Cockpit or no cockpit?

P

Proteus

Spaceman
I think it was WC3 where they had that virtual mode view and in WC4 you only had that.
I think the best cockpit view was from WC1&WC2 the 3rdWC cockpit was not really to my liking although still nice looking.
Now I think if they can make a really nice looking cockpit than it would give a better feel of the ship and put you more into the action. I want to actually see the windows effects and cockpit itself should resemble the rest of the ship layout(not just one style of cockpit for all fighters). This new invention thing the "virtual cockpit" takes something out of combats it makes you feel like a turateer not a pilot. If these massive online people smarten up so we will see massive online Wing Commander types of games than the within high octane combat the virtual view would only obstruct,further lag,diminish the feeling of beeing in the cockpit.
 
with WC3, i used to get rid of the cockpit... i liked being able to see everythign around me... going back to play WC1 and WC2, i found it annoyingthat i couldn't get rid of that view... i like how it's done in Prophecy where there is a little bit for a cockpit but nothing to distracting
 
Less cockpit makes more sense, though. That was my single biggest complaint about the Rapier in WC2 - the cockpit made it difficult to see when compared to the other fighters.
At the point in time that they're at in WC, Confed would probably have the technology to build a sphere, which would be used as the cockpit, and have outside images displayed all the way around. Your view wouldn't display the fighter structure, and thus would be much better than what is normally displayed. Gauges could be displayed directly on the viewscreen. The only things that would interfere with this view would be the seat and your controls.
In short, the view would strongly resemble the forward view in Prophecy, with the addition of the flight stick and hand that's been absent for the past couple of games.
 
Prophecy had some good cockpit veiws. There is the struts and instrument panels in front of you but there is still lots of openness to it all. The instrument panel doesn't dominate a third of the screen as it does in WC1 & 2. Of course with WC KS you have the option to get rid of the cockpits. The instruments are more or less in the same place but the whole panel thing is gone. Personally I like to be able to see everything in front of me so I usually get rid of the cockpits.
 
damn wc4! they took away the prettiest wc feature... I remeber being in my cramped little tarsus the other day... and it REALLY set the mood.
 
I *ALWAYS* have cockpit on. In fact, my biggest gripe about WC4 and P was the lack of cockpit (WCP made a weak attempt at it..)

The cockpit just adds so much to the experience. I don't give a rats anus that I can't see perfectly everything. In fact, I think that adds alot to the game. It gave the fighters personality. In WC4 and P, what fighter I flew didn't matter....I don't care about the performance so much, i'm more worried about the cockpit view. In WC4/P, I was denied that.

In future WC games, I hope the cockpits come back. They could be like in X-Wing Alliance. That would be acceptable, although i'd like to see the displays worked into the cockpit. Instead of just having a magical HUD that just displays everything, I like things being in different positions and such. It gives the feeling that the fighters ARE actually different.
 
Starlancer has (judging from screenshots) a nice cockpit view and if you switch ships you will have a different looking one. The thing about this Starlancer cockpit is that it somehow creates your own atmosphere as you sit in your fighter. There is only a thin (yet strong) sheet of glass between you and death. Now I still have some gripes with this (ie. you sit far back) still they tried to come up with something unique.
I think with future space combat games (especially massive online ones) they should make the cockpit similar to as an f-16 (yet futuristic) In Wing Commander: the movie they used this same style and the results were great. (ie. combat was WW2 ish)
 
Iused to be totally pro cockpit, anything else was just not real to me. Now the fighters of today are getting the capability of a "see-through"cockpit by using little sensors on teh belly and tail of the fighter. I would imagine in a couple hundred years the technology would evolve to a point like we see in prophecy/WC4. I still like going back and playing with the cockpit on for old times sake though.

C-ya
 
I liked the cockpits in the old WC games (WC1/WC2), sparking wires on the instrument panel and all. With the later games it wasn't so important, but I still used the cockpit when I had the choice.

Best, Raptor
 
The Cocpit makes the game more realistic.I like WC1/WC2/Wc3 cocpits.
Wc4 is my favorite Wc ,but it would be perfect if it had cocpit graphics.
Prophecy,has cocpit graphics, but its useless.
 
Thats the biggest thing I hated about WC4 was the absence of the cockpit. I guess with so many new fighters in the game the developers said screw it. WC4, a game that symbolized the laziness of its creators. Cockpits all the way!!

Should'nt this be a poll?
 
WCIV made the horrible horrible mistake of listening to what people want. This is incredibly wrong because people have absolutely no idea what they want.

In 1994 after WC3 everyone insisted that they loved the new cockpit-off mode and that the best thing about WC was the full motion video...
 
I like having a cockpit to look at, but when the fighting gets hot, I prefer the HUD for it's visibility. I just say put both in and let the user decide.
 
I've always been more with the, "want a cockpit" view too. Maybe it just makes me fly better because I feel like I'm there-but I swear it improves my flying! (Which is already amazing, so I tell ya-I can be a badass. :D )
 
Principally I do like cockpits and always switch them on, sole exception: WC3: I didn't like the the Cockpits there at all and they took very much of the visibility.
 
I look at it this way:
On the one hand, if you were in an *actual* cockpit, the panels/etc. wouldn't be as "in the way" as they are in the flat 2D display of your PC screen, so I'm kinda "justified" in turnin' 'em off.

Yet on the other hand, havin' 'em off takes a little bit of the realism away from it, since in a real cockpit, you'd HAFTA look at all that stuff.

I usually played WC3 w/ the cockpit off (= better visibility), but it was kinda nice havin' the option there to turn it on if I wished.

Too bad the subsequent games didn't *at least* have that as an option... Oh well.
 
That's a good suggestion, Loaf. Right now the instrument cluster is so small that angling the MFDs wouldn't really make much difference. But I could move them apart more and have it wrap around the pilot more.

I'm also thinking I should get rid of the "titanium bathtub" look of the side armor. Just keep the instruments and joystick/throttle stuff and the seat, sort of like Junior suggested earlier in this thread.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top