08
Mar
Folks, I've uncovered some shocking cut content hidden in Privateer's files. The game has... TWO UNUSED NOSES.
For comparison, here's a few actual faces from Privateer:
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08
Oct
LOAF followed the Bricks with Wings instructions that we posted about last year, and I'm in love with the results. I don't actually see the plans available on the BWW site anymore, but fortunately LOAF was able to source all of the necessary pieces and make a tiny squadron of Confed fighters from the WC1 Vega Sector fleet.
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01
Sep
…Maiden Ariana has posted a fun video about her journey to getting Wing Commander 3 running on a vintage computer. There have been similar videos in the past that have emphasized things like the config.sys and autoexec.bat type configuration, but she goes on an entire quest that ends up involving both CD-ROM and sound card replacement. While WC3 is not the most speed-sensitive Wing Commander game, it can still produce some quirky results with higher end Pentium era hardware, which led to some issues. But with enough time, effort and retro hardware, it's possible to get the game working smoothly! Check out the video to see how she did it:
I take you on a bit of my troubleshooting journey to get Wing Commander 3 hopefully running flawlessly on actual vintage/retro hardware (no DosBox cheating here).
This is my first full length Retro Alcove video. Many more to come in this series. If you like what
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07
Mar
…Origin programmer and tester Allen Jackson shared this awesome artifact from the golden days at OSI: a job application to work at the company. It's pretty neat to see exactly what they asked (was it a big issue at the time to have applicants when recalled from a layoff?). This is also a pretty stark reminder of what a different era it was. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any major company in 2020 that even accepts a paper application. I'm sure we have visitors to the site today who've never seen one before. And now it's pretty easy to find open jobs and submit from anywhere in the world. Back in the '90s, how would it even work to apply from out of state? Could you call them up and get them to mail you a form? Maybe it could be faxed? As Google moves to exclusively video interviews this month due to the coronavirus, I wonder if they'd have entertained an audio phone interview?
Some might
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21
Jan
Destiny's Way is back! DsW is the in-universe magazine of the Wing Commander Flat Universe project. It's the first issue since 2016, and it's actually a retro edition that turns the clock back from 2681 to 2654. The cover and lead article involve a fascinating story about a captured Jalthi. There'a also some immersive propaganda and a discussion on tactics. Grab the full issue here (3 meg PDF) and find back issues at Daedalus Station.
Time to wipe out some dust... Go and grab a copy WingNuts!
Have Fun!
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25
Dec
…Earlier this year, Starfleet Engineers, in conjunction with the finest minds in singularity technology of the Romulan Republic, finally made a breakthrough in investigating the incursions from the Galaxy of Great Sales, which occasionally merges with our own to set off the anomaly known as the “Flash Sale.” This allowed Star Trek Online to put together three great sales during the Earth event known as Black Friday, but during the Intra-galactic Winter Holiday Celebrations, we’re putting together five sales! It’s only a few weeks now until we celebrate our tenth anniversary, and to thank you for a lifetime of memories, we’re putting on a lifetime of a sale. Save 30% on a Lifetime Subscription from December 25th at 10am PT to December 28th at 10am PT. Get your hands on a galaxy of exclusives, including exclusive ships, playable races, and more! .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px
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15
Nov
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 3DO - Ariel System
- Lynn Murphy's Righteous Fire missions
- Behind the Scenes of Wing Commander III
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.
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04
Jun
…Wing Commander Academy viewers often come away from the experience with one enduring question: what was the deal with Viking? Viking (or Victoria as she prefers to be known on her own time) is a human pilot who appears only in Wing Commander Academy's first episode. She is part of Blair and Maniac's class at the flight school. She is part of the training mission that opens the episode, she flirts with Blair afterwards and then during the simulated dogfight she is the one that accidentally shoots down Jazzman.
At the end of the episode she appears in civilian clothes on the tarmac and informs Bair that the experience has taught her she can't be responsible for killing anyone. Instead, she is leaving the military and offers him the opportunity to come too. He refuses and the episode ends with her walking away sadly as his Scimitar blasts off into space. It's a poignant moment, especially when informed
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15
Mar
…Greetings WingNuts,
We have watched Silent Running and agree that it's an interesting movie but that it doesn't quite come together (like Wing Commander?). The special effects are incredible, the sets and costumes are excellent, the setup is an excellent story… but it never quite comes together into anything satisfying. A lot of that comes down to the lead, we thought, who ends up being somewhat difficult to root for. It's a movie I'm glad to have seen but it's definitely more cult than classic.
This will be a short report, though, as the movie had no known creative connections to Wing Commander beyond being incorrectly referenced in the film's original treatise. But we did note a few little genre connections! One little coincidence is that both films have acts set in ring systems! Silent Running's director famously used the film as an excuse to do the Saturn special effects he had envisioned for 2001:
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07
Feb
…This is the third in a series of updates that will highlight five fascinating items from our first search through the Video Game History Foundation's new Digital Library. We're sure there are countless treasures to uncover, so be sure to dive into their collection and post what you discover to the forums!
Another welcome addition with the VGHF Digital Library is access to the full run of vintage US PC Gamer magazines which have been surprisingly difficult to preserve online in the past. And to show that off, what better than the September 1995 issue (Vol. 2, No. 9) which features a full page preview for "The Darkening". This article was one of a collection that came about after Electronic Arts junketed the Privateer 2 film shoot well before the game was part of the Wing Commander universe or even named Privateer (as the article's title hilariously incorrectly predicts). It also features a couple of
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12
Dec
…Later this week the Wing Commander movie club will be watching Glory, the movie that served as the inspiration for the character of Downtown in Wing Commander II. In preparation, I thought it would be good to collect everything we know about Downtown into an update.. and in the process I learned that I didn't actually understand his intended backstory at all! We've written up as canonical a biography as possible, pontificated on the issues surrounding what is known about the character, detailed his development and collected a healthy archive of behind the scenes material and in-game conversations for your reference.
Character Biography
This writeup is done in the style of a wiki entry and takes into account all existing sources in an attempt to construct a singular story. It does not represent the specific intent of any one author; details on the development of Downtown's character and a discussion of
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11
Nov
…Klavs is back with a gift to share with Wing Commander fans this week. He's officially releasing a handful of enhanced 3D models that were put together over the last couple years. The direct art assets were originally available in exchange for a donation towards his family's medical bills, but now they are available at SketchFab for free. Hit the links below for links to each. These designs have made their way into a variety of fan projects over time, and we're excited to see what else fans can do with them!
Hi everyone, the Wing Commander redux models are now available for free on Sketchfab. MANY many thanks go out to those who purchased them, your support is so greatly appreciated, and if we ever meet in person I owe you a coffee!
They are a little rough in spots! As with the original models, I was using them as a way to learn substance a little better.
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19
Feb
…Sylvester found this very fun Wing Commander-adjacent video to share. DCSWorld PL created a impressive high fidelity version of the Strike Commander introduction in the Digital Combat Simulator engine. It's super sharp and features an authentic reproduction of things like the game's iconic F-16s. Strike Commander has many diehard fans out there and it's cool to see what they're churning out almost thirty years later!
Waiting hopelessly for the remake or sequel of one of the most beloved games - STRIKE COMMANDER - I decided to start by myself. Here it is the intro from the original version (floppy disk, not CD), recreated to the letter in DCS World.
I made skins for Wildcats squadron based on Sudden Death magazine included in the big box and added some from myself.
The clip is one to one recreation of the original scenes using Mission Editor in DCS World. The music and sound effects are from Strike
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31
Jan
We've got a couple of very nice new updates to a pair of Klavs' WC2-era models. The Sabre that he's been working on this year has gotten a revamped TCS Tarawa texture with nods to the events of End Run. There's also an all new take on the Ferret, which you can tell is the P-64D Super Ferret variant thanks to the pair of heat seeking missiles. It gets a similar new livery to the Sabre based around the In-System Security paint scheme. The Sabre may win out on specs, but the Ferret sure is powerful for its size!
New livery for the Sabre! And some work on a reduxx'd Ferret!
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23
Nov
…Today we've got a pair of fabulous 3D printed bombers to show off. They're the latest creations by Adm_Maverick. These are some of the biggest pilotable craft out there, and at nearly a foot long, they've been built to an appropriately hefty scale. This allows for some of the detailed elements like turrets to really stand out. Mav has some quirks that they'd ideally like to correct, but I think the results are already pretty fantastic. Bravo!
Printed up, and assembled the parts for a Longbow heavy bomber. There is something I really like about of the Longbow. Sadly the printing process was somewhat uneven resulting in some warping and deformations. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do about it. I could make new parts, reprint the original parts with different settings, or maybe create new files to be printed. On a side note, I need to do some number crunching but I think this might actually be
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21
Jun
One of John Nelson's original Wing Commander designs a while back was the sturdy Border Worlds Avenger. Although it's super impressive what people can do with Lego bricks, there's always room for improvement, and he's taken a second run at tightening things up a bit. The results look really solid. Most of the hull plating is a bit darker and the major structural elements are bit thicker with more mass. Hit the comment link to let him know what you think!
The last of my Lego updates, the Avenger. I went ground up to give it a more game accurate boxy and thicker look and the front cockpit cover had to change and I found the parts to do it. Enjoy.
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27
Mar
Here's a video from Geeky Dad Gaming about a seminal year in gaming, 1990, and what some of the biggest games of the year were. Origin and Wing Commander take up a big chunk of the clip. He talks a lot about what a big deal the development process was and how it shaped the industry going into the rest of the '90s. Check it out below!
As we round into a new decade, PC gaming goes from strength to strength. The PC game landscape sees the introduction of the big budget release and the birth of a company that would go on to change the whole video gaming landscape. Inbetween that we have a titan of a point and click adventure showing how story and characters were just as important to a good game as graphics and gameplay.
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26
Mar
…The WC4 Fan Remake team has a new update to share regarding shields. Wing Commander 4's game engine didn't visually depict shields for capships: it's one of those things your brain either glosses over or subconsciously imagines was there all along. We got some gorgeous effects during cutscenes, but you don't experience them in flight. After 26 years, that's finally being rectified with a fancy animated texture technique. The thumbnail below expands into an animated gif so you can see the sparkly results in action! You can also read about the whole process in a new article at WCRespace.com.
We’ve tried to create something similar, but not identical. The FMV has flat, circular ripples which can be carefully placed. We have no control over where the player fires and, if the player fired into a corner, it would clip into the geometry or extend past it (as seen in WCP). Instead we project an animated
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21
Dec
Privateer 2 developer Paul Hughes has rescued another prototype box cover from the digital scrap heap. It's got some elements that are familiar from the "City of Lights" art, including the Icarus, Heretic and Clive Owen, but this version also has a really cool Tri-System map layer. The locations are key planets from throughout local space. You can see how a lot of this stuck around for the final box art (in North America).
Trawling through some disks last night, I came across this alternate Privateer 2 (UK) cover, complete with Clive Owen! I kinda like it!
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08
Nov
It's been quite a while since we checked in with EmuMusicFan's graphical novel project, but he's continued to make steady progress all the while. He's crafted a variety of new Kilrathi characters to populate his universe, and they look quite nice. While the care and attention paid to each person's facial detail is obvious, I'm also intrigued by their outfits. In some cases they're just cursory gowns and outlines of armor, but there's some real potential to build up some hypothetical Kilrathi fashion here. Let him know what you think at the CIC Forums.
