Aesthetics ... Which WC Do You Like Best?

T

The_Gneech

Spaceman
Regardless of your view of what is "really" in the WC universe and what isn't, what incarnation of WC do you think looks the best? Which one is the coolest?

My personal vote is WC1 and the original Secret Missions. Later versions had more bells and whistles, higher resolutions, 3D, etc., but none of them quite held the same punch. I was actually a bit disappointed to see WC3 switch over to FMV, as cool as the FMV was, because I much preferred the animated look.

The very best "moment" any WC game, for me, was the "scramble" sequence from WC1, all the red lights while you ran to your fighter, with that fast-moving march playing to get you moving. (I also liked that the march reappeared in WC3, even if it was in a watered-down form.)

If I could have my way, future WC games would get away from FMV and go back to animated cutscenes. They could be more animated than just Privateer's talking heads, certainly ... but they'd probably be cheaper than FMV and still carry the same emotional punch.

Granted, I'm a cartoonist, so that opinion may well be a minority view. ;)

Anyway, I'm curious as to what other people like. The moody 'toons of WC1 and WC2? The beat up grunge of WC4? The gray blocks of WC3? The antiseptic high tech of WC:p? Or even the WWII ductwork of the WC movie?

-The Gneech
 
I'm not a great fan of WC4... I really prefer the Kilrathi-Terran war, so the first three episodes... (gee, I loved those golden medals on my breast !)
 
Visually, as far as graphics are concerned, I prefer Prophecy. That's not to say it's my favorite game in the series, but I do think it looks the best.
 
Pretty much my favorite EVERYTHING in WC is from WC3. I liked everything about it. I REALLY liked the ships from it. The Ranger, I think, is one of the most "realistic" looking ships i've seen. As in it seems like a very practical design.

WC1 was alright looking, but I hate the color scheme. It's so....green.

WC2 was a bit better, but it started getting into the rounded ships which I don't think look as good as straight edged ones.

WC4 is pretty much like WC3, so I guess that goes too.

Priv was decent. Nothing really stuck out there, but nothing was bad either.

WCP was ok, but to me the designs look too "generic", as in you could take most of the fighters out of WC and drop them into another sci-fi universe with minimum hassle. Also, for fighters they go back to the rounded design.

About the FMV's, it'd be a bad bad bad bad bad bad bad move to bring back the animated cutscenes. If not FMV, then at least CG. If they made it animated, no one would buy it but established WC fans. I personally look towards the future...not the past. We're past cartoon games at this point.
 
WCP held the most fun for me to blow enemies out of the sky, due to its nice graphics.

But I liked the mood of the earlier WC games (Wc1+2, Priv1) for most of the reasons you named.

My all-time favourite WC game is Wc1 and will ever be, though Wc2 is extremely close behind.
 
Privateer! Privateer! Privateer! you can't go past Privateer! the best game in the series,Higher res would make it rock but other than that perfect
 
I liked a lot WC1, and both SM,SM1 and SM2, but is true it was soo green, anyway WC1 Rocks!!! Is the best, I hope someone remake it
 
re: FMV vs animated, I think that the acting in Prophecy was an example of a game being let down by bad acting (and scriptwriting come to think of it). I didn't think much of the young talent, and Hamill and Wilson kind of showed everyone up IMHO.
The good thing about animation is that all you have to worry about is the quality of the voice actors. Emotion can very plausibly be carried by animation: take Full Throttle for example. The game is six years old, I played it the other day, yet still manages to convey across to me a great sense of atmosphere through good animation (for its time, no doubt it could do much better now), great voice acting, and a very solid script.
Also in terms of budget, I am under the impression that a large part of the Prophecy story had to be scrapped on account of running out of budget. I was thinking that voice talent must come cheaper than full acting (Mark Hamill is a well established voice actor too), and consequently say $4 million could be spent on hiring some top quality voice actors + a top quality animation team, who with a good script (hire a top quality screenwriter too)should be able to produce an atmospheric and powerfully moving game, without paying pisspoor actors money they don't deserve (let's face it, the guy playing Casey really didn't give that great a performance).

Just a thought. Obviously FMV is ideal, but actors often come really overrated nowadays, and can really fart up a game or a movie given half a chance.

Oh and I feel it's a toss-up between WC2 and WC4 for best looking. WC2 had a distinct high-quality air to everything in it: the storyline and character development was solid, and the graphics and gameplay were far advanced fom the original. WC4 just blew me away. It was well-directed, well acted (surprising for a game) and consistent, well designed sets and an immersive atmosphere. It didn't feel like the game and the FMV were unrelated like other games would.
 
Gameplay:
I'd have to say Prophecy. While each game had its share of unique traits (who can forget the whump whump whump of the the silver-ball mass drivers in WCI? the floating wrecks of enemy capships in WCIV?), overall the technologies available for the VISION engine made WCP tops for the flying aspect.

Cutscenes/Cinematics:
IMO, WCIV without question. Again, each game had certain appeal in parts, but the FMV and film, coupled with great sets and above average acting, moves WCIV to the top for me.

[Edited by OriginalPhoenix on 07-16-2001 at 20:25]
 
I preferred the VISION engine over the WC4 engine (an upgraded version of the WC3/Armada engine) and the Privateer engine (the ultimate version of the WC1/2 engine). Why? Because with the VISION engine, you could actually get a deflection shot off the shields, whereas in WC3 if you shot at the shields, you missed the fighter completely.
 
WCIV certainly had the best looking FMV cutscenes, though I really love WC2's animations... I guess there's really no way to compare the two, I love them both!

As for ship designs, my favorite is WC2, Privateer gets second place (close call!)... I really liked those cartoonish ships, I think the necessity for low-poly models in WC3-4 made the ships kind of lose their characteristics IMHO... Sure, the Banshee, Bearcat, and Excalibur are nice, but the Arrow is just a prism with winglets, and the Longbow is SOOO boxy!

Then in WCP they do a much better job of making the ships look detailed... the Shrike for instance could fit perfectly among the WC2 ships designs, if it only were a little greener...
(BTW, what's wrong with the greeness of WC1-2??? I don't see any of you complaining that the Kilrathi were too orange! :))

--Eder
 
Originally posted by Ghost
I love Privateer aesthetics and gameplay and everything.
Click to expand...

That's for sure, Privateer's gameplay is the best.... Privateer is my all-time favorite game!

--Eder
 
Originally posted by Eder
Originally posted by Ghost
I love Privateer aesthetics and gameplay and everything.
Click to expand...

That's for sure, Privateer's gameplay is the best.... Privateer is my all-time favorite game!

--Eder
Click to expand...

Amen to that I also feel that Privateer's game play was the best by far and the freedom to do pretty much anything you want in the WC unaverse rocks! :)



[Edited by -=\/\/olf=- on 07-16-2001 at 23:51]
 
Prophecy played and looked better because of the engine it uses but it dosent touch the other WC's when it comes to plot. ( even though i did like it )
You cant get much better than WC4 when it comes to story, It kicked-arse in that department.

But my all-time favorite WC game would have to be WC3 closely followed by WC2 ( i didnt get a chance to play WC1 or Privateer ) . WC2 was one of the first PC games I had ever played and I was hooked right from the beggining and
I loved WC3 because it was the first game ever to make you feel like you were are part of a movie. Good memories really , thats probably why they're my favorites.
 
For the gameplay WCP is the best !
For the cutscenes, well I love all the WC. Even WCP !
WC3, 4 & P make you feel you're in a sci-fi movie. And Blair, Maniac and Tolwyn just rock !
But I also really love the animations of WC1 & 2. In fact I prefer the atmosphere of these 2 : there is still a place for your imagination !
So if there is another WC one day, I think it will be great if the money is spent to have high quality animations with good voice actors. We will be closer of the atmosphere of the firt opus !
And I want the Kilrathi back !!! :D
As allies or ennemies... But I want them baaaaack pleaaase !

[Edited by Sadic on 07-17-2001 at 04:36]
 
WCIV had a better story and was more in depth, WCP had far better in-flight fun and yet nothing beats WC3. There was something about the dark, mechanical feel of the Victory that exudes what I imagined a military spaceship would be.
 
Actually, it's extremely difficult to compare the aesthetics since WC1, for instance, was released 10 years ago...
What we have to say is that the WC games have always had the best graphics at the release, thanks to C. Roberts' team: WC1 was exceptionnal in 1991, WC3 incredible with his movies, and when I see the preview of Freelancer, I have to admit that it is the most beautiful game I've ever seen...
 
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