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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Last week's meeting of the Wing Commander movie club was a great success! Star Trek VI's connection to Wing Commander may have been slighter than other films we've watched (watch for the after action report on Friday) but it was also a lot of fun watching a film we all love together with friends. And isn't that the point of this whole endeavor in the first place? Next week, however, we're returning to music and to World War II with 633 Squadron (1964)! And as always you are welcome to join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

It's time for more high flying action with the Royal Air Force! 633 Squadron is a fictionalized air combat adventure which pits a squadron of elite Mosquito fighter pilots against a Nazi rocket base. Made in 1964, it's the first air combat movie to be shot in color and represents a new kind of World War II movie that starts to glamorize rather than memorialize the conflict.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Sending good thoughts to folks in Central Florida. The region has a little history with Wing Commander: novelist Peter Telep is a professor at UCF. First he highlighted Florida in the movie novelization... though the actual scene being described is maybe not so detailed!

In the followup novel, Pilgrim Stars, he turned his university into a Pilgrim concentration camp. In that vein I tried to honor Mr. Telep by establishing in Star Soldier that the crazy liberal professor from Fleet Action also taught there (and he’s an awful conservative now, as happens to old men.)

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we've got a triple-pack of hardcore reviews from Hardcore Gaming 101. We reported on their WC1, WC2 and Strike Commander retrospectives back in the day, but we missed how these three prime spinoffs to the Wing Commander series also go their own proper articles.

First up is Academy. Taken in a modern context, some players may not understand how a mission builder could be its own fully boxed (and nearly full priced) standalone game, but that fails to capture the situation at the time. Fans were clamoring for the ability to do this. Fan mods were years away from being a thing, and Academy made it easy to craft your own WC games with zero learning curve. Plus, it packed in new ships as well as a really fun (and challenging) gauntlet mode.

Armada also gets a lot of credit for doing something different in such a way as to expand the Wing Commander tapestry. There is a some discussion on how the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

This is a big one, folks! After years of hard work, the WC4 Fan Remake team is super excited to finally unveil the first playable demo for Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom Remastered. Today's release is a fancy update to the original WC4 Demo released on October 19, 1995. As we've seen through their many technical articles released over the years, it takes a lot of foundation building (design, art, sound, coding, user interface and much more) to reach a milestone like this. Detailed instructions have been published to help people get things going. There's even a snazzy demo trailer below! You can grab the installer package here (900 meg exe). Keep in mind that this is still a beta level artifact and the team very much appreciates your feedback. Give it a try and have fun!

We are supremely proud to announce that the first playable demo of Wing Commander IV - The Price of Freedom:

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Taurus Mining Ventures has requested help with a mining and delivery operation in the Synuefe CE-R c21-6 system.
In recent weeks, the mining corporation has performed research on what it claims are atypical radiation signatures detected within Synuefe CE-R c21-6. It now seeks shipments of the system's native ores to explore commercially valuable applications of any molecular changes caused by this radiation.
Dr Ruben Carpenter, head of the company's research division, outlined the initiative:
"I'm very excited to offer pilots this opportunity to support our scientific studies, which will hopefully prove lucrative for all involved. We require coltan, lithium hydroxide and methanol monohydrate crystal to be mined from locations within Synuefe CE-R c21-6 and delivered to the Heart of Taurus megaship."
"We will also pay for shipments of the same ores that have been mined

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Federal government has announced plans to extend Zachary Hudson's term as president beyond the legally allotted span.
Every Federation president serves a single term of eight years. President Hudson assumed the role in June 3301, and is therefore due to step down in June 3309 following an election to select his replacement.
Secretary of State Lana Berkovich delivered the proposal to Congress:
"We live in extraordinary times, and all signs point to further challenges in the coming years. Our people deserve a steady hand at the helm rather than being forced to change political course, especially with the tempestuous developments found within our neighbouring superpowers."
"It is therefore in the public interest that we temporarily suspend the arbitrary eight-year limitation, to allow President Hudson to continue steering the Federation through the coming storms."
Shadow President Felicia

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

If you liked his Arena-era Midway last week, then you're going to love DefianceIndustries' Indomitable and Kiranka class battlecruisers. It's exciting to think about where we might see these pop up in future fan projects. I really like the broadside angles on the Confed version that show off the ship's ridiculous armament. The Kilrathi take isn't as far along, but it's a fun one too. This makes me want to fire Arena right up - along with fifteen friends - and have the fleets go at it (Achievement Unlocked)!

That's the Battlecruiser. Or as I call it, the Nope Brick. These are my current state WIP shots of the brick.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Sirius Corporation has received more data than Utopia and will therefore host the Galactic Summit.
Both organisations proposed to organise a diplomatic conference for the Alliance, Empire and Federation. After calling on the galactic community to gather data that would support security operations, many pilots handed in anomalous bulk scan data, atypical disrupted wake echoes, exceptional scrambled emission data and unusual encrypted files.
All three superpower governments confirmed that due to its success in preparing effective security systems, they will accept Sirius Corporation as the neutral territory for the conference.
CEO Li Yong-Rui made this announcement:
"Thank you to all the independent pilots who supported us. Sirius will now begin work preparing for the first Galactic Summit, which we hope will increase peace and prosperity across the galaxy."
Pilots who

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

DefianceIndustries is ready to share his latest project! We saw earlier this year that he was putting together some beautiful animated ships, and now they all come together in an exciting new teaser. I don't have a lot more to say - you just need to watch this thing in action!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Stinger has released his long awaited and highly anticipated update to wcdx! It now fully supports Wing Commander 2 and both Special Operations packs. This means a handful of annoying bugs and incompatibilities have been fixed, thus enabling the Kilrathi Saga version of the game to compete with DOSBox/GOG as the ideal way to play the originals in 2020. This release also includes bonus tools to explore the game's data files and listen to the soundtrack. Grab it below!

wcdx version 2.2 is here! After years of empty promises and unmet expectations, I can finally present to you the next official release of wcdx!

What's that, you say? Version 2.2? But what ever happened to 2.0 and 2.1? Last anybody knew, there was just an alpha that kinda-sorta worked for WC2! What gives?

wcdx gives, that's what gives! Specifically, it gives you Wing Commander 2, and Special Operations 1, and Special Operations 2!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT: For the attention of all Commanders*
Conflict between Keltim Empire League and Eurybia Blue Mafia in Eurybia has ended.
The Eurybia Blue Mafia has successfully fought off an attempt by the Empire to take the Engineer Liz Ryder into custody.
Spokesperson Ana Westergard made this announcement on behalf of the anarchist faction:
"This is a victory against the Empire's arrogance! There was never any evidence that Liz Ryder or our organisation are involved with terrorists, and this invasion was based entirely on supposition."
"We are extremely grateful to everyone who helped us defend Liz Ryder and maintain our independence. Rewards to all those brave Commanders are available at Awyra Flirble starport, modules will be placed in storage by the 10th of October 3306".
Captain Rocco Gandara of the Keltim Empire League announced:
"Despite the anarchists having the upper hand

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Development on the WC4 Fan Remake has been generally slow of late, but Pedro has a few neat updates to report. He's done some testing with ODVS' fantastic enhanced video with great results. It'll be a perfectly complement to the gameplay updates that have been at the forefront so far. There has also been some discussion on new features like modern gamepad controller support as well as improving some of the development tools as well. There's still quite a bit of work to go, but it's good to hear the team is still on it!

To be honest development paused for a while, but I came back to it last night, did a few fixes; tested it with ODVS' AI upscale. It looks good, don't worry we'll be incorporating the best possible video when the time comes. I did make some progress on a particle editor, but Rear Admiral Tarsus is offering to help out with tools (which I am super grateful for). We have a potential

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Beginning on November 12th, 2019, the Voth Citadel Ship can once more be breached and assaulted, as part of our next Featured Task Force Operation. While this TFO is available, Captains may participate daily to earn progress towards a brand new Featured-TFO reward, as well as earning Event Campaign Progress toward a Tier-6 Starship Coupon. Continue reading for full details! Not Only a Task Force Alongside the triumphant return of the Task Force Operation “Into the Breach (Event Version)” players will be able to earn progress toward the completion of this Event by choosing to participate in a number of Patrol Missions that have been especially re-mastered for this Event. Face off against Voth forces in any of these re-imagined space encounters: “Blockade Runner” – Zahl System: Assist a colonial refugee fleet as they flee from attackers with space-based artillery “Tempting

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Howard Day

took some time out of his busy post-

Rebel Galaxy Outlaw

launch schedule to release an update to the online

rolling demo

for Wing Leader! Much like the actual

WC1 demo

, this isn't a playable artifact, but it shows live assets interacting in the game engine. Even moreso than any trailer, this gives fans a first hand up-close look at what the game will actually be like live. The battle is pretty intense - all those Dralthis start to make me nervous, but fortunately they have both Firekkans and Confed opponents to contend with! Load up the rolling demo

here

.

The live demo's been updated! Includes the intro, menu (static for now) and initial fighting in a Dralthi! as soon as you die, tho, it switches back to Hornet.

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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Distant Worlds II expedition has gathered resources for a megaship and installation to be constructed in the Galactic Centre.

Contributors delivered huge amounts of materials to the Stuemeae FG-Y d7561 system. Deep Space Surveys also defended miners by placing a kill order on all wanted ships.

Commander Michael Darkmoor of the Rock Rats stated:

"The newly built astrophysics station will enable us to observe high-detail changes to the gravimetric field surrounding Sagittarius A*. We hope to better understand the deeper relationships between extreme gravity and multi-dimensional space."

The Distant Worlds II exploration fleet will continue its journey across the galaxy, towards Beagle Point.

Those who took part in the campaign can now collect their rewards from Explorer's Anchorage in the Stuemeae FG-Y d7561 system.

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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It's time for a new CIC Birthday Poll! Each year we ask how long folks have been visiting. It's wild that some of us have been reporting the Wing Commander news for almost thirty years now!

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The old poll asked about the fabulous sketches in the Kilrathi Saga calendar, which works again for calendar year 2025! December's Strakha art was the clear winner, which is odd, since July's Rigakh is obviously the best!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Last night, AD picked up an old magazine and put down an unseen Wing Commander ship design! What he found was a 1999 advertisement for a company called BOXX Technologies which produces high spec computers for the film industry. The premise of the ad is that their computers are the biggest leap for visual effects since they started in 1903 with Georges Méliès's Le Voyage dans la Lune. And their modern example is about how Chris Roberts used their RenderBOXX rendering systems for Wing Commander:

Here's proof: Digital Anvil credits RenderBOXX with saving $2 million on Wing Commander production costs, helping the film land on time and under budget!

That would be an interesting factoid in its own right, but the visuals used to represent this are even more interesting! They show a collection of high tech starfighters blasting out of film frames displaying frames from Le Voyage dans la Lune: literally

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The campaign to update Brewer Corporation's Trailblazer fleet has concluded in the Minerva system.
Thanks to the efforts of independent pilots ferrying shipments to Minerva, a total of 5 additional Trailblazer megaships will be placed in strategic locations on the fringes of the core systems, providing a hub of tradable materials and services for early colonies.
Brewer COO Mark Rennik remarked on the campaign's success:
"Once again, we have received widespread support and confirmation of our efforts, which is both humbling and inspiring. It is obvious that there is great appetite for breaching the latest frontier to establish new colonies, further expanding humanity's sphere of influence in our section of the galaxy."
The Trailblazer megaships are expected to be deployed in the coming weeks.
Participants can now collect their rewards from the initiative.

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

The widescreen Confederation images that we posted last week were a big hit, and now AllTinker is back with a whole set of expanded background plates for Secret Missions 2: Crusade! These include some great Firekkan scenes as well as some well-outfitted Kilrathi. He's got a great eye for continuing out the scene in the style of the original art.

Secret Missions 2 more or less done for now. Not everything is visible here because of animation/parallax in the real deal.