On that memory…segue to the thread on DCS dynamic campaign … instead of over awarding medals as a means of adding emersion, I’d like to see a squadron “fleshed out”, with a wingman or two like Dom, a battle buddy that will mean something if you lose him…especially if it was your mistake that got him shot down.
One of the early Wing Commander (2?) had a full squadron with a “leader board” for Kilrarhe kills. Your squadron mates had callsigns with corresponding personalities and flying styles.
Not necessarily a Best Gaming Experience, but I felt a bit of satisfaction when Todd “Maniac” Marshal bought the farm on a mission…he was a real jerk, always flying off on his own, never working with you…glad to see him go…only to see him resurrected in Wing Commander 4.
All Wing Commander games had kill boards. And despite Maniac being a jerk I adored him since his portrayal in WC3 - played by the Tom Wilson. In WC4 he was one of the first to stand on the “good” side along with Eisen, and in WC5 he was still kicking a$$ and owning noobs
But yeah, the immersion factor was great in those classic old games. Even if gameplay sucked (which at the time it didn’t) you still played to see how the story will unfold.
I was gutted when he turned out to be the traitor. He was my friend. I trusted him!
I only discovered the scene years later when I joined the Wing Commander online community (which still exist btw., I still post there.) But it still was a sad moment for me.
I remember talking to my brother (years earlier) and how we discussed our theories on why he did it. Then seeing that scene years later was a real eye opener.
About Chris (whom I got to meet in person, we talked for quite a while actually):
I think he is a visionary and a person who is really excited about what he does. When you talk to him you can see he is basically doing what he loves. And I think thats also why he sometimes gets ahead of himself and makes bad decisions.
We talked a bit about the old games and it was awesome and sad at the same time when he talked about them and described what was originally planned but wasn’t done in the end because of technology not being there yet or just money constraints.
I really hope Star Citizen becomes what he (and I and many fans) want it to become.
The Alpha was pretty fun so far btw. I played it recently now that they optimized it a bit so it runs on my PC again. I hope they can finish it because what I have played so far is really going into the right direction gameplay wise, and it looks brilliant.
I seem to remember we knew about the “Heart of the Tiger” trigger and personality programming when I played through the first time- back when the game was new and on 6 separate CD-ROMs. Then again, that might be 25 years of memory being retconned after the fact.
…as far as I know it wasn’t in there, it didnt fit onto the CDs so they cut it.
But it was included in the… Playstation version I think, they had the videos on a lower resolution.
I totally forgot John Schuck aka Klingon Ambassador aka Herman Munster the 2nd was the voice of Hobbes. Don’t know if he was stuck in that outfit or not.
I also though it was originally in the game, but now I’m not so sure. Last time I played it it was more than decade ago. And btw, WC3 was on 4 CDs, which was still enormous back in 1994. WC4 was on 6CDs and later it was released on DVD-ROM. I still have original boxes and all the content for WC3,4 and Prophecy.
Maniac was a ■■■■■. Funnily enough I remember him.
If you guys liked Wing Commander, I know you played Pacific Strike. Same kind of setup except it’s the pacific theatre of ww2. Wingmen, branching story, etc. You could end up losing, or have the nuke mission fail and then have to invade mainland JP, or win out right. Great game.
Prophecy was a real let down. Great graphics but the game overall felt shallow and the FMV was awful compared to the previous 2. Well, it looked better but the cast was lesser aside from the bits with Hamill and Wilson.
I mean, Vagabond in WC3 went on to do a lot of stuff including Lost and just recently The Expanse.
WC the series unfortunately crashed and burned just like Blair’s ship.
I gave this some serious thought. Since this isn’t a “favorite game” question, but rather a “best experience”, I’m gonna have to give it to Alien : Isolation:
Alien Isolation just oozes with atmosphere and tension. Certainly not a relaxing experience, if fact it just stresses me out, but I find myself coming back to it from time to time. A real masterpiece IMHO. I’m surprised that they didn’t bring out a sequel with full VR capability.
One of my best memories is of an early, early game. This had to be back in the early 90s. I might have had a 1200 or 2400 baud modem by then (I do know I started with a 300 baud one). Anyway, this was back in the day when you played multiplayer by calling someone on the telephone, which would tie up my phone for hours and hours. And it wasn’t cheap - I think our phone bills would be $80 or $90 sometimes back then for local calls.
Anyway, me and a buddy loved this game. We’d play front seat / backseat, Pilot / WSO stuff, and sometimes we’d both take a jet for coop missions. One day we were flying a mission and we had did a bombing attack and fought off some fighters. I was on the way home and he got bounced by a fighter and it knocked out one of his engines. He called for help (I think we had to type everything back then since we didn’t have another way to talk - we considered walkie talkies but he lived too far away) so I turned back around. I could see him and the enemy plane turning in a circle. I managed to lock up the right target, let a missile fly, and cleared his six. It was such a great feeling and he limped back to base.
…except I kept on expecting him to break into, “Hey! Think McFly! Think!” 
