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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

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Anatoly Shashkin has posted another awesome bit of WC history. He's shared several pages of preliminary programming for Wingleader, which was the intermediate name for Wing Commander before release. The depiction includes some of the methodology behind how the Kilrathi approach a target, maneuver / evade and retreat for home. It's pretty cool to see what eventually turned into the pilot behavior that we all know and love! You can find more great throwbacks on the DOSNostalgia Twitter feed.

Some AI code from Wingleader, a game that eventually became Wing Commander

LOAF added this bit:

Anyone can have a look at this! The BRAINS.C file shown here was included with the Wing Commander I rolling demo and will open right up in a text editor. (And anyone interested in the WC1 AI should check out the Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide which reprints exactly how each enemy and ace 'thinks'.)

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From April 24th at 8 am PT to May 4th at 10am PT, on all platforms, Q will be returning outside of his usual seasonal timeframe, to re-ignite the festive season once more! The Winter Event will return for a brief period simultaneously on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, beginning on April 24th and running until May 4th. Who couldn’t use a little bit of extra festive cheer this time of year? While this special event is active, Q’s Winter Wonderland will be accessible as if the same event from 2019’s appearance was in place, allowing players to return to the frosty playground and participate in all of its usual activities to earn prizes and let off some steam! Also during this limited time return, players that have not completed their progress toward the 2019 Grand Prize Ship – the Fek’Irhi Fe’Rang Dreadnought Carrier [T6] – may once more earn Daily Progress towards this mighty vessel,

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The art sets from Mike Winterbauer's latest Kickstarter have started to go out in the mail. If you backed this project, the items you were expecting should have recently arrived or will be on their way shortly. The new top tier item was a metal print that included his Super Nintendo box cover painting as it was used on a variety of different media. It's a nice complement to his original piece, and I've mounted mine side-by-side for a nice effect in the kiddos' reading nook. They're fun to look at!

Here's a couple of older wider shots when the first item went up.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

President-elect Felicia Winters has discussed the growing discontent within Federal Congress over her delayed inauguration.
A series of devastating earthquakes struck Winters's home world of Rhea 3 in February this year. Millions were killed during the unprecedented disaster, including six members of Winter's family in the destruction of the capital New Greenacre.
Winters took an extended leave of absence to direct relief and recovery efforts on Rhea 3, which included a widespread appeal for resources from the independent pilot community. But recent articles in Sol Today have suggested the goodwill for Winter's situation may be wearing thin.
Political journalist Ewan Klein recently wrote:
"When Winters first announced the delay to her inauguration, there was obvious resistance from her Republican opponents – though perhaps less so from President Hudson, who has remained in office temporarily.

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The Liberal Party has published a detailed political manifesto in advance of the Federation's presidential election in June.
Shadow President Felicia Winters summarised her party's plans during a campaign rally on Rhea 3:
"The freedoms and privileges of Federal citizens have been abused or ignored by the Hudson administration. Our vision for governance focuses on restoring the Federation's core values, offering every individual the opportunities they deserve."
"As your democratically elected president, I will take great pleasure in dismantling the Proactive Detection Bureau on day one. The mass-monitoring of private communications is a violation of civil rights that must end immediately."
"For those concerned about security, especially the Thargoid threat, I assure you that there will be no reduction in military spending. In fact, our aim is to extend naval and humanitarian assistance to

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President-elect Felicia Winters has officially selected new heads for each executive department of the Federal government.
She announced her choices during a session of Congress, where she gave a short speech about her upcoming presidency. This was followed by a similar statement from Isolde Rochester, who will serve as Winters's vice president.
Sofia Trevino, political journalist for The Federal Times, reported:
"With these appointments, Felicia Winters is laying the foundations on which to build a new Federal government. Long-serving figures in the Liberal Party are finally being rewarded with key positions in the upcoming administration."
"One notable loyalist is Congressman Bai Zheng, who will be Secretary for Security. She is already well-known for opposing the Proactive Detection Bureau, and will undoubtedly take pleasure in overseeing the surveillance unit's closure, as per Winters's

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Shadow President Felicia Winters has claimed that the Proactive Detection Bureau is unconstitutional as it violates the Federal Accord.
In an address before Congress, she said:
"The Federation's constitution explicitly guarantees citizens the right to data security and privacy. The PDB tramples over this by raiding everyone's personal communications, casting aside decency and dignity so that algorithms can probe into every aspect of our lives."
"Furthermore, if ACT's hypothesis is correct and the NMLA is using an advanced dark-comms network, then the PDB's existence is baseless and unjustifiable."
Vice President Jerome Archer responded:
"The Domestic Counter-Terrorism Act is emergency legislation that temporarily suspends constitutional statutes, until we are satisfied that the terrorist threat has been negated."
"Following the PDB's success in uncovering extremist groups, we are widening the

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The Popontia conflict and the mass arrest of Far God cultists have received civil and political criticism across the Federation.
Shadow President Felicia Winters delivered a statement to The Federal Times:
"It is logical that any organisation supporting the Thargoids should come under scrutiny. But this does not justify the harsh and oppressive treatment of our own citizens for their religious beliefs. The Federal Accord safeguards their right to worship, as long as no laws are transgressed."
"The Federal Navy Intelligence Office has accused the cult of disseminating classified material and damaging anti-xeno operations. I demand that their evidence be shared with the High Court, so that a legal ruling can be made."
"I also call upon Congress to reject the secretary of state's proposal to outlaw the Order of the Far God. This is nothing more than a blatant effort to prop up President Hudson's

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

President-elect Felicia Winters has discussed her election victory and other topics during an interview with The Federal Times.
On defeating Vice President Jerome Archer:
"One cannot dispute that Archer played his campaign straight, with none of the underhanded tricks utilised by some of his predecessors. But the election results prove that the citizens want a change from the Republican Party's bombastic approach."
On the priorities for her forthcoming administration:
"Our government will expand investment in the Federation's soft infrastructure, pulling the economy's focus away from military projects and corporate profits. Many systems are in dire need of improved healthcare, housing and work opportunities. Billions of people need temporary financial support as refugees from the Thargoid invasion. We are not the Empire – we serve our people rather than rule over them."
On the Proactive

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

President-elect Felicia Winters has delayed the start of her term of office, in response to devastating earthquakes on the planet Rhea 3.
The following statement was delivered by her office to a special session of Congress:
"The terrible events on Rhea 3 have not only demanded President-elect Winters's full attention, but also brought personal tragedy. It seems that most of the Winters family, plus many close friends, lost their lives when the capital city of New Greenacre was levelled by the earthquakes."
"The president-elect therefore requests permission to temporarily suspend the inauguration ceremony. This will allow her to focus on coordinating emergency operations, and also process the unexpected loss of her nearest and dearest."
President Zachary Hudson agreed to a short extension of his presidential term, thereby allowing the motion to be passed by Congress. Vice President-elect Isolde

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President-elect Felicia Winters has vowed to defeat new legislation proposed by outgoing President Zachary Hudson.
If funded, these initiatives will establish a media standards regulator, set up a political think tank, and merge the Proactive Detection Bureau into the Federal Navy Intelligence Office. Tax rebates will also be granted to all corporations with existing government contracts.
The Federal Times approached Felicia Winters for comment:
"It's obvious that these pro-Republican measures are being pushed through because of Jerome Archer's poor electoral performance. It would look bad for Hudson to admit that his own vice president wasn't a popular choice of successor. So now he's giving Archer as many advantages as possible for when he becomes shadow president."
"We aim to block these legislative changes should they go through Congress. And I personally guarantee that once I am in

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Shadow President Felicia Winters has called for the Federal Navy to help defend independent systems being invaded by the Thargoids.
She outlined her viewpoint during an interview with the Federal Free Press:
"The Thargoid fleets emerging from the Maelstroms have inflicted anguish and loss on millions. Our military forces have responded magnificently, and continue to fight hard against appalling odds. But while they are saving lives in Federal-aligned systems, independent systems are left to suffer."
"Surely this cannot be right? These are our neighbours, our trading partners, our historic cousins. Their populations cry out for help, and the mighty Federal Navy chooses to ignore them, claiming orders to prioritise saving our own. Is that who we are now? No better than the Empire?"
"I have argued in Congress that we have a duty of responsibility to protect any independent systems lacking the

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A surprisingly tense mining boom in LP 855-34 has concluded, with supporters of Felicia Winters claiming success over Yuri Grom's pilots.
A call for Platinum by the system's governing faction triggered an influx of ships representing the two powers. Longstanding issues between Yuri Grom and the Federation fed into the competitive aspect of the issue, and it is perhaps no surprise that it was the latter who claimed the greatest number of mined resources in the end.
Speaking on behalf of Winters' support base, a representative gave this statement:
"The efforts of our mining teams over the past two weeks have been nothing short of remarkable. We provided enough Platinum to ensure that LP 855-34's governing faction will meet its manifesto building projects. And, just as significantly, we showed that the Federation dominates all competitors in matters of industry!"
Those who took part in the

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Humanity's expansion into the Witch Head Nebula has continued with the introduction of seven planetary ports.

Six ports now occupy systems surrounding the existing enclave. The Alliance, Federation and Empire have each established two ports, strengthening the presence of their representative factions.

The seventh port, Cinder Dock, is located in Witch Head Sector DL-Y d17. Professor Alba Tesreau of Aegis Research provided some additional details:

"A facility managed by the engineer Chloe Sedesi has been installed at Cinder Dock. The engineering blueprints available at the facility offer upgrades to frame shift drives and thrusters."

"Following last-minute discussions held aboard the megaship Spirit of Minue, a tech broker and material trader have also agreed to bring their services to the planetary ports. These contacts are located at Bray Landing and Ratchet Hub respectively."

"With these new

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Universal Cartographics has updated the names of fifteen systems in the Witch Head enclave.
Cynthia Sideris, chair of Universal Cartographics, elaborated on the development:
"Last year's colonisation efforts resulted in a number of new settlements in the region, and providing systems with less unwieldy appellations is of great benefit to explorers. For example, 'the Wisanye system' rolls off the tongue much more agreeably than 'the Witch Head Sector FB-X c1-7 system'."
"We are confident that these more personable memorable terms will be welcomed by the Witch Head community."
The Witch Head enclave is currently experiencing a number of Thargoid incursions, prompting local factions to call for assistance.

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During the upcoming 2018 Winter Event, players participating in the festivities available at Q’s Winter Wonderland can earn Winter Prize Vouchers (2018) by running the “Fastest Game on Ice” once per day. Earning a total of 1000 vouchers will allow players to complete an Event Reputation project that rewards a Fek'Ihri S'torr Warship [T6]! Once this starship is obtained by any character on your account, all of the characters on your account will be able to claim the Fek'Ihri S'torr Warship [T6] from the Account Claim tab within the Event Store (in the Event Reputation window). We are also excited to announce that this starship will be the available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on the same date! Fek'Ihri S'torr Warship [T6] The Fek'Ihri S’torr Warship is a fearsome Fek'Ihri design, with highly specialized technology onboard that shows why the Fek’Ihri have been haunting the

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About a decade ago, there was a push to modernize Strike Commander and implement a fan remake that could be playable on the then-emerging field of VR/AR headsets. The thought was that it would be similar to the WC4 Remake and be an up-cycling that built on the game's original assets. Eventually the development led by Fabien Sanglard cooled, but with his code publicly available, Remi Leonard has since resumed development over the last couple years. He's put together the beefy video below to show off the latest progress. It's great to see there's still plenty of people out there that appreciate the other Origin franchises!

Progress on the strike commander remake based on fabien sanglard's work (some gameplay footage, conversation, flight simulation, transition, source code available at GitHub - remileonard/libRealSpace: Tools to parse and render Origin Systems RealSpace engine assets..

Thanks to

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

A fringe religion that worships the Thargoids has come under the spotlight in a new academic article.

The author, Dr Alfred Ulyanov, is a leading expert in exotheology. He summarised his work for the media:

"A recent report by Gethin Okonkwo highlighted the emergence of doomsayer cults in response to the return of the Thargoids. But few are as strange as my current object of study – an organisation that considers the Thargoids to be not merely alien, but divine."

"This mysterious sect doesn't have a formal name. The central tenet of its faith is that the Thargoids we have encountered so far are messengers – dark angels sent to prepare us for the true sacred presence, which will soon enter our plane of existence from another universe. They refer to this as the Far God."

"As with many monotheistic belief structures, this cult considers the Far God to be unknowable and omnipotent, but also

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In their original print form, the original seven Baen Wing Commander novels each open with an excerpt in their front matter. It's typically an action scene from later in the book intended to sell the book to readers not familiar with the franchise. And each one of these previews had a unique "tagline". Because this front matter isn't included in the ebook versions of the novels, these risk being lost to history… until now! Here they are, for posterity:

Freedom Flight - LEARNING BY DOING…
End Run - "Form up, you know your targets."
Fleet Action - THE LAST BEST HOPE OF MAN
Heart of the Tiger - TORA! TORA! TORA!
The Price of Freedom - LAST CONTACT
Action Stations - SCREAM-AND-LEAP! (THE KILRATHI HAVE A WORD FOR IT)
False Colors - NOW IT'S YOUR TURN...

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