Category:Wing Commander: Secret Ops

Wing Commander: Secret Ops
Wing Commander: Secret Ops
Platform	Windows 95
Engine	Vision
Release Date	1998
Language	English; German

Description

Wing Commander Secret Ops is an episodic computer game and a direct sequel to Wing Commander Prophecy.

Wing Commander: Secret Ops is an unprecedented episodic game release available exclusively over the internet.
Secret Ops is a stand alone space combat action game with 56 new single player missions split into seven downloadable episodes. A new Secret Ops episode, consisting of 6-8 missions, will be posted on the Wing Commander Secret Ops web site each week beginning later this summer. On the days leading up to each episode, new fictional experiences will be posted from the Secret Ops story which sets the stage for the upcoming downloadable episode. Over a 7 week period, a new episode of missions will be available for download on each Thursday.
The actual game incorporates a new story, new weapons and more intense battle scenarios than ever before. The Secret Ops story is a continuation of Wing Commander: Prophecy, released late last year. It introduces the Cerberus, a quick-strike cruiser and many other surprises. Players will be propelled through the story via all new cinematic scenes rendered on-the-fly in full 3D, plus gripping new in-flight coms. Game play will include new, enhanced weapons and multi-stage capital ship strike missions. The game universe is packed with unique environments including dense asteroids fields, new Confed star bases and remote stations to explore. There are even cameos from past Wing Commander ships.
And by the way, you can experience this unprecedented gaming event for FREE*.
* (except for standard Internet connection charges).

Story

Wing Commander: Secret Ops is set in the aftermath of the alien war that took place in Wing Commander: Prophecy. The super-carrier Midway's very best pilots are assigned to escort the Confederation's first "quick strike" assault cruiser: TCS Cerberus. The Terran Confederation Intelligence Service (TCIS) has slated Cerberus for 'deep cover' duty in foreign systems. Her specific capabilities remain TOP SECRET. But, to the Ace pilots from Midway, it is no secret that unrest is brewing in Sol and Vega sectors, that Kilrathi space (now littered with Alien debris) is a hotbed of looting and that the real WAR has just begun.

System Requirements

Secret Ops is a standalone game that does not require Wing Commander Prophecy to play. While the system requirements state a joystick is required, you can also play the game with the mouse or keyboard.

Standard System

Pentium 166MHz
Windows 95/Windows 98 and DirectX 6.0
32MB RAM
DirectX 6.0-compatible 2MB PCI or AGP video card that supports 16-bit color
150MB free hard drive space
DirectX 6.0-compatible sound card
Joystick

Hardware-Accelerated System

Pentium 133MHz
Windows 95/Windows 98 and DirectX 6.0
32MB RAM
4MB PCI/AGP/3Dfxª DirectX 6.0-compatible or Direct3D supported video card*
DirectX 6.0-compatible or Direct3D 3Dfx card with Glide version 2.43 or later installed
150MB free hard drive space
DirectX 6.0-compatible sound card
Joystick

Please note that Direct3D requires 4MB of video RAM. Supported Direct3D video chipsets include:

ATI Rage Pro
Intel i740
Matrox Mystique
Permedia 2
Rendition 2200
Riva 128

For information on how to run the game on modern hardware and operating systems, please visit the Tech Support section. Requests for help can be posted to the Tech Support Forum.

Credits

Executive Producer Rod Nakamoto Project Director Peter Shelus Associate Producer Adam Foshko Administration Cindy Wallingford

Design

Lead Designer: Cinco Barnes
- Designers
  - John 'Majestic' Guentzel, Reece 'Transplant' Thornton, Hal 'HellBoy' Milton
- Additional Design
  - Ben Potter, Chuck Lupher

Programming

Programmers
- Ala Diaz, Allen Jackson
Additional Programming
- Anthony L, Sommers

Art

Art Director: Mark Vearrier
Art Coordinator: Weston Giunta
- Artists
  - Trey Hermann, William Kier, Mark Leon, Kerry Miller, Sean Murphy, David Plunkett, Elizabeth Pugh, David C. Russ, Damon Lane Waldrip

Vision Engine by Advanced Technology Group

Chief Technology Programmer: Jeff Grills
Programmer: Jason Hugh

Sound Department

Sound by RA/VE Group
Audio Director: Stretch Williams
Audio Designers
- Joe Basquez, Jason Cobb, Lisa Elliott, Bill Munyon, Mall Mitchell

Music

“Prophecy," "Galactic Hives," Ahead," "Tones from the Spheres," "Alien Space Junk," "Quram," "Ashes to Life," "Colony 328," "Darwin was Right"

All songs composed by Jean-Luc De Meyer, Dominique Lallement and Robert Wilcocks © 1997 Les Editions Confidentielle (SABAM) and Electronic Arts Music Publishing Inc. (ASCAP) © 1997 Edel America Records All songs performed by Cobalt 60 Cobalt 60 appears courtesy of Edel America Records Recorded at Origin, Texas, Earth, May '97 Engineered and Mixed by Robert Wilcocks

QA Team

QA Manager: J. Allen "Blair" Brack
Maverick QA Lead: Grant "Rogue" McDaniel
QA Testers
- Timothy "Quasimodo" Bell, Kenny "Hottman" Hott, Todd "Balls" Raffray, Rhea "Shalom" Shelley, Brandon "Arashi" Salinas, Mackey "Rastuss" Fair
Database Management: Kenny "Hottman" Hott
Project Translation Manager: Christina Vollmer
- Translation
  - Ruth-Germann Ford, Frank Dietz
Director of Studio Services: Kay "The Big Boss" Gilmore
Manager of Studio Services: Richard "Zippy" Zinser
Customer Service Coordinator: Marie "Defender of the Black Lance Base" Williams

Voice Talent

Neill Barry, Maren Barwis, Susan K. Beecher, Thomas Bosch, Patrick Bradshaw, J.R. Brow, Anita Chambers, Sven Dahlem, Daggmar Dreke, Marcus Edmonds, Uwe Effertz, Brad Greenquist, Manfred Haenel, Eberhard Haar, Julia S. Hix, Henry Konig, Adam Lazarre-White, Kai Lebert, Robert Missler, Hartwig Peters, Rainer Schmitt, Henry Sperling, Henning Stegelmann, Thomas Stein, Heather Stephens, Christina Vollmer

Marketing and PR

Product Marketing Manager: Chris Plummer
Product Manager: Brian Allen
Director of Communications: David Swofford
Associate Publicist: Teresa Potts
Web Team
- Trey Hermann (art director), CBP, Dave Kozlowski, Chris Graf (production and programming)

Documentation and Creative Services

Online Documentation: Jason Armalla
Documentation Writers
- Chris McCubbin, Tuesday Frase
Documentation Editor: David Ladyman
Box Design and Documentation Layout: Electronic Arts Creative Services

Advertising

Versions

Strategy Guides

Aug 13th 1998 Prima plans to publish an Official Guide for Wing Commander Prophecy Gold! According to B&N 336 pages long and will retail for $19.99 (the original Prophecy guide was 249 pages). Scheduled for an October 1998 release, look for it under the ISBN # 0-7615-1772-3.

Aug 17th 1998 The Prophecy Gold Guide is cancelled. Prima was afraid that folks wouldn't be interested in it after SO had been up on the net for a month or more already.

Screenshots

Pre-Release

Development

Patches / Addons / Mods

Origin

Fan Made Tools & Patches

German Translation Patch (2k) - Takes full English SO and creates German version
Infinite Ammo Patch (43k)
Mission Builder (181k)
Mission Compiler (320k)
Mission Manager (60k)
Mission Simulator 1.0 (515k)
Mission Simulator 1.0a Upgrade (3k)
Mission Simulator 1.0b Upgrade (3k)
Rapier I Special Edition (269k) - by Eder, Details
SOCrazy Patch (45k) - Increase Difficulty
SOPilots Patch (19k) - Multiple Logins
SOTaunt (144k) - Alter Taunts
WCPEdit - Ship Editor (353k)

Fan Made Games

There are two notable Full length games fans have made off the Vision engine. Unknown Enemy in 2002 and Standoff in 2010

Unknown Enemy (2002) doesn't have all the video cutscenes and impressive graphical improvements that Standoff features, but the game did pioneer much of the underlying modding techniques. The game takes place during the Prophecy timeframe in the Border Worlds. Many familiar ships play central roles as the crew of the BWS Dauntless finds itself in the midst of the Nephilim invasion. Cockpit voiceovers augment over one hundred pages of in-game fiction to detail the story. Their FAQ details a bit more of the foundation and potential issues some players may face. Once you grab the Secret Ops starter pack, you can download the 74 megabyte Unknown Enemy pack here. Check out their download area for an additional patch and a number of neat bonuses for the game. And finally for all the programmers out there, the UE source code is also available.

Standoff (2010) brings new content to Secret Ops. The branching storyline is based on events from the novel Fleet Action, and the graphics, audio, and gameplay attempt to recreate a WC2-like setting. The game features over fifty missions of various types in a branching campaign, ten simulator missions, in-game cutscenes and fiction to develop the story between missions, more than 50 ship designs from the classic games and an online scoreboard that records your simulator mission scores.

Over the years, fans have created many custom missions and ship models for Secret Ops.

Fan Made Covers

First fan made SO CD fan cover, made by Vincent 'Lancer' Formosa, released. Front Back Details
Second fan made SO CD cover, made by Patrick Kilian, released. Front Back Details
Third fan made SO CD cover, made by Marcus Fong, released. Front Back Details
Secret Ops Icon by Vesa Juusola Details

Music

Wing Commander: Secret Ops did not have any original music. It reused the Simulator songs from Wing Commander: Prophecy.

Manuals and Game Documentation

Secret Ops Documentation

Controls

Afterburner		Tab
Toggle Afterburner	`
Roll Left		Q
Roll Right		W
Fire guns		Space
Fire missile		Enter
Accelerate		+
Decelerate		-
Full speed		~
Full stop		Backspace
Match target speed	Y
Look left		F2
Look right		F3
Look forward		F1
Look behind		F4
Chase view		F5
Battle view		F6
Tactical view		F7
Missile camera		F8
Victim camera		F9
Track camera		F10
Cycle weapons		M
Cycle guns		G
Full guns		F
Drop decoy		E
Wasp booster		B
Syncronize guns		Ctrl-G
Special guns		H
Rear turret 		H
Tractor beam		H
Select all hardpoints	B
Cycle targets		T
Select nearest target	U
Cycle components	R
Disable Smart-Targeting	Ctrl-S
Auto-slide		Caps Lock
Toggle Auto-slide	/
Lock target		L
Damage HUD		D
Shield HUD		S
Autopilot		A
Comms select		C
Nav Map			N
Power menu		P
Eject			Ctrl-E
Options Menu		Ctrl-O

Cheats

In flight, type "moretunes". You may have to hold the shift key down.
Change background music by pressing Page Up and Page Down.
In flight, type "shoehorn" to enter debug mode. You may have to hold the shift key down.
Ctrl-I enables invincibility. Ctrl-F12 destroys your target. Ctrl-C turns collisions off.

Cutscenes

Trailer

Trailer #2

Ships

Terran Confederation

Fighters


F-106 Piranha	F/A-105 Tigershark	F-110 Wasp	F-108 Panther	F-109 Vampire	TB-81 Shrike	TB-80 Devastator	HF-66 Thunderbolt VII	F-103 Excalibur

Capital Ships


SR-51 Seahawk	SAR-23 Condor	Hercules	C-9 Pelican	Murphy-Class Destroyer	Plunkett-class heavy artillery cruiser	Hades-Class Quick Strike Cruiser	Midway-Class Heavy Carrier	Vesuvius-Class Heavy Carrier