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Every week, designers, engineers and other developers from our five offices around the world answer backer questions submitted on SPECTRUM and voted on by YOU.
You can submit your questions for consideration in future episodes of Calling All Devs here.
And for info on becoming a subscriber, go to: Subscriptions - Roberts Space Industries | Follow the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42
Oct
…Hello everyone,
We are only 9 days away from CitizenCon 2948! As we get closer to our largest event yet, the team is focused on final preparations. If you’re heading to CitizenCon, or watching at home, make sure to check out the official website here for all the event details. As a reminder, CitizenCon is 100% free for anyone to stream – Simply sign up for an RSI account, and keep an eye out for the official viewing page coming soon.
Last week, we also announced the winners of our CitizenCon Emote Contest. Curious which emote they’ll be directing live in front of an audience? You’ll find out next week.
And with that, let’s see what’s going on this week:
Every week on Calling All Devs, designers, engineers, and other developers from our five offices around the world answer backer questions submitted on Spectrum and voted for by YOU. This week we we talk about coordinate systems, fuel
Oct
…Mike Winterbauer's Wing Commander Art Portfolio
Kickstarterhas officially launched! Mr. Winterbauer was the artist that painted the famous variant of the WC1 art that was used for the Super Nintendo box cover and various promotional materials. I spent a ton of time playing the SNES edition of WC1 during the early '90s, so this is very exciting to me! The campaign seeks to publish a book that catalogues the process that led to the creation of these items. For various supporter levels, there are some super cool rewards including art cards, magnets, canvas prints and even a metal portrait. Check out the details
here.
This Kickstarter is all about celebrating Wing Commander and it's cool fans! In 1992, I said, "I can't believe I get to paint Wing Commander"I have put together this campaign to get Wing Commander fans a super cool collectible signed art book and awesome signed print rewards. This is
Oct
…Ensign Sylvia Tilly is the heart and soul of Star Trek: Discovery. Even in the darkest days of the Federation, or in the most twisted versions of the Star Trek Universe, she’s a bright spot of light that’s always ready to warm the room with a smile. We here at Star Trek Online feel like that’s the very essence of Star Trek – being a light in the darkness. That’s why we’re #Silly4Tilly, and that’s why we want to reward the Tilly in your life. For the next week, until October 9th with the launch of Age of Discovery, we want you to nominate a Tilly in your life. What makes them your shining light that brings out hope in the world? This could be a family member, a friend, a fleetmate, or anyone else who makes your life brighter by being a bouncing ball of joy. Post a short video nominating your friend and describing why they should win to social media with the hashtags #Silly4Tilly and #AgeofDiscovery,
Oct
Display MoreThe
Maslas Brothershas been hard at work all summer to fine tune the online code for Wing Commander
Flat Universe, and now they're ready to share it with you! The team will hold a dogfighting tournament this Saturday to have some fun and run the new version through its paces. They've also put together a really awesome trailer. If you're on the fence, check it out - it'll make you want to hop in the cockpit! Download the game (in either Windows, Mac and Linux variants!) and sign up at Daedalus Station
here.
Saturday, 6th of October, 16:00 UTCTo All Wing Commander Fans out there...
You have been recalled to active military service.Flat Universe: Tournament is Back!
Deserter or not you are going to be shot anyway. BE THERE!
Oct
General: Red Alerts have been changed to special weekend events. Cooldowns have been removed from these. Rewards have also been restructured. For more details, please visit the Red Alert Special Events blog: Red Alert Special Events! | Star Trek Online
Oct
…“Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar formed the Coalition of Planets. At this time, Earth still was not using stardates, though most other Coalition members were. By local reckoning, it was the middle of the 22nd century, and it would take humanity nearly another decade before they started to use the Stardate system.” Professor Stevens took a moment to let that sink in to the minds of her class. Not everyone in the hall was from Earth, and the concept of the Julian calendar, let alone the split between BC and AD, took a little getting used to for the extraterrestrial students. “Now, who can tell me what the stardate of midnight on September 14, 2572 will be?” The professor looked over her class. The same few hands rose right away as many others set upon their PADDs to assist with their math. She took her time, hoping to give a non-Vulcan a chance to answer. Stevens smiled as the hand of her
Oct
…The efforts of the Alliance have made a difference in the galaxy. The constant incursions by the Borg and others have been beaten back, thanks to a herculean effort of thousands of Starfleet, KDF, Romulan Republic and Jem’Hadar Captains working in concert. We can’t guarantee that these forces will never return, but all four quadrants are a little safer today. Excellent work, Captains. Starting this weekend, Red Alerts are moving from being always available to being special weekend events, with improved rewards! When these Red Alerts are live, you’ll be able to earn 35 Marks of your choice every time you play, with no cooldowns to prevent you from getting back into the action. These Task Force Operations will return to the galaxy regularly, as the groups of invaders do their best to take control of the four quadrants of the galaxy. This weekend, we’ll start with a social triple Red Alert
Oct
…
ALAN: Welcome to Empire Report. I’m Alan Nuevo.
BECK: And I’m Beck Russum. Today’s trip across the Empire takes us to New Austin where Victoria Hutchins has the latest details on preparations for CitizenCon 2948.
ALAN: But first, an update to the ongoing controversy in Fora. Marcus Carino, the leader of a local militia group known as the Defenders of the Free, spoke publicly for the first time since being accused of running an unofficial Customs checkpoint that led to the near-fatal shooting of four civilians. We go now to a vid of his comments from earlier today in Shoel.
[ Marcus Carino stands amidst a scrum of reporters before his Drake Buccaneer outside the Shoel Advocacy office. ]
MARCUS CARINO: The Common Law Initiative enacted in 2526 guarantees ‘fundamental personal freedoms’, which includes the right to defend yourself. That’s all we’re doing here, because the government sure
Oct
Mould Federal Mining Incorporated has confirmed that its appeal for commodities to supply an Oktoberfest celebration in the Bhagui system has been enthusiastically received by the galactic community.
Hundreds of pilots supported the campaign by delivering commodities to Leavitt Port, and by protecting traders in the Bhagui system.
A spokesperson for Mould Federal Mining Incorporated issued the following statement:
"Thanks to so many generous pilots, Bhagui Oktoberfest will now go ahead. Revellers will be able to put aside their differences, forget their troubles and celebrate life."
Pilots who contributed to the initiative can now collect their rewards from Leavitt Port in the Bhagui system.
Oct
…Media organisation Broadcast Cobra has announced its intention to build a megaship in the HIP 16038 system. The organisation, which specialises in politics and current events, aims to reach a much wider audience with the construction of this mobile studio.
Alessandra Koa of Broadcast Cobra issued the following statement:
"As a broadcaster, we like the idea of a ship that can carry our signal to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. A megaship will allow us to transmit to systems that other broadcasters can only dream of reaching."
To facilitate construction of the megaship, Broadcast Cobra has placed an open order for thorium, indium and superconductors, and has promised to reward pilots who deliver these commodities to Sopwith Dock in the HIP 16038 system. The organisation has also placed a kill order on all ships on its wanted list, to ensure that those contributing material can do so safely.
Oct
…Juanita Bishop, whose protest movement against the Far God cult gained broad support, has failed to be elected to Federal Congress.
Independent political analyst Vaughan Niven published this summary:
"Many of Juanita Bishop's followers have abandoned her in the wake of Gethin Okonkwo's investigation, which found no connection between the Far God sect and the Thargoids. As a result, Mrs Bishop's congressional campaign has collapsed."
"There has also been a sea change in attitude within Congress itself. The majority of members have now taken a stand against Mrs Bishop for cultivating civil unrest and violating the Federation's principles of religious freedom."
Juanita Bishop gave a forceful statement to the media:
"If Congress can't see that these people are dangerous, then they're fools. These Thargoid spies need to be rounded up and executed before they murder us all. History will prove me
Oct
…Origin veteran Billy Cain produced both Wing Commander Prophecy and the long lost SNES port of Wing Commander II. He's been a good friend to our team and to the Wing Commander community for many years. Now he's selling some of the extremely rare Origin material he gathered while working for the company including team shirts and part of a screen used Wing Commander Prophecy costume! Team shirts are one of the rarest and most sought-after types of Origin ephemera. Internal development teams typically produced their own team 'shirt' that was distributed in honor of their hard work. Artists would design their own shirts and they often feature extremely cool designs not seen anywhere else. Development teams in the 1990s were extremely small and so runs of shirts were limited. Other internal shirts were also produced to celebrate major events and general camaraderie. Very few continue to survive today! If
Oct
…J’Ula beheld the odd, vicious human blade in her hands for a moment before setting it upon the desk in her quarters. It was a prize, presented to her by the leader of her personal guard, taken from the hand of a dead Starfleet security officer. Kukri, the humans called the blade. It was truly a warrior’s weapon. The officer who once wielded it killed eight Klingons in close combat before finally succumbing to his wounds. But he was a fool, this human. He fought alone against overwhelming odds, trapped in the belly of his ship after all of his comrades had died or surrendered. He fought in a burning house, she mused. He suffered the fate of all fools. Her vessel streaked through space at high warp. Valuable information was gleaned from Starfleet prisoners, and from captured data files taken from the “burning house” so bravely defended by the human with the vicious blade. She’d learned of a
Oct
…Starfleet Executing Crash Mobilization Program for Walker-Class Starships Earth, June 15 2256 Jayce’s Interstellar Editorial Staff After the outbreak of what many pundits are already calling “Burnham’s War,” Starfleet Command has directed the superintendents of Yards 4, 32 and 39 to begin emergency evaluation and rehabilitation of mothballed Walker-class starships. The U.S.S. Walker (NCC-1202) entered service in 2221. Rapid innovation in both propulsion and duotronics led to the original design of the class becoming obsolete quickly, and given the difficulties involved in a full refit, Starfleet planners originally had decided to sunset the class in favor of new construction instead of investing in a modernization program. Before the war began, a small number of Walker-class starships were still in active service, but the majority of them had already been decommissioned. Now, with
Oct
…Hello Everyone!
We are so excited to finally share the focus of our development efforts over the past few weeks: a large update focused on improving and extending planetary exocraft!
A brand new exocraft is now available to drive across the galaxies: the rugged, fast-moving Pilgrim.
The Geobay for the Pilgrim is available for purchase from the Blueprint Analyser.The existing exocraft have also been tweaked. Multiplayer racing has been fixed, inventory sizes have been increased, and summoning has been made easier. Geobays now only need to be built once – after that, all owned exocraft can be summoned with unlimited range on any planet where you’ve constructed a new Exocraft Summoning Station.
New upgrades for the Pilgrim and all other exocraft can be purchased from the Exocraft Technician once their missions are complete. Exocraft handling can also be adjusted with a series of new technologies, allowing players to
Oct
…The Federal Security Service has discovered more administration robots fitted with secret surveillance programs.
Lieutenant Inspector Ramesh Thorne informed the media:
"Our investigation into Lloyd Hardacre's admin robot, which secretly recorded evidence of corporate fraud, has broadened significantly. Acting on reports of unusual behaviour, we have found five further robots containing hidden surveillance programs."
"In each case, the robot was a PA912 model, manufactured by the Achilles Corporation. The robots' owners are now helping us with our enquiries."
Two of the five owners have been identified. Don Zhao is the CEO of Kuiper Mining Inc., while Anya Blackriver runs a public-relations consultancy with offices in Olympus Village, San Francisco and Columbus station.
A spokesperson for the Achilles Corporation gave this statement:
"We are cooperating with the FSS investigation, and would
Oct
…Technology journalist Harlow Nassry has published a full account of the Rackham Ultratech Expo, which took place on Wednesday 3rd October.
"All eyes were on Herculean Machines and Supratech, whose competing designs for personal computers have created a real buzz. Following lavish presentations from rival CEOs Maddox Hurd and Scorpio DeVorrow, prototypes of the Duradrive and Torc were given to attendees."
"Unfortunately for Supratech, the Torc's holographic systems did not work as planned. Most users were surrounded by an incomprehensible aura of colours and images that, in some cases, brought on nausea. The Duradrive, by contrast, functioned perfectly."
"The highlight of the expo came when Zachary Rackham tested a Duradrive by jumping on it, before using it to contact his chief accountant and authorise preliminary funding for the device. He told the crowd, 'I could have done with one of these
Oct
…Fazia Silva, one of the three candidates in the Alliance presidential race, has been found dead. She is believed to have been murdered.
Inspector Erin Sangster of Alliance Interpol informed the media:
"Ms Silva's body was found in a room at Hume Orbital, where she was staying during her presidential campaign. Medical teams detected traces of poison, making this a suspected homicide."
There has already been speculation that this was a political killing, motivated by Silva's proposed changes to Alliance financial policy. The entrepreneur also had fierce rivals in the business world.
Her sister Tashmira Silva, who has been overseeing the Silva corporate empire, stated:
"Our family is devastated – we can't believe that Fazia has been taken from us. I will honour her by continuing to run the companies that she made so successful."
Condolences have been delivered by Prime Minister Edmund Mahon and
Oct
…The Internet Archive is an incredible tool providing access to countless terabytes of archived websites, scanned media, imaged disks, preserved video... and a whole bunch of printed biographies of Freddie Prinze Jr.! While exploring the Archive's collection I happened to find they had digitally preserved six biographies of Wing Commander star Freddie Prinze Jr.! Mr. Prinze was something of a teen heartthrob in the late 1990s and so was the subject of a stack of quick 'teen pop' biographies. These 'trashy' unauthorized books were put together quickly, mostly from published interviews and press photographs, and sold at newsstands and book fairs. They were aimed at teenage fans and usually padded out their very simple chapters with press photos and film credits. Naturally, we've pulled out the chapter on Wing Commander from each book and collated them here for your reading pleasure:
Freddie Prinze Jr.:
