Just a Quick Question

Durandal

Spaceman
Were any of the details released on where they intended to take the Nephilim War storyline post-Prophecy/SO? I seem to recall reading an interview on the matter years upon years ago, but I'll be damned if I can remember who and where it was.

Just a curious question.
 
Arena takes place post-Nephilim War (2701). Our corner of the galaxy suffers pretty badly. The Confederation is getting its act back together but I can't recall an interview where Sean Murphy or anyone laid anything out. Someone else may recall better. Have you read Star*Soldier? It lays out the early postwar period.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There's not much info on what - if any - plans were originally made for follow-ups to prophecy. There's some evidence that they initially had a trilogy with the bugs in mind (as per the original website promoting prophecy) but there's little to suggest they actually had an over-arching plan in mind for how the series would progress. At the time, Origin was shifting to have more emphasis on multiplayer and online gaming. Prophecy's followup would have been more team oriented...

Origin never really gave the bugs much thought after that. We have various canceled attempts at Privateer online, and wing commander online all used excuses to have us fight the kilrathi again. The nephilim we're relegated to background material and the ideas in Prophecy not really followed up on. The only official info about the Nephilim war post prophecy is as Dund said, in Star*Soldier. Other than letting us know that it was a long and destructive war that left the Confederation a shell of it's former self, the material was left vague on purpose for the unlikely event that some future Wing Commander game will explore that time period.
 
Well, hang on - there's plenty of info about what they intended to do next. We have a design doc for the follow-up game (Strike Team? I don't remember...), as well as a P3 and POL. And yes, if you do a little digging, you will also find a #wing-commander chat transcript with Mark Day (IIRC) explaining what his plan was.

The big caveat, however, is that the people at Origin would have gone through tons of different plans and ideas. Don't ever believe anyone who tells you, "oh, we planned our trilogy right off the bat, and did exactly what we wanted", that's just not how collaborative development works :). That's why, ultimately, it's best not to think about what they planned, and instead look to the story that Arena told.
 
Well, hang on - there's plenty of info about what they intended to do next. We have a design doc for the follow-up game (Strike Team? I don't remember...), as well as a P3 and POL. And yes, if you do a little digging, you will also find a #wing-commander chat transcript with Mark Day (IIRC) explaining what his plan was.

The big caveat, however, is that the people at Origin would have gone through tons of different plans and ideas. Don't ever believe anyone who tells you, "oh, we planned our trilogy right off the bat, and did exactly what we wanted", that's just not how collaborative development works :). That's why, ultimately, it's best not to think about what they planned, and instead look to the story that Arena told.


I didn't say we didn't have info on their plans, just that most of those plans that we do have info on *do not* involve the nephilim war. Whatever the original announced trilogy was supposed to be is a pretty vague notion. And other than the multiplayer aspects, there isn't much info on the storyline for Strike Team.
 
No, I do not. I tried a quick google search as well, but I can't find anything relevant. I imagine someone at the CIC must have it, though.
One can only hope. Be a shame to lose that particular chat, since reflecting on it, that may have been what I read.
I didn't say we didn't have info on their plans, just that most of those plans that we do have info on *do not* involve the nephilim war. Whatever the original announced trilogy was supposed to be is a pretty vague notion.
Kind of a pity, that. It'd be interesting to see what they would've done with the war, and see how it could've tied into Arena. Or may have, for that matter; a lot of the stuff that fell through got mention in the Star*Soldier manual (like the Privateer TV series), which is what made me ask about this matter in the first place.
 
From what I gather, the Nephilim War ended in 2700. What finally ended it; how did it end? What was the final battle that concluded it (i.e. did Confed somehow find their homeworld)?
 
From what I gather, the Nephilim War ended in 2700. What finally ended it; how did it end? What was the final battle that concluded it (i.e. did Confed somehow find their homeworld)?

Here's what Star*Soldier commits to:
  1. There is a "VN Day" to celebrate the end of the war (p3:"I’m outraged by the current move to ignore VN Day in favor of Confederation Day.")
  2. The war involved entering Nephilim "fluid space", with a risk of being trapped there and destroyed (p23: "When the Confederation began regular raids into Nephilim fluid-space the Port Broughton was one of the first ships modified to fight effectively across the barrier. When the Sirius wormhole was destroyed in the middle of her seventh raid she was reported overdue and presumed lost — only to emerge from Charybdis eighteen months later.")
  3. The first counter-attacks were on "construction reefs" (p49: "This feature concludes next month with a 2681-2700 timeline of the Nephilim War, starting with the first Confederation counter-attacks on Reef 68C-Delta." and p8, "During the first assault on a construction reef, it was a militia warpig squadron which scored the killing blow") The notes for page 49 add "Moreover, this is another 'what should have been' battle description. I want to attack a construction reef! It's also wish fulfillment - I know 'organic' can mean anything, but I really wanted to see Syd Mead's original concept of Nephlim warships that grow their own fighters."
  4. Bits of the Confederation were left "infected" (p57: "DO NOT APPROACH NEPHILIM DERELICTS. Disease risk is at an all time high!" and "Must ship from Nephilim Infected Zone, no passport available.")
  5. The Nephilim may still be out there (p33: "Nephilim invaders have been spotted throughout inhabited space! No one is safe! Report any possible sightings to your local Watch Officer immediately.") The notes for this page acknowledge that this is odd, given the implication elsewhere that it's over.
What you won't find anywhere is what a construction reef does, or what mechanics apply to flying in fluid space. This is clearly intentional, especially given the footnote on page 49. Someday a team may be able to make a sequel to Prophecy / Secret Ops - and when they do, they shouldn't be locked into concepts that may not be fun. Is fluid space like normal space with a different skybox? Is it so dense that you fly in it like an airplane? Is not non-Euclidean like Portal? As noted above, that's up to future game designers, and even early design documents should not be considered definitive.

In the absence of other evidence, assume that the war was ended by one of the Confederation's best fighter pilots volunteering for an insanely risky mission in an untested experimental ship. Or, if someone gets the license to make a WC-themed RTS, it will end with a confrontation between two enormous fleets, with the Nephilim having a huge resource advantage. Or, if someone makes a WC-themed FPS, it will end with one of the Confederation's best marines volunteering for an insanely risky mission wielding an untested experimental gun. If it's more of a tactical shooter, the Confederation will be saved by the maximum number of allies the FPS engine can comfortably handle. Or, if someone makes a Privateer-themed MMO, we'll find that the war wasn't very final and the Nephilim spawn anywhere and everywhere.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top