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Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

As part of our upcoming content release, from June 30th to July 30th, PC Captains playing Star Trek Online will have access to a special event. We want to give you the details now to prepare – but the name of this event might be a bit of a spoiler, so we'll have to hold that back.This new event will provide participating Captains with an epic reward: The Red Angel Suit. Read on to find out more about the event and its rewards. Event Progress Participating in this event grants daily progress towards the Grand Prize: The Red Angel Suit. Obtaining the Red Angel suit requires 40 daily progress, and Captains can earn two daily progress per day by playing any of the following content: Two Brand New Episodes (2 Points Each) New Task Force Operation: Best Served Cold (2 Points) Three New Patrols (1 Point Each) Clash Above Ceron Strike at Seedea Trouble over Terrh Once the player

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The new Flag Commander update with realistic starscape backgrounds is live! As we mentioned last month,

L.I.F.

got some neat skybox software and has been carefully adding cool scenes to the

Homeworld Remastered

mod. Grab the update with the pretty backgrounds

here

. Here's some gorgeous examples and creative flavor text!

The Concordia wasn't exactly the first ship I'd have thought about when it came to pull a gut punch like this one, but I was a pilot, not a brass, so there I was, flying escort in my trusty Sabre. Sure, we were going to be cut off from reinforcements or easy retreat, but the Cats wouldn't see us coming, if Intel didn't mess up too much on that one.

It was a long shot that ultimately paid off big, since I'm able to write about it now. A science officer briefed us about some strange astrogation phenomenon that involved a couple of jump points in interstellar space that somehow got

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

CountvonSchnaps has a new sketch: a wonderful Tallahassee class cruiser like the TCS Coventry in WC3. I really like what he's done with colors, paneling and detail across the hull. It adds some rich character! He originally drew a Southampton destroyer, which we highlighted last year. I missed the cruiser addition until Dragon1 pointed it out this week, but I'm happy to be able to share both now!

A redesign (slightly) of a cruiser featured in Wing Commander 3 and 4: the Tallahassee Class cruiser. Sporting 11 turrets (2x dual barrel heavy antimatter turrets, 1 x dual barrel tachyon gun turret and 8 laser cannons) it also has a front mounted axial gauss cannon and a torpedo/missile launcher. Similar to the Southampton it has a hangar bay located at the back which can house a full wing of fighter; typically, 4 Arrow light fighters and a shuttle.

It is fun to make ships like these, in a sketchy and

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

DefianceIndustries

has debuted his Bearcat, and it's a beauty! Wingnuts overall have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the heavy fighter, but I've always been a fan. I love the aggressive stance from the head on perspective as well as the substantial engine cluster. It's hard to have a conversation about the ship without dragging in discussion about its wide-spaced guns, but they sure look cool. We really don't get to play with the ships nearly enough, and if we ever got a game where the Bearcat got more play time, it'd probably have a different gun loadout with better beam convergence anyhow.

Oh speaking of Bearcats...

This is oddly one of my favorite Confed designs, it's clearly an evolution of the Hellcat but there's some definite Excalibur influence as well. Also on paper, it's actually quite a nice fighter; she's fast, nimble, and has better shields and armor than her big sister. About

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Welcome to your final year at Starfleet Academy, Cadets. With the looming Klingon war, and so much to discover out in the universe, it’s set to be a busy one. We here at the Starfleet Academy Yearbook Association know that you've got a lot of responsibilities, but we want to let you know that we’re still producing your senior yearbook, and we want to know how you’re doing no matter where or when your journey into the Final Frontier takes you! From October 9th, 2018 to midnight on November 6th, 2018, we’re holding a screenshot contest! Take a screenshot with an Age of Discovery character, and send it along to us at community@crypticstudios.com, with the subject line “Yearbook Screenshot Contest”. Every Tuesday, we’ll produce a brand new Yearbook page from the Starfleet Academy Yearbook, starring your characters! If your screenshot is picked to be a part of it, you’ll earn one of five brand

Quote from Mass Effect News-Bot

The Nintendo Switch has continued to find success thanks in no small part to its high-quality first-party content. Nintendo has also had a part in backing exclusive games for their platform, with one of the biggest examples in recent years being the Bayonetta series. After funding Bayonetta 2 for the Wii U, Nintendo has specifically backed Bayonetta 3 to serve as a Switch-exclusive experience. While much of the same talent has been set to return, rumors and signs pointed towards the original voice of Bayonetta not returning. Now, it has been confirmed that there is a new Bayonetta voice in town that gamers might be familiar with.

Game Informer recently shared a new cover story for their magazine which focuses on the release of Bayonetta 3. The piece focuses on many aspects of the new Bayonetta game, but one particular detail (via Nintendo Everything) has been revealed by the story regarding the game’s

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The independent inquiry into Aegis has delivered its final conclusions and recommended that the organisation be closed down.
Dr Paul Baumann, who chaired the board of inquiry, summarised the detailed report:
"Aegis was established on solid foundations in 3303 with strong leadership. Over the years, poor mid-level management and general negligence reduced its effectiveness. A silo mentality developed, with each department focusing on itself rather than strategic goals."
"Reduced funding undoubtedly contributed to low morale among staff and a lack of any further breakthroughs in AX technology. But a reliance on independent pilots to combat the Thargoids became normalised, with some staff considering them 'disposable mercenaries'."
"More specifically, the loss of the megaship Alexandria and the illegal attack against Hind Mine are both catastrophes that could have been anticipated and prevented.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Dennis Mull has some fun new Wing Commander additions. Both of these are Privateer bundles, but it's interesting to see how they're from opposite ends of the Privateer multipack spectrum. The first set is highlighted by the QEMM memory manager, which would hypothetically help you get the necessary memory freed up in order to run the game. It came with the floppy disk version of Priv as well as the Origin title ShadowCaster. The second box is a higher end collection with the CD versions of both P1 and Strike Commander - complete with full speech and expansions. I love how visually distinct both are from each other with the purple/rainbow star combo on one side versus the clean white lines on the other. They're two very different ways to add Privateer to your collection!

Today I received a box with some nice items: One of them is the Qemm & 2 hot games bundle including #WingCommander Privateer and

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Playstation: "Let's do a weird print campaign for our port of Wing Commander III."

3DO: "Hold my beer."

The unusual "French Fancies" ad was only part of a strange early EA/3DO marketing campaign. An unused Wing Commander cockpit shot is pictured bottom middle in the

Dead Fish

spread. Not to be outdone, it was also accompanied by the "EA Lard" concept.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we have a jazzed up version of the Armada intro from Retrobear Diskette Quest. There's a little bit of DOSBox scaling happening that supposedly makes it look better at higher resolutions, but the visuals aren't the draw here. It also has some "Roland MT-32 emulation" turned on, and I do hear the extra notes associated with that! Armada is a wonderful game that doesn't get as much time in the spotlight as it deserves, so take this as a plug to fire the game up this weekend!

How do you think the video above compares to the version that FekLeyrTarg rebuilt from scratch with Origin model assets? They both have their particular charms!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

ODVS is back with some new enhanced video samples. This is another test with an exotic combo of AI neural net techniques to drastically fix up the video. In this case, he's attacked the especially old school WC3 footage and improved the frame rate, color depth/texture quality and facial/environmental resolution. There are some definite pros and cons to working with each set of tools, so this is just an experiment to see what's possible, but it produces some fascinating results. It's amazing what he's been able to do with such low quality source material! Owen explains some of the process below, but you can read more on the topic of these magic AI-boosted apps here.

I've been quiet for a while, but I have been tinkering away and experimenting.

Specifically, I've experimented with using alternative AI methods. I know I've mentioned using DAIN (Depth-Aware frame INterpolation) AI models to increase

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Empire has carried out reprisals against the rogue faction Darkwater Inc in the Summerland system.
The private military firm had trained NMLA terrorists and held Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval captive, on the orders of a cabal of senators named the Lords of Restoration.
Darkwater mustered an impressive armada, but these were no match for a combination of superpower forces and independent pilots. Colonel Ronan Brock, the mercenaries' leader, was killed during the fighting when he fled from the Onyx Storm megaship and was shot down by Imperial auxiliaries.
Emperor Arissa praised all those who helped destroy Darkwater, and declared: "Let the Battle of Summerland mark the victorious end of our bitter war against both the NMLA and the traitors who sought to destabilise the Empire."
ACT clarified that "Although there may always be Neo-Marlinist extremists, the

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Neo-Marlinist Order of Mudhrid has been defeated by the Epsilon Fornacis Empire Group in the Mudhrid system.
With the aid of many independent pilots, the Imperial faction outmatched the NMLA-supporting forces who were attempting to rescue their leader Theta Seven.
Captain Saskia Landau provided an update from ACT:
"Using the fierce fighting as cover, Captain Milo Castile led a commando unit made up of specialists from Alliance, Federal and Imperial security forces to gain access to the Steel Majesty. After freeing and arming the crewmembers that were being held hostage, they overpowered the NMLA troops and retook the megaship."
"We have successfully prevented Theta Seven and his followers from rejoining their fellow terrorists. But the Far God cult's vessel, the Sacrosanct, is still in the system under his control. Until the man responsible for hundreds of

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Nothing is ever simple when dealing with the Mirror Universe. Nothing is ever simple when dealing with temporal displacement. Even fewer things are simple when dealing with temporally-displaced members of the Mirror Universe. In Pahvo Dissension, a new Featured Task Force Operation, five Alliance captains will deal with the aftermath of the recent events at Pahvo. Wreckage of the I.S.S. Charon has crash landed on the planet, torn through time and space due to ion storms, mycelial interference, and Captain Tilly’s nefarious actions. The Terrans want to make Prime Pahvo into the bioterror that is Mirror Pahvo. Help the planet purify the crystals that have been corrupted by Terran agonizers. Do this to keep Pahvo from being subjugated by hate. This event will last for 3 weeks starting in February for PC players, and on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in the spring of 2019. All players level 10 and above

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Conflict has erupted between two opposing factions in the Wally Bei system.

Hostilities were triggered after Wally Bei Technical claimed to have discovered stolen food shipments aboard their rival's transport vessels. The faction's spokesperson said:

"Robbing innocent people of vital supplies is nothing less than an act of war, and we are treating it as such."

This was denied in an official response by Traditional Wally Bei Constitution Party :

"This outrageous accusation is intended to drive off our trade partners and damage our economy. We won't tolerate such slander!"

Military leaders from both Wally Bei Technical and the Traditional Wally Bei Constitution Party have issued calls to independent combat pilots, offering rewards for their support.

The two factions have set out week-long operations that will begin on the 13th of December 3304.

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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The conflict between two opposing factions in the Wally Bei system has ended. The fleets of both Wally Bei Technical and the Traditional Wally Bei Constitution Party were significantly reduced in a prolonged series of battles.

The leaders of both organisations issued a joint statement:

"We recognise that our military leaders overreacted to accusations made by both parties. For humanitarian reasons, we have agreed to bring hostilities to an end. But we will honour the commitment made by independent pilots on both sides, who are now authorised to collect their rewards from the Wally Bei system."

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

70er Jahre Junge has conducted a super fun interview with veteran game developer and musician Barry Leitch. He's well known as a game music composer, but his claim to fame with the Wing Commander series came as the spaceflight dialogue editor for Wing Commander 3. There's some fun anecdotes of his time at Origin where he edited over 11,000 lines of speech for it. He also did music and sound effects for Privateer Righteous Fire and Wings of Glory, among other local contemporaries. Mr. Leitch has a wealth of knowledge about the industry and a good easy-going way of sharing it. You can find his personal site here or check out the conversation below! You can jump to the 30:10 point for the specific discussion on Wing Commander and Origin.

Barry Leitch is an absolute legend among computer game composers. The Scotsman has written the soundtracks of games such as Lotus Turbo Challenge, Gauntlet Legends,

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Bandcamp is once again having Juneteenth fundraiser. This means that their share of the proceeds from each sale go towards advocacy for racial justice. They are the prime retailer for the MT-32 Archival Edition of Wing One, the album of original Wing Commander music, so this is one of the rare opportunities for your WC purchases to go towards a charitable cause. If you don't own a copy, this is a wonderful audio experience to fill out your WC collection with! Grab it here for $10 (and do it on Monday for the Juneteenth benefit!).

On Monday, June 19th, from midnight to midnight Pacific Time, we’ll hold our fourth annual Juneteenth fundraiser, where we donate 100% of our share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a racial justice organization with a long history of effectively enacting change through litigation, advocacy, and public education.

There is also a publisher-authorized free streaming

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Bandcamp has announced that they are once again holding a fundraiser to support a charity associated with the Juneteenth holiday. This year's recipient will be The Soulsville Foundation, "which perpetuates the soul of Stax Records by preserving its rich cultural legacy, educating youth to be prepared for life success, and inspiring future artists to achieve their dreams." If you've been thinking about picking up Team FAT's Wing Commander I Complete Soundtrack, MT-32 Archive Edition, now is a great time. It's a fantastic deal at just $10! And while we definitely think you should buy a copy of your own, it's also available for streaming on YouTube as well as Spotify. Give it a listen below!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The music website Bandcamp is holding a special event on June 17 to donate their share of album sales to causes that promote racial justice efforts. This commemorates the Juneteenth national holiday in the United States, which celebrates a major milestone on the path to ending slavery. Wingnuts looking for a way to support this are in luck! Earlier this year, The Fat Man released an ultimate MT-32 Archival Edition of his legendary WC1 soundtrack. The album is available to listen to for free on YouTube, but it's only $10 to own a portable copy of your own via Bandcamp. It's a pretty cheap way to help a good cause and get your Wing Commander fix at the same time!

Way back in 2007, George put out a fantastic album of WC1 music known as Wing One, and it's been on our highly recommended list ever since. This new edition scrubs Fat's archives for a complete reckoning of all the music in the game.