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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

I've been looking at the movie cockpit instruments lately because it seems they filmed the insert shots of things like stick handling at least twice. They did an initial shoot on set, then filmed a bunch of Rapier stuff in August 1998 and then more pickups as late as October which is getting awfully close to their delivery date. Things like the Broadsword instrument panels were reshot at that late date. I was wondering how much you could tell in the final movie if you knew what you were looking for.

Even in the final version, maybe to differentiate Knight's Broadsword from Paladin's, you can see they have different control yokes, but the earlier versions of the Broadsword just looks like maybe original Canberra instruments.

So those might have been intended to be replaced anyway. There's Knight's:

...and Paladin's:

This got me thinking about the Rapier a bit more. The fighter dashboard got a complete

Quote from No Man

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone playing the Interceptor 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 4.22, which is now live on Steam and will be coming to other platforms as soon as possible.

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue that prevented the Minotaur from correctly targeted corrupted Sentinels while under AI control.
• Fixed an issues that caused certain wall-mounted base decorations to rotate without engaging the rotate part option.
• Fixed an issue that prevented some technologies from being installed in freighter inventories.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Teleport Receiver from being installed inside a Sentinel interceptor.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the Sentinel Multi-Tool from being cleared out of its case

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

I'm not sure if it's the hectic week or staying up late to watch the new episode of Picard, but I've got a headache and need something to relax to. Fortunately, Scribbler has dropped a double dose of his Wing Commander 2 ambiance/ASMR videos. The new clips are a nice contrast with each other: the dark red comm room and the light breezy Concordia lounge. I especially like that the lounge has piano music inspired by Jazz. Check them out below!

Today we return to the lounge of the carrier ship TCS Concordia. A little more luxurious than a strap like the Tigers Claw. Enjoy the peace from the war among comrades, with a drink. Entertained by the piano sounds of "Jazz". Rest and chill. Who knows what else is to come at this time.

In this file we return to the Caernarvon space station. A remote outpost of the Confederacy. Ideal for making money without the dangers of war. Except for a few minor skirmishes

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here are the flick backgrounds for the Righteous Fire intro. The Origin FX system works just like an old cartoon with transparent cells animated over plates like these.

Did you ever wonder why the RF intro feels a little out of place? It’s so BIG compared to the rest of the campaign. It’s because it was originally a scene cut from Privateer that was given totally new dialog! It was made as a losing endgame on the case where you go bankrupt.

They solved the need for it by simply having the game not charge you a landing fee if there’s a chance it will take you below 0 credits. Space welfare! (Of course bankruptcy was already a rare case... compared to, like, just exploding.)

It’s a little crazy that Privateer, part of the interactive movie craze, has only three cutscenes: the intro, the ending and this.

Quote from Crossfire Image-Bot

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The Wing Loader project to add full speech to the original (Kilrathi Saga) version of Wing Commander 1 has been out for a couple weeks now. In that time, Destro and a number of fans have been able to put the mod through its paces and play through the Vega Campaign. The time has been put to good use to fix a handful of minor bugs and also add some new features. The user interface now supports the pilot transfer program, has menu elements for launching WC3 now includes in-flight speech comms for The Secret Missions. You can grab the update here (345 meg zip)!

I've just completed a run of Wing Commander using Wing Loader and fixed any issues I encountered.

New in Version 0.82
- Fix multiple issues with lines not triggering, including the final winning cutscene.
- Added Wing Commander 3 to the list of games.
- Added in-flight coms to all the Secret Missions. (Testing Phase)
- Added Wing Commanders Pilot

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Matthew Lillard has announced a fun event taking place on Monday afternoon. He'll be playing the board game Operation with Star Trek Picard's fantastic Todd Stashwick in order to promote the Tabletop News channel. He'll also have some giveaways related to his own gaming company, Beadle and Grimm's. Find it here live between 4 and 6 pm Pacific time on the 17th. Sounds like it'll be a blast!

I will be cutting into a patient with the hopes of victory! Watch us do it from 4-6PST. Giving away some @BeadleAndGrimms stuff on @watchtabletop!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

A scientific delegation from Aegis has visited Utopia to compare its Sim-Archive with Salvation's Nemesis Failsafe designs.
A summary from Dr Maximo Fonseca was shared with newsfeeds:
"Simguru Antal agreed to meet with us as a sign of good faith, and to refute claims of collaboration with Salvation. He personally introduced us to the neurosmiths of Utopia, who can digitally encode electrochemical activity within the brain. I took part in a demonstration, uploading some of my own long-term memories into the Sim-Archive. Afterwards, my colleague Dr Cooper enjoyed a remarkably accurate simulation of my university graduation thirty years ago, who claimed she found it hard to believe the memory was not her own."
"Analysis of the Nemesis Failsafe designs that we provided was swift, but the differences were stark. From what we understood of the summary by Utopian researchers, the Nemesis process

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

John Nelson is back to building out the Confed fleet with his latest WC3 Lego creation, the Thunderbolt heavy fighter. It has some particularly distinctive angles that were hard to duplicate, but he's done a great job given the limitation of parts to work with. And check out that heck of a turret gun on the aft!

Finally got it done. After a few months of gathering pieces and accounting for slopes, angles and colors and proportions, Confed's "lead sled" is done. I didn’t use purple for its TCS Victory or Hurricane Squadron markings since purple parts are more rare, and I like the yellow and blue of its post war design more. I also changed the front where the gun batteries are to give the look a bit more pizazz.

Pliers (would) say, "The Thunderbolt is Confed's big ugly battering ram to knock down whatever is in its way, and with that blaster load out and a torpedo it can."

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Allied and independent leaders have called upon the Empire and the Federation to discourage faction hostilities following conflict in Tavgi.
Political journalist Conrad Sterling summarised the latest developments for Vox Galactica:
"Minor skirmishes between superpower-aligned factions are not uncommon. But the Caine-Massey and Torval Mining Ltd corporations have significant political ties, so their clash has led to bullish rhetoric from members of both Congress and the Senate."
"Many systems where Federal and Imperial populations coexist are experiencing civil tension and spates of public disturbance. There is a sense that the historic rivalry between two militaristic superpowers is being rekindled, and that similar sparks elsewhere may fan the flames at the worst possible time."
In the Alliance Assembly, Councillor Nakato Kaine highlighted the potential repercussions:
"Military distractions

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Privateer mattes the screens showing the Steltek artifact... but I’ve discovered there are open versions in the game's files with a little more picture!

An Alien Artifact or Ancient Artifact is a Steltek relic discovered on Mars in 2668.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

LOAF realized that today is Tim Curry's birthday, which is not a milestone that I've ever registered before. Mr. Curry masterfully voiced Melek in Wing Commander 3 in one of his most underappreciated roles, so it's nice to get a chance to call this out. Happy Birthday Tim Curry!

Tim Curry has been trending all day (birthday, not dead!) and it’s great that everyone has a completely different favorite role they’re remembering. Happy birthday Melek in Wing Commander III but not IV!

But ever the humble Wing Commander servant, LOAF did not point out that he also shares this special day with his distant twin. Today is also LOAF's birthday! We're so lucky to have his insight to add add to our foundation of Wing Commander knowledge every day. Here he is in a recent visit to Gaea to do some Retro research. Happy Birthday!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Factions aligned to the Empire and Federation have declared war in Pichch, which lies in the path of Thargoid expansion.
Relations between the two superpowers have been strained in recent weeks, following the corporate skirmish in Tavgi. This has exacerbated hostilities between two long-standing rivals in the Pichch system, causing diplomatic negotiations to collapse.
The ruling council of Gauluujja Exchange claimed: "Imperial saboteurs have been undermining our operations for years, and a military solution is now the only option." A similar statement was made by the Gliese 44 Citizens' Forum's leadership: "The typical Federal response to their problems is to blame the Empire, so we are forced to resolve this on the battlefield."
The situation has also impacted the ongoing war against the Thargoids, as outlined in a report by freelance correspondent Karleen Troy:

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

As a special birthday treat, LOAF's wife Alexis made these custom ink prints based on WC2 Thrakhath. One is a framed portrait and the other is a nifty canvas tote. Very very cool!

Look what Ali made for me!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Cybot is back with more wacky and creative Wing Commander designs. These were inspired by the Steltek craft that we see in Privateer. Cybot has taken those design elements and extrapolated them into a whole fleet of ships. If you're working on a project that needs a super powerful alien kick, check them out at the CIC Forums. His threads include download links for copies of your own!

STELTEK fleet ships: have fun with all models in Obj format.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we have a gorgeous Wing Commander 3 spread posted by the Spanish magazine PCMania in 1994. It features a lot of familiar prerelease art, plus gorgeous renders of the Thunderbolt, Longbow and Arrow. Gunnery and flight control are looking good too. The game flow backdrops in WC3 are some of my favorite in the series. At the conclusion of the six page article, the reviewer gives the game a 92% score. Thanks to Maxi de Sokar for the find!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Prototypes have been created of a new module designed to counteract the massive energy surge encountered by ships within Thargoid Maelstroms.
Professor Alba Tesreau made a public statement:
"Intense research into the Maelstroms by Allied, Federal and Imperial specialists has yielded practical results. We have designed a device to briefly insulate a ship against the overpowering effects of a Maelstrom's energy wave. Typically, the wave physically repels all human ships and disrupts onboard electrical systems."
"Combined with our caustic sink launcher, the Thargoid pulse neutraliser will enable access to the innermost regions of the alien clouds. My hope is that this breakthrough will reveal knowledge about the Thargoid invasion fleets that we desperately need."
Further details were provided by Ivano Colombera, the Empire's scientific liaison to Aegis:
"The Thargoid pulse neutraliser expands

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We're going to start this week off with a new Kilrathi Lego creation by John Nelson. You can see from the sweep of the wings that this is clearly the Dralthi IV variant, which puts it right in line with the Darket and Strakha he put together earlier. He's started to incorporate a larger mix of brown panels in an attempt to better mimic the WC3 color scheme. It makes me want a Lego Excalibur to start tearing them up!

This was a fun one to build years ago in a simpler state, but with the new colors and brick types this guy is far more accurate - albeit with my little tweaks and touches. This is the second model that I needed technic parts to complete.

Pliers (would) say, "Dralthis are pretty pathetic, but don’t turn your back on them. Their particle cannons can fire continuously and will bring down anything from a carrier to an interceptor."

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The suspected 'Imperial assassin' who shot Caine-Massey CEO Johann Fleischer has been cleared of any connection to the Empire.
Executive Agent Viola Trask of the Federal Intelligence Agency gave a statement to the media:
"Our investigation has verified that the man we have in custody is a professional mercenary named Kieran Rayne , a native of the Alpha Caeli system. For over a decade, he has operated as a freelance contract killer using multiple false identities. The motive for the killing is not yet clear."
"Despite early indications, there is no evidence that Rayne was hired by Torval Mining Ltd to eliminate Mr Fleischer. The mission was arranged anonymously via an unregistered comms network that we are unable to access. The Imperial-issue weapon and security equipment that he used were provided to him specifically for this task. This seems to be a deliberate choice to foster the impression

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

VGDensetsu was posting about various Origin covers made for the Japanese FM Towns, and that led us to a bit of new info! We know a fair amount about most of the artists who did various WC works over the years, but their Japanese counterparts can be harder to pin down. VGDensetsu clarified who made the covers for the FM Towns and Super Famicon games:

Takashi Asada did the cover art for the FM Towns version of WCII. Yuji Kaida is credited for the cover of the SFC version.

And that gives us an excellent excuse for a Japanese art appreciation post! Here's WC1&2 for the FM Towns and the SFC version of WC1.

And here's some bonus advertisements from Japan where we also see some of this glorious art!