For not only be talking about "technical" issues all the time :P

I Only played WC1 WC2 and WC Privateer years ago, then i jumped to Wing Commander Prophecy... so i can only talk about this games and WC3 that i´m playing it this days... and i cant about WC Prophecy beacuse GOG still not bring it here, and i didnt refresh my memory playing it like WC1 2 and privateer :) (i will buy soon WC4)

The main reason of this post, is i found nostalgic but also funny, the fact i always hated some of the fighters available on this game, as they´re usually spacecrap many times, and definitevily a really bad war machine in concept (even for a PC gaming sim) :) but i found it cool!!

(I also didnt played the expansions so i dont know about it)




WING COMMANDER I


HORNET: Pretty good, weak but manouverable, it makes first missions easy to cope with it, but of course is a total mess later.

SCIMITAR: Someone hated this ship as much as me? It´s an easy to hit, slowish, piece of crap... that made some missions a total challenge, and also the weapons are slow to charge, and slow to hit... an did few damage... in one word , horrible!!!

RAPTOR: I loved it, probably more than the RAPIER, it´s slower and less agile, but has powerfull armor, shields, and weapons.

RAPIER: The best ship in the game in my opinion, nothing bad to tell about her, maybe sometimes the RAPTOR is a better ship for some missions.




WING COMMANDER 2: In this game i totally think the KILLRATHI have the power, nearly all the ships on the game are a total MESS versus them... in my opinion WC2 is full of spacecrap :P in the hands of the confeds...



FERRET: Fast and with few weapons, but charge easily, it´s the weakest WC series fighter ever, but it works pretty fine in the missions you fly with it.

EPEE: I only liked the particle cannons disposition, easy to hit enemies, this "thing" is fragile as crystal in the game, and its speed combined with the difficulty in some missions always end with you crashing other spaceship if you go fast, or if you go slow just become stardust in the claws of the enemies... crappy but fast weapon for the confeds...

RAPIER: I dont know why but i found the "improved" version of the RAPIER on WC2 a total crap, maybe because the enemies are better, maybe because the engine of the game is also bit better and the disposition of the main guns are "so so" then "hit" detection is better, but you´re weapons are in the wrong place of your wings... plus the computer not include automatic aiming system for fire if my memory dont fail me... also is pretty weak armored versus many of the most powerfull kilrathi spaceships on WC2

SABRE: Other supercrappy fighter in my opinion, with a terrible disposision for the guns, and used in missions really hard, where enemt fire usually blow up your ship easily and the SABRE dont make the difference, not in weapons, not in shields, not in guns...

BROADSWORD: I hate "bombers" on spacesims games, but honestly in my opinion the BROADSWORD is the best fighter with a big difference in WC2, the gunners make things for you easily and the game is so populated with similar full of gunners killrathy ships, that this extra fire plus the shields of this beast make the difference when you´re nailing and enemy with a tail gunner (usually the other ships just go to spacehell in this situation) , the guns disposision is good, the missiles so so. But you can carry torpedoes for capital ships, and it´s like an elephant for manouvering, but i found it even much better for dogfight than all the other ships on the game.




WING COMMANDER PRIVATEER: Nothing much to say here, i love the CENTURION and i hate all the other ships, that are only good for trade, but definitevily not for combat. And i hated trading on Privateer, it´s the most boring ELITE game ever in my opinion, and the only game for now i dislike on Wing Commander SAGA (i didnt played The Darkening, hope will be better)




And im playing now WING COMMANDER 3: I never played it when it was released, so it´s a new experience to me not like the other Wing Commander games, and im really enjoying it even nowadays. I found the ships and the difficulty and gameplay really hard, but at the same time "affordable" and challenging thanks to the balance of the enemy and confed spaceships, i still not touched much the EXCALIBUR so i cannot talk much about the "ace" spaceship on the game (i refused to fly it with it when Rachel offer to you on the bar) but there are my impressions on the ships and i found ONE spaceship "funny" :)) (funny=crap)



ARROW: It seems at the beggining the "weak" fighter of the game, but not even is similar to the A-WING on shape to the Lucasarts games and movies, but in behaviour, it´s superfast, and it has many missiles and a wonderfull laser configuration array on the nose of the fighter. I´m playing the game with a SAITEK joystick and it´s become one of the best fighters i used on Wing Commander series games. It´s fast but fragile, but it can take enough damage to make you do missions without praying to God constantly to save your virtual life as it happened on WC2!!! and it ROCKS on dogfighting.

HELLCAT: Here it COMES!!!! The CRAPPIEST piece of S.... on WC3, not only have less missiles that the arrow, it´s slower, it´s armor and shields dont make the difference... but also even if it´s supposed to have more lasers, and the disposition it´s not bad, the energy of lasers gets depleted really easily... (but at least not a ship have a bad disposal for this on WC3, maybe the game designers learnt from WC2) it´s always the WORST option to fly for a mission.

THUNDERBOLT: Awesome piece of digital fighter on a game, it slow and not very agile, but using afterburners in the right way, it´s armor and huge array of missiles make the difference, and with it´s only one torpedo can make some missions really easier. Very good option that also includes an amazing array of lasers, that firing together if you got good aiming, easily destroy the most powerfull killrathi ships very fast. Definitively makes the HELLCAT an abandoned ship on the VICTORY for me, i used to pick the THUNDERBOLT or the ARROW.

LONGBOW: A marvelous spaceship for some missions, i still not used much, but is a torpedo carrier that seems similar to the BROADSWORD, and i suppose i will be really please with it, also the BIG array of normal missiles that can carry make it´s poor dogfight capabilities compensated.

Hope you like the idea, of this wing commander spaceships rating post, and you include your own opinions, i think can maybe will be useful for "rookies" trying the old wing commanders nowadays :) i still didnt played ever Wing Commander 4.

I first thought you meant Wing commander saga 8-D! (The latest fan creation released march 2012, which is a extremely good game by the way!)

I really have to disagree with you about the Hellcat!
Its my all time favourite! I find it a great compromise in speed/armor/weapons and shielding!

The arrow is really agile and fast but lacks too much in firepower to me and the thunderbolt takes hours to do a 360 :-)

So the Hellcat it is for me :-)

Then it´s nice, i suppose it depends on fighting/fliying style :)) i was wondering if someone like it... anyway i still think the worst fighter ever is the SCIMITAR from WC1.

About the ARROW vs HELLCAT in my experience even having less firepower, in the missions i compare it, i destroy enemies really faster with the smaller ship. So i suppose is a questions of style.

It does, every player has different feeling about fighters in Wings.. Just like in the real world :)

Here goes mine:

Wing 1

The Hornet would be better if it had something else than lasers.. It’s still agile, low profile, v. good ship.

Scimitar, it’s the oldest of all fighters, in fact; it’s retired in SM2 by Confed. This fighter is not very fast or agile and most people hate it.
I don’t mind flying a Scimitar, it has mass drivers, quite good shields, lots of missiles, and good cockpit style. If you use 100% of its agility it’s not too bad in a dogfight. Unfortunately, It’s profile is quite big so it’s easy to hit.. Anyway I always liked this fighter, but it’s hard to win some harder missions in SM1 in it (like the attack on the kilrathi outpost in SM1).

Raptor – I just love this heavy fighter. Good guns, lots of missiles and it can take heavy punishment. There were times I was landing on the Claw with only 1 or 2 guns and with many systems damaged, but still in one piece.

Rapier - the best fighter in the game, fast, agile, well armed with the best shields. The only drawback is its paper thin armor. It’s not Raptor you know. Anyway a skilled pilot can do anything in this fighter.

In SO2 Firrekka campaign you can also fly a Dralthi. Some people hate it. It’s easy to hit and it’s shields are weak but it’s fast and agile plus you have an element of surprise on your side ;)

Wing 2

Ferret – I hate this ship’s cockpit. Very weak armor/shields, no missiles, but it’s still a decent dogfighter.

Epee – it’s a Tie fighter type of craft. If you remember to evade enemy fire/missiles frequently, it’s almost perfect dogfighter. It’s got ITTS, several missiles. The missions you play flying it are quite tough.

Rapier – 10 years after Wing 1 it got old.. The biggest drawback of this fighter is.. lack of ITTS. It’s still very maneuverable, well armed, well shielded craft.. Thing is, you frequently fight against turreted kilrathi fighters in it. Don’t stay behind them like in Wing1.
I still like to fly in this fighter. If it had the ITTS.. :)

Broadsword – I hate bombers without afterburners. In Wing 2, you often fly in it alone, but the missions are quite easy. It’s still a good ship, when the shields are up.. IFF missiles and turrets are v. helpful

Sabre – it’s very good fighter and even a torpedo bomber in one instance. Very maneuverable, well armed. True pilots fighter.. Weak shields are the only drawback.
There are additional two fighters in Special Operations addons:

Morningstar – The best fighter in the game, better than the Sabre. It has some extraordinary weapons :) Weak points… ??? Only 3 guns.

Crossbow – Another big bomber, heavy forward guns but only one turret. Again, no afterburners. I think it’s better than the Broadsword but still I prefer fighters.

Wing 3

I agree with your opinion on most of the fighters.

Hellcat – it’s not that bad, remember it’s confederation’s cost effective, multipurpose fighter. It’s decent in every aspect: speed, maneuverability, shields and armor. Don’t forget It’s the only atmospheric flight capable fighter in Wing3 (Excalibur is another but it’s like a prototype).

Get use to flying it because in Wing4 Era, it’s the Confederation’s primary multipurpose fighter. You will fly it very often. The Border Worlds have different fighters but I wouldn’t say better than the Hellcat.. (Fortunately there is the Dragon class fighter in that game too).

The best fighter in the entire series In my opinion is Black Lance Dragon. Heavy fighter with almost infinite afterburner fuel, cloaking device, heavy armor and shields, extraordinary weapons and quite agile too. No weaknesses. Wraith and Excalibur are good too..

So there are "atmospheric" missions on WC3? i though were only on WCIV! i can´t wait to finish the 3rd to start the 4 :P

not sure if there is an atmosphere on theese planets (on Kilrah there should be at least) but yes. In Wing 4 they look much better,, You'll see