Wing Commander

[mediocrepoet]

Getting raped hard on the level where you've got Maniac as your wingman and you have to stop a convoy from prolonging a siege. After many attempts I was finally about to take out the final ship after a grueling battle, when some shit hit the side of my ship and I died instantly. There was only one enemy left, it was in my sights, and nothing indicated that a heat-seeking missile was tracking me, so I can only assume that Maniac killed me with friendly fire. I don't know if friendly fire is even in this game for the CPU but it's the only rational explanation. I could just accept the loss for the mission but I've spent too much time on it for that now. Hoping this shit gets easier when the flight stick comes in.

The number of times that fucker has shot through me to get to some fighter I was destroying...

 

[Parsimonious cook]

why do you think he's called "maniac"?

Plus he kinda hates you in WC1. He does become a real bro by the time of WC3 though.

 

[Tweed]

If you have Maniac on your wing you're doing it wrong.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

Plus he kinda hates you in WC1. He gets popamolized by the time of WC3 though.

ftfy.

If you have Maniac on your wing you're doing it wrong.

wasn't he mandatory to have through the campaign, and comes again later if you're losing?

 

[LarryTyphoid]

If you have Maniac on your wing you're doing it wrong.

I tried to get that faggot to go home, especially since he kept crying about how we should retreat, but he refused every time I ordered him to go back.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Well, I beat the mission, and that retard died along the way. Not even in the giant battle with 8+ Kilrathi at the end; he died in a one-to-one dogfight at the very beginning of the mission. I did the rest by myself, and I'm not reloading a save for him. I don't care if my campaign is non-canon now; rot in hell, Maniac

 

[Tweed]

wasn't he mandatory to have through the campaign, and comes again later if you're losing?

In a perfectly played game you'll never have Maniac on your wing, you need to lose McAuliffe or Gimle to get Maniac. The only time you're forced to fly with Maniac is at the end of Crusade (Secret Missions 2).

 

[LarryTyphoid]

In a perfectly played game you'll never have Maniac on your wing, you need to lose McAuliffe or Gimle to get Maniac. The only time you're forced to fly with Maniac is at the end of Crusade.

I didn't have any other wingmen die, but I did fail one mission objective, so I guess that's why I got Maniac.

 

[Tweed]

In a perfectly played game you'll never have Maniac on your wing, you need to lose McAuliffe or Gimle to get Maniac. The only time you're forced to fly with Maniac is at the end of Crusade.

I didn't have any other wingmen die, but I did fail one mission objective, so I guess that's why I got Maniac.

That's what I meant. McAuliffe and Gimle are systems, losing either one sends you to Brimstone which sticks you in a scimitar with Maniac. When I was younger I couldn't figure out why I kept getting stuck with Scimitars and Maniac while my brother got to fly Raptors.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

That's what I meant. McAuliffe and Gimle are systems, losing either one sends you to Brimstone which sticks you in a scimitar with Maniac. When I was younger I couldn't figure out why I kept getting stuck with Scimitars and Maniac while my brother got to fly Raptors.

Oh, shit, it even changes the ships you get? That's some cool reactivity. I'll have to do another playthrough afterwards.

 

[Tweed]

That's what I meant. McAuliffe and Gimle are systems, losing either one sends you to Brimstone which sticks you in a scimitar with Maniac. When I was younger I couldn't figure out why I kept getting stuck with Scimitars and Maniac while my brother got to fly Raptors.

Oh, shit, it even changes the ships you get? That's some cool reactivity. I'll have to do another playthrough afterwards.

There's an entire winning and losing path with several bridges in between to put you on either one depending on your total score for the system. Technically you could eject all the way to Hubble's Star and still win the game.
You can see the entire campaign tree here.

 

[ValeVelKal]

Wing Commander I and Wing Commander II are still pretty fun to play, because they are so simple. I played them some 8 years ago and it was still fun. They can be, and should be, ironmaned, since the game is branching depending on whether or not you won the missions. That was pretty unique.

The expansions on the other hand. Cheese, or die.

And now, my ranking of space shooters (excluding trade-shooters)

- Freespace II
- Wing Commander Saga (Freespace Mod)
- Freespace I
- Tie Fighter
- Wing Commander III
- X-Wing
- Wing Commander II
- Wing Commander I
- The first WC2 expansion
- The first WC1 expansion
- The second WC2 expansion
- The second WC1 expansion


So while good, there are better games to play than WC1... except if you want to play them all.

 

[Tweed]

Yeah, the expansions are insane. If you get through the first expansion the original game will feel way too easy. I played WC1 fairly recently and finally stopped in the middle of the second set, I'd had enough of endless afterburner slides. Contextually I guess it makes sense, the first expansion has you deep in Kilrathi space in what amounts to a suicide mission, the second has you up against most of the Kilrathi armada on holy pilgrimage. Hell, the second expansion even references just how hard the first one was.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Wing Commander's the most exciting game I've played in a long time. I actually catch myself wincing and gritting my teeth when evading enemy fire in a critical situation. I haven't had a game make me do that since I played Sea of Thieves years ago, and that's a multiplayer game.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

you must have not played freespace 2: "well done, you've been promoted, from now on your role is to get close to enemy capital ships (which can destroy you with a fart) and intercept torpedoes. with your face if necessary".

 

[ValeVelKal]

you must have not played freespace 2: "well done, you've been promoted, from now on your role is to get close to enemy capital ships (which can destroy you with a fart) and intercept torpedoes. with your face if necessary".

Freespace 2 mission design is something else. Some missions have 20+ ships at the same time in, but it was designed so that if you complete your incredibly specific mission (escort the 2 bombers who are going to destroy the engine of the enemy destroyer"), all the pieces will fall organically and you will win the battle.

 

[Denim Destroyer]

The amazing sound design and high lethality of capital ships in Freespace 2 make those missions even better. Not only do they feel deadly but also sound the part too.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

the sound of dem beams...

 

[DesolationStone]

I disagree with most of the opinion expressed here.
The first trilogy of Wing Commander it's a masterpiece: art, sound and gameplay. A lot of details, hidden tactics, strategies and some missions of WC1 and WC3 are truly hard to beat. I also believe that the story of WC2 and WC3 it's not so bad, I mean, it was the 90', but at the same time I truly appreciate some plot lines like the comparison between Jazz and Hobbes, a man betraying humans for kilrathi and a kilrathi betraying kilrathi for humans or the "suicide mission" of WC3. Of course, they aren't masterpiece, but I preferred the plots of WC more than the one of Freespace (who of course annihilate the Origin games for the amazing gameplay)
By the way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D8nhm2fDzs

 

[oldmanpaco]

Wing Commander is how I got my dad to upgrade our PC.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

That's what I meant. McAuliffe and Gimle are systems, losing either one sends you to Brimstone which sticks you in a scimitar with Maniac. When I was younger I couldn't figure out why I kept getting stuck with Scimitars and Maniac while my brother got to fly Raptors.

Oh, shit, it even changes the ships you get? That's some cool reactivity. I'll have to do another playthrough afterwards.

Yeah. If you win all of the missions, you'll get moved up to better and better ships until you beat the game. There was one playthrough when I lost a mission on purpose to maximize the number of kills I could get in a single campaign. Losing a mission here or there caused me to get sent back to a different squadron and I'd get to play more total missions before the campaign ends. Also, if I remember the ships correctly, if you lose a mission and get sent from the Rapier back to the Raptor, the dialog treats it like a promotion.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Wing Commander is how I got my dad to upgrade our PC.

I played Wing Commander 1 and 2 on an IBM-compatible 486 SX, 25 MHz, 4 MB RAM, 100 MB HDD. I bought a sound card from Best Buy for it. I can't remember the brand now, but it was something that was compatible with a Sound Blaster 16. I couldn't believe how much better the sound was than the occasional chirps and bleeps you would get from the buzzer on the motherboard.

 

[HeroMarine]

Wing Commander 1 & 2 are great. I replayed them some 15 years ago and they really held up to what I played in my childhood.

 

[Keshik]

you must have not played freespace 2: "well done, you've been promoted, from now on your role is to get close to enemy capital ships (which can destroy you with a fart) and intercept torpedoes. with your face if necessary".

Well, they're not called the Suicide Kings for nothing. I alwyas enjoyed Freespace 2's storytelling in that you really don't get told all that much - need to know and all.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

After eating shit hard in a fight against a few Dralthi near the beginning of the mission and losing half my guns, I still managed to complete the objective of destroying a Dorkir in a spectacular manner by ordering my wingman to attack it while somehow dodging the 8 other kilrathi in the area and then escaping through an asteroid field. But then I get back to the Tiger's Claw and the colonel just insults me and told me I flew like a retard. What a motherfucker. I deserve some praise.