WC Alternatives

I would say Tie Fighter, Starlancer, Freespace (especially with the new mod), and I-War 1 and 2, which I'm currently hooked on!
 
frsh said:
Is there some kind of list of games that are like or "almost" like Wing Commander for all platforms capable of playing video games (PC with any OS, Mac, PS2, GC, handheld devices, etc) ?
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There can be only one in my book: STARLANCER!

It's made by the same geniuses, Done in a similar manner, and has a great storyline to boot! (No offense meant to our Russian and Chinese members)

My favorite part about that game, however, is the fact that it has ships with Blind Fire. That means I can actually hit my targets more often. In WCgames.... Well, let's just say it is a good thing there is infinite lazer ammo!
 
The best thing about StarLancer (besides the mind blowing introduction cutscene) was the Wing Commander feel. Nothing like walking into your bunk after a hard mission and and staring at my medal case, or watching a news broadcast etc. Even when you received a promotion, it was cool walking down the corridor to a briefing and seeing fellow mates saluting you (they normally didn't). :cool:
 
DyNaMiX said:
The best thing about StarLancer (besides the mind blowing introduction cutscene) was the Wing Commander feel. Nothing like walking into your bunk after a hard mission and and staring at my medal case, or watching a news broadcast etc. Even when you received a promotion, it was cool walking down the corridor to a briefing and seeing fellow mates saluting you (they normally didn't). :cool:
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And Enriquez! Now THAT is one hot Commander. I am sorry, but she is! And as for the promotions, I agree totally. I actually felt like they were relaly rewarding ME, not my game character.
 
Plus the Killboard was the the WHOLE Alliance, not just your Carrier, once you got to the top of that, you were the King or Queen depending on what sex you chose to be.

Also it's great with the WC mods too
 
Are we only focusing on commercial games or can we list some of the neat freebies...particularly VegaStrike!!!

Ok so that one isnt quite up to spec..however I have yet to see *ANY* sim in this genre that could match up to VegaStrike's freedom to do whatever you want, go wherever you want, and visit far more sectors and systems than in *ANY* other sim out there. With a bit more touch ups and tweaking, which VS is so open ended its very easy to modify to a particular computer's performance, as well as add things even easier.

My list:

1. Nothing can be Wing Commander cept Wing Commander...PERIOD!
2. VegaStrike
3. FreeLancer
4. StarLancer
5. FreeSpace
6. XWA
7. XvT
8. ST Armada
9. Orbiter (free sim)
(non space)
10. MS FS 2002 Pro/2004
11. Crimson Skies
12. Longbow Gold (classic)
13. MS Combat Flight Sim
 
Back in 1995 or so SSI released Renegade Legion: Battle for Jacob's Star. The actual game wasn't terribly different from the three hundred thousand WC knock-offs and the rader was a painful thing, but the story and background were amazingly detailed, and for good reason: Renegade Legion was the red-haired stepchild of FASA, the makers of Battletech. The universe eventually became neglected as FASA refocused on its other creations, but it's still pretty neat, with a story centering around the war between the neo-Roman Terran Overlord Government and the human-alien Commonwealth. And giant frogs.

(Incidently, Renegade Legion was originally intended as a Star Wars RPG but lost out to WOTC, IIRC. So I guess it and Wing Commander share a common origin).

Speaking of Battletech, a game in the universe centering around the space fighters would be pretty neat, I think - Battletech has a very fleshed-out universe with dozens of fighter and warship designs, and the franchise is probably at the height of its popularity.
 
Bob McDob said:
(Incidently, Renegade Legion was originally intended as a Star Wars RPG but lost out to WOTC, IIRC. So I guess it and Wing Commander share a common origin).
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I don't get the reference.
 
Bob, I've heard a lot of bad things about the Dark Age direction of BT. I don't play the RPG, only novels and pc games for me. How do you feel about it?
 
I have this game, Renegade: Battle for Jabo's Star. It has a nice music, settings, and story. The ranks of the Renegade Legion were roman, and it had other nice touches, and weird aliens. SSI planned a sequel, but it got canned.
 
IIRC. So I guess it and Wing Commander share a common origin).
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Chris Roberts originally approached LucasFilm games to see if they were interested in a Star Wars space sim ... they passed on it, and what we know as WC was essentially born.

Bob, I've heard a lot of bad things about the Dark Age direction of BT. I don't play the RPG, only novels and pc games for me. How do you feel about it?
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I'm not really a serious fan (although I've played MWII, MWIII, both Mercs, and read many of the books), butI think it's the same as any other scenery change, and don't really see it (and the whining) as any different from the switch between WCII and III, or IV-Prophecy. Or any new Star Trek series. Some of the stuff isn't exactly what I'd like, but then again that's also a good thing; serieses should move in different and fresh directions, to avoid becoming predictable and end up repeating themselves ad infinitum - witness one of the three billion Gundam spin-offs, for instance. And in any case, it's not my place to decide that sort of thing - WizKids or whoever says it's canon, and they own the BT copyright, so by the name of Kerensky you bet your ferro-fibrous ass it's canon. :)

I haven't really gotten into the novels yet, but I think Ghost War is one of Stackpole's finest novels to date - Stainless Steel Rat with giant robots. The universe state seem a bit primitive at the moment, but it's probably just because the authors haven't really had the time yet to layer on the history and give the era a feel of its own. The one thing that disappointed me is the lack of printed source material. A lot of it is online, true, and in some cases in more detail than in a typical BT sourcebook, but still, there's nothing like holding a real book in your hands. Personal preference, I guess.
 
High,

derthcobra said:
If you havn't tried this game yet you really should. I was huge wing fan until the stoppped making them. There is an online space MMOG called Jumpgate (www.jossh.com) I played it for 4 years before giving it up for Starwars Galaxies. (i have superstar destroyer with my name on it) Its a great game with many different thing to do. I think it was designed to be wing/privateer online before origin got chopped up by EA, but there is no official statement for that. Give it a try I bet you'll be hooked like I was for many years.
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I still play this Game and I still consider it the 'Online Privateer'. Since the last patches (very important: a new faster engine for the Light/Medium Fighters) you can earlier participate at the action beetween the different Squads. The real great thing in Jumpgate is the difference of the ships. Any ship forces you to a completly different style of flying. A gifted guy, lets say at level 20, in a medium Fighter can take down a fighter that needs a higher Level to buy and outfit. You can own a station, where you can have 4 different ships in stock, you can equip your station with a repair or refuel or rearm module. You can even have your own refinery module or a marketmodule. The gameplay is totally free, that also forces the Squads to make the Action in the game, if not the aliens come into the Galaxy to mix the whole thing up :).

Other SpaceOperas that came to mind.
I-War 1 and 2: Great Game, fantastic mission design but huh it is not the easy stuff.
Freespace 1 and 2: Also great games, you can almost stay out of the action (not really, but it feels like)and just give orders. This is handled great, you tell some of the guys to take out the shields of that cruiser and they will do the job, while you are involved in a dogfight or take on the enemy bombers, for example. It lacks a bit personality.
Schleichfahrt (Archimedean Dynasty): a subwater game, one of my al time favorites. Pretty nice mission design, too. And, for a DOS game, great graphics.
See also Aquanox, but I never played this one. I will start it in the near future.
The X-Wing Games: X-Wing & Tie-Fighter are famous and they deserve it definetly.
X-Wing Alliance: Also a great game.
I think this mentioned games plus the WC games are at an outstanding level.
Other Games:
Starlancer: pretty good game, but I don't like the stupid scenery. The Russians (the east) are the real bad ones and we (the west) are the good ones. Especially the german version is embarassing translated.
Freelancer: is a bit to hectically.
X-Beyond the Frontier and follow ups: It is more an economic simulation, so you can't really compare it with the other games.
Tachyion: Nice, not more not less.
Games I never played but I'm interested in your opinions:
StarTrek Academy
X-com Interceptor
Sinistar
Rogue Squadron
 
I've got Renegade: Battle for Jabo's Star, but never been able to play on my System, cuase it uses DOS, but since I only payed £2 for it I wasn't Bothered with taking it back
 
Rogue Squadron is fun to play, but it's more a 3rd view flyer since the cockpits sucks. and it's i no way related to wing commander.

but it's still fun to play :)
 
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