Wing Commander 2...

S

Sharpshooter

Rear Admiral
I've managed to get WC2 to run fairly well on a 2Ghz computer with approximately 6000 cycles and I have to say it's really different from WC1. Is it just my computer behaving strangely, or is the game very, very difficult? In WC1, the hard part seemed to be surviving against a large number of enemies, hitting ships was fairly easy. Whereas in WC2, taking down even one ship seems to be a challenge. I barely made it to the first mission with Hobbes and I haven't managed to take down more than 1 Grikath, let alone Kur. The old WC1 tactics (including afterburning after a ship and shooting it like crazy) don't seem to work so well anymore. WC2 is a lot "faster" than WC1. Ow.
 
Hmm, I don't recall that feeling. There are hard missions in WC2 and it's still a challenging game but I recall having overall more problems with winning WC 1, especially the SM-addons, than winning WC 2.
 
Yes, maybe it's your PC, or maybe you're trying to use WC1 tactics that are not very useful in WC2. I remember that first mission with Hobbes, when I discovered that everything that I've ever knew about battling heavy fighters in WC1 was absolutelly useless in WC2! :p

Those turrets do make a LOT of difference. Forget about tailing the heavies. The tail turrets will rip you apart. Instead, let them get a small leading and, when they turn around to face you, get in and start firing. Hit the enemy hard on his flank and kep shooting even when he's already facing you. By this time, you will have already done enough damage to "convince" him to evade instead of firing on you. Or even better, he will be dead! ;)

Also, when you get to fly something with turrets, like Sabres or Broadswords, don't forget to use them when the oportunity arrives! I've nailed everything, from Sartha to Jalkehi, who tried to get on my six! :D
 
Hey, thanks! It works really well. I've just blasted three Jalkehis with ease without even using afterburner fuel. I guess afterburners are not as useful as they used to be. ;)

EDIT : There's definetely a problem with my computer, though. My ship keeps firing after I release the left mouse button and while the game is playable, it doesn't run very smoothly.
 
Sharpshooter said:
Hey, thanks! It works really well. I've just blasted three Jalkehis with ease without even using afterburner fuel. I guess afterburners are not as useful as they used to be. ;)

EDIT : There's definetely a problem with my computer, though. My ship keeps firing after I release the left mouse button and while the game is playable, it doesn't run very smoothly.
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I find that happens when I use the mouse button to fire guns.. Maybe it has something to do with how sensitive it is or because it's USB. I find that I get better and more precise firing with the spacebar anyway so I find just switching to a more two handed aproach somewhat fixes it.

Also, tweaking your cycles and frameskip should make the game run more smoothly.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. It does appear to have something to do with how sensitive my mouse is.

I did try tweaking the cycles, but in order to make the game run really smoothly, I have to set them to 9500, and the game becomes way too fast. I really don't wish to start messing around with frameskip - I'm using a 2Ghz computer, for pity's sake! ;)
I think I'll just keep the current configuration (6000 or 6500 cycles).
 
Sharpshooter said:
Thanks for the suggestions. It does appear to have something to do with how sensitive my mouse is.

I did try tweaking the cycles, but in order to make the game run really smoothly, I have to set them to 9500, and the game becomes way too fast. I really don't wish to start messing around with frameskip - I'm using a 2Ghz computer, for pity's sake! ;)
I think I'll just keep the current configuration (6000 or 6500 cycles).
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IF we're talking about WC2 DOS, the game has a frame limiter and it could be that your PC slowed it down somewhat way back when.

I know I had the same problem.. the game as intended was a lot faster than I was used to. But that's actually how it was meant to be.
 
I'm indeed playing the DOS version. I can't really remember what the game was like back then, as it's been many years (I probably wasn't even 10 years old when I first played WC2).

I didn't know about the frame limiter, and that may very well be why I'm having trouble making it run smoothly. At any rate, the game does seem to be a lot faster than Wing Commander 1. I guess I'll have to get used to it.
 
Sycrusian said:
[W]hen you get to fly something with turrets, like Sabres or Broadswords, don't forget to use them when the oportunity arrives! I've nailed everything, from Sartha to Jalkehi, who tried to get on my six! :D
Click to expand...

With the bombers, yeah turrets can really save your bacon (especially if you exploit the stupid AI, and fly away from a group of fighters coming at you; they'll line up behind you, and you can just pick them off one at a time until they start getting close, at which point a few of them should be dead to even the odds), but I've found that with the Sabre, depending on the exact circumstances it's more often than not less of a hassle to just turn and engage with your forward guns, as unlike in the bombers the Sabre has decent maneuverability... and thinner shields that won't let you fart around with relying on the weaker turret guns.
 
I give up. I've tried everything I could think of, including playing with both the mouse and the keyboard, but the lagging is unbearable and makes aiming really difiicult, and I have to play the same mission around twenty times if I want to win it.

I guess I'll wait until the european version of Gametap is ready.
 
Death said:
(...) and thinner shields that won't let you fart around with relying on the weaker turret guns.
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I know you meant that the Sabre's turret guns are weaker than the Sabre's front guns and it's certainly true. Yet I want to seize the opportunity to say that I found the WC 2 turrets to be the most useful turrets of any WC game. Second are WCP's turrets.
 
Agreed. in WC3 and 4 it was not worth manning the turret in anything but a Longbow, since it was too slow to turn to face fast enemies (especially cloaked fighters). Mainly what the Thunderbolt/Vindicator/Avenger turrets did for you was keep enemies from spending too long shooting your backside.
 
Even the Lonbow turret I used very seldom (it was definately the best of all WC 3/4 turrets) but I tried to avoid the Longbow whenever possible anyway.
 
Sharpshooter said:
Thanks for the suggestions. It does appear to have something to do with how sensitive my mouse is.

I did try tweaking the cycles, but in order to make the game run really smoothly, I have to set them to 9500, and the game becomes way too fast. I really don't wish to start messing around with frameskip - I'm using a 2Ghz computer, for pity's sake! ;)
I think I'll just keep the current configuration (6000 or 6500 cycles).
Click to expand...

Try the frameskip option instead as well. Control+F8 to adjust to Frameskip 1 or 2 might help. ALT+ and ALT- also adjust the game's built-in frame rate limiter.
 
Thanks! I got WC2 to run on my 1Ghz computer (with difficulty), but lowering the game's frame rate limiter really helped.

I've made it to the final mission of SO1, and ow. I've spent a whole day playing it, and almost destroyed the last Fralthra... but I couldn't dodge one of the AMG shots quickly enough.

The Gothri is now #1 on my Deadliest Enemies list. At least I'm a better WC2 player after spending so much time training.
 
Yes, that's one hard mission and the Gothri is a deadly enemy.

People suggest for the mission to have the Fralthra fire at each other but I never managed to pull that off on intent.
 
I hated fighting gothri, espically since I had to use the keyboard, and the computer was running so fast you couldn't move and shoot at the same time. Talk about making it hard on me. hehehe oh well :)
 
I've won SO1 and SO2. I won SO1's final mission by keeping my wingmen alive long enough - they managed to destroy the two capships.

I've yet to win that Fralthra strike mission in SO2. When I did manage to beat the three Sabres, the Fralthra toasted me or I accidentally crashed into them. Eventually I gave up and just got back to the Gamal Gan.

I was surprised to see *five* Sabres guarding Ayer's Rock. I didn't even try to fight them, I just nuked the base and afterburned out of here.

Jazz wasn't that hard. I guess you have to wait until WC3 before having a really hard one-on-one dogfight. Okay, actually Khasra in a Gothri was kinda hard, but I guess Hobbes and Seether are harder.
 
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