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Last year we mentioned Plywood Fiend's alternative take on a Wing Commander playthrough. Rather than just add typical commentary to the stream, he spices up the episodes with his own animations, supplemental dialogue and unique captions. After winning the Vega Campaign, he's moved on and is now well into the Secret Missions. You can find a few samples below or check out his full Wing Commander playlist on YouTube here.

Woe, calamity and me, for I have returned with more stuff. Specifically I've gone back to do a play through of Secret Missions 1 in my own peculiar fashion; the playlist can be found here (scroll down for the new material, I'm currently up to the Gwenhyvar mission.) Below are a few samples of the added extras I've twisted in, most notably is a pixel art animation I made showing a fateful distress call from the TCS Johann which, suffice it to say, was not the luckiest of vessels, as

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today has been exhausting, and we know many of you are exhausted too. We'll be back with some more upbeat Wing Commander stories tomorrow, but for now, here's the topically relevant angle on current events: the owner of the WC franchise, Electronic Arts, has announced tepid support for abortion rights in the US. Although they didn't come out and use the word "abortion" in their public-facing statement, they have internally communicated to employees that they "will soon offer expanded travel health benefits" to employees seeking basic healthcare that they will only be able to access out of state. They join a number of other game developers and tech companies who have announced similar measures today. With the competitiveness of the industry at a fever pitch these days, these types of benefits will be critical incentives in the future.

Anyhow, take care of yourselves out there. Hit us up on Discord

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

A summary of key events around the rise and fall of the tri-superpower organisation Aegis.
The Alliance, Empire and Federation created Aegis in 3303 to lead xenological research and coordinate defensive actions against the Thargoids. With fears that the alien species might one day overwhelm human-controlled space, Aegis's role was to spearhead the resistance against a common enemy.
There were concerns that Aegis might adopt the same unethical practices as its notorious predecessor INRA, which had been formed back in 3125 during the First Thargoid War. But the new agency was welcomed by most, providing intelligence on Thargoid activity as well as advanced weapons.
Since capital ships were vulnerable to the Thargoid shutdown field, Aegis soon had no choice but to rely heavily on independent pilots to perform ship-to-ship combat. And despite its effectiveness at coordinating defence, it was

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The war toils on for the crew making the WC4 Fan Remake. With a playable demo still in the works, the team has firmed up a potential set of minimum specs to get everything running smoothly. I haven't kept up with modern PC specs, but these seem quite reasonable for the level of graphical fidelity and performance we've seen from previews. With that being said, now is your chance to voice any concern if something else should be supported.

With the help of EmuMusicFan I believe we now have some minimum specs.He helped test with low GPU memory and movie playback optimizations to get 60fps 1080p h265 running at speed with only 2 cores.

Minimum specs: (No shadows, no post process)
2 Core CPU
2GB GPU (Probably 860M/750Ti)
8GB Memory

Recommended specs:
4 Core CPU
6GB GPU (Something like a 980Ti)
8GB Memory

Ideal specs:
4 Core CPU
8GB GPU (Something like a 1070Ti)
16GB Memory

If these specs seem too high for anyone give

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

CD1188 Entertainment has posted a neat video of the latest AI upscaling and image processing techniques. They're using a screenshot from the WC3 introduction to demonstrate how amazing the technology is. AD asked the Wing Commander community's resident neural net expert, ODVS, for his take and he provided some additional context:

They're using Gigapixel AI with its new Facial Recovery algo (which was just released). I'm already doing a deep-dive into experimenting with it for motion. It's impressive, but you hit the uncanny valley pretty hard. Sadly, they've currently only trained it for static images. I suspect it will be a while before it gets incorporated into their motion-friendly models, but I have no doubt that's coming. I am already doing experiments, though.

Even if this isn't quite ready to actually animate videos with, the technology remains incredibly impressive!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Beginning a multi-part overview of historical events surrounding Azimuth Biochemicals and its connection to the mysterious Salvation.
On the 29th of October 3306, an abandoned megaship named the Adamastor arrived in the Chukchan system, after travelling at sublight speeds for nearly 200 years. At the time, no one could have foreseen the wide-ranging consequences that would arise from unlocking the secrets of this ghost ship.
Investigations revealed that it had been owned by a little-known and long-defunct corporation called Azimuth Biochemicals. The derelict's journey was traced to the previously unexplored Coalsack Nebula, where the Adamastor had collected the survivors of a planetary survey team from the Musca Dark Region PJ-P b6-1 system.
Back in 3111, these geologists had encountered something terrifying and completely unknown: the first recorded instance of contact with the Thargoids.

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The Wing Commander Confederation Handbook is a book that's presented as a fake web browser... and since it's from 1999 it's full of absolutely garish banner ads. And here they are, collected from the book's layout files! I could sure go for a warsop egg.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Alliance, Empire and Federation will continue collaborating with Salvation and Azimuth Biotech on anti-xeno operations.
Political journalist Conrad Sterling reviewed the latest developments for Vox Galactica:
"We now know the truth: Azimuth not only survived, but was responsible for many controversial activities. It contributed to the mycoid virus's development, coordinated with Black Flight and oversaw Project Seraph. Now, this notorious organisation enjoys the trust of all three superpowers to eliminate the Thargoid threat."
"Vocal members of the Assembly, Congress and Senate have called for everyone at Azimuth Biotech – formerly Taurus Mining Ventures – to be arrested as criminals. Professor Alba Tesreau has demanded justice for the crew of the Alexandria, which was sabotaged by Azimuth to obtain its cargo of Guardian artefacts."
"But Allied, Federal and Imperial leaders have all

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One of John Nelson's original Wing Commander designs a while back was the sturdy Border Worlds Avenger. Although it's super impressive what people can do with Lego bricks, there's always room for improvement, and he's taken a second run at tightening things up a bit. The results look really solid. Most of the hull plating is a bit darker and the major structural elements are bit thicker with more mass. Hit the comment link to let him know what you think!

The last of my Lego updates, the Avenger. I went ground up to give it a more game accurate boxy and thicker look and the front cockpit cover had to change and I found the parts to do it. Enjoy.

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Happy Father's Day to Wingnut dads out there! If you're anything like Dia Dastardly, then you discovered a way to incorporate Wing Commander into your celebrations. She's 3D printed a slick little Excalibur to give as a gift. That sounds like an awesome present to me, but you don't have to be on the sending or receiving end to make your own fighter. This looks like it may be based on AstroFossil's model. Build your own with the file here!

I’ve been working on my dad’s Father’s Day gift. It’s a F-103 Excalibur from Wing Commander. He and I used to play it a lot so I hope he likes it.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Salvation has announced that his partner organisation Taurus Mining Ventures is a modern incarnation of Azimuth Biochemicals.
The revelation came via a public statement across all media channels:
"This is Salvation. In light of recent speculation, we are rebranding Taurus Mining Ventures as Azimuth Biotech. My intent is to prove that Azimuth has no further need to conceal its operations."
"Two centuries ago, Azimuth's pioneers first acquired evidence of the alien creatures now referred to as Thargoids. My research division focused exclusively on studying this life form and preparing for the inevitable inter-species conflict. When Azimuth Biochemicals was commercially overtaken by Pharmasapien over a century ago, I ensured key assets and personnel were removed from company records prior to the acquisition. We continued our research in secret, free from shareholders and corporate espionage."

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The CIC was founded on the principle of "All Things Wing Commander," and we continue to try to live up to that every day! As such, LOAF has found a very obscure mention of Super Wing Commander in a 1995 documentary called Synthetic Pleasures. It features the "suit up" portion of the SWC launch sequence. And you don't have to hunt down the VHS like LOAF did - see it for yourself in the embed below!

Alexa: “Your order of SYNTHETIC PLEASURES has been delivered.”

The Super Wing Commander bit is just after the 44 minute mark (following footage of a robot labeled Robot Redford). It's the extremely-90s-cyber-stuff 'suit up' sequence from the takeoff cutscene.

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Docteur J has hosted epic playthroughs of Wing Commander 3 and 4 over the last couple years, so in 2022 he's taking on Prophecy over at Oldies Games TV. He's been streaming Wing Commander for a long time, and his dedication is a fantastic example of how Wing Commander fandom transcends all languages and cultures. At first his content would have been geared towards French speakers, but with YouTube's auto translate feature, anyone can turn on captions in their native language and follow along with the fun! The first few new Prophecy chapters are available now:

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The music website Bandcamp is holding a special event on June 17 to donate their share of album sales to causes that promote racial justice efforts. This commemorates the Juneteenth national holiday in the United States, which celebrates a major milestone on the path to ending slavery. Wingnuts looking for a way to support this are in luck! Earlier this year, The Fat Man released an ultimate MT-32 Archival Edition of his legendary WC1 soundtrack. The album is available to listen to for free on YouTube, but it's only $10 to own a portable copy of your own via Bandcamp. It's a pretty cheap way to help a good cause and get your Wing Commander fix at the same time!

Way back in 2007, George put out a fantastic album of WC1 music known as Wing One, and it's been on our highly recommended list ever since. This new edition scrubs Fat's archives for a complete reckoning of all the music in the game.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The generation ship Golconda has departed from the Upaniklis system with much of its former population on board.
Three years ago, the Golcondans abandoned their ship and resettled at the Forester's Choice outpost in Upaniklis. Approximately 60% of these 70,000 people have now elected to resume their itinerant lifestyle aboard the vessel, which was recently upgraded with modern megaship technology by the Artificers Clan.
The Federation has made assurances that the Golconda is under its protection, and is equipped with comms systems to summon aid if needed. The Forester's Choice outpost remains operational and will continue to export Apa Vietti, a unique alcoholic spirit.
Shortly before the Golconda made its first jump into hyperspace, Vox Galactica published a statement from Commander Javi Alvarado:
"The last few weeks have been a bittersweet experience for me, watching these people prepare to

Quote from No Man

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone playing the Leviathan Expedition, especially those taking the time to report any issues they encounter via Zendesk or console crash reporting.

We are listening closely to your feedback, and have identified and resolved a number of issues. These fixes are included in patch 3.93, which will be live on all platforms soon.

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue that could cause custom discovery names to be reset on load.
• Fixed a number of issues that could allow players to take damage in protected locations.
• Fixed a multiplayer issue that could cause players to incorrectly take damage that ought have been applied to a different player.

We will continue to release patches as issues are identified and resolved. If you experience any issues, let us know by submitting a bug report.

Thank you,
Hello Games

The post Leviathan 3.93 appeared first on No Man's Sky.

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Why play ports? Let's take a quick walk through the TrainSim enemy selection screen in ports of the original Wing Commander! Here's the original from 1990 in EGA and VGA.

The Amiga version swapped the line art for rotating ship sprites! Then the CD32 version made them a little smaller.

Game Arts' Sega CD port brings back the ship diagrams but has them glow when highlighted.

... and Mindscape makes some big changes for the SNES version! Name plate at the top, extremely tiny soda can on the dashboard (seriously, compare it to the hand).

Then Super Wing Commander for the Macintosh and 3DO has totally new ships and even has a second screen showing their stats!

Then the PSP version, included in the EA Replay compilation, takes the SNES version and cruelly stretches it.

Did you know the TrainSim has a name? If you leave it idle on the PC release you find out it's SQUADRON (which was the original name chosen for

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
A range of alien objects have been delivered to the Arque system for Professor Ishmael Palin's study of the Thargoids.
The conclusion of the project was announced by Professor Palin:
"I am highly impressed with the number of Thargoid probes, resin and sensors that were delivered to Abel Laboratory. Collecting and transporting these items can be a hazardous task, so I deeply appreciate the effort made by pilots to obtain them."
"It is becoming increasingly urgent to improve our understanding of the Thargoids' biomechanical technology. There is no sign that hostilities are about to end, so the need to produce defences has become paramount. Only through ensuring our research focuses on up-to-date samples can we be sure that we are working as efficiently as possible."
Contributors can now collect their rewards from Baird Gateway in the Arque system. This includes Grade 5

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Di Jian system is hosting competing campaigns as the Alliance Assembly votes on the strategic defence pact.
The Assembly is evenly split over formalising military ties with Sirius Corporation to enhance defensive options against the Thargoids, with a decision expected at the end of June. In advance of the vote, both pro-pact and anti-Sirius councillors are attempting to sway colleagues to their cause by securing a sizeable resource package for the Alliance Defence Force.
Pro-pact councillors have established their initiative in Di Jian from the Sirius megaship Kumiho Sky, and are asking for shipments of computer components, reinforced mounting plates and synthetic reagents. These councillors have heavily promoted the need for enhanced fleet support in the face of increasing Thargoid activity. Noted engineer Marco Qwent recently confirmed his support for an

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The F-44 Rapier II is one of the most popular fighters in Wing Commander fan art, but the CF-117 Rapier has a lot of fans too! Whether they love the Electric Lightning core or the big rotary neutron gun, a few daring modelers have taken on the Wing Commander Movie's Rapier. This one was originally designed by Klavs and then arranged here by Mac. It's a moody scene with the lead fighter about to zoom by the camera while a couple wingmates spiral through the background. I like it!

I'm probably long overdue in tossing fans of the #wingcommander movie a bone after my recent adventures with the other Rapiers.