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I found something recently that I’ve been looking for many, many years: the CD of production music that was the source of the diegetic clip in the Wing Commander movie where Paladin is listening to opera! I haven’t found anyone else who collects production music, but my CD is part of a lot of like twenty others from the same series and I’m happy to pass those on to interested parties should they exist. You can read up on the extensive discography of Wing Commander here!
Sep
CMDBob is back with a pair of eye-popping Wing Commander art pieces. The look is slightly inspired by the animation style of the Star Trek Animated Series, and we can most definitely see the connection! First up is the BWS Intrepid, complete with battle damage. You can see a little Banshee fighter launching from the deck, which is depicted zooming out of the bay in the second picture. You can also find his recent Confed destroyer image here. I love this series!
Sep
Today we've got another shortie from Retro Shorts. The Playstation version of Wing Commander 4 is noticeably less crisp in spaceflight than the PC edition, but there are some nice input (joystick) improvements and enhancements to the cutscenes. Also regarding the date, the original Playstation was released in North America in late 1995. It was the WC3 port that was released in 1996, and WC4 made it to the system in 1997.
Sep
Happy birthday to Wing Commander I, which was released 33 years ago today! It marked an epochal shift in how computer games were played, made and sold... and I guess you could say it has been pretty big in my life, too!
It is often hard to assign a single date for when a game was released in the early 90s; it could be days to weeks to go from sign off to duplication to actually arriving in stores. There was no concept of a set ‘street date’ - but Origin celebrated “ship day” internally and that’s what we cite as a birthday when it’s known. Here’s an account of that day from Mike Harrison’s excellent contemporary making of piece:
Sep
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There's sad news for the Wing Commander family of performers tonight: veteran actor David McCallum passed away earlier today. McCallum, 90, started his career as a leading man on television shows like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and went on to serve as a jack-of-all-trades who could pop up anywhere and everywhere. His nearly endless resume included a variety of guest appearances on cult genre shows including The Outer Limits, seaQuest DSV and Babylon 5. He joined the Wing Commander universe in 1996 in a short but memorable appearance in Privateer 2: The Darkening. You can find an obituary with a more complete retrospective of his career at Variety.
McCallum appeared in Privateer 2's opening scene as the captain of the doomed freighter Canera. He commands Don Warrington's Helmsman, Nichola Cordey's Second Officer and stuntman Riky Ash's Communications Officer through the game's opening that ends in all of
Oct
Look what's hiding in the 1994 Claw Marks: the Comm Relay logo is the planet from the cover of the 1992 Origin catalog! The planet is a painting by Terrell Powell and it was used for a bunch of different corporate things (press kit folders, convention signage and such). This is the version of Claw Marks included with Super Wing Commander.
Claw Marks' Comm Relay is also what we were referencing with Star Citizen's now ubiquitous Comm Links!
Nov
…The seasonal favorite from years past is returning once more to Star Trek Online! Q proudly invites personnel of all ranks, allegiances, species, cosmological variances, and molecular stabilities (or lack thereof) to ring in the holiday season, and visit his Winter Wonderland for fun, frivolity, and prizes! Participate in your choice of Winter Wonderland Activities to work your way toward obtaining the fabulous new Fek’ihri Fe’rang Dreadnought Carrier [T6]! Complete details of this ship’s capabilities will be obtained in a separate Dev Blog. This year’s festivities will be integrated into our recently released Event Interface, as part of your Mission Journal. Now that this seasonal event has migrated to its new home, it has also undergone a significant update: Beginning this year, Daily Progress toward earning your new starship can be obtained by participating in any of the following
Dec
…Sometimes exploration of new ideas and new technologies leads to dark places. In Star Trek, we’ve seen many a cautionary tale about omniscient supercomputers, time travel, genetic manipulation, and telepathic oppression. The pursuit of knowledge isn’t always safe or pretty. Hearts and Minds is a mini-mission that explores the consequences of some unconventional research gone awry. This mission is a “story in one act,” so you can easily finish it in a quick play session, and it’s easy to complete it with any additional characters that you may have on your account – which is handy, because the mission offers a special reward. Since Hearts and Minds is a horror story, it will only be around for Friday the 13th, whenever that may fall on the calendar – and perhaps another sufficiently horrifying day that we might choose! Fortunately for the squeamish, Hearts and Minds is creepy, but not
Nov
…Starting November 12th, new Strike Wing Escorts are being made available on the C-Store for Federation and Klingon characters, along with their respected allied members among the Romulan and Dominion factions! These new vessels will be available in both Non-Fleet and Fleet variants. Special Introductory Pricing Discount! From until November 12th at 8am PT, to November 18th at 10am PT, you can get these ships for 2400 ZEN each when purchased individually, or a bundle with both ships and a 50% off Tier 6 ship coupon for only 3200 ZEN! Thereafter, they will return to their normal pricing at 3000 ZEN when purchased individually, or 4000 ZEN for the Bundle. Fleet versions of each of these starships will unlock upon completing your Fleet Starbase’s Tier 3 Shipyard. The standard Fleet Module discounts apply if you have purchased the ships from the C-Store. And here are the stats on these exciting new
Oct
…To coincide with the soon-to-be-announced Dominion-themed additions to our Lifetime Subscription and Veteran Rewards, we have decided to re-run the Gamma Recruitment Event, originally released for a limited time only along the Victory is Life expansion in 2019. Join us in re-visiting the Dominion’s first forays into the Alliance, and re-live their entry into the galactic neighborhood of Star Trek Online. From October 24th at 9am PT – November 14th at 10am PT, new Dominion captains will be known as Gamma Recruits, and they will be bred with the knowledge and capability needed to defeat even the toughest of threats, save the Dominion, and ensure its future dominance over the Gamma Quadrant. As with previous recruitment events, the Gamma Recruitment Event represents an unprecedented opportunity for getting a leg-up on progression. Not only do Gamma Recruits themselves benefit from additional
Sep
Content: The "Mycelial Realm" TFO is no longer eligible to be chosen for Random TFOs. Systems: Resolved an issue that caused updated Delta patrols to reward more skill points on completion than intended. This does not reduce points earned for starship mastery. Increased the XP/MasteryXP modifier present on Patrol maps in the new Patrol System from 2x to 3x. Resolved an issue that prevented Unstable Anomalies from working with some Anomalies.
Sep
…The Mycelial Network – a mysterious dimension outside of, and yet connected to, our own. Discovered by the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery, the knowledge of the Mycelial Realm was lost for more than a century when all details of that ship and their mission were declared classified at the highest levels. Now, that knowledge needs to be revived to rescue the galaxy from the schemes of J’Ula and her Helical Torsion Weapon. The weapon has already been used to devastating effect, but the Klingons need Mycelial spores in order to power it and continue their campaign of war and terror. In order to prevent that, you must journey to the Mycelial Realm and stop them. In Mycelial Realm, our newest Task Force Operation, step through a rift and into the Mycelial Network, and shut down the Klingon probes that are gathering spores for J’Ula’s weapon. But the probes cannot be destroyed by conventional means –
Feb
…*Pilots Federation ALERT*
An independent vessel has detected a fragment of a mysterious message coming from an unexplored region of space.
Commander Elsa Solomon was travelling through the Swoilz XX-D c1-30 system when her ship's communications array picked up a faint transmission. The message was as follows:
This is an emergency broadcast on all frequencies from Serene Harbour. We are –
The transmission ended abruptly and did not resume. The signal did not contain any identification data or indications as to its origin.
Commander Solomon gave more details to Vox Galactica:
"The message appeared in my comms panels as text and an electronically generated voice. I wasn't able to determine a source, only that it was broadcast within 80 light years of that system. My schedule was tight so I couldn't spend long tracking it."
"I have no idea if Serene Harbour is a starport, a settlement or even a
Mar
…Whenever you see an F-44A cruising around these parts, it's a good bet than an F-44G is somewhere nearby. Klavs has rolled out his WC2-style variant of the popular Rapier. This time he's spending extra time to line up markings and design with the version seen in the game. All of his modern variants will eventually be available at Sketchfab for folks who need the full fledged 3D version!
F-44Gs of TCS Concordia! I'm being more faithful to the game markings than I ever have in the past. It's tough, but I think, worth it to make a decent homage.The C model is up next, that'll be very close to the previously established Tarawa Livery I came up with previously. I'll also be providing some blank, grey liveries so you guys can come up with schemes to your heart's delight!
I should note that all these versions will be updated into the existing Sketchfab link, so if you purchased already, the upgrades and all
Jun
I love these European CD-ROM Classics that came in thick jewel cases. How cool would it be to have a collection of them in all the different languages? Here's a recent photo posted by Stephan:
I really appreciated the CD-ROM Classics and bought them regularly. If I remember correctly, they had their own EA displays at the POS. Great selection of excellent titles. I have kept a few to this day.I believe there were three Wing Commanders:
Aug
…This is a big one, folks! After years of hard work, the WC4 Fan Remake team is super excited to finally unveil the first playable demo for Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom Remastered. Today's release is a fancy update to the original WC4 Demo released on October 19, 1995. As we've seen through their many technical articles released over the years, it takes a lot of foundation building (design, art, sound, coding, user interface and much more) to reach a milestone like this. Detailed instructions have been published to help people get things going. There's even a snazzy demo trailer below! You can grab the installer package here (900 meg exe). Keep in mind that this is still a beta level artifact and the team very much appreciates your feedback. Give it a try and have fun!
We are supremely proud to announce that the first playable demo of Wing Commander IV - The Price of Freedom:
May
…This is part of a series analyzing newly discovered Wing Commander IV continuity photographs. You can find the previous posts collected here.
When we picked up the Wing Commander IV Polaroids this was one I was sure we'd never figure out. It wasn't labeled and the picture wasn't especially clear. She could be a patron in the bar on Nephele (few of whom are visible!), a reporter or a politician from the Assembly scenes... or anywhere else! It turns out I did not need to fear: she's actually a character with a fairly major scene... the comm officer who sends a distress message from the Telamon System. Blair and Sosa listen in horror as she reveals the Black Lance attack:
If you can hear this, it might not be too late. Unmarked ships are attacking and many people are dying! We know planet FT957 is far from any other colony, but, if you have any Humanity, please, send help immediately! Otherwise, our world
Jul
…*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
The missing megaship Dedicant is close to being located after fragments of its distress call were tracked down.
The scrambled messages were discovered on comms beacons in the LP 714-58, Wuniez, Olurung and Kwakimo systems. Combined decryption efforts eventually led to another beacon in the HIP 19912 system, where the Dedicant's original transmission was revealed:
FEDERAL ESCORT TEAM ALPHA
ASSIGNED TO ORDER OF THE FAR GOD MEGASHIP 'DEDICANT'
PRISONER TRANSFER MISSION HAS FAILED
SIGNIFICANT NON-LETHAL DEFENSIVE MEASURES ENCOUNTERED
MAJORITY OF ORDER OF THE FAR GOD PRISONERS ESCAPED
PRISONERS INITIATED DEDICANT HYPERDRIVE
ESCORT TEAMS ALPHA, BRAVO, CHARLIE AND CULTISTS REMAIN ON BOARD
'DEDICANT' CURRENT LOCATION UNKNOWN
ADVISE TRACING METADATA COORDINATES TO THIS MESSAGE
REQUEST IMMEDIATE FEDERAL NAVY ASSISTANCE
Vice Admiral Amir Rafiq of the Imperial Navy provided an
Aug
It's been a while since we've shared Matthew Cushman's awesome SciPubTech cutaway poster, and it's fabulous, so we take every opportunity we can get to put it front and center. The project was officially commissioned to support the Wing Commander Movie, but like the Wing Commander Ride or action figure vehicles, it was never officially released. On the bright side, the gorgeous art is available right here for all to enjoy. Mr. Cushman recently reposted it on Behance with a little blurb. There's no new info, but it's nice to see his 'official' statement on the piece!
Wing Commander’s Tiger Claw Cutaway ArtThis diorama was created with the help of the film’s creator. Reference for this piece was supplied by the movie studio to create an accurate depiction of this vessel, but eventually this was not sold as a poster.
Aug
If you missed the big news earlier this week, be sure to check out the new WC4 Fan Remake demo! There are numerous fixes and updates, better joystick support and new in-flight comms. You can download it here (886 meg exe) and get right to playing! The WC Respace team has posted a full article with instructions and FAQs if you have any questions or issues. If you're not quite ready to jump in yourself, here's a video of The Eradicator checking the demo out. It's actually the original release, so the latest version is even better!
It looks like a team of modders are trying to remaster Wing Commander IV. In this video, we will check their work out.
