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Summer Event: The Annual Lohlunat Festival returns with all your favorite activities! Earn Lohlunat Prize Vouchers (2018) and exchange them for the new Vorgon Dreadnought Cruiser. Hey, Batter Batter! This year Captains can acquire Baseball Uniforms inspired by the Deep Space Nine episode, “Take Me Out to the Holosuite”. What is Baseball without your traditional event snacks? From Hot Dogs to nachos, this year Captains will be able to acquire all sorts of stadium snacks. Show off your favorite DS9 teams with all new Baseball themed Powerboards and Floaters. Three new Kit Modules inspired by the terraforming efforts of the Risians. New Spotted and Holographic Caracals available in the Summer Event Store and the Lobi Store. Participate in Lohlunat Summer Festival activities and trade in Lohlunat Favors in for 5 brand new emotes! For more information, please visit our Summer Event blogs at:

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The Secret Ops

Model Upgrade Pack

has a new Nephilim transport. Thanks to some graphical magic by Dark Sentinel and DefianceIndustries, the Triton goes from being an ugly gray

tube

to an exotic alien worm. It looks like a lot of fun to blow up!

Here's the explodey version!

Update time true believers! Today we are showcasing another great Nephilim ship brought to you by Dark Sentinel. The Triton (aka Leatherback) transport. Essentially a giant cigar case with guns, DS has done a great job making it look more like the original concept art, good and buggy! He's also bringing spines back. That's right spines! This ship is loaded with them! If you don't like spines, go home! Also I got the fun part of blowing it up, and so can you! Look for this and other exciting Nephilim additions in the next patch - Coming soon!

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ODVS has more big news on the video enhancement front. He's no longer pursuing 4K remasters of WC4 footage, but he reports that 1080p versions are looking better than ever. With the latest iterations of the AI/neural net tools at his disposal, he's reached new heights of quality in the footage. There's less artifacting and crisper lines, but best of all, even traces of uncanny valley in the augmented eyeballs have been virtually eliminated. The technology continues to evolve and there will likely be even further advances in the future, but the clips below are stunning examples of what's possible today.

After much, much experimenting, I've decided to abandon 4K FMV for the remake. My reasons are twofold:

1. The quality improvement over 1080p was neglible at best (it's just asking too much to upscale by 600%)
2. The file weight for all the game's FMV at 4K would have been excessive

When you combine those two

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It's a stressful time out there right now for a lot of people. Some are worried that a loved one might catch the deadly coronavirus. Others are being impacted by the devastating economic slump that it has caused. Schools are closing, and you can't even take the kids to Disneyland. Although we in no way can claim to be as inspirational as Tom Hanks, we can offer you a few light hearted moments of Wing Commander joy to help take your mind off things. Here's the blooper reel and 'making of' clips off the Wing Commander 3 Behind the Screens discs. It looks like the filming of the game's FMV was an absolute blast. You can find more in the CIC Holovids. Have fun with the videos!

Bloopers from various scenes and brief interviews with Mark Hamill, Tom Wilson and Ginger Lynn Allen.

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Adm_Maverick

's tabletop miniatures game has taken an interesting turn. Initial development so far has focused on

paper ships and cards

, but Maverick is now looking at some simple 3D printing options. He's considering tweaking the game to use small plastic ships as well as some clever

pilot console

scorekeeping devices to even potentially minimize the need for cards. Something like that could be useful in conjunction with the official WC CCG. It'll be cool to see how that pans out! You can follow the development and help provide feedback at the

CIC Forums

.

I've got a project file all setup to print 2 Bearcats and 2 Dralthi IV in different orientations so I can figure out which way it will work best to print ships.

But I've got other things that will be printed up. For one thing, I'm working on some rough ideas for the 'pilot console' design. The Pilot Console will be a tray of some form that will

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Recent reports from the Geras system indicate that after a spate of reciprocal attacks, hostilities between Geras First and Ndozins State Inc have escalated into all-out war.

According to Donal Varden, an independent journalist:

"For several months we've seen these factions sniping at one another from the shadows, but now the stakes have been raised. It won't be long before the space lanes of Geras are littered with the burned-out shells of dead ships."

The warring organisations have issued calls to independent combat pilots for support. Commanders who participate in the conflict will be generously rewarded by their chosen faction.

Both factions have set out week-long operations to take control of the system, which will begin on the 1st of November 3304.

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“Today is meant to remind everyone that the future of the UEE is what we make it. If we want a better universe for not only ourselves, but for the generations to come, then we must create one.”
• Imperator Erin Toi, CitizenCon 2793

For over a century and a half, CitizenCon has celebrated those that strive to make the UEE a better place. This annual conference spotlights the civic-minded, celebrates their achievements, and focuses on how to make the UEE better by highlighting and discussing the vital topics of the day. In short, CitizenCon embodies the hopes and dreams of those working to improve the universe for all.

CitizenCon typically occurs every October 10th SET and is the marquee event celebrating the Empire-wide holiday, Citizen Day. While people across the UEE observe the holiday in various ways, only one city gets to host CitizenCon itself. The event rotates locations each year, and

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Responding to public interest in Princess Aisling Duval's fiancé, Federal Ambassador Jordan Rochester, political journalist Cassia Carvalho has compiled a profile for The Imperial Herald:

"Jordan Rochester is now a household name throughout the Empire, though few were aware of him prior to his engagement to Princess Duval. But in the Federation, the Rochesters have been associated with success for over two hundred years."

"The Rochester name can be traced back to self-made tycoon Apollo Rochester, who was the biggest landowner on Biggs Colony in the Altair system. Each generation since has strived for fame and wealth, and the expression 'as rich as a Rochester' has become common parlance."

"The family matriarch is Isolde Rochester. She is a member of Congress, an influential figure in the Liberal Party and a staunch supporter of Shadow President Felicia Winters. Isolde raised five children,

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LOAF was looking for a project the other night, and what better than an exploration of the history of the Dorkir transport?! There's probably more to it than you think! Read on for a full rundown:

It's your 1 AM meandering thread about the Kilrathi freighter with the absolute best name: the DORKIR! Dorkir appear throughout Wing Commander I configured as transports, tankers, command staff ships and troopships. Concept art:

A rare element cut (for space) from Wing Commander I is that there were originally separate 'sport and tanker versions of the Dorkir (which is why the briefings always clarify which is expected). The boxier 'freighter' version was reused for Secret Missions as the Lumbari.

The Drayman and the Diligent are the same story, reversed. Comparing the sprite sheets and you can see it's a common cab with a modular container that would change depending on role.

So things get a little weird when

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Event Campaign – Part II: This Featured Event will be the first of a series of upcoming Events that will make up the second installment of our multi-event system known as an Event Campaign. Event Campaign – Part II updates: Event Campaign II will span a total of FOUR separate Featured Events, spanning the majority of the upcoming year of PC releases. The Grand Prize for Event Campaign II will offer players a choice as to what they receive, between the two following options: Option 1: Z-Store Coupon for 100% Off a single Tier-6 Starship plus 200 Lobi Crystals Option 2: 1,000 Lobi Crystals This choice is only made once per Account, upon claiming the prize. Players may earn 50 Event Campaign Progress for each day they participate in an eligible event. Buying out an eligible event will include up to 700 Event Campaign Progress. For more information,

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Iceblade

has provided a neat update on his

Discord

-based Wing Commander RPG. He's come up with a novel way for damage to happen that's more elaborate than simple dice rolls and hit points. All of this fancy logic is now being rolled up into a 'CombatBot' that handles the battle math. It sounds pretty cool! You can follow the game's development and see how to get involved yourself at the

CIC Forums

.

Combat Code is coming along great and is definitely ready for Roleplaying combats. Here is a sample screenshot of combat status page and a round of combat.

There is a fair amount of tactics involved in the system. Damage to various components now affects a ship's ability to fight including reduced ship agility and missiles failing to fire. Shields get weaker the more times they get hit, and armor must be worn down to damage components. There are also 5 methods to neutralizing a target including cockpit

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Here's a couple of German gems provided by Deathsnake. First up is the review of Wing Commander 1 from the December 1990 issue of Power Play. It apparently gets a double "Super" and 88% rating. We previously posted the magazine's reviews of

WC2

and

Power Play

, and they all make great use of the games' screenshots. There's also a crazy GameStar video that uses Sinner's Inn briefly as a backdrop. I wish I knew what was going on there!

...with Heinrich Lenhardt (Founder Powerplay, Founder PC Player, Co Founder Gamestar) with Privateer 2 Background - the Bar ;D

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Billboard is a trade magazine for the entertainment industry which reports on the production and marketing side of films, television shows, music and others. In 1996, that included the burgeoning CD-ROM industry. We've found an interesting story in the February 3rd, 1996 issue about the marketing plans for Wing Commander IV... which include some things we'd never heard of, like print ads in American Airlines' in-flight magazine! It's a fascinating look at how Origin was preparing to sell a game that, frankly, didn't need to be marketed to us at all!

"Wing Commander IV' Set To Take Flight

Movie Game To Get Theatrical -Film Promotion

BY DOUGLAS REECE

LOS ANGELES -

ORIGIN Systems is hoping to shrink the gap between film and game with its upcoming release, "Wing Commander IV: The Price Of Freedom." The interactive movie game, which will be shipped worldwide the first week of February, will be promoted

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Vehicle Pipeline Director John Crewe and Art Director Paul Jones discuss the recently revealed Drake Vulture, the entry-level salvage ship for use in the persistent universe.

To watch Reverse the Verse LIVE each and every week, tune into Twitch.

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GOG.com has kicked off their summer sale and the Wing Commander series is on the list. The entire franchise is now 70-72% off, which ties the best deals we've seen in the past year. Each individual title is down to $1.79 and the whole package of all DOS & Windows games is just $13.42. Boxed games might be nice for the collection, but digital copies are really quick and easy to download and play. These also make great gifts!

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On July 11th, prepare your blood wine and your bat’leths. It will be a Day of Honor. In honor of our favorite warriors for Kahless, Star Trek Online, Eaglemoss, Modiphius, and the Streampunks are all teaming up to hold an all day streaming event, featuring some of your favorite Trek stars and a whole heaping helping of honorable battle. We’re excited to have you join us for the event, live on the Queue Times Twitch channel. And now it's time to announce the guests for Star Trek Online's panel! We've recently release House Divided, our latest major content update, and we want to talk about it and answer your questions. Joining host Mike Fatum will be members of the STO Team: Lead Designer Al Rivera, Lead Environment Artist Scot Boyd, and Lead Ship and UI Artist Thomas Marrone. But they won't be alone - we'll be joined by the most Klingon of guests, as Robert O'Reilly (Gowron in Deep Space Nine,

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General: Updated text in various areas of the episode, “Beneath the Skin”, to match the voice audio. Updated and added Voice Audio to several Delta Patrol Missions. Content: Resolved an issue that was sometimes causing the Elachi Captains to never lose their Immunity Shields in the Mycelial Realm Task Force Operation. Ships: Resolved an issue where the Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser was scaled up by 60%. UI: Adjusted the Event UI window to be expandable and scrollable. Resolved an issue that was causing the Zen Store to display incorrect information on ships you have already purchased. Systems: Resolved an issue that was preventing Klingon and Klingon aligned Captains from being able to open the, “Outfit Box - Survival Suit”. Resolved an issue that was preventing the Augmented Boarding Party from granting Dreadnought Admiralty Cards. Resolved an issue

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This normally wasn’t Lieutenant Whetu’s job, but today she was happy to do it. She stood ramrod-straight, hands clasped behind her back, waiting. She realized after a momentthat she had adopted the stance a little too early, as it was still a few minutes before she heard the soft “thunk” of the inspection pod docking with NX-96400’s hull. Finally, the airlock in front of her hissed as it pressurized. A telltale light flashed from red to green, and the hatch slid open. Beyond it was a tall Andorian zhen in a crisp Starfleet service uniform sporting captain’s pips. The yoke of the uniform was gray instead of captain’s white, as this ship was not hers to command… not yet, anyway. She turned to the shorter Deltan officer beside her. “Thank you, Ensign. This is my first time as a plankowner and my first time to command a brand new ship. The hull was as clean as fresh snow drifts on

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There's good news on George Oldziey's live Wing Commander

jazz album

. The production copies have finally come back, so George is ready to ship discs out to project backers. Very cool

album art

was created by SabreAce, which you can see below. If you pledged for a physical copy during the original campaign and didn't receive an email with shipping confirmation instructions, log into the Kickstarter's

updates page

for instructions on how to get your album. These have been a long time coming, so it's great to see they're finally here!

Greetings all! I'm so TERRIBLY sorry that this has taken so long, but I FINALLY received the CDs that feature the WC Bar Music and recordings of the MIDI mockups and I'm ready to ship them to you!