Rebel Assault 1 & 2 are not space combat simulators like X-Wing and Wing Commander are. They're not like Descent or Terminal Velocity, either. They're on-rails arcade games, where the game moves you down a path and all that you do is aim and fire. You probably don't want them.

All of the Wing Commanders are good (Edit: I mean the main game series, not spin-offs like Academy and Armada, as leileilol reminded me that they exist). The first two are in 320x200 resolution, with hand-drawn graphics, and are very old school. Wing Commander III & IV are CD-ROM-era games with 640x480 resolution, 3D graphics and full motion video cutscenes (starring Mark Hamill). It's hard to recommend one over another, since they all have great gameplay. Since II is very similar to I and IV is very similar to III, though, you might want to start with either I or III. I might be harder to get into, since it's so old school, but you'd be starting at the beginning, in case you think that you may want to play all of the games. III would be a lot easier to get into, since it's more "modern," but you'd miss some of the back story. Both are great games. Perhaps look up gameplay videos of both on YouTube and see if you think that you could get into the old-schoolness of the original or if starting with III might be easier for you.

You can skip Academy and Armada though (and ignore the movie 🤣)

leileilol wrote:

You can skip Academy and Armada though (and ignore the movie 🤣)

Cool, thanks for letting me know! I'm just going to play 1 and 2 anyways since I have Windows 10, and III and IV on GOG doesn't list 10 as an operating system it can run on.
Til I dual boot, I'll just play those two, and some Descent! 😀

Osprey wrote:

Rebel Assault 1 & 2 are not space combat simulators like X-Wing and Wing Commander are. They're not like Descent or Terminal Velocity, either. They're on-rails arcade games, where the game moves you down a path and all that you do is aim and fire. You probably don't want them.

All of the Wing Commanders are good (Edit: I mean the main game series, not spin-offs like Academy and Armada, as leileilol reminded me that they exist). The first two are in 320x200 resolution, with hand-drawn graphics, and are very old school. Wing Commander III & IV are CD-ROM-era games with 640x480 resolution, 3D graphics and full motion video cutscenes (starring Mark Hamill). It's hard to recommend one over another, since they all have great gameplay. Since II is very similar to I and IV is very similar to III, though, you might want to start with either I or III. I might be harder to get into, since it's so old school, but you'd be starting at the beginning, in case you think that you may want to play all of the games. III would be a lot easier to get into, since it's more "modern," but you'd miss some of the back story. Both are great games. Perhaps look up gameplay videos of both on YouTube and see if you think that you could get into the old-schoolness of the original or if starting with III might be easier for you.

I also want to thank you for your input, going to avoid Rebel Assault and stick with the games that I like and can play on my current setup! 😀

Mike wrote:

Cool, thanks for letting me know! I'm just going to play 1 and 2 anyways since I have Windows 10, and III and IV on GOG doesn't list 10 as an operating system it can run on.

I doubt that there's any issue with III and IV on Windows 10. GOG probably just hasn't done the testing to make their support of it official.

In fact, I'll just install my GOG copy of III on Windows 10 right now for you...

Yeah, it works.

BTW, I said to avoid the spin-offs, but the one spin-off that's really good is Privateer. That does away with the strong story of most Wing Commander games and, instead, marries the space combat with RPG elements (buying and selling goods to upgrade your ship and weapons, etc.). Basically, you're a space pirate. It's a revered game, like the first four WCs. After you play WC1 & 2, you may want to give that a try before jumping to WC3 (since it falls in-between WC2 & 3, graphically)

Osprey wrote:

I doubt that there's any issue with III and IV on Windows 10. GOG probably just hasn't done the testing to make their support of […]
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Mike wrote:

Cool, thanks for letting me know! I'm just going to play 1 and 2 anyways since I have Windows 10, and III and IV on GOG doesn't list 10 as an operating system it can run on.

I doubt that there's any issue with III and IV on Windows 10. GOG probably just hasn't done the testing to make their support of it official.

In fact, I'll just install my GOG copy of III on Windows 10 right now for you...

Yeah, it works.

BTW, I said to avoid the spin-offs, but the one spin-off that's really good is Privateer. That does away with the strong story of most Wing Commander games and, instead, marries the space combat with RPG elements (buying and selling goods to upgrade ships and weapons, etc.). Basically, you're a space pirate. It's a revered game. After you play WC1 & 2, you may want to give that a try.

Oh, well, before I install it, I want to double check. Were there any special steps you took to getting it to work, or you just simply loaded it? Just want to make sure, thanks!

Mike wrote:

Oh, well, before I install it, I want to double check. Were there any special steps you took to getting it to work, or you just simply loaded it? Just want to make sure, thanks!

No, I just installed it and launched it. I watched a few intro videos, clicked around, jumped into a mission and it was playable. It's a DOS game, so there's not much to it. I imagine that nearly all of the DOS games on GOG work on Windows 10 without issue, since they all just use DOSBox. Where GOG games can sometimes have compatibility problems with modern Windows is with Windows games, especially those from the 90s.

Osprey wrote:

Mike wrote:

Oh, well, before I install it, I want to double check. Were there any special steps you took to getting it to work, or you just simply loaded it? Just want to make sure, thanks!

No, I just installed it and launched it. I watched a few intro videos, clicked around, jumped into a mission and it was playable. It's a DOS game, so there's not much to it. I imagine that nearly all of the DOS games on GOG work on Windows 10 without issue, since they all just use DOSBox. Where GOG games can sometimes have compatibility problems with modern Windows is with Windows games, especially those from the 90s.

That's a relief to hear!! I bought the game and does work fine, please do let me know if the fourth one works as well, because I'm thinking about getting that one as well.
Just currently playing the first one, and it is quite amazing!

Mike wrote:

That's a relief to hear!! I bought the game and does work fine, please do let me know if the fourth one works as well, because I'm thinking about getting that one as well.
Just currently playing the first one, and it is quite amazing!

I'd rather not install WC4, since it's 6GB, but I will point you to someone else who indicated that it works on Windows 10 for him:

https://www.gog.com/forum/wing_commander_seri … indows_10/post6

Regardless, all of the WC games are only $1.79 at GOG right now (possibly Black Friday prices that'll go up in a couple of days, by the timer on their main page). Just buy them all and, if you have any issues, who cares?

Osprey wrote:

I'd rather not install WC4, since it's 6GB, but I will point you to someone else who indicated that it works on Windows 10 for h […]
Show full quote

Mike wrote:

That's a relief to hear!! I bought the game and does work fine, please do let me know if the fourth one works as well, because I'm thinking about getting that one as well.
Just currently playing the first one, and it is quite amazing!

I'd rather not install WC4, since it's 6GB, but I will point you to someone else who indicated that it works on Windows 10 for him:

https://www.gog.com/forum/wing_commander_seri … indows_10/post6

Regardless, all of the WC games are only $1.79 at GOG right now (possibly Black Friday prices that'll go up in a couple of days, by the timer on their main page). Just buy them all and, if you have any issues, who cares?

You know what, you've got a point! I'll happily buy it; $1.79 is a darn good price for any game, the price of a soda! 🤣

leileilol wrote:

You can skip Academy and Armada though (and ignore the movie 🤣)

Armada is pretty good, actually. Or maybe I just like multi-layered games.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Armada is pretty good, actually. Or maybe I just like multi-layered games.

I'd say that all of the Wing Commander games are pretty good. There isn't a "bad" WC game, at least for the PC, to my knowledge. It's just that Academy and Armada were really just serviceable spin-offs to tide fans over between WC2 and WC3 and there's not as much reason to play them nowadays. Armada, if I remember right, is more of a guantlet sim without the story and characters that the franchise is famous for. If the space combat is what you love most about the series, it's up your alley; otherwise, if you love story and characters, it's one of the ones to skip.

Osprey wrote:

Armada, if I remember right, is more of a guantlet sim without the story and characters that the franchise is famous for. If the space combat is what you love most about the series, it's up your alley; otherwise, if you love story and characters, it's one of the ones to skip.

That's Academy. Armada is a strategy game with WC space combat when your ship(s) encounter theirs, while the result of the combat determines who gets the planet. A multi-layered strategy game, just like Accolade's Star Control and Microprose's Sword of the Samurai.

I'm somewhat biased, as it was a game that I played when I was a kid, but I actually found Rebel Assault 2 to be enjoyable. It is very similar to an arcade style game where you are on rails, but can still dodge and aim. I probably enjoyed it more than normal because it had decent Full Motion Video (FMV) and the original Star Wars Soundtrack...In fact, it was my first real exposure to the Star Wars world! Games like Rogue Squadron (for PC!) are better, but RA2 was still fun.

Combat Flight Simulator is fun, if not perfectly realistic.

What kinds of genres are you looking for? If it's just joystick type games, I expect that H.A.W.X. is good, too.