[Kobrar44]

What does "three niner" mean? I guess that this is some kind of ID, but I don't know much about it and I cannot find enought information about it. I know that niner=nine, and thats all Can anyone explain it to me?

[The E]

It would help if you could tell us where you heard that....But I would guess it's some kind of radio shorthand, similar to the so-called ten codes.

[Snail]

The Intro cutscene.

I wondered the same thing. I assumed it meant he was 39th in Gamma wing (ie. Gamma 39), mostly because that's what Goober put in his Ross 128 mission. Though that's a lot of ships for one wing.

[Kobrar44]

And I guess that that strange number under my nick on the left[2³] is another ID. The same type, I think. But I'm NOT sure So, we[I think we all here want to know this] just have to wait for someone far more knowledgeable to explain it:P

[The E]

2^3 = 8. Meaning you have >= 8 posts. Expect that number to rise to 2^4 once you hit 16 posts, 2^5 for 32 posts, etc etc.

[Ziame]

Three niner is the third from 9th (Gamma 3 from Third LaChupacabras), or 39. Though I always thought the first idea was more apprioprate(sp?).

[Knight Templar]

"Three niner" means 3-9.

SURPRISE.

[lostllama]

Ya. To avoid the likelihood of someone mishearing "three-nine" as "three-five."

[MT]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_sign

Gamma 39 is just a callsign. It doesn't have anything to do with the squadron. Instead, callsigns are usually mission specific.

[Mobius]

But we have wings in FreeSpace: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, etc. etc.

Having "Gamma 39" as callsign would be confusing. Obviously, the basic concept of "wing" may be various.

[Knight Templar]

But we have wings in FreeSpace: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, etc. etc.

Having "Gamma 39" as callsign would be confusing. Obviously, the basic concept of "wing" may be various.

Another surprise: Not everything in fictional universes is standardized. Especially when you have a possibly different production team doing the short films, separate from the team doing the missions in game.

[Mobius]

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/FreeSpace_Trivia#Cutscene quirks

[Blue Lion]

Why can't he be Gamma 39? We have Alpha 1 and Beta 2, why can't we have Gamma 39?

[Mobius]

Because it's 39, not 3. Why would a single wing have more spacecraft than an entire squadron?

IMO it's probably a designation given to mixed scout patrols...

[Snail]

Because it's 39, not 3. Why would a single wing have more spacecraft than an entire squadron?

IMO it's probably a designation given to mixed scout patrols...

Probably he was part of a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE skirmish where they sortied like 30 waves of the same wing.

[lostllama]

Probably a temporary callsign? As in, just for that particular ship for that particular patrol.

Because it's 39, not 3. Why would a single wing have more spacecraft than an entire squadron?

IMO it's probably a designation given to mixed scout patrols...

Probably he was part of a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE skirmish where they sortied like 30 waves of the same wing.

Maybe it's to fool any Vasudans that might be intercepting comms. It would probably scare them into thinking there's a 30+ sized wing patrolling out there, when in fact there isn't.

[Snail]

That would probably cause be more of an administrative handicap to the Terrans than a deterrent to the Vasudans.

[Mobius]

Probably he was part of a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE skirmish where they sortied like 30 waves of the same wing.

Multiple waves of the same wing? That's stupid in a FS universe-based discussion.

Maybe it's to fool any Vasudans that might be intercepting comms. It would probably scare them into thinking there's a 30+ sized wing patrolling out there, when in fact there isn't.

Meh. Patrol fighters should be spread all over the system...there's no point in deploying 30+ fighters to a single location. Also, the Vasudans would have responded accordingly by sending a much greater number of fighters to overwhelm them...but the cutscene leads us to believe that only a handful of fighters on both sides were involved.

We know that recon flight patterns are very advanced and useful in FreeSpace - in FS2, for instance, many NTF and Shivan ships are found thanks to recon flights and not to long range sensors.

[Snail]

Probably he was part of a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE skirmish where they sortied like 30 waves of the same wing.

Multiple waves of the same wing? That's stupid in a FS universe-based discussion.

TBH I never meant that comment to be taken srsly.

[lostllama]

Nor mine, but anyhoo.