Speed Runs

Aron Figaro

Spaceman
Okay...I know it's been a while since I've been here, but I'm shocked no one has ever really gotten into this. Why no WC speed runs?

Admittedly, the later WC games don't seem that speed-runnable. They're really less about the gameplay and more about the cutscenes. The most obvious game to do this with is WC1, though WC2 and Privateer are interesting options. Here's what I've figured out messing with it so far:

WC1: There is no clear shortest path. You definitely don't want to do Gateway or Cheng-Du. Those take forever, so we're going Enyo-McAuliffe, then we have a choice. Gimle 3 can be pretty long with the 9 dralthis, but if you're good at quick kills Gimle's a fast one with few nav points. Brimstone's probably longer, but it's an option if you're worried about failing the Exeter mission. In an optimal run I'd say go perfect winning path - yes, including Kurasawa 3. Why? It's actually really short! If you don't win in 30 or so seconds, you lose the series. Don't lose. I admit it's hard to do reliably, but I think it's possible. We also have to figure out which missions we can just eject on (all 4 venice missions for example). There's a lot of data on the gamefaqs FAQ for this.

WC2: This one's way faster. You only have to fly Gwenydd 3, 4, Niven 4, Gorah Khar 3, you can eject all 4 of Novaya Kiev (winning), fly Heaven's Gate 1 and 4, eject all of Tesla, fly Enigma 4, and eject all but K'Tithrak Mang 4. So all in all, you only fly 8 missions. This could be really optimized I think. Losing path is longer and is an entirely different competition, too.

Privateer: This one's pretty random, and a lot more strategic than the first two, especially in the opening. You really need to figure out what exactly you NEED to win Tayla 2 - if you can do it naked with a proton launcher, I think you're golden to win the game. There are quite a few quick kill missions (especially in Oxford) though, so you need to not only be able to survive, but kill quickly.

You WILL need an upgraded centurion to finish the game unless you're wicked crazy with the proton launcher. The question is when to make the money, when to buy which upgrades, etc. I think a centurion with 4 lasers, 2 proton launchers is an effective ship for a good 2/3 of the game. You can do Oxford with that, then upgrade straight to tachyons once you've got the engines and shields. I'm not sure if you need the centy for Tayla 2 or not. If you do, then there isn't a lot of point upgrading the Tarsus at all: just pile up the cash in Troy.
 
Some notes on WC1 Missions and Series:

Enyo: There's really only one way to do this: get two VPs from Enyo 1 (go to nav 2 and land is probably fastest). Get all 9 VPs from Enyo 2 (touch both navs and make sure the drayman gets out).

McAuliffe: This one sucks. Again, touch a nav point and land for mission 1, and do the other two perfectly for the win. You'll need to kill Bhurak to be as fast as possible here.

Gateway: Remember you're flying a Hornet, and they don't give you the best wingman either (Paladin). 35 VPs means you can eject on mission 1, then do two and three. Still a lot of fighters here.

Gimle: You can skip Gimle 2 but only if the exeter survives. If it blows up, you have to hit all nav points, and kill every single ship in gimle 3.

Brimstone: Maniac is a liability, but less so in a speed game, you largely ignore him. The pain: you have to perfect all 3 missions to win the series. Not happening, this is NOT the path you want to be on for a speed run. The good news is if you do somehow screw up and end up here, you run isn't hosed: all three missions are really short and easy. If you end up here, just eject all 3 missions and go to Port Hedland.

Cheng-Du: Again, like Brimstone, perfect all 3 missions. Even harder: you're flying hornets. At least you have an okay wingman. The missions are hell. Don't even try it if you're speed running. If you eject all 3, you go to Port Hedland.

Dakota: If you're running the winning path, you'll end up here. You can eject mission 1, but you'll have to take out all the capships in 2 and 3. Not TOO bad.

Kurasawa: If you're doing a speed run of the winning path, you actually have to win this to get to Venice without doing Rostov. The nice thing is, while that Ralari mission is crazy hard, it's also crazy short. You do have to hit every nav on every mission, though, as well as succeed in escorting an Exeter, but aside from the Ralari mission, it's really cake.

On to the interesting part:
What if you just start ejecting, and stop when you hit Port Hedland on the losing path? You can actually do that, and you'd fly Port Hedland, Rostov, Venice. You could also eject Port Hedland, and fly Hubble's Star, Rostov, Venice. This is only 6 missions either way (you eject all 4 in Venice) so the question is, which is more efficient, Port Hedland or Hubble's Star? They're both really hard, which makes it even more interesting.

Port Hedland: No ejections, and you have to perfect EVERYTHING. Can't even skip nav points, from what I'm seeing - I will be testing this soon.

Mission 1: SCARY. 4 Jalthi and 3 Gratha, and you only have a scimitar between them and a yummy drayman. This is very often your ticket to Hubble's Star. It's also fairly long.

Mission 2: Two fights, 3 dralthi go down easy, 3 gratha and a fralthi. Honestly, the problem isn't so much doing this as doing this FAST. Get good at quick kills, you'll need it.

Mission 3: Long. Long long long. 4 Jalthi, 4 Gratha, 4 Krant, and a Fralthi. Ouch. Also...not in the gamefaqs documentation, one of those Jalthi is Baktosh.

Hubble's Star: This one's optimal because you can actually EJECT one of these (2 or 3, your choice).

Mission 1: Dakhath has to die, do it fast and clean. You'll have to kill the Krants, you might be able to blow the Dorkir and burn out faster than you can kill 3 Dralthi, but I doubt it. Probably better to kill the fighters too.

Mission 2: Best to skip this one, but it's your choice. If you fly it, it's just another quick kill mission: 4 dralthi and 4 gratha. Don't let them hit the transports...but honestly, given how fast you should be killing things, that's not an issue.

Mission 3: This one's pretty short and sweet. Just quick kills, and only 6 ships. This is where you'll kill Baktosh.

Rostov: You need to do 3, and either of 1 or 2. Picking which mission is dependent on what you're better at: burning through asteroids or speed killing a Ralari. Optimally I think Rostov 1 is shorter.

Mission 1: Afterburner city. Burning through asteroids and blowing away a Dorkir as fast as possible is loads of fun! It's not really that hard either, just get a quick kill on the capship and afterburn out.

Mission 2: Skip the Salthi, hit 4 Jalthi and a Ralari at the nav. You're probably not good enough to kill the Ralari before the Jalthi kill you: if you are, props. Otherwise take out the fighters.

Mission 3: Straight to nav 2 with the Fralthi. The Dralthi are in or around the asteroids (I forget), either afterburn through or murder them. You'll probably want to kill the krants at the Fralthi nav.

That's it. That's all.

The best way to do wing commander 1:
Hubble's Star 1, Hubble's Star 3, Rostov 1, Rostov 3, eject every other mission. If you can't eject Venice 4...that's news to me, I'm pretty sure you can, but if not, add that in, skip the Fralthi, and go burn that base.
 
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