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Here's an early look at how Rosie's crash scene in the Wing Commander Movie was originally envisioned. It features a slightly different take on how wreckage would be removed from the deck. In the theatrical cut of the movie, a pilot's crashed fighter is pushed off the runway by some sort of tractor vehicle, presumably driven by a maintenance crew. This causes some to ask whether it wouldn't have been just as easy to push the wreckage into the hangar where the pilot might possibly have been recovered.

In this early version, the shunting is done automatically and is controlled from the flight control room (where the flight boss is located). This would also have made the shot of Maniac pleading up to the flight control window make more sense.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The recent battle in the Reorte system has caused Sirius Corporation to question the terms of its partnership with the Alliance.
The Alliance Tribune's political correspondent Vanya Driscoll reported:
"When Sirius Corporation megaships arrived in four Allied systems, it's fair to assume they anticipated a degree of public resistance. But being directly attacked by the Reorte Mining Coalition clearly wasn't part of their risk assessment."
"Li Yong-Rui has urgently sought assurances from the Alliance that such conflicts will not happen again. The megacorp's CEO claimed that he has a duty to protect his employees from aggression by their own clients."
"In response, Prime Minister Edmund Mahon personally guaranteed that this unfortunate incident was a one-off, stressing that Sirius personnel have been welcomed in the Alioth, Arimpox and Di Jian systems. He added that the Alliance Defence Force is

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

People who were recovered from the Thargoids have been flagged as potential biohazards by an Imperial medical institute.
Dr Zoe Terentia , chief researcher at Kamadhenu Medipure , published her findings in the Citizens Chronicle.
"Our analysis of abducted Imperial citizens currently in isolation has yielded disturbing results. There is clear evidence of an auto-immune response in multiple subjects. These manifest as minor physiological changes at a superficial level, which are mostly being dismissed."
"In my professional opinion, this qualifies as evidence that these individuals have been altered in some way by the Thargoid-constructed bio-storage capsules. I recommend they all be relocated to a high-security location beyond inhabited space. Should further mutations manifest, euthanasia should be considered to prevent any chance of contamination."
Director Ivano Colombera of the Imperial

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

And that's what we have for tonight! While we're still digesting all of the wonderful things everyone put together for today, there's also so much to look forward to on the horizon. Since this is technically a birthday type of event, I've also got a birth of my own to share. We welcomed Georgianna Belle Reid to the family recently. Everyone is healthy and we are having a blast!

We know this has been a devastating year for many people. Even for those who haven't lost a loved one, not a single person has been spared from the strife and stressful impacts that 2020 has brought. But despite the coronavirus and everything from wildfires to floods and civil unrest, there is new life and hope for the future. The CIC's tiny role in all of this is to be a small island of stability in a tumultuous landscape. Throughout all our efforts, we've made great friends and encourage each other to keep moving

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Concept to screen!

And a little lore for after:

AdmiralNick actually inspired me to count them a few weeks ago! I found 5 of them docked at Pegasus and 16 in the fleet at the end of the movie.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Mac is back with a fabulous new wallpaper. It depicts Klavs' exquisite Concordia model with the sun at its back. This casts a dark and moody light on the superstructure of the ship while various running lights, engine components and weapon emplacements light up the landscape. There's also a full complement of Sabre and Rapier escorts in tow to round out this very imposing scene!

It is time.#wingcommander

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People have been loving the recent glimpse of Mac's massive Concordia fleet, but the scene we've gotten has featured the ship and its many escorts majestically cruising through space. Now it's time for a peek at the action! He's posted this teaser that shows the dreadnought's powerful phase transit cannon warm up, take aim and blast a Fralthra to bits. The encounter is inspired by this famous scene!

This is what all y'all wanted from the Concordia video wasnt it.

So here's the first pass of the Phase Transit Cannon in action.#wingcommander pic.twitter.com/jJb2bDtorK

— Mac's Lore (@MacsLore) October 19, 2023

Way back in 2010 I wondered if perhaps by 2020 it would be appropriate to post the full 250 kilobyte animated gif directly on the front page. Dear readers, I believe that day has come. Brace yourselves:

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Mac's highly anticipated lore video on the TCS Concordia has been released! The clip has been teased in a variety of forms over the past month, and now you can enjoy the entire episode. It details the extensive history of the vessel from its commissioning in the wake of The Secret Missions 2 through the exploits of WC2 and the Special Operations and finally with her heroic efforts from the WC novels. The thorough narration is complemented by more than twenty minutes of gorgeous fleet footage. It's very informative and visually striking. Don't miss it!

The Rockstar of Confed's Carrier Fleet.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Neo-Marlinist Order of Mudhrid has been granted sanctuary in the Marlinist Colonies in return for revealing the identities of the NMLA's leaders.
The faction's survivors arrived in the Hyades Sector RO-P b6-2 system after being defeated by Imperial forces. The Marlinism Reformation Party agreed to offer political asylum, despite all three superpowers demanding the refugees' arrest.
Imperial Senator Lorcan Scordato, who was visiting the Colonies on a fact-finding mission, announced:
"After meeting the Neo-Marlinists and the Marlinist Parliament, I have secured an agreement. The Landgrave of Mudhrid and his inner circle will cooperate fully with ACT to provide details on the senior leadership of the NMLA. In return, they will receive life imprisonment at a local detention facility."
"The Steel Majesty's population will undergo security vetting by the Marlinist Constabulary to identify

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Today we've got some very cool large horizontal "wrap-around" cockpits that AllTinker has built for the Confederation project. These aren't merely a copy/paste of the various existing art pieces - Tinker has drawn in a bit of connective material to seamlessly bridge the transition from front to side to back. It's so good that you probably can't tell where it starts! The exact usage is still up in the air, although there are numerous ways these could be applied to accommodate widescreen setups or even a hypothetical 3D environment. There's a lot of work yet to do before anything like that will be implemented, but you can enjoy the 360 degree art right now!

Someone with the skills could obviously render up new 2D widescreen views with the proper perspective. I can experiment with some fake perspective on the far edges just to break up the flatness of it a bit, but I'm not sure how good it'll look.

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We've got an exciting triple pack from Klavs to share today. First up is the new Hornet that Klavs has been perfecting recently. It looks nicely battle worn without being dirty, which is a slick effect. There are also two wallpaper-style images. The first has both old and new flavors of Bearcat. It's also a good looking fighter. Finally, you've got a couple of Rapiers providing ground support for a handful of landing craft. Perhaps a Vukar Tag inspiration?

Probably a little TOO subtle with all the effects, streaks, rivets and fasteners, but here she is!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The new Confed Outpost destined for the Prophecy and Secret Ops Model Upgrade Pack has been rolled out. It's got some real nice communications gear and lighting features, but even more exciting might be its fancy new damage model.

DefianceIndustries

is now incorporating

gr1mre4per

's

Prophecy Unlimited

tech to allow for dynamically swapping out a a trashed hull skeleton after a ship sustains a fatal amount of damage. Continued deployment will start with a handful of Secret Ops-specific ships as they continue to find clever new ways to make the programming work.

All your base... well you know the rest. Asset #2 for the next patch is done. The SO Outpost (which replaces the WCP starbase). The Outpost is an odd duck, in a world where artificial gravity and faster than light travel is a thing, the outpost relies on good old fashioned spin gravity - many have speculated as to it's purpose: a legacy of a

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a new technical update on the Confederation project by AllTinker. He was aiming to deliver a release in time for Wing Commander's birthday on September 26, but that's looking pretty sporty now. Wing Commander fans are nothing if not patient, so we're just happy to get the status update on all the latest progress!

Just thought I'd post a quick progress update, mostly probably-dull semi-technical stuff - sadly some contract work is kicking my butt at the moment, so the 26th is looking kind of dubious... But things are still progressing steadily!

I'm currently knee-deep in the revised audio system, which (amongst other things) I'm hoping will be able to render the OPL2 (Adlib) sound effects and music purely from the original data. Things seem positive, but I'm not finished with it yet. My previous effort involved using some external data to send to the OPL chip emulation code, but it was a little

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Mac has posted a new teaser for his next Wing Commander project. This one picks up on the Concordia theme from last week and now has the famous dreadnought anchoring an absolutely massive battle fleet. It's flanked by some of Klavs' most popular models, including Bengal class carriers and Waterloo cruisers. There are also scores of smaller destroyers, corvettes and fighters filling the space throughout. What an epic scene!

IT DIDNT CRASH THE COMPUTER ON RENDER!
WOOOOO#wingcommander pic.twitter.com/gG7aYVGwq6

— Mac's Lore (@MacsLore) October 5, 2023

  

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We've got a couple of exciting updates on the Confederation engine makeover for Wing Commander 1. AllTinker shared his latest Raptor side art. He's also created a very cool 3D bubble of the Hornet cockpit to explore potential new features that can take advantage of this. Click into the thumbnail for a larger animated GIF video of the head movement in action!

I'm still working on the extended side views for the hangar sequence, but I've at least made a start on all five WC1 ships. The closest to being finished is the Raptor:

After pondering my wrap-around cockpits I've decided the best way to properly support ultrawide without the awkward (lack of) perspective is to bite the bullet and go 3D. This will just be another option. The wraparound 2D cockpits don't look so bad at 16:9, but really start to break down quickly beyond that. 3D cockpits also allow things like padlock view (something I've always

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AllTinker has a new bit of Wing Commander joy to share today. He's remastered the iconic Wing Commander opening track. It's a beautiful tune to listen to on its own, but this also supports his Confederation enhancement of WC1. Give it a listen below!

Hi folks, I've been battling against real life a little but work continues on the code & art. I have something slightly different to preview today - another side-project to the side-project; can't help myself - I've mentioned before that I'm interested in having General MIDI versions of the earlier game soundtracks, which would allow rendering with soundfonts or GM modules like the Sound Canvas (ala Privateer, WC3 etc.). In working towards that, rather than going directly from MT-32 to GM, I've been pulling apart the music and reorchestrating it in a more traditional sense first. Here's the first track I feel is ready enough to demonstrate:

I've made a

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

AllTinker has a variety of updates to the Confederation project that we shared last month. First up, there are more shockingly good graphical test assets to share. His extended take on the flight deck looks incredibly natural - it's surprising to check out the animated version that compares his take to the original. There's also a great interpretation of what a young Ralgha looked like. He was a pretty buff guy in his youth! This version was partially inspired by EmuMusicFan's sketches. There's also a handful of technical enhancements that have been made that you can read about in more detail at the CIC Forums. This includes some in-depth discussion about how visuals like the landing sequence below were made!

A quick update on the project: I've recently started work on splitting out the code for reading the original data formats into a separate C++ base library which will be open sourced as soon

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Today we've got some stunning visual updates for the Confederation project to enhance WC1. AllTinker rebuilt each of these familiar settings with extra wide backdrops to the sides. They look very natural and fit in great. Be sure to click in for an animated cutscene sample!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

AllTinker has been hard at work making progress on his Confederation project to enhance the WC1 engine. He's put together this new status update with a handful of tantalizing new screenshots to share for the birthday. Enjoy!

Hi all, I was hoping to have a playable test ready for the CIC birthday, but a few too many things have gotten in the way sadly... I've made a lot of progress on my format-reading library; I have a fairly short list of things I want to wrap up before I put it (and the viewer) up on github - it may be after the first Confederation test release, I'm not sure.

Art-wise one silly thing I realised was that my old widescreen redraws hadn't taken into account the non-square pixels in WC1/2 (being 320x200), so I've also been redrawing those to be even wider, to match my original 21:9 widescreen goal - at the proper original aspect ratio this time. Here's a selection of those

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Jupiter Division ships have engaged in battle with rival Federal vessels in the HIP 54530 system.
Loyalists to former Core Dynamics CEO Jupiter Rochester have built their own breakaway faction in HIP 54530. The FIA suspects that Jupiter Division agents first infiltrated the HIP 54530 Gold Universal Group years ago, and permit locked the system to conceal their efforts to overtake it from within.
The self-appointed Supreme Executive Rochester declared:
"The Federation is choking to death on its outdated bureaucracy – only corporate rule can save it! But first the galactic community must protect my followers, so I can establish a permanent base of operations."
Director Theodore Sullivan of the Silver Legal Group announced:
"We will not tolerate these criminals illegally controlling this system. Once victory is won, the Federation will be able to bring Rochester to