashing and I have heard about many others with the same issues.
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I'm not sure what you mean. I've never had wc2 crash on me. In dosbox it plays just fine (once or twice it has quit in dosbox but I think thats an instability more inherent to dosbax than the actual game).

Now if your talking about the Kilrathi saga version of WC2 then sure its buggy.

Recreating the "cutscenes" in 3d might be fun but personally I don't see the point of a "remake" and even less a reenvisioning.
 
Knight2001 said:
The game itself would be the same.. more or less.
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Uh-oh - bad way to start a remake. :p

Knight2001 said:
I thought about redoing WC1 but someone else is already doing that...
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AFAIK, there's no one *seriously* working on a WC1 remake. If you've seen something like that, it's probably one guy with an idea and two screenshots. Most of those have no idea what they're doing, then in a couple months someone else comes and announces a new WC1 remake and the cycle begins again.

Knight2001 said:
I guess in a way it would be more of a WC2 Enhanced or slightly re-imagined game.
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Ah, that sounds like a better description of the idea, then. ;)

(Though I can't say I agree with going down that road - IMHO most "enhanced remakes" would end up being better games if they were original stories... even remakes that aim to be 100% faithful are something of questionable usefulness, since it's never possible to match the original).

Knight2001 said:
I could make my own original game, but I want to start off an existing game to make my life easier.
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Hehe, I'm not sure. :p
 
Knight, if it's something you want to do it doesn't matter who else is interested. Just do it anyway.
Looks like you are going to have to play all the way through the game to see all the cutscenes though, although the script of all the mission briefings are on the CIC, so you could always go with your own style but the original missions.

Ed is right though, you need to sit down and think through exactly what you want to achieve. A clear vision, knowing where you want to go, will help you overcome a lot of the technological hurdles you'll come across.
Plus bags of determination too! :D

But as I started saying, if you want to do a WC2 clone with modern graphics, just think about your focus, start doing it and you'll get loads of support and helpful hints and very constructive criticism. Go for it and let us know how you get on. :)
 
Thanks terroshak for the comment.. :)

As for doing something original as others have suggested.... I could, but generally my stories are very dark and edgy. It would be a very different feel than most are use to for the Wing Commander universe.

A tad Black Lance like.. Only not truely bad guys.. It would also probably take place right after the destruction of the Tigers Claw.. It would just take 10 times as long while I work out a storyline.
 
You could always put your 3d skills to use and model some ships and make them usable in valves source engine for me. (Hellcat, arrow and wc3 yellow tractor would be great to start with)
 
AD said:
You could always put your 3d skills to use and model some ships and make them usable in valves source engine for me. (Hellcat, arrow and wc3 yellow tractor would be great to start with)
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That would be interesting, except my modeling skills ship wise are beginner right now. I was and still am planning on using this as a learning experience. Plus I don't have a copy of the source engine to play. I hope to buy the Plat ed of HL2 with the when it comes out though. It would be interesting to see something WC done in source though.
 
I would argue that -- and the terrible Privateer Remake learned this the hard way -- the very first thing someone interested in remaking a Wing Commander game needs to do is to set up the ability to play the original game for reference.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
I would argue that -- and the terrible Privateer Remake learned this the hard way -- the very first thing someone interested in remaking a Wing Commander game needs to do is to set up the ability to play the original game for reference.
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That is easy enough since both WC1 and WC2 are available legally for free download via Home of the underdog s. Granted they are the Saga versions so a bit buggy.

As for the Privateer Remake I have not played it yet. Which one was terrible? I noticed there are a few of them.

I agree that many remakes are poorly done and if I was not happy with the quality I would never release it. It’s the perfectionist in me.
 
No, they're not. Any copy of Wing Commander I or II you find online is "warez".

(It's also worth nothing that the Win9x port of WC2 is particularly poor -- it's very buggy and is lacking pieces of art and music.)

The original Privateer Remake was very poorly done and organized -- a second attempt, Gemini Gold, has fixed a lot of the problems by going back and making the game as much like Privateer as possible.
 
First off Welcome Knight2001:D
Fresh blood around here is always welcome as well as fresh ideas. As Terroshak said if you want to do it Do It. Don’t let any one of us stop you. Personally I’m one of those that’s not to key on remakes. Remember we view these games with nostalgia and there’s no way to please every. Personally my suggestion would be to work on your own idea. It sounds like you already have some.

Knight2001 said:
As for doing something original as others have suggested.... I could, but generally my stories are very dark and edgy. It would be a very different feel than most are use to for the Wing Commander universe.

A tad Black Lance like.. Only not truely bad guys.. It would also probably take place right after the destruction of the Tigers Claw.. It would just take 10 times as long while I work out a storyline.
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There’s nothing wrong with dark. WCIV was dark and was one of my favorites. You could work with your modeling while you’re working on your script. By the time you have your ships modeled you’ll have your script done and you’ll be rolling. You could also get your feet wet by helping some people around here like AD while you’re working on your script.

Knight2001 said:
I downloaded the WC2 script, and have the mission walkthroughs so I could play the game numerous times and record every possible combination of cutscene / mission briefing, but that would take a lot of time.
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Trust when I say you REALLY don’t want to do that. I tried that and as I much as I love WC I was sick of it and gave that up. Thankfully LOAF came to my rescue and gave me all the code containing the text. As it was that still took about a year to clean up and put the WC2 Script together. Which it sounds like you already downloaded. Everything “should” be in there. It took a lot of testing but I may have missed something. Please let me know if I did. One of these days I’ll start working on the next revision of it. But I digress. As you’ll note in the script most of the cut-scenes are fixed but it’s the debriefings that are the most complex. The complexity in the script it what makes WC unique and difficult to recreate but is can be done. You have a lot of resources here so never be afraid to ask for help.

Again Welcome and Good Luck.:cool:
I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

PS Thankfully Origin has never (to my knowledge) served any C&D like in KQIX.
 
Shades2585 said:
PS Thankfully Origin has never (to my knowledge) served any C&D like in KQIX.
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Not exactly, but back in the day Origin did ask sites to remove specific content and to this day EA actively challenges sites that host full Wing Commander games.

Knight2001 said:
Wing Commander 2 was a good game but played horribly. It was plagued with bugs and the gfx are really outdated now. I can barely even play the game on my computer without it crashing and I have heard about many others with the same issues.

I thought about redoing WC1 but someone else is already doing that, plus it runs fine using Dosbox and other software.
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You just need to use the Loadfix command in DOSBox. Otherwise it's pretty much just as stable as WC2. I don't have any glitches and the art style still outshines most all other science fiction themed games.
 
Thank you ChrisReid but to clarify I meant that I was not aware of Origin/EA serving any C&D on any freely distributed fan made games like what happened to KQIX. (Which thankfully has risen from the ashes.)
 
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