Whoa, a new fan-made Wing Commander game?

[SLU Aequitas]

Played through several of the prologue missions, and things get very interesting from the introduction mission. I'm also a big fan of the novellas in between each mission, very different experience from FS1/2 (never played WC myself). Digging the combat, and I've come to realize I'm very, very rusty with a joystick.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Something I wrote here May of 09,
I too, recently caught the wave, but not so much for nostalgia sake, but cuz no one is making a decent *combat* flight sim anymore.
Prophecy, and Secret Ops, IMO, was, and is still one of the best. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was not alone. With mostly fan based support,
it is possible to play the game on a new machine. The movies have been converted to high resolution, patches,and apps. have written to emulate 3d3,
open gl, 3dfx, and glide. I was able to get my old nonsupported micro$oft joystick to work with the, JoyToKey app. I would highly recommend you look here,
http://www.wcnews.com/holovids...ematics_prophecy.shtml

You kids should download movie pack 1, and give a look, but be warned, you may get hooked on this game as well.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

jesus christ, finally sat down to actually play this and before the prologue even begins it gives you a damn novel to read.

 

[Pheran]

jesus christ, finally sat down to actually play this and before the prologue even begins it gives you a damn novel to read.

That was one of the warts I was referring to. I don't mind the giant wall of text in and of itself, but it's presented in a horrible font that would make my eyes bleed trying to read it, at least on my 22" monitor at 1680x1050.

 

[Martimus]

I forgot to download this last night. I hope it is still up tonight.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

That was one of the warts I was referring to. I don't mind the giant wall of text in and of itself, but it's presented in a horrible font that would make my eyes bleed trying to read it, at least on my 22" monitor at 1680x1050.

1920x1080 on a 37" is easy to read, but the scrolling in game leaves a lot to be desired.

It's worth reading though (but not necessary so far for the prologue).

 

[waffleironhead]

I forgot to download this last night. I hope it is still up tonight.

its on the torrents now. Not going to go away any time soon.

http://www.gamershell.com/download_87172.shtml

 

[SunnyD]

I forgot to download this last night. I hope it is still up tonight.

Yup. Had to redownload it this morning.

 

[ArchAngel777]

I don't want to be unfair. I am a huge Wind Commander fan. I had hundreds and hundreds of hours on WC3. For a fan made project, this is brilliant. But, this is definitely not as polished as your run of the mill indie project. The quality and polish is similar to that of the Mount and Blade.

With that said, I will be playing because the actual in-flight graphics seem decent enough to make this feel epic. I played about 30 minutes last night and I plan to invest some time into this.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I just started playing this..am I mission something or is the first mission friggin...3000bazillion miles away from each waypoint and there is no warp ;p

 

[thedarkwolf]

I just started playing this..am I mission something or is the first mission friggin...3000bazillion miles away from each waypoint and there is no warp ;p

lol I thought the samething before I figure out there is an autopilot. Think it is alt-a but it is listed the key settings somewhere.

 

[Pheran]

I just started playing this..am I mission something or is the first mission friggin...3000bazillion miles away from each waypoint and there is no warp ;p

If you had played the training mission, it clearly tells you about ALT-A to go to the next waypoint.

 

[ImpulsE69]

If you had played the training mission, it clearly tells you about ALT-A to go to the next waypoint.

Thanks! That was sooo helpful. I was running out of fuel. Knew there had to be a better way

 

[ichy]

I haven't had as much free time as I hoped but I've managed to play the first few missions. So far the gameplay is fun and seems pretty similar to the old WC games. Now if only there was a way to use my joystick's throttle controller with the game.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I'm pretty far in the game now. I'm not sure this game can really stand on its own merits, but it's a nice companion to Wing Commander 3. The difficulty is also tricky and inconsistent. I'm not very good at these games, but the Easy setting is pretty much always too easy. Normal is generally good, but several missions it feels next to impossible. Also, once you get the Excalibur it all feels like cheating. I think they should have tightened the cone for auto-targeting.

Now if only there was a way to use my joystick's throttle controller with the game.

?? Mine works. It's called something like "throttle absolute" in the bindings.

 

[Throckmorton]

Too bad nobody has joysticks anymore

 

[vshah]

Too bad nobody has joysticks anymore

lol, i have 3

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Too bad nobody has joysticks anymore

I bought one for BF3 but it was on backorder and later decided to cancel it. But I forgot to actually cancel it. I realized I don't like flying planes in BF anyway so it sat unopened on my floor for months afterward. Finally cracked it open for Wing Commander.

 

[ichy]

?? Mine works. It's called something like "throttle absolute" in the bindings.

Sweeet, I was hoping someone would know how to use it.

 

[ichy]

Got my joystick throttle working with the game, sweet.

I made it to the last prologue mission.

Spoiler

Defending the Wellington is harder than I thought. It took me a few tries to get past the destroyer at Nav 3, but eventually I figured that out. Then I make it to Nav 4 and ugh, two Kilrathi cruisers. I threw up my hands in frustration and gave up the first time I lost at that point. Later on I looked it up online, the Wellington isn't supposed to make it past the two cruisers. You just need to keep yourself alive to win that mission.

 

[Martimus]

Got my joystick throttle working with the game, sweet.

I made it to the last prologue mission.

Spoiler

Defending the Wellington is harder than I thought. It took me a few tries to get past the destroyer at Nav 3, but eventually I figured that out. Then I make it to Nav 4 and ugh, two Kilrathi cruisers. I threw up my hands in frustration and gave up the first time I lost at that point. Later on I looked it up online, the Wellington isn't supposed to make it past the two cruisers. You just need to keep yourself alive to win that mission.

How did you get the throttle working? That and the roll on my Joystick isnt working in the game and the control setup doesnt recognize it when I do it.

Also how do you play the prologue? When I started it was already past that part.

 

[ArchAngel777]

How did you get the throttle working? That and the roll on my Joystick isnt working in the game and the control setup doesnt recognize it when I do it.

Also how do you play the prologue? When I started it was already past that part.

There are two areas that can be configured for roll/bank/pitch or whatever. The top of the list has to do with the keyboard and mouse. The bottom of the list has to do with the Joystick.

For the joystick you will want the variable throttle set for the access that controls your throttle. You may need to reverse the throttle in your configuration (assuming Logitech or other similar profile options).

Joystick works perfect for me and I am just using a $29.99 Logitech 3D Extreme.

The game is pretty good, but one thing I realized. I am really, really bad with a joystick now. I have a hard time keeping the guns at the reticle.

 

[ichy]

Martimus: I don't remember exactly what the control setting was called but it's something like "variable throttle" as ArchAngel777 described. If you still have trouble I'll check the setting on my computer at home tonight. I found being able to use a throttle controller as opposed to a keyboard is very helpful when you're in an Arrow and trying not to overshoot your target. Part of me is admittedly horrified at their perversion of the laws of physics...

For roll control I believe you have to hold down a button and pull the stick to one side or another. I suppose you could configure your joystick to control pitch and roll and put yaw on rudder pedals or something like that.

Re: prologue, when I created a new pilot I had the choice of two campaigns. I think the choices were Prologue or Darkest Dawn. The first couple prologue missions are pretty boring (but easy) and the Walls of Text are a bit of a pain to read but I'm glad I did them because the last mission is a good one.

ArchAngel: Agreed about being out of practice with a joystick. I'm playing the game on easy for now because my gunnery is so awful, I'll turn up the difficulty once I'm a better shot.

 

[Martimus]

Martimus: I don't remember exactly what the control setting was called but it's something like "variable throttle" as ArchAngel777 described. If you still have trouble I'll check the setting on my computer at home tonight. I found being able to use a throttle controller as opposed to a keyboard is very helpful when you're in an Arrow and trying not to overshoot your target. Part of me is admittedly horrified at their perversion of the laws of physics...

For roll control I believe you have to hold down a button and pull the stick to one side or another. I suppose you could configure your joystick to control pitch and roll and put yaw on rudder pedals or something like that.

Re: prologue, when I created a new pilot I had the choice of two campaigns. I think the choices were Prologue or Darkest Dawn. The first couple prologue missions are pretty boring (but easy) and the Walls of Text are a bit of a pain to read but I'm glad I did them because the last mission is a good one.

ArchAngel: Agreed about being out of practice with a joystick. I'm playing the game on easy for now because my gunnery is so awful, I'll turn up the difficulty once I'm a better shot.

I may start over again to get the Prologue missions, since I am only 4 missions into the regular game.

As for roll, my joystick has a twist function that I use for roll in X3 and I am really used to that control scheme. I would prefer if I could continue to do that so I dont have to learn something new for these dogfights. I am pretty sure I also have the Logitec 3D Extreme.

Edit: drop the dead zone down to gain better control of your joystick. It defaults to 3, but that is way too much to have the fine control needed to aim.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

As for roll, my joystick has a twist function that I use for roll in X3 and I am really used to that control scheme. I would prefer if I could continue to do that so I dont have to learn something new for these dogfights. I am pretty sure I also have the Logitec 3D Extreme.

This is how I have my stick bound.

Edit: drop the dead zone down to gain better control of your joystick. It defaults to 3, but that is way too much to have the fine control needed to aim.

Do this, and I would consider dropping the overall joystick sensitivity down quite a bit as well.