So after like 14 trillion hours (translation: a single google search) I got my Joystick working and finally got into the game proper. Loving it so far but MAN I'm gettin torched, anyone got some tips for a new pilot?

Few pointers...

try the training simulator in the bar.
Tinker with the speed od your Dosbox (you will quite likely have to reduce the number of cycles, Wing Commander was aimed at 286 - 386 AT computers with speed of approx. 20 MHz... yes it is choppy, but when it is smooth, it is unplayable, all in all, WC1 is pretty poorly written when it comes to the CPU speed, I remember, how dissapointed I was with my 486DX/40, as even that machine was way to fast and I had to resort to to various slow down programs).

Now to the combat itself...

- use full speed of your fighter (this is btw. common newbie mistake - they often forgot to increase speed after coming out of the autopilot)

- use afterburners when attacked or in order to bypass the enemy quickly in combat

- learn to use missiles

- learn to aim your guns, lear to shoot them and to lead them

Edit: you are not alone, learn how to use your wingman (they are pretty useless, but hey, better than nothing...).


It is not that difficult...

Edit2: spelling etc.

Dogfighting isn't too hard once you get your setup right and get the hang of it. Make a corkscrew approach when the enemy is coming head-on, then use your afterburner to stay close on their tail. If you have a program that lets you remap joystick buttons, it really helps to have afterburner, speed up, and speed down buttons right at your thumb.

Asteroids can be brutal, it helps to switch to the chase view (F5) and slow down a little. Then press F1 to go back to the cockpit view once you're through.

Corkscrew? Yaw and barrel inward? Just to clarify.
Although remapping to have my speed control didn't hit me until you said it, I may need to do that.

It doesn't have to be anything fancy with rolling, my usual approach is just to move my crosshairs in a wide circle around an oncoming enemy to avoid their fire. Flying straight at them is one of the fastest ways to lose your front shields and armor.

That actually seems a lot easier to pull off then what I was doing then lol.
Thanks! Gonna need to try that this weekend.

Could some one tell me were the afterburners are as well as the eject button?

TAB if I remember correctly.
Ejecting is a button combination, there should be a refcard among the extras with all the controls.

I found TAB to be afterburners and the refcard say nothing about keys.

All the keys for WC1 are very well detailed in the refcard (which is not a card at all, but a small booklet)

Note that you will find the reference cards for Wing Commander 1 in the Wing Commander 2 game extras.

The refcards for both games are contained in a single download, which is available at the entry for each of the games, not only in WC2.

Sigh.

I don't know how I missed that.

Another tip: Try to avoid pressing the caps lock key. You may find the keyboard controls stop working until caps lock gets turned off again.