I must be nuts.

Ado

Spaceman
I dug out a ton of old parts stowed away in various closets, and built a DOS machine from them :)

That's right, I'm going through the motions all the way back from WC1 through WC4. Nope, no Propechy. For some reason I never enjoyed that one, can't figure out why. Still got it though.

I played WC1 for the first time on my Commodore Amiga back in the early 90's, and things really took off when I got my first PC in 1994. Managed to finish WC2 and SO1 & SO2, just as WC3 was released. A game I had only heard was in the making, but surely didn't expect so soon. Needless to say I was euphoric.

Wow.... Haven't touched WC2 since '94. Ten long years. It sure feels like going home again. Otherwise, how would you be able to sit through the - compared to todays standards - horrible grfx and sound?

At any rate, I just thought I'd introduce myself here.

Cheers.
 
Welcome to the CIC! What you've just built, we refer to here as a 'WC machine'. LOAF can give you tips on making it the best one possible.

Too bad you didn't like WCP. There are a handful of mods made for WCSO (which is basically the same "game" as WCP, but downloadable, requires no cds, and tells the story of the events right after WCP).

If you've been 'lurking' for any amount of time, then you know all the things to avoid doing. Otherwise, you might wanna ask questions :) Good to see you here!
 
Graphics shmaphics...

My favorite video game era was that of the early Wing Commander games. I loved the sound effects and the music and that 256 colors look to them. Today, most games are mostly style over substance. With exceptions of course. Ooh, one game I really got into for a long time was Morrowind. I swear it's like playing a book. It had the most engrossing plot I've ever seen in a long time. Sure the combat was a little boring, but I didn't care with that game. Yes, but, kudos to you on your machine. I don't know enough about computers anymore to do cool stuff like that. I've had anxiety dreams about playing the old Wing Commander games just like I used to. Then I wake up and feel at such a loss because I don't know how to get them to work. And when I get advice on how to, it is usually over my head. Gad, why can't I get WC3 to work on my new computer.
 
I'm a newbie at the other end of the spectrum: I'm mainly an Ops fan, as well as a fan of it's MODs. But It is nice to see someone who has also played WIng Commander 1 and 2 as a new guy here. Welcome aboard, and Hey, if you need a wingman, give me a call. I'll fly with ya :)
 
overmortal said:
Welcome to the CIC! What you've just built, we refer to here as a 'WC machine'. LOAF can give you tips on making it the best one possible.

Too bad you didn't like WCP. There are a handful of mods made for WCSO (which is basically the same "game" as WCP, but downloadable, requires no cds, and tells the story of the events right after WCP).

If you've been 'lurking' for any amount of time, then you know all the things to avoid doing. Otherwise, you might wanna ask questions :) Good to see you here!

I never got around to playing WCSO, since I was on dial-up when it was released way back. Is that one available from anywhere any longer? I know it's no longer available from the Origin site. Just thought I'd ask.
 
You aren't nuts....

I dug out a ton of old parts stowed away in various closets, and built a DOS machine from them :)

Ado,

Congratulations. I'm new to this forum too and in kind of the same boat as you. I recently completed two dedicated machines, one for playing WC1 (KS) thru Prophecy, another for Privateer, Armada, and Academy. I was one of those unfortunate types who made the jump from a 386 with no CD-ROM to a Pentium, and I never got to play Privateer, Academy, etc. So, I bought two Pentiums and two 486s for $16 at a local county equipment sale. I took some left over parts, bought 1 cheap sound card, some EDO RAM, and I was in business. I finished WC 3 nights ago for the first time in 13 years. Last night I loaded Privateer and finally got to see what all the hoo haa was about- 10 years or so late, but oh well.....
On a more general note I'd like to say "thank you" to the creators/moderators of this forum. It is great to have a place where one can go to rap with other WC enthusiasts. I no longer feel like the lone voice in the night.
 
BigsWickDagger said:
I dug out a ton of old parts stowed away in various closets, and built a DOS machine from them :)

Last night I loaded Privateer and finally got to see what all the hoo haa was about- 10 years or so late, but oh well.....
On a more general note I'd like to say "thank you" to the creators/moderators of this forum. It is great to have a place where one can go to rap with other WC enthusiasts. I no longer feel like the lone voice in the night.

Oh lordy, are you in for a treat.

Privateer was an excellent game, even if it veered a little away from the main WC series plot. Absolutely loved that game. Have to get back into it once I finish WC4, which could take a while :))
 
Ado said:
Oh lordy, are you in for a treat.

Privateer was an excellent game, even if it veered a little away from the main WC series plot. Absolutely loved that game. Have to get back into it once I finish WC4, which could take a while :))

I think I'm going to try to play them in order of release, but I wanted to look around Privateer. I'd never seen anything about it other than a few screen shots, and I've heard so many good things about it over the years. It did look pretty cool and I am anxious to give it a spin when its "turn" comes up. Right now I'm gearing up for WC SO1.
 
Priv is special. it's fantastic. It oozes atmosphere from every pore and crater. It's also quite fun. Just looking around the "cockipt" (looks like a room to me) of the tarsus is already great. and when you finally buy a decent ship it's just exhilariating. It's amzing how the four flyable ships in priv are a lot better than the 345 you get in priv 2, because each of them has a purpose and an use.
 
Edfilho said:
It's amzing how the four flyable ships in priv are a lot better than the 345 you get in priv 2, because each of them has a purpose and an use.

You said it. Somehow Privateer 2, while still an interesting game in it's own right, just wasn't a worthy heir to Privateer.

Maybe if they'd called it something different? It sure didn't feel "Wing Commander'ish".
 
It was supposed to be called "The Darkening" for most of it's development cycle. Then people decided to throw a "Privateer 2" on the title, to markt it better.

It's not a bad game, not at all. I really enjoyed it. The person banging his/her head in Hermes was quite picturesque. But It was not as good as ol'Priv, no sir.
 
Ease off on the crack pipe, Cus, you're see'n things.
 
I loved Righteous Fire - it added a lot of cool stuff. I'd have liked to have seen a fifth player ship... but I understand why that was impossible.
 
Righteous fire is really nice, LOAF is right. I never played it as much as Priv, but it is surely required for a complete Privateeresque experience.

Concerning Priv 2, all I said is know as a fact, even back in 98 when we argued all the time if Priv2 was WC or not, everyone agreed that it began it's life as a stand-alone non-WC game called The Darkening.
I filled a form in a site once, long ago. A fellow named Erin Roberts was making a space sim and wanted to know people's opinions on the genre's different paradigms, i.e.: how should the ship turn, X-Wing-esque or WC-esque? and so on. The game was still in its earliest development stages and would be called the Darkening.
 
That's actually not true. What is not Privateer 2 began its life as a product called "Privateer: The Darkening". The 'Privateer' was dropped in early 1996, and then readded (plus 2) five months later.
 
UMMMMM---Does anyone remember Thumper, an Origin employee, grilling us one night on the best aspects of Privateer?? He was trying to get a windows Privateer game started after so many GG's poo-poo'd "The Darkening". All the GG's agreed that what made Privateer so special was that you were flying a CARGO ship....even the Centurian was a down-graded fighter released to the general civilian populace to haul cargo.

Privateer did a better job of making you feel like Hans Solo than any of the "Star Wars" games ever came close to---and in the "Wing comander" universe! the only sharp deviation that I can think of is in the after-burners.......the civi ships tap directly off the engines, while the Confed ships in the other games have a separate fuel cell for them.

All in all, it "feels" very "Wing Commander goes to a strip club"....a most enjoyable sensation!
 
I do remember that - I may have the log somewhere. Unfortunately, I don't think Origin actively developed Privateer 3 after that...

In my opinion, what made Privateer rock was that you could suck (G) When you started out, your radar was monochrome, your shields barely stayed up and you had one gun. When you made money and upgraded your ship, it really felt like you were accomplishing something - instead of just buying a slightly more powerful spaceship, as in every other Privateer-style game I've played.
 
One of the best things about Privateer over Privateer2 was simply the universe. All the mini jumping in Priv2 didn't make it interesting to me. As you'd be jumped by enemy fighters and then more would jump in, then more then... zzZZZzzzZzz. Also civy ships didn't fight they just sat there like objects.

Communication in Priv 1 was also better.

Privateer was almost a perfect game. It had stiff competetion from Elite 2 which is a daddy of a game... but full of bugs.

I still maintain that if priv 1 was relased, excatly the same as it was, but with an updated graphics engine and maybe more for AI ships to do (they all just sit and wobble) then it would do great.

Mind you Freelancer was priv like, how well did that do? Though I must say they forced you into the plot way too early, and the whole zoning system was pritty bunk in my mind. Still great fun for a while, though I found it hard to continue for long after the plot finished.

Keith
 
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