Capital Ship Combat in WC Games

Originally posted by Wildshot
I've noticed this more in the X-Wing series than in the Wing Commander series, but it seems when capships want to maneuver and turn in a different direction, they always do it suddently and sharply. Never the way you would think such a larg ship would be able to move. Weird.
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I would assume that has something to do with the limitations of the physics engines at the time. I don't think the more recent games (WCP, X-WA, FS, etc...) have that problem.
Of course, the problem in the first two WC games was probably also tied to the use of bitmaps instead of polygons.
 
That is quite weird, and also the undeniable fact that they fly waypoints.

If you have an autopilot like that, whats the point of having a captain? Are they so cheap that they let fighters do all the work? If you need to destroy something use your ship! Not some fighters.

Weird.
 
Originally posted by Darth Thrakhath
That is quite weird, and also the undeniable fact that they fly waypoints.

If you have an autopilot like that, whats the point of having a captain? Are they so cheap that they let fighters do all the work? If you need to destroy something use your ship! Not some fighters.

Weird.
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Wha?

Firstly, they use Navpoints, not Waypoints :) It's actually mentioned in the ICIS manual that waypoint is an archaic term.

Secondly, autopilot does exactly what a helmsman in the modern navy would do in most situations. It sits there and flys you in a straight line, or, in a few interesting cases, a complex maneuver. You still need a captain to command the ship, tell it where to go, and form the top of the chain of command.

Thirdly, fighters are used because they're a cheap, effective anti-capital ship weapon. The balance of power shifted from large battle ships to carrier vessels with the invention of shield penetrating missiles circa Action Stations. A carrier can easily strike any capital ship with a wing of bombers and some escorts without getting anywhere near their range of fire.
 
Originally posted by Darth Thrakhath
I was talking about in the game TIE Fighter, the capital ships never attack, they just shoot at whatever comes into range.
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Ah, in a thread called Capital Ship Combat in WC Games where all the recent posts have focused mainly on Wing Commander, it helps if you specify another game :)
 
In one mission in WC3, (and I forget which one), you have to clear Navpoints for the Victory and her escorts. At one of those waypoints is a Kat carrier. Playing the mission, I saw the coolest thing i've ever seen in a WC game. I got my ass kicked, and was about ready to eject when in jumped one of the Victory's escorts (presumably with the rest of the group), and headed right for the carrier taking it out. It RULED.

That was almost as cool as one time on a scramble, I went to launch and a Dralthi flew through the Victory's flight deck and slammed into me.
 
Originally posted by Darth Thrakhath
I was talking about in the game TIE Fighter, the capital ships never attack, they just shoot at whatever comes into range.
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First of all TIE Fighter capships are incredibly slow, it takes them ages to come near another capship. Once they are in range, they do shoot at each other. And IIRC, there are a couple of missions where capships mini-jump near another capship and they do engage in battle.
 
Like that cool mission, when you must bring Adm. Harkov´s flagship down, and in the middle of the battle appears Darth Vader´s flagship (ISD Avenger?) and he kick ass Harkov´s ship
 
As opposed to most missions, where they sit roughly 20k out and launch TIE bombers at the ship you're supposed to be protecting?
*chuckle*
Star Wars ships appear to be much more lethal in relation to the fighters of that universe, probably mostly due to the massive quantities of guns mounted on the ships (not modeled accurately in any X-Wing game, btw), but also due to the relatively low amount of damage that a warhead does when compared to the equivalent in WC.
 
Originally posted by junior
As opposed to most missions, where they sit roughly 20k out and launch TIE bombers at the ship you're supposed to be protecting?
*chuckle*
Star Wars ships appear to be much more lethal in relation to the fighters of that universe, probably mostly due to the massive quantities of guns mounted on the ships (not modeled accurately in any X-Wing game, btw), but also due to the relatively low amount of damage that a warhead does when compared to the equivalent in WC.
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Yeah really....I mean, I used to sit there for ages trying to take out a Mon Calamari cruiser in my handy dandy TIE Fighter...and it just wasn't working.

Fighters really serve no purpose in SW, besides clearing other fighters out, or possibly taking out the occasional small cap ship.
 
Originally posted by Ladiesman^


Yeah really....I mean, I used to sit there for ages trying to take out a Mon Calamari cruiser in my handy dandy TIE Fighter...and it just wasn't working.

Fighters really serve no purpose in SW, besides clearing other fighters out, or possibly taking out the occasional small cap ship.
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They do have one at least one major purpose - close-air support for ground offenses or any situation where you have troops needing escort or cover. Fighters can weave in between defenses pretty well to disable them, or to deliver strikes that a capship can't make because their guns are too big and inaccurate.

Capship guns are pretty low-accuracy, with regards to fast moving targets. They're also wasted when it comes to escorting shuttles in for ground missions that fighters could handle. Beyond that, while fighter warheads may not seriously damage a ship... they CAN damage the weapons. Think the major strike in False Colors against the guns and shield emitters of the drydock where the Vorgath was docked.
 
It would seem like a better idea to build just carriers and Lancer frigates. That way you can launch fighters, and be defended too.

Of course, then someone figures out that if they build and launch ships with big guns at their enemies, those pathetic little frigates get fried along with the carrier.

And then the other side builds battleships, and the other side counters them with fighters and so on and so forth.
 
Originally posted by Darth Thrakhath

And then the other side builds battleships, and the other side counters them with fighters and so on and so forth.
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Confed had lots of Battleships early in the war. But they weren't nearly as effective as fighters.
 
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