A Quick Guide to Planets

Ground missions! Is there any more thrilling expression in the English language? We don't think so. Unfortunately, they're a rare commodity: across Wing Commander III and IV there are a total of only nine ground missions... and they were cut out entirely from multiple console ports! We thought it would be fun to post a quick visual guide that walks through the six planets seen in these special missions.

Building on Strike Commander's terrain technology, Wing Commander III included four ground missions connected to the campaign to build the Temblor Bomb (and culminating in the game's firey finale at Kilrah). Unlike Strike Commander and Wing Commander IV, the WC3 planets were left untextured to improve performance... though they did have somewhat more detailed maps available in the game's nav screen (included below). The game has three distinct planet designs, although it's difficult to notice the differences in a single playthrough since you rarely have cause to compare them.

Alcor V & Hyperion - Alcor is the planet where you rescue Dr. Severin and Hyperion is the first test site for his bomb. Wing Commander III uses the same assets for both planets.

Freya II - The mission at Freya has you attack and destroy an impressive shield generator which is protecting a jump point needed for the final campaign.

Kilrah - At Kilrah, you end the game by flying your fighter through a lava-laden trench that's not at all like the kind of trench you find on a space station.

Wing Commander IV reintroduced textured surfaces for its planets but only had two different ones total: Tyr VII at the start and the optional Circe V in a later campaign. These were all removed from the PlayStation version. We've included the textures used for the surface below; there is also a third set found in the game's files that don't appear in the finished product.

Tyr VII - You first fly a photo recon mission on Tyr followed by alternate rescue missions depending on whether or not you captured all the shots needed.

Circe V - Circe V appears twice in the 'save civilians' series midway through the game. First you shut down a tank battle between mecenaries and Border Worlders and then you later have the option to land troops at a climate control complex (or, if you decide not to help Catscratch, no option at all).

"F" - These planet textures, labeled F, seem to be unused: