Realism in filght sims

I guess, but, it's not WC, is it? That's Freelancer. I'd love to waste a handful of people in the Prophecy engine.
 
Of course, but, as with any good pilot, I'll fight tooth and nail, and kick and scream the whole way down.
 
overmortal said:
Well, I suppose that's true enough. I wonder if we could recruit a guru to help us create one?
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What, from scratch? That would take quite a while. Even if you had the source code to the Prophecy engine and just tried to graft an existing multiplayer module (e.g. from Freespace 2, Vega Strike, or gamecom) you should plan to spend months on the project. Rolling an entire game from scratch takes years, even if you know what you are doing.

Anyway, if you were to add multiplayer or more capable AI to the design so that the enemy ships became more of a match for a skilled player, the game would be almost unrecognizable. Would it even be Wing Commander anymore? Isn't the WC mythos all about you being the hero? About being the greatest star pilot in history and destroying uncounted enemy units each time you strap on a fighter?
 
Eh, I'd just like to go on a mission where I don't come away thinking "Gosh . . . that was a little too easy"
 
Gameplay balance is always a hard thing. What's hard for some might be simple for others. And there's a fine line between a challenging mission and a frustrating one.
 
Eh, you're right there. I used to HATE the mission in WC2 where you arrive too late to escort the courier ship. It would take me a couple days to get past it. . . of course, that isn't the case now. After learning melee tactics in a Broadsword, that mission became a breeze.
 
I just popped off the FFs and then hopped in the turret to get the Sarthas while I ran away from the Ralatha (one of the few occasions the turret was useful for killing fighters). Then finished off the Ralatha once the fighters were gone.
 
My tactic was to use my turrets to my advantage, but also taking full advantage of those three ass-whoopin' guns up front. However, after the Sarthas were gone, I would still have trouble with the guns on the Ralatha. It still occasionally ruins my day. . . not often, though.
 
I seldom use the turrets on the Broadsword - for that matter, I seldom use turrets on any ship. The problem with that mission is that, IIRC, you jump into the Talbot system far too close to the Ralatha. Trying to dogfight light fighters from the cockpit of a bomber while in range of a Ralatha whose anti-matter gunners can actually aim is potentially suicide.

Then again, it's been a while since I played that mission... In any case, any capital ship, whether its gunners can aim or not, is dead at the hands of a Broadsword pilot, once its fighter cover is gone. The Broadsword's thick shields can withstand at least one AMG salvo, and by the time the capship has recharged for another blast, you've already launched your torpedo and are on your way out.
 
He usually got two shots on me. But, then again, I would sit outside of his range and wait for my shields to regenerate, then make my approach straight in. It took me forever to get there, and, by that time, they usually had another shot plowing straight into my nose. That junk sucks.

Occasionally, I would abandon my lock (if I was still far out enough) and dodge the first shot. That's usually how I whip him. It's all about his timing.
 
The trick is to start your approach at an angle, so you're not heading straight for the capship. Then, when the capship fires its first volley of AMGs, you change your course and head straight for it. Since you're still pretty far away when the first volley is fired, the time it takes for the AMGs to reach you is more than enough for your ship to move out of their way without any sudden lock-breaking manoeuvres.
 
hmm . . . now, if I can get my machine to run WC2 again (it was doing it wonderfully until I installed SO 1 & 2 again), I'll try that.
 
I can't get anythign before WCP to work well in Win98.

WC1 and WC2 just wouldn't start up - I think there was an issue with DOS mode.

WC3 is continuously firing guns and missiles without me touching anything until I get called a traitor. The joystick won't calibrate perfectly either. Alternate rutines don't work.

WC4 has a joystick calibration issue as well. The cursor is constantly moving slowly towards the lower right, and occasionally jerks around the screen. Calibration does not work.
 
Ouch!

We might have to go to Tech Support with this, but what goes wrong with WC1/2? WC1/2/3/4 all work fine inside Win98 for me, except WC1 runs way too fast, of course. (That's what 386s are for!)
 
I don't recall the problem with WC1 and WC2... I need to try them out again. What I do remember is MS-DOS mode not running them - maybe I configured something wrong... how did you get them to work?

WC3 and WC4 just seem to have a problem with the joystick. It's a Mircosoft Sidewinder. I know.. Microsoft=bad... but it came with the comp and I'm a little short cash right now. Alternate rutines and calibration doesn't work.

btw - this is the DOS version of WC4.
 
IIRC, I just copied over WC2 from the CD, made sure the read-only attribute was removed, and ran WC2.EXE There shouldn't be any need to re-boot to MS-DOS mode.
 
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