Pilgrim's Progress

Col. Bob

Spaceman
Here are some things I've been wondering about the Pilgrims.

1: Are they only a WC Movie creation or were they mentioned in the games?

2: Is it just me, or are the Pilgrims supposed to be a Newtype Knock off?
 
1.) Pilgrims were written for and only mentioned in the movie.

2.) I'm not sure what you mean by "Newtype" but most film critics chided the slight rip-off of The Force from Star Wars.
 
"Newtype" is something from the Mobile Suit Gundam (Universal Century) series. Something about mankind evolving new abilities through their time in outerspace, and makes them better space fighters.
 
The first draft of the Wing Commander script (featuring magic 'Border Worlders' instead of 'Pilgrims' - imagine how pissed off you'd all be with that) was written in 1996, which was quite a bit everyone got stupid drunk on imported Japanese weirdness.

From a 'real world' perspective, the Pilgrim concept is only dramatic - an excuse to create conflict between the hero and the rest of the characters. Science fiction has always been at its best when its done as an analogue for real issues... and thouugh the Wing Commander movie is certainly *not* an example of the finest science fiction has to offer, it certainly tried. :)

As for the in-universe take, the Pilgrims as portrayed in the movie are simply people who are good at math (much of the Pilgrim mythos died when the traitor subplots hit the cutting room floor)... though they certainly take on a Star Wars 'force' quality in Peter Teleps first followup novel (Pilgrim Stars).
 
I never got why people think the Pilgrim "power" was a rip off of the force. In the movie and Pilgrim Stars I always felt it was more like a Telekinesis type of capability, with a good sense of direction thrown in, rather than anything like the "Force". You don't see Blair using his mind to make people do what he wanted. He could move crap and navigate a jump point on his own, that's about it.
Star Wars fans really tick me off when they act like all the stuff presented in that series is sooo cool and original when there really isn't much original about it, come on Obi Wan Kenobi is practically Gandalf but the Midichlorian thing was cool, but it had already been explored in The Dark Tower and Star Trek. But I guess some Star Trek fans really tick me off too :D Actually I've only met two WC fans that mad me mad, and I shot them in Reno just to watch them die. ;) Most Fantasy/SciFi fanbases tend to grate at me eventually, except Wing Commander but that's only because I'm thoroughly addicted and can't see through this groovy purple haze.
Now I have to go take my happy pills.
 
WC is good but there are some holes, but that's what happens when game mechanics change. Personally the one I found the most annoying was going back to WC4 after playing Prophecy/SO...DAMN it hurts when you crash into people! WC4 IS more realistic though...but maybe bug ships are just squishy enough and bouncy? ;)
 
Eh, I think they just decided that getting RAMMED UP THE ASS by some fool that you didn't really see or have a chance to dodge got rather annoying, even though it didn't happen terribly often.

Either that, or the all-too-common situation where you'd be shooting the crap out of someone and suddenly realize that his engine was almost dead, and you had about .5 seconds to change vector or choke to death on his nozzles.
 
psych said:
"Newtype" is something from the Mobile Suit Gundam (Universal Century) series. Something about mankind evolving new abilities through their time in outerspace, and makes them better space fighters.

That is correct. Rod Roddy's Zombie, tell him what he's won.

Rod Roddy's Zombie: BRAINS!

Anyone else wanna chime in?
 
overmortal said:
Eh, I think they just decided that getting RAMMED UP THE ASS by some fool that you didn't really see or have a chance to dodge got rather annoying, even though it didn't happen terribly often.

Either that, or the all-too-common situation where you'd be shooting the crap out of someone and suddenly realize that his engine was almost dead, and you had about .5 seconds to change vector or choke to death on his nozzles.

Maybe that's why you should be paying attention when you're blasting 'em out of the sky ... then again, in WC:p/SO, the amount of enemies onscreen at any one time multiplied by a factor of about 20 ... dodge away from one to smack into another ...

One of the many little things cut as WC tried to become more mainstream! (read the Weapons Damage threads for another ...)

I never did want to see the WC movie - I was expecting something close to the game, and the previews turned me off to it. It may be a great movie, but the anti-licensing killed it in my mind.
 
How different were these Border Wolders than those from the game?

I'm pretty sure I explained that in the original post: in the first draft of the movie, the "Pilgrims" were called "Border Worlders". Instead of "Pilgrims" being better at navigating jump points, "Border Worlders" were. Blair was discriminated against because his parents were "Border Worlders" instead of "Pilgrims". Captain Sansky and Admiral Wilson were "Border Worlder" traitors instead of "Pilgrim" traitors. Gerald hated "Border Worlders" instead of "Pilgrims". Blair has a "Border Worlder" icon instead of a "Pilgrim" cross. Etc., etc.
 
Shaggy said:
I never got why people think the Pilgrim "power" was a rip off of the force. In the movie and Pilgrim Stars I always felt it was more like a Telekinesis type of capability, with a good sense of direction thrown in, rather than anything like the "Force". You don't see Blair using his mind to make people do what he wanted. .

Or kill people with his mental death ray..
 
ie

Originally posted by LOAF's Jump FAQ
The term Pilgrim has been applied to many things: radical terrorists, a legitimate political group, a religion... but in relation to jump drives, it ref errs to ancestors of those born with Space Syndrome Mutation. The altered brain of a Pilgrim allows him or her a greater conscious comprehension of Parallel Tonality -- the ability to contact "dead" dimensions. Two types of Pilgrims interest this study: Explorers and Navigators. Pilgrim Explorers have the ability to 'see' the subspace plane, and to understand the various gravitic effects and what they mean to FTL travel. Pilgrim Navigators can use their altered minds to 'see' the paths laid out by Explorers who had already charted jump points. As of the 28th century, there are no living Pilgrims.

Pilgrim 'powers' were confirmed by a defecting Pilgrim scientist at Mars University. Lang Tanaka published a 2641 report on Pilgrim powers, which was censured by the CIS, as it endagered the then-in-development NAVCOM A.I. project. The connection between Pilgrim powers and Parallel Tonality was proven by Karenne Kivakova, a graduate student at the Carpathian Protectorate University.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
I'm pretty sure I explained that in the original post: in the first draft of the movie, the "Pilgrims" were called "Border Worlders". Instead of "Pilgrims" being better at navigating jump points, "Border Worlders" were.

I didn't knew the original "Border Worlds" from the first script also had special powers.
 
Back
Top