New Wing Commander Game?

frostytheplebe

Seventh Part of the Seal
Just curious what everyone might like to see in a Fan Mod, or perhaps a new Wing Commander game?

What would everyone say to a "Prequal?" I don't just mean a prequal to WC1, but a prequal to pretty much everything in that Universe. A story focused around Arnold Blair and his exploits during the war? Ending sort of the same way standoff did... Win Big "Save Devi" Win Avg. "Both Die, but Confed is safe." Loss "Pilgrim Alliance wins, Kilrathi defeat Alliance within a few months and take Earth."

We'd see a bunch of Pilgrim/Confed fighters and ships from back then and even some of the Battle wagons, maybe even a Kilrathi "Spectator" trying to gather intel?

Man I wish I was a designer! :p

PROMOTION TIME!!!!
 
It's an interesing idea. The pilgrim war is pretty wide open to interpretation I imagine. ( We know a few details about a handful of encounters, and what led to the war).
 
How is "Pioneer" coming along?

If the game is still ago, I would not mind playing "Arnold Blair" in a military campaign crossing that timeline....
 
A sequel to Prophecy/SO that continues the Nephilim war and explains that a bit more would be the kind of game I'd want if there was to be a new WC game.
 
About the only story line that might make sense is the start of the whole Kilrathi war. There is certainly quite a bit of time before the first WC game that could be developed into multiple new entries.
 
I'd like an actual prequel to WC1. To play as Halcyon or Shotglass, or at least fly with them and of course the other older folks, Paladin etc.
To see Custer's Carnival...

Or in some later time, a Kilrathi civil war where you'd actually play as a cat.

An entirely separate idea: start new series of games set in distant future (100-200 years later) in this universe, with all new people, technology and couple more races to mess things up... the Steltek maybe? And whatever happened to the Firekka?
 
I'd love to see wat's happenning while Blair was stuck at Gwynedd system. It's ten yeaers of war. Maybe operation lamplight or something like that. And you can bring some original characters as supporting cast, while still keeping it in a way in wich you can make it work as standalone
 
What would everyone say to a "Prequal?" I don't just mean a prequal to WC1, but a prequal to pretty much everything in that Universe. A story focused around Arnold Blair and his exploits during the war? Ending sort of the same way standoff did... Win Big "Save Devi" Win Avg. "Both Die, but Confed is safe." Loss "Pilgrim Alliance wins, Kilrathi defeat Alliance within a few months and take Earth."

I like the idea of a Pilgrim War game, but I suppose I'd caution that it's about the least likeliest possible thing to ever happen. The next game will be done in broad strokes rather than adhering to incredibly specific continuity... and even were the reverse possible, y'all hate this background material.

I love the idea of a human civil war preceding the Kilrathi War. I would have put it two or three generations earlier, but you play with the hand you're dealt. It would be a neat opportunity to reverse the roles from the classic Wing Commander games--give the Pilgrims fewer ships but much more impressive technology.

I would use such a game as an opportunity to 'rehabilitate' the Pilgrims--flesh them out as something other than zealots/mystics in space. Peter Telep's books gave them prayer robes and religious ceremonies and such which I suppose is the obvious thing to do but it just doesn't work for me as a terrifying opponent. I'd pit the underdog Confederation against a sort of utopian society that looks like 1950s futurism.

Think planets full of pristine dome cities and von Braun wheel space stations and sleak hovercars and bombers that look like the Pan Am spaceplane from 2001. Yes, they have a crazy religion but they're also unique and scary because their separation from the rest of us have brought them somewhere impressive.

If the game is still ago, I would not mind playing "Arnold Blair" in a military campaign crossing that timeline....

I think Pioneer is supposed to take place around 2650, which would be well after Arnold's death.

Or in some later time, a Kilrathi civil war where you'd actually play as a cat.

I have always wanted to do a later Kilrathi civil war setting where you're a human--do an analogy to the Vietnam War with the Confederation backing some particular Kilrathi faction it doesn't necessarily understand.

An entirely separate idea: start new series of games set in distant future (100-200 years later) in this universe, with all new people, technology and couple more races to mess things up... the Steltek maybe? And whatever happened to the Firekka?

I've got to say that I cringe at all the 'magic Steltek' stories that were developed and never made it out. I feel like the Steltek would be a lot less interesting if they ever appeared again (or especially if they appeared as some sort of regular thing--think the Borg in Star Trek Voyager).

I think the problem with the Firekkans (they get mentioned later, but never seen again) is that they end up being incredibly goofy when done as anything but a sprite in a WC1-style cutscene. Coming up with a way to have a sentient bird character you interact with is a pretty big challenge for a minor payoff. They also took the series in a way that I believe Chris Roberts didn't like--with all the aliens looking like some particular animal (who remembers all the jokes about introducing the Dograthi?).
 
For some time now, I’ve had a little pipe-dream; making a Wing Commander prequel focused on the Pilgrim War.

Granted the likes of this actually coming to fruition are nearly nonexistent, but indulge me for a moment as I spell out the CliffsNotes version.

* * * * * * * * * * *


THE LOOK:
This game would be a hybrid of sorts. Ideally I would want to go with the graphical style of WC1 and 2. Not only since it would be easier to make (in theory) but since it’s a prequel, it would match the “look” (in terms of graphics). The flying portions would be familiar, with a return to the elaborate cockpit designs which helped create a beautiful sense of atmosphere.

However, the rest of the game (on board a ship, on a planet, cinematic, ect.) would be done in the style of a visual novel.

For those of you not in the know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_novel

While this would be art intensive, it would cut down on the amount of animating needed.
Now I release that this might put some folks off at first, but remember that there is fundamentally little difference between dialog boxes and sprites denoting the speaker, and the “talking heads” as seen in WC 1 and 2.


GAMEPLAY
Using ship in service in that era, thus a mixture of ships we (the player) have flown before, and those only mentioned in writing:

Ferret
Scimitar
Rapier
Merlin
Wildcat
Gotha
Hurricane
Raptor
Minotaur
Gladiator
Trident
Broadsword

Granted the final list would probably only be half of these.



MUSIC:
I would deliberately choose NOT to use Wing Commander songs. While they are awesome, they are a little two iconic, and in some fan projects, overused.

While I don’t want to get into particulars, I have amassed an impressive collection of potential song tracks for this hypothetical game (most if not all will be unrecognizable to North American and European audiences). And to be perfectly honest, some of the songs are only a few notes off from those songs given to us by The Fat Man or George Oldziey. Hell, I found two songs that sound like stylistic versions of the WC theme!

Want evidence, or an example? Try the opening theme to the Xenosaga animated series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E18xoJu7mK0

Or how about the opening theme to FLAG:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPMWv80KPdU

Try listing to those theme songs while watching the opening “Map” cinematic to the Wing Commander movie. Now tell me that these aren’t appropriate Wing Commander-ish theme for the Pilgrim Wars.


CHARACTERS:
The protagonist of this story is Daimon Karns, a newly graduated cadet from the Accademy who is eager to serve his country. He will fly and fight alongside some familiar faces, including Arnold Blair and a young Geoffrey Tolwyn. (I realize that this creates the impression of a “small universe”, but look how often are characters reunited in the games and novels. Come on.)


THE STORY:
The game would span from 2633 to 2634, beginning with the launch of the Confed Grand Fleet and ending with the conclusion of the Siege of Peron.
As the story progresses, you begin to see the darker side of the Confederation (with hints of shadowy hands of a proto-Belisarius Group.

NOTE: -No Kilrathi!
The only presence we have of the Kilrathi comes from stories and news report. They are the unknown, unseen element threatening the Confederation form the frontier. For the people involved in the war, the Kilrathi are either a non-issue, or a threat haunting the back of their minds.

I was also toying with the idea of the game’s perspective jumping back and forth between both sides, not unlike what was done in Halo 2 with mission sets alternating between Confed and Pilgrim.

From the Pilgrim side, (as a young and idealistic pilot) you see what begins as a holy crusade, fueled by religious dogma and wide-eyed idealism, ultimately spiraling into desperate madness akin to the last days of Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan. The plight of this Pilgram pilot (presumably male) could be further compounded by a tragic relationship with a female Confed pilot in a true Romeo and Juliet fashion. Extra points if its one of Karns (and the player's) wingmen.

The Pilgrim Alliance always reminded me of a combination between the Morons and the Principality of Zeon (The Pilgrims are pretty much just Newtypes). Give that the Kilrathi War is pretty much World War 2 (IN SPACE!), historical parallels to the Pilgrim War might be found in the Mormon Wars and the Utah War, and even the “Mexican Expedition”.

The story’s climax comes with the Siege of Peron. This series of mission would be the most intense and dramatic in the game. Karns is unable to protect his mentor, Arnold Blair, who is trying to save Devi Soulsong. The star-crossed Pilgrim and Confed pilots do battle with one another. The female Confed pilot, in true tragic fashion, is killed by the male pilgrim pilot, and in a roaring rampage of anger and sorrow, has to be taken out by Karns. Overall, things go to shit for many people on a personal level.

In the end, the war is brought to a close. Arnold Blair is made into a hero and a martyr of the Confederation, and
Daimon Karns becomes a living legend. However, Karns’ faith in the justice and humanity of the Confederation is deeply shaken. He begins to question the things he once believed in, and begins to entertain thoughts of leaving the Confederation.


* * * * * * * * * * *

As I said before, this is just a pipe dream. However, if this is enough to inspire someone else to start a similar fan project, more power to them. I would gladly add my writing talents and attention to detail to such a project, but then again, fan projects are such fickle things.

Anyway, thoughts?
 
Think planets full of pristine dome cities and von Braun wheel space stations and sleak hovercars and bombers that look like the Pan Am spaceplane from 2001. Yes, they have a crazy religion but they're also unique and scary because their separation from the rest of us have brought them somewhere impressive.

This could really explain the kind of bulky, utilitarian look of Confed's technology represented throughout the series of games. A kind of cultural aesthetic backlash against Pilgrim ideology.
 
Sounds like a very interesting project idea WCX, though I am definitely not interested in/able to start such a fan project.
 
ramble on
personally, i don't find the idea of a pilgrim war prequel appealing whatsoever.

Would a reboot of the entire franchise be profitable? would people pay to basically live through the same story using modern technology? seems to be working okay for hollywood these days, but i'd still probably pay for a rebooted Wing 1.

however, if they were to make a new game with new characters and story, The Kilrathi War is just a superior setting for the war-drama/space-opera that is Wing Commander. The ideal place for a new story to happen is obviously the ten year period from the destruction of the Tiger's Claw to Blair's transfer to the Concordia. Obviously the protagonist would not be Blair, but a different pilot and carrier all together.

You have a decade to play with! 10 years of nothing eternally set in stone. We know confed's war effort steadily deteriorated in this ten year period, which the developers can use to their advantage as far as creating immersion and emotional weight while not changing the overall story and climax of wing 2.

Don't get me wrong, mods like standoff and saga are fantastic! those guys did a marvelous job with their work. But i would love to see a professional studio with big budgets take on making a new wing commander game set somewhere in 2655-2565 era with complete story and consequential branched mission/dialogue trees. Imagine flying a your favorite wing1/wing2 era fighter in a graphics engine like Cryengine 3 or something along those lines **drool**

Oh well, just some thoughts, we can all dream.
ramble off
 
A new commercial wing commander in the near future is very unlikely, a wing commander with the pilgrim-war as story is absolutely impossible!

The pilgrim plot only reared its head in the wc movie, and let's face it, the movie is the most disliked product in the franchise.

No way in hell would a new game revive the most unliked wc product. (yeah, I know the movie has some fans here)

If we get something, then only with the classic (*furry) Kilrathi again, they are the iconic Wing Commander enemy.



*Isn't it ironic, that in the games the Kilrathi were so proud of their fur and called the humans "furless freaks" and then they became the furless freaks themselves in the movie?
 
I'd love to see a prequel. Maybe even get to fly as a young Tolwyn.

I wouldn't want anything to do with the "movie universe" though.
 
They way I look at it the Wing Commander movie was the movie that Blair was payed royalty's for by Digital Holovid. (See KS manual page 54 I think it's mentioned in the WC 1&2 guide as well.) As we know movies based on books don't always have much to do with the original book.
 
That's an interesting perspective. Certainly better than the 'blah, I hate it, therefore it doesn't exist' mentality that some have.
 
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