Wing Commander on iPad

RC1207

Petty Officer
I just finished installing GOG's Wing 1 & 2 on my iPad and been playing a little.

Yesterday I managed to collide head on with a asteroid on WC1 1st mission. That's simple, what was incredible was that I lost both lasers on that collision. Since that is in the middle of the mission, I aborted and returned to the Claw.

I always wondered what effect the internal damage had when playing WC1. I frequently get the Accel Absorbers damaged/destroyed, but other than that most of the times I was blown to pieces and did not see the effects.

Today I was flying the Scimitar and got Entangled in the minefield. Managed to get internal damage as well and got the shields moderate damage. After a while, a message said the shields were repaired and it was showing in the MFD that it was shield damage: light. I noticed that the max value of the shields was lower, but did not notice if the regeneration was slower as well.

What do you guys know about how it (internal damage in WC1) works?

Cheers,
 
Shields and engines ("ion drive") both work similarly in the reduced effectiveness department.

Out of curiosity, what program did you use to the games going? iDOS?
 
You may already know this, but you can press 'd' for a damage report. This lists each component, giving it state as Light / Moderate / Heavy / Destroyed

Here are all the systems that may be damaged.
Ion drive - Reduces your top speed.
Power plant - Your weapon energy and shields regenerate slower.
Shield gen'r - Definitely reduces your maximum shields, may reduce the regeneration rate.
Computer sys - Your VDUs fill with static when the damage is taken. To get them to display, you may have to press keys multiple times.
InterCom unit - Your VDUs fill with static when the damage is taken. You have to press 'c' multiple times before it responds. Confed Pilum FFs may target you.
Target track - Any damage completely destroys it. Missiles that require a lock indicator (anything but DF, FF and mines) never lock. Yes, this includes torpedoes in WC2.
Accel absorbers - You ability to turn and slow is reduced. Renamed to Acc. absorbers in WC2.
Ejector system - You have to press ctrl-e multiple times to eject. May be completely destroyed, so you can't eject.
Repair systems - I assume this means that repairs take longer, or maybe don't happen at all. I haven't seen it very often.

You may also get Weapon destroyed and Fuel tanks hit messages. These don't show up on the damage report.

In WC1, all cockpit damage is cosmetic. In WC2, your radar and armor / shield display may be destroyed.

The only systems I've ever seen repaired are the Ion drive, Power plant and Shield generator. These are only ever repaired if beyond 'light' damage, and repairs take them back to 'light' at best. So, you're correct in observing that you never got full shields back, even after repair.

Here are some interesting interactions of these systems:
  • Your weapon energy is tied to shields. If your shields are regenerating, your weapon energy is slower to return. This is easiest to see in the Hornet and Rapier. You can fire lasers indefinitely, until you take a hit to shields.
  • Heavy engine damage in a Scimitar one reduced my maximum speed to 10 kps. Fortunately it got repaired eventually.
  • The combination of Heavy damage to both Computer and InterCom can force you to 'c' about 200 times just to ask the Tiger's Claw for permission to land.
  • Running out of fuel (through carelessness or through fuel tank damage) means you can't afterburn (and jumping in WC2 requires a large fuel reserve) but you can still travel at your regular speed.
  • To lose all your guns before your ship itself is destroyed is possible, but rare. Does the fact that it happened to you make you astonishingly lucky, or unlucky? I'm unsure.
  • In WC2, after I clear a capital ship's escort, start locking a torpedo and eat a face full of antimatter, I always seem to lose my Target track. Grrr. It's possible that damage is determined by quadrant (so front hits damage Target track, Computer sys, InterCom and Ejector system, while rear hits damage the Ion drive and Power plant.) Has anyone else observed this pattern.
Overall, the WC1 damage model is sophisticated and well-designed. Component damage is painful, impairing your ship's effectiveness in ways that are easy to comprehend. However, if you learn from your mistakes and fly with greater care, you can survive, and maybe even complete your mission.
 
I'm using DosPad (http://litchie.com/apps/dospad.html)

So the energy in WC1 is tied to guns and shields as in Priv. Interesting, I never noticed that.

I remember having Acc Absorbers destroyed several times in the Scimitar, bit don't recall the turn performance or deceleration beign reduced.

Thanks for the reply!
 
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