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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Wing Commander II had a plan to include a TV you would watch between missions to get broader story updates. The design called for it to be the same dimensions as the Ultima VI intro TV so they could share art! This can be seen in a recent Tweet from the crazy ass moments in furry history account or watch it on YouTube here.

The opening of Ultima VI prominently features a pixelized recreation of a Keith Berdak illustration of a zebra centaur pole dancer(?) as a late replacement for what was originally a Patrick Nagel painting they couldn't get cleared. (1990)

This was part of a dropped character they’d imagined named Jerry Rivers who was a kind of ‘90s dramatic TV host, Hard Copy/Geraldo style. His arc would’ve ended with an interview where Tolwyn punches him in the face!

You can find an early script outine with all the Jerry Rivers sequences at this link. Jerry IS canon, Shotglass mentions watching him

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

In an interesting reversal of fortunes, GOG has added back Ultima Underworld 1+2 and the Syndicate games to their catalog. These packages were delisted back on June 28, at the "publisher's request." The games reappeared yesterday, and as a bonus to celebrate their return, they're being made available for free until September 3. If you missed them earlier, now's your chance! The price is right too.

This isn't the first time that there were puzzling contractual misunderstandings between Electronic Arts and GOG. When Privateer was added in June 2011 and WC1+2 in August of that year, they were missing the expansions. Despite conversations to add them looking promising in the summer of 2011, they didn't actually appear on the service until December 2012.

Syndicate and Ultima Underworld are back on https://t.co/timfdacy7z! 💜

Join our celebrations and grab them for FREE during the next four weeks 🔥

👉

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here at the CIC, we used to keep pretty close tabs on Ultima Online. As a product that was developed alongside contemporaries such as Wing Commander Prophecy at the famous Austin studio, it was a big deal to see EA continue the MMO long after Origin's closure. When Electronic Arts finally did decide that they were done with it in 2014, that could have very easily been the end, but the game has somehow continued to thrive for another decade under Broadsword. So I was really happy to see this recent PC Gamer blurb about high turnout for the game's summer barbecue event. The game has been continuously running for more than 25 years now, so the fact that it exists at all is impressive - but all the more so that they're still having fun events in their tight knit community! You can skim through a few recorded streams below to see what the game's like in 2023:

Ultima Online still boasts an active

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Origin Systems is known for two big franchises, Ultima and Wing Commander. At some level they're forever intertwined, so we like to check in from time to time and see what's cooking. For more than two decades now, the Ultima series has been defined by the massively multiplayer Ultima Online. As one of the first traditional MMOs of the internet age, it's also one of the longest running. The game celebrated 23 years of continuous operation recently.

A few years back, Electronic Arts spun off daily operations and support of the game to a new company called Broadsword. Some fans took that as a dubious omen and thought the game might be on life support at that point, but the arrangement has worked out for almost seven years now. And while there haven't been major expansions or revolutionary changes to the game, there is an air of not wanting to fix what isn't broken. With that being said, they've

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

LOAF spotted this slick ad in a post by the Out of Print Archive. It's a nice full page print from the December 1993 issue of Super Play. I love these super British review quotes (image them spoken with a British accent): "Very Very playable... an excellent concept and well portrayed." "Fans of this style of game shouldn't be disappointed."

I haven’t seen this Mindscape ad for the European release of The Secret Missions before. Cool!

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

For the upcoming Season 18 Kelvin lockbox, Lead Ship Artist Thomas Marrone and I decided to take a look at our existing Kelvin-Timeline ships to see if there was anything that needed a visual upgrade to match the quality of the newer ships that will be included in the bundle. And while the U.S.S. Vengeance / Kelvin-Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser was a fine model for its time, it’s material was showing its age so we decided it was the prime candidate for such an upgrade. Thomas and I then took a look at Mauricio Tejerina’s original model and material to identify areas we thought could be improved. We were thrilled that the model geometry itself was mostly up to par; we made note of only a few things we’d like to polish. After a couple of days of work, I’d wrapped up these relatively easy changes to the geometry and was ready to move on to the material. Thomas and I knew going in to

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

For the upcoming Season 18 Kelvin lockbox, Lead Ship Artist Thomas Marrone and I decided to take a look at our existing Kelvin-Timeline ships to see if there was anything that needed a visual upgrade to match the quality of the newer ships that will be included in the bundle. And while the U.S.S. Vengeance / Kelvin-Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser was a fine model for its time, it’s material was showing its age so we decided it was the prime candidate for such an upgrade. Thomas and I then took a look at Mauricio Tejerina’s original model and material to identify areas we thought could be improved. We were thrilled that the model geometry itself was mostly up to par; we made note of only a few things we’d like to polish. After a couple of days of work, I’d wrapped up these relatively easy changes to the geometry and was ready to move on to the material. Thomas and I knew going in to

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

The Lobi Crystal Consortium is pleased to announce their latest featured sale! From Thursday, April 2nd at 8AM PST til Monday, April 6th, at 10AM PST, shrewd Captains will be able to choose from their wide selection of wares, just by visiting the in-game Lobi store. All items in the Lobi Store will be 20% off for this entire sale! Now’s the best time to take command of a Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser, or get your hands on a Boolean Heavy Assault Cannon, or fly the stars in a Vaadwaur Astika Heavy Battlecruiser. But that’s not all – for the duration of this sale, the Tzenkethi Tzen Tar Dreadnought will become available in the Lobi Store! This powerful, alien cruiser can be yours for a discounted price of 960 Lobi! Read the details on this magnificent ship below, and head to the Lobi Store to claim one for your own! Tzenkethi Tzen-tar Dreadnought Carrier [T6] Tzenkethi war

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We've moved into August, and now it's just two weeks until the CIC's 25th Birthday Party! You can join in and celebrate with everyone on Saturday, August 19. We'll be hosting a huge bash in Discord #Wingnut. Discord has rolled out quite a few new features over the last year, and we'll be trying some of them out with the large group. The main event gets going at 7:00 pm EDT (4:00 pm PDT and 11:00 pm GMT). Hope to see you there!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The clock is ticking and we're now just two weeks until the CIC's annual Birthday Party! You can join in and celebrate our 24th anniversary on Saturday, August 13. We'll be hosting a huge bash in Discord #Wingnut. We'll have some fun things to share and it should be a great time for all. The main event gets going at 7:00 pm EDT (4:00 pm PDT and 11:00 pm GMT). Hope to see you there!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We're now two weeks in to the five-week adventure to crowdsource a new Wing Commander album performed by a live orchestra. With minimum funding now secured, Origin composer George Oldziey is starting to take the next steps to formally book time with the musicians and get other prerequisites taken care of. It's common for unforeseen obstacles to occasionally pop up and slow things down, but if things continue to proceed at a steady clip, recording could start as early as late summer.

Now that the hard push towards $16,000 has been accomplished, pledges have slowed down a bit. This is very common in the middle of a campaign, although I expect a decent bump towards the end. In order to avoid distractions that might keep you away at the last minute, it's still a good idea to contribute now if you haven't yet but are planning to. Note that no actual funds are due until the Kickstarter's conclusion on

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We recently came across a remastered take on Prince Thrakhath's Theme by TiMidity and posted by davvigtu. This is one of the most epic tracks in the whole franchise, so we're excited to share each new take on it. There are certain tones in this remaster that come across a bit more clearly and it has a nice solid timbre throughout. If you'd like to compare how this sounds versus the original, you can find a nice rip of the Origin Audio Volume I version here (second from the bottom).

And not at all meaning to detract from the version above, but this is also gives me an opportunity to once again share Jason Walton-Young's masterful version:

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

We’re pleased to announce that, with the launch of our 10th Anniversary Update, two Task Force Operations will be entering the regular rotation, with their own advanced and elite versions! Both Battle at the Binary Stars and The Mycelial Realm are coming to test your mettle in space and on the ground. In Battle at the Binary Stars, experience one of the darkest moments in Federation history, as a bloody war was kicked off with the Klingons. You’ll enter a holodeck simulation of this historical event, and your ship will take on the holo-image of an era appropriate Federation craft. You may not be able to prevent the war, but perhaps with your ingenuity and cunning, you can save more lives than the Captains of history. In The Mycelial Realm, Ju’la and her forces are attempting to harvest the power of the Mycelial Network. You can only put a stop to it by venturing inside the network yourself.

Quote from Star Trek Online News

We’re adding two brand new items to the Gamma Vanguard Pack, which launches with Victory is Life in June on PC! Preorder the pack now, and you will also receive the T5 Cardassian Galor Cruiser, and the T6 Jem’Hadar Vanguard Carrier! And the best news is, the price of the pack hasn’t changed at all, and anyone who already preordered will also receive these items. Check out the details: T5 Cardassian Galor Cruiser During The Dominion War, a small surplus of Galor-class starships were given to the Federation and Klingon Empire to aid in the defeat of the Jem’Hadar. This ship was once only available in the Cardassian Lock Box but is now included in this pack for every character on an account. This ship comes with a free upgrade to T5-U when owned by a Level 50+ character. T6 Jem'Hadar Vanguard Carrier This enormous vessel supports the Vanguard Fleet by acting as a mobile assault base for

I just want to announce that dented_ship and Ajay volunteered to help keeping this Portal save and clean. Thank you guys.

Both have joined our Moderator team.

Thank you also to all the other Moderators, Super-Moderators, news writers and contributers.

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

We’re adding two brand new items to the Gamma Vanguard Pack, which launches with Victory is Life in June on PC! Preorder the pack now, or purchase it when it goes live, and you will also receive the Jem’Hadar EV Suit, and three Jem’Hadar Vanguard Bridge Officers! And the best news is, the price of the pack hasn’t changed at all, and anyone who has already preordered will also receive these items. Check out the details: Jem’Hadar EV Suit Every Jem’Hadar warrior must be prepared for all types of battle including the ones in the cold darkness of space itself. This is available for all factions. This can be claimed once per character. Three Jem’Hadar Vanguard Bridge Officers Jem’Hadar Vanguard Bridge Officers are some of the most powerful Officers to have at your disposal. They have improved offensive capabilities in ranged and melee weapons as well as critical hit chance and

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The clock continues to tick down towards the formal delisting of Wing Commander Arena from the Xbox 360 Marketplace. As of July 29, 2024, all Xbox 360 games that aren't forward compatible to the modern Xbox One/Series consoles will no longer be sold. This is a bittersweet (more bitter than sweet) milestone for those of us who thoroughly enjoyed the game when it launched in the summer of 2007, but it's also pretty incredible that it's had an uninterrupted 17 year run of official support. The good news is that you can still buy the game now and continue to play it online for the foreseeable future. Even if you don't own a 360 console, it's just $10 on the web. Pick it up now, or else you may find yourself chasing down that November 2007 OXM cover disc for the physical copy! It does seems likely that Microsoft will eventually also sunset 360 online support as well, but we're cautiously optimistic

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Check out the new Twitch Feed! twitch.tv/portal. Subscribe now!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Big Box Collection is a really nifty website that has digitized hundreds of classic game boxes. Rather than just simply scan each side, they've created virtual 3D representations that you can spin around and examine from all angles. It's really cool! Some have appropriate backdrops like the Thunderbolt cockpit behind WC3. A lot of these, including the Wing Commander games that are featured, are the German versions so you might spot you've never seen before! Perusing your old games on a stroll down memory lane is a lot of fun too! Thanks to Space Game Junkie for the tip! Check out the gallery here.

You guys, this bloke put together an amazing virtual collection of classic PC big box games where you can look at a full 3D representation of each box. It's astounding.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Delivery campaigns in the Alcor and Colonia systems aim to improve journeys to the distant colonies.
The Colonia Bridge project is being funded by Brewer Corporation, which outlined the details in a press release:
"The Colonia region has great potential for businesses and travellers, but the long voyage can be prohibitive. Brewer Corporation is investing in the transportation infrastructure between the core systems and Colonia, to make crossing those thousands of light years easier."
"Up to 30 dockable megaships will be placed along the route to Colonia, providing travellers with valuable respite and resources including tritium. These stationary megaships should be operational by the 28th of October, and will mark the completion of the first phase of the three-phase Colonia Bridge project. Its aim is to place dockable megaships every four to five hundred light years