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Today we've got another fun vintage magazine scan submitted by Maxi de Sokar. It's a Spanish publication, OK PC, that highlights the DROSoft translation of Wing Commander 2 and Special Operations 1&2. Right off the bat, there's a glaring mistake. The box art on the second page is obviously a combo pack for Secret Missions 1&2, and if my translation is correct, there's nothing in the text that references these games. It's just the art they chose. After thirty years I can excuse the error - rather, I appreciate these kinds of finds like a coin collector might value mis-printed money. The screenshots are just as gorgeous as ever, and seeing these takes me back to when you might have flipped through these in print back in the '90s and been dazzled by the cutting edge graphics. This is a very cool find!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Back in 1999 a trailer for the Wing Commander movie leaked and broke the internet... or at least the website! This 3 minute trailer featured not just a sneak peak at the highly anticipated video game based movie, but ended up also hiding alternate takes and snippets from deleted scenes that ultimately didn't make it into the final film. That video has only been available in very low quality (and low framerate) DivX video (10 meg avi). First, here's a raw export of the VHS:

...until now. A recently recovered VHS contained an slightly earlier version of this same trailer!While the actual edit on this tape is the same, keen observers will note that this is a slightly earlier version of the trailer than was leaked online as it also features some less-finished CG effects in a few places. I spent some time and effort to remove color noise left over from the VHS capture (over which I had no control or

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Some sad news, RIP. "Sim Wong Hoo, the founder, chairman and CEO of Creative Technology, died on Jan 4." Creative's technology is massively important to the history of the PC... and their output in the 1990s was incredible! Wing Commander and Creative had a long and fruitful relationship and I thought it might be good to have a discussion about it.

The 1989 DOS port of Chris Roberts' Times of Lore was the first Origin game to include Sound Blaster support. The two companies' first official partnership was a small one: in 1990, Creative began including a Wing Commander I promo shot on the original Sound Blaster packaging.

But in 1991, Wing Commander spoke! WC2's Summer CES captured the world's attention by using a newly-released Sound Blaster Pro to present a cutscene where the evil Kilrathi actually spoke (hastily voiced by game developers recording themselves)!

That September, the game included a fully

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a fantastic gem from the February 1995 issue of PC Gamer in the UK. The cover is all about Wing Commander 3 with a stellar piece of Kilrathi art. We haven't been able to track down the big four page review inside, so if you have a copy of this buried away, let us know! This time capsule was surfaced by none other than the official PC Gamer Twitter itself with the caption, "It's time to bring back Wing Commander with Mark Hamill. We deserve it."

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a Wing Commander/Origin ad I don't think I've seen before. Unfortunately, it's... not great. From the May 1995 issue of Wired:

And here's an Apple ad from 1996 with Wing Commander IV! All that empty space is because the Macintosh only had these ten games in 1996.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Vox Galactica correspondent Jade Sanderlyn reports on the latest developments regarding the war against the Thargoids.
"In the broad sense, there have been few significant changes in Thargoid tactics. The eight Maelstroms continue to send waves of Thargoid vessels deeper into the core systems. Anti-xeno forces are certainly winning victories, and in some cases retaking previously occupied systems. But we are still losing more than we save."
"Despite being reformed only recently, Aegis has hit the ground running. Its caustic sink launcher is now available following a successful trial by Aden Tanner. This ingenious device increases the amount of time that a ship can spend inside a Maelstrom before being impaired by corrosive damage."
"The repulsing energy wave at the clouds' centres, however, remains impenetrable. I understand that Aegis has prioritised gathering data about this defence

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Did you ever wonder why Privateer's missions go from series 5 to 7 in the game's internal numerical sequencing? Series 6 was cut pretty late in the process... but now we've found an earlier version of the game's script that includes them! After finding the derelict, you take the gun to the ship dealer on New Detroit...

There a man named WILMER tells you that he can't install the gun because you need to talk to Roman Lynch again. Roman Lynch is the mob boss you last saw earlier in the game after he sent his henchman Miggs to murder you and steal your artifact.

Incidentally, this finally explains why there is a never used closeup background stored in the game for a conversation with the ship dealer!

Lynch runs this town and you can only get the gun installed if you fly a series of missions for him. The missions are especially immoral, attacking business rivals and civilians...

... and one of them is an

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a fun review of the Mega CD port of Wing Commander. It's noteworthy for having fully (Japanese) speech similar to its (English) Sega CD counterpart. This piece was originally posted to Twitter by Baller Speeder and ZealousFoX, and I've formatted it into one block of text. I like to encourage people to appreciate Wing Commander across all platforms and media types, so I wanted to acknowledge this here!

Game review: Wing Commander (Sega Mega CD / 1994 Sega/Electronic Arts/Origin Systems/CRI/Game Arts/Bits Laboratory)

Yes, five companies worked on the Mega CD port of a Chris Roberts space flight sim classic. Oh well, the important bit is, this gave me the most fun.

Published by Sega themselves in Japan and ported by Game Arts in collaboration with CSK Research Institute (the guys behind the Mega CD port of Might and Magic 3) and Bits Laboratory (the Mega CD Prince of Persia guys), the player sees

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The first humans rescued from the Thargoid motherships have started to arrive, almost all of whom have so far survived extraction.
The highly dangerous task requires using an upgraded pulse wave xeno scanner to detect human life signs on the Titans. The new sub-surface extraction missiles then target and jettison the bio-storage capsules – as the structures are officially designated – which are then recovered using a cargo scoop.
All recovered individuals are being assessed by medical specialists. The tri-superpower agency Aegis released this statement to the media:
"In each case, research teams successfully cracked open the capsules and removed the comatose person. They were suspended within a chemically complex gel, not unlike amniotic fluid, with tubes supplying breathable air and basic nutrients. Between thirty and ninety minutes later, the person wakes."
"All recovered individuals are

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The gang at Roberts Space Industries is holding their annual Star Citizen convention this weekend, and they're wrapping events up with a big announcement: the campaign-driven game announced in 2012, Squadron 42, is now "feature complete." This means the core items are in place, and they are entering a new phase of polishing. This is expected to still take a significant amount of time, so the team is not putting a release date out there yet. They have, however, published a very cool new video that highlights the latest in the game's cinematics and spaceflight. The clip even begins with familiar nods to things like their iteration of the Hornet fighter and the Vega System. Chris Roberts says, "We want to make sure that Squadron 42 delivers on the promise of being this generation's Wing Commander," and it does indeed seem like this generation may get to experience it!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

This is a new one for me: kyleisliving has posted a video of the SNES version of Wing Commander running on a Sony Mega Watchman. If it's the model I think it is, this one has a 4.5 inch black and white screen. It actually looks surprisingly good given the circumstances, and the music sounds great! Sony is also responsible for solving the need for something like this thanks to EA Replay on the Playstation Portable. We still love to see people finding new ways to play Wing Commander though!

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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We've come to the end of another year, but before we say our last goodbyes to 2023, it's time to take a look back at the highlights from the past twelve months!

The year began, as many do, with lots of glorious fan art and beautiful creations. Mac and Klavs had another very prolific year with a steady stream of gorgeous sights. Many of Klavs' designs were later released as 3D models while Mac took his renders all the way to multiple full fledged lore videos on YouTube.

It didn't take long to get our first "official," WC release when Google finally added Freedom Flight to their digital bookstore in January. Although it's been available for years on competing platforms, having this one title missing from such a major outlet was a constant annoyance to completionists.

Fan projects like WC4 Remastered and many different impressive Lego builds were frequently in the news through the (northern) spring.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It’s here! It arrived as a shipping bag full of parts. Good thing I bought the original instructions a month ago!

Let’s do this thing! Do I think it will be remotely right? No. But maybe they’ll surprise me!

Wow! Every piece was there. It looks great! Nice job, Chinese bootleg LEGO factory. About two to three hours to build!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The Wing Commander Academy press kit says that there were twelve cadets transferred to the Tiger's Claw. Can you name them all?

Alright, let's see if we can find them! We're looking for the original twelve cadets transferred to the Tiger's Claw's command school. So Victoria/Viking here and the veteran replacements from the Trafalgar who are added after Chain of Command don't count.

First up, the three leads. Christopher "Maverick" Blair played by Mark Hamill and designed from his live action appearances in Wing Commander III and IV (minus 19 years). Bios are from the series' press kit:

Todd "Maniac" Marshall voiced by Tom Wilson and also designed from his WC3 and 4 appearances (though a little bit more The Real Ghostbustersy).

And new character Gwen "Archer" Bowman played by Dana Delany! She voiced Louis Lane on Superman that same season and it sure feels like both character designs were influenced by the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

If you haven't figured it out already, we've having a blast following the exciting progress of the orchestral album campaign this week! We would have expected things to level off a bit after the first few days, but it continues a steady upward beat. So with that in mind, George Oldziey has announced the first stretch goal. He's priced out what it would take to add a comprehensive choral arrangement to the album, and it looks like that will be possible with an additional $6000. That would come to a new Kickstarter target of $24,000. We've still got about four weeks, so I think we can do it! For another sample of what you have to look forward to, here's an awesome mix of Mr. Oldziey's previous live orchestration of Wing Commander music combined with ODVS' advanced video enhancements:

Greetings all you amazing fans. We are already approaching the $14K mark in less than a week! I'm still keeping my

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

I FOUND A TRUCK! In the Wing Commander Academy finale when Maniac is flying through the Agon'Ra'Sivar he hits a Kilrathi fuel truck. You can barely see it under the explosion! It's a similar shape to the Kilrathi tanks in WC3!

I also made a quick graphic of the layout of the Agon'Ra'Sivar's flight deck as Maniac strafes it! You can see he hits a Sartha on the catapult followed by several loaded strike planes and then the truck to set off the secondary explosions that cripple the ship.

This was all in the service of another fun project: I went through the show and divided into missions like the games… and then I used that to do a kill board for the show! Here’s the episode-by-episode breakdown. I hope there’s somebody that counts HISS tanks like this.

You can read more about vehicles in Wing Commander below!

• Tanks
• Tractors
• Movie Refuel/Repair Truck
• Privateer Background Vehicles
• Privateer Refueler Truck

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Hey, who wants some new Cybot ships and scenes? They might be a little weird, but they're always amusing and some are available now to help kickstart your project! New downloads include the Niven Base and Steltek Assortment. Be sure to let Cybot know if you find any of these designs useful!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Children of Tothos are preparing to destroy Archambault Terminal with a stolen nuclear weapon, sacrificing millions of lives in the name of their deity.

Crime correspondent Ethan Takahashi of the Federal Times delivered this report:

"Ritual sacrifices have now begun, according to a chilling broadcast from cult leader Barnabas Cole. He claims these deaths will lead to a final ceremony, when the Lucifer Device will be detonated. Dozens of the starport's citizens are already feared dead at the hands of cultists."

"Cole also made this statement: 'We welcome new followers who heed my testament by sending one of their siblings into Tothos's light.'"

"Since this message, disturbing reports have been received of newly docked ships killing one of their own crew, so that the rest are granted permission to join the cult."

"Federal authorities are still unsure how to free Archambault Terminal without

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Ginger Lynn Allen

is selling off one of her iconic Rachel Coriolis jumpsuits. It comes with matching hat and utility belt. Based on the sleeve cutoffs, it seems to be the variant worn in Wing Commander Prophecy. It's very cool to get some close up photos of this design! First bid starts at $499. There's also a $1000 Buy It Now for any Wingnuts who might want to preempt a bidding war. Ginger mentions that the suit still fits, which is more than some of us can say for outfits from 20+ years ago!

Hi, it's me Ginger Lynn,

So if you like WC III, I found this the other day. Lock and load with Rachel Coriolis! Still fits after all these years!

I'm one of those girls who has saved everything from the beginning of my career right up until today. I have photos. magazines, wardrobe, trophies, trading cards, scripts, shoes, checks from SAG-AFTRA, original artwork and so much more. Everything is signed

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Howard Day

has developed another really cool effect for the

Wing Leader

project. The big video below shows off some fancy LCD distortion for use when your VDU takes a hit. Howard says he's working on further improvements to make it look even better in the future. There are also some enhanced backgrounds that now dot the spacescape, and the game's nifty chase cam helps show them off here as well!

Wednesday Wing Leader progress! Wrote a LCD distortion shader for the cockpit last night! Looks pretty gruesome. Also added some background artwork to the scene and more star types-really helps to make the game more colorful.