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We've been collecting votes for the last several weeks, and the winners of our annual Fan Project of the Year contest have become pretty clear!

It may come as little surprise, but we have a quite definitive first place choice for 2022. With a commanding lead in our polling, the WC4 Remastered project wins as our Fan Project of the Year! Congratulations to the team! If you haven't given it a spin year, you can still try out the playable demo. The project has generated quite a bit of excitement lately, and we can't wait to see what's in store for 2023!

As wonderful as our winner is, we had a whole slate of creative endeavors to choose from. Each one earned votes based on their own merits, and all are deserving of high praise thanks to their efforts to keep the WC community engaged and vibrant for another year. Two options bubbled up to the top and rank as our co-runners up this year.

The first is

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Princess Aisling Duval's call for the Empire to commit to a resumed Aegis project, alongside the Alliance and Federation, has received a harsh response.
Admiral Denton Patreus was approached for comment by the Eye on Achenar newsfeed:
"We all have our part to play in the Empire, but questioning military policy is hardly within a princess's remit. I would humbly suggest that Her Highness focuses on those areas where she excels: charity work, hosting parties, advocating the wellbeing of the citizens and so forth."
A similar viewpoint was expressed by Senator Zemina Torval, who simply remarked: "Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but there was a time when attempting to challenge the Emperor's decree was viewed as an insult to the throne."
Hadrian Augustus Duval's response was less confrontational but clear: "I firmly believe that non-collaboration is the best direction for the Empire, and respectfully

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Today we've got a glorious (4K!) wallpaper by Mac, of recent fan project fame. It's lit by an enormous explosion that highlights some immaculate texturing. Mac reveals that the reason we're looking at this particular view is because the underside isn't complete yet, but we'll take it!

Nothing makes for prettier fireworks then an exploding Kilrathi naval starbase as Admiral Tolwyn & Chris Blair will attest to. Good god, look at how pretty Hangar_B's Concordia is by the light of thousands of burning Kilrathi.

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Here's a throwback to a classic issue of Nintendo Power magazine. It comes from Issue 60 in May of 1994. I used to absolutely love the Classified Information section with things like cheat codes and passwords. This one is specifically for The Secret Missions. Press the Left and Right bumpers, plus Select and Start, on the second controller while on the title screen. Then press start on the first controller, and you'll go to the debug menu. This lets you pick what mission you want to play, turn on invincibility or play with the game sounds. You can do the same thing with the original SNES Wing Commander by typing "B, A, B, Y, B, Y, L, A, R, A" at the title screen and then pressing start.

I've previously expressed mixed feelings about mag scans going into YouTube videos, but I happened to see this one through a Video Games Magazine clip, which is pretty neat!

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*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The class 3 experimental weapon stabiliser is now available following Azimuth Biotech's delivery initiative in LHS 1163.
The corporation's PR division confirmed the release of its new product in a press release:
"This variant of Azimuth's experimental weapons stabiliser is now widely available for purchase. By redirecting and absorbing internal stresses, it allows a ship to carry a total of five AX weapons rather than the previous limit of four. The class 5 variant of the stabiliser, which permits two additional AX weapons, is scheduled to reach the market next week."
"Our manufacturing partners were able to begin this rapid production cycle thanks to receiving great quantities of meta-alloys, insulating membranes, HN shock mounts and beryllium. Pilots who delivered these materials can now collect their rewards from the Glorious Prospect megaship in the LHS 1163

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On the left we have a pre-release Privateer 2 screenshot published in the December 1996 issue of PC Review, seemingly from a review build. On the right, the same wingman listing for Delphinius from the finished game.

What does this tell us? Someone very, very late in the process decided to remove a SPACE FIGHTER PILOT PORPOISE from the game's lore. The final version is such a weird joke, too... it almost feels like it was written to cover up a bug but... Delphinius is just a normal wingman?

Of course, we all know the Wing Commander universe has always been very, very careful to avoid borrowing anything from Larry Niven's Known Space.

I wanted to make sure I was right about Delphinius being a normally skilled wingman, so I hired him and there we go, he's happily battling a pirate.

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*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
An improved xeno scanner has been released to assist combat vessels engaged in anti-xeno operations.
Following increased calls from AX pilots that the existing xeno scanner's limited range was a hindrance, Professor Palin's team at Arque Laboratory delivered a redesign to manufacturers that extends the scanner's upper range to two kilometres.
Industrial complexes have worked overtime to distribute the latest model of xeno scanner. It is now available from military, high-tech and industrial planetary bases, as well as rescue megaships.

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*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Kumo Crew syndicate has rallied in the California Nebula to repel the region's Thargoid invasion forces.
In recent weeks Thargoid fleets swarmed through several local systems. The Kumo Council, the enclave's authority for the notorious organisation, rapidly called in reinforcements in three systems it governs. Local security forces are now organising counter-attacks against Thargoid vessels.
Archon Delaine, warlord of the Kumo Crew, announced:
"Already the war has reached the California Nebula. But are any superpower navies racing to its defence? Of course not – the Alliance considers this colony expendable. It's down to us to protect the nebula's citizens, and will do whatever it takes to succeed."
The Pegasi Sentinel newsfeed published a request for populations not to impede Kumo Crew activity, suggesting that fleet mobilisation is 'a temporary measure to

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Today we've got a pair of compilation videos by Michael Jean that showcase the European boxes of the Wing Commander series. It's pretty simple, but it's a nice change of pace if you're used to boxes from other regions. I do appreciate the charm of just recording a parade of Wing Commander like this. It's a nice and thorough rundown too with games like Academy, Armada and Privateer 2!

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Something from Privateer I never noticed before: the Blockade Point Alpha system is totally redone for Righteous Fire! So I got to wondering what else might be different...

...so I extracted the game's SECTOR files, diff'd them and learned how Privateer handles its random encounters (thanks greatly to the Playtester's Guide!). Here's a Google Doc with all the changes. Most of these are tiny changes to encounter tables in systems you play missions in, all of which are intended to make your life harder: more chances of Retros and Kilrathi, fewer Confed and Militia forces.

I also found that there's a "Test Bed" system still in the game but not connected to the rest of the map (no jump points). Crazy! It has an encounter table that can spawn any of the regular ships. I added it as the appendix to the doc linked above.

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LAZY SATURDAY SPACESHIP POST! I thought it might be fun to sort of roughly compare the Wing Commander Academy ships that originated in Wing Commander 2 with their original meshes. And you know what? It was fun! The Sartha:

The Kilrathi Jalkehi heavy fighter, which appears in a single episode! (Word of Honor)

The furball Grikath bomber, a series regular:

And the Kamekh corvette! The coloring is a little more like the all-tan Privateer version (which was the same mesh retextured).

On the Confed side, we've got the Ferret. This appears in only one episode BUT somewhere there existed an unseen toy prototype of it, the only one made for the series. Wish I knew more!

The Epee medium fighter. This one shows up a few times on the show but it always seems like it didn't get a fully fleshed out model sheet...

... which is also the case with the Sabre, which actually looks like a different design in its two

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Admiral Aden Tanner has formally resigned his commission with the Federal Navy, mere weeks after a presidential pardon overturned his court martial.
He had returned to naval service following an executive order from President Zachary Hudson. But this unexpected resignation means he is no longer a member of the military, although he retains the honorific of 'admiral'.
Admiral Tanner released a personal statement, which was published by The Federal Times:
"I must begin by expressing my gratitude to President Hudson, and thank all those who supported my actions in the T Tauri system. History has proven that Salvation was willing to sacrifice millions of lives in his personal vendetta against the Thargoids, and we are suffering the after-effects of that obsession today."
"The Federal Navy was once my home, but my disillusionment has grown over recent years. Politics and commercial influences hold

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We've got a couple of very nice new updates to a pair of Klavs' WC2-era models. The Sabre that he's been working on this year has gotten a revamped TCS Tarawa texture with nods to the events of End Run. There's also an all new take on the Ferret, which you can tell is the P-64D Super Ferret variant thanks to the pair of heat seeking missiles. It gets a similar new livery to the Sabre based around the In-System Security paint scheme. The Sabre may win out on specs, but the Ferret sure is powerful for its size!

New livery for the Sabre! And some work on a reduxx'd Ferret!

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Princess Aisling Duval met with Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval in person to discuss an Imperial contribution to the reformation of Aegis.
The Imperial Herald's political journalist Cassia Carvalho reported on events:
"Aisling Duval's arrival at the Imperial Palace was completely unexpected, according to several dignitaries whose appointed meetings with the Emperor were abruptly cancelled. One senatorial aide described how the princess 'burst into the throne room so suddenly that I'm surprised the Imperial Guard didn't shoot her'."
"Despite visible irritation, Emperor Arissa acceded to Princess Aisling's demand for urgent talks. The two royals held a private conversation behind closed doors for many hours. I heard claims of raised voices at one stage, but nobody was willing to go on record to confirm this."
"Eventually, Her Majesty call for the media to assemble, which we did eagerly. The Emperor

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LOAF and the team are busy working on Privateer-themed projects over on the CIC Discord server, and that inspired me to share a quick comparison that some players might have overlooked. Everyone loves the Privateer intro. It's memorable, action-packed and showcases the cutting edge of 1993 multimedia prowess. "Who are you that flies so good!? Are you insane?!" And you can probably imagine Brownhair's quips as he cruises around the asteroid belt in his Tarsus, but did you know there are two different voiceover tracks? The original 3.5" disks had an intro with spoken dialogue recorded by local talent. When the game's speech was fully recorded for the CD edition, a new voice actor was brought in to read everything, including the intro. You can compare the two side-by-side below! The disk version is first and CD second:

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*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

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Last month, we reported that Supercade was planning to manage a crowd funding campaign for a vinyl release of George Oldziey's Wing Commander Orchestral Recording Project. Now, it seems like the launch is imminent as Supercade author Van Burnham has just tweeted:

Just a heads up that the preorder campaign for Supercade’s first soundtrack release is launching SOON… a deluxe vinyl edition of the Wing Commander orchestral score by composer George Oldziey. So excited to share more details!#wingcommander #videogamesoundtrack #vinylcollector pic.twitter.com/DOWHWtyuZc

— Van Burnham (@supercade71) February 1, 2023

There's no additional information yet but we'll let you know the moment it's available. If you are curious about the promotional screenshot, it's actually from a Wing Commander Academy mod developed by HCl that adds a Hellcat V to the game! Want to try it for yourself? You can download te patch here.

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I’m working on a Righteous Fire walkthrough and while playing the last missions I noticed the Elite Salthi were firing fusion guns. But my increasingly old man memory was sure the big reveal was that they fired copies of the Steltek Gun. Was I misremembering because there’s dialogue about the gun being copied? I watched a dozen YouTube videos and they were all fusion guns. Huh!

Then I realized: I first played the expansion when it was released on disk in early 1994, just a few months before the CD-ROM came out and that became the de facto version of Privateer. Could there have been an intentional change? I installed the floppy version from disk images and… sure enough!

WHY? It’s not an accident as the Dralthi uses fusions in both versions. I’m guessing the support folks were sick of people asking how to get the gun back and decided not to tease players. Too bad, as it was a distinct enough moment

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*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Kumo Crew is marshalling the defence of the California Nebula by offering rewards for eliminating Thargoid vessels.
The Kumo Council, the syndicate's ruling body, assumed control of several systems that were recently invaded by Thargoid fleets. Independent pilots have been asked to take part in anti-xeno initiatives within the region, which are being coordinated from The Mictlan megaship.
Harrison Gladstone of the Turner Research Group, which represents the Alliance in the California Nebula, made a formal protest:
"We are not happy about defence initiatives being funded by a ruthless criminal gang. These pirates are using the Thargoid attacks to expand their illegal activity, thus jeopardising our faction's scientific and commercial interests. Several of our ports in the area are now under Kumo Crew 'emergency protections', as they've termed it. This is an