Wing Commander Pioneer

Ijuin

Admiral
I like the idea of this mod--a Privateer-like game set a generation earlier, where the planets of Gemini are only just being colonized and parts of the sector remain unexplored. What engine is this going to use? Vega Strike, same as the Privateer remake?

Also, will there be a forum for WC Pioneer?
 
Eventually there will be a forum. It's important to note that this isn't a Mod, but a new game using a new engine. Vegastrike and Vision just don't have the capability and flexibility for what we want to do, both gameplay and graphics wise. It's also important to note that this doesn't take place in Gemini.
 
Well, wherever on the Terran/Kilrathi frontier it takes place, I hope that the title "Pioneer" means that we'll be seeing the region just as it's being opened to civilian development, where the colonies are just getting underway, some regions of the map are still unexplored, and "the Code of the West" (i.e. an individual's personal honor and honesty) occasionally applies more than government authority.
 
This is an outstanding concept, I cant wait for it to be finished! I was wondering what ships we will be able to pilot in the game? just small fighters and a big transport like in priv? keep up the good work!
 
There are 4 pilotable ships - the Hunchback, Fighter, Minotaur, Tarsus and Hauler. The roles they fill are as follows: Starter, Fighter/Bounty Hunter, Gunship, Long-range Scout, and Cargoship. We may add more later - but I doubt it.
 
Howard Day said:
Vegastrike and Vision just don't have the capability and flexibility for what we want to do, both gameplay and graphics wise.

Don't let the Vegastrike people see that!

I'm just playing.

Pioneer sounds like a massive undertaking, and I will be thoroughly impressed as progress is made.
 
Flyable

Hunchback
Tarsus
Hauler (looking for a name)
Minotaur (looking for a new name)
Fighter (looking for a name)

Non-Flyable

Landreich

Wildcat
Hurricane
Scimitar (the WCA armerment version with 2 lasers)
Corsair
Valiant Class Destroyer
Granicus Class Medium Corvette
Falcon Class Light Corvette

Confed

Hornet
Scimitar (the WC1 version)
Venture
Diligent
Drayman

Kilrathi

Dralthi
Jalthi
Salthi
Dorkir
Lumbari
Ralari
'Viking' Raider Corvette
'Blackgaurd' Raider (formerly the Vralthi)

Other

Pirate Fighter (looking for a name)

'Ship 1'
'Ship 2'

the official ship list, i posted this in the 'announcing' thread
 
Vegastrike engine not up to it? Hmm, I smell a space race ;) seriously, I'll probably end up enjoying Pioneer more than WCU when they're both finished.
 
Here's the sort of roles that I imagine for the ships:

(BTW: I have no idea whether you plan to include any guns other than Laser, Mass Driver, and Neutron Cannon--WC canon implies that Tachyon and Particle guns are not yet available, but I do not know whether you might use Photon, Meson, Ion, or Plasma guns, nor whether you will require torpedoes for attacking capships.)

Player Ships:

Hunchback: Inferior. Decent maneuverability but slow speed (240-260 kps?), two guns, weak shields and armor. It would be a sitting duck against even a single Jalthi unless the player uses missiles. However, it would have better cargo capacity than any ship except the Camel. Fits the role that the Tarsus fills in Privateer.

Camel: Superior to the Hunchback in most ways, and equal in all other ways: better speed, better shields and armor, and a bigger cargo hold. Two or three guns plus at least one turret. Fits the role that the Galaxy fills in Privateer.

Minotaur: A heavy gunship/bomber. Better speed than the Hunchback but slower than the Tarsus and the Fighter. Three or four guns and the heaviest shields and armor available to the player, as well as one to three turrets. Smaller cargo hold than Tarsus, Hunchback, or Camel, but might carry more missiles/torps. Fits the role that the Orion fills in Privateer.

Tarsus: Faster and more agile than the Hunchback and Minotaur. Two guns only, no turrets, but better shields and armor than the Hunchback and a cargo hold bigger than the Minotaur but smaller than or equal to the Hunchback. Better than the Camel for exploring or dogfighting, while the Camel is a better cargo ship.

Fighter: The fastest, most agile player-flyable ship, with four guns. It would have less shields and armor than the Minotaur or Camel, but more than the Hunchback, and also the smallest cargo hold of any player-flyable ship. Fits the role filled by the Centurion in Privateer.

Landreich ships:

Hurricane: Basic light fighter, fast and lightly protected. Probably slightly less agility/shields/armor than the Hornet despite the heavier guns. Replaced by the Hornet in Confleet.

Wildcat: Older medium/heavy fighter, with decent agility and anti-fighter preformance, but probably low on shields and a poor choice against capships. Replaced by the Raptor in Confleet.

Corsair: Its quad lasers give slightly less punch than the Wildcat's twin lasers and twin mass drivers, but makes up for it by being able to hit with all of its guns at a range of 4000 instead of 2500. Better shielded than the Wildcat, possibly faster and more agile, possibly mounts torpedoes (if needed in this game to damage capships). Soon to be made completely obsolete in Confleet with the upcoming introduction of the Rapier II.
 
The Hurricane -> Wildcat -> Corsair were successive space superiority fighters in the pre-war/early war period.
 
It was my understanding that the Hurricane was chiefly an interceptor/patrol fighter based planetside or on stations--a similar role to the later Ferret. The Wildcat was the main space superiority fighter before the war (and revalation of the Kilrathi's new generation of torpedoes that could penetrate contemporary phase shields), while the Corsair was its slated replacement, hastily modified and rushed into production immediately after the war started. In my post above I was trying to show them with roles that would make it seem useful to field all three at once (as opposed to the Landreich fielding the older Hurricanes solely because they don't have enough of anything better to make ends meet). However, in the end, it is ultimately up to the game designers to tell us what stats the fighters will have.
 
It was my understanding that the Hurricane was chiefly an interceptor/patrol fighter based planetside or on stations--a similar role to the later Ferret.

No, we certainly see Hurricanes on carriers - Richards was a Hurricane pilot. The Hurricane is Wing Commander's equivalent of... well, the Hurricane (to the Wildcat's Spitfire). It's the older, less flashy fighter that its pilots love because it keeps them alive.

while the Corsair was its slated replacement, hastily modified and rushed into production immediately after the war started

This is something 'Fleet Tactics' made up.
 
Perhaps you could direct us to the specific parts of Action Stations describing the Corsairs and Hurricanes? I seem to recall that the Corsairs were only mentioned at the beginning by Tolwyn speaking to the Senator, describing them as the much-delayed new fighters that would replace the past-life-expectancy Wildcats.

The four lasers of the Corsair, and the twin mass drivers of the Hurricane (Action Stations describes the Hurricane as having a single gun, not a pair), as well as the vessel designs, are products of the designers of Pioneer. My speculation of the roles that the fighters would take in Pioneer was based upon that information. Any differences between the Action Stations version of the fighters and the Pioneer version is the choice of the designers of Pioneer.
 
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