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GOG has lots of discounts tied to certain holidays, such as the Lunar New Year or summer, but this week GOG is kicking off a new event just dubbed The GOG Sale. To celebrate it being the end of August, 3500 games are marked down up to 90% off. Wing Commander is a part of this too, and fans benefit with 75% off. That means all DOS and Windows games are less than $12! Complete your collection via the links below!
Nov
…The culture of the generation ship Golconda has been examined by Professor Elizabeth Perez, head of anthropology at Orion Independent University.
"Little is known about the Golconda's origins. There are no intact records of its launch, and the lack of archived blueprints suggests a privately funded colonisation attempt. But there's no doubt this microcosm of 22nd Century society will have diverged over the past thousand years."
"The inhabitants' language is entirely comprehensible, however, and their social structure is recognisable. Rigid security measures are in evidence, as one would expect from an isolationist culture."
"We also know there is a custodian tasked with ensuring the community's wellbeing, and a chaplain who provides spiritual guidance. All signs point to contentment with – maybe even an addiction to – their spacefaring existence."
While audio messages recorded by the Golconda
May
…With the generation ship Golconda being repaired by the Artificers Clan, its former population are considering resuming their journey.
Commander Javi Alvarado, a local trader who befriended the Golcondans, offered this insight for Vox Galactica:
"Following a prompt from the Artificers Clan, I transported Captain Forester and other community leaders from Forester's Choice to the Golconda. They were visibly awed at the changes made to their ancient home, with modern interface panels and machinery expertly entwined with thousand-year-old technology."
"The newly installed frame shift drive was powered up, which brought Forester close to tears. We also visited the habitation rings, now sustained by updated environmental systems but otherwise unchanged."
"There were Artificers Clan members bustling back and forth. Each wore grime-stained overalls, criss-crossed with belts and bandoliers dangling
Jan
…"Either you're an earthworm or an eagle."
Launch Deck, BWS Intrepid.
Paladin: So here you are, an instructor. Not a general, or a senator. And you could have had everything.
Maverick: “Everything” means I keep flying. So if you ask me, I’ve got everything.
Paladin: I envy you, laddie. At times I wish I’d made the same choice myself. So, how’s that farm?
Maverick: <laughs> I’m not a farmer.
Maniac: I’m talking about rolling a bomber, not a fighter.
Newbie: You’re kidding!
Maverick: You know, of all people…
Maniac: I’m not enrolled in training!
Maverick: …Maniac taught me one thing.
Maniac: Wha– hey, pal. Uh, Senator. I– What? What?
Maverick: Well you said, “either you’re an earthworm or an eagle”.
Maniac: I said that?
Panther: Hey, Colonel! We’ve got a fresh batch of newbies to shake down.
Maverick: They can wait a bit. I think I’ll log some flyin’ time.
Maniac: Er, Senator, about…
Paladin: Maniac… shut up.
Mar
…
We've got some exciting news for this week! For years, LOAF has been talking about what it would take to live tweet the Wing Commander Movie exactly as it happens from March 15 to 17. Based on events in the film, we know exactly when most everything takes place over a fast-paced 48 hour period. But it wouldn't be enough just to tweet out 140/280 character snippets over that time. To truly do it justice, LOAF has carefully choreographed all of the events, quotes, script notes, notes from the novelization, diagrams, photos, concept art, video clips and much more to string together a magical two days in the life of Wing Commander. As an early preview, check out the introduction page for a sampling of what you get from the movie's beginning montage. Even this is a work in progress and more will be added as we go. So be sure to follow @WCCIC on Twitter and buckle in for an action-packed thrill ride!
Aug
Display MoreThe Alliance Festival of Culture enters its third week with a massive music festival in the Phekda system drawing thousands of attendees. Organisers are calling the event 'the greatest gig in the galaxy'.
Corinne Macintyre, cultural correspondent for The Alliance Tribune, reported:
"The programme is certainly diverse, encompassing everything from megastars like Spectacular Nemesis and Jade Graceland to up-and-comers such as The Lasting Hold."
"Meanwhile, for those whose knowledge of contemporary music stops with Mahler, the Topaz Philharmonic is one of several orchestras performing this week."
"But the big news is that legendary singer-songwriter Xiona is coming out of retirement for a special one-off performance."
The Alliance Festival of Culture will continue for a further four weeks.
Apr
…The Guardian has posted an interesting article on the
strangest start cameos in video games. It's an interesting lot. Even the bad cameos are fascinating in their own way. Mark Hamill is included on the list for Wing Commander 3, and both John Rhys-Davies and Malcolm McDowell are mentioned too. Wing Commander actors indirectly dominate the list as both John Hurt and Tim Curry are mentioned for their roles in Tender Loving Care and Command & Conquer 3. Hurt played Joe (Kane) the Bartender in Privateer 2 and Curry was the voice of Melek in Wing Commander 3. I'm very surprised Clive Owen didn't make this list! Check out the full article
here.
Mark Hamill – Wing Commander III: Heart of the TigerTen years after Return of the Jedi, “Luke Skywalker” Hamill made his onscreen video game debut in this science fiction epic from Origin Systems. Mixing interactive space battles with quaintly low-res
Feb
Here's a third smoking wallpaper by OliverInk. This time he's based the scene on Howard Day's fantastic Bengal model and set it in space over a nice blue planet. The piece is titled "Vega Sector" for obvious reasons, which means the planet could be the habitable world in Venice.
Jul
…*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Traces of a distress call from the Dedicant megaship have been detected in the LP 714-58 system.
Vice Admiral Amir Rafiq, a spokesperson for the Imperial Navy, broadcast an announcement on all public channels:
"An Imperial scout ship travelling through LP 714-58 has intercepted several fragmentary signals. Their identifying markers confirmed that they originated from the Dedicant. We believe there has been an encryption error in the system's communication beacons, which prevented the distress call from being rerouted to its intended destination in the Federation."
"Officially, the Imperial Navy no longer performs joint operations with our Federal counterparts. Nor do we involve ourselves in the activities of the illegal Far God cult. Nevertheless, we are sharing this information as a humanitarian gesture. Our hope is that this may aid a rescue mission for those
Sep
…
Piracy Is On The Rise
Across the UEE, piracy is on the rise. Interstellar larceny and shipjacking have become increasingly regular occurrences, and not just in fringe systems. More and more civilians are feeling the tightening grip of the spreading pirate threat as outlaws become more brazen and expand their operations into sectors once considered safe.
Due to this disturbing trend, the UEE is issuing a full crackdown. Until the pirate threat is neutralized, we’re rallying all would-be bushwhackers and DIY defenders of justice to lend a hand in taking down these freebooters, corsairs, and raiders across the ‘verse.
Call to Arrrms!
http:// http:// http://With interstellar crime at an all-time high, freebooters and scallywags everywhere have taken the ancient pseudo-holiday #TalkLikeAPirateDay as a sort of rallying point. That means the UEE has their hands full and they need you. Take to
Dec
We've got another vintage magazine review of Wing Commander III today... but this time, with a twist! This 'technical review' was printed in the June/July 1995 issue of Game Developer magazine, an industry publication which ran from the dawn of the multimedia age in 1994 all the way until 2013! This review doesn't just tell you how good the game is, it tells you how it works under the hood. And as an added bonus, it's actually written by Wayne Sikes, the man responsible for the beloved PREDIT Privateer editing tool.
The article also mentions an earlier feature on Pacific Strike's related file structure that had been printed in the December 1994 issue. This information is also likely of use to Wing Commander III modders and so we've reproduced it below:
Jan
…
We're delighted to announce that the January Release has been successfully deployed!
The January Release focuses on a number of fixes, as well as Improvements to The Agency and Forward Operating Bases, and a rework of the ammunition reloading system.
This release also includes more work to bring better graphics and textures to deadspace areas in missions, with more updates to textures and shaders on a large number of deadspace objects.
Check out EVE Updates for a high level overview of what's coming with this release. Patch notes are now available via EVE Updates and the Community Portal.
Feedback
We'd love to hear your feedback on the January Release. Take a look at the following threads on the official forums where you can share your thoughts and report any issues you've encountered:
Oct
…Hailing all Captains! We are pleased to announce a sale on Lifetime Subscriptions from now October 24th at 8am PT to November 21st at 10am PT, bringing the price down by $100 to $199.99! Now is the perfect time to pick up a Lifetime Subscription to STO! And with the brand new Jem'Hadar rewards, we're announcing a 25% off sale on the following Jem'Hadar items from October 24th at 8am PT to October 28th at 10am PT: Gamma Vanguard Pack Gamma Vanguard Starter Pack Jem'hadar Vanguard Species T6 Jem'Hadar Vanguard Heavy Raider T6 Jem'Hadar Vanguard Dreadnought Cruiser T6 Jem'Hadar Vanguard Warship T6 Jem'Hadar Vanguard Carrier T6 Jem'Hadar Temporal Vanguard Warship Jem'Hadar Tactical Uniform Jem'Hadar EV Suit Enjoy all the rewards that come with being a Lifetime Subscriber. With exclusive species unlocks like playable Talaxian Species, instant access to all Lifetime Rewards, there are
Oct
…Hailing all Captains! We are pleased to announce a sale on Lifetime Subscriptions from now October 24th at 8am PT to November 21st at 10am PT, bringing the price down by $100 to $199.99! Now is the perfect time to pick up a Lifetime Subscription to STO! And with the brand new Jem'Hadar rewards, we're announcing a 25% off sale on the following Jem'Hadar items from October 24th at 8am PT to October 28th at 10am PT: Gamma Vanguard Pack Gamma Vanguard Starter Pack Jem'hadar Vanguard Species T6 Jem'Hadar Vanguard Heavy Raider T6 Jem'Hadar Vanguard Dreadnought Cruiser T6 Jem'Hadar Vanguard Warship T6 Jem'Hadar Vanguard Carrier T6 Jem'Hadar Temporal Vanguard Warship Jem'Hadar Tactical Uniform Jem'Hadar EV Suit Enjoy all the rewards that come with being a Lifetime Subscriber. With exclusive species unlocks like playable Talaxian Species, instant access to all Lifetime Rewards, there are
Sep
…A special tribunal of the Federal Navy Criminal Court has deliberated the case of former admiral Aden Tanner and made a final decision.
The following press release was released to all Federal newsfeeds:
"This tribunal has scrutinised the latest evidence supplied by the Federal Attorney's Office. We find that the analysis of Salvation's superweapons does indeed substantiate Mr Tanner's allegation that they were designed to provoke a hostile response from the Thargoids. Azimuth Biotech has been unable to verify that its claimed 'anti-xeno detection network' exists, explaining that most of Salvation's advanced designs were not widely shared within the corporation."
"Nevertheless, regardless of motive or moral justification, Mr Tanner directly disobeyed orders when the Musashi staged an assault on Hind Mine in the T Tauri system. It is therefore our judgement that the court martial verdict on the
Sep
…The universe we enjoy today isn’t the only one, not by a long shot. Our nearest neighbor, the ever-belligerent so-called ‘Mirror Universe’, is just one of countless roads spanning a cosmic tree of probability vast beyond imagining. From time to time, a new branch sprouts and the timeline forks again. Rarer still are the times those branches remerge, as they did with the U.S.S. Kelvin. Official contact with this universe, colloquially known as the Kelvin timeline, has been extremely limited. Nevertheless, some artifacts from that temporal neighbor have found their way into our neck of the woods. Alternate histories are an ever-present “what if” in science fiction. Appropriately enough, they tend not to be major cultural pillars, nor are they ever entirely escapable. As we look forward to what changes in society new technology might bring, we are wise to recall how our new normal was just one
Sep
…The universe we enjoy today isn’t the only one, not by a long shot. Our nearest neighbor, the ever-belligerent so-called ‘Mirror Universe’, is just one of countless roads spanning a cosmic tree of probability vast beyond imagining. From time to time, a new branch sprouts and the timeline forks again. Rarer still are the times those branches remerge, as they did with the U.S.S. Kelvin. Official contact with this universe, colloquially known as the Kelvin timeline, has been extremely limited. Nevertheless, some artifacts from that temporal neighbor have found their way into our neck of the woods. Alternate histories are an ever-present “what if” in science fiction. Appropriately enough, they tend not to be major cultural pillars, nor are they ever entirely escapable. As we look forward to what changes in society new technology might bring, we are wise to recall how our new normal was just one
Jan
…JAYCE’S NAVY INTERSTELLAR SPECIAL BULLETIN STARDATE 87971.0 KHITOMER ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES NEW COMBINED SERVICE Today, the Secretary for the Federation Starfleet, the Grand Dahar Master of the Klingon Imperial Fleet, and the Admiral of the Romulan Republic Fleet jointly announced the formation of a new ‘Allied Fleet Service .’ This combined service formalizes the strides made in cross-naval cooperation since the end of the Iconian War. An impossible dream just years ago, the AFS hopes to harness the best personnel and technologies from all corners of the Khitomer Alliance to build an organization dedicated to the mutual defense of its member states. Building a new navy from a combination of such diverse cultural traditions has been a complex challenge for the admiralties of each nation, but a variety of exchange programs, inter-fleet exercises, and external challenges has motivated a
May
agiar2000 posted a neat video of what happens at the end of the TrainSim in Wing Commander 1. Everyone plays at least one short-lived round just prior to Enyo 1, but a lot of pilots never go back. There's a high score board you can place on, but you can also get to the end after four missions. Running through them all nets a score of more than one million points, which would put someone in first place with plenty of room to spare!
The clip should start at 9:30 so you can see the happy conclusion.
Did you know that it is possible to win in the training simulator in the 1990 DOS game "Wing Commander"? I didn't until I accomplished it. I only recorded the last 10 minutes because I was using a 10-minute "instant replay" recording feature that constantly records a rolling 10-minutes.
Nov
…*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Kingfisher megaship has requested supplies for its planned journey to greet the first rogue signal source.
Shipments of basic medicines, fruit and vegetables are required for the Kingfisher's crew, who will be joined by over 3,000 supporters of the Thargoid Advocacy Project. Semiconductors and Muon Imagers have also been requested to establish the mission's communications arrays, which are being designed to initiate contact with the Thargoids.
Congressman Dalton Chase gave a press statement regarding the initiative:
"Now that we know the approaching anomalies are Thargoid, many are concerned that hostilities between our species will escalate. However, a brave group of volunteers see this as an opportunity to prove that diplomacy can work. An alien race has sent emissaries toward humanity's space, and it is our duty to meet them with words rather than weapons."
