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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It's only been a few days since Klavs released his new Rapier collection, but Mac has already eaten it up and built four dazzling 4K wallpapers around the ships. Each of the variants gets their own atmospheric scene that plays with light, shadow, angle and perspective. The high resolution allows you to really soak in all the glorious detail, and any one of these would make a fabulous wallpaper image.

Klavs finished his revamp of the Rapier line from Wing Commander. So I, being me, dropped what I was doing to play with the new models and get some nice looking "Glory shots" using them.

I present for your consideration, The Angels-44 series.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Multi-billionaire Zachary Rackham has discussed standing as an independent candidate for the Federal presidency in 3309.
The issue was raised during the opening of a new superstructure named Rackham's Spire on Homeland in the Beta Hydri system. At a press conference in the tropospheric suite, Mr Rackham was asked for his views on the proposed Hudson Contravention.
He replied by light-heartedly hinting that he might run for office himself: "With two Zacharys on the ballot, I'm guaranteed to get some votes by mistake!"
Financial journalist Bryanna Blanco wrote an opinion piece for The Federal Times:
"Rackham's Spire literally stabs the sky above Los Pioneros, rising so high that during the day its shadow moves across the city like a colossal sundial. Extravagant, expensive and impossible to ignore, it's practically an altar to the man who built it."
"I've spent half of my career investigating

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Klavs has updated his official Rapier Sketchfab model with the four major variants that he’s shown off this year. He’s also provided a link to material that will help aspiring artists make their own custom paint schemes. This is a great resource for everyone from aspiring modders to people getting into 3D printing! Although the models are available to purchase in order to help with his family’s ongoing medical bills, Klavs has also made the files available for free to CIC visitors unable to pay. Have fun!

Hi everybody, the F-44 Sketchfab model has been updated to include the A, C, E, and G model Rapiers. If you purchased it previously you should be able to download the new version at no cost.

Also, here is a link to a bunch of different high resolution (8k) liveries, including generic grey ones, as well as the substance painter file, so you can create paint schemes to your heart's content!Also also, I

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
A delivery campaign in the HIP 22550 system will help build additional starports for the Marlinist Colonies.
First Minister Octavia Volkov delivered this public address:
"The Marlinist Colonies were born out of desperation, but we have evolved into a fully fledged society. Emperor Arissa has formally accepted our status as an autonomous democracy, albeit one that retains cultural and historical ties with the Empire."
"To celebrate and consolidate our independence, we have launched an initiative to construct up to six new orbital stations. For all those who wish to take part, we require shipments of aluminium, computer components, power generators and titanium to be transported to Stillman Hub starport."
"I am also delighted to announce that Universal Cartographics has approved our petition to rename the original eight systems of the Marlinist Colonies. These are

Quote from No Man

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday, we released the OUTLAWS update for No Man’s Sky, enabling the pirates of the universe to better retaliate against the SENTINEL authorities upgraded earlier in 2022. After we revisited and refreshed planetary combat in SENTINEL, it felt like a natural progression to improve ship handling and combat, and deepen pirate-related gameplay throughout No Man’s Sky. The passionate community response is always fantastic fuel for us – it’s exciting to see you all claiming and piloting the new Solar Ships, fighting against or aiding outlaw forces, and swishing around in capes.

The new expedition, Blighted, aligns with the piratical theme of OUTLAWS. Travellers will follow the trail of a pirate faction known as The Blight and their mysterious treasure, gathering clues and decrypting milestones. Expeditions give us an opportunity to mix up different styles of gameplay, and this fast-paced treasure hunt

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today's we've got a meaty new article with some exciting content updates for the WC4 Fan Remake. The team is currently working on recreating the WC4 demo, which is notable for including a Stormfire cannon pickup floating in space. Unlike in the full game, this gives the Hellcat a unique special weapon for the mission. They've also spent considerable time working out how the spaceflight physics will work. It will incorporate some interesting inertial cues from WC1, WC2 and Prophecy. You can read all about it at WCRespace.com here.

As we work towards the demo release there are three main areas to focus on:

• Applying all the now-known stats values to the game objects
• Running the mission scripts for all of the objects
• Improving the AI

The first of these is largely done and has driven a lot of new work; one piece of which is implementing the stormfire gun.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Sirius Corporation megaships will soon arrive in the Coalsack and Witch Head Nebulas to provide anti-xeno support.
The three vessels are intended as a demonstration of Sirius Corporation's military capabilities, prior to the strategic defence pact being ratified by the Alliance Assembly.
A public statement was provided by Admiral Nikolas Glass, the Sirius Navy representative on the Alliance Council of Admirals:
"The Coalsack Nebula and Witch Head Nebula regions are where Alliance interests are most at risk from Thargoid attack. From tomorrow, our megaships will serve as bases from which anti-xeno operations can be conducted."
"All ships in the area are invited to make use of the Song of Mecchi in the Coalsack Sector Vu-O B6-6 system, the Kandula's Truth in the Siniang system, and the Li Chyou Winds in the Onoros system."
"As a further gesture of our dedication to

Quote from No Man

Hello,

We’ve very much enjoyed watching travellers new and old take on the reinforced might of the authorities with their autonomous mech allies and friendly drone companions in February’s SENTINEL update. Today we are excited to bring you OUTLAWS, the second update of 2022 (our 19th update since launch) and with it a rich new seam of pirate lore and the first new No Man’s Sky ship in over two years. Full patch notes are available here.

The pirates of the No Man’s Sky universe have long since posed a threat to any interplanetary travel. For six year they have roamed the star systems unchecked, preying on unsuspecting and vulnerable travellers and raiding their vessels for any valuable cargo which they may be in possession of. For the most part though they have been an itinerant race, only really posing a threat in deep space.

OUTLAWS represents that moment where the pirates have started to put down roots, occupy space

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Following a referendum by the Marlinist Colonies, Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval has formally recognised their autonomous status.
Prime Consul Kayode Tau of the Marlinist Consulate reported on his latest meeting with the Emperor:
"Her Majesty was clearly uncomfortable with the democratic way in which the ex-Imperial citizens in the colonies now govern themselves. But she gracefully acknowledged that the Marlinist population had declined her invitation to become an Imperial protectorate, and would thus remain independent."
"However, there was a proviso to Emperor Arissa's acceptance of the decision. She insisted that the Marlinist Colonies must work with the Empire's intelligence agencies to prevent any resurgence of the NMLA or similar terrorist groups."
It has since been agreed that Imperial Intelligence and the Marlinist Constabulary would collaborate on identifying Neo-Marlinist extremists.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we've got a fun Lego Scimitar to share. This is the second in a series of Lego fighters put together by John Nelson, who built an Avenger last month. The Scimitar has a pair of fairly recognizable acceleration absorber pods jutting out the top, which helps make this design easy to identify. The back profile with triple engine exhaust nozzles is also pretty spot on. Like the previous model, this one also fairly closely mimics the appropriate color scheme. Just getting the shape right with Legos is a feat, but doing so in the right squadron colors is really something!

My next project was Confed's very own gun heavy slug - as Iceman called it - the Scimitar. Again color and proportions are a guess from the models used and other art. Hope you enjoy it. I’m planning on maybe the Dragon or Epee next.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We're doing some back end testing today and needed a simple news post with four images. What four iconic images make for a perfect Wing Commander theme? The WC1 blueprints! These are 3K resolution samples, but if you need nice 5K copies for your ultra high res monitor, grab the blueprint pack (42 meg zip)!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here’s an example of stretching the art budget on the Wing Commander card game: one painting becomes two cards! Mag Force 7 knew they needed to publish fast during the CCG craze and coming up with art to cover the 300-odd cards in a base set was the biggest expense going in.

Another one: different crops of the same image provide two minefields instead of one!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We're always up to take a break from posting sci-fi craft and instead share some real life spaceships. This weekend gave us a great opportunity with the first Axiom launch. Last year was big for space tourism and new companies launching their pods and planes up to the edge of space, but this represents the first time a fully private crew has traveled to the International Space Station. Four people launched yesterday aboard a SpaceX Dragon and docked this morning to join seven ISS crew members. This brings the total aboard to 11, which makes for quite a group photo! If that wasn't enough, another Dragon crew mission is scheduled to launch in just over a week. There are six vessels attached right now, including three crew vehicles and three resupply ships. It's really quite a spectacle!

We also need to mention that the first two images below show both the Axiom/SpaceX rocket as well as the Boeing

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Veteran Origin designer Paul Hughes has worked a little bit of his magic on a classic piece of Wing Commander art. He's touched up a scan of the iconic SNES WC1 cover painted by Mike Winterbauer. It's such a gorgeous piece that we didn't want to miss an opportunity to share it! The scene in question was actually at the heart of multiple crowdfunding campaigns led by Mr. Winterbauer in 2018 and 2020. You can find copies of the art books that came out of these endeavors at his eBay store here. Learn more at his official site: Winterbauer Arts

Cleaned up scan of Mike Winterbauer's Wing Commander artwork for the SNES - an iconic cover image...

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

A public referendum in the Marlinist Colonies has resulted in the majority voting to remain fully independent from the Empire.
Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval had proposed to make the colony systems an Imperial protectorate in return for Marlinist allegiance to the Imperial throne. This would have permitted an autonomous government while creating many civil and military links.
First Minister Octavia Volkov announced the referendum's results in the Marlinist Parliament:
"Our people have given us a clear mandate: the colonies stand alone. In accordance with the key principles of Marlinism, we reject monarchy rule in favour of republican governance and direct representation."
"Most of us are still haunted by the trauma of becoming refugees in 3306, when millions of innocent Marlinists were accused of supporting terrorist acts. We fled from an Empire that had become intolerant and abusive. This

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a nifty French find that dates back to 2009. It's a retrospective clip about the Wing Commander series that aired on the Nolife TV channel in France. They cover the main entries from Wing Commander 1 through Prophecy, plus they mention the movie and spend a few minutes on WC Arena, which was relatively new at the time. It would have been really cool to catch this on television! The channel went off the air in 2018, but Génération Nolife has been putting old episodes online. If you don't speak French, anyone can use YouTube's built in auto-translate feature to add captions in their preferred language.

Released May 5, 2009

A great classic of space opera.

Retro & Magic (or RaM for short) was a retro-gaming section retracing the history of video games. The section was presented and mainly written by Julien Pirou, the music of the credits is taken from the game Rock'n'Rage and the design is by

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
A corporate initiative to mine and deliver ores to the Synuefe CE-R c21-6 system has ended successfully.
Taurus Mining Ventures had performed scientific research within the system, claiming that the properties of some natural substances had been altered by an unknown type of local radiation.
The company's head of research Dr Ruben Carpenter announced:
"We now have sufficiently large quantities of coltan, lithium hydroxide and methanol monohydrate crystals mined from locations in Synuefe CE-R c21-6. These irradiated ores will be analysed to determine their potential commercial value. Samples that were provided from other systems will also be very useful in our comparative studies."
"To all the pilots who assisted in this endeavour: thank you! Your hard work is greatly appreciated. The Heart of Taurus megaship will remain in Synuefe CE-R c21-6 for several weeks, and

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Ever wonder just how big Prince Thrakhath's enormous dreadnaught in Wing Commander III would be scaled correctly? To find out, we've put together a collection of Wing Commander III ship length charts which show three different scales: standard capital ships, capital ships and bases and then everything compared to the 22 km dreadnaught. Pretty interesting!

A Wing Commander IV version is also available. These charts use the in-game models scaled to known, canonical lengths. When a ship does not have an established length (such as the Intrepid or the Behemoth) it is not included.

As a bonus, here are the same type of charts using the sprites from Wing Commander, Wing Commander II and Super Wing Commander. Note that several of the ship lengths vary between Wing Commander and Super Wing Commander, including the Sivar, the Star Post and the Snakeir!

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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The population of the Marlinist Colonies will vote to accept or decline the offer to become an Imperial protectorate.
Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval's proposal aims to build links between the independent colony systems and the Empire, from where the Marlinists originally fled as political refugees in 3306.
The Marlin Standard ran an editorial summarising the situation:
"Should the Marlinist Colonies remain an isolated republican society, or should we move beneath the Empire's protective wing? It's a question that most of us never expected to be asked."
"Many expressed fierce anger that Emperor Arissa has dared to ask for our allegiance. In her desperation to hunt down the NMLA she persecuted all believers in Marlinism, arresting thousands and displacing millions of her own citizens. Can we now trust her to welcome us back?"
"Others are concerned that the Marlinist Colonies remain vulnerable,

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

DOSBox has been the gold standard for running classic '80s and '90s games on modern computers for quite some time, but it's definitely not the only player out there. FreeDOS is another solid OS emulator with an established history. They've just released the long anticipated version 1.3. Folks like PhilsComputerLab have been running tests, and the results are promising. Check out the video below for a sample of what to expect. Privateer and Strike Commander show up in the 1:00-1:30 point and WC1-3 appear around 4:30 (along with the tip to select the second boot option to get expanded memory). This still may be more of a tinkerer's method to get the games going as DOSBox is more broadly compatible, but it's great to have options! I remember during the Windows 98/XP transition being very upset that future generations wouldn't be able to readily play the WC games, and I'm very happy to have been