Impressive, Aren't They? (February 12, 2006)

02-11-2006, 15:00

In our new poll, we ask which Wing Commander games were the most technologically impressive at the time they were released. The original game featured incredible detail, dynamic music and branching campaigns. The second title expanded on all this and introduced amazing speech, which caused sound card sales to surge. Everyone remembers Wing Commander 3 for boosting CD-ROM sales with its liberal use of live actor FMV, and WC4 expanded on this with incredible production values, live sets and recording on real film. Prophecy pioneered 3D acceleration technology, and Privateer is well known for its open ended nature and tremendous freedom of choice. Armada pushed the multiplayer envelope many years before the market was ready, and dazzled dial-up modem users with the ability to play friends in different locations and across local networks.

Wing Commander has always made use of the very latest technology at the time of release, but vote now to support the game which you think produced the most impressive results at the time.

Our previous poll asked which WC role you would prefer to have. It should come as no surprise that nearly half of you would like to be a Wing Commander. Second and third places went to Captain and Admiral, so it seems more people would prefer to command a single ship rather than an entire fleet. Spy was the least popular option, even though they get to play with gadgets such a the D 3S 5.

What WC role would you prefer?

Marine: 7.89%

Wing Commander: 48.80%

Captain: 11.36%

Admiral: 10.56%

Mechanic: 5.41%

Spy: 4.28%

Bartender: 6.89%

Ship's Mascot: 4.81%

Total Votes: 1496

--
Original update published on February 12, 2006

TheFraix · 02-14-2006, 04:54

So far, the leading results are WC1 and WC3, with WC3 twice the number of votes.

Funny, I was expecting WC2 to be second behind WC3, considering the breakthroughs WC2 in terms of storytelling and speech recordings.

Well, I voted WC3 though.

PopsiclePete · 02-14-2006, 05:24

Although WC2 is probably IMHO the best WC game and was very impressive for it's time (speech ! a dozen floppies ! 1-hour install !), I think the poll result reflects well the impression WC3 made of the fans and the general public. WC3 was indeed very impressive.

I could tell you a funny story about our former Premier (province Prime Minister) Lucien Bouchard actually walked down the stairs of my basement to take a look at WC3, curious about the description I made of the game during diner. He just had an accident with the flesh eating bacteria and had lost a leg a couple months before, yet he walked down the tiny narrow staircase of our home basement to take a look at WC3

It was WC's glory days

XIII · 02-14-2006, 08:26

Although WC1 had no competitor when it was released, and WC2 brought a deeper development in the story, I think WC3 was the most impressive game in the series.

Ijuin · 02-14-2006, 15:18

When I first got WC3, I had never seen a FMV game before, so I was blown away by the video scenes, despite their being only 8-bit color.

maniac89 · 02-28-2006, 13:11

The cut-sceans and choice of story-line were amazing in Privateer 2.
Back on topic---When WC3 came out, most of us were blown away, like ljuin.

ChrisReid · 02-28-2006, 19:10

When WC1 came out, talking to pilots in the bar and flying the fighters (with the hand the moved to match your joystick movements!) blew us all away too. In 1990, if you had a hot new 386 machine, you used Wing Commander to impress your friends. A short time later, you bought a sound card and used WC2 to do the same.

maniac89 · 03-01-2006, 15:52

Talking heads

Delance · 03-01-2006, 19:28

I brought a sound card to play WC1, but later on it lacked the memory to play the speech of WC2.

Dyret · 03-01-2006, 21:03

Armada was pretty amazing. Unfortunatly, the cockpits left alot to be desired. I think the lacked the character from the earlier games. In Wc 1, 2, and 3 you could instantly see what ship you were, you couldn't in Armada, or maybe they simply werent intresting enough to remember. Quite sad, since it was so great in most other ways. I aslo missed talking heads.

ChrisReid · 03-02-2006, 09:33

There's a few reasons why the cockpits might not be as memorable. The designs had more of a common theme in Armada than most of the other games. It was easy to tell the Hornet/Scimitar/Raptor/Rapier apart because they were Green/Rust/Silver/Beige. But all the Armada ships were mostly metallic, except for the Kilrathi ships, which were all brownish. This comes to the next reason. There were ten flyable ships. I had my favorites, and most people probably didn't play all the fighters regularly. So I can pretty distinctly picture the ones I flew often. On the Confed side, that'd be everything except the Banshee, and for the Kilrathi, that'd be the Jrathek and Goran. Armada also debuted the invisible cockpits, so a lot of people jumped on that too. Overall, I don't think the Armada cockpits were any less distinct than the WC3 designs, and they were a whole lot better than the struts and huds we got in later games.

Bandit LOAF · 03-02-2006, 10:49

I would go even farther than that and claim that Armada had some of the most memorable cockpits of all.

The asymetrical Kor-Lahr? The low-visiblity Phantom? Awesome, memorable designs - however frustrating (in the case of the latter). Who can forget the Kilrathi claws-on-a-stick in their fighters? Neat, neat stuff.

What's more, at least three of the cockpits (so... 30% of them!) weren't even unique to Armada.

Dyret · 03-02-2006, 11:47

Yeah, the stick-claw was amazing, it was the first thing i noticed when playing Kilrathi. The "scanning" animation on the Right VDU was also pretty great. I think the reason for me not thinking of them as very memorable is what Chris said, they werent as colorful as the earlier, or as... (I dunno) as the WC 3 ones.

Which ones werent unique to Armada BTW? the Arrow looked alot like the WC 3 version, with less lights and switches, but i cant recall any others.

Bandit LOAF · 03-02-2006, 11:51

Wraith and Jrathek.

Dyret · 03-02-2006, 12:19

Neither of them had the same cockpits as in Academy, though.

Howard Day · 03-02-2006, 12:34

Well, the two Wraith cockpits were extremely similar - the only real difference is that the Armada one was rendered (like the ones in Privateer) and the Academy one was hand-painted. The Jrathek ones have more differences - armor and power displays are in different locations - but the general look of the cockpit is the same. Again - the Armada versions were rendered, while the Academy versions were hand-drawn. They did a remarkable job in getting the rendered versions to look almost exactly llike the hand-drawn versions. Remember - you can do anything you darn well please when you're just drawing stuff - actually making that drawing into a 3d object often presents difficulty.

ChrisReid · 03-02-2006, 20:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyret

Unfortunatly, the cockpits left alot to be desired.

The Armada cockpits called. They said you leave a lot to be desired.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyret

Neither of them had the same cockpits as in Academy, though.

Halman · 03-02-2006, 21:53

In Academy the Wraith is still a prototype, isn't it?

Dyret · 03-03-2006, 06:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisReid

The Armada cockpits called. They said you leave a lot to be desired.

Don't we all.

But sure, I won't complain any more.

ChrisReid · 03-03-2006, 09:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halman

In Academy the Wraith is still a prototype, isn't it?

Both the Wraith and Jrathek are in the development phases during Academy.

Delance · 03-03-2006, 23:03

It's interesting that the simulated academy Jrathek has a Confed missile.

Quarto · 03-04-2006, 01:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delance

It's interesting that the simulated academy Jrathek has a Confed missile.

Hehe, well, all WC1/2 ships have Confed missiles

.

Delance · 03-04-2006, 01:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quarto

Hehe, well, all WC1/2 ships have Confed missiles

.

Except the Ferret.

Manic · 03-04-2006, 01:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delance

Except the Ferret.

Unless you count the Super-Ferret. (effectively the same craft)

ChrisReid · 03-04-2006, 08:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delance

It's interesting that the simulated academy Jrathek has a Confed missile.

That's a really neat quirk. It's not a real Jrathek. It's a human simulation of one, so little things like the missile loadout being comprised of Confed weapons is a great touch.

02-11-2006, 15:00	#1
CIC Guest Posts: n/a	Impressive, Aren't They? (February 12, 2006) In our new poll, we ask which Wing Commander games were the most technologically impressive at the time they were released. The original game featured incredible detail, dynamic music and branching campaigns. The second title expanded on all this and introduced amazing speech, which caused sound card sales to surge. Everyone remembers Wing Commander 3 for boosting CD-ROM sales with its liberal use of live actor FMV, and WC4 expanded on this with incredible production values, live sets and recording on real film. Prophecy pioneered 3D acceleration technology, and Privateer is well known for its open ended nature and tremendous freedom of choice. Armada pushed the multiplayer envelope many years before the market was ready, and dazzled dial-up modem users with the ability to play friends in different locations and across local networks. Wing Commander has always made use of the very latest technology at the time of release, but vote now to support the game which you think produced the most impressive results at the time. Our previous poll asked which WC role you would prefer to have. It should come as no surprise that nearly half of you would like to be a Wing Commander. Second and third places went to Captain and Admiral, so it seems more people would prefer to command a single ship rather than an entire fleet. Spy was the least popular option, even though they get to play with gadgets such a the D 3S 5. What WC role would you prefer? Marine: 7.89% Wing Commander: 48.80% Captain: 11.36% Admiral: 10.56% Mechanic: 5.41% Spy: 4.28% Bartender: 6.89% Ship's Mascot: 4.81% Total Votes: 1496 -- Original update published on February 12, 2006

02-14-2006, 05:24	#3
PopsiclePete Mission programmer Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Amos, Québec Posts: 828	Although WC2 is probably IMHO the best WC game and was very impressive for it's time (speech ! a dozen floppies ! 1-hour install !), I think the poll result reflects well the impression WC3 made of the fans and the general public. WC3 was indeed very impressive. I could tell you a funny story about our former Premier (province Prime Minister) Lucien Bouchard actually walked down the stairs of my basement to take a look at WC3, curious about the description I made of the game during diner. He just had an accident with the flesh eating bacteria and had lost a leg a couple months before, yet he walked down the tiny narrow staircase of our home basement to take a look at WC3 It was WC's glory days __________________ PopsiclePete's WC Page : http://popsiclepete.solsector.net E-mail : PopsiclePete [at] hotmail.com

02-14-2006, 15:18	#5
Ijuin Lieutenant General Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 1,545	When I first got WC3, I had never seen a FMV game before, so I was blown away by the video scenes, despite their being only 8-bit color. __________________ Those who live by the sword...get shot by those who live by the gun.

02-28-2006, 13:11	#6
maniac89 I love Wing Commander: Prophecy Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: T.C.S. Midway Posts: 324	The cut-sceans and choice of story-line were amazing in Privateer 2. Back on topic---When WC3 came out, most of us were blown away, like ljuin. __________________ The Wing Commander: Prophecy Movie Project

03-01-2006, 15:52	#8
maniac89 I love Wing Commander: Prophecy Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: T.C.S. Midway Posts: 324	Talking heads __________________ The Wing Commander: Prophecy Movie Project

02-14-2006, 04:54	#2
TheFraix Lieutenant Colonel Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia Posts: 761	So far, the leading results are WC1 and WC3, with WC3 twice the number of votes. Funny, I was expecting WC2 to be second behind WC3, considering the breakthroughs WC2 in terms of storytelling and speech recordings. Well, I voted WC3 though.

02-14-2006, 08:26	#4
XIII Cadet Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Luanda, Angola Posts: 43	Although WC1 had no competitor when it was released, and WC2 brought a deeper development in the story, I think WC3 was the most impressive game in the series.

02-28-2006, 19:10	#7
ChrisReid Super Soaker Collector Administrator Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Seattle, Washington, USA Posts: 9,804	When WC1 came out, talking to pilots in the bar and flying the fighters (with the hand the moved to match your joystick movements!) blew us all away too. In 1990, if you had a hot new 386 machine, you used Wing Commander to impress your friends. A short time later, you bought a sound card and used WC2 to do the same.

03-01-2006, 19:28	#9
Delance Victory, you say? Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: São Paulo, Brazil Posts: 4,203	I brought a sound card to play WC1, but later on it lacked the memory to play the speech of WC2. __________________ "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." -- Chesterton

03-01-2006, 21:03	#10
Dyret Super Carrot! Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 2,101	Armada was pretty amazing. Unfortunatly, the cockpits left alot to be desired. I think the lacked the character from the earlier games. In Wc 1, 2, and 3 you could instantly see what ship you were, you couldn't in Armada, or maybe they simply werent intresting enough to remember. Quite sad, since it was so great in most other ways. I aslo missed talking heads. __________________ Glory to the many

03-02-2006, 09:33	#11
ChrisReid Super Soaker Collector Administrator Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Seattle, Washington, USA Posts: 9,804	There's a few reasons why the cockpits might not be as memorable. The designs had more of a common theme in Armada than most of the other games. It was easy to tell the Hornet/Scimitar/Raptor/Rapier apart because they were Green/Rust/Silver/Beige. But all the Armada ships were mostly metallic, except for the Kilrathi ships, which were all brownish. This comes to the next reason. There were ten flyable ships. I had my favorites, and most people probably didn't play all the fighters regularly. So I can pretty distinctly picture the ones I flew often. On the Confed side, that'd be everything except the Banshee, and for the Kilrathi, that'd be the Jrathek and Goran. Armada also debuted the invisible cockpits, so a lot of people jumped on that too. Overall, I don't think the Armada cockpits were any less distinct than the WC3 designs, and they were a whole lot better than the struts and huds we got in later games.

03-02-2006, 10:49	#12
Bandit LOAF It wears the skull of its dead mother on its head. When it becomes lonesome, it is said to cry loudly. Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Ashton, MD, USA Posts: 23,694	I would go even farther than that and claim that Armada had some of the most memorable cockpits of all. The asymetrical Kor-Lahr? The low-visiblity Phantom? Awesome, memorable designs - however frustrating (in the case of the latter). Who can forget the Kilrathi claws-on-a-stick in their fighters? Neat, neat stuff. What's more, at least three of the cockpits (so... 30% of them!) weren't even unique to Armada. __________________ Long live the Confederation, Ben "Bandit" Lesnick, LMG. "You go, Loaf! Get some!" -JPG

03-02-2006, 11:47	#13
Dyret Super Carrot! Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 2,101	Yeah, the stick-claw was amazing, it was the first thing i noticed when playing Kilrathi. The "scanning" animation on the Right VDU was also pretty great. I think the reason for me not thinking of them as very memorable is what Chris said, they werent as colorful as the earlier, or as... (I dunno) as the WC 3 ones. Which ones werent unique to Armada BTW? the Arrow looked alot like the WC 3 version, with less lights and switches, but i cant recall any others. __________________ Glory to the many

03-02-2006, 11:51	#14
Bandit LOAF It wears the skull of its dead mother on its head. When it becomes lonesome, it is said to cry loudly. Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Ashton, MD, USA Posts: 23,694	Wraith and Jrathek. __________________ Long live the Confederation, Ben "Bandit" Lesnick, LMG. "You go, Loaf! Get some!" -JPG

03-02-2006, 12:19	#15
Dyret Super Carrot! Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 2,101	Neither of them had the same cockpits as in Academy, though. __________________ Glory to the many

03-02-2006, 12:34	#16
Howard Day Pioneer Art Monkey Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Eugene, OR, USA Posts: 687	Well, the two Wraith cockpits were extremely similar - the only real difference is that the Armada one was rendered (like the ones in Privateer) and the Academy one was hand-painted. The Jrathek ones have more differences - armor and power displays are in different locations - but the general look of the cockpit is the same. Again - the Armada versions were rendered, while the Academy versions were hand-drawn. They did a remarkable job in getting the rendered versions to look almost exactly llike the hand-drawn versions. Remember - you can do anything you darn well please when you're just drawing stuff - actually making that drawing into a 3d object often presents difficulty.

03-02-2006, 21:53	#18
Halman PSY-YI-YI Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Duluth, MN, USA Posts: 205	In Academy the Wraith is still a prototype, isn't it?

03-03-2006, 23:03	#21
Delance Victory, you say? Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: São Paulo, Brazil Posts: 4,203	It's interesting that the simulated academy Jrathek has a Confed missile. __________________ "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." -- Chesterton

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