Port Side Gallery: Wing Commander III 3DO UI (April 30, 2017)

[Bandit LOAF]

The 3DO port of Wing Commander III is known for being unique, featuring significantly altered mechanics to improve console play. In addition to adding video and re-designing every mission, the 3DO port also put quite a bit of effort into updating the in-world UI the player uses to do things like save the game and outfit his ship.

First, note the updated main menu. The game actually includes three of them, one for each base you can land on. The names and registries for the Kilrah 2 and Kilrah 3 asteroid depots originate here!







Ship selection is also a welcome surprise, with a complete set of statistics for each option:









The ‘weapon selection’ screens are also redone, complete with missile stats and additional lore! Did you know the mines used on the Victory were “Porcupine Mk. IIIs (a nod to the original Wing Commander) or that the torpedoes were Lances? Note also the option to load a Vampire missile, the replacement for the Leech. Vampires open holes in enemy shields instead of disabling general ship systems. Vampire missiles were introduced in this port and not seen again until Wing Commander Arena in 2007.











Finally, major props to the UI designer for a revamp of the Victory’s trainsim menus. They’re sprinkled with lore, including who last played the gauntlet and what fictional software companies built each VR mission!








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Original update published on April 30, 2017

 

[Quarto]

The Lance and the Vampire are both quite interesting as weapon names. I can't think of a single example where an air force today would simultaneously have a fighter and a weapon going by the same name, presumably because it just makes things confusing. So, on the one hand, the Lance torpedo would be a powerful additional counter-argument in the age-old Lance vs. Dragon discussion where different canonical sources provide different names for the same ship (and of course, it is the Dragon, no matter what the novel says... )... on the other hand, though, if that were indeed a reasonable argument, then would we have to start arguing about the Vampire?

Regardless of all this, of course, the big regret for the screens above is that they again missed the opportunity to give us numerical designations for all these ships. Of course, screen space would be a consideration - for the Thunderbolt VII, squeezing in a designation without having the text overlapping the image would be very tight indeed (and yes, this is precisely the kind of situation where a UI designer says: well, if it won't look good for one ship, we won't do it for any of them).

 

[Vidmaster]

okay, this is VERY interesting, I did not know the LEECH was replaced. Any idea why this is the case? In all of my playthroughs of WC3, I really never used that missile and no missions were ever designed around it so I am a bit at a loss.

 

[Star Rider]

I tended to use leech missiles the most playing Wing Commander IV the Price of Freedom. Leeching the Border Worlds Cruiser Squadron in the second Masa System mission, and the Lexington during the run for the back door jump point. It was a nice option to have as it always felt wrong for me torpedo bombing those three ships.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

okay, this is VERY interesting, I did not know the LEECH was replaced. Any idea why this is the case? In all of my playthroughs of WC3, I really never used that missile and no missions were ever designed around it so I am a bit at a loss.

Yes! It's actually tied into exactly what you noticed, you never have a reason to use the Leech in WC3. While it replaces the leech (and uses the same art) the Vampire is actually for a totally different purpose. The 3DO port changes Wing Commander III's game mechanics in many ways... and one result of that is that the Longbow's missile loadout makes it a true beast capable of smashing through pretty much any mission. To counter this, the game prevents you from choosing it in most missions... and instead gives you VAMPIRE missiles as an option on smaller ships which are intended for use attacking capital ships (they disable shields for ten seconds allowing you to shoot the armor/hull.)

 

[Star Rider]

I think the one mission where it would have made sense to use the Leech Missiles in Wing Commander III The Heart of the Tiger would have been Mission 3 in Torgo where you need to disable the Kilrathi Fuel Transports to refuel the Behemoth. Instead you just use regular guns until the fighter's computer announces that the transports are disabled.

 

[AD]

I tended to use leech missiles the most playing Wing Commander IV the Price of Freedom. Leeching the Border Worlds Cruiser Squadron in the second Masa System mission, and the Lexington during the run for the back door jump point. It was a nice option to have as it always felt wrong for me torpedo bombing those three ships.

Yeah, I really disliked having to shoot down human pilots. Leech missiles felt right. Blair didn't really want to turn his back on Confed after all, so just wantonly killing people on a hunch felt wrong. It was a disappointment that there were a few missions that forced to to kill disabled pilots... probably a future version of a war crime (I imagine there's a future war crimes court that would also convict you if you shot down ejection posts). It was likely just an unintended bug, but there was a handful of missions where the next wave would *not* spawn unless you went and killed the leeched craft. It was pretty cool having alternate cutscenes depending on if you leeched or destroyed the Lexington.

 

[Oggy]

Yes! It's actually tied into exactly what you noticed, you never have a reason to use the Leech in WC3. While it replaces the leech (and uses the same art) the Vampire is actually for a totally different purpose. The 3DO port changes Wing Commander III's game mechanics in many ways... and one result of that is that the Longbow's missile loadout makes it a true beast capable of smashing through pretty much any mission. To counter this, the game prevents you from choosing it in most missions... and instead gives you VAMPIRE missiles as an option on smaller ships which are intended for use attacking capital ships (they disable shields for ten seconds allowing you to shoot the armor/hull.)

Wow, I never knew this. Is there any footage of this mechanic in action?