Forums > Game Forums > Wing Commander > Amazing non-linear story from a space simulator?

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Indra was here (20756) on 11/10/2008 7:22 PM · Permalink · Report

(stupid 50 character title limit)

Now I know why this series has so many fanbois. I admit I had my doubts on this game. Recently promoted to Captain and have since noticed that "failing" missions have story-based consequences. Just wondering if these consequences have an affect a possible different future plot twist?

And I thought Ultima was good.

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St. Martyne (3648) on 11/10/2008 7:53 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Yeah. I was very impressed in my younger days with the fact that the first time you eject and destroy valuable ship in the process will grant you a medal, but if you persist the war effort will deteriorate.

Nothing fancy, really. But that very well may be my introduction to non-linear storytelling, you know.

And of course, loosing partners meant loosing them for good, made me replay many missions because of that. But, of course, the golden rule of WC is not to try to win every mission.

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Indra was here (20756) on 11/10/2008 8:20 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

[Q --start St_Martyne wrote--] But, of course, the golden rule of WC is not to try to win every mission. [/Q --end St_Martyne wrote--]

Huh, why not? I plan to stick to a "taintless" flying record. The only thing I "failed" in was letting one of the Tiger hotshots get away. But that's about it.

Hell, I replay missions if I don't achieve at least a 90% kill rate.

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Terok Nor (41846) on 11/10/2008 8:24 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

[Q --start Indra Depari of 'da Clan Depari wrote--] Huh, why not? [/Q --end Indra Depari of 'da Clan Depari wrote--]

To see the different possible paths through the game maybe? You also get more missions if you don't win everything. And some of those losing path missions are a real challenge.

[Q --start Indra Depari of 'da Clan Depari wrote--] I plan to stick to a "taintless" flying record. [/Q --end Indra Depari of 'da Clan Depari wrote--]

Good luck in the Kurasawa system then. eg

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Indra was here (20756) on 11/10/2008 8:32 PM · Permalink · Report

Wow, thanks for the heads up, mate. Now, I'm really excited!!!

Modern games better my ass.

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Somebody bring me Sisko! (8) on 11/11/2008 7:52 AM · Permalink · Report

[Q --start Terok Nor wrote--]Good luck in the Kurasawa system then. eg [/Q --end Terok Nor wrote--] The Kurasawa-2 ritual, the infamous Ralari defense encounter of separating men from sissies in blowing up space tigers. I play WC from time to time just for this epic mission. Managed to beat it only once yet, on an old 386. Be warned, reviewing this game without passing the ritual as man is considered a blasphemy and will have a negative influence on your karma.

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St. Martyne (3648) on 11/10/2008 8:43 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

[Q --start Indra Depari of 'da Clan Depari wrote--] Huh, why not? [/Q --end Indra Depari of 'da Clan Depari wrote--]

Yes, to appreciate non-linear mission design. To play more missions. To enjoy the natural flow of the game, where you're not a mega-pilot capable of garbing every medal and single handedly saving the sector.

The more you lose, the more missions get on the defensive side, the bigger amount of the Kilrathi ships you must fight and the more inferior is your own. So, they are much more challenging than missions on the winning branch.

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Indra was here (20756) on 11/10/2008 9:00 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

[Q --start St_Martyne wrote--] Yes, to appreciate non-linear mission design. To play more missions. To enjoy the natural flow of the game, where you're not a mega-pilot capable of garbing every medal and single handedly saving the sector.

The more you lose, the more missions get on the defensive side, the bigger amount Kilrachi ships you must fight and the more inferior is your own. So, they are much more challenging than missions on the winning branch. [/Q --end St_Martyne wrote--]

EGAD!!!

Isn't this what "RPGs" have been trying to achieve all their freakin life...only to have advanced into hyperactive "clicking" games? If this isn't ironic...I don't know what is.

[edit] PS. Is there a mission number limit? If there isn't, I'd have no problem going abandoning my "invincible hero" plot. If there is, I'll continue being God until I meet some really nasty squadrons of hungry Tiger gods. :p

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St. Martyne (3648) on 11/10/2008 9:27 PM · Permalink · Report

Taken from WIng Commander FAQ. A good summary.

Wing Commander has 13 series, for a total of 40 missions. There’s a "winning" branch, a "losing" branch, and a lot of "in-between" branches. The losing branch missions are a bit harder as you fly inferior crafts and face slightly more enemies.

Each series can be won or lost except the final two. Series missions have "victory points", which are counted toward the series. If you accumulate more victory points than the minimum required for the series, you win the series and continue on the winning path. Otherwise, you lose the series and follow the losing branch to another series. You can lose some missions in the series and still win the series as long as you have the required victory points to win the series. The after-action briefing you get with Colonel Halcyon will be different depending on you win or lose the mission, but that in itself does not dictate the series win or loss.

You should NOT try to win every mission. This distracts from the fun. Most of the Wing Commander players never see the losing series or the in-between series, despite all the efforts spent by Origin to design the missions. Just play the best you can, and "enjoy the ride".

Winning medals and promotions depends on amount of "medal points" you accumulate. Killing Kilrathi ships wins medal points, so does saving Confed ships. Losing Confed ships loses medal points. These points have nothing do with the victory points listed above. When you accumulate certain number of medal points, you gain one rank. Certain missions have a possibility of winning a medal. If you accumulate enough "medal points" in that mission you win that medal. I don’t have an exact chart for this, but you can guess that killing capships would win a lot more points than killing puny fighters.

Your rank and medals has no effect on the game. They are there only as "rewards" for your performance.

Each mission is then broken down into "action zones", which are either on the nav points, or between nav points. As there are a maximum of four nav points in a WC mission, N12, N23, and N34 will be used to denote the "in between" action zone encounters between nav 1 and nav 2, nav 2 and nav 3, or nav 3 and nav 4 respectively. Tiger’s Claw or start is considered nav 0 for this purpose.

6.1 Mission Tree

Key: Series name (number of missions), Win goes to, Lose goes to

Enyo (2 missions) W = McAuliffe L = Gateway

McAuliffe (3 missions) W = Gimle L = Brimstone

Gateway (3 missions) W = Brimstone L= Cheng Du

Gimle (3 missions) W = Dakota L = Brimstone

Brimstone (3 missions) W = Dakota L = Port Hedland

Cheng Du (3 missions) W = Brimstone L = Port Hedland

Dakota (3 missions) W = Kurasawa L = Rostov

Port Hedland (3 missions) W = Rostov L = Hubble’s Star

Kurasawa (3 missions) W = Venice L= Rostov

Rostov (3 missions) W = Venice L = Hell’s Kitchen

Hubble’s Star (3 missions) W = Rostov L = Hell’s Kitchen

Venice (4 missions) You win

Hell’s Kitchen (4 missions) You lose

If you draw this on paper, you’ll see that there are a LOT of second chances. Unless you end up in Hell’s Kitchen, you can always fight yourself back onto the winning track and get to Venice, where you win the Vega sector.