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We reported earlier this week on the untimely passing of Wing Commander superfan Adam "Klavs" Burch. It can be hard to find the words to appropriately express people's thoughts at a time like this, so some fellow fans have turned to more visual attempts. Both tributes below features Klavs' famous Rapier models in a classic 'missing man formation'.

The first is a beautiful scene by Mac:

In remembrance of Adam "Klavs" Burch.

Thank You Adam, for everything.

Kevin Caccamo also featured this honor to Klavs in today's Spacey Saturday stream.

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AD spotted a phenomenal pair of art pieces by AEdwardBaker. He's just created a beautiful take on the TCS Victory. This test render is only available in 1080p, but there's already so much great detail in everything down to the laser turrets and weathering on the hull paint. It's really slick! You can give him feedback or check out his many other gorgeous space scenes here.

"She's a fine carrier with a long history of service to the Confederation."

"Yes sir. A very long history."

A test render of my model of TCS Victory from Wing Commander III.

Done in Blender

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Yesterday we reported on Mash's spectacular patch to increase Wing Commander 3's resolution and integrate enhanced videos. As we also mentioned, this was something that Destro was working to incorporate into Wing Loader. With the success of Mash's program, Destro has officially stopped trying to integrate that into his mod. He's instead released a new version of Wing Loader that seamlessly supports both apps side-by-side. It's also packed with fixes and improvements for Wing Commanders 1&2! Grab version 0.92 here!

Wing Commander III HD Video playback via Wing Loader has been cancelled. I was planning to release this a couple of weeks from now but I ultimately cancelled the project... Why? Someone did it for me!!! And in my testing, theirs works better. :p

Mash has created an Enhancement Pack for Wing Commander III that includes adding in the HD Videos and this is what I'm going to recommend using

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Today we have an exciting release by Mash. He has managed to upgrade the Kilrathi Saga edition of Wing Commander 3 to accommodate modern high resolution displays as well as incorporate ODVS' enhanced video files. This has long been high on the list of fan requests, so it's pretty incredible to finally see. It's not just something he's working on - there's a playable release ready for you right now! Give it a try and let him know what you think!

Hi, I've been working on a patch for the Windows version of WC3 which came in the Kilrathi Saga compilation. It's finally reached a point where it seems playable so I thought it might be a good time to share it here.

My initial goal was to increase the resolution of the game so as to see more detail in space scenes. This has turned out quite well I think, with a few minor issues to work out.I then turned attention to adding support for the HD movies created

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After any dismal event, it's hard to shake off, pick yourself up again and continue. It doesn't feel right to just go on about your lives. The silver lining has been that it's nice to hear your thoughts about Klavs though, so please keep that coming. We're also always on Discord for anyone that would like to talk. Without trying to lean too hard into an obvious cliche, I also know that you all would want us to continue reporting Wing Commander news even if you weren't here to read it, so that's what we'll do.

I thought a simple and engaging news post today would be this terrific graphic that LOAF recently extracted. It's the targeting VDU images for Wing Commander. But there's a few mixed in that you may not have seen before!

The Wing Commander III target images! Do you know which three don't appear in the final game?

If you think you know which three don't appear in-game, hit the Comments link to

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Master O dropped in to share that a new version of DOSBox Staging has been released. We've previously reported that while development of the original DOSBox largely stalled out years ago, fans are still in need of a high quality emulation environment to play classic games. As modern computers continue to advance, there are many improvements and quality-of-life tweaks that can make the retro emulation experience much better. This includes support for modern video and sound setups, better controller and joystick integration, plus compatibility with the features of modern operating systems. And with all that, versions 0.81.1 has a specific fix incorporated to properly display the video from Wing Commander 3! You can try it out for yourself here.

Summary:

The main focus of this maintenance release is to fix a couple of regressions introduced in 0.81.0, most of them related to game compatibility, and

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All of us at the CIC are in shock at the news of Klavs' passing. We all get caught up in the frenzy of our hectic lives, but moments like this really make you realize you don't know how lucky you are to have everyone in your life until it's too late. I had the honor of meeting Adam Burch in person once about ten years ago. He flew into town on behalf of the kit-built aircraft manufacturer that he worked for at the time. I couldn't believe how knowledgeable he was about all aspects of the plane, plus the marketing and business sides, and then he could even fly it! I work in aerospace myself, so I know how complicated this all was, and his expertise was astounding. He was also exceedingly generous and kept mentioning how he'd like to return some day so he could take me up on a flight. If you didn't know, he didn't just design Wing Commander ships - he was also a spacecraft artist/designer at

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We are truly brokenhearted to announce that Adam "Klavs" Burch, a true giant of the Wing Commander community, has passed away unexpectedly. He was a dear friend to many and always a positive voice, a kind person always eager to help. His creative work was unbelievable. The artwork he created and the people he inspired and supported over the years will carry his legacy forever, cold comfort though that may be. He was a great person gone far, far too soon; we are so much poorer for having lost him.

Klavs was a true inspiration; he was someone who honed his incredible talents for artwork and aerospace in the fandom and went on to turn them into an astounding career doing the sorts of things most would only dream of. And despite the fact that he went on to design real airplanes and spaceships and imagine better tomorrows for everyone he stayed dedicated to the Wing Commander community, always giving

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Great job, everyone! Once again, hundreds of Wingnuts have come together to pull off a successful crowdfunding campaign! The finally tally was $24,300, which is more than 50% over the $16,000 target. This means that a live orchestra will be able to record the entire Wing Commander album in Budapest and it will be supplemented by a live choir in Salt Lake City. The entire project will come to more than $40,000 when combined with a separate mega donation from Matt Hiltner, so Wingnuts will truly be in for a treat. When all is said and done, the effort will include reprintings of the prior albums on CD as well as vinyl editions of both orchestra pieces. This will be a collectible set for the ages! Even if you're only interested in hearing the final product digitally, it will surely be a treat. Composer George Oldziey has already started placing deposits to secure time with the musicians later

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Wingnuts rejoice! Over two hundred dedicated fans have come together to push the Wing Commander album campaign over its $22,000 stretch goal. This means both a live orchestra and live choir will be part of the set of reorchestrated WC music. You all are amazing! If you haven't yet added your contribution to secure a copy for yourself, there's less than 48 hours to do so. The campaign ends Saturday afternoon. Composer George Oldziey also added this sweet addition to thank everyone who participates:

Greetings all! I had an inquiry as to why there is no digital download of the Wing Commander bar music in the reward tiers. It's basically because it slipped my mind! I'm going to add a digital download of the bar music to every reward tier from the $65 level and up! I can't change the text of the reward descriptions after pledges have been offered, but you can count on that becoming available when

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We're entering the last day of the Wing Commander album campaign. After yesterday's surge in contributions, the project is currently sitting at more than $22,500 in donations to make a new record of classic WC3-Prophecy music with both a live orchestra and choir. Thanks to all of the very generous fans, the stretch goal has already been met and all aspects of the project should be able to be accomplished. With any remaining proceeds from a last minute bump, Origin composer George Oldziey will attempt to squeeze out a bit more music to fill out the album even further. If you'd like to spend the final hours with fellow fans, Kevin Caccamo will be hosting a Prophecy-themed livestream from noon to 2pm Eastern US time. Then you can also join us in Discord #Wingnut as the minutes tick down to the campaign's conclusion at 5 pm Eastern US time. I'm very excited to see where things end up. Check back

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Remember the specific point in 1995 where game installers all got hot? Crazy how you go from that to that in a year.

I'm updating all my GOG .conf files to add a bunch of handy options.

I gave the first games a command line option with a debug mode cheat sheet. Easy way to quickly load the EGA version or with a different sound card.

Currently trying to add back Privateer 2's beautiful installer (with lore screen!) to the GOG package in a way that doesn't break everything else.

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A suite of new Supercruise Overcharge Frame Shift Drives entered the market earlier this week alongside several other upgrades to the new modules.
To celebrate the company's recent success, Dr. Namin Tirel, Achilles Aerospace's Head of Research and Development, offered a rare interview to Vox Galactica:
"It boggles the mind, truly. We were working in secret on what would eventually become our Supercruise Overcharge technology for over a year now. We had mountains of data and plenty of theories still to test, but we were struggling to make headway on anything that had real practical application. When we got hold of some of the actual parts of the Thargoids' drive-like technology, all that time, energy, and financial investment finally paid off. We were able to make huge strides in a short time frame, as you're now seeing."
"We purposefully made these drives difficult to modify as they're still

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We're now just a bit more than three days away from the conclusion of George Oldziey's campaign to create a new Wing Commander album with a live orchestra. Just since this past weekend, the project has added another $1,000 to approach $19,500. With only a few more days left to go, is $22,000 possible? The project has already crossed the minimum $16K threshold, but we'd love to see it hit the $22K stretch target to add a live choir as well. Wing Commander fans have shown up in force many times before, so it's certainly possible!

Here's some samples of George's wonderful 2019 jazz album full of Wing Commandar bar music. A handful of reprinted copies are up for grabs as part of the new album campaign:

George Oldziey · Wing Commander Bar Music!

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An eBay find: a copy of Wing Commander III that belonged to Microsoft’s QA folks! I’ll send it back if they promise to get it running in Windows 11.

Microsoft would have used copies like this to playtest compatibility for Windows 95 (and adjust Control+C behavior)!

“Didn’t you already have this one?!” - Sully

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The first ever ship built entirely around Achilles' new Frame Shift Drive has released today, the Python Mk II. Marketing materials are pushing the tagline: "Built for Supercruise Overcharge".
Faulcon DeLacy, the widely respected manufacturer behind this new ship, released a statement this morning:
"The original Python is an incredibly versatile ship, serving countless pilots in countless roles around the universe. For the Mk II, we wanted to create something more specialised and focused, and so we are coming to market with a ship that truly excels in battle conditions... but that's not all."
"Thanks to a fruitful collaboration with our friends at Achilles Aerospace, the Python Mk II has been designed from the ground up to better handle their new Frame Shift Drive."
"It has improved heat management, better handling, reduced fuel consumption, and even better acceleration and deceleration

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Today we've got a little snippet unearthed by Sash's RetroBytes. It's a segment from the British TV show Bad Influence! that peeks behind the scenes of Wing Commander 3. Most of the footage looks like material we'd have seen on other longer WC3 BTS features, but it's always nice to see times when Wing Commander was showcased on television!

The Heart of the Tiger! Hollywood comes to video games in a big way - as we see in this clip of Bad Influence series 3 episode 4 where they went behind the scenes of the production of Wing Commander III. #Retrogaming #dosgaming #wingcommander #technology #90s#GameTVNibbles pic.twitter.com/kU9j4qkdol

— Sasha's RetroBytes (@SharkaBytes) October 9, 2023

The Heart of the Tiger! Hollywood comes to video games in a big way - as we see in this clip of Bad Influence series 3 episode 4 where they went behind the scenes of the production of Wing Commander III.

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The campaign to make a new Wing Commander album had a very good week! It added more than $1500 in pledges from a couple dozen new fans. With that being said, its current $18,500 tally does make it a challenge to hit the $22,000 mark to add in a live choir. As great as it would be to hit the $22K stretch target, composer George Oldziey says that if we end up falling a little bit short, he may be able to generate a little bit more live orchestral material with the funds. Either way, the money will be used to enhance the final product! The final few days of any crowdfunding effort can be unpredictable, so we'll keep our fingers crossed! You can secure your copy and help the project here!

Note that George's comment below is from a few days ago. The Kickstarter officially closes this coming Saturday. Now's the time to jump in if you haven't yet!

Greetings all! As a result of your amazing support

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Scout recently found this spicy post on the Game Collecting Reddit. A user named charitysmyth1 had just acquired a copy of Wing Commander 2. Much to their surprise, it contained a collection of vintage early '90s adult media. These look like rather tame items all-in-all, but they might have been considered pretty racy before the internet age. Although not pictured, it sounds like the box did include the WC2 disks at least!

Scored some big box PC games over the weekend. What I found in Wing Commander II completely caught me off guard.

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Here's a fresh batch of whimsical Privateer scenes and objects by Cybot. He's got a couple of inspired bases, a sharp-looking Centurion, the Mercenaries' Guild office and some cars! Many of the items depicted are available as 3D models to download. Grab them at the CIC Forums here!