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Quote from No Man

Hello!

It has already been an incredibly busy year for No Man’s Sky, with the release of Sentinel, Leviathan, Outlaws, SteamDeck – and Switch, PSVR2, and MacOS coming very soon!

Today, we are releasing what is probably our biggest update of the year (our 20th major free update). Perhaps fittingly we’re calling it ENDURANCE, and the focus is on freighters, frigates and fleets.

We introduced the ability to own and captain freighters in our very first update, Foundation, and it’s something we’ve been excited to take the opportunity to completely reinvent. Captaining a fleet to explore the unknown has always been core to that fantasy of science fiction, from Battlestar to Starfleet, and it’s a huge fan favorite.

ENDURANCE brings a complete overhaul of freighters and fleets, allowing players to live and work aboard their home in the stars, together with their own crew. A new bridge brings a range of quality of life

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The campaign to deliver Guardian artefacts to Azimuth Biotech in the HIP 22460 system has reached its third phase.
Commodore Morag Halloran outlined the final stage of the initiative:
"We have received an impressive number of Guardian caskets, orbs, relics, tablets, totems and urns at the Bright Sentinel over the past two weeks. Thanks to this supply, construction of the Proteus Wave has progressed satisfactorily."
"However, Salvation has requested that further shipments of artefacts are sourced from Guardian sites. There can be no shortfall of these vital components, and the superweapon will make use of every one we can provide."
"We have projected a substantial increase in the number of Thargoid vessels within HIP 22460, as they react to the increased concentration of technology created by their ancient enemies. AX fighters and squadrons are asked to continue

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The King of Grabs has turned his attention to the Wing Commander series. The concept here is to take a whole pile of screenshots for all sorts of classic games. We love giant walls of WC screenshots, so this is right up our alley. They do run into a bit of a classic pitfall: there are dozens and dozens of pictures of WC1... which are all flying the Hornet in the Enyo System. Likewise, the WC2 images are all flying the Ferret in Gwenydd. It's a missed opportunity to see a greater variety of ships and some of the cooler late-game set pieces, but it's still a pleasing sight. Stay tuned for Hellcat dogfighting in Orsini!

Wing Commander was developed by Chris Roberts and his team at Origin Systems and first released for PC MS-DOS in 1990. It’s a classic cockpit-based space combat game with cinematic cut scenes, and it developed into a long-running series. The Wing Commander series.

Wing Commander is

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Another little discovery tonight is there were two versions of this ad. The update corrects a nasty typo ("fill" instead of "kill") and rewords some awkward copy.

They also reworked it for the CD-ROM release about six months later.

These ran from November 93 to February 94, then June 94 for the CD-ROM. Privateer also had an earlier teaser ad that ran January 93. Note the bullshots, dropped logo and wrong future date!

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 Wing Commander News-Bot

Privateer has different comm responses depending on your reputation with a particular faction (friendly, neutral or hostile). The one exception is the Retros for whom there's no way to increase your reputation; it's always negative. Except...

... if you destroy 6528 Retro ships, an incredibly unlikely number, you'll max out the value and flip around to friendly status. But there are no recorded comms... just warnings and weed jokes that the game's designers thought would never be seen! Folks asking why this happens: each Retro ship you destroy subtracts 5 from the reputation, which starts at -128. Killing 6528 of them subtracts 32640 which hits the 16-bit negative maximum. One more and an integer overflow jumps you to +32763 (decidedly friendly)!

Which is to say, maybe those Retros aren't so bad after all.

This may also explain their amazing temple in Righteous Fire.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Symphonic Remakes is back with a double dose of reorchestrated Wing Commander music - FOUR new tracks to help make your weekend more fun. Victory, Mission Objectives, Mission Failed and Kilrah are up on this week's slate. They're each lovely tracks in their own way!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Wing Commander Prophecy lead designer Billy Joe Cain has an exciting new auction up and running. He's been steadily releasing items from his personal stash to support REEF, the anti-human tracking charity that he founded. A handful of fellow Origin teammates sold their posters back in the early 2000s, but Billy has held on to his for almost twenty-five years. But now's the time for it to go - with proceeds going towards a noble cause! You can find the auction here. It's currently listed at about $210.

Wing Commander Prophecy movie-style poster brought out of the Time Capsule for its 25th anniversary!!

Are YOU ready for the Ultimate Sci Fi Combat Simulation COLLECTIBLE?!?!

Help end #humantrafficking with your purchase!

#BreakAndAttack

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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Prominent figures on the political stage have commented on Salvation's anti-xeno operation in the HIP 22460 system. Key points from each are collated below.
Archon Delaine: "My opinion on the Thargoids remains the same: burn them all! As I stated at the Galactic Summit, the Kumo nation stands ready to help wipe out these alien scum."
Yuri Grom: "I trust Salvation as little as I trust the Federation. What guarantee do we have that this Proteus Wave will not be turned against human targets, once the Thargoids are dealt with?"
Senator Zemina Torval: "Azimuth Biotech has emerged as a strategically significant corporation. I've advised the Imperial Senate to establish long-term commercial links that are mutually beneficial."
Hadrian Augustus Duval: "The Thargoids are a genuine threat. Yet I hope that our military collaboration with the Alliance and the Federation is a temporary measure only. The

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

I'm very excited to announce the date for the CIC's 24th Birthday Party! We're one month out: this year's gathering will be on Saturday, August 13. You can mark your calendars now for 7:00 pm EDT (4:00 pm PDT and 11:00 pm GMT) on that night. We've got some fun ideas that we are pulling together now, and we've also been talking with some of you who are also building some awesome fan items that will be ready by then. The action takes place in Discord #Wingnut. Feel free to stop by any time beforehand to get acquainted with how everything works - and see you there!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
As the Thargoid presence increases in the HIP 22460 system, Azimuth Biotech and the superpowers call for reinforcements.
An urgent bulletin was transmitted from Commodore Morag Halloran aboard the Bright Sentinel:
"A series of actions by 'Operation Wych Hunt' saboteurs have resulted in delays to Azimuth Biotech's supply infrastructure. As a result of these traitorous acts, we have been forced to amend the construction timetable for the Proteus Wave."
"Salvation informs me that it will be approximately two more weeks until the weapon is fully assembled. This delay increases the Proteus Wave's exposure to Thargoid intervention, potentially undermining the project. But we remain convinced that the majority of pilots are committed to ensuring a human victory."
"After discussions with Admiral Atherton, Admiral Price and Admiral Ziegler, the coalition has agreed to provide

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The Federation has offered bounties to hunt down all surviving Red Family ships in the Andowatye system.
Executive Agent Faisal Sacranie of the Federal Intelligence Agency released this statement:
"Information provided by the Proactive Detection Bureau revealed that the notorious Oberon Church has gathered his remaining followers in Andowatye. Our mission to take down the narcotics syndicate is not complete until its kingpin has been arrested and charged for his long list of crimes."
"The FIA has authorised hiring independent pilots to act as auxiliaries for this operation. We are working closely with the United Andowatye Democrats, which has placed bounties on all wanted ships in this system."
"It is crucial that our agents locate Oberon Church before he departs from the system. If we cannot eliminate his defenders in time, he may once again escape justice and

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Vox Galactica has published an on-site account from the HIP 22460 system, where a coalition fleet is engaged in combat with the Thargoids.
"This is Jade Sanderlyn reporting for Vox Galactica. I've been in HIP 22460 over the past two weeks, and during this time the system has been transformed into a ferocious battleground."
"Naval and independent craft are fighting side by side against the biomechanical nightmares that are Thargoid vessels. Many brave pilots have lost their lives to the aliens' firepower, several of whom I spoke to only hours before. The official casualty numbers are climbing rapidly. But so far the coalition is holding the line."
"The Bright Sentinel is at the eye of the storm, aboard which high concentrations of Guardian devices are being prepared for integration with the Proteus Wave device on HIP 22460 10b. We know little about this superweapon's properties, considering its

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Milquetoast Gaming has been steadily progressing through the WC series in a livestreaming adventure dubbed 'Wing Commander-thon'. There's lots of people out there broadcasting playthroughs of WC1, WC3 or even Privateer, but Milquetoast has been hitting them all. This includes games like Academy and Armada. These titles are often overlooked - people today may consider them too simplistic to take up - but they were both quite revolutionary in their own way at the time they were released. They're chronically underappreciated, so we love to see people having fun with them! It's wonderful to see people poke through all the unusual menus and options that each game provides. Academy and Armada are super unique in the franchise, and they hold a special place in our hearts!

The next stop on our trek down Wing Commandathon we jump into one of the game that lets you manage your own ship, mining planets and

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's the nav map from the original Wing Commander. That "Sector: Vega XR-231.3" is my favorite kind of texture... you know what the Vega Sector is and you assume the designation makes sense to the character; the world is implied to have history and rules beyond what you see.

Unfortunately, the mission disks let us down by not changing it (they're set in the Deneb and Antares sectors, respectively). The name is stored in WC.EXE so it couldn't easily be changed for Thor's Hammer... while Secret Missions 2 is probably a case of just forgetting about it.

HOWEVER! We have to again praise the Mindscape team that did the SNES ports... they thought to swap it to XR-41.8 for The Secret Missions. Which is not only right, it continues the implication that there's some sector classification system we don't understand.

The folks adapting Super Wing Commander, on the other hand, solved the problem the opposite way:

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Azimuth Biotech has repeated its call for Guardian artefacts to be delivered to the HIP 22460 system.
Military coordinator Commodore Morag Halloran announced the details:
"Over the last week, many Commanders have scoured Guardian sites to collect artefacts and transport them to HIP 22460. We are grateful for their efforts, and payment is now available at the Bright Sentinel."
"The Proteus Wave, currently being constructed aboard the megaship, requires increasing quantities of Guardian-based technology. Azimuth Biotech has confirmed the artefact acquisition initiative will continue for a second week and would like more pilots to take part."
"Passage through the HIP 22460 system has become hazardous, with Thargoid vessels present in large numbers. The Allied, Federal and Imperial taskforces are striving to protect traders, as are independent AX fighters and squadrons.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Oberon Church, founder of the crime syndicate Red Family, has managed to avoid capture by the Federal Intelligence Agency.
The Federal Times's crime correspondent Ethan Takahashi reported on the latest developments:
"In many ways, the FIA's operation against Red Family can be considered a success. Coordinated raids and arrests have seized most of the organisation's assets, including colossal amounts of illegal narcotics and weapons."
"But Oberon Church has lived up to his self-styled image as 'the man of smoke', forever drifting through the fingers of those who try to grasp him. And until this notorious drug lord is finally apprehended, the agency cannot relent in its work."
"Proactive Detection Bureau analysts are working to decrypt communications found on captured data drives. They believe these include coordinates where the surviving syndicate members are gathering to protect their leader."

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

This is a followup to last month's killboards post.

I wondered if there was any difference in the starter kill board in Wing Commander III. Here's the PC version, with no entry for Blair since I hadn't entered my callsign yet:

Sure enough, the values change from port to port! Here's the PSX version and the Macintosh version (which really surprised me!):

But the best discovery here was the 3DO port which starts with drastically higher numbers... and a different 'saying' for the total?!

Ones I've seen:
- Fragged Kitties
- Macavity's Fate
- Total Kills
- Our Favorite Cats
- Kitties Flambe
- Roasted Kitties
- Cat Chow
- Road Kill
- Neutered Kitties
- Kitty Pate
- Kitty Litter
- Life Impaired Cats
- Toasted Kitties
- Feline Fatalities
- Toast
- Spammed Kitties

The Wing Commander III novel even adds a little kill count related backstory for Flint, who has supposedly scored 18 kills in her lifetime and is trying to reach 22 to

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a short clip of a deleted line (and alt takes and temp cues) from the Wing Commander movie. Hugh Quarshie's Mr. Obutu utters an apparent African expression that I'd love to learn more of its origins and meaning. I feel it gives the scene an interesting flavor.

One thing that was always great in the WC games (and to an extent the movie too) was the international representation on the crew, and cutting the line feels like a missed opportunity.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

One cool collectible deserves another - or many more! If you liked yesterday's copy of Privateer, we hope you love Dennis Mull's assortment of autographed Wing Commander games. Both Chris and Erin Roberts signatures are present depending on the game. You definitely don't see too many autographed WC speech packs out there!