SWC and SM1.5

Madman

Vice Admiral
For those who don't know, it is quite possible to get SWC mac running in both Basilisk II (windows port) and Sheepsaver and the 3do version runs quite nicely in the latest alpha of FreeDO (available in the top link here: http://www.arts-union.ru/smf/index.php?topic=288.0)

Both mac emulators will run (provided you have a suitable bios which can be found quite easily online) system 7 and with some coaxing will run the game.

So the good done with lets move to the bad:

Both mac emulators require you to mount the iso of the game (or load it into the drive) externally and will irritatingly forget it's there if you run the emulator again without remounting the iso!

Basilisk which emulates a 68k processor mac runs fine but the music feels a bit jittery note though, that even though i couldnt get the all new and shiny superfast version of basilisk working, that when i emulated a 68040 with fpu the game was a tad too fast (unless you like fighting the fastest shoklar in the west!)

If anyone knows the original system requirements that would be great!

Sheepsaver which emulates the powerpc was a little smoother but the music didnt work at all for me. The game is more playable though! (but more prone to crash! - actually i can't get it working again now - probably shouldn't have installed quicktime 2!)

Finally the 3do version - in my opinion better due to the cheat menu providing cheats and video watching abilities (is there a similar debug mode on the MAC version?)- the problem is that the audio is juddery, speech will skip and sometimes loop on itself - a major problem! Also, after a bit of playing/cheating i finished the starpost in venice, only to finish the mission, be told i was guest of honour at a party upstairs (come on planet!) before getting the "im changing your squadron" video! The same happened when i deliberately played "retreat" in SM1 where i didnt get the "you lose" video but instead just carried on into SM1.5

whether these are problems in swc generally i don't know but it's irritating.

Also in the 3do version are the killer asteroids from outerspace, not present in the mac version where they operate like the pc's 2 hit killer monsters, the 3do's asteroids are homing missiles of high-speed doom, shooting along (even when you're doing 10 kps) and destroying you instantly!

the final problems are of course the comic itts - which seemingly makes you aim such that you will miss and of course the voice acting, although I do love the way that halcyon sounds surprised/questioning when telling me my kills "you got three?????" and the masterfully well voiced iceman (i mean seriously, a cat mewling would have sounded more like the icemans cold hard edge!)

Finally there's the reason we all care - SM1.5 - I actually launched on this mission following reading the script that LOAF posted some time back. Specifically one line that disturbed me - the defecting dralthi whose pilot is "Colonel Ralgha".
We never see his face and he gets no more detailed a description but I believe end-run states that no other kilrathi has ever defected before... Kalrahr Ralgha nar Hhallas and Kirha - so what gives! On the other hand it's nice to see Bossman killed off properly (not just described as in SM2) and more importantly, to see some more backstory to the Gwynevhar and Spirits fiancé.

Finally for those who want to try all these things out - my system is a Athlon II X4 620 (thats a quad core at 2.6Ghz) with 4Gig of ram and a Geforce GTS 250
 
SHouldn't this be under tech support?
Either way thanks for this, I'm sure everyone will find it quite useful.

Sadly, I decided to take the lazy way out and buy a 3do :p
 
~~~, possibly, although I would like an answer to the questions!
If anyone knows the original system requirements that would be great!
Is there a similar debug mode on the MAC version?

What's the "official" take on the Colonel Ralgha defection? is it the same one? how does that match with the assertion that the Ras-Nikhra is the first ship to defect?

Finally, the video player includes some "dream sequences" where you see a fighter flying along and get random voice over quotes from the pilots, spirit saying you always fly with honour etc? Also theres' an end mission cutscene for hitting the venice starpost which didnt play, is that stuff supposed to?
 
Finally there's the reason we all care - SM1.5 - I actually launched on this mission following reading the script that LOAF posted some time back. Specifically one line that disturbed me - the defecting dralthi whose pilot is "Colonel Ralgha".
We never see his face and he gets no more detailed a description but I believe end-run states that no other kilrathi has ever defected before... Kalrahr Ralgha nar Hhallas and Kirha - so what gives!

What's the "official" take on the Colonel Ralgha defection? is it the same one? how does that match with the assertion that the Ras-Nikhra is the first ship to defect?

We should use the actual quotes in question here to make a real determination. Otherwise we're trying to reconcile memories and interpretations rather than the facts.

There is zero mention of Ralgha, Kirha or the Ras Nik'hra in End Run, and only Kirha is mentioned anywhere in Fleet Action. In Freedom Flight, there is an internal monologue from Ralgha that states "No Kilrathi has ever walked this path before." It could mean that he's the first to defect, but then the Ras Nik'hra is basically surrendering on behalf of the Ghorah Khar rebellion, which is a whole lot of Kilrathi that want to ally with the Confederation.

There could be dozens of Kilrathi defectors before Ralgha, but for morale purposes, that's not something the Kilrathi media would be broadcasting for everyone to hear. Ralgha could be the only defector that he's aware of. The line in question could also just be a testament to Ralgha's feelings of solitude and uncertainty. There are a handful of Kilrathi defections spread around the whole Wing Commander series, and we don't need to read every line as literal must-be statements, especially when they're utterred from an in-universe character's perspective.
 
sorry - my bad, i did mean freedom flight :D

so we should assume it's not the same ralgha - and that it's merely the important of nar Hhallas' defection that makes the claw's crew so uptight (Hobbes' interview with Halcyon and captain ... something!)
 
sorry - my bad, i did mean freedom flight :D

so we should assume it's not the same ralgha - and that it's merely the important of nar Hhallas' defection that makes the claw's crew so uptight (Hobbes' interview with Halcyon and captain ... something!)

Maybe... :) Obviously it'd be a crazy coincidence, and someone had to have had Ralgha nar Hhallas in mind when they reused the name in SWC. Ralgha nar Hhallas, of course, would not have been a colonel in SM1.5. That's a Confed rank he held years later, and he'd have been some kind of captain/shintahr at that time. I don't have the exact quote handy here, so it's possible there could be other meanings. Is it a Dralthi defecting on behalf of a "Colonel Ralgha?"
 
the actual quotes relevant are, from the briefing:
"We have been been contacted by a kilrathi colonel who wishes to defect"
and the debrief starts with:
"Well Maverick, i understood you made it back safely with the dralthi and Colonel Ralgha"

It's a little irritating, as it's still just a conceit for letting you fly a dralthi, and there's obviously no GOOD reason to use the same name!
 
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