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Episode 2 – Wing Commander

April 13, 2012

Hey Blockers!

Welcome to episode 2, where our main topic is Origin Systems’ 1990 hit game, Wing Commander. We start off the show with a few news items. I discuss the Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter project that I previously blogged about. I also found out that Firaxis Games is developing a new X-Com game in the turn-based strategy spirit of the original game. Finally, I’ve started gathering parts for a DOS/Windows 98SE gaming rig. This will be an ongoing project to try and play some games on a system close to what they were meant to be played on. Should be an interesting project!

We then get to our main topic, the original Wing Commander. I go over the very groundbreaking gameplay, technical items like graphics, sound and other details of the game itself. We then talk a little about the development story and close out the show. Hope you all enjoy it and meet me here again in two weeks when we talk about the great Maxis game, SimCity 2000.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/002-UMBCast-Wing-Commander.mp3

4 comments

  1. Good thing I had a turbo button…


  2. Was definitely looking forward to this episode!! I remember my father playing Wing Commander with a joystick back in the day, but I only went back and played it a few years ago (using the mouse and keyboard, awww…). I agree with you, I feel that the space combat part doesn’t quite hold up, but I played Wing Commander (all the way through to WC4, if I recall correctly) for the stories, the interactions with your fellow pilots, the epic struggle with the Kilrathi. Loved the development story bits! Great podcast, I’m loving it!


  3. Great show Joe, I remember first seeing WC1/2 at a friend’s house while also playing Wolf3D and Kings Quest. WC was AMAZING, and I learned a lot from this episode about the graphic technology behind the scenes. Even though dated by today’s standards, it is still an amazing achievement and fun to play.



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