You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In NowSign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountDec
Greg14 shared this French preview of Wingleader from a June 1990 issue of Génération 4. It appears to be based off previews from the Consumer Elections Show in Chicago. The name change to Wing Commander happened relatively close to launch, so a lot of the prime promotional materials from this summer emphasize the 'Leader' name. Can you imagine how amazing these huge screenshots would have looked at the time? Also check out that small in-game Wingleader logo!
Mar
It's finally spring for the majority of Wingnuts, and GOG is welcoming the season with a big discount on Wing Commander games. The series is marked down a customary 75%, so that means all DOS/Windows games are available for less than $12. It's a steal for easy digital access - even if you already have physical copies! Also, we know there's quite a bit of overlap between Star Trek and WC fans, and GOG has recently added a slate of Trek games to their catalog. Those additions are all 20% off too.
Nov
…Today we have another look at DefianceIndustries' gorgeous digital interpretation of the tabletop fan game TacOps. It's got a more purpose-built table now, and a variety of amenities are being implemented to make the game function and flow better. There's also two exciting additions: the Sartha and Ferret. The picture of them below looks almost real. With more quality of life improvements in place, Defiance is planning to start some playtesting soon. Sounds like fun!
To quote Gold Leader: "Almost there...." I revamped the game using the Chimera table which made more ergonomic sense. Currently it's set up for 2 players (with an option for 4, though the table seats 6 so you could go nuts)I added a bowl of pegs so you can track the status on the ship cards easier, added a copy of the rules for each side, as well as all the missile tiles (DF, HS, IMREC, FoF, Torp). It's about 90% there for some
Jan
…My friends! My benefactors! My, dare I say it, potential customers! Did I not say that Harcourt Fenton Mudd was the king of all deals? Over the past weeks of my establishment being officially open to the public – although a bit mobile to keep away from prying Federation eyes – I believe I have demonstrated the value you can only find here. And now, there are three new items becoming available! The Klingon’s own personal demons, the Fek’ihri, have granted me their S’torr Warship! It sounds like a sneeze to me, but I’m told it’s the ‘new hotness,’ if you will. And look at this, a holographic recreation of Federation legend Geordi La Forge! Wouldn’t you want an engineer of that caliber on your bridge crew? But that’s not all, folks, I’ve also made available a Crystal Prism Device from the mysterious world of Paahvo, and I’ll even throw in an amazing tech upgrade for your
May
Today we've got the sequel to the Matthew Lillard art recently made by NMA Nekro. They've collaborated with dogseatdogstoo to start with one of the earlier pieces, colorize it and add some atsy WC (Secret Missions 2 to be exact) elements. What do you think? It's wild how many huge Lillard fans are out there!
Guys do you remember the movie Wing Commander 1999? Well @nma_nekro and I sure do.Lovely little art trade I had the privilege of working on
@nma_nekro did the line art, of course, and I scribbled in the rest! Thank you again!
May
…Destro has a new update on what to expect in the future for the Wing Loader program. He added preliminary support for WC4, Prophecy and Secret Ops towards the end of last year, but there's still plenty to do for the earlier games in the series. Now that in-game speech is working in WC1, I might be most excited about what is happening with WC3. He's made some major breakthroughs regarding the ability to add ODVS' enhanced video footage. There's even the potential to add back in scenes like news clips and the Hobbes explanation that are only included in the console ports. It's all exciting stuff! You can download the latest version here.
I've got a few things planned for a new release. Currently I'm working on some memory fixes, better camera code to fix some jumpy issues I've seen online:
- A few changes to the scripting to make reading it easier.
- Added in Imgui support and making preferences so users
Apr
We're rounding out the third week of Origin composer George Oldziey's campaign to create a new album of Wing Commander music. The current tally is very nearly at $17,000. That's enough to ensure the project moves forward, which is great! As we previously reported, George has already scheduled time with the orchestra in Europe to record in August. However, it would be amazing if the live choral addition were added in as well. For that, we would need about $5,000 additional over what's been contributed so far. I still think it's very doable with all of your help! You can learn more about the project and pledge for a copy of the music when it's released here.
Here's a sample of reorchestrated WC4 track that George has already recreated on paper. The sound you hear is a digital recreation below, so the final result with live musicians will be even better!
Jan
AD found this nifty review way back in the February 1993 issue of N-Force magazine. It's more than thirty years old, and everything from color choices to the hair style of the reviewer confirms its age. You can tell they had a lot of fun putting this spread together, which is why I'm surprised it only got an 84. They also ran a contest that gave away free copies of the game and other associated merch, which is pretty cool!
Dec
…Destro has released a new update of Wing Loader with a host of new features! The original project sough to bring voiceovers from the Sega CD version of WC1 over into the PC edition. He's since expanded his goals significantly with plans to add features such as the ability to incorporate high definition video into Wing Commander 3. This new version also adds preliminary support for WC4, Prophecy and Secret Ops in advance of offering new features for those games in the future. There is compatibility with Stinger's wcdx package of improvements to the Kilrathi Saga games, and the program now works with all the common GOG packages. You can find more details and installation instructions here. The main installer package is also mirrored here (800 meg zip).
Happy Holidays Everyone!!!Got a ton of fixes, upgrades and new features to share. Most notably, a fix for error 267 that causes folders to be
Dec
Here's a quirky crossover mash-up of the different franchises that Mac incorporates into his lore videos. Hope it helps you cruise right into the weekend!
The Hangar at The End of The Multiverse
Oct
Fun Privateer 2 background element: Angus Santana has a model of a Bexian public transport balloon on his desk.
Oct
…The results of an evening of hex editing! This is how Privateer figures the cost of repairs (and the prices for selling damaged components, which is never worth it!).
Every component has a damage rating from 0 (destroyed) to 100 (no damage). Repairs are a percent of the total item value times the damage rating.
The armor is the exception: it has four values (one for each side) and the total amount varies by armor type. It’s also super broken and rolls over so will charge you more for a tiny amount of damage. But the range is so small you never notice while playing!
The one component you can’t buy are the hated maneuvering jets. But from their repair costs we can see they seem to have a total value of 75,000 credits!
The maneuvering jets graphic was actually initially created to be an EMP shield. This was part of a cut game loop that would've let you disable enemy ships (and need such a shield to protect
Aug
…*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
A new type of Thargoid vessel is hyperdicting human ships and capturing living passengers.
Aegis has designated the hunter-class alien ship as a 'Scythe'. Aden Tanner released an assessment of its capabilities:
"This Thargoid vessel has been designed not just for combat, but to hyperdict ships and extract human beings from them. Our observations of its tactics suggesting that abduction is its primary purpose."
"A Scythe's initial attack mirrors that of its Glaive cousin, by attempting to disable frame shift drives and deplete shields. It then launches a unique strike to makes passenger cabins and cargo holds uninhabitable. The resulting escape pods are rapidly drawn onboard onto the Scythe intact."
Further observations were made by Vice Admiral Skylar Anderson, the Empire's military liaison to Aegis:
"Due to their modus operandi, it now seems likely that the
Jul
The guy organizing the Origin Museum sale has some great original artwork listed on eBay right now! The auction is for two wonderful Wing Commander II demo paintings! Too rich for my blood but these were among the coolest items in Joe’s collection. It would be great to see them go to a good home. You can find the listing here.
The WC2 demo is essentially a non-playable prototype of the WC2 intro. You can see that it differs a bit from the throne room depicted in the final game in the video below:
May
…*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Aegis's new module will allow ships to penetrate the energy wave protecting the central regions of the Maelstroms.
Deliveries of cobalt, ion distributors and power converters were made to Clement Orbital in the YZ Ceti system. These allowed Aegis to build a manufacturing and distribution centre for Thargoid pulse neutralisers, which can now be purchased from technology brokers on rescue megaships.
Professor Alba Tesreau released a statement regarding Aegis's next steps:
"Combined with our caustic sink launcher, the Thargoid pulse neutraliser will enable explorers to travel through the Maelstroms' corrosive clouds and into their cores. A small number of Aegis researchers will be among the first wave of pioneers. Their mission is to identify the source of these mysterious objects and gather data about its nature."
"I am conscious that, once again, independent pilots
Apr
…John Nelson has a new Lego creation, and it's another beauty! His first Kilrathi design is this small and angular Darket. I'm once again super impressed by what he was able to accomplish given a limited number of pieces on hand. He mentions that he would have preferred to use more brown parts, but I think the orange is actually pretty accurate. If you look at the 'Fireclaw' Kilrathi ace model from WC3, it's covered in special red, yellow and orange accents.
As an experiment I built my first Kilrathi model and went with the Darket. I wasn’t planning on doing Kilrathi fighters but I went for it, going for not accommodating mini figures to save time space and parts. I really like the results. I’ll get some more brownish colors in the future so that this and other models won’t have such a Heinz ketchup and mustard color scheme.Pliers (would) say, "The Darket is like a bug. Small and annoying on its
Feb
Klavs has produced a glorious sequel to his recent Bearcat wallpaper. This one features three Hellcats zooming through the air - of both the old and new variety. It's the culmination of a model we've seen Klavs working on for over the past year. Although the Hellcat doesn't strike me as the most aerodynamic design, there's just something about how it hangs in the air that looks really good. And while it's not the most powerful offensive force, a few of them can put down some solid firepower!
DefianceIndustries: Are those rivets done via texture or physically modeled?Klavs: I do both nowadays, if they're flush they get bumped, if they're proud they're modeled. The rivets on the Hornet are all flush except in a couple specific cases. The panel lines are likewise modeled.
Sep
…We're launching two great sales this weekend, and this weekend only, Captains! First, the Discovery Enterprise, D7, and the rest of the ships of the Infinity R&D Promotion are returning from 12pm PT on September 20th until 12pm PT on September 22nd. Purchase an R&D Pack during that time, and you could receive a Tier 6 Ship, including the Tier 6 Consitution Class! Best of all, during this brief return, R&D Packs are 30% off! This is a sale you'll want to take advantage of to get your hands on that ship you've always wanted. But that's not all. If you're craving even more rewards, our Lifetime Subscription is 33% off during these 48 hours as well! Get your hands on new ships, playable races, a special in game area just for you, and much much more! You can follow the link below to see the benefits, and to purchase your subscription! For information on how to claim and use your Lifetime Rewards, click
Nov
…General: Resolved an issue that caused some Bridge Officers to be generated with an incomplete costume. Visiting the tailor should resolve affected Bridge Officers. Resolved an issue that was causing the, “Into the Breach” Welcome screen to be inaccessible when first logging in. Removed the disclaimer on the Cyborg Miracle Worker Bridge Officer that you cannot reclaim them for free after purchase. Made the Reman Liberated Borg Bridge Officers purchased from the Zen store tradable. Resolved an issue that would sometimes prevent the Plasma Plumes from being visible during the “Into the Breach” Task Force Operation. Systems: Resolved an issue that was causing certain choice-based rewards to lump items that should always be rewarded, in with the choices that players are asked to make. This change should revert all such behavior to how it is intended to work, and
Jul
…What happens when you dig really deep for Wing Commander stuff to share? You find some wild gems like these! Turn the clock back 20+ years for a time capsule of WC fan art that raeder made back in the 2003-2005 era. Apparently these were created in an old school program called Bryce. I would say the Galaxy model is actually very good for the time and it's mostly the textures that would benefit from a little more consistency. Of course, the background art and flame effects are pretty dated, but they still have a certain vintage charm!
Over a decade has passed since these ships first ran the starlanes of the Gemini Sector, and the improvements just keep coming. New B&S scanners, cannon and turret mounts, improvements in storage capacity, heavier generator mounts, and room for improved counter-tronic equipment has fast made them popular among the freighting community. While they will never be a true
