Category:Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom

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Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom
Wc4sleevehigh.jpg
Platform MS-DOS

Windows 95 (DVD)
Macintosh
Playstation (PSX)

Engine RealSpace
Release Date February 1996

DVD: October 14, 1997 (1997.287"1997.287" contains a sequence that could not be interpreted against an available match matrix for date components.)
GoG: April 3, 2012 (2012.094"2012.094" contains a sequence that could not be interpreted against an available match matrix for date components.)

Language English

German

Rating ESRB: M


Description

Box Back Cover

Believe it - the BEST interactive movie has just gotten BETTER!

The Kilrathi war may be over, but back home nothing is the same. There's trouble in the Border Worlds. Civil War seems imminent. You have to decide how to save the Confederation — or if it should be saved at all!

The latest epic adventure in the Wing Commander saga applies improved cinematic techniques and photo-realistic graphics to a story of intrigue, betrayal and death. Never before has Hollywood been so completely under your control.

  • Ensemble cast of favorites, including Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, John Rhys-Davies and Tom Wilson (as Maniac)
  • Enhanced movie quality, including panning camera and detailed Hollywood studio sets
  • Shot on film!
  • Runs under Win 95 with a DOS reboot
  • Completely woven story featuring old friends and new comrades
  • Photo-realistic textures on all ships
  • Enhanced interactivity both in and out of the cockpit — plus greater control of missions and drama
  • Digital music throughout the game
  • 16-bit movies with Dolby® surround sound
  • Better-than-ever gameplay
  • Full screen view for enhanced visibility

System Requirements

Computer. Wing Commander IV requires at least an IBM 486 DX/2 66+MHz or 100% compatible system, and MS-DOS version 5.0 or higher. Pentium™ machines are recommended for SVGA spaceflight.
Video Card. VESA-compliant SVGA (640x480). A local bus or PCI video card is required.
Hard Drive. You must have a minimum of 30 MB free on your hard drive to install and play this game.
CD-ROM Drive. You must have at least a double-speed CD-ROM drive with a transfer rate of 300,000 bytes/second or higher.
Mouse. Wing Commander IV requires a Microsoft or 100% compatible mouse using Microsoft software driver version 7.0 or higher or 100% compatible software driver.
Memory. Wing Commander IV uses 360K (368,640 bytes) of conventional RAM (base memory) and 7000K (7,168,000 bytes) of either extended memory (XMS) or expanded memory (EMS). You must have a minimum of 8 megabytes of RAM installed in your machine. We recommend using an XMS setup for machines with only 8 megs RAM.

Box Contents

MS-DOS

English

  • (6) CDs (your game!)
  • Wing Commander IV Introduction (40 pp.) with basic installation instructions, Tutorial, Option Screen information, detailed Installation Help, directions for Creating a Boot Disk (p. 11) and Troubleshooting answers to possible problems (p. 32)
  • The Price of Freedom (48 pp.) giving you an expanded version of what happened between Wing Commander III and Wing Commander IV.
  • Playguide (32 pp.) telling you how to play the game and set game options.
  • Reference Card (4 pp.) listing all keyboard, mouse and joystick commands in the game.
  • Registration Card — we'd love to know who you are!
  • Catalogs and other advertising, describing the worlds of gaming opportunities EA provides.

Russian

Windows

Sony PlayStation

Credits

Team

Advertising

In 1995, Origin created several beautiful magazine covers to promote Wing Commander IV. Rather than simply capture screens from the game itself, these renderings were unique works of art. Now you can see the original resolution images, as they were created before being sent off to the magazine editors! A fourth image was created for [Electronic Entertainment], although the source file has not been located.

Versions

DOS / Windows 95 CD

Windows 95 DVD (single sided)

Same as the PC Windows 95 version, still uses the high compression Xan movie.

Ports

DVD (double sided)

Created for bundling with a Creative Labs Encore DVD kit. Same as the PC (Win95) version, but with high quality video sequences - as clear as a real movie rather than higher compression Xan movie.

Macintosh

Identical to the initial PC release.

Playstation

Cuts out a significant amount of video and missions (no Circe Series, for instance). Ground missions replaced with new space-based missions with similar objectives. Briefing videos altered slightly to represent this.

Strategy Guides

Re-Releases

Screenshots

Development

Patches / Addons

Origin

Fan Made

Editing Tools

Miscellaneous Files

Music

High quality background music

Thanks to Mad Hatter. (Details, more)

Various tracks

Cheats

PC

  • In flight, press Alt-O.
    Select invincibility.
  • Start the game with "wc4 -chicken" at the command line to enter debug mode. You should see the message "Chicken mode: [ON] Boc Boc!" during game start-up.
  • Ctrl-W destroys your target. Ctrl-Alt-W destroys all enemies on the radar. Alt-F displays framerate.
  • Start the game with "wc4 -mitchell" at the command line to get the message "Mitchell don't work here no more. He work for Bazooka Joe now." during game start-up.
  • Start the game with "wc4 -mitchell2" at the command line to get the message "I told you he don't work here no more! You call Bazooka Joe! during game start-up."
  • Start the game with "wc4 -test" at the command line to get the message "Test okay!!!" during game start-up. The game then crashes.

PlayStation

  • At the Wing Commander copyright screen, press Up, Down, Down, Up, R2.
    Press R1 or R2 to select a game level.

Manuals and Game Documentation

Controls

PC & Macintosh

Afterburner				Tab
Toggle Afterburner			`
Fire guns				Space
Fire missile				Enter
Accelerate				+
Decelerate				-
Full speed				~
Full stop				Backspace
Match target speed			Y
Look left				F2
Look right				F3
Look forward				F1
Look behind				F4
Display rear turret in left VDU		Ctrl-F4
Chase view				F5
Battle view				F6
Tactical view				F7
Missile camera				F8
Victim camera				F9
Track camera				F10
Cycle weapons				M
Cycle guns				G
Full guns				F
Drop decoy				E
Syncronize guns				Ctrl-G
Special guns/rear turret tractor beam	H
Select all hardpoints			B
Cycle targets				T
Cycle turrets				R
Jump					J
Cloak					Ctrl-C
Disable Auto-Tracking			Ctrl-A
Disable Smart-Targeting			Ctrl-S
Auto-slide				Caps Lock
Toggle Auto-slide			/
Lock target				L
Damage HUD				D
Shield HUD				S
Weapons HUD				W
Autopilot				A
Comms select				C
Nav Map					N
Power menu				P
Decrease power to selected component	[
Increase power to selected component	]
Lock power to selected component	Ctrl-[
Eject					Ctrl-E
Options Menu				Alt-O

Playstation

Ship Movement		D-Pad
Roll Left/Right		L2 + D-Pad
Afterburner		R1 + R2
Cycle Camera Views	L2 + R1
Fire guns		Square
Fire missile		X
Accelerate		R1
Decelerate		R2
Maximum Speed		L1 + R1
Full Stop		L1 + R2
Cycle weapons		L1 + X
Cycle guns		L1 + Square
Rear Turret		L1 + Select
Cycle targets		Triangle
Smart Targeting		L1 + Triangle
Decoy			Circle
Match Speed		R1 + Triangle
Autopilot		Select
Comms select		Select + Left/Right
Nav Map/Exit Nav Map	Start
Eject			L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 + Select + Start
Cloak			L1 + L2 + R1 + R2
New Game		Hold Select + Start for 2 seconds
Taunt			Select + Square
Break and Attack	Select + Triangle
Cycle Comm Option 	L2
Select Comm Option 	L1 (Quick Select Comm ON)
Viewscreen 		L1 + D-Pad (Quick Select Comm OFF)
Rotate Nav Map		D-Pad
Zoom In Nav Map		R1
Zoom Out Nav Map	R2
Cycle Nav map targets	Triangle
Options Menu 		X (while in nav map)

Cutscenes

Behind The Scenes Of WCIV Carlos Mendonça found something really neat that we don't recall seeing before - seven behind the scenes videos from the set of Wing Commander IV! They were found in the January 1996 copy of Multimedia World Live! and are a mixture of interviews, behind the scenes action, and even a blooper video. Here they are in their original form of 320x240 12 frames/sec Cinepak video and 8 bit sound.

  • blair2.avi - Interview with Mark Hamill.
  • maniac1.avi - Interview with Tom Wilson 1.
  • maniac2.avi - Interview with Tom Wilson 2.
  • wing1.avi - Behind the scenes, interviews with Chris Roberts, Mark Hamill, Malcolm Macdowell, Tom Wilson, Jason Bernard.
  • wing3.avi - Wing Commander IV trailer.
  • wing4.avi - Briefing blooper.
  • wing5.avi - Those damn doors again.

Ships

Terran Confederation

  • Fighters
Wc4arrow-vdu.gif
Wc4hellcat-vdu.gif
Wc4thunderbolt-vdu.gif
Wc4longbow-vdu.gif
Wc4bearcat-vdu.gif
Wc4excalibur-vdu.gif
F-27 Arrow V
Hellcat V
HF-66 Thunderbolt VII
F/A-76 Longbow
Bearcat
F-103 Excalibur
  • Capital Ships
Wc4shuttle-vdu.gif
Wc4transport-vdu.gif
Wc4jammer-vdu.gif
Wc4frigate-vdu.gif
Wc4destroyer-vdu.gif
Wc4cruiser-vdu.gif
Wc4concordia-vdu.gif
Wc4vesuvius-vdu.gif
Shuttle
Clarkson
Jammer
Caernaven
Southampton
Tallahassee
Concordia
Vesuvius
  • Installations
Wc4jumpbuoy-vdu.gif
Wc4radarsat-vdu.gif
Wc4turretmine-vdu.gif
Wc4commstation-vdu.gif
Wc4radarbuoy-vdu.gif
Wc4depot-vdu.gif
Wc4drydock-vdu.gif
Wc4weaponsfactory-vdu.gif
Jump Buoy
Radar Buoy
Turret Mine
Radar Array
Comm Station
Depot
Dry Dock
Factory


Wc4superbase-vdu.gif
Wc4spacelab-vdu.gif
Wc4groundturret-vdu.gif
Wc4tank-vdu.gif
Wc4tank-vdu.gif
Wc4undergroundbase-vdu.gif
Wc4commcenter-vdu.gif
Super Base
Space Lab
Ground Turret
Hover Tank
Missile Tank
Underground Base
Communications Array

Black Lance

Fighter
Wc4lance-vdu.gif
Capital Ship
Wc4projecttransport-vdu.gif
Installation
Wc4axiusbase-vdu.gif
F-107 Lance
Evansville
Axius

Pirate

  • Fighters
Wc4razor-vdu.gif
Wc4arrow-vdu.gif
Wc4thunderbolt-vdu.gif
Razor
F-27 Arrow V
HF-66 Thunderbolt VII
  • Capital Ship
Wc4frigate-vdu.gif
Caernaven

Union of Border Worlds

  • Fighters
Wc4banshee-vdu.gif
Wc4vindicator-vdu.gif
Wc4avenger-vdu.gif
Wc4mip-vdu.gif
Banshee
Vindicator
Avenger
Manned Insertion Pod
  • Capital Ships
Wc4assaultshuttle-vdu.gif
Wc4transport-vdu.gif
Wc4frigate-vdu.gif
Wc4destroyer-vdu.gif
Wc4cruiser-vdu.gif
Wc4durango-vdu.gif
Shuttle
Clarkson
Caernaven
Southampton
Tallahassee
Durango
  • Installations
Wc4spacelab-vdu.gif
Wc4groundturret-vdu.gif
Wc4tank-vdu.gif
Wc4undergroundbase-vdu.gif
Wc4commcenter-vdu.gif
Wc4building-vdu.gif
Space Lab
Ground Turret
Hover Tank
Underground Base
Communications Array
Ground Complex

Empire of Kilrah

  • Fighters
Wc4dralthi-vdu.gif
Dralthi IV
  • Capital Ships
Wc4kilrathishuttle-vdu.gif
Shuttle
  • Installation
Wc4kilrathistarbase-vdu.gif
Starbase

Missions

Weapons

Guns

Missiles