vage invasion

Hi all, Just wanted to say that apart from a few tweaks this game should have. The game is really nice! Ok here is my gripe 😊 I am in the mission vega invasion the kilrathi are first bombing vega and then sending in their marines.

The problem I have noticed wingmates aren't real bright in some tasks. In the kill the light raider force with the 2 corvettes my wingmates are leaving me to do a lot of the cleanup. I had to kill the turrets on 1 corvette and finish it off, then killed the turrets on the second corvette after which we both finished it off. The 2 iss guys had their ships shot to bits very quickly.

Now im facing god knows how many missiles, a lot, of which I have to take care of all the missiles that get through the fighter screen, so no missiles and no fuel left, after that there is the dropship waypoint..... I might also add that the missiles are very hard to hit with even a little distance they are about a pixel wide! So I would need a kind of splash damage weapon or way more missiles....why cant i outfit my ship? why cant i choose my ship?

Shooting missiles aint that hot,... I dont want to lower the difficulty (or only for the missile part) and then go into the dropship part.

Avathar Behemoth wrote:Hi all, Just wanted to say that apart from a few tweaks this game should have. The game is really nice! Ok here is my gripe 😊 I am in the mission vega invasion the kilrathi are first bombing vega and then sending in their marines.

The problem I have noticed wingmates aren't real bright in some tasks. In the kill the light raider force with the 2 corvettes my wingmates are leaving me to do a lot of the cleanup. I had to kill the turrets on 1 corvette and finish it off, then killed the turrets on the second corvette after which we both finished it off. The 2 iss guys had their ships shot to bits very quickly.

Then you didn't really protect them did you. What were you doing chasing corvettes while the guys you're supposed to escort are being blown to bits? 😉 Killing the corvettes is their job 😉

Now im facing god knows how many missiles, a lot, of which I have to take care of all the missiles that get through the fighter screen, so no missiles and no fuel left, after that there is the dropship waypoint..... I might also add that the missiles are very hard to hit with even a little distance they are about a pixel wide! So I would need a kind of splash damage weapon or way more missiles....

It can be done 😊

why cant i outfit my ship? why cant i choose my ship?

because you are a 2nd Lt, not a Wing Commander. Not even your squad CO can choose his ship. Remember Wing Commander 1 and 2? No ship selection there, and even in WC3 you could max select one out of two ships usally.

All fighters and the squads flying them have specific roles to fulfil, and this mission is perfectly suited for a Hellcat. Granted an Arrow might have a bit more speed to intercept the missiles but it is not well suited for the rest of the mission which is an upper atmosphere strike.

As for the missile layout, you will get promoted along the line and once you are 1st Lt you are allowed to choose your missile layout. As for the ships, those will remain preselected.

Shooting missiles aint that hot,... I dont want to lower the difficulty (or only for the missile part) and then go into the dropship part.

Then you have to live with the difficulty. You can't have it both ways.

hehehe thanks for the reply!

Then you didn't really protect them did you. What were you doing chasing corvettes while the guys you're supposed to escort are being blown to bits? 😉 Killing the corvettes is their job 😉

It can be done 😊

Then you have to live with the difficulty. You can't have it both ways.

Both of the missions are definetly doable. The job of a fighter pilot is not always to kill everything he/she sees, it is to follow orders, and if an opportunity safely presents itself, to take on targets of opportunity.

The first mission you mentioned if flown correctly can bring both ISS pilots home safely, though a bit damaged, if not then you may lose one or both of the ISS pilots.

The second mission you mentioned; yes the missiles are hard to hit, but you can kill them all or a significant portion of them before heading on to intercept the troop transports.

Unlike many games on the market now, Wing Commander Saga is not a give me. You (as in the pilot) MUST consider strategy and tactics. These missions you have mentioned so far are relatively easy missions, there are much more difficult ones to come, and if a pilot doesn't use the resources available to them, along with good tactics and strategy, they are going to have a really hard time getting through the game.

Read the manual, it will give you some ideas on how to engage the enemy. Read some of the forum topics here and you will find other hints for defeating the enemy. Just remember, not all missions can be won, you are going to lose sometimes despite how well you fly and fight.

The ISS assist against the raider force can be pretty rough. Last time I played even though I took out all of the Dralthi, the Sabres still got wiped out by the turret fire from the Corvettes before I could get in range to help, and before they could launch torpedoes. I think that second group of Dralthi come in to specifically draw the Hellcats far away from the Corvettes, but if you do not take them out, they will gun down the Sabres. Going to try holding back until they come into range and let Greywolf go chasing after them by himself next time, lol.

Of course I am trying to play through on medium after playing all the way through the game on a lower skill level, I had less trouble with this mission on the lower skill levels, but I still think it took several tries. Attacking the corvettes is a whole different experience on medium. Taking on Fireclaw later on in the mission with only 5% hull strength and no missiles left sucks.

I have no problem shooting down the missiles over Vega Prime, I think my aim is getting better, lol. Last time I played I think only three or four made it through, haven't managed to hit them all yet though, lol. Also do not waste afterburner fuel chasing after missiles that are already too far away to catch, they speed up after they reach a certain distance out.

The best way is to take out the Dralthi fast (NOT the ones greywolf is attacking, those are busy anway). Then go quickly after the first corvett the Sabres are attacking (you see that. the target reticle has two orange dots next to it for the two sabres attacking it) and just take down the rear turret (which is the only dangerous one)

Then you're pretty much safe to attack the next corvette and slowly disarm it while the sabres deliver their torpedo load.

Taking out missiles is a whole lot easier if you toggle through Bomber/Missile targets using the "B" toggle key. You may already do this but, if not, it helps. Chasing Missiles gets my adrenalin up, for sure! 😢

Cammer wrote:Chasing Missiles gets my adrenalin up, for sure! 😢

That's the idea 😉

Vega Prime...Excellent work, fantastic graphics and an excellent idea! I remember Locanda-4 stressing me out. This is a great mission! Col Wagner...LOL!" KILRATHI DON'T SURF!"

In combat, the key to kills is to maximize your hits and minimize your own damage. More than nay other game I've played, this one is highly dependent on aspect, location, and weapon stats. Notice when you start to tail a Dralthi (or a capship missile) that it gets incredibly hard to hit due to the lower amount of surface area presented form that aspect. Obviously the Dralthi makes a turn and presents a much larger portion of its wing and thus easier to hit. You can improve your hits on capship missiles when tailing them by diving and then climbing back up onto them for a "broadside" hit. Also, let your weapons charge, especially in the arrow. The Ions do so much more damage, but in full-guns, the lasers eat up a lot of the energy, resulting in delayed Ion shots. Wait an extra second and then fire the ions into them broadside. That mission is not easy by any means, but it helps to keep a missile or two handy for that last straggler that is speeding away.

The Sabre Corvette mission also gave me a headache. Worst thing was when I finaly managed to get the Sabres to stay alive, they kill both Corvettes I was just going "Yah I did it" and then a missile and a few salvos just missed me and killed the Sabres. That was depressing!

Anyways I finished the mission, even with the Sabres lost and continued. Also didn't managed to take out all the missiles at Vega. 2 missiles got past me but I keep playing. Still the Vega missions is just great.

Yes, good point. You don't HAVE to win all these missions you know. You might miss out on a medal or two but as long as the game lets you continue in the campaign you'll be just fine. There is no losing branch so don't worry so much about failing here and there.

KeldorKatarn wrote:Yes, good point. You don't HAVE to win all these missions you know. You might miss out on a medal or two but as long as the game lets you continue in the campaign you'll be just fine. There is no losing branch so don't worry so much about failing here and there.

So, is the mission tree completely linear or does it actually branch off from time to time? If so, is there an overview about the mission tree available somewhere?

Linear. You will never fly a completely different mission, however a few missions become more difficult if you fail the ones before.

The Freespace2 engine this game is built on really doesn't like branching (i.e. non-linear) mission progression. It would have required an awful lot of work to try to add something like this; it's a fundamental limitation of everything anyone has done with the FS2 engine.

The Vega missions have been fun. Valkyries... lol

Fun fact: Cats get obsessed with the hunt unless it contradicts their direct orders. Those fleabags aren't very good at viewing situations abstractly. In fact, they're terrible at it; it's in their genetics. So if your buddy has a feline infestation, his problem is your opportunity, because that mangy fuzzball on his 6 will NEVER see you coming.

Pro Tip #1: If you hit F3, you can assign individual vehicles or groups of vehicles to the targeting hotkeys F5 through F12. In that particular mission, I assigned our ISS pals to F6.

Pro Tip #2: If you have a friendly targeted and strike G, your targeting system will automatically snap to a unit that is currently attacking that friendly target.

Alright, now let's put this all together, Lieutenant: 1. ISS friendly potentially in danger, hit F6 to select him. 2. Hit G to see who's attacking him. 3. Administer hot plasma euthanasia right up Mr. Whiskers' tailpipe.

Mm-mm! Smell that? Somebody must'a ordered some Feline Barbecue. CAT: The Other Other Other White Meat

I also cannot get past this mission. I cannot get by the part where I am supposed to cover for the 2 ISS pilots. They always eject even if the fighters are all killed off quickly, then you are left with under equipped ships to destroy the large enemy vessels. I made it past this part one time somehow, but had 5% hull integrity, no fuel, and no missiles. Needless to say I got wiped out quickly by the ace and his fighters. If I cannot get past this soon, I am just going to put the game on easy (I am on medium difficulty now) and try my luck. The game also gets rather boring when you have to play a level over and over again!

Well, I lost both Sabres. Finished the mission nonetheless. Went on.

You can take capital ships out with guns only, because now you know that missiles need to be spared. 😉

After trying this 3 more times on medium, and failing, I put in on easy! Those ISS pilots are wimps!!;p). They were ejecting on one try after I had just quickly killed 2 fighters. After putting the game on easy, I got by this part with no problem, with both ISS pilots, but I could not kill Fireclaw, or whatever the ace's name is! I even hit him with 4 missiles, and was pounding him with lasers, but he just runs off. I have a feeling he cannot be killed at this point in the game, and we will meet him again somewhere down the line!!