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Wing Commander hasn't aged well


Solace
(@solace)
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Anyone remember the pioneer space simulation game, Wing Commander. That game really hasn't aged well, has it? I just tried it out using DOSbox, and didn't really care for it. What do you think of it?


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DarkOne
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For a game that is 20yrs old I think it has held up quite well 🙂

You have to look at the time peroid that this game was released in and the games of that era and not try to compare them to games of today. The storyline and the combat were great I thought and it was one of the first games to have a addon pack (secret missions). This game had to be good because it spawned a whole series of games and it was one of Origin Systems best game series to date.

I think its hard for younger people to really appreciate the classics because most people look at age and gfx as a measuring stick to a game. People have to remember the games that came out 20-25yrs ago was pushing the limits of most systems and the developers were doing things that were not being done and trying out new game play on their audiances and they succeeded into launching the space/scifi gaming area into fame. Because the space genre of games ruled the 90's and into the early 00's


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Geraldine
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Another thing to consider was the actual power of the machines back then. When you play one of these old games with dos box on a modern PC, you can run the game well beyond the limits the original creators envisioned. Some games benefit from this others less so. Speaking personally, running Wing Commander on a modern setup is much better than it was back in the day, so what I am saying is if you don't think much of it now Solace, you should have seen it on a period spec machine, circa early 90s! 🙂 Graphics lag was just the 90s version of bullet time 😆


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CaptainKal
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you should have seen it on a period spec machine, circa early 90s! 🙂 Graphics lag was just the 90s version of bullet time 😆

You should have seen the Amiga 500 version. (Although the CD32 one was pretty accurate). The only problem I have with WC is the punishing difficulty of the Secret Missions, and the delayed joystick responce of my joystick setup (I have a Thrustmaster HOTAS Cougar). On the other hand I may have not programmed it well 😀 😀 😀 . I still have an analog Thrustmaster FCS (Topgun version) for these old dos games.


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Pinback
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I thought Wing Commander holds up pretty good today, must get around to playing 2 someday.


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Geraldine
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Hi Aero

Wing Commander is not that difficult to get a hold of if you go looking, you should try it using D-Fend Reloaded.


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Pinback
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Aero wrote:

But I have trouble getting CDs and CD images to work on D-Fend. I tried converting my CDs to Iso, Mdf/Mds, Bin/Cue, Nrg, but to no avail. So I can't play Wing Commander anymore.

Pretty sure I have both games running on D-fend reloaded with just the downloaded iso.


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DarkOne
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A quote about a month ago from Paul Barnett

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"Today we get data compare sign off for wing commander, dr Ray will be hearing the pitch, from there only legal can stop us!" reads a post on Barnett's Twitter account, trailed shortly thereafter by the following: "My plan is wing commander one , drm free and security bypassed. For FREE ( fingers crossed)"

If this happens this will be a Wing Commander released with DOSBox and be 100% playable and DRM free. I hope EA does this, there is no sense in letting this gem sit in a file archive somewhere.


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