WC4 Bearcat

DaveO

DaveO

Rear Admiral
Apologies if this topic has been brought up before, but I did a search and did not find much. Does anybody have any info on the service record of the ship in other actions? What is the majority positive/negative opinion of this fighter? You don't get to fly it much in WC4, and I thought it was decent if you don't use synchronized guns.
 
Hmm, I don't know anything about any information on its service record. I think we only know its specs, designation and introduction date.

I don't like the Bearcat much: first, it's way too good on paper and normally, I don't like super ships. And in actual game play I found its guns to be too widespread. There are means to counter that but I never bothered.
 
There really isn't, IIRC, anything available about the Bearcat outside of WC4 material.

As for my opinions, I actually liked it. Sure, the gun spacing could be annoying, but to me that little quirk is what makes it a better "superfighter" than the Dragon (aka [to me] Munchkinmobile :p ), in that it actually has some limitations instead of being great at just about everything.
 
The Bearcat flew just like what I think was its predecessor - the Hellcat V. I don't think much of either ship but I suppose its better than flying around in an escape pod...
 
I loved the Bearcat. I actually took it over the Dragon whenever possible. It was probably the cleanest flying fighter I've ever flown. Fast, maneuverable, powerful guns, adequate shields and armor. It outflys a Dragon easily, and its guns are almost as powerful. It outflys a Banshee or a Hellcat and is certainly more powerful. It feels like an Excalibur, except it can take a little more of a beating.

And I liked that it had one weakness--the wingtip mounted guns. It made it feel like a real ship--not a reward for whiny gamers.

I've always speculated that it was a relatively short-lived design because it was pioneering new, expensive technologies that were then integrated more cheaply and efficiently into superior designs that we see in Prophecy--namely the Panther. In that sense it would be kind like the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65)--the first of a class that employed new technology, but was so expensive that it was ultimately superceded by that technology being implemeted in more efficiently designed classes. (Actually, I've also speculated that this was the case with the Crossbow and the Morningstar). However, if there are any "official" references discussing it, that would be cool to know...

SPOILER:


The biggest problem with the Bearcat was that to get access to it, you had to side with Hawk and ignore the suffering people, making getting the "good" ending relativley difficult (I think you could get away with siding with Hawk that once, if you did everything else very carefully).

END SPOILER
 
You have to choose Speradon and the retrieve fighter mission. You can choose Panther for all the other choices.
 
The Bearcat was my favorite fighter for short engagements. I liked it even better than the Dragon in these situations since cloaking didn't help keep my wingmen alive. It was also very fun to fly since it was so fast and maneuverable (and I think it had slide capability which I liked). It lacked staying power for long drawn out engagement since the missile loadout was low and the guns weren't very effective.

Given the scene showing their production, it appears to be a very valuable fighter. Confed seems to efficiently mass produce these. The low missile loadout is fine for the average Confed pilot since you can really only hope they can take out 1 or 2 fighters and aren't expected to take out 12-30 enemies in a single mission as Blair usually is.

The fact that it's a 'bonus' fighter that can only be gained by following the Speradon path made it even more appreciated to me.
 
Farbourne said:
SPOILER:


The biggest problem with the Bearcat was that to get access to it, you had to side with Hawk and ignore the suffering people, making getting the "good" ending relativley difficult (I think you could get away with siding with Hawk that once, if you did everything else very carefully).
Click to expand...

I've sided with Hawk on every decision, then Panther on Ella, and managed to get the good guy ending. Which makes me think Ella is the only really important deciscion to side with Panther on.
END OF MY SPOILER



As for the Bearcat: I really liked it. It looked nice and I never really noticed any trouble with the guns or missile loadout. But then again, when I was in my WC4 prime I liked to take heavily armed fighters in close for big gun barrages and then turn away. Even if half my shots missed the target was heavily damaged enough that it wouldn't take much to finish it off.
 
I'm pretty sure I hated it, but I can't really remember why. I think it had something to do with it's guns, though.
 
Shaggy said:
I've sided with Hawk on every decision, then Panther on Ella, and managed to get the good guy ending. Which makes me think Ella is the only really important deciscion to side with Panther on.
END OF MY SPOILER
Click to expand...

On my first playthrough, I sided with Panther on everything except going after the war materials, plus I agreed with Hawk once when Panther wasn't around about missing the good old days or something like that, plus I didn't defect immediately but hung around on the Lexington. However I did side with Panther on Ella. I got the "bad guy" ending. So I think it is a lot more than just the Ella decision (although I think that decision probably carries a lot more weight than just about everything else in the game).
 
The final cutscene is based on who has the highest morale at the end of the game, not a selectr group of decisions. There are some decisions which affect *only one* of the two, which aren't usually cited when explaining how this works.

The "big three" give +1 to one and -1 to the other. They are:

Hawk and Panther are arguing on the bridge: "There's always hope" vs. "We die trying"
Speradon or Circe: "Panther's right" vs. "Hawk's right."
Bypass or destroy Ella: "Panther's right, we can't kill civilians" vs. "Hawk's right, this is war"

Then each character has two "a +1 or -1" individual conversations:

Panther-
Panther at the bar: "She's dreaming" / "You'd think..."
Catscratch and Panther talking about fighting the Kilrathi: "Straighten this kid out" / "Do I look like I have all the answers?"

Hawk-
Did you enjoy fighting the Kilrathi?: "Gotta admit, I did" / "This guy is bloodthirsty"
Argument about the Kilrathi: "He's missing the point" / "Bitter guy"

... and then you have the option of doubling or negating your 'system choice' (Speradon/Circe):

If you choose Circe:
Talk to Maniac or let Panther hurt him? "Maniac's on his own" / "Tempting, but I can't let that happen"

Ic you choose Speradon:
Talk to Maniac or let Hawk hurt him? "What a whiner" / "Time to be a captain"

You can, indeed, side with Hawk for all of the 'famous' choices but then end up with the Panther ending (and have one point to spare). Observe:
"We die trying" - Hawk 1, Panther 0
"Hawk's right" - Hawk 2, Panther 0
"Hawk's right, this is war" - Hawk 3, Panther 0
"You'd think..." - Hawk 3, Panther 1
"Straighten this kid out" - Hawk 3, Panther 2 (actually, it might be the other choice - can't remember)
"This guy is bloodthirsty" - Hawk 2, Panther 2
"Bitter guy" - Hawk 1, Panther 2
"What a whiner" - Hawk 0, Panther 2

(Actually, I think you have two to spare, since a tie gives you the good ending)
 
Thanks, LOAF for posting about the points system! It's too bad you only use the Bearcat in a few missions, but it's fun having the fastest fighter. I never said it was the best since the Dragon is by far the super fighter in WC4, but the Bearcat can autoslide and has an eight missile loadout. It's a good ship versus other fighters and light capital ships. It can take a bit more of a beating, so that's always helpful on difficulties higher than Veteran that I did with the video recordings.
 
You could not really use the Dragon's fission cannons in the game, but in multiplayer, it would be a hell of a trap for you opponent.

the only drawback I see to the bearcat is that it's a big bird to fly and makes you easy to hit.
 
Mace said:
You could not really use the Dragon's fission cannons in the game, but in multiplayer, it would be a hell of a trap for you opponent.

the only drawback I see to the bearcat is that it's a big bird to fly and makes you easy to hit.
Click to expand...

THere aren't fission cannons in Prophecy, but you can definitely use the charging mass drivers in prophecy multiplayer. It's nearly a one-shot kill if you have good aim and have charged them long enough.

I remember taking out frigates with the fission cannon though in WC4.
 
AD said:
THere aren't fission cannons in Prophecy, but you can definitely use the charging mass drivers in prophect multiplayer. It's nearly a one-shot kill if you have good aim and have charged them long enough.
Click to expand...

With the recharge time, the Dev's plasma cannon is almost the same. I don't know about in MP, but anything below Manta or Devil Ray is going to be dead or almost dead with one hit. Of course, getting that hit is another issue... :p
 
I always found the Bearcat fascinating. My reasoning went into a totally different direction than that it supposedly pioneered tech for the WCP era ships.

I'm under the impression that the Bearcat is more like an improved and ready for mass production version of the Excalibur. While the Excalibur was a ground-breaking secret weapon kind of thing, the Bearcat in my book is the attempt to cash in on the Excalibur's qualities and techonological advancements and create an affordable, standardized further step on the Hellcat lineage of advanced medium weight figher craft.
 
I'm under the impression that the Bearcat is more like an improved and ready for mass production version of the Excalibur. While the Excalibur was a ground-breaking secret weapon kind of thing, the Bearcat in my book is the attempt to cash in on the Excalibur's qualities and techonological advancements and create an affordable, standardized further step on the Hellcat lineage of advanced medium weight figher craft.
Click to expand...

Some of the Wing Commander IV material (the novel and the published script) establishes a very similar backstory for the Lance (Dragon) - that it was the followup to the Excalibur that perfected the new technology. The indication in the novel is that the Lance and the Excalibur are the only fighters Blair knows of with matter/anti-matter engines... so it doesn't seem likely that the Bearcat is a similar spinoff.

(My imagined backstory for the Bearcat is a lot lazier -- that it, the Hellcat and the Wildcat follow the same path as their World War II Grumman namesakes. The Wildcat is the top-of-the-line carrier-based fighter when the war starts which finds itself outmached by the Kilrathi... the Hellcat is the similar-looking replacement that helps turn the tide and becomes the Navy's utility fighter for most of the war... and then the Bearcat is the high-performance update which makes it out a little too late to fight. Then, per the ICIS manual, the Tigershark is the final jet evolution (using the new m/am engines?). They should have named it the Panther, though...).
 
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