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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:

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Look what's hiding in the 1994 Claw Marks: the Comm Relay logo is the planet from the cover of the 1992 Origin catalog! The planet is a painting by Terrell Powell and it was used for a bunch of different corporate things (press kit folders, convention signage and such). This is the version of Claw Marks included with Super Wing Commander.

Claw Marks' Comm Relay is also what we were referencing with Star Citizen's now ubiquitous Comm Links!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The first humans rescued from the Thargoid motherships have started to arrive, almost all of whom have so far survived extraction.
The highly dangerous task requires using an upgraded pulse wave xeno scanner to detect human life signs on the Titans. The new sub-surface extraction missiles then target and jettison the bio-storage capsules – as the structures are officially designated – which are then recovered using a cargo scoop.
All recovered individuals are being assessed by medical specialists. The tri-superpower agency Aegis released this statement to the media:
"In each case, research teams successfully cracked open the capsules and removed the comatose person. They were suspended within a chemically complex gel, not unlike amniotic fluid, with tubes supplying breathable air and basic nutrients. Between thirty and ninety minutes later, the person wakes."
"All recovered individuals are

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

FEEDBACK NEEDED! The reason we've been looking at Privateer 2 the past few days is that we're using the Privateer 2 intro cutscenes as the demo for a totally overhauled Holovids section at the CIC!

These new pages will collect all kinds of interesting supporting material with each cutsscene: storyboards, alternate versions, artwork, etc. You can find the first one here. Before we move on to the cinematics for rest of Privateer 2, WC3 through Prophecy and beyond we'd love to know what else you'd like to see in these spaces! What would help organize it, make it usable/less confusing, etc.

And special thanks to AD who has been taking charge of the video section of the project, aka the hard part that requires actual talent. And if you'd like to sign on and help, stop by my office anytime!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a scene cut from Privateer 2! It's from the main plot (between your visit to the hospital and Taffin Reclamation) and has Lev flying a mission for the police to find the Canera's registration number.

Interestingly, there's a space for this in the game's internal file structure. I wonder if they shot it! I also initially read the 'menace to navigation' line as a Babylon 5 nod... but this predated the B5 finale by several years!

The scene was boarded, too!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Due to popular demand, Mac has rendered out his recent preview animation as a glorious 4K wallpaper. This is the one absolutely chock-full of destroyers, cruisers, carriers, transporters and more. Klavs' iconic Concordia also forms the core of this mega fleet. It must be a challenge to figure out which ship you're supposed to land your fighter on!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

As the Federation readies itself for a new president, the Empire is preparing for potential changes to its relationship with its historical rival.
Last year Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval severed all official collaboration with the other superpowers, except for limited contributions to Aegis. But this does not mean the Empire is ignoring the potential impact of either Jerome Archer or Felicia Winters becoming the next Federal president.
Senator Denton Patreus remarked on the election during a military parade through the city of Port Isabelle:
"The Federation's leaders always reinforce their popularity by framing the Empire as the 'great enemy'. I expect Archer will have those same aggressive tendencies. In truth, I'd prefer to deal with that predictable approach, since Winters is clearly the more cunning and deceitful candidate."
Princess Aisling Duval was asked her opinion while visiting a

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Federation has begun voting to decide its next president, as a week of festivities in the Sol system are concluded.
Congress confirmed that any pilots who supplied rare goods for the celebratory events can collect payment from Li Qing Jao starport. All temporary system permits for Sol remain suspended for Pilots' Federation members for a further week.
The 3309 presidential election has now officially begun. More than one trillion Federal citizens are expected to submit their votes, which will be recorded and collated over the next four days via secure digital systems.
Vice President Jerome Archer is the Republican Party candidate, who is widely perceived as the political heir to President Zachary Hudson. His running mate is Congressman Niko Shirakawa, who has strong connections within the military.
Shadow President Felicia Winters, leader of the Liberal Party,

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Alliance is observing the Federal president election, but expects little will change in relationships between the two superpowers.
Prime Minister Edmund Mahon delivered a formal address on the topic before the Assembly:
"The Alliance continues to enjoy stable relations with the Federation. Our recent anti-xeno coalitions, including the reformation of Aegis, show how we can benefit from maintaining such cooperation. I am confident that the new president, whoever it may be, will respect the status quo."
Councillor Nakato Kaine gave a more direct statement to the press:
"I cannot ignore how the Federation has become more authoritarian under Zachary Hudson's Republican government. It has also coped poorly with internal pressures: the Starship One conspiracy, Jupiter Division's attempted coup, the secession crisis triggered by the Proactive Detection Bureau's operation… the list goes on. And

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we've got some very cool large horizontal "wrap-around" cockpits that AllTinker has built for the Confederation project. These aren't merely a copy/paste of the various existing art pieces - Tinker has drawn in a bit of connective material to seamlessly bridge the transition from front to side to back. It's so good that you probably can't tell where it starts! The exact usage is still up in the air, although there are numerous ways these could be applied to accommodate widescreen setups or even a hypothetical 3D environment. There's a lot of work yet to do before anything like that will be implemented, but you can enjoy the 360 degree art right now!

Someone with the skills could obviously render up new 2D widescreen views with the proper perspective. I can experiment with some fake perspective on the far edges just to break up the flatness of it a bit, but I'm not sure how good it'll look.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Happened across a pretty interesting Chris Roberts interview; from the June 1995 magazine of Hyper, an Australian magazine. A lot of discussion of the Hobbes decision. Mention of the Privateer TV show, too!

This January 1991 review of Wing Commander from Rave magazine is pretty interesting, too. Talk of the abandoned internal Amiga port... and the screenshots are all from the rolling demo!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a fun rendering by Cybot of various Privateer ship upgrades. You've got things like guns and missile launchers, radars, engines, shields and ECM countermeasures. If this piques your Privateer interest, why not head over to the CIC Wiki WCPedia? LOAF and team have exhaustedly detailed out everything you might want to know about the game's ships, missions, weapons, equipment, commodities and more!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Federation has voted to elect Felicia Winters as its next president, with a four per cent vote majority over her rival Jerome Archer.
The current shadow president of the Liberal Party will be officially inaugurated in the new year, entering an eight-year term of office. Congressman Isolde Rochester will also be sworn in as vice president in Winters's administration.
President Zachary Hudson will remain in power during the transition period, but will not be expected to implement any major policy changes. The Liberal Party will replace the Republican Party as the superpower's governing authority in 3310, with Jerome Archer assuming the role of shadow president.
President-elect Winters addressed her supporters during a celebratory rally in Olympus Village on Mars:
"The people of the Federation have spoken! I thank you all for turning my party's vision into a reality. My aim is to govern

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we have a neat "video review" for Wing Commander Privateer from Interactive Entertainment, a CD-ROM magazine. This is from the inaugural issue dated February 1994. The clip doesn't include rolling video, but it has a narrated overview presented on top of a large number of screenshots, which would have qualified as full fledged multimedia back in the day! In a similar vein, the author gushes about the vast universe, diverse planets and enormous freedom provided by the Gemini Sector. It's the same language you might hear in a modern review of Starfield today, which is interesting food for thought on how expectations evolve with the cutting edge of computer gaming over the decades. AD was able to piece together their proprietary image format and pair it with the appropriate audio to recreate this sequence, and now you can easily enjoy it on YouTube!

Interactive Entertainment (IE) was an

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We're a sucker for a good physical Wing Commander model, and Conrad Teves recently made a slick one! He printed this Arrow light fighter a few weeks ago, which happened to be just in time for Wing Commander Armada's 29th birthday. A lot of people closely associate this ship with Wing Commander 3, but it appeared in Armada first. Arrows even take up a pretty big chunk of the box cover!

Made a 3d print of the Arrow. Here it is fresh off the printer.