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Good Old Games' winter sale may have come to an end, but their winter classics sale is just beginning! Wing Commander is as classic as good old games can be, and they've been marked down 75% accordingly. That means the whole main DOS/Windows series clocks in at less than $12! Round out your collection with the links below!
Sep
…Today we've got a wonderful pile of old reviews from Maxi de Sokar. First up is a WC2 from the Spanish OKPC magazine. They give it a solid 85% and comes with lots of gorgeous screenshots. There's also a Special Operations preview, and although it's short, it packs in tons of great little references that really date game development to the era (1991-1992). Then we shift gears into a PC Review review of WC Academy. The game only gets 5 (out of 10, I suppose), but they had enough to talk about to fill a two page article. We often point out that there was genuine demand for something like this and it filled a niche that was pretty unique back in the day. With all that being said, the same author returns to review Wing Commander Privateer... and he also gave it a 5/10! So maybe that says something more about him than the game. In the end, I guess I'm not mad about Academy being rated on the same
May
Dennis Mull came across a hardware setup from the mid '90s that's a pretty neat time capsule of the era. The Quickshot "Squadron Commander" QS-202 is a very early example of a Hands-On Throttle And Stick (HOTAS). Lots of joysticks at the time were sold as "compatible with Wing Commander," and this one includes pre-programmed controls for Wing Commander, Wing Commander 3 and Strike Commander. Given the rapid pace of PC advancement during that time, it's pretty cool that you could regularly find equipment that worked with all of these games. The box even advertises Windows 95 compatibility. And there's lots of other titles besides the WC series listed on the box, which gives you an idea of how popular the flight sim genre was at the time. TheSynrgy also put together a cool unboxing of the unit if you'd like to see more!
Nov
…Does anyone out there use Classic Gaming Arena? We've seen it come through Anatoly Shashkin's DOS Nostalgic feed in the past, and it supports DOSBox and Wing Commander Armada's IPXNet/NetBIOS protocols. Looks like it's another great option to get some online dogfights (or sector-wide domination) going. They have detailed instructions on how to get things set up here. Stop by the #Wingnut Discord if you're looking for fellow pilots to compete against!
Classic Gaming Arena is a website based portal to link up with friends, family or just random people to play DOS based IPX network games over the Internet via the use of DOSBox and out small client program, the CGA Client. The CGA Client is installed locally and the website uses it to launch DOSBox and get you connected to your networked game. The website essentially passes off all the required information about the game you want to launch and the
Oct
Today we’ve got a neat comparison article courtesy of the X-Wing Game Series Twitter account. It comes from the German GameStar magazine in August 1998. In this matchup, we see Wing Commander Prophecy’s key features up against Freespace and X-Wing versus Tie Fighter. Although the publication is clearly a fan of all three, WCP narrowly takes the top spot. They credit its gorgeous graphics and convincing flight mode, but are disappointed at the lack of multiplayer. I usually let alternate language scans stand on their, but I also ran this one through a translator with pretty decent results. This was such an exciting time to be a space sim fan!
Aug
Out of Print Archive has posted another vintage Wing Commander scan, and this one's a beauty! It dates back to the May 1993 issue of CVG in the UK where they highlight the Super Nintendo release of WC1. The graphics design here is wonderful. It features solid blue tones, "high tech" beveled thumbnails and plenty of caution striping. As was common at the time, we get a cockpit overview, missile rundown and fighter identification chart. I would have loved this as a 13-year old. A really cool review!
Jul
…A children's entertainment show that achieved great popularity 40 years ago is being remade for modern audiences.
The animated programme, which featured spacefaring camel-like lifeforms from another galaxy, was titled Andromedaries. After many years, its devoted fanbase has raised funding for an independent entertainment company to purchase the rights.
A press release from Blackshadow Productions stated:
"This new incarnation of Andromedaries will delight fans both old and new. We'll be going on a dark, blood-soaked journey of psychological discovery, showcasing all the trials and pressures of intergalactic travel."
Vienna Langhorne, the creator and head writer of the original show, commented:
"It's about camels in space, for goodness' sake! What are these morons doing to it?"
Ogden Smith, president of the Andromedaries Superlative Society, told the media:
"With all due respect to Vienna
Oct
LOAF dug up a vintagel ad from issue #6 of The Duelist magazine. We've seen several takes on this same ad before, and it's centered on the key WC3 art, so no real surprises, but I wanted to pause and highlight the "Coming in August" part. This was long before most people were online, so print mags like this would have been how many Wing Commander fans found out that their favorite video game was getting a CCG. Can you imagine flipping to that page in 1995? So much exciting potential on the horizon! With that being said, there's still a lot of you out there on the fence about starting a CCG collection. I highly recommend it! eBay is your best bet for that first box, and then start here to trade with fellow fans. You can also learn everything there is to know about the game in our recently expanded WCPedia article! (Including this phenomenal post-launch ad.)
Jul
Game Magazine Print Ads& RetroMags spotted a really cool page from the January 1995 edition of Next Generation magazine, which would have been on store shelves right when Wing Commander 3 debuted in December 1994. The core art is similar to the general
WC3 sell sheetwith some slightly tweaked screenshots. The big focus though is that this is an ad for the Premiere Edition. A similar
big boxededition entered the retail stream via Sam's Club, but the most prime version was just available through EA. You had to know about it to place an order, and a limited number of ads like this was the communications plan to let fans know it existed!
Feb
…*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Azimuth Biotech has commercially launched a new module that allows two additional AX weapons to be added to large ships.
The experimental weapons stabiliser increases the number of AX weapons which can be installed on a ship. The class 3 variant released last week increases the limit to five, whereas the class 5 variant released yesterday increases it to six.
Both versions entered mass production following Azimuth Biotech's highly successful resource drive in the LHS 1163 system. CEO Torben Rademaker issued a statement to accompany the product launch:
"Our proprietary technology has bypassed the inherent design flaws of Aegis's AX weaponry. The experimental weapons stabiliser will play a vital role in the ongoing defence of the core systems."
"I can only assume that the current chatter about reforming Aegis is due to misplaced nostalgia. How quickly people forget
Jun
Clans play a very big role in Freelancer. So they do for Crossfire. Clans often keep the roleplay running or initiate new roleplay situations. They help new players and those which belong to their members. In other words "they are important". It is time to give something back to them.
Feb
…There’s a question that Starfleet Admirals ask themselves every single day. “I have a massive fleet of ships at my command,” they say, “I can send them on missions. And if I’d like, I can send them to my coworkers and friends for them to send on missions. This is a great system! But why, oh why, does Starfleet force my friends and coworkers to claim every single one of these ships one at a time? Surely, there’s a more efficient process!” There is, and it’s happening starting tomorrow on PC, and soon on Xbox One and Playstation 4. When you create a new alt, or simply want to claim all of your Admiralty Ships on an existing alt, all you’ll have to do to talk to the Ship Selector contact at any social zone. At that point, nearly all of your Admiralty Cards will be automatically added to your character, and you can use them in the Admiralty System immediately. There’s a few ships
Jan
…It’s almost time for our 10th Anniversary Celebration to begin, and today is a very special day in the Star Trek fandom. Today, Captain Jean Luc Picard returns to the screen, after eighteen long years away. We want to celebrate this moment with you, Captains, which is why we’re releasing the uniform of 2399 – the year Star Trek: Picard is set in – to you, for free, right now. Just log into the game to claim your prize. This will be available for a limited time, and we’ll let you know in advance when it’s going away. The uniform also comes from a brand new Combadge for 2399 Starfleet officers. Outfit your Captains and your bridge officers, and take to the stars in honor of this brand new era of Star Trek. This is only the first of our tenth anniversary giveaways – stay tuned for more to come. .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(
Oct
Photos of CitizenCon 2948 attendees on the Dragonfly.
Apr
…
On Wednesday, October 10th, we invite you to join us at the Long Center, in Austin, Texas, for a full day of presentations and interactions, exploring the current and future developments in Star Citizen and Squadron 42.
Building off your favorite elements from last year’s event, and taking advantage of everything the venue has to offer, we are excited to bring the event back to where CitizenCon began!
Ticket Details
CitizenCon 2948 will be held on Wednesday October 10th, 2018 at the Long Center in Austin:
701 W. Riverside Drive
Austin, TX 78704See a live presentation from Chris Roberts, and meet the team behind the game. We’ll also have plenty of activities and demonstrations around the venue, throughout the day to keep you entertained.
This year we will be offering two ticket types: Standard Access for $87 and Premium Access for $130 (prices include local sales tax). Premium ticket holders will
Apr
…
Wave one ticket sales have ended. Stay tuned for details about the event and further opportunities to purchase tickets.
http://On Wednesday, October 10th, we invite you to join us at the Long Center, in Austin, Texas, for a full day of presentations and interactions, exploring the current and future developments in Star Citizen and Squadron 42.
Building off your favorite elements from last year’s event, and taking advantage of everything the venue has to offer, we are excited to bring the event back to where CitizenCon began!
Event Details
CitizenCon 2948 will be held on Wednesday October 10th, 2018 at the Long Center in Austin:
701 W. Riverside Drive
Austin, TX 78704
See a live presentation from Chris Roberts, and meet the team behind the game. We’ll also have plenty of activities and demonstrations around the venue, throughout the day to keep you entertained.
- Frequently Asked
Sep
…Sorry for the sudden notice, but we need to announce a delay in tomorrow's Wing Commander CIC Birthday Party. Due to an emergent medical issue, the event will be moved out at least a week. We'll be sure to confirm details when we can firm up the new date. Thanks to everyone for being so flexible on this! On the bright side, we've reached out to a few of the Wingnuts who have been diligently prepping material for the event, and it sounds like the extra time will help them put some extra polish on a few things.
With that being said, tomorrow is still the actual 30th birthday of the Wing Commander series! Since we're always celebrating the franchise in #Wingnut on Discord every single day, you're more than welcome to drop in and commemorate the date with us! We just won't have a formal agenda or fancy front page slate tomorrow.
It's also great to see other places are starting to get in the mood as
Aug
Eagle-eyed visitors may have spotted that our logo looks a little bit sharper today. We've made a
double resolutionversion available to supporting browsers. The leap in quality isn't quite as large as when the logo was
recreatedfrom scratch with WC4DVD footage, but it's a noticeable upgrade on high dpi screens nonetheless. Below you can see how today's logo compares to the original from 1998. The CIC itself has gone through a few page design iterations over our long history. We posted an overview for last year's anniversary
here.
Aug
…There's a joke in there about being old enough to need reading glasses these days, but these are the drinking kind! Back for our sixth birthday in 2004, we had a fun batch of clear tumblers with a Confed logo printed up as door prizes. They were a big hit, and we continue to get frequent questions about whether they are still available. Here's our second edition, which are now full pint size. And we'll be giving them out at the birthday party live on Discord! Our graphical skills are a bit rusty, so thanks to Defiance Industries for making sure our Confed star is on point.
We don't encourage anyone to buy these and we make no money whatsoever on them, but we are sharing the Zazzle link to anyone who might be interested in getting their own. It looks like they're about $15 normally, but there is a 20% off sale this weekend that brings the price down to about $12. If you do pick one up, send us a
Aug
…
One of the less visible - but perhaps most important - updates we have this year is a massive server upgrade. The previously dedicated hardware and connection date back to early 2014 and were starting to show their age. KrisV has been laboring nonstop over the past couple weeks to get the CIC moved over to a brand new host and system. Individual elements have been briefly brought down and restored nightly, and the disruption has probably gone unnoticed by almost everyone.
The highlights are listed below, but the net effect is that the end user capability is some ten times as powerful in the areas that count hardware-wise. The operating system side has also seen a nice boost, which supports general web browsing plus services like the Forums and Wiki. It's hard to convey just how critical this kind of maintenance is, but we couldn't keep the CIC going without all of Kris' technical expertise in this
