bosd

bosd

Veteran Spaceman
I've only played a little bit of Wing Commander III and am here because of Star Citizen, is the game playable with a controller or M&K? or worth playing at all? I've played some very old games so don't mind the jank, but I don't want to get a flight stick or hotas or whatever for a game i'm not sure I'll like....
 
Hi! I may be biased, but the games are worth playing and fun. The mechanics are easy to learn and the immersion really works. Currently I am replaying Privateer and Wing Commander I and they feel great, but I am using a keyboard, so I am not the right person to ask about the flight stick. I am sure others here can give you more information.

Which other old games have you played?
 
A few Ultima games, Doom, Marathon, Crusader (i like origin lol), SimCity, some NES games, a few PS1 games, a lot of stuff put simply.
I really like SC and thought as a retro enthusiast WC would be the perfect fit but I don't know if it's worth getting a flight stick.
Main question is if I caan play it with a controller or mnk
 
always good to see a friendly ship!
Id say a decent joystick will see you right for WC1 to WC4 and Prophecy
I use a Thrustmaster T-16000M
 
I've played with mouse and Keyboard forever... it's fine. A stick is still probably the technically better option but a gamepad is actually a very playable option. WC3 has some sensitivity issues that are ironed out if you are useing Mash's latest fan patches though. Without the fan patches using a gamepad will take some legwork as you'll have to spend time making your own custom button mapping with 3rd party software. The latest releases by Mash add an in-game utility to help you out here too.
 
I don't think many people here will tell you they aren't worth playing. :D

All of the games should be playable with controller with some fiddling, but keep in mind that either way they do all need keyboard keys for a lot of the functions.

The DOS games - which ship with DOSBox - can be played with controller (emulating a joystick). WCAT adds twin-stick controller support for DOS WC1; I'm working on WC2 but I don't have a timeline on that. Also DOSBox does let you map controller buttons to keyboard keys via the inbuilt mapper but it does take some mucking about to do.

For the Windows games - depending on what controller you have, e.g. XBox controller - you might need to get something which converts newer/simpler XInput to older DirectInput. Worth just trying first, but that's the only thing which comes to mind. One advantage of a flight controller in this regard is that virtually all of them are DirectInput-native.
 
For the Windows games - depending on what controller you have, e.g. XBox controller - you might need to get something which converts newer/simpler XInput to older DirectInput. Worth just trying first, but that's the only thing which comes to mind. One advantage of a flight controller in this regard is that virtually all of them are DirectInput-native.
Click to expand...
Thankfully my controller can swith between Xinput and Dinput on the fly lol
Nice choices! Have you ever played any simulator from Microprose? Eg F-19 or F-15II?
Click to expand...
None, the only fkight sims i've played are SC and a little bit of WC3.
Well, now to save up enough money to buy the games...
i'll probably post an update in a month or two!
Very excited to jump into this universe!
 
Welcome!

If you love Origin games then Wing Commander should be a no brainer. It's a huge part of the "Origin mystique".

Another great thing about Wing Commander is the community. We're small these days but everybody here has such good hearts.
 
Wing Commander I has some framerate issues, but otherwise I feel the gameplay has aged really well, similar to 1993s DOOM, definitely playable with mouse and keyboard.
 
I finished WC2 with a mouse, so it can definitely be played without a flight stick. If you like Star Citizen (as I also do) and you want to experience its spiritual origin (pun very much intended), the WC series is highly recommended.
 
Short update: I've already gotten to the Venice series, which I believe leade to the good ending.
Review post incoming!
 
nope.
I'm on the last mission rn and turns out I followed the 'canon' path according to the wiki exactly haha
 
I have never played Wing Commander II or the Privateer games with a joystick. Some of them have better mouse support than others. I think Wing Commander III and IV had a really bizarre default setup where the Y axis controlled the throttle?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.