News categories list

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Johann Fleischer, the recently appointed head of the mining corporation Caine-Massey, has been shot and killed on Mars.
Fleischer was attending a Federal Commerce Authority seminar at the Olympus Village Conference Centre. He was targeted in the audience by long-range plasma fire that proved immediately fatal. Security forces were unable to locate the shooter, but the weapon and other items were recovered.
Philippa Barlow-Lyons , the COO of Caine-Massey, told the media:
"I am saddened and sickened by this tragedy, as is everyone in the Caine-Massey family. Johann was approved as our new CEO late last year. He was a much-respected champion of enterprise, and a close personal friend. No effort must be spared in finding his murderer."
Executive Agent Viola Trask provided a statement from the Federal Intelligence Agency:
"At present, the assassin's identity and whereabouts remain unknown. The

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

We’re kicking things off this week with a new Lego fighter by John Nelson. The design is most commonly know as the Talon from Privateer. I can see some diversion in the shape of the wings, but overall a solid effort given the pieces at his disposal. And with a new Lego store (third party brick exchange stores are a thing now??), we’re likely to see more designs soon! You can see a recent photo of the rest of his fleet here. As a reminder, there are five “Talons” in the WC universe: 1: Unknown Ship (Privateer 2), 2: Reuse of the model for the Gratha (Super Wing Commander), 3: Church of Man Talon (Privateer), 4: Militia Talon (Privateer), 5: Pirate Talon (Privateer).

Well here’s what was probably my quickest build for a non Kilrathi fighter that can fit a mini figure. I found a new Lego store south of me and made a Militia Talon.

Pliers (would) say, "Just about every two bit hood or cash strapped

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Newsfeeds and ICE-casts have reacted to Aegis's theory that the Thargoids have purposefully captured tens of millions of living humans.
Eyewitness testimonies provided by independent pilots have given credence to this theory. Citizens' Chronicle featured the following account from Imperial auxiliary Commander Luca Redondo:
"It was a sickening sight, watching Scythes hunt down survivors. A part of me wanted to start blasting the escape pods rather than let those poor people be eaten, or experimented on, or whatever the hell the Thargoids want them for. There was nothing my squadron could do to save them, not without risking the refugees we were carrying. I don't think I'll be sleeping well for a long time."
Many reporters have interviewed people still waiting to hear from those who once lived in Thargoid-occupied systems. Vox Galactica has published several such stories:
"My ex-husband took our

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Sometimes a little shortie burst of Wing Commander just hits the spot, and today is one of those days! This is a look at the TrainSim in the Super Nintendo version of Wing Commander put together by Retro Shorts.

This might look like the TrainSim you're familiar with from the DOS edition of the game, but there are actually quite a few differences! It's fairly distinct on the PC versus Amiga versus Sega CD, SNES and SWC! You can learn more about these variations in LOAF's article here.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The phenomenal expansion of the CIC Holovid video archive continues! Having recently vastly expanded what was available for Privateer 2, LOAF and AD have moved on to Wing Commander Prophecy. Their complete catalog of the game's cutscenes includes every clip in high quality, complete with transcripts, storyboards, alternate languages, variations and branching choices depicted. The game's ICIS mission briefings have also been digitized and transcribed, and THOUSANDS of in-flight audio communication clips have been added. This even applies to the 3Dfx Test and playable demo. Plus, a fun variety of behind-the-scenes and bonus videos are available as well. You don't want to miss it!

Here's LOAF with more detail:

• A page for every cutscene in Wing Commander Prophecy! Each page embeds the cutscene in question and collects all sorts of bonus materials:
  • The alternate, higher quality DVD footage
    • The German dub

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

I would give so much to be able to read the text on these monitors from Wing Commander III. Look, there's a designation for the Hellcat V right there! F-86 maybe? F-46C?

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Check out this awesome Seahawk model that LOAF recently got 3D printed. The CIC staff love things like this, but none of us have the hardware or technical knowledge to make these ourselves. Fortunately, that's where the cottage industry of make-to-order prints comes in! Some sources can seem kind of sketchy, but LOAF found this one on Etsy (3Dwitha4Kface) and the results are solid. They also make a Dralthi, Scimitar, Kamrani Corvette, Centurion and Tiger's Claw in sizes from 1 inch to 12 inches. If you pick one up, keep in mind that some gluing and assembly may be required!

I got a huge Seahawk from Etsy’s Black Friday sale.

The SR-51 Seahawk Airborne Early Warning/Airborne Warning and Control Ship aka the SWACS.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We've got another great update to a new fan tool today. AllTinker has released a new version of Originator, his multipurpose extraction tool that can decipher all manner of internal assets from within the code of classic WC games. He aims to support a broad cross section of Origin and Wing Commander titles, so today's update improves the program's ability to read certain formats. It will also read more types of information, including text content within the games. This all builds on an impressive list of supported games and audio/visual file types from the first release. You can learn more and download the app at the CIC Forums here.

Version 0.2.02 (2023-12-25)

• Improved the IFF parser to cope with various quirks and non-standard features (e.g. Privateer's "table" structures).
• Quite broad support for "shape" images - although there are palettes remaining to hook up for numerous games, so colours may

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Hey, you made it through the week - congratulations! Now it's time to relax. Celebrate your victory with this ten minute loop that Vinman made of the Prophecy victory music. Or if you're already suffering from the Sunday scaries, use this clip to help calm your nerves ahead of the coming workweek!

This morning I grabbed a shirt out of my closet, saw it said WING COMMANDER on it, and got a bug up my butt to do a Wing Commandery thing today.After a morning of screwing around in Audacity, here's almost ten minutes of the mission accomplished music from Prophecy, for when you want to reward yourself for doing a good job.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Knight26-77 has a new 3D print to share. This time it's the Class A Space Superiority Fighter F-109 Vampire. It's a little hard to see without zooming into these pics, but the shape is pretty spot on, all the way down to the nose guns and blister fairings on the rotating engine pods. As Knight himself admits, the paint job could use a little work, but that time lapse video is extremely cool. Be sure to check it out!

Not the best painter I know, but from a distance... LOL

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We've got an exciting preview to share today! One of the most exhilarating projects of the last decade was George Oldziey's spectacular mission to record his Wing Commander hits with a live orchestra. The endeavor was a resounding success, and fans around the world treasure the results to this day. Over the years, Mr. Oldziey has launched a couple of spinoffs that have delivered some new digital music and set the groundwork for a possible sequel. George has been carefully planning what he might do in a follow-up effort for a number of years, and now that time is upon us! Advances in technology and in the music market have made some new things possible... with your help! Stay tuned and check back at the end of this week for more details!

Vinman: Hell yes, I'd been hoping for years that we'd get another chunk o' music!

Here's a recap video of the original live orchestra project to help set the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It's a good week for Wing Commander music! If all the recent posts have got you in the mood for more, Pekka Leppaluoto has just recorded a new extract of George Oldziey's iconic Wing Commander 3 tracks. He used AllTinker's Originator tool to pull the source .hmp files out of the game and then play them back on an authentic Roland SCC-1. This would have been one of the most incredible ways to listen to the game back in 1994. Give the soundtrack a listen below, and check back later this weekend for more info on what's coming next! You can already sign in on Kickstarter and get a notification as soon as the project goes live.

Setup used: a real Intel 486 DX2 PC with Roland SCC-1 card's line-outs connected to RME Fireface 802 channel inputs. Recorded at 96/24. A rinse of Waves' L3 UltraMaximizer in post.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Great reward after a long week: two more Wing Commander CCG paintings! Dralthi IV vs. Hellcat V, as nature intended.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi opens with Blair being reduced in rank and assigned to a backwater Star Base called Caernaven Station in the Gwynedd System. Ever wonder what the inspiration for the base itself was? Director Siobhan Beeman tweeted: "The Confed starbases in WC2 were inspired by two things: the Cylon basestars from the original BSG, and Starfleet Headquarters from the old "Starfleet Technical Manual" from Franz Joseph Designs." We thought it would be fun to look at both Wing Commander II's Star Base AND the history of the two classic science fiction designs that inspired it.

Star Base - Wing Commander

The Confederation Star Base is a massive space station outpost seen in a number of different places in and around the Enigma Sector. The base is 1,200 meters wide, masses 230,000 tonnes and carries four flak guns and a full complement of fighters. A script document reproduced in

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We are BACK! The latest episode of ALL WINGS CONSIDERED is live now! All Wings Considered is the CIC's first ever streaming variety show which features news, conversation and gameplay relating to our favorite series. This week's Nav Points include:

• Wing Commander III - Torgo on the 3DO
• Remembering Syd Mead
• Bengal-class carrier names

Missed the stream? The replay will be available below once it has been processed by YouTube. You can subscribe to the AWC channel for future notifications here.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a neat option for fans thinking about another playthrough of the console ports. Matt Harmon has put together an elaborate achievement slate for WC1 and Secret Missions on the SNES as well as Wing Commander 3 on the Playstation. He hopes to do WC4 in the future as well. Although I'm not quite clear on the exact details, RetroAchievements seems to have emulators available that can measure and record these milestones. Emulation might not be for everyone, but players on the original hardware might also find these fun. It's easy enough to just consider them a nice set of goals to accomplish and check off each one you hit. You can find all the games that Matt's built achievements for here.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

ConMan1226 is creating a series of movie reviews called "From Pixels to Pictures," and now he's reached Wing Commander. He was unfamiliar with the series beforehand, so he played through the first WC game and based his comparisons on that, which gives this kind of an interesting point of view. The cast generally gets decent marks, and he says this is despite the lead actor not trying very hard. The author would have preferred more of the game's side characters to play a larger role and notes the death of Rosie as a high point of the story. Set design and spaceflight get quite a few compliments as well. He even though the Pilgrims worked, although they were probably too complicated. Based on some of his analysis of the contemporary reviews at the time, his final verdict is that it didn't get a fair shake and suffered in the wake of a general video game-based movie stigma at the time. Watch the

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Affiliated Counter-Terrorism unit has acquired an encrypted message that may reveal Theta Seven's location.
ACT successfully captured most of the bomb-making engineers known as Theta Group, and has now prioritised hunting down the NMLA's de facto leader.
This latest breakthrough was explained by Captain Milo Castile:
"Theta Group managed to delete most of their data prior to capture, but we retrieved a short message that they received on the 31st of July. At this point most of Theta Group were being harboured by Neo-Marlinist sympathisers within the Marlinist Colonies, but Theta Seven and his closest aides had fled to an unknown destination."
"Unfortunately the message has been encrypted using a pre-arranged cipher key, without which its contents are unreadable. It is unclear why this wasn't transmitted via the NMLA's dark-comms network, which remains

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Darkwater Inc in the Summerland system has been declared a hostile military target for its role in abducting Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval.
The private military firm, led by Colonel Ronan Brock, was secretly hired by the Lords of Restoration to train and equip the NMLA. Darkwater troops also kept the Emperor imprisoned in a concealed bunker for over a year.
Once their involvement was revealed by ACT, Darkwater's forces regrouped around the megaship Pearl Mandate. Colonel Brock led an attempt to gain control of Summerland as a defensive measure but was unsuccessful. The mercenaries have now been branded as wanted criminals by the system authorities.
The order to strike against Darkwater came directly from Emperor Arissa:
"I call upon my loyal servants and all other warriors of honour to wipe out this nest of traitors. We remember the innocent victims of the NMLA by