SM3 Guide

Sharpshooter

Rear Admiral
Secret Missions 3 : Enigma

I'm not a big fan of medals and I didn't try to get all of them, but I'll tell you when I managed to get one.

Mission 1

Ship : Ferret.
Wingman : Knight.

Bronze Star possible.

Escort Exeter to Nav 2, where it will jump out. Nav 1 has 2 Grathas. Nav 2 has 4 Dralthis. Unknown area has 4 Krants and 2 Dorkirs. After you take out the 4 Krants, 4 more Krants jump in and one of them is a Drakhai.

The Ferret is really great, just be careful not to ram enemy ships too often.

This is a fairly easy mission. None of the ships you fight are a match for the Ferret. When you reach the Unknown Area, be sure to take out the Dorkirs first or they will jump out. The second Krant wave is a bit more difficult. You could take out the Drakhai first since he's the most dangerous, or you could take out the other ships first, since they're easier to destroy. Oh, and you want might to help Knight should he get in trouble.


Mission 2

Ship : Ferret.
Wingman : Knight.

4 Krants are between the Claw and Nav 1. A lone Krant is between the Claw and Nav 2. You may or may not run into it. Nav 1 has 3 Jalthis, 1 Ralari, and 1 Dorkir. Nav 2 has 2 Hhriss and a Lumbari.

Nav 2 is the hard part, you may wish to do it first. When fighting Hhriss, chasing them with afterburners is generally a bad idea, as they can lure you very far away from your wingman. You'll waste alot of AB fuel. Instead, take advantage of the Ferret's high speed and manoeuvrability. Hit them whenever they're near you. You can also hit them as they charge you head o, but be sure to didge their hits. Sometimes a Hhriss will fly away from you in a straight line without dodging your hits. When this happens, you can chase it (you can use AB fuel if necessary) and quickly kill it. Also try not to get too far away from the Lumbari when fighting the Hhriss. Not only would chasing the Lumbari be annoying, the Hhriss also suffer from the dreaded Self-Destruct bug if you stray too far away from the Nav Point.


Mission 3

Ship : Epee.
Wingman : Hunter.

At Nav 1 the Exeter is under attack by 2 Jalthis (one of them is a Drakhai). At Nav 2 you find 3 Grathas and a defenceless Ralari. At Nav 3 you find 3 Dralthis in an asteroid field, then when you destroy them 3 more Dralthis show up (one of them is Drakhai-flown).

This is the first genuinely difficult mission. The Epee is the worst SM3 ship. Fortunately, the neutron guns are powerful, it has a few missiles and a mine, and it's fast and manoeuvrable. The problem is that the Epee's shields are really weak and you have to get close to the enemy fighters to hit them (due to the neutron guns). Be careful not to accidentally ram an enemy ship. When you reach Nav 1 be sure to hit both Jalthis as fast as possible in order to distract them. If they retreat you might want to let them go since chasing them is a waste of AB fuel. Nav 2 is the hardest part, the Grathas are really annoying. I recommend saving some missiles for them. Destroy them as soon as possible, but be sure to dodge their hits. Note that the Ralari they're guarding can't even shoot at you. The Dralthis are actually fairly easy as long as you don't crash into an asteroid.


Mission 4

Ship : Raptor.
Wingman : Hunter.

Bronze Star possible.

At Nav 1 you find 3 Dralthis in an asteroid field. At Nav 2 you find the Exeter (which jumps out shortly after your arrival) as well as 4 Krants. At Nav 3 the Star Base is being attacked by 4 Hhriss. After destroying them 4 Dralthis attack.

The Dralthis and Krants are very easy. The Hhriss are tougher. Fortunately, you're flying an enhanced version of the Raptor which has 3 mass drivers instead of 2. Remember not to be too stubborn when chasing a Hhriss. Give up the chase if they start dodging too much or if you're being hit. It's better to hit them when they come near you.


Mission 5

Ship : Rapier.
Wingman : Iceman.

On the way to Nav 1 are 3 Hhriss, one of them is a Drakhai. At Nav 1 you find the Exeter under attack by 2 Grathas and a Snakeir. On the way back 2 Grathas attack you and the Exeter; then after hitting autopilot 4 Krants attack, and then the path is clear.

The hard part is fighting the Hhriss. You can use most of your missiles against them. If you really find them too difficult, you can afterburn past them but be sure to keep Iceman on your wing or he'll have trouble rejoining you at Nav 1. When you reach Nav 1 I recommend telling Iceman to attack the Snakeir, that way he can weaken it while you destroy the Grathas. When they're taken care of, destroy the Snakeir as soon as possible, then afterburn to the Exeter (which is already heading to the Claw). You should see two red dots on your radar, these are two Grathas I told you about. Destroy them, autopilot, destroy the Krants (it shouldn't be too hard), then autopilot home and land.


Mission 6

Ship : Rapier.
Wingman : Iceman.

Nav 1 has 5 Dralthis (1 Drakhai among them). Nav 2 has 2 Grathas, and after destroying them 2 Jalthis jump in. At Nav 3 you find 4 Krants waiting. The Drayman will probably jump in while you're fighting them. When the Krants are destroyed and the Drayman has jumped in, autopilot to Nav 4 (which is empty), and then back to the Tiger's Claw (you may need to wait for the Drayman at one point).

This mission is pretty easy, especially since you should have to problems protecting the Drayman.


Mission 7

Ship : Raptor.
Wingman : Spirit.

The Jalthi Nav has 4 Jalthis and a defenceless Ralari. The Unknown Nav has 5 Krants (4 Drakhai) and a Drakhai-flown Fralthi.

None of the enemies are extraodinarily difficult, but the Drakhai may take a while to destroy.


Mission 8

Ship : Epee.
Wingman : Spirit.

This mission, apart from being difficult, is quite buggy, so follow this path if you want to play through the mission with as few bugs as possible. First autopilot to Nav 1, where you'll find 4 Dralthis (3 Drakhai) and 2 Dorkirs. Destroy them all. Be careful, the Dorkirs are actually quite dangerous. You may wish to have Spirit help you destroy them. You'll probably see a third Dorkir that's very far away on your radar. Don't go after it. Instead, try to autopilot back to the Tiger's Claw and you'll run into the Dorkir. Destroy it. Autopilot back to Nav 1, then to Nav 2. You'll run into 3 Krants on the way to Nav 2. Destroy them. Autopilot to Nav 2 again, and you'll find 4 Jalthis. Be sure to help Spirit throughout the mission and especially at this Nav Point or you'll probably have trouble dealing with the Jalthis on your own. Destroy them as soon as possible, but watch your back and help Spirit if necessary. Then autopilot home and land.


Mission 9

Ship : Epee.
Wingman : Knight.

You must protect the Draymans at Nav 1 and Nav 2 until they jump out. This is one of the hardest missions in the game.

At Nav 1 the Drayman is under attack by 2 Jalthis. If you destroy the last Jalthi instead of letting it retreat you get attacked by 3 Dralthi. At Nav 2, 5 Dralthis are headed for the Drayman. You get ambushed by 4 Krants on your way back to the Claw.

This mission is quite difficult! As soon as you get to Nav 1, head for the Jalthis. You basically have to distract one of them long enough so the Drayman can jump out. The Drayman will actually jump very shortly after your arrival, but the Jalthis will destroy it nonetheless if you don't act quickly, so fly very close to a Jalthi's flank and/or rear and hit it with your guns, that should do the trick. Try not to use any DF missiles. fter the Drayman jumps out, destroy any Jalthis attacking you, but if they try to escape, I recommend letting them go. If you don't let the last Jalthi retreat you'll get attacked by 3 Dralthi, and the mission is hard enough as it is. Nav 2 is the hardest part of the mission. You'll have to protect this Drayman for a larger amount of time, and the Dralthis can easily kill it. I recommend destroying one of the three Dralthis behind the Drayman as soon as possible (DFs can help a lot). Then distract the Dralthis to the best of your ability. Do not go chasing Dralthis around, as your primary objective is to distract/destroy any Dralthis currently attacking the Drayman. Once the Drayman jumps out, destroy any Dralthis attacking you. If some of them attempt to retreat, you may wish to let them go, since chasing after them is a waste of AB fuel, and the mission isn't over yet. Then try to autopilot back to the Tiger's Claw and 4 Krants will attack you. You can simply afterburn past them, or, if you're still in good enough shape, you can fight them. Then get back to the Tiger's Claw and land.


Mission 10

Ship : Rapier.
Wingman : Knight.

Escort the Exeter and preferably Knight back to the Claw... Figuring out how to win this mission may be harder than actually winning it.

Nav 1 has 5 Dralthi (2 Drakhai). At Nav 2, 5 Krants (all Drakhai) attack the Exeter, and you get ambushed by 3 Jalthi on the way back.

Nav 1 should be fairly easy. If you destroy one Drakhai or make it retreat, some of the other Dralthis may attempt to run away as well. You may want to let them go and save AB fuel. Then autopilot to Nav 2... The trick to winning this mission is that the Exeter will head to the Tiger's Claw at full speed once you reach Nav 2, and it pretty much gets destroyed if you are too far away from it. DO NOT try to destroy all of the Drakhai. Instead, hit all of the five Krants as soon as possible in order to distract them. Keep distracting any Krants that attack the capship, and STAY CLOSE TO THE EXETER. Of course, you have to be careful not to crash into it, but you have to stay pretty close to it (and preferably a little ahead of it). Also try to do enough damage to a Krant that it will retreat (the pilot will probably say "only an ape could have such luck!" when you've damaged it enough). If you can pull this off, most if not all of the Krants will eventually retreat, which will make your life much easier. Eventually you'll be ambushed by 3 Jalthi (at this point, the Krants will give up if they haven't already done so). Immediately afterburner towards the Jalthi, almost head on but not quite, and hit them as they get past you. This should make them focus mostly on you instead of the Exeter (if a Jalthi still tries to attack the Exeter, distract/destroy it as soon as possible). Destroy the Jalthi, helping Knight if needed. You should also have some missiles left, now would be a good time to use them. When the Jalthi are destroyed, get back to the Exeter and DO NOT AUTOPILOT (the Exeter might get destroyed even if you autopilot straight back to the Claw). Instead, set the Tiger's Claw as your next Nav Point, stay close to one of the Exeter's flanks and make your speed match that of the Exeter's (around 150-180 KPS). When you get close enough to the Claw (around 8000), slow down to around 100 KPS and request landing clearance but do not land yet. Let the Exeter reach the Claw first (slow down if necessary). The Exeter will probably bump into the Tiger's Claw once, then it will start heading away from it. Then land as soon as possible without bumping into the Exeter (wait a few more seconds if necessary). Mission accomplished!


Mission 11

Ship : Raptor.
Wingman : Iceman.

Gold Star possible.

At Nav 1 you find the Exeter with 5 Krants near it. At Nav 2 you find 3 Hhriss and a starbase. 4 Krant (1 Drakhai) show up after you destroy the Hhriss. Nav 3 has 4 Grathas (2 Drakhai) and another base.

The 4 Krants surrounding the Exeter won't attack unless you attack them, but the Krant behind the Exeter will. You may wish to let Iceman handle the 4 Krants surrounding the Exeter since it's easy to accidentally crash into the Exeter. Nav 2 is somewhat difficult, and there's a glitch/feature that tends to make the starbase disappear. Fortunately, you can make the base reappear by flying in circles around it and you can still shoot it and target it when it's possible. The Hhriss are probably the toughest part of the mission, but you're flying Raptors with Iceman, so it souldn't be *that* hard. Save some AB fuel for the Grathas at Nav 3. Nav 3 is not all that hard unless you're significantly damaged, those Grathas are actually pretty easy in a Raptor.


Mission 12

Ship : Raptor.
Wingman : Iceman.

Nav 1 has 4 Krants (1 Drakhai) and 1 Dorkir. Nav 2 has 4 Dralthi (2 Drakhai) and 3 Jalthi. Nav 3 has 2 Hhriss and 1 Dorkir.

The tough part is facing the Hhriss after the huge battle at Nav 2, so save as much AB fuel as you can or just afterburn past the fighters at Nav 2. Nav 2 itself isn't all tha hard. Try to take out at least one Dralthi before the Jalthi reach you, then I recommend mostly focusing on the Jalthi since they're the most dangerous. If any enemies try to escape at Nav 2, you should probably let them go to save AB fuel.


Mission 13

Ship : Ferret.
Wingman : Spirit.

Between the Tiger's Claw and Nav 1 are 5 Dralthi and 1 Snakeir. At Nav 1 the two Diligents are under attack by... approximately two Krants (there may be more, but they apparently tend to crash into the Diligents).

This mission is pretty much a cakewalk. Have fun flying the Ferret again.


Mission 14

Ship : Ferret.
Wingman : Spirit.

Gold Star possible.

Note : You cannot give orders to Spirit in this mission and she will try to shoot enemies through you if you're between her and her target. Be careful.

Nav 1 has 4 Krants. 2 defenceless Fralthi appear after you destroy them. Nav 2 has 6 Dralthis. 3 Dorkirs appear after you destroy the last one. Nav 3 has 4 Hhriss and a Snakeir. Assuming you destroy the Snakeir, you run into 3 Grathas and 4 Ralari on your way back.

Well, what a mission! Good thing you're flying the Ferret. Note that you have to hit Nav 1, Nav 2, and Nav 3 in this order if you want the enemies to properly show up (so you can't do Nav 3 first). Nav 1 and Nav 2 are pretty easy, but be sure to destroy the last enemy (don't let it retreat!) in order to make the capships show up. Afterburners are not that useful in a Ferret, so you should have enough fuel for the whole mission. When you reach Nav 3, you can either focus on the Snakeir or on the Hhriss. If you follow the Snakeir, most or all of the remaining enemies will eventually self-destruct anyway (and the Snakeir seems to self-destruct even if you focus on the Hhriss). When you reach the 4 Ralari, you'll only see 2 Grathas but there seems to be a third one far away. You'll probably want to slow down a little when fighting the Grathas so you don't accidentally ram them.


Mission 15

Ship : Epee.
Wingman : None.

Nav 1 has 2 Jalthis. Nav 2 has 4 Grathas. Nav 3 has an asteroid field but is otherwise safe.

Taking down the 4 Grathas in an Epee may be quite difficult. Destroy them as soon as possible (missiles can help) but watch your back and try not to get hit too much or your ship will be destroyed really fast. Also be careful not to crash into your enemies. For what it's worth, don't forget the Epee also carries a mine.


Mission 16

Ship : Rapier.
Wingman : None.

Autopilot to Nav 1. You'll see something blow up. Your radar displays 4 red dots even though you can't see any enemy ships... The final battle begins. Those 4 Strakhas can be a pain to destroy. They are fully invisible even when they shoot. Fortunately, your radar still displays them and you can target them (although you won't see the red brackets) and missiles will lock on properly. The best way to shoot down a Strakha seems to be to let it charge you head on and shoot it (you might want to slow down). You'll be able to tell approximately where it is when it fires at you. However, bear in mind dodging their missiles should be your first priority (if you don't dodge them, you can die pretty fast). Missiles may als help, especially Pilum FFs. Strakhas will also display leave a thin trail of fire behind them when they've been damaged enough. It might take a while, but eventually you should be able to destroy them and/or make them retreat. When they're taken care of, autopilot to Nav 2, where you'll run into another Strakha. Destroy it and autopilot to Nav 3, which is empty. Autopilot back to the Tiger's Claw Nav. The Tiger's Claw has been destroyed and your radar displays three red dots. If you wish, afterburner towards the three red dots which are actually the 3 Strakhas that presumably destroyed the Tiger's Claw, and destroy them. Then autopilot to the Austin Nav. That's it, you've won! Congratulations!

(Interesting fact : Originally you were supposed to land on the Austin, but the author couldn't get it to appear)
 
I wanted to edit my post to fix the typos and add that one of the 4 Krants in Mission 9 is a Drakhai, but the edit button has disappeared! :eek:

Refreshing the page doesn't seem to work. Forum bug?

EDIT : Hmm. I can edit this post, but not the previous one.
 
Ah, thanks. I'll be more careful next time. I was I so glad I'd finished the guide I only re-read quickly before posting.
 
This is from the SNES Super Wing Commander? What are the Ferret and Epee like in the WC1 setting?
 
No, SM3 is a very, very old WC1 mod. It adds some WC2 ships into WC1.

(the two games are semi-compatible in that regard)
 
And this would be located WHERE?
I know I am blind in finding stuff on the files section, but I cannot spot a SM3 there...
 
Well, apparently some people need to be reminded that the Fan Missions page actually exists. :D

And it can be nice for WC1 fans to play some more missions.

I was honestly quite surprised to find out some people didn't know about it - I personally remember most mods that were made for my favorite games, and I'm usually eager to find some more, no matter how old they are.
 
I don't know... The mods seem to assume that you have the DOS versions of WC, SM1, and SM2. So I'd say no, but I guess you could try.

Off-topic : I've just found the poster easter egg in Secret Missions 2 : Crusade. :p
 
dumb question...WCII will take your pilot statistics from WC1, SM1 and SM2. Will it do the same from this fan mod, SM3?

I'm actually really curious about this mod. I didn't know it existed either. What are people's impressions about it? (If no one minds taking a trip down memory lane...)
 
I haven't tried, but since SM3 uses the SM2 engine, it might be possible.

Regarding the game itself, it doesn't have much of a plot. It does deal with the destruction of the Tiger's Claw (Mission 16) in the Enigma sector, but I mostly recommend it for the gameplay (the author couldn't edit the briefings and the bar conversations).

EDIT : The SM3 Ferret is really great... I beat the simulator mission (40 fighters) on my first try and got over 2 million points. Interestingly, the Strakhas are visible when you fight them in the sim.
 
In the barracks if you click on the posters next to the lockers (on the left side) you'll get a close-up view of the girls.
 
Ah, this part was missing in the wing commander franchise: a link between WC1 and the tiger's claw's destruction, great!

The only thing missing in here I suppose would be dialogues, but the effort is commendable anyway.

On the other hand, I would like to hear of a way to get SM3 to work on the KS version of WC (along with any other WC1/WC2 MOD). Did anybody try that, or has any advice to offer?
 
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