AllTinker
Captain
Hey everyone! It's been a long wait since I announced it, but finally...
Here's W.C.A.T. - The Wing Commander AllTinker overhaul mod - it's an awkward name but it has "CAT" in it, so good enough!
This is a pretty extensive overhaul mod for Wing Commander 1 for DOS - whether real hardware/FPGA or DOSBox.
The most critical thing it does is introduce game-wide sync-to-blank-based speed limiting. To do this properly required a huge number of code changes as many "scenes" in the game are coded slightly differently, requiring different approaches - and the effects of running on a fast machine varied widely. For instance, I've had to correct several hardcoded cutscenes, since their timing was obviously set up without ever having seen them running at full speed...
Here's a playthrough of the first mission, using a 360 controller in 4-axis/4-button mode, on the rough equivalent of a Pentium 90:
I've also successfully tested it on real DOS machines; most recently a Pentium 233MMX with a couple of different gameport joysticks.
I've made several attempts at this (starting with the speed fix) over many years. While I was able to get some basic things happening quite easily, creating a complete solution took an absolutely massive amount of work. Since I really started making major breakthroughs, this has taken a bit over a year (part-time) of very labour-intensive work in raw machine code & some assembly.
In order to make this I primarily used the freeware IDA Pro 5 and ImHex, but it also involved writing several custom tools, including ones for modifying the EXE relocation tables (including for Borland's VROOMM overlays), one for post-processing TASM output to create the layers upon layers of byte patches... The list goes on - this has been a huge project, so much larger than I expected or honestly intended. One day I might do a full write-up from my notes.
The speed fix is far from all it does...
Besides further polishing the existing features, I have plans & ideas for some future additions to this overhaul mod; primarily new gameplay & difficulty options.
I also have plans to perform a similar overhaul on Wing Commander II; it has very half-baked speed limiting, and it would be nice to bring as many of these new features across as possible.
Do note that - in terms of real hardware - this overhaul is intended for mid-tier 486 or faster, preferably with VLB or PCI graphics. On slower machines this overhaul may end up running worse than the original, and pre-386 machines aren't supported at all. This overhaul mod is also incompatible with other mods.
I'm distributing it via itch.io. Amongst other things it opens up the possibility of accepting tips/donations for those in a position to do so; if you can't, no stress at all - it's just where I'm at at the minute.
With that said, here's the link:
Download W.C.A.T. on itch.io
Scroll to the bottom for downloads - I think pretty much everything in that page was also here.
Here's W.C.A.T. - The Wing Commander AllTinker overhaul mod - it's an awkward name but it has "CAT" in it, so good enough!

The most critical thing it does is introduce game-wide sync-to-blank-based speed limiting. To do this properly required a huge number of code changes as many "scenes" in the game are coded slightly differently, requiring different approaches - and the effects of running on a fast machine varied widely. For instance, I've had to correct several hardcoded cutscenes, since their timing was obviously set up without ever having seen them running at full speed...
Here's a playthrough of the first mission, using a 360 controller in 4-axis/4-button mode, on the rough equivalent of a Pentium 90:
I've also successfully tested it on real DOS machines; most recently a Pentium 233MMX with a couple of different gameport joysticks.
I've made several attempts at this (starting with the speed fix) over many years. While I was able to get some basic things happening quite easily, creating a complete solution took an absolutely massive amount of work. Since I really started making major breakthroughs, this has taken a bit over a year (part-time) of very labour-intensive work in raw machine code & some assembly.
In order to make this I primarily used the freeware IDA Pro 5 and ImHex, but it also involved writing several custom tools, including ones for modifying the EXE relocation tables (including for Borland's VROOMM overlays), one for post-processing TASM output to create the layers upon layers of byte patches... The list goes on - this has been a huge project, so much larger than I expected or honestly intended. One day I might do a full write-up from my notes.
The speed fix is far from all it does...
BUG FIXES
Known code bugs have been fixed:- The 5-sortie ribbon, which was awarded after the first sortie.
- The half-defeated copy protection in SM2 (e.g. GOG/EA release).
- Losing a wingman should now be unnecessary for a perfect medal sweep.
- The Adlib hanging-note bug (hopefully reduced, if not eliminated).
- The series overflow bug caused by the original transfer programs.
CONTENT FIXES
Several art & other asset issues have been fixed:- Missing pips on Halcyon's shoulders during award ceremony.
- Incorrect helmet names for Hunter ("Dart") and Maniac ("Joker").
- Rogue pixels in Iceman and Angel's portraits.
- Visual error in barracks bucket splash animation.
- Fixed broken Rostov loss cutscene (broken in v3.5).
- Fixed broken loss cutscene for SM1 (no longer pans off screen).
- Corrected some script typos and mistakes.
- Completely redone lipsync; corrects Vega script, adds it to SM1/2.
NEW LAUNCHER
The new DOS-based launcher handles the following:- Calibration for the new joystick routines.
- Adjusting settings for the game; including new and old features.
- Save game management beyond the game's 8 slots (beds).
- Simple save game editing & creation.
- Transferring between Vega, SM1 and SM2 campaigns.
- Free of series overflow bug, and even sets proper starting dates!
NEW GAME OPTIONS
New game options include:- Reduced asteroid field difficulty.
- The original logic for asteroid fields was deliberately malicious, based on your speed. The new fields are still dangerous, but much more fair.
- Keyboard "smooth auto-centre" mode. Wing Commander simulates a virtual joystick via the arrow keys/numpad; this includes not recentring while firing your weapons, and an instant stop when keys are released. This new mode instead smoothly re-centres when no directional keys are pressed, regardless if fire is held or not.
- Configuring joysticks, up to 4-axes & 4-buttons. There are several modes which hopefully cover any kind of (analogue gameport) setup you might want to throw at it.
- In theory, joysticks should only need to be calibrated once, or at least only every so often - they previously needed to be calibrated every game boot.
FUTURE PLANS
The current release is a "beta" / "in development" primarily because I can't test it thoroughly enough to call it a completed release.Besides further polishing the existing features, I have plans & ideas for some future additions to this overhaul mod; primarily new gameplay & difficulty options.
I also have plans to perform a similar overhaul on Wing Commander II; it has very half-baked speed limiting, and it would be nice to bring as many of these new features across as possible.
DOWNLOADS
I've provided three options for installation:- An automated installer for Windows, bundled with DOSBox-Staging, which will attempt to locate an existing Wing Commander install (e.g. GOG, EA) and copy over the data files automatically.
- A zip file version, again bundled with DOSBox-Staging. Once you've copied over
GAMEDAT
(see below), runWing Commander.exe
. - A minimal zip intended for real DOS, or custom DOSBox setups. It includes example DOSBox configs which will be useful to refer to in the latter case.
GAMEDAT/
over to W.C.A.T.'s GAMEDAT/
directory (found under files/
for the DOSBox downloads).Do note that - in terms of real hardware - this overhaul is intended for mid-tier 486 or faster, preferably with VLB or PCI graphics. On slower machines this overhaul may end up running worse than the original, and pre-386 machines aren't supported at all. This overhaul mod is also incompatible with other mods.
I'm distributing it via itch.io. Amongst other things it opens up the possibility of accepting tips/donations for those in a position to do so; if you can't, no stress at all - it's just where I'm at at the minute.

Download W.C.A.T. on itch.io
Scroll to the bottom for downloads - I think pretty much everything in that page was also here.
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