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Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Star Trek Online is heading for Destination Star Trek: Birmingham! We will be at the convention for the entire weekend, from October 25th to October 27th, and we look forward to meeting you and talking with you about STO. It's the biggest celebration of Star Trek in Europe and there will be plenty of your favorite Star Trek and STO actors there, like Levar Burton, JG Hertzler, Denise Crosby, Chase Masterson and of course our newest member, Anthony Rapp! EU Design Lead Tim Davies, Lead Environment Artist Scot Boyd, and Community Manager Mike Fatum will be there to talk with Anthony Rapp about his work in Discovery and Awakening. We’ll be on stage for four different panels that weekend, and you can find the schedule below. You want more stars? Here is a small selection of stars already confirmed for the Star Trek Destination in Birmingham: Learn the latest news about Star

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

The universe we enjoy today isn’t the only one, not by a long shot. Our nearest neighbor, the ever-belligerent so-called ‘Mirror Universe’, is just one of countless roads spanning a cosmic tree of probability vast beyond imagining. From time to time, a new branch sprouts and the timeline forks again. Rarer still are the times those branches remerge, as they did with the U.S.S. Kelvin. Official contact with this universe, colloquially known as the Kelvin timeline, has been extremely limited. Nevertheless, some artifacts from that temporal neighbor have found their way into our neck of the woods. Alternate histories are an ever-present “what if” in science fiction. Appropriately enough, they tend not to be major cultural pillars, nor are they ever entirely escapable. As we look forward to what changes in society new technology might bring, we are wise to recall how our new normal was just one

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

L.I.F. has finished up the general hull of his TCS Victory model and it's now available to download and try out. Owners of From the Depths can grab the ship here. While the outside is basically finished, there are lots of internal improvements yet to come. L.I.F. projects that the "flight bay, hangar deck, living area, bar, flight control and bridge" will all be forthcoming in subsequent updates. We can't wait to see how that turns out!

The outer hull is finished! The first fittings were a pretty large generator and ion engines to keep the ship from falling down below, so if spawned in space, it should remain there.

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Captains, we’re all feeling the crush of being at home right now. We want to accomplish something – something big, and meaningful, but it’s hard while you’re inside. While we can’t help you write that novel or change the world, we can help you complete those reputations you’ve been staring longingly at. So we’re starting a special event right now! For the next three weeks, starting Thursday, March 26th at 8AM PT to Thursday, April 16th at 10AM PT, we are running a special event where Captains can earn bonus Marks by playing content throughout the game! During the event, content that provides Marks (Fleet or Reputation) will reward a 50% (1.5x) bonus above normal amounts – this bonus is available for all content that rewards Marks, including the three new reputations that came to Console with Agents of Yesterday. Start building your Fleet projects and reputations! We hope you enjoy

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The WC3 footage is great, but the enhanced WC4 footage is absolutely exquisite. This is the game where we have some of the best source material to start with, and it's also super easy to upgrade your copy of the game to play these high res clips. Just drop the files into the video folder of the DVD version of the game. GOG carries the DVD version by default, so it's cheap and readily available. Today's release is the fifth and "definitive" launch. It incorporates all of ODVS' extensive learnings and techniques and even includes some fixes for broken/omitted clips on the DVD. It truly is the definitive way to play the original (at least until the WC4 Fan Remake is finished!).

• Wing Commander 4: version 5.0, English, Pack 1 (3.3 gig zip)
• Wing Commander 4: version 5.0, English, Pack 2 (3.2 gig zip)
• Wing Commander 4: version 5.0, German, Pack 1 (3.2 gig zip)
• Wing Commander 4: version 5.0, German, Pack 2

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Alliance and Imperial leaders have responded to the recent wave of Federal systems declaring independence.
Eight factions have now severed ties with the Federation, in response to government surveillance of all private and public communications.
In an interview with The Alliance Tribune, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Corcoran remarked:
"The Proactive Detection Bureau's intrusive nature has caused millions of people to rightfully demand self-rule. President Hudson should be fearful that history might view him as the Federation's first dictator."
Senator Denton Patreus's comments were featured by Eye on Achenar:
"Of course the Federation's factions are turning against it. The arrogance and corruption of its leaders will inevitably cause it to rot from within. We can expect to see it dissolve into chaos before long."
Federal newsfeed Sol Today published a response by Vice President Jerome Archer:

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Successful campaigns in the Alcor and Colonia systems will result in new megaships being added to the Colonia Bridge.
Large quantities of ceramic composites, computer components and thermal cooling units were provided at either end of the route between the core systems and the distant Colonia region.
Brewer Corporation provided an update on the project:
"Once again, the galactic community has provided the vital materials required to construct dockable megaships. These additional ports should be operational by the 25th of November, making journeys to and from Colonia easier and safer."
"Pilots can now collect their rewards from Macdonald Settlement in the Alcor system and Jaques Station in the Colonia system. We shall also be awarding an engineered frame shift drive with long range and fast boot to the majority of contributors."
The top ten pilots who delivered

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

This week EA reconfirmed that another title in the Mass Effect series is in the works. Andromeda wasn't particularly well received in 2017, so the company took a break from the franchise for several years. But now we're excited for all the Mass Effect fans that there's more new content to look forward to.

This one image stirred a lot of speculation online, and the ship in particular drove a lot of conversation. More than a few folks observed similarities to the Excalibur, and Mac took it one step further with this tantalizing photoshop. To say again: this is just a fan mockup, but it's so nice on the eyes that we're excited to share! It might even make a good wallpaper. A Wingnut can dream...

I'm looking at the ship and I keep thinking it looks like a more advanced Excalibur from Wing Commander

I mean, I'm not the only one seeing it. Right?

You can find more of Mac's work on YouTube.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The megaship Steel Majesty has travelled from Mudhrid to the HIP 22550 system and been renamed as Fairfax Vision.
The Wells-class carrier was originally owned by the Neo-Marlinist Order of Mudhrid and used as a base for the NMLA terrorist group. After a military defeat, the vessel's crew sought political asylum in the Marlinist Colonies.
The Steel Majesty later became the hub for Minister Aaron Whyte's followers during the Marlinist Civil War. More recently, NMLA activists retook the ship and unsuccessfully tried to rescue their leader Theta Seven.
The Marlin Standard published this statement from First Minister Octavia Volkov:
"I am delighted that the Marlinist Consulate has negotiated with the Epsilon Fornacis Empire Group to arrange for this megaship to be returned to us. We are renaming it in honour of my predecessor Dr Jenna Fairfax, who led millions to safety after our mass exodus from

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Happy February 12, known in certain circles as December 8. (Wing Commander 4 turns 26 today! Happy birthday!)

The first image fans saw of Wing Commander IV was the teaser below, showing Tolwyn and Blair on opposing sides with a shadowy figure between them. It's a compelling image on the surface, but it's also problematic--since there's no actual reveal in the game itself. The shadow figure is just Seether, an entirely new character who is actually Tolwyn's henchman. The biggest problem, though, was that the first run of ads had a date promising the game on December 8, 1995. That would come back to haunt Origin when the title was delayed until February, 1996...

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval has ordered the Imperial Guard to provide increased security to surviving members of the Duval dynasty.
Many Imperial Family members, including Prince Harold, were assassinated by the NMLA. Sources close to Emperor Arissa state that she is determined to preserve the remaining Duval bloodline as well as deter any future attacks.
The Imperial Guard is a legion of elite warriors under the direct control of the Emperor. Although typically seen performing ceremonial duties, they are a highly trained fighting force. It is understood that their numbers have been boosted by a focused enlistment drive from other areas of the Imperial military.
A cohort of Imperial Guard has been placed at the service of Princess Aisling Duval. She has gratefully accepted their presence and integrated them with her existing security team.
Similar squads have been posted to the households of

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Alliance, Empire and Federation will continue collaborating with Salvation and Azimuth Biotech on anti-xeno operations.
Political journalist Conrad Sterling reviewed the latest developments for Vox Galactica:
"We now know the truth: Azimuth not only survived, but was responsible for many controversial activities. It contributed to the mycoid virus's development, coordinated with Black Flight and oversaw Project Seraph. Now, this notorious organisation enjoys the trust of all three superpowers to eliminate the Thargoid threat."
"Vocal members of the Assembly, Congress and Senate have called for everyone at Azimuth Biotech – formerly Taurus Mining Ventures – to be arrested as criminals. Professor Alba Tesreau has demanded justice for the crew of the Alexandria, which was sabotaged by Azimuth to obtain its cargo of Guardian artefacts."
"But Allied, Federal and Imperial leaders have all

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we've got a couple of examples that show off Mac's latest work in progress. We see a gorgeous short animation of the Operation Back Lash fleet assembling, which hints at some of the epic scenes to come. There's also a preliminary shot of the Waterloo class cruiser, which is coming together beautifully. It's such a sharp design!

Many, Many, Many MANY genuine thanks to @Hangar_B for lending me their Concordia model. I had to texture her myself, and boy was *that* an insane sojourn of learning. But she's almost ready for the big leagues now.#wingcommander pic.twitter.com/8EC4ySh5Id

— Mac's Lore (@MacsLore) December 24, 2022

I also messed with texturing their Waterloo-Cruiser as I was learning how to texture. It's a lot simpler than I thought, once you learn how to work with Substance Painter. Having a bg in Photoshop helped too. This one is much further away from being finished, however.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

What connects the Terran Confederation and the Tri-System? A love of Duck Dodgers, of course!

egr10 on the forums pointed out that ESK stands for Earth Shattering Kaboom and I feel like such an doofus because I hadn't figured that out in 32+ years.

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

FEEDBACK NEEDED! The reason we've been looking at Privateer 2 the past few days is that we're using the Privateer 2 intro cutscenes as the demo for a totally overhauled Holovids section at the CIC!

These new pages will collect all kinds of interesting supporting material with each cutsscene: storyboards, alternate versions, artwork, etc. You can find the first one here. Before we move on to the cinematics for rest of Privateer 2, WC3 through Prophecy and beyond we'd love to know what else you'd like to see in these spaces! What would help organize it, make it usable/less confusing, etc.

And special thanks to AD who has been taking charge of the video section of the project, aka the hard part that requires actual talent. And if you'd like to sign on and help, stop by my office anytime!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Found a pretty neat Wing Commander IV preview from the November 1995 issue of PC Power. Lots of cool set photos and a great one of Mark Hamill as Colonel Blair...

... but even more fascinating, look at that gameplay shot on the last page! That's the earliest build of Wing Commander IV I've ever seen. What's going on with the radar?!

Apparently the September 1995 issue (21) has a Privateer 2 preview which I'd love to see! Anyone out there have back issues of PC Power? I believe it's from the UK.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The eccentric inventor Harald Harksing has been causing quite a stir on Angel Station in the Calhuacan system.
Recent reports suggest that the independent entrepreneur is experiencing problems with a corrupted database. This has prevented him from shipping his latest batch of inventions to their intended destinations. The commotion caused by his efforts to resolve the issue has brought both amusement and exasperation to the starport's inhabitants.
Lishan Abara, culture correspondent for Vox Galactica, published a profile piece on Harksing:
"Little of Harald Harksing's background has ever been confirmed. What is well known – indeed, highly publicised – is his annual sending of unusual gifts to individuals referenced in GalNet news articles. These mostly comprise of unique toys, gadgets or games that Harksing has designed and built himself, sometimes tailor-made

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a quick graphic showing the known service dates for Confed fighters from the games (2654 and after); as you can see, it's largely not a case of designs replacing each other between WC1-3!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Fresh off the boat from Australia! I love weird compilations so much.