from Wc2 to Wc3

The ships in Super Wing Commander are exactly the same as the ships featured in other wing commander games. Example - the TCS Tiger's Claw (SWC) and the TCS Lexington (ARM). The time was not taken to make new designs.
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Firstoff, this is a very bad example -- the TCS Lexington in Armada *isn't* the same model as the Tiger's Claw in SWC. The ship shown in the *intro* of Armada is the same... the one that's actually used in Armada's engine is different.

I do know what you mean, though... and it's certainly *not* an issue of laziness. It's a matter of expense -- the models in Super Wing Commander were initially done in very high-res 3D, with thousands of polys and ultra-detailed textures. It would have cost a whole lot to hire artists to develop these models. SWC wasn't big, though -- it was like a failed TV pilot... it didn't start a new WC franchise on the 3DO. PC players never played it (never heard of it for the most part) -- and so like a TV pilot, the expensive sets got re-used on something successful to keep it within its budget. Even better, think of it like the designers saying "This didn't work here, but we still want people to see what we did...".
 
Super Wing Commander

What is Super Wing Commander?

By the way, I hadn't noticed any similarities of the Confed carriers in Armada (I played the hell out of that game) to the carriers in ANY other game. They looked kinda generic to me.

My two cents . . .

R.S.Saturno,Jr.
 
How did we go from shooting missiles to blow up space stations (a la WC1) to firing multiple torpedoes to destroy carriers (WC2)

Also, if CONFED adapted Kilrathi stealth equipment to a fighter (Dragon-WC4) Why didn't any fighters in Prophecy have this capability. You would think that either some of the fighters in the Midway's fighter wing would have been equipped with stealth, or the hot stuff new Vampire woulad have it. What gives?

R.Sat
 
Apparently there was a mission originally planned fpor WCP which shows that the cloak is ineffective against the Nephilim.Thus, there are cloak-capable fighters in the WCP time (it is even mentioned in the manual) but we don't use them.
 
Re: Super Wing Commander

Originally posted by Saturbo
What is Super Wing Commander?
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What is Super Wing Commander? What is Super Wing Commander?

Why, it is the worst "Super," version of any game out there. It took a perfect game and desecrated it. My opinions on this S*U*P*E*R game are littered throughout various posts.

... I'd better stop before I get on another "what SWC did wrong," kick ;)
 
Why, it is the worst "Super," version of any game out there. It took a perfect game and desecrated it. My opinions on this S*U*P*E*R game are littered throughout various posts.

... I'd better stop before I get on another "what SWC did wrong," kick
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Yes, God forbid anyone at the CZ ever bother to give reasons for something instead of just making crowd-pleasing idiotic rants.
 
I'm sure his reasons are stupid enough that we should consider it a favor when he fails to reveal them.
 
Originally posted by Bandit LOAF


Yes, God forbid anyone at the CZ ever bother to give reasons for something instead of just making crowd-pleasing idiotic rants.
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Awright, awright! I'll get into it....

First off is the cosmetics. The characters have a very, erm, unique look to them. Number one is the uniforms. Apparently, Sputnik was not the only cosmic conquest for the Soviets. The uniforms scream "RED ARMY," and are very Soviet in nature. Also, they have no rank insignia or ribbons/medals/devices & decorations, leaving them very bare and boring.

Paladin has an eye patch; Angel and Spirit look a little more exotic; Blue Hair's name is "Armstrong;" Maniac talks like Jack Nicholson on pot. Also, Colonel Halcyon doesn't have his CAG hat and also has many cosmetic discrepancies.

The locales also took a turn for the worse. While most of the Claw remained true to the original, SWC gave it a sort of industrial and cluttered look (just see Halcyon's office).

The ships were redone... mostly for the worst. The Hornet is the only ship that looks better in design and the Scimitar is now the Confed Banshee from Armada. The cockpits were drab and sported about ten shades of cream.

The good ol' bomber jacket and jeans flight suit is replaced by a terrible, almost Alien inspired space suit. Instead of scrambling to your fighter with crew chief and peers, you "space walk," to this station where you get the pressurized parts of your suit grafted on via a process similar to creating terminators and sort of like the Centurions (you know, "POWER EXTREME!"). Also, the cockpit is loaded into the fighter just like in Space: Above and Beyond.

The only pros it has are: better music and graphics, CG cutscenes and neat little mentions of Admiral Tolwyn and stealth fighters that weren't in the original.
 
Originally posted by Eder


Okay, let me know when you move on to your second point.

--Eder
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Second point would be the crappy control and terrible interface. In the 3DO version, in order to give orders, you had to pause the game, go into your "onboard computer system," and pick what you wanted to say. Also, the hit detection was a bit off and the game was not as challenging as the original. It was a mess, really.

Sorry I didn't move on from my first point earlier. I tend to forget these things.... :rolleyes:
 
Almost all of your visual complaints are a result of not having played the game when it was new, though -- SWCs ships came *before* Armada and Privateer... the game was *before* Blair had a name... it was *before* any of the characters had real voices anywhere else. It's hardly fair to criticize SWC before years later another game would use the same 3D models as it created...

The control and interface is no different than any other console version of a game -- do we insult WC1 because the WC1 for SNES uses a horrific gamepad? Of course not -- SWC Mac is the same as WC1 PC control-wise... (the 3DO differs, of course, because you can put a nice joystick on it and make it a bit less painful to fly).

(There are shortcuts for using the comms in-flight, too...)
 
The 3DO has a kickass ThrustMaster joystick. One of these days I'm gonna buy one and finally beat Flying Nightmares.
 
Originally posted by Saturbo
How did we go from shooting missiles to blow up space stations (a la WC1) to firing multiple torpedoes to destroy carriers (WC2)

Also, if CONFED adapted Kilrathi stealth equipment to a fighter (Dragon-WC4) Why didn't any fighters in Prophecy have this capability. You would think that either some of the fighters in the Midway's fighter wing would have been equipped with stealth, or the hot stuff new Vampire woulad have it. What gives?
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First - shields and torpedoes between WC1 and WC2. The WC2 manual specifically mentions the development of phase shields, the implementation of technology that can 'unlock' phase shields and is used in torpedoes, and the theft of that technology by the other side (can't remember off-hand who invented it and who stole it).
So torpedoes were never used in WC1 because they weren't needed. A pair of fighters could take out anything and everything in existence, and often did (when piloted by skillful pilots such as those on the Tiger's Claw).
At some point while Blair was in 'exile' (figuratively speaking) due to suspicions of treason, phase shields were implemented, and torpedoes were created to allow fighters to get past them. Thus, missiles in WC1, and torpedoes in WC2. As has been mentioned, torpedoes were apparently in existence during this time, but they were just a big slow missile with a very heavy warhead. They'd be useful for taking out things such as the Kilrathi Vega Sector HQ Starbase, but not essential. By the time WC2 rolls around, this has changed, and the biggest thing that a fighter can kill without torpedoes is a corvette.

Second - iirc, the WCP manual indicates that the Confed scouts that entered the Kilrah system following the initial loss of contact were equipped with cloaking devices, and the loss of seven out of the eight scouts is believed to be due to the ability of the Nephilim to detect cloaked fighters.
 
Originally posted by junior
So torpedoes were never used in WC1 because they weren't needed. A pair of fighters could take out anything and everything in existence, and often did (when piloted by skillful pilots such as those on the Tiger's Claw).
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No, when piloted by me. Besides me, the Tiger's Claw had no real skillful pilots. :p
 
Sure they did!
You hear all about their exploits when you get back to the Claw.
The thing is, Blair/Bluehair just radiates a 'stupidity field' when he's in the cockpit that has a big enough range of effect to catch any local pilots - friend or foe.
After all, you'll notice that there's only one time that a wingman dies when he/she is not on your wing.
Ergo, it must be your fault.

:p
 
Originally posted by Unforgiven

No, when piloted by me.
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So you think you can fly solo, in an Excalibur equipped only with lasers, against the whole bug fleet? Yeah your future's looking real bright :rolleyes:
 
Replies

Bandit LOAF: Excellent points....

Frosty: Yes, Flying Nightmares is near impossible with the control pad....
 
Originally posted by junior

Blair/Bluehair
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Hmmm, just noticed that if you take out "euh" from bluehair you get Blair.... Any connection? Did I miss something?
 
IIRC, that's exactly where the name "Blair" comes from: The contraction of BLuehAIR, the name given to the hero in WC1 and WC2 because of his blue hair (doh!).
 
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