Category:Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi

Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi
Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi
Platform	MS-DOS Super Nintendo (SNES); FM Towns
Release Date	Fall 1991
Language	English Japanese

Introduction

Wing Commander II was one of many evolutionary steps in the Wing Commander series. WC2 used an upgraded version of the original Wing Commander's flight engine, but the story and presentation were drastically overhauled. Routine conversations in the bar, mission briefings and post-flight debriefings were often replaced with casual interludes, dramatic exchanges and emergency events that sent the game in unpredictable directions. The story took our hero, Christopher Blair, from exile to the front lines of the Enigma Sector where he had to prove his innocence for the destruction of the TCS Tiger's Claw. Old friends and new characters were brought to life with real recorded voices in an optional speech pack. Wing Commander II sold sound cards to a generation of PC gamers and almost single handedly made the SoundBlaster a household name. The game's introduction was a breathtaking forebearer of the cinematic turn the industry would take a few short years later.

Description

Box Back Cover

Ten years ago, you were the Hero of Vega Sector, idol of millions - the starfighter pilot who single-handedly turned the tide of a major Kilrathi invasion.

Then something went wrong.

You were disgraced, court-martialed and transferred to a backwater outpost. For years, your lightning-quick reflexes and instinctive dogfighting tactics went to waste while the Kilrathi killed your closest friends on the front lines.

But Mankind still needs a hero, now more than ever before. And you're still the best pilot in the Galaxy. You've got just one chance to prove yourself, just one chance to keep the Terran homeworlds from falling to the massed armada of the Empire of Kilrah.

Thank you can handle it, flyboy?

WING COMMANDER II is the sequel to the top action-simulation hit WING COMMANDER, "the closest thing yet to a genuine interactive movie for your PC" (GAME PLAYER'S PC). But WING COMMANDER II is more than a sequel - it advances the state of the art in computer gaming even furhter, with new features and new challenges:

A gripping story line! All the action and drama you expect from a major motion picture but you're the star!

State-of-the-art graphics! The latest advances in 3-D rendering technology give you the most stunning, photo-realistic images you have ever seen on your computer.

Intriguing tactics! Fly five different Terran fighters into battle, armed with guns, missiles, torpedoes, chaff pods, tailguns, turrets and tractor beams. But watch out - the Kilrathi have some hot hardware too!

Instant replay! Get an audience-eye view of your victories.

Digitized speech! Hear radio messages from your wingmen and foes. (Limited speech included with this game. Speech Accessory Pack required for complete speech; sold separately.)

Dynamic intelligence! Every dogfight is an exciting challenge, whether you're a novice or an ace of aces, because your opponents match your skill level. The better you fly, the better they fly!

A thrilling musical score! The soundtrack senses the action on-screen and alters the pacing, tempo and mood of the music to match.

An elaborate campaign system! The fate of Humanity is in your hands!

System Requirements

Box Contents

Credits

CD-ROM Shell Programming

Gary Scott Smith

Software Engineers

Bill Baldwin, Stephen Beeman,

Charles Cafrelli, Reinaldo Castro,

Richard Haley, Steve Muchow, Brent A. Thale

Story

Stephen Beeman, Ellen Guon

Script

G.P. Austin, Jeff George, Ellen Guon,

Paul Arden Lidberg, Brian Martin

Art

Jeff Dee, Daniel Bourbonnals, Larry Dixon,

Chris Douglas, Glen Johnson, Bruce Lemons,

Denis Loubet, Jake Rodgers,

Gary Washington, John Watson

Technical Design Assistant

Brian Martin

Sound Editor

Martin Galway

Sound Effects Engineer

Marc Schaefgen

Music

Dana Glover, The Fat Man, Dave Govett,

Martin Galway, Nenad Vugrinec

Quality Assurance Leaders

Jeff Shelton, Kirk Winterrowd

Quality Assurance

Scott Shelton, Kevin Potter, Scott Hazle,

Mark Vittek, Joel Manners, Ben Manners,

Ben Potter

Development Services Manager

Sherry Cain

Documentation

Paul Arden Lidberg, Warren Spector

Documentation Design & Graphics

Craig Miller, Jennifer Davis, David Ladyman,

Warren Spector, Gary Washington

Box Design & Graphics

Craig Miller

Assistant Director

Ellen Guon

Production Manager

Virgil Buel

Executive Producer

Dallas Snell

Producer

Chris Roberts

Director

Stephen Beeman

Advertising

Wing Commander II Demo

Versions

Deluxe Edition: Included WC2, SO1, & SO2
Deluxe Edition CD: Included WC2, SO1, & SO2
Kilrathi Saga Edition: Windows 95 support, SO1 & SO2 freely downloadable

Ports

FM Towns

Has Redbook CD audio tracks instead of MIDI files. Otherwise identical.

SNES

In late 1994 Origin developed an expansive port of Wing Commander 2 for the Super Nintendo console. The game altered the original significantly in much the same way as Wing Commander 3 3DO, giving it a more arcade focus and redoing many art elements - including full color Kilrathi faces, a new turret screen and a dual-VDU Ferret cockpit. The game was finished, tested, reviewed by magazines and shipped off to Japan for duplication... and then never seen again. A last-minute decision to cancel the title was made because of the low return expected on an SNES game at the end of the system's life-cycle.

Although the game is complete somewhere, no prototype has ever surfaced and no members of the development team have copies. Because of the odd numbering of SNES ports (Wing Commander 2 is actually the third game, after Wing Commander and The Secret Missions), most mainstream SNES groups do not realize the title existed.

Full article: Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (SNES)

Strategy Guides

Re-Releases

Screenshots

Development

Patches / Addons

Origin

Fan Made

Editing Tools

Miscellaneous Files

Music

Tracks from Origin Audio CD Volume 1

Wing Commander II - Jazz's Escape by The Fatman
Wing Commander II - Jazz's Storm Clouds by Nenad Vugrinec
Wing Commander II - Main Theme (Cloak and Dagger) by The Fatman
Wing Commander II - Midgame by Dana Glover & Martin Galaway
Wing Commander II - Off Duty by Dana Glover
Wing Commander II - Poker by Floyd Domino & The Fatman
Wing Commander II - Prince Thrakhath's Theme by Dana Glover & Martin Galway
Wing Commander II - The Flight Deck by Dana Glover
Compilation of the above (26:03) - 21,492k

Thanks to Sébastien Caty and Joe Garrity. (Details, more)

High Quality tracks

Various tracks

Manuals and Game Documentation

Online Guide

Controls

Afterburner		Tab
Fire guns		Space
Fire missile		Enter
Accelerate		+
Decelerate		-
Full stop		Backspace
Look left		F2
Look right		F3
Look forward		F1
Look behind		F4
Chase view		F5
Battle view		F6
Tactical view		F7
Missile view		F8
Tail view		F9
Cycle weapons		W
Cycle guns		G
Jump			J
Cycle targets		T
Lock target		L
Damage HUD		D
Autopilot		A
Comms select		C
Nav Map			N
Eject			Ctrl-E

Cheats

DOS Edition

Start the game with "wc2 Origin" at the command line to enter debug mode.
Alt-Del destroys target. Alt-Ins destroys all enemy fighters on the radar.
Start the game with "wc2.exe Origin -k".
Same as above, plus invincibility.

Kilrathi Saga Edition

With invincibility off, open wc2.cfg. Make sure it contains -k -b. Turning invincibility back on may cause your name to change back to CHEATER.
Player name is no longer replaced with "CHEATER" when invincibility is enabled.