LotsoRobbinBear
Spaceman
First I'd just like to thank the people who run this great site and forum, as well as all the people who participate in it. So much helpful information here for anyone wanting to get into the WC franchise. I played WCII long ago on my 486, never being able to get half the cinematics since I couldn't move my cursor across to the other side of the screen in the game menu (apparently it is a known problem related to mouse drivers, but I was 7 at the time and couldn't work out how to fix it lol). Anyway after long last I am playing through the entire series now from the start, and the CIC has been an incredibly useful resource (along with Wedge009.net and MISSIONS.WC from WCSAV).
So I had a very strange experience that no information I could find on the internet could explain. I've searched the forums here and couldn't find anything directly relevant (so my apologies if this has been asked before and I missed it). I'm currently doing a 'losing campaign' play-through of WC1 (i.e. so I can play all the series you miss if you win all the time). I met the full victory conditions for Brimstone 1 & 2, but in order to lose the series I am not killing the Dorkir in Brimstone 3 (provided I can retreat from it before Maniac kills it).
Now in trying to accomplish this, my aim was to get 8 kills (i.e. 2 Jalthis & 6 Krants) then get back to base, while keeping Maniac alive. However, on one of my attempts Maniac died before I could kill all the Krants, so I went back to base with the 8 kills (leaving the Dorkir alive) just to see what would happen. Of course I get dressed down by the Colonel for failing the mission (he didn't care about Maniac dying lol), however for my failures I am rewarded with both a Bronze Star and a promotion!
This would be consistent with MISSIONS.WC that claims you will get a Bronze Star with 90 kill points, i.e. it is possible to get a Bronze Star without killing the Dorkir, provided that you kill everything else without Maniac getting any kills (2 Jalthis + 6 Krants = 2*15 + 6*10 = 90 kill points).
So I attempted the mission again, managed to get the 8 kills and afterburn the hell away from the Dorkir so I could autopilot back to the Tiger Claw before Maniac has time to destroy it. While I don't see Maniac during the autopilot cinematic, he is flying around the Tiger Claw once I get there (as normal). I land on the Tiger Claw, Maniac is still alive, the Colonel is still pissed at me for failing the mission, I get promoted, however despite getting 8 kills I do not get a Bronze Star!
Thinking it must be some sort of bug, I try again, this time killing Maniac after the Jalthis. I get my 8 kills and return to base, and once again I get a Bronze Star (this time no promotion, which I believe is supposed to be partially random). I try it again, keeping Maniac alive and getting my 8 kills, and once again no Bronze Star! (or promotion)
So apparently if my wingman gets killed (potentially by me murdering them) that is 'meritorious conduct' worthy of a Bronze Star, but if I keep Maniac alive, then I get nothing!
Does anyone have an explanation for this? It really doesn't make any sense at all, and I am curious why this occurs. I do not have a copy of Mark Minasi's "Secrets of the Wing Commander Universe" but maybe it has some relevant information if anyone with a copy could check. Anyway I just thought I'd put this 'phenomena' out there in case someone finds this information useful, since I have not seen anyone else on the internet mention it.
Also some people in the Brimstone System comments of the CIC game guides (I'd link to it, but I need 10 posts first) mention that you can win the series by killing the Dorkir then ejecting, but I have tried doing this and have been unsuccessful. According to MISSIONS.WC, ejecting will lose all Victory Points earned in the mission, so this shouldn't be possible. Does anyone have an explanation for these comments or do we just assume that they are mistaken?
So I had a very strange experience that no information I could find on the internet could explain. I've searched the forums here and couldn't find anything directly relevant (so my apologies if this has been asked before and I missed it). I'm currently doing a 'losing campaign' play-through of WC1 (i.e. so I can play all the series you miss if you win all the time). I met the full victory conditions for Brimstone 1 & 2, but in order to lose the series I am not killing the Dorkir in Brimstone 3 (provided I can retreat from it before Maniac kills it).
Now in trying to accomplish this, my aim was to get 8 kills (i.e. 2 Jalthis & 6 Krants) then get back to base, while keeping Maniac alive. However, on one of my attempts Maniac died before I could kill all the Krants, so I went back to base with the 8 kills (leaving the Dorkir alive) just to see what would happen. Of course I get dressed down by the Colonel for failing the mission (he didn't care about Maniac dying lol), however for my failures I am rewarded with both a Bronze Star and a promotion!
This would be consistent with MISSIONS.WC that claims you will get a Bronze Star with 90 kill points, i.e. it is possible to get a Bronze Star without killing the Dorkir, provided that you kill everything else without Maniac getting any kills (2 Jalthis + 6 Krants = 2*15 + 6*10 = 90 kill points).
So I attempted the mission again, managed to get the 8 kills and afterburn the hell away from the Dorkir so I could autopilot back to the Tiger Claw before Maniac has time to destroy it. While I don't see Maniac during the autopilot cinematic, he is flying around the Tiger Claw once I get there (as normal). I land on the Tiger Claw, Maniac is still alive, the Colonel is still pissed at me for failing the mission, I get promoted, however despite getting 8 kills I do not get a Bronze Star!
Thinking it must be some sort of bug, I try again, this time killing Maniac after the Jalthis. I get my 8 kills and return to base, and once again I get a Bronze Star (this time no promotion, which I believe is supposed to be partially random). I try it again, keeping Maniac alive and getting my 8 kills, and once again no Bronze Star! (or promotion)
So apparently if my wingman gets killed (potentially by me murdering them) that is 'meritorious conduct' worthy of a Bronze Star, but if I keep Maniac alive, then I get nothing!
Does anyone have an explanation for this? It really doesn't make any sense at all, and I am curious why this occurs. I do not have a copy of Mark Minasi's "Secrets of the Wing Commander Universe" but maybe it has some relevant information if anyone with a copy could check. Anyway I just thought I'd put this 'phenomena' out there in case someone finds this information useful, since I have not seen anyone else on the internet mention it.
Also some people in the Brimstone System comments of the CIC game guides (I'd link to it, but I need 10 posts first) mention that you can win the series by killing the Dorkir then ejecting, but I have tried doing this and have been unsuccessful. According to MISSIONS.WC, ejecting will lose all Victory Points earned in the mission, so this shouldn't be possible. Does anyone have an explanation for these comments or do we just assume that they are mistaken?