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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

ACT has revealed the background of the man known only as Theta Seven, the NMLA's de facto leader who recently died in the Mudhrid system.
Captain Saskia Landau gave this statement to the media:
"A combination of investigative work and interrogating NMLA survivors has allowed us to confirm that Theta Seven's real name was John Tyburn. He was born and raised in the city of Fontaine on the planet Baltah'Sine, where he was a munitions technician constructing demolition charges for commercial mining."
"There is evidence that Tyburn was always a vocal believer in Marlinism, and became a pro-democracy campaigner. This eventually caused him to lose his job and serve a prison sentence for sedition. His Imperial citizenship was revoked, his marriage annulled and his children taken into state care."
"Upon release, Tyburn was contacted by the NMLA and radicalised to the Neo-Marlinist cause. He produced

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
A decrypted message suggests that the NMLA leader Theta Seven avoided capture by infiltrating the Far God cult.
ACT publicly requested help to decode a message received by Theta Group, the bomb-making engineers of the NMLA. The cipher key was cracked and the decoded message submitted by Commander Therion Cygni. It revealed that Theta Seven and his closest aides fled to the Panjabell system on the 31st of July.
Captain Milo Castile, one of ACT's co-leaders, provided an update:
"Our theory is that Theta Seven and his crew were travelling undercover as Far God worshippers, who were gathering in the Panjabell system in huge numbers at that time. Since all members of this religious order renounce their past identities, this would have helped the terrorists to avoid detection."
"The Pleiades Concordat and other factions in Panjabell are cooperating with our investigation.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here are some new shots of the Wasp featured in the

Homeworld Remastered Mod

. Last week we saw the ship's glorious

Swarmer Missiles

in action, and now here's the actual ship. It's pretty amazing how

L.I.F.

has managed to pack so much of the interceptor's original functionality into the ship, including its disposable booster rocket. It's a fighter I wish we'd have seen more of in the series, so it's great to see here!

The Wasp version that was tested in-game copies pretty well the workings of the Prophecy engine. It has a limited amount of Swarmer salvoes that will use different clusters from each shot - using the high-definition Swarmer missile made for the MUP - until it spends all of them and goes back to normal missiles or reloads at the carrier. In addition, it can use its one-time booster to get its top speed multiplied by 5 for a few seconds, giving it the famous capability to intercept

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

I would give so much to be able to read the text on these monitors from Wing Commander III. Look, there's a designation for the Hellcat V right there! F-86 maybe? F-46C?

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

NightBall06 recently decided to try his hand a several new Hellcat angles. Since his design is essentially drawn 'by hand' rather than being a 3D model, this took some artistic skill rather than modeling wizardry. The result is similar to his previous concepts at first glance, but these represent his most ornate takes and elaborate angles yet.

Well - A little update in short. Had the feeling I needed a perspective bottom view.... So here it is.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The theft of a spectacular work of art has soured New Year festivities for thousands of Federal citizens.

Kioko McGrath, culture correspondent for The Federal Times, reported:

"A colossal holo-sculpture was due to be unveiled at midnight to mark the start of 3305. Inspired by the Federal insignia, the intention was for the sculpture to be visible above Olympus Village, and seen by millions of people."

"But upon activation, the image that materialised was a gigantic cat's face, winking repeatedly. The original holo-sculpture code was later discovered to have vanished."

The Federal Security Service believes the culprit to be the same art thief who stole valuable works on Alioth and Eotienses A 3, both of which were marked with an identical 'winking cat' motif.

There are no leads at present.

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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

A valuable work of art has been stolen by a mysterious and highly skilled criminal.

The theft took place in the Garden City Gallery on Turner's World in the Alioth system. Sergeant Femi Abram of the municipal police discussed the incident:

"Our security specialists are currently at a loss to explain how this occurred. The piece in question was inside a titanium vault surrounded by plasma grids, proximity alarms and thermal sensors. This morning we found the vault door open and all security systems disabled. On the wall was a spray-painted graphic of what looked like a winking cat."

The piece in question is a digital painting titled Youscape. This unusual cyber-artwork includes micro cameras linked to an AI node that monitor the viewer's reactions. Over time, the image alters in response to the owner's tastes.

The artwork was scheduled to be auctioned the following day. The artist, Barclay

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

The Year of Klingon is almost upon us, Captains, and the first stage is right around the corner. To help you find and celebrate all of the amazing rebuilt content, we put together a very honorable list of what’s changing with tomorrow’s patch and where you can find it. First, we aimed our sights at the Klingon Tutorial, and the Empire Mission Arc. These episodes have new environment art, updated cutscenes, new and updated voice over recordings, and even some new gameplay. Our designers have taken to the field of battle and produced some missions that we feel are up to our modern standards for Star Trek Online, and really make you feel like a Klingon Warrior. Some of our most iconic Klingon characters were long overdo for an update, and our character artists took on that task with gusto. Below, you can see the new designs for Worf, J’mpok, K’mtar, and Kagran. Nxt

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Captains…welcome to the Year of Klingon. Over the rest of 2020, and part of 2021, we’re going to be putting on a major, multipart, 2411-focused Klingon storyline. We can’t release the details on what that is just yet (although it’s a fair bet that J’Ula and her time traveling cohorts are involved), but as part of this long-planned, face-of-the-game changing story, we’re taking a little time to focus on our most honorable allies. We love our Klingon content – who doesn’t love a story that involves descending into Grethor and fighting a god? – but a lot of it is old, and doesn’t contain the technical improvements we’ve made to the game over the years. So we’re spending time and resources to give these pieces of content visual and gameplay facelifts. Over the next twelve months (maybe more), you’ll see new Klingon character models for some of our classic characters like

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a video from Geeky Dad Gaming about a seminal year in gaming, 1990, and what some of the biggest games of the year were. Origin and Wing Commander take up a big chunk of the clip. He talks a lot about what a big deal the development process was and how it shaped the industry going into the rest of the '90s. Check it out below!

As we round into a new decade, PC gaming goes from strength to strength. The PC game landscape sees the introduction of the big budget release and the birth of a company that would go on to change the whole video gaming landscape. Inbetween that we have a titan of a point and click adventure showing how story and characters were just as important to a good game as graphics and gameplay.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

In an interview with independent media outlet Vox Galactica, engineer Ram Tah has discussed the XG Project, which produced the recently released XG fighters.

"Ever since the first Guardian ruins were discovered, I've been trying to combine their technology with our own. I drew up a blueprint for the original fighter, the XG1, before inviting other technicians to refine the design with a view to producing something commercially viable."

"The seventh iteration, the XG7, successfully merged human and Guardian ingenuity. The XG8 Javelin and XG9 Lance soon followed."

When asked what the future holds, Ram Tah remarked:

"My hope is that the XG Project is merely the start of a whole new era of technological development. While the current focus is the Thargoid threat, the achievements of our galactic forebears might one day improve every aspect of society."

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

As construction proceeds on Salvation's Proteus Wave, there is widespread dispute on the issue of eliminating the Thargoids.
An article by Heimar Borichev, deputy editor of The Sovereign newsfeed, has divided public opinion:
"Salvation's latest superweapon is designed to attract and then destroy members of the species we've named 'Thargoids'. If successful, it would wipe them from the core systems entirely. But there are a number of questions that nobody seems to be asking, including this: do we have the right to take such action?"
"What's that, you say? The Thargoids are the aggressors, out to destroy humanity? Or are they just defending historical territory from our expanding presence? Remember, they were navigating space a million years before we were. If a new species suddenly emerged on our worlds and began strip-mining our lands, how would we react?"
"Now, I'm not suggesting we should

Quote from Mass Effect News-Bot

While neither The Witcher nor Mass Effect have new games in their respective series coming any time soon, as far as anyone is aware, both franchises have given fans enough to find excitement this month. The Witcher has a big budget live-action Netflix series in the works, and Mass Effect gear is prominently featured in Anthem, the big new game by their shared developer BioWare.

Given the vastly different sci-fi and fantasy genres embodied by these two franchises, one might think a crossover between these two to be unlikely. Well, one fan has taken on this challenge with a new piece of The Witcher Mass Effect crossover fan art.

DeviantArt user Golbex has released their wonderful new Witcher Mass Effect crossover fan art for the world to see. The piece, titled “Geralt, The reaperslayer,” aptly depicts Geralt of Rivia decked out in full signature N7 armor after defeating a Marauder. This futuristic version

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Victory. Peace. After a long struggle, it's a good feeling.

This is a special 4K sample of the WC3 ending to celebrate triumph over tyranny. You can download complete HD movies from WC3, WC4 and Prophecy here from ODVS' fantastic enhancement pack.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Erik Gunnarson of the Wallglass Investigations Agency provides an overview of the Winking Cat's latest escapade.
"The meaning of the message scrawled on the back of the Jokers' Deck ceremonial playing card has become clear. This time, the galaxy's most infamous larcenist is actually giving away treasure rather than stealing it."
"Three mysterious riddles were somehow inserted into the GalNet feed over the last week. Commanders have reported that clues within these riddles led them to three concealed caches, each in a different system."
"According to the dates specified by the Winking Cat, these three caches will only be operational for a two-week period, ending on the 30th of December. We can then deduce that caches four, five and six will activate today, and likewise remain available for the next two weeks."
"This is not the first philanthropic gesture from the

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The notorious art thief known as the Winking Cat has resurfaced in the Alioth system during the Alliance Festival of Culture.

For the festival's sixth week, Garden City Gallery on Turner's World hosts an exhibition of the visual arts. Advanced security measures have been employed to prevent a repetition of the high-profile incident that occurred in June 3304, where the unique work 'Youscape' was stolen from a gallery vault.

Local correspondent Daron Warmack reported for The Alliance Tribune:

"When gallery staff noticed a painting hanging in a previously empty room, they were shocked to recognise it as 'Penance Street', the long-lost masterpiece of famous artist Megan Madigan."

"Experts have verified that this is the original artwork, which vanished in transit 60 years ago. A graphic of a winking cat was also discovered on the wall behind the picture."

"The Winking Cat has returned one of the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

A stately conductor stands before an orchestra three rows deep. The planet Venice, the Kilrathi capital of the Vega Sector, looms overhead. He raises his baton…

From the very first visual of the very first game, the deep connection between music and Wing Commander was clear… even to PC speaker users! Over the years, the Wing Commander franchise repeatedly pushed forward the public's expectation for what is now called 'VGM' and considered its own respected genre of music. The series would eventually come to host a rogues gallery of top composers and other musicians: George "The Fat Man" Sanger, Nenad Vugrinec, George Oldziey, Alexander van Bubenheim, Cobalt 60, David Arnold and Kevin Kiner… and a dozen others.

Today, Supercade is trying to bring George Oldziey's Wing Commander Orchestral Music Recording Project out as a deluxe vinyl record. You can learn more and back that project on IndieGoGo. The

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Imperator Hadrian Augustus Duval, leader of the isolationist group Nova Imperium, has married his consort Astrid Minerva in a closed ceremony.
Commander Minerva was a young Imperial pilot who aided Nova Imperium at the Battle of Paresa in 3305 and became a loyal supporter. Her official title is now Lady Astrid Minerva-Duval.
Princess Aisling Duval personally attended her cousin's wedding at a secure location. She referred to it as "a precious moment of joy in these bleak times".
The Imperial Palace and the Senate have sent congratulatory messages, and the event was covered by mainstream media.
Paresa News Network: "Astrid's well-deserved rise to nobility has made her fellow Paresans very proud. Everyone at PNN is overjoyed for the happy couple!"
Eye on Achenar: "It's an insult to the noble Duval bloodline when some trigger-jockey from a gutter system can sink her claws into the Emperor's own

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Remember the specific point in 1995 where game installers all got hot? Crazy how you go from that to that in a year.

I'm updating all my GOG .conf files to add a bunch of handy options.

I gave the first games a command line option with a debug mode cheat sheet. Easy way to quickly load the EGA version or with a different sound card.

Currently trying to add back Privateer 2's beautiful installer (with lore screen!) to the GOG package in a way that doesn't break everything else.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a quick peek at several different versions of the Hit Squad edition of Wing Commander 1 that come from Dennis Mull's extensive collection. Hit Squad was a budget published that was responsible for a wide range of translations and rereleases for the original game. It's exactly the type of variation that both delights and drives collectors mad!

LOAF: They covered the UK, France, Germany and Italy. Gotta be at least a dozen versions for the patient collector! (I bet Dennis Mull has a bunch.)

Dennis: Yes, I have a few, but there are more out there.