Wing Commander III Demo (3DO)

Wing Commander III Demo
Platform	3DO
Engine	RealSpace
Release Date	January 31, 1995
Language	English

Wing Commander III Demo is a playable demo of the 3DO port of Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. The demo consists of a trailer for Wing Commander III followed by a playable mission. The interactive section starts in gameflow on the Victory's flight deck. It allows you to travel to Flight Control and talk to Ralgha nar Hhallas before attending the Orsini 1 briefing. The briefing is followed by wingman selection and the option to play the initial conversation with Rachel Coriolis. The gameflow section does not include transition scenes or launch scenes. The video player is closer to the one used in the PC release than the final 3DO version. Once the mission starts, the player has five minutes to complete it and land on the Victory or it will end automatically. Much of the content of the demo, including the mission layout, is significantly different from the final release and a number of features are not present or not complete. The demo ends with a card displaying a list of features that will be included in the final game.

The packaging for the European release indicates that the demo is just "Viewable" (i.e., a trailer); this incorrect description is routinely repeated online.

Controls

On the Victory, the shift keys (L and R) cycle between activation points.

Fire Guns	C
Fire Missiles	A
Cycle Guns	L+C
Cycle Missiles	L+A
Cycle Targets	R+A
Autopilot	R+C
Roll Left	B + ←
Roll Right	B + →
Increase Speed	B + ↑
Decrease Speed	B + ↓
Afterburner	L + R
Toggle Cockpit	PAUSE + B
Break and Attack	PAUSE + ↑
Request Landing	PAUSE + ↓
Taunt	PAUSE + →

Cheats

R + B activates the 'finger of death' and destroys a targeted enemy.

Differences

Note that this section compares the demo to the 3DO port rather than the PC release where the two differ.

• The video player is different, much more similar to the one used in the original PC release.
• The font used for gameflow selections is different.
• The control scheme used does not match the one in the final game.
• The Hellcat has a top speed of 500 kps and an afterburner speed of 760 kps. It carries a pair of mass drivers and an unlimited quantity of Heat Seekers and Dumb Fires.
• Darket spawn with low shields.
• Damaged and destroyed ships generate a different type of grey wreckage.
• The mission layout is different from the final 3DO version featuring 10 Kilrathi ships instead of 6.
• The Victory's three escorts are labeled 'Exeter' instead of their final names.
• The graphic used for the Hellcat overlay is different.
• The Hellcat UI is different including the shield indicators, the text used for datareadouts and the startup animations.

Mission Layout

Wing Commander III Demo
Fighter	Hellcat V
Wingmen	Ralgha nar Hhallas

Location	#	Faction	Ships	Notes
Victory	3	Confederation	Southampton (Exeter)	friendly
	1	Confederation	Yorktown (Victory)	friendly
Sweep 1	2	Kilrathi	Darket	wave one
	2	Kilrathi	Darket	wave two
Sweep 2	2	Kilrathi	Darket
	1	Kilrathi	Dukara (Lumbari)
Sweep 3	3	Kilrathi	Darket

Music

There is no gameplay music in the demo.