WC1 "The Path of Most Medals" + helpful links

What matters MOST to you when trying to max out a WC1 play-though?

  • Medals

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • Kills

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Winning Missions/Sectors

    Votes: 5 45.5%
  • Flying better ships

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Keeping your Wingman alive

    Votes: 3 27.3%

  • Total voters
    11

Ragger

Ensign
It begins...

with me, a "long lost" Wing Commander fan/fiend. I played Wing Commander on my parents 386 in the early-mid 90's. I had massive, detailed blueprints of the ships that I thought were awesome! We had a joystick JUST FOR THE GAME!

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A number of years ago, I went in search of a way to quickly and easily play Wing Commander again, although this time I was intent to obliterate the game. I clumsily (I am not a computer geek, just a gamer) learned about dosbox and found a digital copy that would play within it. I had no joystick, but I decided I could get by using the keyboard. This was in my gaming prime (see: before kids).

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Unfortunately, even in my gaming prime, I did not take the time to play more than the quickest, most deadly and winning route through the game. A measly 6 sectors. 18 missions.

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Something was wrong with my chest. A little light on medals.

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The kills number wasn't concerning in comparison to the number of missions I had done, it was the totals of both that bothered me. The game seemed a bit short. I knew I had seen 160+ kills before...

Something needed to be done, but alas, even before kids I kept myself busy. My gaming time went elsewhere after learning breifly about the mission paths, and how winning and losing different missions and sectors could influence the totals.

I had got my fix, and I was moving on.

For the time, anyways.

THE BUG RECENTLY HIT ME WITH A VENGEANCE!!

Insert new joystick:

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Insert a strategy (beyond kill everything and win every mission):

Main Guide
Guide
Guide
Guide
Notes
Forum

And I often visited some particularly helpful threads on the forum, including this post in particular:

ok: so the medal points are:
salthi 7
dralthi/krant 10
gratha/jalthi/hhriss 15
dorkir 15
ralari 25
fralthi 50
snakeir 70
star post 75
confederation ship (ie wingman) -1
friendly ship saved (ie protect the drayman) 25

in addition, the lumbari in sm2 is also worth 15 (as it is essentially a dorkir).

This information is apparently from "David Raley's Mission.wc" which google finds no hits for.

If anyone has a copy of that, or other similar documents, then i would certainly like to get hold of a copy and I'm sure the CIC would.
EDIT - Ignore that, last line, I have a copy by a different name in my archives!

And I found I was NOT alone on my quest to shape a path that included a longer more medal-y, kill-y experience. I even found out there may be some parts of WC that have possibly not been fully explored or understood (I have not tried it, but THIS looks helpful if you're looking for even MORE answers):

Interesting - CAMP tells me there are SIX medals not listed in MISSIONS.WC... but each time, there aren't enough kill points in the mission to achieve them. This is kind of strange, since there's clearly a different way to set it to 'no value' (a Bronze Star set to 2000.) It's possible that there was some other way to achieve points that was cut from the game, or that these missions were changed to have fewer targets.

Brimstone 2
Silver Star for 100 KP (93 possible)
Port Hedland 1
Silver Star for 185 KP (130 possible)
Venice 2
Gold Star for 190 KP (178 possible)
Hell's Kitchen 1
Bronze Star for 160 KP (138 possible)
Hell's Kitchen 3
Silver Star for 161 KP (100 possible)
Hell's Kitchen 4
Medal of Valor for 220 KP (218 possible)

This collection of information changed everything, and shifted control of my destiny (and medal collection) in my favor. I could find no evidence that the "Path Of Most Medals" (especially including "all possible kills on that path") had ever been shared in it's complete form. I set my mind to completing this, and documenting it. Below I will post Sector-by-Sector results (medal and chalkboard pics are showing results of the mission they're listed under, should there be something noteworthy to show. Compare to previous update to see changes). I hope you find them interesting, if not helpful!


SOME FINAL NOTES before we dig in:

1) I am a winner. I intend to carry my character forward to SM1&2, so this campaign will end in Venice Sector, and thus I may sacrifice a higher medal count obtainable by finishing in Hell's Kitchen.

2) I learned how to transfer pilots from WC to the SM1&2 and improve the game here, and improve the sound here. I also understand that this might be helpful during a transfer (and maybe to learn more about the game to?), but I have not used it.

3) BANDIT Loaf has been exceptionally interactive and supportive in my noobish quest learn more about WC! Here AND on his twitter! He appears to be at the heart of the current Wing Commander Community!

4) If I haven't included the answer to any of your questions with this post, I probably don't know the answer. I know more than your average dude about WC1 and it's missions, but poke around my links to find your answers, as I am not likely to be checking in on this thread months or years from now, more than on the odd occasion.

5) IF YOU CAN DO BETTER (legitimately) than SHARE!! Post any improvements!!!
 
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ENYO SYSTEM:

Mission 1)

- Auto-pilot towards Nav 1
- Destroy 3 Dralthi
- Skip Nav 1 and change Nav point to Nav 3
- Auto-pilot or afterburner towards Nav 3
- Destroy 2 Salthi before Nav 3
- Eject after scoring the 5 kills

This skipping the Nav points and ejecting will result in you completely failing the mission, and that's enough to fail the system. This is what you want, as the losing path to Gateway will ultimately lead to more medals.

Enyo 1a.jpg

Enyo 1b.jpg

Enyo 1c.jpg



Mission 2)

- Complete Mission (from here on out, complete mission means score ALL possible kills, safely escort any Confed ships, don't let your Wingman die, hit all Nav points, don't eject)

Enyo 2a.jpg

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Enyo 2c.jpg
 
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GATEWAY SYSTEM:

Mission 1)

- Complete Mission (I received my first promotion here)

Gateway 1b+.jpg

Gateway 1c.jpg



Mission 2)

- Complete Mission

Gateway 2a.jpg

Gateway 2b.jpg

Gateway 2c.jpg



Mission 3)

- Auto-pilot towards Nav 1
- Engage and destroy the 2 Gratha
- Head to Nav 1 and make rendezvous
- Auto-pilot back towards the Claw
- Engage and destroy the 4 Salthi, including Bhurak
- Destroy the Drayman
- Head back to the claw and land

Losing the Drayman loses the mission, which is enough to lose the series. THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT IF YOU WANT MEDALS!

Gateway 3b.jpg

Gateway 3c.jpg
 
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CHENGDU SYSTEM:

Mission 1)

- Complete Mission

Chengdu 1b.jpg

Chengdu 1c.jpg



Mission 2)

- Complete Mission

Chengdu 2a1.jpg

Chengdu 2a2.jpg

Chengdu 2a3.jpg

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Chengdu 2b.jpg

Chengdu 2c.jpg



Mission 3)

- Complete mission

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BRIMSTONE SYSTEM:

Mission 1)

- Auto-pilot towards Nav 1.
- Take out the Salthi and 3 Gratha
-Change Nav to Nav 2
- Head towards Nav 2
- Destroy 2 Krant
-Eject

I'll be honest here and say that you MAY be able to land, as long as you don't hit any of the Nav points (but make all the kills), and still lose enough points to help you towards losing the system, which is what you want. You "possibly" (you would need to test) could even just "Complete Mission" here, but I doubt it.

This System I documented the poorest. Suffice to say I'm nearly positive that this mission cannot be done perfectly when considering you need to fail the sector. You need to fail mission 2 (read ahead) too, but failing mission 2 alone is not enough to sink this series. I recommend using separate save slots to save before mission 1, before mission 2 and before mission 3 here, if you have them available, just too hedge your bets. I'm 90% sure I remember how this went, but why take the chance if you have extra save slots?


Mission 2)

This is a mission with a rumored possible Silver Star, but there is no proof anyone has ever gotten it, or any knowledge (yet) of how to get it.

Seeing as nobody knows how to achieve it, (I've tried letting Maniac die under enemy fire, and completing the mission), and we need to fail this system...

- Complete Mission UNTIL you make your 8th kill.
- Destroy the Exeter, if not already destroyed.

I cannot remember if I ejected here. I don't think so, but keep it in mind if you don't advance to Hubble's Star system next.

Somewhere in this system I was promoted! Maybe you can complete mission 1? Maybe I got promoted even with these results.

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Mission 3)

-Complete Mission EXCEPT DO NOT KILL KHAJJA. This will cost you his kill, another wave of 2 Krants, and a Bronze medal BUT open up a silver medal later on in Venice ( that you cannot acheive without Khajja being killed there).

- Instead, after destroying the other 3 Krants and the Dorkir, afterburner back towards the Claw until Khajja is out of range.

-This is 100% how I did mission 3, so just the first 2 missions have some fog about the ejecting vs landing (I'm almost positive you cannot "complete mission" 1).

You trade some kills and a Bronze for a Silver later, and I call that an upgrade.
 
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PORT HEDLAND SYSTEM:

Mission 1)

- "Complete Mission" until you destroy the final Gratha, your 7th kill of the mission.

- If the Drayman hasn't been destroyed, destroy it.

Here I will note that I often try my best to allow a final enemy fighter to destroy the few Confed ships I want sunk, but destroyed is destroyed in game, in a nearly black and white way. As long as I don't destroy the Claw, I'm held criminally blameless for destroying Confed ships, probably because "friendly fire happens" .

No "TCSO show" I guess, but this is the final system you must fail.

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Mission 2)

- Complete Mission

PortHedland 2b.jpg

PortHedland 2c.jpg



Mission 3)

- Complete Mission EXCEPT the Exeter must be destroyed (the Gratha destroy it or you do). This will allow you to fail the series. All winning from now on, I promise.
- Hint:
The engagement with the Fralthi and the 4 Krants has a catch as the Fralthi appears to jump away relatively shortly after the total number of ships (Confed and Kilrathi) totals less than 5 (including you and maybe your Wingman, if he hasn't jetted home or had you send him home). Take out 2 Krants (or only 1 if Knight is gone) and then take out the Fralthi before cleaning up the remaining Krants after.

PortHedland 3b.jpg

PortHedland 3c.jpg
 
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HUBBLE'S STAR SYSTEM:


Mission 1, 2 and 3)

- Complete Missions

1)
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HS 1c.jpg


2)
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HS 2c.jpg


3)
HS 3b.jpg
HS 3c.jpg
 
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ROSTOV SYSTEM:

Mission 1)

- Complete Mission

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Rostov 1c.jpg



Mission 2)

- Complete Mission

Rostov 2b.jpg

Rostov 2c.jpg



Mission 3)

- Complete Mission, but DO NOT DESTROY KHAJJA! You miss another kill here, in sacrifice for that silver later. You still get a gold medal here without killing Khajja.

Rostov 3b.jpg

Rostov 3c.jpg
 
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VENICE SYSTEM:

This system I'm posting the 1st mission separately. A second post will complete the system.

Mission 1)

- Hunter must be killed by enemy fire in this mission to achieve a medal.
- If you have spared Khajja, he will be here and you get to kill him. He must be here to get the medal.
-Complete the mission, losing Hunter to enemy fire along the way

Venice 1a1.jpg
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Venice 1a5.jpg
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Venice 1b.jpg
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Because of all the factors involved, imo this is the hardest medal to receive (of the ones currently known to be winnable) in WC1. There are a couple, maybe even a few missions i may describe as "harder" to "complete" (or even to complete as described in my guide, such as I've described Port Hedland 3) but this one isn't easy, and it's even harder to do as I've instructed!
 
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VENICE SYSTEM:

Mission 2)

- Another mission where it both does and does not technically look possible to win a Gold Star
- To the best of my knowledge, nobody has gotten it.
- Complete Mission regardless

Venice 2a1.jpg

Venice 2a2.jpg

Venice 2c.jpg



Mission 3)

- Complete Mission

Venice 3b.jpg

Venice 3c.jpg



Mission 4)

-Complete Mission

Venice 4a4.jpg

Venice 4a1.jpg
Venice 4a2.jpg
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Total Medal/Star Tally:


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6 Bronze
8 Silver
3 Gold
1 Golden Sun
1 Pewter Planet Medal Of Valor


207 kills


I believe there are paths with more kills, including this one, at the sacrifice of medals. This same path ending in Hell's Kitchen would give you an extra gold Medal (and possibly more), but you lose the game. You fly a lot of the Hornet and Scimitar on this path too.

Anybody else have a campaign like this to share?
 
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Very interesting. And you did confirm that Hunter does need to die to win the medal in Venice 1. I'm kind of surprised that most guides I've found have inaccurate/incomplete medal information. I'm still wondering how to get the Gold Star in Firekka 2.

Personally, I always try to get the best possible outcome in my playthroughs. He's Col. Blair! He doesn't fail missions! So I ended up getting 4 Bronze, 4 Silver, 2 Gold and a Medal of Valor in the main campaign. 151 kills in my last playthrough. Or 8 Bronze, 7 Silver, 6 Gold and 2 Medals of Valor total including the Secret Missions
 
Very interesting. And you did confirm that Hunter does need to die to win the medal in Venice 1. I'm kind of surprised that most guides I've found have inaccurate/incomplete medal information. I'm still wondering how to get the Gold Star in Firekka 2.

Personally, I always try to get the best possible outcome in my playthroughs. He's Col. Blair! He doesn't fail missions! So I ended up getting 4 Bronze, 4 Silver, 2 Gold and a Medal of Valor in the main campaign. 151 kills in my last playthrough. Or 8 Bronze, 7 Silver, 6 Gold and 2 Medals of Valor total including the Secret Missions
That "usual" play-through of yours for WC1 sounds VEERRY familiar. I think I've finished WC like that at least a few times when I was younger on my 386 . I suppose I did not try letting Hunter live when I did my play through where I kept Khajja alive. 100% certain that Khajja must be there though, and I'm fairly confident Hunter must bite it too. I think Firekka 2 is a SM mission? I have not played the SMs yet, but I WILL want to extend this "most medals possible" through the SMs, so maybe I can get back to you about Firekka at some point :)

*EDIT: Bandit and I talked about this on twitter. He's the one who first tested and confirmed the Khajja/Hunter relationship for me. It inspired a re-do campaign for me, and I re-confirmed it and took pics of the ceremony. See his tweet here, and look up more of our conversation by searching "@kevinjamieson86 @banditloaf" on twitter.
 
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So my little help paid off, I guess.

Just voted 'Kills' because that's what I'm up to right now.
I've been recording my gameplay of WC1(including SM, SM2) missions. I took Winning Series Path including Terminal Series(Brimstone and Rostov) for the SM transfer.
No wingmen killed, Bronze 9 / Silver 8 / Gold 7 / GoldenSun / PP 2, with 700+ kills.
I did most of the Losing Series missions separately but stuck at Hell's Kitchen 1 due to the badly coded MODULE.000 gamedat.

Oh, and don't bother with that Firekka 2 medal, because you won't get one(9999 kill points).
 
So my little help paid off, I guess.

Just voted 'Kills' because that's what I'm up to right now.
I've been recording my gameplay of WC1(including SM, SM2) missions. I took Winning Series Path including Terminal Series(Brimstone and Rostov) for the SM transfer.
No wingmen killed, Bronze 9 / Silver 8 / Gold 7 / GoldenSun / PP 2, with 700+ kills.
I did most of the Losing Series missions separately but stuck at Hell's Kitchen 1 due to the badly coded MODULE.000 gamedat.

Oh, and don't bother with that Firekka 2 medal, because you won't get one(9999 kill points).
YES, you were helpful in a number the threads I linked to above! I only decided to post results and a thread once I saw that you had gone Dakota/Kurasawa, instead of Port Hedland/Hubble's Star (which will land an additional 2 bronze than Dakota/Kurasawa). I also messed up with Khajja and Venice 1 my fist run at this path! You need to sacrifice the Bronze at Brimstone 3 to get the Silver at Venice, which sucks a bit.
 
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