draiko said:
The Wing Commander games do need a Public rebirth. Between the Cheese found in Prophecy and the lack of depth in the WCM, it was no wonder EA decided to tank Wing Commander.
I don't think that had anything to do with EA's decision.
1. Wing Commander Prophecy 2 needs to be made, but the story needs to be the most important part of it.
It was made. It's called Secret ops.
I agree the story is an important, integral part of a wing commander game. However, wc4 was more movie than game. While I enjoy that portion of the game, I think a balance more akin to wc2 is ideal. Where as prohecy started with decent balance but it seemd like the story all but disapeared in the final act.
Make Wing Commander have more of a TOP GUN attitude. Our hero needs to be a hotshot pilot with an attitude instead of a stuffy by-the-book pilot like Blair... that was the major flaw in the old wing commanders. Blair was always doing the "right" thing. Always playing by the rules... scolding others.
Basically you want to be maniac... I don't ever remember Blair scolding anyone in WC 1 and 2. Maniac and Flash deserved it in wc 3 and 4, and everyone else had to do with his outranking them...
Besides, considering that
you are the main character, how Blair flies and what choices he makes are more reflective of you. What might be cool (or stupid if done wrong or if ends up useless) would be a system where you could chose your pilots attributes at the start and that affects the outcome in combat. So you could choose to balance or weight your pilot in accuracy, reflexes, tactical assesment (ability against multiple fighters etc.) and/or other attributes. Some kind of phsycological attribute could affect the effectiveness of your comm orders and taunts.
When you exit your space craft, you can walk around using 1st or 3rd person perspective control, much like GTA. Once in the cockpit, it's space sim time! 1st person piloting all the way!. This way you can also go on marine missions.
Not a bad idea, but it could lead to a lot of needless wandering trying to figure out where the next conversation is on the carrier(if implemented wrong) but could lead to some unique gameplay opportunities. Purists though would think that a wing commander game is about
space combat.
Dump the Pilgrims from the story. Sorry Chris, but the Pilgrim idea just doesn't fly. Keep the Wing Commander Universe Simple... Kilrathi, Humans, Nephilum.
The wing commander universe is what it is. You can't pick and choose. It may be beneficial to limit the scope of the factions involved etc. But a reference or two here and there to say, blair's pilgrim heritage wouldn't hurt. Fans usualy like that kind of thing. Maybe when you walk around the carrier there's a pilgrim cross in the drawer beside blair's bunk. (Of course not if it's a follow up to secret ops)
Make the Nephilum (Nephs) darker... more of a true evil. Let them talk less and do more, like insects. They're supposed to consume so bring about something horrible... a bio weapon/teraformer. Something that causes the most painful death possible while quickly creating a planet for the Nephs. Let this usher in the near devistation of Confed and the Kilrathi... show people actually bathing in their own blood! Make us wretch and hate our enemy Half-life style!
Part of what I didn't like in prophecy was that the Nephilim lost their mysteriousness too quickly. They just became like every other enemy. Making them more disgusting doesnt make us fear them any more. Most horror movies aren't scary, just repulsive. The ones that are scary are because of the suggestion and anticipation of violence. Being startled isn't the same thing as dread. (mind you i usualy end up dreading having to sit through the rest of a crummy horror movie). I'm not sure I understand your half-life reference.
I'm not even going to comment on your story idea...