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Today we've got a wonderful pile of old reviews from Maxi de Sokar. First up is a WC2 from the Spanish OKPC magazine. They give it a solid 85% and comes with lots of gorgeous screenshots. There's also a Special Operations preview, and although it's short, it packs in tons of great little references that really date game development to the era (1991-1992). Then we shift gears into a PC Review review of WC Academy. The game only gets 5 (out of 10, I suppose), but they had enough to talk about to fill a two page article. We often point out that there was genuine demand for something like this and it filled a niche that was pretty unique back in the day. With all that being said, the same author returns to review Wing Commander Privateer... and he also gave it a 5/10! So maybe that says something more about him than the game. In the end, I guess I'm not mad about Academy being rated on the same

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Happy birthday to Wing Commander I, which was released 33 years ago today! It marked an epochal shift in how computer games were played, made and sold... and I guess you could say it has been pretty big in my life, too!

It is often hard to assign a single date for when a game was released in the early 90s; it could be days to weeks to go from sign off to duplication to actually arriving in stores. There was no concept of a set ‘street date’ - but Origin celebrated “ship day” internally and that’s what we cite as a birthday when it’s known. Here’s an account of that day from Mike Harrison’s excellent contemporary making of piece:

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There's sad news for the Wing Commander family of performers tonight: veteran actor David McCallum passed away earlier today. McCallum, 90, started his career as a leading man on television shows like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and went on to serve as a jack-of-all-trades who could pop up anywhere and everywhere. His nearly endless resume included a variety of guest appearances on cult genre shows including The Outer Limits, seaQuest DSV and Babylon 5. He joined the Wing Commander universe in 1996 in a short but memorable appearance in Privateer 2: The Darkening. You can find an obituary with a more complete retrospective of his career at Variety.

McCallum appeared in Privateer 2's opening scene as the captain of the doomed freighter Canera. He commands Don Warrington's Helmsman, Nichola Cordey's Second Officer and stuntman Riky Ash's Communications Officer through the game's opening that ends in all of

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The race is on to develop technology which can recover humans from Thargoid Titans, reports Vox Galactica journalist Jade Sanderlyn.
"Now we know the stomach-churning truth: the Thargoids are keeping people they abduct alive. The dramatic leak of a high-level conversation within Aegis confirmed that Thargoid tactics had shifted to incorporate the mass abduction of humans. Seo Jin-ae's telepathic connection to the aliens revealed that captives are being stored inside pod-like structures aboard the Titans. She also sensed that the Thargoids considered these captives an important part of their invasion plan."
"Aegis took these visions seriously, releasing an update to the pulse wave xeno scanner that was designed to test her hypothesis. Sure enough, those pilots who dared make a close approach to the Thargoid motherships detected human life-signs beneath their hulls. This is where civilians from

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A certain former president (not Jimmy Carter) recently said some goofy stuff about single-engine fighters recently which got me to thinking: do we fly any single engine space fighters in Wing Commander?

Most Confederation fighters have between two and six engines... but I can think of three exceptions! The Ferret in Wing Commander II and the Piranha in Prophecy are both single-engine patrol ships meant to seem like a cockpit glued to a rocket.

Prophecy's Devastator torpedo bomber also has a single engine but the visual intent is reversed: it's supposed to seem like a powerful ship with a powerplant that's similar to those of a capital ship.

I will also note that the Ferret seen in Wing Commander Academy actually had three engines; must've been the A or B model! Why does the Academy Ferret look so unlike the game one when the other Academy ships are pitch perfect? It's actually modeled on a toy prototype

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*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Aegis has requested materials to construct sub-surface extraction missiles that recover imprisoned humans from the Titans.
Professor Alba Tesreau, head of Aegis, announced:
"Using blueprints provided by Sirius Corporation, engineering teams have worked around the clock to modify sub-surface displacement munitions. These adaptations enable the projectiles to breach sections of the Titans' hulls and jettison the bio-storage capsules embedded within."
"We could spend the next few months in a testing cycle, and ideally that would be the case – but lives are at risk and we can't be sure how much time our missing have. Therefore, we have approved mass production of these sub-surface extraction missiles. Industrial materials are urgently needed to establish assembly centres, so that we can distribute them as rapidly as possible."
Princess Aisling Duval, who is coordinating

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German friends! We are still looking for this diskette. Do you know any packrats or collectors?

Requesting assistance from the German retro gaming community! It looks like the October 1993 PC Player cover diskette had a Wing Commander Academy campaign on it. Does anyone have a copy?

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Mac is back with a fabulous new wallpaper. It depicts Klavs' exquisite Concordia model with the sun at its back. This casts a dark and moody light on the superstructure of the ship while various running lights, engine components and weapon emplacements light up the landscape. There's also a full complement of Sabre and Rapier escorts in tow to round out this very imposing scene!

It is time.#wingcommander

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This weekend is the last chance to grab the Wing Commander games on sale via GOG's 15th Anniversary Sale. Coincidentally, this timed perfectly to overlap with the Wing Commander series' birthday earlier this week. It's also a slightly higher discount than we've seen recently with a full 75% off each title in the franchise. Grab them below!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Imperial Senate has formally raised the issue that Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval has not yet produced any direct heirs.
The debate was instigated by Senator Lysandra Courcelle :
"The continuation of the Duval bloodline has formed the linchpin of our society for over a thousand years. But it has been eight years since Arissa Lavigny-Duval became our ruler. In that time there has been no spouse or consort, no indications of marriage, and no biological heir to the throne. We politely remind the Emperor of her duty to ensure the line of succession."
Following a highly spirited exchange among senators, Chancellor Anders Blaine proclaimed:
"Her Majesty has sacrificed much for the Empire. It is not our place to question her personal choices, but rather to support her vision for our prosperity and security."
Gudrun Vestergaard, royal correspondent for The Imperial Herald, analysed the situation:

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Alright, I can't think of a good reason for this, but here's the Wing Commander knife post. To start, WC always loved using knives to show a character was troubled. The one Cobra is sharpening in WC III is a Marto-Brewer Explora, a Spanish survival knife from the 1980s.

Hawk’s thematically similar knife in Wing Commander Prophecy is called a hunting knife in stage directions but the actual prop is a United Cutlery Bushmaster survival knife. These are still made!

Seether’s knife in Wing Commander IV is a Hibben Double Shadow, a design often used in sci fi productions including Star Trek and Babylon 5. The script calls it a “laser-blade” which it describes as “a curved handle with a lethal thread of light that pulses from one end of the handle to the other”. As a result, the novelization refers to Seether’s blade as a “laser knife” and says they are “plunging weapons that could also

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True to my word, I will play these missions LIVE tonight! Tune in at 8 PM Eastern to talk Academy and fly some Origin-made Wing Commander missions for the first time.

The search for the 'PC Player' Wing Commander Academy missions continues... but it HAS spun off something even more exciting: a set of five demo missions that Origin made in house and posted to their BBS in September 1993?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I've also collected about one hundred fan made missions from old BBSes and Warez CDs during the hunt! Except a feature with downloads soon.

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Today we've got a very cool video unearthed by Sega City. It's a preview of the Mega CD version of Wing Commander in Japan that was included on the April 1994 issue of SEGA Video Magazine. Contrary to what the name implies, this wasn't a print magazine with a cover disc - it was a VHS tape that included various game preview clips. A video advertisement for WC1 from Japan is quite a special find!

A preview of 'Wing Commander' on the SEGA Mega CD. SEGA Video Magazine, April 1994.

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Space poetry! There’s a shot in a Wing Commander IV briefing (M2) where we get a block of text behind Mark Hamill… and it’s mostly legible on the DVD! I can’t find it printed anywhere… must be a stray transmission from the Vogons.

A whirlwind ride down the spiraling drains of desire drowning dying to breathe your air before the darkness settles in. Ahh, if I could wake next to the golden green pools of your eyes in the liquid hazel dreams of my imagination someday in the distant near future you will return to me in my dreams. Once again we {illegible}

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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
A series of public events to celebrate the forthcoming presidential election are being held in the Sol system.
Congress approved a request by President Zachary Hudson to finance a range of festivities, concerts and shows across the home system of the Federation.
Billions of people are expected to attend, leading to a request for supplies of Crystalline Spheres, Gerasian Gueuze Beer, Indi Bourbon, LTT Hyper Sweet and Pantaa Prayer Sticks to be delivered to Li Qing Jao starport in orbit over planet Earth. Congress also agreed to authorise a temporary two-week permit for all Pilots' Federation members to access the Sol system.
President Hudson announced the events across all Federal news channels, where he said:
"Now we approach the time, as determined centuries ago by the Federal Accord, of our civilisation's most profound tradition: the peaceful transfer of power. I

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Rescue megaships now stock Aegis's modified mining tool, designed to extract bio-storage capsules from Thargoid Titans.
The sub-surface extraction missiles went into rapid production following a delivery initiative in the Senlu system. Aegis has confirmed that pilots who transported CMM composites, neofabric insulation and osmium to Springer Gateway can now collect their rewards. Bounty vouchers for all wanted ships destroyed during the past week will also be redeemed at the same location.
Aden Tanner discussed tactics for using the new module:
"These specialised devices are designed to be used alongside the pulse wave xeno scanner, which can now pinpoint human life signs beneath the hull of a Titan. If accurately targeted, an extraction missile should penetrate far enough into the outer hull to jettison the pod-like structures containing captives. Assuming the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Mac has posted a new teaser for his next Wing Commander project. This one picks up on the Concordia theme from last week and now has the famous dreadnought anchoring an absolutely massive battle fleet. It's flanked by some of Klavs' most popular models, including Bengal class carriers and Waterloo cruisers. There are also scores of smaller destroyers, corvettes and fighters filling the space throughout. What an epic scene!

IT DIDNT CRASH THE COMPUTER ON RENDER!
WOOOOO#wingcommander pic.twitter.com/gG7aYVGwq6

— Mac's Lore (@MacsLore) October 5, 2023

  

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Aegis xenologists are focusing their efforts on the mysterious alien growths reported on multiple planets and moons in the Trianguli sector.
These have been designated 'Thargoid barnacle matrix sites', due to their resemblance to the barnacles that produce meta-alloys, but are far greater in size and complexity.
Commander Yoselin Aquino described visiting one of these sites to Vox Galactica:
"This wasn't an easy place to explore, since I had to avoid Revenant drones and the occasional Thargoid scout. Once I did get up close, I found it unsettling as all hell. Each barnacle clump was a mound-like structure over a kilometre across, with several rounded peaks. Spaced around these were weird coral trees, which squeeze out a caustic sap-like stuff and dropped bizarre-looking 'fruits."
"What really made me nervous were the spear roots in the middle of the site. They're made of some toughened

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Look at the logos on that French Wing Commander ad: built by Origin, licensed for sale in Europe by Mindscape and distributed en France by Ubisoft! The early '90s were crazy.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

LOAF, AD and the team have been doing big and exciting things lately with Privateer 2. To further their research and project prep, we're holding a group watch-along of the "director's cut" footage posted by P2 director Steve Hilliker for the game's 25th anniversary. To join in, visit Discord #Wingnut on Monday evening at 9 PM Eastern Time. This YouTube link is all you need!

LOAF: Set your nav computers for fun: join us on Monday at 9 PM Eastern at the CIC Discord for a group watch of the Privateer 2: The Darkening 25th Anniversary movie cut!

If you want to enhance the experience even further, there is also AD & ODVS' special remastered version of the material that improves the quality and resolution even more. You can download it here (2.7 gig mkv) and watch with something like VLC. Here's a comparison of the two versions: