WC4 is harder than I recall!!??

DocScorpio said:
The receipt in the box indicates I bought WC4 on 2/13/96 at Egghead Software.
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Neat, that was the day after it shipped.

DocScorpio said:
WC3 seemed perfectly smooth speedwise; no slowdowns at all via DosBox. Maybe WC4 ran slower on whatever rig I originally played it on (P100, I think), which may have contributed to my memory of it being easier back in the day.
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How fast is your system (for WC3 in DOSBox)? A P100 plays WC4 pretty fast. Many people still had 486s when WC4 came out, and a P100 was nearly the most powerful system out at the time.
 
ChrisReid said:
Neat, that was the day after it shipped.



How fast is your system (for WC3 in DOSBox)? A P100 plays WC4 pretty fast. Many people still had 486s when WC4 came out, and a P100 was nearly the most powerful system out at the time.
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My current gaming pc is a P4 3.4 (dual core), 2 gigs RAM, GF6800GT, Audigy 2, XP SP2. The video card's my weak point atm, but I wouldn't think that'd matter with old games.
 
I should think it wouldn't. AFAIK, Prophecy was the first WC to use hardware acceleration, so the video card should be irrelevant.

But then, I don't know how DOSBox works with simulating old hardware on modern equipment.
 
Ow Ow OW!

Now I understand what the original poster meant. I wish Eisen would stop telling me I left my brain in my locker.

Recon Photos is really hard, and I don't want to lower the difficulty. I guess I'll try Death's trick.

Do these turrets ever run out of missiles? :p
 
If you afterburn straight towards the turrets when you come out of autopilot, you can take them out just with guns before they fire any missiles. Get this right every time and you've got 7 enemy fighters in total to deal with, with 6 missiles. You're pretty vulnerable while you're going for the turret though...
 
That's pretty much how I did it... Although I did use some ImRec missiles against the turrets.

I'm now in Silenos (Border Worlds bersion), still playing on Ace, and I haven't had a significant challenge since Tyr.

EDIT : Oh by the way, I'm playing the French version until I get the English one. The translation's pretty good compared to some other video games. Voices range from great (Captain Eisen) to not so good (Panther).
 
The photo recon mission is probably on the top ten hardest WC missions (which probably contains at least 3 or 4 wc4 missions, the Kurosawa Ralari mission and the rest is from SM and SO). killing those turrets ASAP is the most important thing.

The jammer missions are freaking hard too. God damn. They're even worse, because there is no "trick" to them. Just staying alive is hard enough. The "bypass ella" mission is hard too, but it's more a test of endurance and consistency. Especially if you're flying the Dragon.

Crap, now I wanna play WC4 again.
 
Wedge009 said:
I should think it wouldn't. AFAIK, Prophecy was the first WC to use hardware acceleration, so the video card should be irrelevant.

But then, I don't know how DOSBox works with simulating old hardware on modern equipment.
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As far as I can tell, the only thing that matters to DOSBox is your CPU. Any current graphic chip should be able to handle the video. Even those really crappy integrated intel ones.
 
Ah, I can't wait until I get to the jammer missions then. As long as I'm not flying a slug like the Longbow (this has to be one of my least favorite WC ships ever), I should be satisfied. :D

Anyway, the good news with the über-powerful missiles is that while they tend to kill you in one hit, they also tend to destroy enemy ships in one hit, which is good news.

The Excaliburs are much easier than I thought they would be. I guess they're outdated.
 
I always put the drunken flying wc3 mission as one of the hardest. Even when you aren't drunk, facing off against 8 Vaktoth's with 2 arrows was not cool. Especially when Hobbes ejects 5 seconds into the mission.
 
Currently in Orestes. At last, a bit of a challenge. Saving the convoy was actually somewhat difficult.

The three hardest missions on my list are still Hubble's Star 2 (WC1), SO1's final winning mission, and saving the Libra and Aquarius convoys in UE (I've beaten Hubble's Star 2 and SO1, but I've yet to defang the Orca before it destroys most of the transports).
 
DocScorpio said:
So who are the guys that play WC4 on "Nightmare".....and beat it? They must know every aspect of the game, have super reflexes, exceptional situational awareness......and a much better stick than mine. :)
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I've played through the game to a winning ending on Nightmare a few times. I was playing the Mac version, so I'm not sure if it's any different. The photo recon mission that this topic describes is TOUGH. Like DocScorpio, I also got hung up on this mission and wondered if beating this game was even possible on Nightmare. I never beat it, but would end up playing the follow up mission with Maniac on my wing. I think that may have helped a little since he can save a missile or two by taking out a couple enemies for you.. it's also more difficult because you have to keep him alive until the scientist extraction.

First, you need to skip the banshees both before you enter the planet and when you exit. You can fly a few bars (four and a half IIRC?) on the nav map, then autopilot to and again from the planet. I agree that taking out the ground turrets first is essential. I think I used guns rather than missiles though, since I wanted to conserve missiles for the fighters. After taking out the turret, I would use my first missile on the ace pilot. You really have to conserve missiles, so you need to use afterburners to maneuver right on the guys tail so his decoys are ineffective (this is a technique you'll need to use throughout the game). I think for the second fighter, I would fly around trying to conserve as much of my afterburners as possible while he ran out of his as I destroyed him with guns on my head on passes.

The other thing that helps you pass it on nightmare is taking a Banshee (and later other ships that have slide capability) whenever possible and afterburning and autopiloting through nav points, skipping enemies wherever you can. I also would fail many of the sub plots: enemy cloaking Arrows would sneak up and rip Meleks shuttles and escort fighters to shreds. I think the outrun Ella mission is even easier than the Melek missions on nightmare since I've beaten the Ella mission a few times, but never the Melek ones.
 
All right... I can't beat Peleus. I barely won the first mission, but the second one is just about impossible. I've tried evasive manoeuvers, DFs, various wingmen, all of the ships, and I almost did it in a Vindicator, but the Bearcats are just too tough, especially when it comes to outmaneuvering them. They always seem to get on my six no matter what I do. I'm incredibly tired of those countless reloads, so I guess I'll just lower the difficulty and/or cheat. :(
 
I somehow did this on Ace, but am completely stuck here on Hard, have given up. Maybe skipping navpoints would help, since you only really need to go to the third one...

The actual number of enemies at each navpoint seems to vary on this mission. Sometimes there are two bearcats and two excaliburs at the first navpoint, sometimes there are just two bearcats... I find even if I survive the first navpoint, my wingman will die on the second, making it pretty much impossible. I'll try skipping the first two navpoints completely and see how that goes.
 
I was thinking of something that I haven't tried yet - putting a lot of power into the Vindicator's engines. Then maybe it would have both the firepower and the manoeuvrability necessary to get through the mission. Hitting enemy ships with DFs is possible, but it's not easy.

I noticed something very interesting - the French translators understood the fact that the Black Lance forces were "space nazis". Understood it so much, in fact, that they made it much more obvious than in the English version. Tolwyn says that "discarding certain elements" is a goal in itself, rather than a way to accomplish his goal. There are many more allusions to the nazis, and the captured biochimist outright uses the word "nazis".

EDIT : Also, the Black Lancer who "couldn't go on" says "all men are equal" instead.
 
Sharpshooter said:
I noticed something very interesting - the French translators understood the fact that the Black Lance forces were "space nazis". Understood it so much, in fact, that they made it much more obvious than in the English version. Tolwyn says that "discarding certain elements" is a goal in itself, rather than a way to accomplish his goal. They are many more allusions to the nazis, and the captured biochimist outright uses the word "nazis".

EDIT : Also, the Black Lancer who "couldn't go on" says "all men are equal" instead.
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Somehow it eases my mind that the translation in France is as "free" as it is in Germany.
 
mustanger said:
IIRC the Avenger is the best choice for this mission...

Big guns up front, lots of armor, lots of missles...
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My problem with the Avenger is that while it's the most powerful ship available for this mission, it's also the poorest in terms of manoeuvrability, which can be a big problem when fighting Bearcats.
 
I did it! I beat Peleus on Ace difficulty. With proper power management and a lot of training regarding evasive manoeuvers and firing DFs, I got used to getting past the first two nav points (although they still weren't easy). Then once at the third nav point, I afterburned toward the Transport and salvoed it with DFs. Once my radar came back, taking care of the fighters was much easier.

I flew a Banshee with Catscratch as wingman, by the way.
 
Completing the 'bypass ella' mission on Ace dificulty is probably my best wing commander memory ever. Let me know how you do if you choose that - it's a brilliant mission.
 
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