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One of my favorite things to discover is early previews for Privateer 2: The Darkening, especially those from the press junkets that occurred before the game added a '2' or even a 'Privateer' to the title. Today we've collected two more of these pieces for the archive. Privateer 2 had so much world building early in development and there's so much we've never seen... it can often eke out of the corners of these previews! Additionally, Privateer 2's team was always willing to provide reporters with a plethora of screenshots from their current build which has led to a lot of interesting differences noted in retrospect. More on that in a moment! But first, here's an excellent French preview of 'The Darkening' from the July 1996 issue of Génération 4. This would've been based on the game's showing at E3 that year (the first major reporting happened the previous year during the film shoot).

We also have

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The crowdfunding campaign for the Deluxe vinyl pressing of the WING COMMANDER score is in full swing, and the project has now passed 25% of its goal with more than $3800 pledged so far. To get even more fans to join in on the excitement, if a few more people add to the total this weekend and get us over $5000, LOAF will do a live Wing Commander Movie commentary.

The Wing Commander vinyl record campaign is at 25%! To sweeten the pot in absolutely no way, I’ll do a Twitter Space watch-along of the movie if we get to $5k this weekend.

The $75 Deluxe Edition seems to be the most popular so far, but a standard LP is just $35! Learn more about the project here.

Supercade's exclusive new LP editions of the Wing Commander Orchestral Recording Project will mark the first time George Oldziey's orchestral score is available on vinyl. Working with a celebrated independent record press, we'll be sure these records

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This is part of a series analyzing newly discovered Wing Commander IV continuity photographs. You can find the previous posts collected here.

Today we're giving you two Polaroids for the price of one! What's going on here? You're seeing two different pirate characters--Pirate and Pirate Ace--played by the same actor for their video loops. In the game, these appear as a total of six different video loops (three for each) that can have any pirate dialogue played over them (taunts, death screams, etc.). We can't confirm that the voice work, recorded later, was actually the credited actor, Todd Kimsey (despite being labeled 'Pirate #4' on both Polaroids, he's listed as only Pirate in the game's credits and no others appear in live action footage.) It's amazing how the amount of costume work you see in those photos ultimately becomes about five seconds of monochrome footage that ends up intentionally

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Good Old Games is running a variety of new sales, and there latest discount is marking down the Wing Commander series by 75%! The theme revolves around games that are 10+ years old. This is an especially welcome event because GOG skipped the WC games in their big Spring Sale last month. Cheap Wing Commander is always a big hit, so we're glad folks get another chance to grab the franchise on the cheap. You can fill out your digital collection via the links below. Grab them before the end of the weekend!

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A warning about entering the Maelstroms has been offered by Seo Jin-ae, whose unique cortical implant offers glimpses into the Thargoid hive mind.
Aden Tanner, who is currently working with Aegis, released a personal statement:
"Seo Jin-ae approached me in a state of distress shortly after the first tests of the Thargoid pulse neutraliser. She claimed that, as the probes passed through Taranis's energy wave, she perceived a change among the Thargoid voices. 'Like being woken up by insect bites,' was how she described the sensation."
"'The Thargoids aren't as oblivious to our tests as it sometimes seems,' she told me. I pressed her for more details, but there was only one thing she was convinced about: 'They understand we've found a way to push deeper into the Maelstrom. They know we're coming.'"
"Now, this might mean nothing at all, and it's not verifiable data. But it prompted Professor

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We've come across a small treasure today: extracts from a 1994 textbook about game development called The Magic of Interactive Entertainment by Mike Morrison. The book includes a lot of introductory information about building games (some of which is still very accurate!) and an entire chapter focused on the development of Privateer! There's a lot of interesting information here, from sales figures for some of the different games to some never-before-noted details about how Privateer came together. First up is an overview of the Wing Commander series and the work that went into it:

Next is the Privateer chapter, which is truly fascinating:

And we end on a short section covering Wing Commander Academy:

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The Deluxe vinyl pressing of the WING COMMANDER score has launched! As of this writing, the project has hit almost $3,000, 19% of the total goal. That's a great start, but we'd like to see it higher. Stay tuned for more background and plans for how you can join in on celebrating the campaign in the coming days. For now, we're happy to report that several additional pledge tiers have been added based on folks' responses on the first day: a $150 "Collector's Trio" that comes with all three versions of the album, a $200 "Collectors Trio Deluxe" that has all three versions with the bonus swag and an alite tier $2500 "Dead Wax Dedication" option that will allow one backer to choose what appears on the record's dead wax. If you aren't familiar with this record term, check out this article for details. Basically, it's a chance to insert a sort of Easter egg that will appear on every record manufactured!

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*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Aegis has requested materials in the YZ Ceti system to mass-produce a defence for ships entering the Maelstroms.
Professor Alba Tesreau, head of the tri-superpower agency, announced the initiative at a press conference:
"Final tests have been conducted on the Thargoid pulse neutraliser, which offers ships a brief window of insulation from the energy wave encountered inside a Maelstrom. Their primary components are based on unclassified relics, which are created by interfacing Guardian artefacts with Thargoid surface sites. Ram Tah and Professor Palin have donated some of their research supplies to this project."
"Aegis has been assigned a generous budget to purchase large quantities of cobalt, ion distributors and power converters. These will be used to create a manufacturing and distribution base, making the Thargoid pulse neutraliser commercially available on all

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The Wing Commander Orchestral Recording Project LP project is now LIVE on Indiegogo! Supercade Press has put together the album in several beautiful editions of George Oldziey's album with a range of other cool swag that ranges from t-shirts to original artwork by Howard Day (plus stickers, a post card set and a tote bag)! The campaign page includes everything from a documentary video to samples of the music to a detailed look at all of the options. There are also two higher tiers offering test pressings and an invite to a listening party. But you'd better get those fast, as they're in extemely short supply! Pledge here and let's give the industry a little reminder that Wing Commander is still beloved.

The album is being offered in three different editions:

Standard Edition with 180g Classic Black Vinyl

This open edition includes a single-pocket jacket featuring crosshair cover art by Van Burnham with

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Independent presidential candidate Zachary Rackham held a gala ball for some of the Federation's wealthy and influential elite.
The Federal Times published a report from political correspondent Sofia Trevino:
"The extravagant gathering at Fort Rackham (formerly Fort Falkenrath) on Taylor Colony felt more like a party than a fundraiser, but its ambitions were clear. Campaign finance laws forbid Zachary Rackham from using his own wealth to pay for his presidential bid, and so connections are being forged to entice donations and other types of support."
"Mr Rackham's campaign manager – and the originator of his 'Just Like Me' slogan – was revealed to be celebrity PR consultant Anya Blackriver. She organised many famous attendees including media barons Elias Metaxas and Neive McFarlane, the youthful but popular ICE-caster Sura Oyekan, and flamboyant business magnate 'Sir' Randolph Plaskett of

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This is part of a series analyzing newly discovered Wing Commander IV continuity photographs. You can find the previous posts collected here.

We're stepping away from flight suits for today's Wing Commander IV Polaroid post. What we have here is something intriguing: a young woman in a non-standard uniform with a nametag that reads "LOATS". The picture is labeled only "Com. Specialist" and features no visible insignia patches, making this one an interesting challenge... or not, because despite two typos the start to our seach is right in the manual connected right to the text under the photo: "Circle V Comm. Specialist - Saxon Trainer". The 'Circle V' must actually be 'Circe V', an embattled planet you (optionally) visit midway through the game and a short Google search revealed that "Saxon Trainer" is really Saxon TRAINOR.

Who, then, is LOATS? If you tend to side with Panther over Hawk then you may

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Wing Commander Armada comes with one of the greatest game manuals in history, an all-the-more impressive achievement given Origin prided themselves on producing wonderful lore material. That manual is Voices of War, a fascinating and evocative look at both sides of the Terran-Kilrathi conflict. For a game with very little internal narrative it's impressive that Armada's lore manual has been so massively influential on the rest of the Wing Commander universe. But Armada had TWO similarly sized manuals! Voices of War is dedicated only to world building while a second Play Guide offered all the details on how to actually interface with the game. It was only ever available digitally in an ancient 'VEBE' format which does not open with any kind of modern viewer. For whatever reason, GOG did not bother to include a copy with their release. Not having access to a copy hasn't been a huge problem for Wing

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This is part of a series analyzing newly discovered Wing Commander IV continuity photographs. You can find the previous posts collected here.

Last Thanksgiving, we wrote about a Polaroid of Moose and how the character represented three different people at once: the actor who played him in a cutscene, the member of the development team whose name and photograph were used for his wingman selection screen and finally the member of the Playstation team whose name replaced them in that port. Now, we've found a polaroid that represents FOUR different people! Meet Miner.

Unraveling the Polaroid meant once again dealing with a small problem: Miner is in full Confederation fighter pilot costume (next to the nose of the famous Confederation shuttle set!) and so his face isn't very visible. Luckily, the "Mike" and "Confed Pilot" scribbled at the bottom were enough to move the needle: the game's printed credits do

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Jade Sanderlyn's latest report on the Thargoid invasion of the core systems has been published on Vox Galactica.
"Taking the broad view of the conflict does little to lift the spirits. Thargoid fleets now occupy well over a thousand systems, nearly 200 of which were once populated. Several million people have been killed or wounded by bombardments and caustic attacks. Colossal numbers have fled their homes as refugees. Some sources estimate that well over ten billion people have been directly affected by the war, but the misery and hardship it has caused is immeasurable."
"As sobering as that sounds, the situation would be much worse were it not for enormous efforts by anti-xeno squadrons and independent ships, which continue to push back against the Thargoid fleets. Every day, thousands of pilots risk their lives in battle, rescuing civilians or delivering supplies. Dozens of systems have

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Back in February, we reported on a teaser post from Supercade announcing an upcoming crowd funding campaign to release an LP (vinyl record) of George Oldziey's Wing Commander Orchestral Recording Project. The good news today is that the campaign is still happening and it sounds like it's launching soon. Supercade founder Van Burnahm tweeted in response to a question that it was launching in just four days, on May 1st!

It’s launching May 1st!!!

— Van Burnham (@supercade71) April 27, 2023

Obviously these sorts of things are never fully set in stone... and who knows more about slipping release dates than Wing Commander fans... but we're crossing our fingers and hoping to bring you more on Monday!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Empire and the Federation have resolved the conflict in Pichch after the accidental loss of anti-xeno supply ships.
Freelance correspondent Karleen Troy reported on events for Vox Galactica:
"Pichch is a key location to redirect front-line resources to systems facing invasion around Maelstrom Leigong. In recent days, these vital deliveries have been severely delayed by the internecine conflict. But disaster struck when an entire convoy carrying anti-xeno weaponry was destroyed by Imperial-aligned ships, which mistakenly identified them as local Federal resupply vessels."
"Once news of the incident spread, leaders of Gauluujja Exchange and the Gliese 44 Citizens' Forum stated that they had received orders to broker an immediate ceasefire. The conflict was heading towards a Gliese 44 Citizens' Forum victory, so the sudden peace is likely a relief to Gauluujja

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Aegis's prototype Thargoid pulse neutralisers have succeeded in allowing transit through the energy surge at the centre of a Maelstrom.
Professor Alba Tesreau made the official statement:
"Several remote-controlled probes outfitted with Thargoid pulse neutralisers were launched into the Taranis Maelstrom. The colossal electromagnetic pulse generated within the clouds should have repulsed them, but feedback confirms the probes were insulated from its effects."
"The method used to protect the probes was discovered through research on unclassified relics recovered from Thargoid surface sites. These alien artefacts were vital to the devices' development. Initial research conducted by Ram Tah and Professor Palin proved that when receiving a modulated electrical charge, the unclassified relics emitted an energy field on similar frequencies to the Maelstrom's pulse."
"Unfortunately, broadcasts from

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Today we've got a peek at the August 1999 advertisement for Wing Commander on Pay Per View. We shared this clip many years ago, but it was on an account that was taken down at some point. So now we've rehosted our own permanent copy. Why is it important? In today's modern streaming landscape where digital copies are easily accessible at your fingertips, it can be hard to imagine a world where you couldn't just call up any movie on demand. The DVD had just come out in July and wasn't necessarily readily available everywhere. The VHS cassette was still only sold to rental stores. Many people weren't yet accustomed to buying things online, so ordering a PPV showing was the prime way for some people to watch. It's a very '90s product of its time!

At the edge of the universe, all hell is about to break loose! The final battle for Earth begins on Pay Per View. Take a high flying thrill ride through

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Crazy discovery! Ever wonder what the scene on the cover of the Privateer manual is? It's not one of the regular landing pads. But look closely at the 'buildings' in the background... they're being reused from the asteroid base mesh to make it look like a cityscape!

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VGDensetsu was posting about various Origin covers made for the Japanese FM Towns, and that led us to a bit of new info! We know a fair amount about most of the artists who did various WC works over the years, but their Japanese counterparts can be harder to pin down. VGDensetsu clarified who made the covers for the FM Towns and Super Famicon games:

Takashi Asada did the cover art for the FM Towns version of WCII. Yuji Kaida is credited for the cover of the SFC version.

And that gives us an excellent excuse for a Japanese art appreciation post! Here's WC1&2 for the FM Towns and the SFC version of WC1.

And here's some bonus advertisements from Japan where we also see some of this glorious art!