You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In NowSign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountMar
Li Huang of Improbable Cadence has a musical treat for us today. He's put together a digital fan reorchestration of the original Wing Commander theme by Dave Govett/Team Fat. It uses the Roland MT-32 MIDI as a source of inspiration. The track's a faithful reproduction that really amps up the tone throughout! Listen below or grab the high quality mp3 here (5 megs).
I recently finished a rendition of the WC1 theme.
Jul
LOAF has been greatly expanding the WCPedia lately, and one of his newest pages is an exhaustive collection of William Forstchen's work. The author is well known for his six Wing Commander credits, but he's done a lot more than that over more than four decades writing professionally. A particularly cool addition to the archive are numerous scans of his submissions to Boys' Life, the magazine of Boy Scouts of America. Many have a sci-fi bent that will be familiar, even though Mr. Forstchen is more recently better known for his historical and hypothetical war dramas. Learn more and find his Boys' Life stories here!
Apr
…If you missed Matthew Lillard's Wing Commander Movie script reading on Friday, the segment has been archived on Twitch. It's not overly hammy, which is impressive, and it's genuinely nice to hear what fond memories Mr. Lillard had of the film's production. Most of the Beadles and Grimm's team tried to get into the atmosphere with WC backgrounds and do their best with material that they're not as intimately familiar with as you or I might be. It was also fun to hear Lillard's recollections on the differences between early script and finished movie.
And that's not all! They really got into the spirit of things with a full scale Wing Commander-themed April Fools joke on Thursday. It's the perfect kind of prank where you wonder for a split second if it's real, but without any kind of crushing letdown that mocks the reader or anyone else. The idea is that they were putting together a "Platinum Maniac
Jun
Howard Day has an exciting new room to share aboard his custom Wing Leader carrier. The ship will be a light carrier on duty in the WC1 era, and the atmosphere is perfectly recreated in this new environment. It takes some talent to make something brand new that fits right at home with the scenes that we know and love, and Howard's nailed it here once again. See the familiar berths/save slots tucked away in the back left. There's still a lot of manipulation going on in the foreground, but here's the latest progress as well as several WIP/behind-the-scenes shots of the area in progress.
Freaking insomnia continues to break my brain. You get Wing Leader artwork out of it, though, so... Yay!
Nov
…It's now been a month since the launch of ZOmegaZ's Kickstarter campaign to make a set of Wing Commander challenge coins. The project is now up to about $16,000 compared to a $5,000 goal, so it appears to have easily met the viability threshold. As stretch goals have been achieved, additional designs for Cobra Kai and Battlestar Galactica have been added. The most popular items appear to be based around Star Trek and Firefly, but Wing Commander fans pledged for a few dozen Vega Sector coins on just the first day. If you'd like to get in before the campaign ends, each WC coin is $11 plus shipping. You have until December 4. Find more details here.
This is a very straightforward project. The artwork for all seven coins is done, quotes have been obtained for manufacture. All we need is enough backers to cover the costs of production and shipping, and we can place the orders. Once I receive the
Dec
…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
Mar
We only just recently got a good look at Klavs' new Rapier, and now we've got a new variant. It originally launched with cool post-war orange checker highlights, and now we get to see it in popular Vega Sector greens and grays circa WC1. These appear a little bit more weathered, which makes sense - not as much time to polish those hulls at the height of the war! You can play around with the model further at Sketchfab.
F-44A In Black Lion colors coming along!
Jun
…*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The HIP 22460 system will be the stage for a decisive strike against the Thargoids by Azimuth Biotech and the superpowers.
The following message was broadcast across all public channels:
"This is Salvation. Construction of the Proteus Wave has officially commenced. This version of my anti-xeno superweapon has been designed to bring absolute victory against our adversaries."
"HIP 22460 will serve as the final battlefield in the Thargoid war. As with previous superweapons, we anticipate that the Guardian-based technology incorporated within the Proteus Wave will once again attract the Thargoids. However, this time it will eradicate the alien threat not just from the system, but from the entire galaxy."
"Everyone who wishes to see this hostile species defeated once and for all should view this project as a call to arms. This is not a time for politics or debate. It is
Sep
It was only just last month that I saw my first Wing Commander themed short form video in the wild, and today I've spotted another. There's really nothing newsworthy about this, except yesterday happened to be Wing Commander Armada's 28th birthday! So enjoy a vertical slice of an Arrow dogfighting a Dralthi to celebrate. It's a little bit unsatisfying as is, but they also posted a full frame version of the first gauntlet mission where this was sampled from. If this leaves you wanting more, stop by the CIC Discord right now where LOAF is doing a close read of Voices of War!
Dec
…Shadow President Felicia Winters has called for the Federal Navy to help defend independent systems being invaded by the Thargoids.
She outlined her viewpoint during an interview with the Federal Free Press:
"The Thargoid fleets emerging from the Maelstroms have inflicted anguish and loss on millions. Our military forces have responded magnificently, and continue to fight hard against appalling odds. But while they are saving lives in Federal-aligned systems, independent systems are left to suffer."
"Surely this cannot be right? These are our neighbours, our trading partners, our historic cousins. Their populations cry out for help, and the mighty Federal Navy chooses to ignore them, claiming orders to prioritise saving our own. Is that who we are now? No better than the Empire?"
"I have argued in Congress that we have a duty of responsibility to protect any independent systems lacking the
Jan
Good Old Games' winter sale may have come to an end, but their winter classics sale is just beginning! Wing Commander is as classic as good old games can be, and they've been marked down 75% accordingly. That means the whole main DOS/Windows series clocks in at less than $12! Round out your collection with the links below!
Feb
Here’s a fun new (to me) type of video! I’m familiar with people making vids about the hauls and treasures that they discover at stores, including retro game retailers. Another emerging scene is where the store owners themselves are growing their YouTube/Twitch/social media presence with videos that showcase impressive or exotic customer trade-ins. Obviously this is a type of commercial advertisement since these go right on to being sold, but it’s pretty cool to see the variety of items that they run across. This particular clip has everything from 8 bit NES games to relatively new Xbox One titles, plus hardware. And the person here absolutely gushes about Wing Commander 3 and 4 for the PlayStation. You can catch that bit just about a minute and twenty seconds in.
Feb
RedBahamut loves George Oldziey's classic Wing Commander 3 music, but he wishes there was more of it! Since there aren't all that many fan remixes to add to the variety, he's created his own remastered album. Back in 2021 he released a test track, and now he's ready to share the entire composition. I'm listening to it right now. It sticks closely to the tone of the original while adding some refreshing flourishes here and there. Give it a listen below!
I started playing Wing Commander 3 a few years ago and the first thing that really got me was the absolute fantastic soundtrack. After checking a bit on Youtube, I am quite surprised of not finding much music related to WC3 or even remakes from remixers, so here is my take and my contribution to the Wing Commander community, hope you enjoy, Cheers!
Mar
…Recent activities by the Kumo Crew syndicate in the California Nebula have been formally condemned by the Alliance.
Councillor Jed Trager supervised an investigation into the Kumo Council's attempt to take control of several systems, ostensibly to defend them against a wave of Thargoid attacks. He summarised its findings during a session of the Assembly:
"Intelligence provided by Alliance Interpol agents proves that the underlying objective of the Kumo Crew's anti-xeno militia was to dominate the California Nebula. The syndicate had gathered ships and infiltrated civil institutions weeks earlier, using bribery and coercion to pave the way for their takeover."
"Further Thargoid attacks in the region were seen as inevitable, based on past behaviour and the prevalence of barnacle sites. When they occurred the Kumo Crew mobilised their pre-prepared forces, overthrowing local authorities under the
Mar
Folks, I've uncovered some shocking cut content hidden in Privateer's files. The game has... TWO UNUSED NOSES.
For comparison, here's a few actual faces from Privateer:
Oct
…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.
Nov
…People who have been rescued from Thargoid Titans remain in quarantine, but can soon expect family visits and access to comms networks.
Aegis reported that bio-storage capsules are still being successfully extracted from the Thargoid motherships, albeit at high risk to pilots. Each revived individual has been placed in medical isolation, as per guidance from Aegis specialists.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Corcoran, who coordinates the Alliance's involvement with Aegis, discussed the situation in a session of the Assembly:
"All abductees are being monitored for signs of Thargoid physical or mental influence. So far, I'm pleased to say, these test results remain negative. Therefore, those from Allied systems are now permitted to receive visitors, while remaining under strict quarantine conditions. They are also being granted direct access to comms and public media. I understand that Federal,
Feb
Knight26-77 has switched over to Nephilim models, and his first two are beauties! He's managed to source a "burnt titanium" material that prints with an apparent irridescent quality in order to give them their natural bug sheen. In keeping with the aquatic Manta and Moray theme, Knight's posed the designs in and around the pool to give them a fluidic space vibe. These are definitely some of the best physical Nephilim models that I've seen!
Casey we got bugs!!! Printed this in Burnt Titanium. I like the look it gives. She just looked so good in the sun and wet.Can't forget the build video:
Another Defiance Industries Wing Commander Prophecy Upgrade model.
Apr
…Over the next month, we'll have a handful of fun music-related anecdotes from George Oldziey as he recounts what life was like composing the music for Wing Commander. While many developers have fond memories from their time in the business, it's also very common for the stress to grate on people's nerves and for exhaustion to take its toll. Here's the story of how George created the soundtrack for Blair's arrival at Axius. He got into a philosophical disagreement with Chris Roberts about how this particular tune should resolve - but there was a happy outcome in the end! This track is one of the orchestrations planned for Mr. Oldziey's project to create a new live album of WC music. You can back the campaign and secure your copy here!
I thought I would share a bit of WC history from behind the scenes. Those of you who played WC4 probably remember this scene deep into the game when it was revealed
May
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.
