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This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that are referenced by Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is The Right Stuff (1983) and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here. The movie will start about 6 PM PST/9 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time! Please note that the movie is starting one hour earlier than usual to accommodate its run time.
Nov
…The Wing Commander movie club has nothing to fear but Sphere itself! The general consensus is that while there's some material of interest in Sphere it doesn't really come together in the end… and it spends a lot of time not quite getting there! In the week before the screening, a lot of people told me that Sphere was a guilty pleasure because they had seen it in theaters when it came out. And there's an argument that that's actually the best kind of movie: one you can enjoy in spite of itself.
... while Sphere may not be a timeless classic, we immediately saw that it had a pretty tangible impact on the Wing Commander movie. We knew going in that this was one of three movies referenced by Digital Anvil's spectacular opening titles… and just like 1492, the influence was obvious in the first seconds of the film. Like 1492, Sphere uses historical drawings as part of the backdrop for the titles… but it
Nov
…We have terrible news to share today: veteran actor Tchéky Karyo passed away on Friday from cancer at age 72. Karyo was an extremely talented veteran Turkish and French actor who was known for crossing between roles in French cinema and Hollywood. Americans will know him in La Femme Nikita, Goldeneye and The Patriot to name only a few, and space fans in particular will remember his appearance as Georges Méliès in the grand finale of From the Earth to the Moon. Our own Wing Commander movie club recently spotted him in 1492: Conquest of Paradise and immediately declared him to be the only bright spot of the film! I myself knew him for The Bear and Eric Rohmer's Full Moon in Paris well before he ever graced our franchise with his talents. We want to send our strongest condolences to his family, friends, fans and everyone else that loved him. You can read a more complete account of his passing and career
Nov
…The research for one of our recent posts required that we determine what starbases appeared in Wing Commander Prophecy's simulator. Just one problem: there's no guide to the simulator missions online! We decided to create our own and have added a super detailed page for all ten missions to the WCPedia:
- Level 0: Basic Flight Training
- Level 1: Basic Offensive Strategies
- Level 2: Defensive Strategies and Escorting
- Level 3: Heavy Weapons Training
- Level 4: Kilrathi Fighter Gauntlet
- Level 5: Timed Fighter Sweep
- Level 6: Capital Ship Sweep
- Level 7: Carrier Defense
- Level 8 Alien Fighter Gauntlet
- Level 9: Advanced Alien Fighter Gauntlet
We've done a lot of research into how Wing Commander Prophecy works to figure out things like how the gauntlet spawns work... and in the process we've learned some very interesting new things about these oft-ignored missions! Here are some of the high points:
- If you approach within 6,500
Nov
…
Despite the fact that it was longer than a Redstone missile, The Right Stuff stood the test of time! And if you can believe it, it was our 52nd film and it marked the end to the first YEAR of the Wing Commander movie club. To kick off year two, we're going back to 1942 for a genuine classic: Casablanca. It's one of those movies people in my generation maybe only they assume they've seen… it'll be interesting to see how it goes! You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
Our connection to Wing Commander comes from Wing Commander II Special Operations 2 in which Minx references the movie's famous closing line, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", while she is evil flirting with Jazz in the third 'second chance' mission.
JAZZ: You've done well, Minx. And now that my plan has succeeded--- ---and you've brought the Morningstar prototype to the Mandarins--- ---I'm
Nov
…Brewer Corporation has announced plans to reassign its Trailblazer megaship fleet, citing the self-sufficiency of newly established colonies.
The Trailblazer vessels were deployed to provide logistical support and essential resources to independent colonisation initiatives at the edge of inhabited space. Their presence has been credited with accelerating the construction of ports and surface settlements throughout the past year.
Mark Rennik, Chief Operating Officer for Brewer Corporation, issued a statement of commendation:
"What began as an ambitious expansion effort has grown into a thriving network of independent colonies. The success of these initiatives proves that humanity's frontier is now strong enough to stand on its own."
"With these colonies self-sustaining and prospering, the Trailblazer fleet's mission is complete. Markets will close initially as we funnel Brewer Corporation
Nov
…It looks like No Man Sky's free capital ship designing expansion is a hit! Last month we shared some shots of corvettes created by Shaggy and now he has another shot that shows off the interior of his Venture:
Here's a shot of the galley to the bridge on the Venture as well as a shot of it parked above CNS Alexandria, my floating base on my home planet. I have a shot of the cargo bay but it's not that interesting. The Venture is also a very narrow ship, compared to the Kamrani, so there wasn't a lot of space to work with room wise.Meanwhile, a BlueSky user named Redalgo has been recreating an entire fleet of ships! Starting with the Thunderbolt VII (skeet
Recently had some fun piecing together a corvette in homage to the Thunderbolt VII.
And now after some polishing and work on the nose...
Next up in No Man's Sky is an attempt at recreating the Kilrathi Paktahn, specifically the
Nov
…
This is the first in a series of irregular updates covering the musical artists of the 27th and 28th centuries. Wing Commander has surprisingly detailed backstories for several different groups despite the fact that we never actually got to hear any of their music! In each update we'll first offer the in-universe capsule biography and then share all the sources behind it.
tHE lOVE aNIMALS (sometimes stylzed as tHE lOVEaNIMALS and The LoveAnimals) are a retro-folk technotronic female trio that became popular in the late 2650s. The group was formed by guitarist Uil Yth, an enigmatic figure whose philosophy opposed violence in any form and referred to their output their "musical vision". Their music was said to have a "smooth, synthetic sound". The performers played modern instruments but dressed in distinct retro clothing.
In 2669, tHE lOVE aNIMALS released "let sleeping breezes lie," a record that would
Nov
…*Pilots' Federation Alert*
The Pilots' Federation has confirmed that licensed Commanders will be granted access to the HIP 87621 system by October Consortium.
The unexpected move has followed weeks of speculation surrounding HIP 87621, with growing interest from all three superpowers piling pressure on the megacorp. A spokesperson from within the Pilots' Federation stated:
"The continued delay from October Consortium to relinquish permit control has only created further tension between political and scientific communities. To assuage concerns over the type of research taking place in HIP 87621, we have been invited to grant access to the system to licensed Pilots' Federation members."
However, Lexi October, head of the October Consortium, was less cordial in her statement to Vox Galactica:
"We have done nothing but preserve our discovery within HIP 87621 for security and scientific purposes.
Nov
This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that are referenced by Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is Casablanca (1942) and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here. The movie will start at 7 PM PST/10 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time!
Nov
…The Wing Commander movie club's consensus is that The Right Stuff has the right stuff. It's a movie that tells both a fascinating story and provides a unique look at the psychology behind some of our heroes (we all agreed that we did NOT have what it takes to ride rockets). Despite the three plus hour run time, The Right Stuff remains snappy and modern. It grabs you from the start and despite the complete second act shift in the narrative it feels cohesive and like everything matters. The only aspect that really sticks out as odd today is the flashes of then-modern humor that punctuate it. This was surely something that in the 80s served to distinguish it from big, slow epics but it feels somewhat dated today. But nowhere near enough to drag down this excellent film!
We talked about the literal reference to Casey having 'the right stuff' in the intro but the character you really come away from the
Nov
It seems like Bethesda's Starfield is one of those games that comes off as a little bland… until it gets into the hands of the right person. Case in point: a YouTuber named Cornelius has recreated the Wing Commander movie's CF-117b Rapier in the game… and they've made an hour long video about the process! The end result is pretty shocking and the video shows how carefully researched the whole thing was (down to images of the Confederation Handbook!). If you're interested in Starfield or just insanely cool fan work, this one's for you:
Nov
Need a Wing Commander Academy-themed Twitch stream overlay? Who doesn't! Luckily, Reddit user Ford Crown Vic Koth has posted exactly that! Be sure and let us know if you're ever streaming Wing Commander; we're happy to spread the word!
Nov
…
Last week we kicked off the second year of the Wing Commander movie club with an all time classic movie, Casablanca. And this week we've got another one that's a little closer to home: Robert Zemeckis' Contact (1997). It's a stunning adaptation of Carl Sagan's novel about a present-day first contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
Contact came after almost all of the main line Wing Commander games, so you know this is most likely to relate to the 1999 movie. Indeed, this is another case where Chris Roberts borrowed some of Alan Silvestri for the temp track to the Wing Commander movie. Specifically, a track called Small Moves was used over Maniac and Rosie's postcoital moment.
Of course, Wing Commander has a couple of disastrous first contact stories that we'll take a look at, too… stay tuned for the after action report next week!
Where can I
Nov
…It's time for another Saturday Wing Commander cartoon marathon… with real cartoons, this time! These marathons, currently scheduled monthly, celebrate Wing Commander-related media that doesn't quite fit with the Friday night movie club. This Saturday, November 15, we'll be bringing you another themed morning of '90s media and great Wing Commander conversation. This time we'll be taking a look at the management of the real life Cold War… and then the start of a pretty compelling sci fi version!
Pandora's Box, Episode 2: To the Brink of Eternity (1992): Pandora's Box is a 1992 BBC series by documentarian Adam Curtis which looked at various sociopolitical issues facing the world at the time (most of which are still relevant today). The second episode, To the Brink of Eternity, looks at how the United States has managed nuclear security through the Cold War. It's a fascinating show but we're watching
Nov
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This is the kind of surprise we like: gr1mre4per is back with a brand new version of Prophecy Unlimited, the first release since 2019! The past five or six years did kind of run together! Prophecy Unlimited and its assosciated OpenGL patch form the framework for a lot of the modern enhancements to Wing Commander Prophecy... so it's great to see development continue! You can download a copy of Prophecy Unlimited version 6.1 here. The patch notes follow:
### WCPUNL Beta 6.1
Support for both CD and GoG installations using the prophecy.exe supplied in this package. A CD check is done, if no CD is found a local file check is performed. If no local files found, Change CD screen will appear.
### WCPUNL Beta 6.0
Fixed memory leak in the new Movie Player Turret barrel fire respects wcpunl.ini setting again File loading priority changed so directory has priority over tree file (no need to patch data.tre anymore)
Nov
…Brewer Corporation has labelled the withdrawal of its Trailblazer megaship fleet as a 'vote of confidence' in the self-sustainability of thousands of new colonies.
The Trailblazer vessels were originally deployed to provide logistical support and essential resources to independent colonisation initiatives at the edge of inhabited space and are now being refit for deployment for other purposes.
"The success of the Trailblazer fleet will leave its mark in the history books of human colonisation," Mark Rennik, Chief Operating Officer for Brewer Corporation commented.
"And now, once the crews have taken a well-deserved rest and the internals are refit, they will continue to serve the Brewer Corporation in other duties."
To reinforce the message, Rennik also announced the availability of the newly commissioned Dodec starports for colonisation efforts, which can be built at any available Tier 3 port
Nov
…Eddie Rickenharp is mini-mono artist who has attained megastar status and is best known for repopularizing his genre of music. In 2669, Rickenharp agreed to perform for Confederation forces on Bistango X in a spectacular concert amidst the planet's ancient art treasures. The Kilrathi launched a surprise assault on the planet during the concert which killed thousands and left the artwork in ruins. Rickenharp was badly wounded in the attack and left in critical condition.
--
Last time we looked at tHE lOVE aNIMALS, a band introduced in Wing Commander III that doing a TCSO-style performance for the troops. But Wing Commander III actually introduces a second artist with the same setup: "megastar" Eddie Rickenharp. He also has a fictional-but-familiar-seeming genre, "mini mono" and you get the sense that he's some kind of Steven Tyler-style aging superstar in 2669. Rickenharp appears in two of the TCN
Nov
…Here's a fun discovery: a game preservation group has posted a prototype copy of Wing Commander Prophecy on the Internet Archive! It includes all three discs complete with high resolution scans. They have a great writeup of what's included in the readme with details which you can find below. Since this looks to be a review copy sent out only a week before the game was finished it's likely not too different from the final release. But when it comes to studying this kind of history... every bit helps! (Please laugh.) We've mirrored a copy here.
=========================== Wing Commander: Prophecy ===========================
-------------------------- (1997-12-02 PC prototype) ---------------------------
Dumped By: Cut Into Fourteen Pieces
Released By: CVLT OF OSIRIS
CVLT OF OSIRIS presents a prototype of Wing Commander: Prophecy for the PC
Nov
…*Pilots' Federation Alert*
The Pilots' Federation has confirmed that members are now authorised to enter the HIP 87621 system, following months of speculation and political wrangling.
This unprecedented decision grants exclusive access to licensed Commanders, with civilian, corporate and government organisations still restricted from entering the system.
October Consortium officials explained apparent inconsistencies between previously available system data and actual astrometric data as "spoofing", citing "security and scientific integrity" as major reasons. They have also confirmed placing a permanent exclusion on fleet carriers entering the system under the same basis.
Scientists believe the plant's unusual biological markers may explain the long-range scan anomalies that first drew attention to the system.
Commanders who have already ventured into HIP 87621 report the discovery of an
