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Register a new accountJan
Today we have a fabulous digital painting to share. This depiction of a Ferret taking on a Drakhri was created by artist Mike Riendeau. He's currently making a series of video game-inspired art, which you can find on Twitter here. The scene was suggested by More_Boom_Boom, and it's a really great one. I love the stylization that takes the relatively sterile gray Ferret cockpit and gives it the green-and-blue glow of a Sabre. Very cool!
Jan
…The purchase of shipbuilding company Lakon Spaceways by Core Dynamics is in doubt after allegations of illegal business practices.
Irfan Karim reported on the recent developments for The Alliance Tribune:
"The Independent Commission for Market Equality has confirmed that several Lakon shareholders sold their stock to shell companies, which were covertly established by departments within Core Dynamics. Furthermore, two serious accusations of blackmail have been referred to Alliance Interpol."
"Trent Delaney, Lakon's newly installed chairperson, has dismissed these claims. But coupled with serious rumblings from the Council of Admirals over losing a military supplier, this hostile takeover now looks less certain."
In the Federation, the newsfeed Sol Today ran an editorial piece on the situation:
"Acquiring Lakon is another bold triumph for manufacturing colossus Core Dynamics. It's a shame that
Jan
Never let it be forgotten:
Jan
…*Pilots Federation ALERT*
The Holloway Bioscience Institute has rewarded pilots who delivered living matter extracted from space-dwelling organisms.
Many shipments of seed pod tissue samples arrived at Jaques Station, from where they will be transported to the Holloway Biology Centre on Colonia 7 G. These will be used to replenish stocks used in the facility's experimentation programme.
Dr Roy Casimir, chief researcher at the centre, expressed his gratitude:
"These vital supplies mean that we can resume our studies on the incredible organisms that float through the void. Here at Holloway we're making many breakthroughs in the field of xenobiology, some with intriguing commercial possibilities."
The Holloway Bioscience Institute now plans to establish experimental habitats for vacuum lifeforms in the following systems:
Eol Prou PC-K c9-221
Eol Prou LW-L c8-99
Eol Prou KW-L c8-301
Eol Prou
Jan
…*Pilots Federation ALERT*
The newly settled Marlinist Colonies have asked for urgent deliveries of foodstuffs.
Millions of Marlinists have relocated to eight systems colonised for them by the Sirius Corporation, thereby reducing tension between the Empire and the Federation. They have asked Universal Cartographics to delay a census of the systems' populations, while the refugees lay the infrastructure for their new societies.
The Marlinist factions are holding democratic elections to select their leaders. However, the transitional parliament has declared an emergency due to the shortage of food stocks.
Community spokesperson Dr Jenna Fairfax announced:
"We are grateful to the galactic community and Sirius Corporation for providing homes. However, we need further help to feed our people in the short term, until we can become self-sufficient."
"The more supplies we can stockpile, the faster our
Jan
…Here's an excerpt from the end of Privateer 2 where we see the player (and others) escape Kronos' doomed flagship. Unfortunately only the published 320x200 version survives so it can be hard to see some of the neat details. Let's try and identify the ships!
Since the player can choose from 18 different ships there was no way to know which they'd actually fly the last mission in. To hedge bets, the escaping fleet includes four of the most likely options. First out is a Drakkar!
Then we've got a Danrik in an all-grey livery. (And that's a good choice because you were probably flying a Danrik here!)
Then there's a Shaman...
And out in front but not identifiable until you get to the second shot is the game's signature Heretic!
Cinematics not knowing what ship to use wasn't a problem exclusive to Privateer 2, either. Wing Commander Prophecy gives the final hero flyby shot to the Devastator instead of the
Jan
…An anonymous source within the shipbuilding corporation Core Dynamics has revealed details behind its hostile takeover of Lakon Spaceways.
The nameless insider had previously stated that the acquisition of Lakon was the personal project of Core Dynamics CEO Jupiter Rochester. These additional claims were broadcast via Vox Galactica:
"In the last few years, Rochester has purchased many companies based outside the Federation, such as Vodel. Lakon Spaceways is just the latest. It seems legal, but he manages these subsidiaries directly and installs his own people there. Some say he's diversifying his family's private holdings, rather than expanding the business."
"It's well known that several departments only follow Rochester's directives, and operate in silos unconnected with the rest of Core Dynamics. Staff refer to them as 'Jupiter Division'. Some offices even started using that name, like
Jan
Patch 4.93 introduces a number of story arcs and continues older ones. This post, concocted by your devoted story developers, serves as a summary of what's been happening and where things are likely to go next. Take care and enjoy our new SPEED OF LIGHT server after a server migration, because Discovery Freelancer deserves it. Read on !
Jan
LYP Studios got a lot of attention last month for their amazing Morningstar model, but that wasn't actually the first ship in their collection. Their archives also include a slick Centurion design that can be 3D printed and assembled at home. The applicable files are available here. If you put one together, be sure to send us pics!
I missed this originally, but LYP's Morningstar even glows in the dark! Check out the photoluminescent decals! Super cool!
Jan
…Here's a treat! People tend to think of Wing Commander Secret Ops as a game without FMV and a story told via text, but there were actually wonderful flashes of "video" throughout. Every chapter had some nifty in-engine cutscenes, and there were also a couple of really cool teaser trailers posted to the web. The first teaser revs up Prophecy's ICIS interface. It includes a terrifying distress signal that indicates the bugs are back! The second trailer builds on this but adds communication from the TCS Mistral Sea, which the Prophecy documentation mentioned would be the second Midway class megacarrier off the line. The third clip is a gameplay trailer that shows off the first mission and new dust cannon in action!
Both of the ICIS trailers were originally presented as Shockwave Flash files. While these have been in our archive for more than two decades, with the recent deprecation of Flash on the
Jan
…Fleet Admiral Lucas Vincent of the Federal Navy will stand trial on the 25th of January, charged with conspiracy to commit murder and treason.
The Federal Attorney's Office has successfully obtained a grand jury indictment against Fleet Admiral Vincent. He is accused of arranging the sabotage of presidential vessel Starship One in 3301, to assassinate then-President Jasmina Halsey. Although she was later recovered alive, hundreds died when the ship was destroyed in flight.
These charges were brought following the trial of Rory Webster, a naval technician who was implicated in the failure of Starship One's hyperdrive system. Mr Webster confessed his involvement, but offered a plea bargain by providing evidence that he was following clandestine orders from Vincent.
The subsequent arrest caused repercussions in military and political circles. President Zachary Hudson's long-term association with
Jan
Here's a slightly ridiculous video to help break up the doom scrolling. We found it on the cutting room floor after EmuMusicFan's first round of Dame Da Ne memes. It's oddly hypnotic, and I'm slightly embarrassed by how many times I've watched it. Although this might not be the most revelatory update, we are working on a very cool news post that I'm looking forward to sharing later this weekend!
Anyway... I think, well, machine learning can certainly do some amazing things, but then again, it can also be used for "silly" and interesting experiments, like this one.
Jan
…Bazar du Grenier's YouTube channel has posted a gushing retrospective on Wing Commander 3. Rmax2 helps put this in perspective: The streamer has almost 2 million followers and this video has been seen more than 150,000 times in just a few hours. It's a popular channel for young French gamers, so this clip serves to inform a new generation about how fantastic the WC games are.
If you weren't aware, YouTube provides automatic language translation captions, so it's accessible to anyone. Click the CC logo at the bottom of the clip and the gear icon to select a language. Although the translation isn't perfect, you can tell how excited the author is to share his memories of the series. He also goes on to explain how great examples of mid '90s FMV games like this helped lead us to to rich stories in modern games today. Check it out for yourself below!
Hello everyone! A little video on a series that I'll
Jan
…By now you've probably seen ODVS' amazing enhanced video footage, but you haven't seen it quite like this! Due to previous limitations in what the AI/neural net tools could do, the best quality material he was able to generate in 2020 worked out to 1080p resolution. Aside from a few limited upscaling tests early on, he hasn't gone for Ultra HD until now. This is still a first cut at the new resolution, but even this preliminary 4K experiment is very impressive! Check it out here:
With recent improvements to Topaz Video Enhance AI's models, I thought it was finally time to attempt an upscale directly to 2160p 4K - and I have to say I'm pleased with the results.While my previous videos have been available as 4K streams on YouTube, I rendered the actual fooage at 1080p Full HD, then used traditional bilinear scaling to double up to 4K - because YouTube uses a higher quality codec for 1440p and 2160p
Jan
…The organisation Aegis has expressed support for Utopia's offer to host a Galactic Summit for all three superpowers.
Aegis was jointly formed by the Alliance, Empire and Federation to study the Thargoids, and develop new methods of monitoring and combating their forces.
Professor Alba Tesreau, head of research at Aegis, gave this statement:
"Humanity's focus on petty internal conflicts has blinded us to the existential threat of the Thargoids. Their recent horrific attacks should be a wake-up call to the fact that defunding has crippled Aegis's ability to offer protection."
"We strongly entreat our founders to come together and channel resources toward Aegis, and particularly into research. There can be no hope of coexistence with this alien species unless we increase our understanding of them."
No official responses to Utopia's proposal have been made as yet. However, Prime Minister Edmund
Jan
Starports in the Coalsack and Witch Head Nebulas have been damaged during full-scale Thargoid incursions.
An appeal by Aegis for anti-xeno support led to a concerted response from the galactic community. However, the Thargoid forces proved to be overwhelming and have attacked systems within the nebulas, with the loss of thousands of lives.
Admiral Aden Tanner, chief military liaison of Aegis, broadcast this message:
"Despite the heroic efforts of many pilots, the alien ships have resisted being driven from the Witch Head Nebula."
"Aegis's military capability and manpower are both severely limited as a result of curtailed funding from the Empire and the Federation. We have no choice but to rely on independent pilots and anti-xeno squadrons as the first line of defence against the Thargoid threat."
Jan
…*Pilots Federation ALERT*
The Holloway Bioscience Institute in Colonia is offering high payouts for delivering samples from space-dwelling lifeforms.
The Holloway Biology Centre on Colonia 7 G is the organisation's primary research laboratory, which specialises in xenological studies. Jaques Station, which is also in the Colonia system, has agreed to serve as the delivery point for this initiative.
Chief researcher Dr Roy Casimir outlined the requirements:
"There is still a huge amount to learn about the fascinating structures that grow within the vacuum of space. As our stock of specimens is running low, we require fresh tissue samples from living organisms to continue our experimentation programme."
"I appreciate that our facility is located a considerable distance from the core systems, but we're willing to offer generous reimbursement for those who make the journey."
Pilots are requested
Jan
…It seems like we've said it a lot this past year, but these are trying times. I know quite a few Wingnuts live in the DC area, including multiple members of the CIC Staff. We hope you're all staying safe out there tonight. It's never our intent to trivialize serious or stressful events, but hopefully you can find some much-needed distraction and comfort in our posts. Of course, there's always a Wing Commander angle to real life events, and the Terran Confederation is no stranger to assaults on Washington DC. The district is still the seat of power for humanity in the 27th Century, centered on the Hall of the Great Assembly adjacent to the old US Capitol building. You can learn more about civics in the WC universe in LOAF's wonderful article here.
The Legislative BranchThe Terran Confederation’s legislative branch is a unicameral body known as the Confederation Senate, the Congress, the General
Jan
…Here is some bad news that I totally missed at the time: the great prop maker Bill Pearson passed away back in March. Here's a quick summary of material covering his work on Wing Commander by ways of a tribute. First of all, a lot of this history is possible because Mr. Pearson maintained a wonderful online archive of his work. You can find hundreds and hundreds of pictures plus a two hour lecture covering the entirety of his career at his website here.
The Spaceshipper: Model maker Bill Pearson: Alien, Moon, Space Precinct, Wing Commander, Flash Gordon, Outland, Red Dwarf...
Production Designer Peter Lamont hired Bill Pearson to develop model spacecraft and a number of hero props based on his team's concept art for Wing Commander in 1998. Bill did the work in his UK studio and shipped it over to Luxembourg for the shoot. Let's look at some items!
He built this magnificent (and enormous) physical model
Jan
…The shipbuilding company Lakon Spaceways has officially accepted a bid for ownership from Federal corporation Core Dynamics.
The proposal from Core Dynamics CEO Jupiter Rochester was ratified following a majority vote by Lakon's board of directors, many of whom were recently appointed following resignations demanded by shareholders.
Trent Delaney, the new chairperson, confirmed the merger in a public statement:
"We are overjoyed that Lakon Spaceways will join the Core Dynamics family, thereby overturning the mistakes of the previous management and setting us on course for a bright future."
"The transfer of ownership will take another two months to formalise. In that time, it will be business as usual for the manufacture and sale of our ships."
The Federal Commerce Authority has approved the corporate takeover. However, the Independent Commission for Market Equality is still investigating
