Wing Commander Entire Series Modern Machines

[HotJob]

The resources that were used to create the ports in 1995 don't exist anymore--the companies that developed these games were closed and everything was junked. There's no way to go back to the source code and recompile Wing Commander III today... EA just doesn't have that option.

May I refer the Distinguished LOAF to the following CIC update dated 13 September 2011:

"As we celebrate Wing Commander III's first widespread retail availability since the late 1990s, we would like to mention for anyone that we have the game's source code in our offline archive. We know it's frustrating for fans, who could do amazing things with this, to read these updates... but it's also in everyone's best interests to remind EA that we have the raw material from which they could port Wing Commander III to a modern computer or console. Just let us know!"

I knew you were checking to see if we were paying attention...

 

[Raul2106]

Right. All EA needs to do is come to this website and get started. Very simple indeed.

 

[Quarto]

Very simple indeed - just give them a call, as soon as you locate the uncompressed videos. No, wait - it's not just a matter of uncompressed videos. The videos need to be the original, greenscreen versions, so that somebody can upgrade the background graphics.

 

[AD]

[volunteers again, hand waving in the air] Yeah a good tool writer would surely have some kind of way to do it. I actually can't see the art assets being too much of an issue with wc1/2 stuff, given how simple they are (by today's standards). Wc3/4, a completely different story. [hand down for that]

Its funny, when I first read the start of this thread I was all "No WAY! There is no possible chance this could happen!" but now with all this discussion, revelations about the source code and some knowledgeable input, it really does seem like something within reach! Weird. I take it all back, Raul. I don't see why not either. Personally I could see it in an iPhone/iPad genre, given that all the art assets were designed to be visually legible on low-resolution, small (14 inch or so) CRT screens of the time.

Ports are a possibility. Though to some degree the source code has some missing elements that would need reconstructed. However, stuff like higher resolution video just isn't a posibility until we actually find or prove somebody knows where the original masters are. And for WC3 that may not be that beneficial anyway as it would just make the CG backgrounds more apparent. Making the PC version use the 3DO videos would be a possibility but keep in mind that while they have better color depth they aren'd significantly higher resolution than the PC videos.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding of the way WC3 was shot as well would negate reconstructing the greenscreen elements. The game was shot on digital tape if I'm not mistaken though they did do some test footage on film IIRC. However they used SGI machines to create virtual sets so I believe the backgrounds were added to the shots as they recorded. The actors would appear *immediately* on the monitors in fron of the apropriate backgrounds.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

I knew you were checking to see if we were paying attention...

I think you could use it to port the game to a modern console... but it won't be worth it for EA without some way to upgrade the elements. You wouldn't be making a high resolution WC3, you'd be making WC3 that looks just like it does in DOSBox. Now, trust me when I say we're working on that, but it'll be a long, unlikely haul trying to find every piece.

(That is to say: It's kind of like finding the recipe for dodo bird soup--it's fascinating for a historical point of view, we can figure out what the soup would have tasted like... but without the bird--the source artwork, movies, etc.--we're not going to be making any more soup. And you /can/ kind of imagine a distant future where it might be affordable to clone dodos and eat them again...)