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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Channel 07 has intercepted footage of a violent attack on three talk show hosts, broadcast live on several Imperial newsfeeds.
The show came to an abrupt halt after the three were apparently fired upon by an assailant who gained access to the enclosed set. The perpetrator managed to flee the building before security could intervene.
Details on the status of the victims have not been provided, but first responders to the scene found a digital calling card pinned to the host's dressing room door. Police have authorised the publication of the card's contents, which consists of a single word:
TFZIRQRL
The word is thought to be encoded by a text cipher. It is hoped that by sharing the text, members of the public will be able to identify the perpetrator's next move.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Adm_Maverick

has posted a status update for his scratch-built

papercraft

Tallahassee model. He showed off a few images to demonstrate what he's done lately, and this includes a nice resizing up to a significantly larger scale model. The blueprints for his new design are displayed right next to his previous generation cruiser. We can't wait to see the larger results! He's also previously used different color materials to show contrast during the construction phase, which are clearly very different than any scheme we'd ever seen in game, but I kind of like the funky colors. There's some potential for some very creative artistic license there!

So what am I doing? Well, I'm sort of starting over... kind of. As I mentioned previously I lost the file that had all the notes for scaling so I couldn't finish the last version of the model I was working on. Well, I decided to take the first steps and go big

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Adm_Maverick

has posted a status update for his scratch-built

papercraft

Tallahassee model. He showed off a few images to demonstrate what he's done lately, and this includes a nice resizing up to a significantly larger scale model. The blueprints for his new design are displayed right next to his previous generation cruiser. We can't wait to see the larger results! He's also previously used different color materials to show contrast during the construction phase, which are clearly very different than any scheme we'd ever seen in game, but I kind of like the funky colors. There's some potential for some very creative artistic license there!

So what am I doing? Well, I'm sort of starting over... kind of. As I mentioned previously I lost the file that had all the notes for scaling so I couldn't finish the last version of the model I was working on. Well, I decided to take the first steps and go big

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The

Maslas

Brothers

have revealed DefianceIndustries' awesome

Talon

in the Wing Commander

Flat Universe

engine. It looks great! Every angle reveals more beautiful detail. This is also a reminder and plug for the WCFU tournament coming up in two weeks.

Sign up

now to participate in the multiplayer extravaganza scheduled for June 23rd & 24th.

Are you a religious man? We've got you covered. The wait is OVER! The F-38R Talon is here with this... spread the word... of the Lord!

You gonna fly this baby on the tournament June 23rd /24th of June.

Enlist NOW and Die by the very weapons you adore!

the MaslasBros

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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We have a new poll today that asks about the many flavors of the

F-38 Talon

fighter. Some people may not be aware there's actually five distinct paint schemes out there. As the story goes, the corrupt Gemini Sector

Governor Menesch

illicitly sold untold numbers of the craft to rogue groups such as the

Church of Man

. This explains how commonplace they are in Privateer as well as why they're equally flown by both the local militia, Retros and random pirates. The model is also reused as the Kilrathi

Gratha

in Super Wing Commander. Finally, it shows up in Privateer 2 as an easter egg ship you race the Papagod clan to investigate. Which is your favorite to blow up?

They're listed in the graph as follows: 1: Unknown Ship (Privateer 2), 2: Gratha (Super Wing Commander), 3: Church of Man Talon (Privateer), 4: Militia Talon (Privateer), 5: Pirate Talon (Privateer)

The old poll shows we still have a ways to

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

I'm not a Wordle player, so I can't claim to understand what's going on here, but LOAF has this historical WC nugget to share with Wordist Wingnuts everywhere. Yesterday's word was 'Tangy', which is a term with some associated Wing Commander trivia to it!

Saturday everywhere! So Origin’s Wing Commander Secret Ops page in 1998 included this screenshot that got fans talking. Who was TANGY, a new NPC wingman or just what the guy taking the screenshots chose as a call sign?

Soon after I was invited to tour Origin! At one point my tour guide brought me into a plain cubicle and excitedly announced “I knew you’d want to meet Tangy!”. It turned out Tangy was a random marketing guy and they thought the community was obsessed with HIM for some reason.

Here is an actual photo from the trip. That is me and Neil Young (not Tangy). Despite appearances I am a seventeen year old high school senior here and not a Tintin

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Since social media these days is mostly just people identifying different kinds of tanks I got to thinking... I can do that, too! Here's a thread of tanks and other military ground vehicles from the Wing Commander universe.

The first tank we actually fight shows up in the ground missions in Wing Commander III. You're called to pick off these angular, quadruple-treaded Kilrathi tanks which have a dual mount laser turret.

The games' files also include a version which carries a missile launcher instead of a turret... unfortunately, NPC missile launchers were bugged and not fixed in time for the game to ship (this also killed a Confederation frigate).

The novel End Run describes an amphibious assault against the Kilrathi and mentions three fighting vehicles: the Confederation “M-77 light ground assault vehicle” (carried two to a landing craft), the Kilrathi “medium assault tank” and Confederation

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Taranis anomaly has arrived in Hyades Sector FB-N b7-6, triggering a ferocious wave of Thargoid attacks in the region.
Multiple inhabited systems are experiencing wide-scale invasions by countless numbers of Thargoid vessels, with casualties expected to number millions in the coming days. Several systems have already reported a complete loss of human control, with ports abandoned amid heavy losses.
The Alliance Defence Force and Federal Navy have responded by sending capital ships, which will support independent pilots and anti-xeno squadrons. Neither superpower has entered the Hyades Sector FB-N b7-6 system, from which the Thargoid fleets seem to be emanating.
There have been conflicting descriptions of the rogue signal source itself, which finally slowed to a halt after weeks of faster-than-light travel. Dr Remy Leroux, a xenologist working for Professor

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

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

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Aegis is preparing concerted attacks against Thargoid Titans using the new weapons now available at rescue megaships.
A successful delivery campaign brought in enough supplies of neofabric insulation, ion distributors and energy grid assemblies to mass-produce the Guardian nanite torpedoes. YZ Ceti Blue Galactic and Co, acting on Aegis's behalf, is distributing rewards and reimbursing bounty vouchers from Clement Orbital in the YZ Ceti system.
A press conference was held by Aegis leadership, including a statement from Professor Alba Tesreau:
"The Guardian nanite torpedo is our most important invention yet. Once again, we are utilising the advanced sciences of the Thargoids' ancient adversary. And once again, we are relying on pilots' skill and determination to face the Titans at close quarters."
"I am painfully aware that many abducted people are still in captivity

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we've got a really awesome physical Wing Commander model that popped up on YouTube. capi spotted the Tarsus from Privateer in an episode of Me, Myself and Die! The ship becomes the centerpiece of a game of Five Parsecs From Home. We see the host, Trevor Devall, play around the table and get really into the action. The game itself looks cool, but I can't get enough of that gorgeous ship! capi asked about its origin, and apparently a viewer of the show sent it in previously. What an awesome find!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

DefianceIndustries has a pretty sweet Tarsus in his lineup, but its high res nature doesn't lend itself to certain fan projects very readily. So in order to help the Freelancer port along, DI put together this medium res cargo ship, which still looks pretty great! L.I.F. managed to process the design in short order, so you can already see how it looks in the Freelancer engine below. It seems to fit in very well!

Sorry boys I'm just a tourist with a fragged nav console...

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here are a couple of fun treats from poking through an archive of Computer and Video Games magazines.

This review of Wing Commander SNES has a neat ship identification chart (where they've colored in the ships)!

Here's a June 1994 announcement for a Genesis port of Wing Commander II. It never made it out!

A Wing Commander III preview with some set photography and storyboards. Interesting what they imagined for Angel before Yolanda Jilot was cast!

Some new set photos from Privateer 2 back when it was just 'The Darkening'!

And finally some Wing Commander IV set photos being used to fill out an article about how Windows 95... exists?

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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The megaships Musashi and Heart of Taurus have entered the Synuefe CE-R c21-6 system to perform a mining-related research operation.
Taurus Mining Ventures is an independent mining corporation closely associated with Salvation. It has acted as his intermediary in recent months, directly supporting his efforts to combat the Thargoids.
Dr Ruben Carpenter, head of the company's research division, provided a statement:
"We have recorded some unusual radioactive signatures in the Synuefe CE-R c21-6 system. This has had a transformative effect on the molecular structure of certain naturally occurring substances."
"Our objective is to perform a detailed analysis of these irradiated materials and determine if they have value as mineable resources. Customised laboratories have been set up aboard both megaships, and work is already underway."
The Empirical, an independent journal aimed at the scientific

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Taurus Mining Ventures has requested help with a mining and delivery operation in the Synuefe CE-R c21-6 system.
In recent weeks, the mining corporation has performed research on what it claims are atypical radiation signatures detected within Synuefe CE-R c21-6. It now seeks shipments of the system's native ores to explore commercially valuable applications of any molecular changes caused by this radiation.
Dr Ruben Carpenter, head of the company's research division, outlined the initiative:
"I'm very excited to offer pilots this opportunity to support our scientific studies, which will hopefully prove lucrative for all involved. We require coltan, lithium hydroxide and methanol monohydrate crystal to be mined from locations within Synuefe CE-R c21-6 and delivered to the Heart of Taurus megaship."
"We will also pay for shipments of the same ores that have been mined

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
A corporate initiative to mine and deliver ores to the Synuefe CE-R c21-6 system has ended successfully.
Taurus Mining Ventures had performed scientific research within the system, claiming that the properties of some natural substances had been altered by an unknown type of local radiation.
The company's head of research Dr Ruben Carpenter announced:
"We now have sufficiently large quantities of coltan, lithium hydroxide and methanol monohydrate crystals mined from locations in Synuefe CE-R c21-6. These irradiated ores will be analysed to determine their potential commercial value. Samples that were provided from other systems will also be very useful in our comparative studies."
"To all the pilots who assisted in this endeavour: thank you! Your hard work is greatly appreciated. The Heart of Taurus megaship will remain in Synuefe CE-R c21-6 for several weeks, and

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Plans for a new mining initiative by Taurus Mining Ventures in the Synuefe CE-R c21-6 system have been announced.
The corporation's megaship Heart of Taurus has been conducting scientific studies on 'unusual radioactive signatures' within the system. The next phase of this work is to identify mineable resources to learn more about the radiation's effects.
Dr Ruben Carpenter, head of the Taurus Mining Ventures research division, provided an update:
"The source of the radiation found in Synuefe CE-R c21-6 has not yet been unidentified. But our team has theorised that naturally occurring ores in the system may have altered properties. If we are correct, that ore may have high commercial value once processed into usable metals and minerals."
A public statement was delivered by Commodore Morag Halloran:
"It is paramount that we maintain positive relations with the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It's been getting teased for months, and now Mac's lore video about the TCS Johnny Greene is here! Mac does an excellent job building up the ship and detailing its heroic efforts as detailed in the End Run substory, Milk Run. Along the way, we're treated to scene after gorgeous scene of Klavs' models in action. The narration is spot on, but all of the snazzy artwork would make this a dazzling video even with the sound off!

A battered old corvette gets called to perform a "Milk Run" recon job on a planet. What they find are suicidal odds against their survival and the means to turn the Kilrathi War around for Humanity.

Thanks to Heart of the Tiger for the tip!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The Wing Commander Gemini Sector crew continues to keep a busy schedule! The crew has added Friday night sessions that kick off at 10 pm Eastern time. They role play through a variety of social situations that the crew of a Confed warship might actually engage in on their downtime. There's also still plenty of Wing Commander action - here's a couple of their recent mission briefings! Join the fun via their Discord server.

The crew is exiting the Nitir system. They will try to give the civilians and ISS a fighting chance to survive.

Behind veils, the Kilrathi plot on their next move, as the crew of the TCS Majestic engage a task force threatening the planet Nitir.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

L.I.F has a proven record of bringing exciting fan projects to the community, and now he's launching into another adventure with the Minecraft-like From the Depths. His main objective is to recreate the TCS Victory. That's been done before in the original Minecraft, but this engine seems much more suited to actually building ships with an appropriate level of detail and functioning components. Just walking around the familiar parts of the ship sounds like a ton of fun, but there's a lot of potential to make this 'playable' and expand the interior into new areas we haven't seen before. We're looking forward to what he comes up with!

From The Depths is a pretty nifty voxel game (construction à la Minecraft) that is designed around building ships, submarines, aircraft and spaceships with armament, subsystems, sensors, etc., to have them fight. After building some other stuff, I've just started a