Old or New School?

C

climber

Spaceman
It occurs to me that as the WC universe got more realistic it sort of lost its charm as far as I was concerned. I was hoping that it had the same effect on everyone. Come to think of it all computer games lost their charm when they got too realistic. Instead of being a way of escaping the real world they became a viable alternative to having a life.

Is this so or am i just getting old
 
I liked having more realism to WC. To a certain extent. When things started looking too shiny and new, it felt less like WC. Not that things were supposed to be horrible all the time, but it had a more "WW2 in space!" feel ships needed new paintjobs, and the pipe in the barracks had a leak and someone's dirty uniform on the floor.
 
Yeah, I'm with you, I always sort of liked the earlier pre-FMV WCs myself. I don't know if it was the bitmapped graphics (you know, the kind that make it feel like a *computer* game instead of an almost-movie) or the simpler flight mechanics, but after the geez-golly-wiz feel of polygons and [bad] live-action cutscenes wore off, WC3 was still alright, but it just didn't seem as charming...and Prophecy began feeling more than a little repetitive. I still haven't played WC4 (I know, for shame...), but its storyline seems intriguing enough to keep me with it.
 
I prefer any games set during the Kilrathi war. The Price of Freedom was still one of the best in the series but Prophecy I just couldn't enjoy. The game engine itself was great, but the story, film clips in between missions (and the lack of them) just didn't do it for me.
 
I liked the blue hair. For the sake of consistency, WC3 producers should have dyed Mark Hamill's hair blue. His hair should have been blue in WCA too.

Yeah.
 
climber said:
...Is this so or am i just getting old
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Yes.
:D

As to your main post, I first came into the WC universe with WC3, and so I kinda look at it the opposite way:
For me the older games have a certain quaint charm, but mostly I just want to be able to play those same old games under the Prophecy (or newer) engine.

I'm always on the lookout for any mods or TCs that will allow me to do so. I'm still waiting, of course, but "UE" gives at least a little feel for what'd be like, tho' it's a different plot/missions/setting. (At least ya gets to see the older ships/carrier under a modern engine)
:cool:
 
If you are getting old, climber, so am I. I am playing more DOS games then Windows games probably. And the majority of Windows ones are sequels to DOS games. Its pretty hard to find some substance in the graphic fests nowadays IMHO.
 
Then I am not ashamed of being old. I used to dream of being in the WC universe back when it was still in cartoon form. Back when, at the age of 7 I spent months trying to do the first mission of this amazing new game that had been released.

I feel that computer game manufacturers may have lost the way and are trying to replace our lives with something else as real as possible. Escapism is all it should be. Bring back DOS, bring back 386 machines and kill Bill
 
Totally agree with you guys on this one.

I love WC1, 2 and the Secret Missions stuff. Especially the music for the load/save screen in Wing Commander 1. Wish I could bottle that and pipe it through my ears when I have those insomniac moments. :)
 
The only reason why they made it cartoonish back in the old days was because they couldn't make it realistic. Kinda hard to make things look realistic in 320*240 256 or 16 colors don't you think?
 
To me, WC4 was one of the worst, I didn't really like it as much as the other games.

Here's my order:
1. WC1
2. WC3
3. Privateer
 
A lot of new games seem to suck because they are all dumbed down versions. In order to increase sales they make them so damn easy that anyone could play them. Remember learning curves? On Longbow alone it probably took a good 2 hours to master all the different functions.
One of my fav old games with a fairly high learning curve is Microprose's B-17 Flying Fortress, you could be any position in the plane during whatever part of the mission. Although the comp bombadier sucked, so you had to do that part yourself, it took me probably over 2 horus to learn how to use the norden bombsight
 
Things that you must learn anew are quite great. It gives you a sense of accomplishment and appreciation when you finally figure out how to do something that's been hindering you for a while. There is, however, something to be said for games that are *too* frustrating. WC has always had a decent mix.

I think the perfect mix of challenge, intuitiveness, fun, and good storyline, was wc2. You had to be a good flyer, you had to use your wits, and the story was really cool. I'd really have to say that that's my ideal WC feel. Even though the Concordia was the best (and, most likely, best upkept) carrier in the fleet at the time, it didn't feel too "new fangled".

And, enemies were challenging because you had to know how to use your wits to get them in your gunsights in the first place (Broadsword, anyone?), not because they could flagelate to stay out of your crosshairs.
 
New fangled is annoying. Lets face it. The older stuff was better. None of this setting the difficulty so that either you can blow everything up without even pointing at it or you get blown up the first time someone looks at you.

I only really play old WC at the moment and I forked out over £100 for the Saga so that I could play it on one of those new fangled PC things.

Ahhh, back to steam trains and horses I say
 
a lot of the new games just look like a bunch of pretty pictures with no substance. Everytime they put up one of those new games on the front page I look at the screenshots, yet none of them get me interested or enthralled enough to want and try to play it. Every time I see a new saga or standoff shot I think I might even start drolling..
 
I liked them all, but I'd have to go Old School. WC was better than pizza and beer when I first got to play it on a PC in 1991. I was blown away by how far computer games had come since I'd been in high school. My Sega Genesis just never seemed to be the same after that.
 
You're getting old.

Wing Commander at its weakest is still better than the majority of PC or console games out there. And even if Prophecy was a little on the weak side, the gameplay more than made up for its less-than-engaging characters.
 
climber said:
Then I am not ashamed of being old. I used to dream of being in the WC universe back when it was still in cartoon form. Back when, at the age of 7 I spent months trying to do the first mission of this amazing new game that had been released.
Click to expand...

I remember having totally the same experience; I was about six years old, and Soundblasters, Gravis joysticks, and CD-Rom drives were the hot new stuff; the asteroids at Nav 2 always did me in! :D
And as for getting old, Climber, I just graduated from high school last month, and sometimes I feel ancient when I realize how far technology (both PC and non-PC) has come in the past twelve or so years.
 
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