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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

An overview of recent developments regarding the Thargoid conflict, as reported by Jade Sanderlyn on the Vox Galactica newsfeed.
"Over the last month, Thargoid fleets have continued expanding outwards from the eight Maelstroms. The front lines of the war are relentlessly encroaching deeper into the core systems, leaving desolation and death in their wake."
"A dedicated resistance force won a few precious victories, with 61 systems fully liberated from Thargoid control. But compared to the 634 systems that have been overrun, it would be optimistic to suggest the aliens' advance is being significantly impeded at this stage."
"Fierce fighting has also broken out in the California and Witch Head Nebulas. It's been speculated that the Thargoids seek to secure the barnacle sites seeded in those regions millennia ago… a reminder that this species may view all of our space as its original

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Aegis has produced a prototype module that increases a ship's ability to survive within caustic environments.
Professor Alba Tesreau, head of the newly reformed agency, published this statement:
"The blueprints provided by Petra Olmanova have been rapidly developed by Aegis's newly acquired chemical engineers, metallurgists and ship technicians. Utilising their combined skills, they have constructed a working prototype."
"This new module functions along similar lines to a heatsink launcher. It is designed to channel the corrosive reaction experienced within a Thargoid Maelstrom to specific replaceable anodes prior to ejection, thereby extending a ship's range and operating time. We hope this will allow more data to be acquired about these mysterious objects."
"Aden Tanner has volunteered to personally pilot the ship in the live tests taking place this week. Time is of the essence, since the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Yesterday's look at the supertitles was a big hit, so here's a closer look at how they evolved throughout production.

The approach to the Claw doesn't really change much at all, except that nearly every cut save for the final calls it the C.S.S. Tiger Claw. Most of the preliminary titles are also green instead of blue.

The Pegasus attack at the beginning of the movie probably morphs the most in some ways. Some of the early edits start with a flyover of a destroyed Pegasus and then flash back in time to the attack. The final cut of the film is linear and so does away with a lot of the supertitles. There were at least two alternate cuts of the opening, both opened on the Pegasus debris field after the attack.

The more straight forward version has a flyby over the debris and then jumps back in time to show the attack:

The second is a more condensed version that intercuts the debris fly-over with flashbacks

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Trillionaire entrepreneur Zachary Rackham has launched his campaign to be elected as Federal president in the forthcoming election.
He outlined several policies during a press event in the tropospheric suite of Rackham's Spire on the planet Homeland:
"As I see it, the job of president is to help ordinary, hard-working people from humble backgrounds – just like me. So I pledge to reduce all civil taxes and public service fees, and boost government funding for business grants and commercial opportunities. Let's make everyone rich and successful – just like me!"
Mr Rackham is running for the position of Federal president as an independent candidate and claims support from several corporate interests including Rackham Capital Investments. His manifesto has triggered a surge in popularity, with several high-profile celebrities promoting his campaign slogan: 'Just Like Me'.
However, economists have

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a fantastic gem from the February 1995 issue of PC Gamer in the UK. The cover is all about Wing Commander 3 with a stellar piece of Kilrathi art. We haven't been able to track down the big four page review inside, so if you have a copy of this buried away, let us know! This time capsule was surfaced by none other than the official PC Gamer Twitter itself with the caption, "It's time to bring back Wing Commander with Mark Hamill. We deserve it."

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Scribbler was inspired by that other Maverick and his new Top Gun movie to make this fun fan trailer. "Wing Commander Maverick" is presented in both English and German for your enjoyment. Check it out below. There's a lot of good cuts in there!

Tom Cruise is celebrated, Top Gun Maverick might get an Academy Award? Our Maverick was probably forgotten last year. Here is our version of Maverick. In English and German (including a new scene that nobody knows yet. Not even the actors ). Have fun

Quote from No Man

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone playing the Fractal Update, especially those taking the time to report any issues they encounter via Zendesk or console crash reporting.

We are listening closely to your feedback, and have identified and resolved a number of issues. These fixes are included in patch 4.12, which will be live on all platforms soon.

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused bases built next to some building types to become buried in the ground.
• Fixed an issue that prevented recolouring of portable base building objects constructed outside of a base.
• Fixed an issue that caused ship cockpit screens to flicker.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Galactic Trade Room on freighters to be non-interactable.
• Fixed an issue that allowed cursor or stick sensitivity to be set to 0, preventing cursor use.
• Fixed a bug that caused farmable plants to appear in the wrong visual state.
• Fixed an issue that caused ByteBeat

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

USA used this first 2D Wing Commander Academy title for all the print ads, commercials and bumpers... but they swapped it for a kind of incongruous 3D version in the actual show. I like the original better!

The EARLIEST print ads reuse the titles from the (narratively unrelated) game of the same name.

Members of the production team received a snazzy crew jacket. It used the original 2D logo!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Universal Cartographics has announced a two-week initiative to locate planets with ammonia atmospheres.
The survey was outlined by Cynthia Sideris, chairperson of Universal Cartographics:
"Aegis has urgently requested an update to our database of terrestrial planets with ammonia atmospheres. It is no coincidence that each Maelstrom is located in a system containing such worlds, given that Thargoid biochemistry is ammonia-based."
"We are therefore liaising with Aegis to chart as many ammonia worlds as possible. As well as contributing to xenological research, our intent is to identify potential staging grounds for Thargoid fleets and arrival points for additional Maelstroms."
"Over the next two weeks, pilots can obtain increased payouts for delivering cartographic survey data to Angus Manwaring starport in the Eta Cassiopeiae system. Only ammonia world data will be

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Aegis's initiative in the Duamta system has kick-started production of a ship module designed for caustic environments.
Shipments of advanced catalysers, heatsink interlinks and palladium were delivered following a request from Professor Alba Tesreau. Pilots also provided tissue samples extracted from the caustic generators inside each Maelstrom, which are a vital component of these modules. Manufacturing bases have now been established, allowing stocks of the caustic sink launcher to reach the public market.
Dr Maximo Fonseca, head of xenological research at Gateway Laboratories, published a statement on behalf of Aegis:
"The Thargoids have developed powerful defences to prevent their enemies reaching the heart of the Maelstroms. The dangerously caustic gas clouds are an effective deterrent, and have sadly claimed the lives of many intrepid pilots."
"So, the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Dominus of Exult has managed to track down another rare and exotic Wing Commander find. While scoping out a lot of vintage games, he noticed some extra pack-ins with WC1/2. It turns out they were physically mailed patch disks that the original owner received after working with Origin Tech Support. That’s how it worked before patches were easily downloadable online! A few of these pop up from time to time and they’re always very cool to see.

Bought a Wing Commander lot for $50 (1-5, Secret/Special, Privateer2, Academy, Armada). Mainly because I didn‘t have the regular Prophecy and spied some oddities. I think it was worth it

Quote from No Man

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone playing the Fractal Update, especially those taking the time to report any issues they encounter via Zendesk or console crash reporting.

We are listening closely to your feedback, and have identified and resolved a number of issues. These fixes are included in patch 4.12.1, which is live on Steam.

Bug fixes

• Fixed a number of network-related crashes.
• Fixed an issue that could cause controllers to disconnect when playing via Steam.

We will continue to release patches as issues are identified and resolved. If you experience any issues, let us know by submitting a bug report.

Thank you,
Hello Games

The post Fractal 4.12.1 appeared first on No Man's Sky.

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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Mac is back with another exciting new wallpaper to share. This one features Klavs' recent Sabre model positioned at the ready on a carrier's flight deck. You can see it means business, because it's armed to the teeth! A second one hangs back in the shadows alongside a trusty Rapier. Enjoy!

Well I might have not been the first one to buy her, but we're still going to have fun together nonetheless.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It was just last week when we featured a post by PC Gamer UK remembering the February 1995 (#15) issue of their magazine... which surprised us all because it featured a long forgotten portrait of Prince Thrakhath! Thanks to X-Wing Game Series we have an excellent quality scan of the magazine and we've pulled out all the Wing Commander material for you.

The most exciting discovery was the story behind the painting... along with an unobstructed, high resolution scan of the full piece! It turns out it was painted by Paul Kidby, an English artist notable for his work in Terry Prachett's worlds, and the original was given away in an Electronic Arts contest run through the magazine. How did history forget this?!

The review itself is comprehensive and accurate... Wing Commander III is an immaculate game!

The issue also included a short article on actors appearing in CD-ROMs that features a photograph of Mark

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

I decided to try and take apart Wing Commander Armada to learn about how it generates maps. The 'Campaign' mode has 11 pre-set sectors that are always the same but the 'Armada' mode creates random ones. Where do the names come from and how many are there?

Long story short, I found the table of all 704 system names with a hex editor and cross referenced them with the published campaign maps. 704 systems is 11 blocks of 64 each. The first systems in the start of each block all appear in their respective campaign sector while the Armada mode can pull from anywhere in the table for a random map. So here's a spreadsheet of them all... the immediate takeaway is that I've discovered 118 new star systems previously uncataloged in Wing Commander lore! Also the list is super fun, lots and lots of 1994 gags and obvious Origin in-jokes.

Next I wanted to learn more about the planet graphics. I've found they're

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Marlinist Colonies are struggling to survive the harsh realities of independence while preparing for the impact of the Thargoid war.
An editorial in The Marlin Standard summarised their situation:
"In recent months, our noble goal of building a Marlinist Republic has been harshly curtailed. Many of the original eight colony systems, among them the capital Concordia, are now dominated by outsiders including Federal and Sirius-aligned corporations. We have survived persecution, civil war and terrorism, only to find our people exploited by the opportunism of neighbouring factions."
In the Empire, the prevalent viewpoint is that the Marlinists are suffering the consequences of their own actions. As Senator Arturo Durant remarked: "They voted to reject the Emperor's offer to become an Imperial protectorate, so now they must pay the price."
Compounding this is the increasing danger posed by the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

John Nelson has made a number of impressive Lego Wing Commander fighters, and his new Longbow might be the best yet. His latest creation incorporates many of the iconic bomber's famous elements from bubble cockpit to side hatch. Both the rear turret and forward gun emplacements look great. The angle of the 'wings' also looks spot on and the colors are accurate to Wing Commander 3. It's a very impressive build!

I tweaked the wings a little from those first photos and got the right color bricks into place for the front by the cockpit but the Longbow is done! Technic pieces were needed for the angled wings and while there are some gaps in the middle fuselage just behind the outcroppings I am pleased with the result.

Pliers (would) say, “The Longbow is Confed's finest bomber and has the firepower to turn any convoy to scrap iron in its wake, if a bunch of light fighters don’t gang up on it first.”

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Recent activities by the Kumo Crew syndicate in the California Nebula have been formally condemned by the Alliance.
Councillor Jed Trager supervised an investigation into the Kumo Council's attempt to take control of several systems, ostensibly to defend them against a wave of Thargoid attacks. He summarised its findings during a session of the Assembly:
"Intelligence provided by Alliance Interpol agents proves that the underlying objective of the Kumo Crew's anti-xeno militia was to dominate the California Nebula. The syndicate had gathered ships and infiltrated civil institutions weeks earlier, using bribery and coercion to pave the way for their takeover."
"Further Thargoid attacks in the region were seen as inevitable, based on past behaviour and the prevalence of barnacle sites. When they occurred the Kumo Crew mobilised their pre-prepared forces, overthrowing local authorities under the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Folks, I've uncovered some shocking cut content hidden in Privateer's files. The game has... TWO UNUSED NOSES.

For comparison, here's a few actual faces from Privateer:

Quote from No Man

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone playing the Fractal Update, especially those taking the time to report any issues they encounter via Zendesk or console crash reporting.

We are listening closely to your feedback, and have identified and resolved a number of issues. These fixes are included in patch 4.13, which is live on Steam.

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused incorrect options settings to be saved out for currently non-applicable options.
• Fixed an issue that caused the “speech to text” options text being very slightly smaller than the other Network options.
• Fixed a rare issue that caused some menu options not to re-translate when changing languages.
• Fixed an issue that caused a number of options to appear in non-relevant configurations, where they have no functional effect.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Base Complexity option to be incorrectly hidden on some platforms.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the