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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

3DOgaming has posted a neat scan from a 1995 special edition of 3DO Magazine. It's interesting to see people's perspectives from the time. A lot of people now might consider Super Wing Commander a curious oddity, but this review considers it "massively upgraded for the 3DO, and as addictive as ever." They give it a solid four stars with the game's difficulty being pretty much the only thing keeping it from a higher score.

Combat certainly feels realistically hectic. Enemy ships whirl about desperately jockeying for position, your wingman invariably flies into your line of fire and loudly protests over the radio while your instrument panels flash red, then explode under enemy fire. Your various weapons all look great, laser bolts sparking quite cinematically while the excellent sound effects could well have been sampled out of Star Wars.

Wow, cinematic laser bolts and Star Wars quality sound. I

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today's update is a brief one, but this tiny column off to the side of a December 1994 CGW page brings back some huge memories. Many fans had yet to even play Wing Commander 3 at this point, but early signs were that it was a huge hit, and Origin/EA were ready to strike again with a blockbuster sequel. Although WC4 ultimately did slide out from Christmas 1995 to February 1996, it was still a very fast turnaround. The Wing Commander franchise was firing on all cylinders at this point, and anything seemed possible! Thanks to Shot97 for spotting this one.

Just a year later, we'd have this on the cover of CGW!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Jason Dugs

has posted a neat mini documentary/commercial for the Amiga CD32. It's narrated in German, but the vintage visuals speak for themselves. The

Amiga port

of Wing Commander is lesser known than its PC counterpart, but the

Amiga CD32

console port is even more obscure. It adds back in 256 colors similar to the DOS edition. It's a pretty cool reference for the archive!

This special shows games for Amiga CD32 and Commodore CDTV and explains something about the origin and why both systems have failed. There is also a commercial for the games Banshee, Wing Commander and Defender of the Crown II.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here’s an interesting find! Very, very early Privateer screenshots released at ECTS in 1992 and published in the November issue of PC Games. All gameflow, probably just renders…

In-game versions of these same assets. You can see nothing was close to final!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Game Bytes was one of the very first electronic gaming magazines. It was created by Ross Erickson and distributed as an executable through FTP sites, bulletin boards and services like Compuserv. Looking back, it's a particularly raw time capsule of the game industry at the time, an era before professional public relations had quite taken over. And lucky for us, Mr. Erickson conducted a thorough interview with a very young Chris Roberts in 1992. This one is well worth the time for anyone interested in the history of making Wing Commander. It brings you right back to a more romantic era of game making and it's full of fascinating details about the early Wing Commanders... from the origin of the Kilrathi to the nuts and bolts of how the games were programmed to a wild (but still recognizable) plan for Wing Commander III!

An interview with Chris Roberts (6/16/92), Author of the Wing Commander series of PC

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Temporal Anomalies have opened a hole to an alternate universe, one with a fantastic sale, Captains. But this Flash Sale will only be available for a limited time – from 11am 5/17 -11am 5/18 PST, on all three platforms. Hurry and grab yourself some items at a one of our largest discounts ever, before the portal shuts and it’s all lost. Today’s Flash Sale is: Save 15% on Keys! Keyring Bundle! Get your hands on this special bundle of twenty master keys, and an Ultimate Tech Upgrade! Don’t wait! The Flash Sale Anomaly can be gone before you know it! .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 .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI {

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from Tuesday, June 5th at 8am PST to Tuesday, June 15th at 10AM PST! Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. .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 .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%; } .share-footer

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from April 2nd at 8am PT to April 6th at 10am PT. Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. For a limited time only starting today, players will be able to purchase the Key Ring Bundle! This special pack includes 20x Master Keys (used to open any Lock Box) for the price of 2250 Zen. As an additional special promotional offer when purchasing this bundle, every pack also includes a single Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Applying this item to any upgradeable piece of equipment will instantly set both its Mark

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from January 28th at 8am PT to February 3rd at 10am PT. Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. For a limited time only starting today, players will be able to purchase the Key Ring Bundle! This special pack includes 20x Master Keys (used to open any Lock Box) for the price of 2250 Zen. As an additional special promotional offer when purchasing this bundle, every pack also includes a single Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Applying this item to any upgradeable piece of equipment will instantly set both its

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from October 17th at 8am PT to October 21st at 10am PT. Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. For a limited time only starting today, players will be able to purchase the Key Ring Bundle! This special pack includes 20x Master Keys (used to open any Lock Box) for the price of 2250 Zen. As an additional special promotional offer when purchasing this bundle, every pack also includes a single Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Applying this item to any upgradeable piece of equipment will instantly set both its

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from October 17th at 8am PT to October 21st at 10am PT. Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. For a limited time only starting today, players will be able to purchase the Key Ring Bundle! This special pack includes 20x Master Keys (used to open any Lock Box) for the price of 2250 Zen. As an additional special promotional offer when purchasing this bundle, every pack also includes a single Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Applying this item to any upgradeable piece of equipment will instantly set both its

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from August 8th at 8am PT to August 12th at 10am PT. Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. For a limited time only starting today, players will be able to purchase the Key Ring Bundle! This special pack includes 20x Master Keys (used to open any Lock Box) for the price of 2250 Zen. As an additional special promotional offer when purchasing this bundle, every pack also includes a single Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Applying this item to any upgradeable piece of equipment will instantly set both its

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from April 11th at 8am PT to April 15th at 10am PT. Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. For a limited time only starting today, players will be able to purchase the Key Ring Bundle! This special pack includes 20x Master Keys (used to open any Lock Box) for the price of 2250 Zen. As an additional special promotional offer when purchasing this bundle, every pack also includes a single Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Applying this item to any upgradeable piece of equipment will instantly set both its Mark

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from October 9th at 8am PT to October 18th at 10am PT. Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. For a limited time only starting today, players will be able to purchase the Key Ring Bundle! This special pack includes 20x Master Keys (used to open any Lock Box) for the price of 2250 Zen. As an additional special promotional offer when purchasing this bundle, every pack also includes a single Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Applying this item to any upgradeable piece of equipment will instantly set both its

Quote from Star Trek Online News

Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from From April 3rd at 8am PT to April 10th at 10am PT. Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. For a limited time only starting today, players will be able to purchase the Key Ring Bundle! This special pack includes 20x Master Keys (used to open any Lock Box) for the price of 2250 Zen. As an additional special promotional offer when purchasing this bundle, every pack also includes a single Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Applying this item to any upgradeable piece of equipment will instantly set both its Mark

Hooray, we have a teenager!

13 years ago a dream was born, a dream about a Community full of great people and lots of fun.
Together we went through ups and downs, worked hard to create something impressive that people always will remember and enjoyed the fruits of this hard work.
This community evolved into something great and after 13 years we are in a situation where we have so many options that its hard to decide.
Whatever that future decisions will be, we keep moving forward, knowing that this is a place by the players for the players.

In the past years I often released impressive numbers about Portal visitors, mod downloads... etc.
I'll skip that today.
While these numbers are about the same as last year (slightly better) I consider them relative unimportant.
You cant measure joy in numbers.
People had the chance to discover all the new stuff in CF2.0 during the past year and also helped to make this mod even better.
People also were active on the forum.
This shows me that this is a

Twelve years ago this community went live.
Since that we have achieved much and today it is time to look back, remember great times but also look forward to new tasks, to a new and even better future.
The past year was incredible hard for us as developers and website staff members.
This place has changed alot over the past year and we have done an incredible amount of work to bring it to this state.

Not only that we have a shiny new Portal with awesome performance and awesome functionalities... no... we also have Crossfire 2.0 running on our server, reached the highest possible rank in our Star Trek Online Fleet and have been voted into the Top100 of the Mod Awards for the 8th time.
Thousands of working hours went both into the Portal and into the Mod.
The new year will bring further improvements and of course a great time for our members.

But today... we all should lean back and enjoy the day.... celebrate another great year in this community.

On 14th December 2002 five members of a young Starlancer clan founded the SWAT Portal as they felt the need to create a community for players and clans that wish to stay connected even if they play different games.
11 years later we still have this idea in mind and can look back on many great years.
Thank you to everyone who supported us and helped to stay an active community for such a long time.

We have many great plans for the next year. Not only the Crossfire 2.0 release can be expected but also the start of new projects and massive updates here at the Portal.
I hope the community gives us the support to keep going for another 11 years.

Always keep in mind:

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

As Star Trek Online approaches a full decade of expanding on the Star Trek universe, we are thrilled to once again roll out the party patrol for our Anniversary Celebration starting on PC on January 28th, 2020 and continuing until February 27th, 2020. (Console dates will be announced at a later date.) Now that the Anniversary Event is migrating into our recently-released Events Tab, participation will be slightly changed from previous years. The primary change players will see is that all of the usual activities will contribute toward your Daily Progress in the Event, eventually earning your way toward the Grand Prize – a Tier 6 Ship! Keep reading to reveal what activities and prizes await those who join us to celebrate “Anniversary X.” Event Grand Prize – Alliance Battlecruiser (T6) As the first ship of its kind, the Khitomer-class Alliance Battlecruiser represents the culmination of

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

In celebration of our tenth anniversary, Star Trek Online is releasing one of the biggest bundles we've ever put out. Ten of the most iconic ships in Star Trek history, in not one, but two legendary bundles. The ten ships in these bundles will have all new stats, and each come with their own unique, brand new look. In addition, each ship will come with all of the costumes, consoles, and traits of its previous releases. We'll be revealing what ships will be a part of the bundles over time, but we can reveal right now that both bundles will release on February 13th on PC, and a few weeks after the March 3rd Launch of our 10th Anniversary Update on Xbox One and Playstation 4. Click on the buttons below to see the details of each ship as we release them, and see below the buttons for the details on what else these bundles contain. 10th Anniversary Legendary Starship Standard Bundle Cost: