Take a Closer Look at WC2's Cut Carrier (January 17, 2020)

[Bandit LOAF]

Here's some random Rigakh knowledge to help kickstart your weekend.

These are the hand written design notes working out the ships for Wing Commander II... including the cut-for-space Rigakh carrier! It was the Kilrathi flagship, which appears only in cutscenes.





Here's the Rigakh 3D model. It was originally to be part of the final mission alongside K'Tithrak Mang (which is why you are given so many torpedoes!) After being cut from WC2, it was written in as the final boss in the first mission disk... and was then cut again!





A lot of folks assume the Kilrathi flagship is a Ralatha destroyer; they look very similar, but the Rigakh has six nacelles instead of five (and a flight deck in the front.) The similarity may be why it was such an easy cut.





You can see 'out' from inside the front of the flight deck in cutscenes where Thrakhath and Khasra are talking.




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Original update published on January 17, 2020

 

[Mekt-Hakkikt]

Very cool! I always thought the Hha'ifra was the most beautiful Kilrathi cap ship design. I like the WC2 style best anyway but the Hha'ifra takes the cake.

 

[Servo]

So, do you think the Standoff team will adjust their incredible game to reflect the true size of the Rigakh?

 

[AD]

That last picture sure makes it look like there's two runways, one on each side. That would seem to suggest that the two bigger-but-not the biggest holes on lower half of the nose are launch tubes/launchers and the bigger central hole is for fighter recovery.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

That last picture sure makes it look like there's two runways, one on each side. That would seem to suggest that the two bigger-but-not the biggest holes on lower half of the nose are launch tubes/launchers and the bigger central hole is for fighter recovery.

The model in the WC3D pack seems to support that idea (RIGHANG.3DS if you're interested).

 

[Quarto]

So, do you think the Standoff team will adjust their incredible game to reflect the true size of the Rigakh?

Definitely not. Firstly, we're not making any changes at all to Standoff any more. Secondly, even if we were making changes, this change would be very exceedingly problematic.

For better or worse, we chose to treat the Rigakh as a light cruiser. These stats make it a big dreadnought, which would be smaller only than the Hakaga (and not a lot smaller). Resizing a capship by 10-20% is nothing, but to more than double its size? That would make a very big impact, as it would demand a big increase in turrets and destructable components. Worse still, we'd practically have to cut the ship from the game, because the current missions are designed with Rigakhs being light cruisers. It's a vastly different role, and it means the ship appearing much more numerously than a dreadnought would.

Thirdly, though, even if we were making changes, and even if we could make a change as big as this one, why would we? These stats were never published anywhere. Therefore, they are not official. The Rigakh was cut from WC2, and this affected the universe in a big way. It no longer makes sense for the Rigakh to be a big dreadnought, because if it is… why did it not get directly involved in the fight for Enigma Sector? In light of the ship being cut from the gameplay, it makes far better sense now to ignore the unofficial, original intentions for what the ship was meant to be, and instead to consider it as a light cruiser the way Standoff does - a ship fast enough to get Thrakhath from place to place, but not powerful enough to make a difference in the fight (and therefore, not appearing in any fight).