if you could design a wing commander game

Here's the ship list I made up

Ships
========================================
Available for Purchase
========================================
Cargo
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Tarsus
Orion
Galaxy
Drayman
Diligent
Venture
Free Trader
Clydesdale
WC3 Transport
WC4 Transport
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Fighters
--------------
Light
--------------
Talon
Demon
Hornet
Stiletto
Ferret
Epee
Arrow
Banshee
--------------
Medium
--------------
Scimitar
Rapier MKII
Hellcat V
--------------
Heavy
--------------
Centurion
Raptor
Sabre
Thunderbolt IIV
Vindicator
--------------
Bombers
--------------
Broadsword
Longbow
Avenger
Banshee

==============
Black Market
==============
--------------
Light
--------------
Rapier
Gladius
--------------
Medium
--------------
Bearcat
--------------
Heavy
--------------
MorningStar
Excalibur
--------------
Bombers
--------------
Crossbow
--------------
Kilrathi
--------------
Under Confed War Edict #541, all captured Kilrathi ships are to be turned over to Confed for R&D purposes, the penalty for Violating the edict is death. Purchase these craft at your own risk.)
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Light
--------------
Dralthi MKI
Sartha
Darket
Dralthi MkII
Dralthi MKIII
Dralthi MKIV
--------------
Medium
--------------
Krant
Gothri
Drakhri
--------------
Heavy
--------------
Gratha
Jalkehi
Grikath
Vaktoth
Sorthak
--------------
Bomber
--------------
Jalthi
Paktahn
--------------
Stealth Craft
--------------
Strakha
Shoklar
Strakha MKII
==============
Kilrathi
==============
Light
--------------
Dralthi MKI
Salthi
Sartha
Darket
Dralthi MKIV
--------------
Medium
--------------
Krant
Drakhri
Dralthi MK II
Gothri
Dralthi MK III
--------------
Heavy
--------------
Gratha
Jalkehi
Grikath
Kha'haf
Vaktoth
Sorthak
--------------
Bomber
--------------
Jalthi
Paktahn
--------------
Stealth Craft
--------------
Strakha
Shoklar
Strakha MKII
--------------
Capital Ships
--------------
Dorkir
Lumbari
Fralthi
Ralari
Snakeir
Kamekh
Ralatha
Fralthra
Dorkathi
Corvette
Cruiser
Light Destroyer
Heavy Destroyer
FralthI MkII
Transport
Carrier
Dreadnought
Fralthra
Fralthra
----------------
Bases
----------------
Starabase
Supply Depot
K'tithrak Mang
Ayer's Rock
Asteroid Base
Supply Base
Confederation
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Light
-------------------
Hornet
Ferret
Epee
Arrow
----------------
Medium
----------------
Rapier
Rapier MkII
Hellcat V
----------------
Heavy
-------------------
Scimitar
Raptor
Sabre
Thunderbolt VII
Excalibur
------------------
Bombers
------------------
Broadsword
Longbow
------------------
Capital Ships
------------------
------------------
Transports
------------------
Drayman
Diligent
Free Trader
Clydesdale
Transport
------------------
Corvettes
------------------
Venture
Frigate
------------------
Exeter
Gilgamesh
Destroyer
------------------
Cruisers
---------------
Waterloo
Talahasse
------------------
Carrier
------------------
Bengal Carrier
Confederation
Ranger
Concordia
------------------
Juggernaughts
------------------
Behemoth
------------------
Bases
------------------
Starbase
Supply Depot
Star base
Repair Depot
 
I won't make it so that you can have multiple ships, I will however make it that you can hire wingmen (Multiplayer possible here) and fly their fighters(maybe) Who wants to help me?
 
Originally posted by Cadfael
My Wing Commander game would be Wing Commander Freedom it should be a mixture of Privateer 1,Frontier Elite,X-WING Alliance !!
Click to expand...

You mean WC Everquest? That's what everyone's thinking up.

It should be possible to work for Confed, Pirates ,Trading Companies, Rebels(Bordes Worlds or something like that) or to be a normal Privateer
Click to expand...

Yeah, that'd be cool...

here should be at least one complete Sector like Vega,Gemini or Solar Sektor or even the entire known galaxy of Wing Commander.
Click to expand...

Ah...if only it could be so...unfortunetly, if we went with the whole "Galaxy" idea, we'd probably have 10,000 planets, all of them looking exactly the same. Warren Spector (the guy who made Deux Ex) said, "I don't wan endless environments that take a day to cross. That's a bug, not a feature. I much prefer 10 or 15 really different environments that can be revisiteded again and again, each time offering something different".

Originally posted by Cadfael
Most players like to decide by their own if they want to fly with a cockpit or not.I know Origin saves a lot of work and money if they don`t implement Cockpits.Thats what i found very poor of Prophecy and WC4!! .
Click to expand...

Actually, Prophecy did have cockpits, just really basic ones, like in Mechwarrior 2. I love cockpits, but they get in the way during heavy combat, so I'd have to go the Prophecy route (virtual, pannable cockpits are welcome, of course). Or maybe they could automatically turn them off during battle, then turn it on again after you splash the last bogey.

Originally posted by Cadfael
There should be a possibility to make money by doing different things ,like going to a Casino or selling information or even spying for Confed or the Kilrathi!!!
Click to expand...

Or in-game ads...that's something I want to see, putting a Coke ad on the side of my Centurion. :) Of course, not everything wants to see that...you'd have to do it carefully.

Originally posted by Cadfael
How about working for the Confed Navy as long as your character hasn`t got enough money to buy his own ship.

Or you could even steal a fighter from Confed land on a Planet or moon and sell it there or work for pirates from now on! .
Click to expand...

Wow, this should be called "Wing Commander: Everything Pluss The Kitchen Sink(tm)". :)

It`s boring to get destroyed all the time if you can`t handle too many enemy fighters therefore it should be possible to surrender!!
Click to expand...

Or go kamakaze on the enemy, like that scene in Return of the Jedi when the guy crashes his A-Wing into the Super Star Destroyer's bridge, causing it to crash into the Death Star, causing...well, you know... :). Hey, at least you'll have a cool death scene. :)

That you could land on a planet, that the computer draws an line of entry and if you don't fly the line of entry you burn up!
Click to expand...

That'll never fly...it'd be too frustrating, flying through the atmosphere after a long mission and burning up. I mean, that might be interesting, flying a beat-up ship, trying to re-enter with your computer busted. It might get less interesting after the fifth or sixth time, however. You'd need an option to do it automatically, or turn it off completely.

-To fly expedition missions where you have to discover new starsystems
-Rescue and Science Missions
-It should be possibble to establish his own transport Company
The existing Starsystems should have more atmosphere and special Landmarks.
for example On earth you can find the Great Government of Confed and on a Pleasure Planet you can find a big Casion or something else every Planet should be a bit different to the others !
Click to expand...

Yeah, Wing Commander Star Trek! :) "To boldly go..."

-Another Music System /More Atmospheric music than real music. You should have the feeling to be acctually there!!
Click to expand...

Actually, I liked the Wing Commander music. It was the best part of the game. :) Maybe you could install a cd player(or whatever the use in the 27 century) on your ship. That might be interesting, going to a music store in the game and actually buying music online specifically made for the game. :)

Originally posted by Darkmage
The game will allow the player great freedom, yet it will adhere strictly to the Wing Commander timeline, there will be a dating system used, so if you were to visit say, the Goddard colony on a date before it was destroyed, you would find the Goddard colonists peacefully going about there business, you would even be able to land there, but if you visited Goddard after that terrible day in history, you would find it levelled!
Click to expand...

Yeah, but would you be able to help, like in Star Trek Voyager Elite Force?


And I know this post is long enough, but I really like the idea of a first-person element. I've been waiting for that for five years.

(Interestingly, the designers of the flight sim Falcon 4.0 wanted to add a Quake-style airbase, but it was cut to focus more on the actual GAME. :) So it would probably be tricky to implement.

In short:

WE WANT THE WORLD AND WE WANT IT NOW!!!
 
I once got the chance to talk with Andy Hollis after he'd taken over the Wing Commander franchise some years back -- he explained that you should never take too seriously what regular people say they want in a game, because they have absolutely no idea what will make a good game: the average fan will invariably demand things far too complex to be fun or entertaining.
 
Yes Loaf is completely right...it is not possible to put 'so many wishes at one time' which you have in a game. The designers would have to work years for that many things. With 100 people!!! It would be senseful to write add-ons for this special wishes...so the game would become made in steps.
 
I must agree, My idea's are quite feasible however, I spoke with Eddie and if I can get a programmer, we will probably mod the Flight Commander engine!
 
I don't think that a game wich is complex is no fun!

-----------------------------------------------------------
LOAF: I once got the chance to talk with Andy Hollis after he'd taken over the Wing Commander franchise some years back -- he explained that you should never take too seriously what regular people say they want in a game, because they have absolutely no idea what will make a good game
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hey man this sounds absolutly arrogant and thats why there are so many shitty games out there. Because most of the games are made by arrogant people like this guy and those games are made for stupid kids!!!!
The best games come from gamers themselves like Chris Roberts or Richard Garriot.
How can you be so arrogant to the people who feed your kids(buy your games)!!!
 
While I'll agree that we fanboys here may want some outrageous things in our games, I don't the fans should be disregarded. They should be listened to at least up to a certain point.
 
Ya..but your ideas go into so many different directions..I would call it difficult if not impossible to put them all in one game which should be ready one day.:) Dralthi...where would you set the point??? That's the balance act all game developers have to make to design a game which people also LIKE.....because it includes their wishes, ideas etc....
 
I don't think he came off as arrogant at all, he seemed honestly distressed at the fact that he was getting demands to add complex-but-completely-pointless things to games. Game design isn't throwing everything into a box and selling it -- it's the art of balancing a game so it's fun and interesting. (As for Andy Hollis -- he was responsible for some of the most famous games of all time <G>).
 
Cloacked Cap-ship

The Story:

2 Years after prophecy.

The (the one with the alien gate) system has been heavilly armed with a big station, mines, laser turrets, destroyers, ........ the works. Both sides of the gate are heavilly defended. Diplomatic missions have had no succes, the bugs seem only interested in the total destruction of humanity.

Through a collaberation between the kilrathi and confed, the first cloaking cap-ship has been created. Cap-ship being a big word since restrictions in the cloaking device mean it isn't very big. Supporting only four fighters and only two bombers (all cloaking). Living conditions onboard this ship will be very crowded. This cap-ship's primary mission will be gathering information and hit and run guerrilla tactics.

You are Major Casey (again) squadron commander (a squadron of six?)and pilot of this ship. As squadron commander you are in charge of planning the missions and assigning pilots. You're pilots Stilletto, Zero, Maestro, Roullette (loved that nickname and the french accent) and possibly a kilrathi pilot. Other figures are the captain (perhaps also Casey for a bigger strategic ellement), a science officer (Finley? or a kilrathi cloaking expert), a biologist, a mechanic and a small group of marines (3 or 4).

This cloaking cap-ship is sent through the gate to investigate te bug build up at the other side of the gate.

After the succesful completion of this mission you are sent to investigate the different bug systems, finding jump points and investigating them. And ofcourse when the opportunity arrises to destroy enemy bases and ambush suply convoy's.

As the plot unfolds you will discover more about the bugs for instance the discovery of a queen bug, their involvement in kilrathi history, hive like worlds, ........ .

You will also discover the bugs massing a humongus fleet of ships which first you think is going to try and invade through the excisting gate until you find the bugs working on a second gate directly to the sol system.

O.k., this is my idea for the game.
So what do you guy's think about it.
 
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People have absolutely no idea what will make a good game
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Hmm that is arrogant this sounds like the holy inquisition talking to galileo!!
NO the world is the the center of the universe anyone who says something else has absolutely no idea of astronomy.
 
plan9. It was okay. You forgot only 2 main figures of P:
The CAG and Col. Dekker...(hope I wrote it the right way).
Col Dekker could be the Marine leader...or maybe then the big ending: The Bugs in front of earth with a huge fleet of ship killers etc...and all ships of Confed/ Kilrathi to fight against them....oh there I want to fight....
And they are just coming back from their mission as the battle begins...
But it's your story...:) Before I begin to critize I could think about an own one...Sorry!
 
Er...I don't like it for these reasons:

1. The Kilrah gate was DESTROYED...as in not functioning. From what we know of the Aliens, they do not have another functioning wormhole gate.
2. The Stellar Accretion Device does not function as a wormhole! Confed shut down the device (I'm assuming) before it could open a wormhole.
3. Cap ships can cloak already...check out the Porcupine in WC4 (the Peleus troubles were caused by it...it only had to uncloak to fire it's engines)

Plus...even a corvette crew has more than 6 people!
 
Why do we fight?

Why do we fight wars in WC? Why did we join the war? What was our motivations?

I believe we can agree that it was because we have a cause. A cause to fight for what we believe was right: To fight a common enemy.

The common enemy in the First War was the Kilrathi. We hated the Kilrathi because they were different from us... starting from their appearances down to their social construct. But the Kilrathi also did was they thought was right, even if we trace back it was actually the leaders who wage the War. BUT NOT ALL KILRATHI are the same we fought against in the war. How about those of lesser class, like the peasants? Would we fight war against the civilians because we hate them?

After the war and the Kilrathi defeated, the enemy was different. It was no longer the Kilrathi... the whole Confed didn't had enough unity and prejudice to fight the Kilrathi. We lost our cause. Tolwyn tried to unite humanity by waging war against the lesser humans (the frontiersmen)... but the lesser humans weren't the true enemy.

Twelve years later, we met a new alien threat codenamed the Nephilem. We manage to fought them back, not after they took Blair and studied them. They were facinated by Blair, and by our capability to kill remorsely. Say... our wars we experienced (and are still waged) in this globe. Genocide. The Holocaust. Or in WC, the Peron massacre or Telemon 'testing' site... it's still our human nature which caused such destruction. [note: "They are fascinated by us, Casey. By our ability to kill..." Commodore Blair said.]

Bottom line:
Could it be that we also have an enemy within ourselves? Within our own human nature?
How can we fight it?
 
Originally posted by Cadfael
I don't think that a game wich is complex is no fun!

-----------------------------------------------------------
LOAF: I once got the chance to talk with Andy Hollis after he'd taken over the Wing Commander franchise some years back -- he explained that you should never take too seriously what regular people say they want in a game, because they have absolutely no idea what will make a good game
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hey man this sounds absolutly arrogant and thats why there are so many shitty games out there. Because most of the games are made by arrogant people like this guy and those games are made for stupid kids!!!!
The best games come from gamers themselves like Chris Roberts or Richard Garriot.
How can you be so arrogant to the people who feed your kids(buy your games)!!!
Click to expand...

"Shitty games"?!? "Stupid kids"?!? Do you even KNOW who Andy Hollis is!?! He's a PC Gamer Game God, like Roberts and Garriot! He gave us AH-64 Longbow, and Jane's F-15, and Longbow II! And that was only while he was working at Jane's Combat Simulations! So, watch what you say.

Anyway, I agree with what Hollis has to say, in a way...you have to take everything with a grain of salt or ten. Don't forget that listening to the public can mean unwieldy bureaucracy and focus groups and hopelessly muddled products. I distintly remember that quote from somewhere...there's another one (I don't know who said it) that says that you should ignore the press and public and make the kind of game you want, damn the torpedos. (Of course, that can result in Daikatana...).

I don't know what the hell I'm saying. :)
 
James Madison said something about how the will of the masses is not always good in Federalist Paper #10. It's quite exciting to read. I recommend it to everyone (of course, it's not exactly about computer games).
 
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