The Wing War Manual that never was...and now is?

[pixelpedant]

It's bugged me for a while that TI-99 Wing War is as cool a game as it is, yet lacks the one component that I feel it entirely depends on, for the sake of its enjoyment.  Namely, a manual.  This era and style of adventure, without a manual to explain what it is you're supposed to be doing, and why and how you should go about it, just doesn't really work.  And Wing War in particular isn't very self-explanatory.  So I expect a lot of people have given it a whirl and come to the same conclusion I once did - that it wasn't really complete or fully playable.  But on longer investigation, it really does seem like everything's there and working.  Even elements I earlier didn't think existed in the game, like eggs and the dragon's mate.  Albeit present and working in a way that differs in almost all the details from the other surviving versions (Coleco and 2600). 

 

So I've been working on a solution lately, to making it more accessible.  Namely, a Wing War manual which draws on the style, content, wording and lore to be found in the Colecovision version, but revises the content for the TI-99.  While the broad design of the two games is more or less identical (as are the background tiles and some sprites), as I'd mentioned, almost all of the details differ (e.g., both have "eggs" you can find in the same general area, but they don't do the same thing, they're returned to your Den via a different means, and they aren't discovered in the same way).  Still, the Colecovision version and its manual are invaluable in sussing out what the shared design intentions and envisioned gameplay structure were. 

 

So here is a TI-99 Wing War manual I've put together.  As I say, much of the language/style/lore and general gameplay description is borrowed from the Colecovision version's manual.  But the details are almost all specific to the TI-99 version.  A TI style front cover and Quick Reference Guide back page are included, but the rest of it doesn't adhere to any TI-specific style or structure and is, as I say inspired by the Coleco one.

 

 

Wing War Manual.pdf

 

Version 2: Updated: July 3

 

 

[WhataKowinkydink]

Cool - thanks for putting this together.  Honestly never played the game but as I see it's on the FinalGROM, I'm going to check it out...

[Omega-TI]

You did a really good job with this.  ?

[+eebuckeye]

Incredible job and excellent Youtube channel!!

[pixelpedant]

Thanks!

I feel like this game was ahead of its time.  It design concept feels really well thought out to me, the way it provides a central exploration/progression mechanic which requires some experimentation and discovery but is pretty easy to understand, and is pretty explicitly laid out in the manual (or would have been, based on the Colecovision manual).  But in addition to this, the TI-99 version features much more difficult and more thoroughly hidden treasures and goals which are going to take a fair bit of work to find and retrieve.  Essentially, it's fairly accessible on the surface level (as long as you have a manual).  But finding all possible treasures is going to take a lot more effort. 

 

It's sort of a weird irony that the unreleased TI-99 version actually feels more complete and refined to me than the released Colecovision version.  Which feels more slapdash and problematic.  But Imagic in general was very much in survival mode, at that point.  So "let's just get this damn thing out the door" was kind of the corporate philosophy at the time.  Not that I'm blaming anyone.  When you're losing money just keeping the lights on, creative ambition is going to take a hit. 

 

Incidentally, I have updated the original post with a new version of the manual, as it occurred to me that one line of text I'd retained from the Coleco manual wasn't really accurate.  It implied that the Dragon runs out of fireballs permanently, which isn't the case in the TI-99 version.  They regenerate.  Which is a major improvement. 

 

[Omega-TI]

You forgot one very important thing in your manual!  You need to add at least a one line item on the lower portion of the last page, something to the effect of , "Manual by: pixelpedant"

[pixelpedant]

I should do that, yeah.  Probably add something in the next version.  I'd also considered putting something in to make it wholly explicit that it's a modern imitation, but figured it was probably unnecessary given the content kind of makes it obvious it's not a legacy manual. 

 

Incidentally, if anybody notices any errors, please point them out and I'll update it. 

[InfernalKeith]

Beautiful job!  This definitely makes me want to take another crack at the game.

[Airshack]

For me this is the equivalent of receiving a new title for the TI-99/4A. One which I find interesting. This makes me want to compare and contrast with the Coleco version as well.

 

Thank you for the manual. This is a really great initiative.