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 accountJun
Ever wonder about the callsigns in the Wing Commander TrainSim? They're selected from a bank of options when you start a new game. They include all the wingmen plus SEGALLION, DIBBER, ZORO, GRYPHON, SUTEK and POTSHOT. These are all the callsigns of members of the dev team.
Segallion gets a star system in WC1, too. Sutek was Paul Isaac’s callsign but I’m not sure who the original Segallion was. Learn about the many variants of the TrainSim here!
May
Frequent readers of the Tri-System CCN booth news will find about ten stories written about Zakariah_Skintight and his hit band, The Buttock Men. But who is Zak Skintight and why is he featured so prominently? LOAF recently caught up with Privateer 2 developer Paul Hughes and finally got the answer!
I think that was Paul “Stitch” Chapman - the chap that did all the UI and box covers/ manual. He used to play bass in a band in his uni days.Stitch was a brilliant UI designer - he was so shocked at how bad the box art and manual were shaping up, he took it upon himself to do it and knocked it out of the park. He proper pushed us to make a really cool UI (for 1995!).
May
Pretty much
Aug
…Wow! Look at this awesome closeup of one of the large watches the Tiger Claw pilots wear in Wing Commander. Time for some more research!
@awesomead @banditloaf Only two years late but look what I stumbled upon! The watch from Wing Commander, I knew it was somewhere after I was given it on the film! pic.twitter.com/Gr333gk8xv
— Jordan Reeve (@R33VE) May 27, 202228 minutes later: I am now a member of a Storm Watch collecting group on Facebook.Here's what we've learned so far! The watches were from a British company called Storm Watches which still makes cool sci-fi looking watches. They show up in the credits:
Knowing that, I found a Storm Watch community on Facebook that has preserved 1990s catalogs! The watch R33VE kindly filmed is the "Camera". From there, AD and I started looking for frames in the movie where we could see the watches.
Maniac and Blair are both certainly wearing the "Navigator" which
Feb
I guess the comparison worked a little better for Bengals vs Chiefs...
I'm just watching for tHE lOVE aNIMALS' half time show anyway.
Sep
…I posted the casualty report from the Confederation Handbook a few weeks ago and got this excellent observation! There are actually FOUR contradictory versions of the story and while Bossman dies on Angel's wing in the original, none of those details were mentioned in the movie.
Joshua Fair: Wait, I thought Bossman was flying with Angel when he bought it.As you remember from Secret Missions 2, the original story is that you return to the Tiger's Claw and learn during the debriefing that Bossman was killed earlier that day in an ambush. In the bar afterwards, his wingman Angel is inconsolable.
After you fly another mission, she breaks down and explains that she has tried so hard to keep from making emotional connections but that deep down she cares too much about the other pilots.
Incidentally, if Angel has died dynamically at some point in your campaign Paladin instead just tells you Bossman is dead with
May
There's a piece of IMDb trivia that claims the poster in Blair's quarters is Freddie Prinze Jr.'s future wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar. I hate to ruin a non-Star Wars-related Wing Commander factoid but...
... it's not true. It's one of several propaganda posters made for the Tiger Claw sets (note the Confed flag behind her) and like the ones in other quarters and the lounge the lady is a stock photo model from a collection licensed by the production.
I don't know who she is but as you can see I've found the source photo for the first time! Plus another one from the same shoot. Today she shows up frequently as the graphic for scammy social media accounts in search of wealthy American husbands.
I also found her on a Czech translation of a romance novel by... Jude DEVERAUX! Which is pretty on-the-nose, IYKYK.
Sep
Dennis Mull is restoring items after a recent move, and he's hung some fantastic Wing Commander collectibles! One poster I particularly love is his framed Academy key art. He's also got a cool Privateer ad print as well as a Mike Winterbauer WC1 SNES canvas reproduction.
I’m just putting up my pictures after moving and one of them is an original Academy promotional poster.Dennis has a wonderful collection - here are a few more shelves full of goodness!
Dec
…Confirmation that the final Thargoid Titan, Cocijo, is headed for the Sol system has sparked mass panic among inhabitants.
Evacuation efforts in Sol began as a precaution on November 28th, when Titan Cocijo first moved towards the core systems. Once it became clear that Cocijo was on a direct course for Sol, these efforts were swiftly accelerated.
Defence Secretary Conn Montgomery provided the following update to the Federal Times:
"Rescue Ship Cornwallis is acting as our delivery point for most refugees who do not have access to spacecraft. We're shuttling civilians from Earth to ports within Sol for transport by Federal military craft and freelance pilots. Other rescue megaships are scheduled for arrival in the next few days to systems close to Sol, which will increase our capacity to process refugees and deliver them to temporary holdings in neighbouring systems."
"We ask for the people of
Aug
We've got an exciting update in the WCPedia to share today! LOAF has spent weeks carefully compiling everything we know about the Wing Commander Customizable Card Game and putting it all together in one massive article. It starts out with all the basics on what the game is, where it came from, what it looks like and even has news clippings from when it was released. LOAF has exhaustively re-scanned each card so there's a beautiful new capture of every single one. Card pages have all the stats and even the classic '90s CIC card-of-the day reviews. There's also a close look at the gorgeous art that was created just for the set. A number of Wingnuts have recently been getting back into the game, so these resources should be a big help! You can find it all here.
Aug
…DefianceIndustriestook a break from recreating well known ships from Wing Commander to do a concept sketch. The Wildcat fighter is introduced in Action Stations, and the implication is that it was a precursor to the Hellcat just like their
WW2 ancestors. The result draws some clear parallels to well known designs while simultaneously introducing multiple unique design elements that could be considered throwback retro cues. And with its four guns and twin engines, it looks like a potent little fighter!
Oodles of Doodles. One of the advantages of having all day mandatory training is that you have time to do some doodling... not that I'd ever recommend anyone do that of course, your full attentions should always be on your course work...Anyway I started noodling on what a Wildcat might look like, as a predecessor to the Hellcat it should share some design similarities but would look a bit more anime
Jun
…We've got a fascinating piece of Wing Commander archaeology today: the script for Wing Commander III's "wild lines". What's a wild line? Have you ever noticed distant talking in the background during cutscenes and gameflow aboard the Victory? These not-quite-audible-on-their-own PA announcements play to add a sense of texture to the world, making the carrier feel like it's a living, breathing place. And Origin's audio group too the challenge of recording them very seriously... they aren't nonsense lines but a set of 63 intentionally scripted possibilities.
Actually getting to read these lines gets you an interesting sense of life aboard the TCS Victory, with passengers and cargo coming and going and all sorts of shipboard events. Some of them are even specific to missions in the game, like one announcing Hobbes' escape. Most of the names are in jokes, referencing members of the development team like
Aug
…DefianceIndustries' conceptual
Wildcathas gotten a handful of tweaks. In particular, the recognizable wingtips, nose shape and engine position have been changed to improve the lineage connection to the Hellcat. The ship's also gotten four external missile hard points, which make it look rather tough!
I got noodling on my doodling again (sorry it's been a long week already). And the things that to me say "this is a Hellcat" are the downward pointing wing tips, squared-off and stubby nose, overall delta shape, and 3 main drives. Otherwise it's a Bearcat XD. So I didn't want to just throw a 3rd engine on the back, it would ruin the tail assembly, so I tried offsetting an engine along the centerline. Above the hull oddly caused the ship to look A) too much like a viper and B) it kind of messed up the lines. So I stuck the engine on the ventral hull and I think it looks pretty good - it blends in better
Apr
…DefianceIndustries has textured his retro Wildcat model. As a hypothetical Hellcat predecessor, it shares a lot in common with the later medium fighter, but it also has some wonderful throwback flourishes like the the trailing vane extensions on the fins. The colors are a nice homage to a classic era as well. You can just kind of imagine it going out on a dangerous patrol alongside a flight of Scimitars!
I finally got around to texturing my Wildcat model. I like how it turned out, although it looks like if you try and anime-style a Hellcat, you get a Super Rapier.Still though, it was fun little exercise. I went with the WC1 style paint, but I may revise it and go for a more 60's style raw aluminum look, it makes the heat distressed panels around the engines look a bit less jarring. But given the lore that the engines on a Wildcat are old, inefficient, and due an upgrade, I figured I'd channel the
Nov
…A few days ago we showed you the cover art for the Czech language editions of six Wing Commander novels. One thing that's always particularly interesting to think about is what the cover of any given Wing Commander novel is showing… and these are no exception! Case in point: the Czech version of Action Stations shows a wing of Raptor-like fighters with some kind of space station complex and/or group of ships in the background. We've run the numbers and we think there's only one scene this could be: a squadron of Wildcats from the Concordia (including young Geoffrey Tolwyn and Vance Richards) leading the counterattack against the Kilrathi at McAuliffe or perhaps defending the Concordia. The main station may be Alexandria and the surrounding ships (if they are separate objects) would be Terran and Kilrathi warships engaged in the battle.
What is a Wildcat? Action Stations gives us a brief look at the
Mar
…Last year, we had occasion to put together a set of working notes on Downtown, celebrating the legacy of a lesser known Wing Commander character to display some of the depth of established lore players might not be familiar with by putting together a thorough in-universe biography and walking through some of the common continuity issues surrounding him. With the recent passing of actor Peter Jason, we thought it would be worthwhile to put together a set of notes on Admiral (or is it Captain?) Wilford.
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 Wilford's character and a discussion of the various changes to the story that have occurred over the years are discussed in further sections below the history.
Jul
LOAF has been greatly expanding the WCPedia lately, and one of his newest pages is an exhaustive collection of William Forstchen's work. The author is well known for his six Wing Commander credits, but he's done a lot more than that over more than four decades writing professionally. A particularly cool addition to the archive are numerous scans of his submissions to Boys' Life, the magazine of Boy Scouts of America. Many have a sci-fi bent that will be familiar, even though Mr. Forstchen is more recently better known for his historical and hypothetical war dramas. Learn more and find his Boys' Life stories here!
Apr
…Is there anything better than getting the chance to hang out with your favorite Star Trek actors? How about getting to hang out with them while on a completely relaxing Caribbean vacation? That’s the experience you’ll have on Star Trek: The Cruise III, beaming out of port January 2019 on the Norwegian Jade. Hang out with STO alum like Michael Dorn, Denise Crosby and Robert Picardo, and meet the members of the cast of Victory is Life, like Chase Masterson, Rene Auberjonois, and Nana Visitor! It’s a Star Trek experience unlike any other this side of the Gamma Quadrant. The best part is, by entering below you have a chance to join this wonderful experience for free, because we’re giving away a cabin for two on board the ship. You’ll also win a Star Trek Online prize pack that contains EVERY single ship in the C-store on PC, so you can fly the stars to your heart’s content. Still want more? Good,
May
…It’s almost summer, and that means it’s time to kick back, relax, and disappear from your daily troubles for a while. And what better way to do that than to take a cruise with some of your favorite actors from Star Trek? To celebrate the release of Rise of Discovery, Star Trek Online is teaming up with Star Trek: The Cruise and SteelSeries on an exclusive giveaway for Star Trek fans! From now through May 26, players can use the link below to enter to win a cabin for two aboard Star Trek: The Cruise IV, a seven-day Carribean voyage with Star Trek royalty including William Shatner (Star Trek: The Original Series), Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager) Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Ethan Peck (Star Trek: Discovery) and more. The grand prize winner will also be granted every starship currently available in the Z-Store of Star Trek Online on PC and a prize pack from SteelSeries.
Jan
…The Anniversary Celebrations keep rolling on, and today, we have a very special opportunity for you, Captains. We've teamed up with Steelseries to create a very limited series of incredibly cool looking Star Trek Online headsets, and you can win one right now! Enter via the contest entry below, and you could win one of three of these amazing headsets, and a Discovery Operations Pack! This contest is only open to US residents at this time. Enjoy unprecedented sound quality, and represent your love for Star Trek Online at the same time! Star Trek Online: Legacy - SteelSeries Arctis Pro Headset Giveaway .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(d7afaaa14e96d0d973f76157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity
