SF writers and WC

pendell

Spaceman
H'lo folks,

I don't come through here often anymore, but I saw two WC references by SF writers that I thought you might appreciate:

Jerry Pournelle

http://www.jerrypournelle.com/computing/December98.html

Early on there was a spinoff game called Privateer which used the original Wing Commander engine and some of the original ships, but had a free form universe you could explore until you stumbled across the story line. That was followed by an ad-on scenario called "Righteous Fire" that was the single most enjoyable action game I have ever played. I loved Privateer and Righteous Fire. Alas, Privateer II came out and again it was "cool" but not much fun. For one thing, in the original Privateer if you were outclassed you could run away to fight again another day. In the second version you couldn’t jump into hyperspace to escape; you had to stay there and kill all the enemies, and there were a lot with more coming. Only the really die hard fanatics ever completed Privateer II. I know I never did.

I wasn’t all that happy with the various Wing Commander sequels, either, in part because the story line wasn’t anything like as good as in the original, and there was a lot more concentration on film clips rather than role playing. The games got increasingly harder, and they kept raising the stakes in the game.

Then came Wing Commander Prophecy. That one is fun again, almost as much fun as the original was. The graphics are wonderful, and the missions are less impossible. Mark Hamill is back as Commander Blair, and he does the role well. The supporting players aren’t as stereotyped stupid, either. Now Wing Commander Prophecy is out in a "Gold Edition" with "secret mission" extra scenarios, and if you like space action games, you should like this one. Recommended.


Terry Pratchett:

http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/words-from-the-master.html

"I have played Elite, Wing Commander, X-Wing and altogether too many outer-space-shoot-em-ups. I mean, don't they all have shields, missiles and stuff?"

"Well, right now I'm storming through Privateer under the callsign of Flash Bastard, whose career has progressed throughout the whole Wing Commander series."

All a bit old, of course, but it seems we share a certain amount of taste with these folks. Good for them! I wonder if Chris Roberts knew this?

Respectfully,

Brian P.
 
Dr. Pournelle once said (in his Byte column) that he had an idea for a Privateer novel... and he was originally slated to co-author the third Wing Commander novel when the first packaging deal was announced.
 
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