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This 1990 Video Games & Computer Entertainment cover seems to be a variation of the Wing Commander I box art! Maybe there’s been a Hornet hiding under that cockpit frame all these years?
For comparison, here’s a slightly earlier version of the cover image which was provided to the press before release. It’s a famous example of a "bullshot" that was composed externally using game elements instead of a straight screen capture.
Sep
…Quick captains, it's time to jump into your favorite shuttle and get to the frontlines! For a limited time only, we're hosting the Shuttle Weekend Event. From Thursday September 20th at 8AM PDT til Monday, September 24th at 10AM PDT, swarm your enemies in these small craft! During the Shuttle Weekend Event, we have transformed a few of our starship queued events into brand new shuttle events that offers marks for any reputation! Federation and Klingon Fleet Alert, and Storming The Spire will now feature twenty player queues to try and take down some familiar enemies. While the original missions will still be available this weekend, the shuttle queued events will feature twice as many Marks for completion! These special queues are based off of normal difficulty. Learn more about some of the missions you'll be flying this weekend! Atmosphere Assault Maximum Players: (5) The Elachi have sent
Jul
It’s a Shrike! Thank you to GeekToyLove for selling me this orphan torpedo bomber (and Thunder_Owl for sharing that it was available). Murphy Labs’ TB-81A Shrike was a four-person torpedo bomber (class B) developed for use aboard escort carriers during the post-war fleet modernization. They served with distinction during the first Nephilim incursions.
GeekToyLove also made this fabulous Arrow!
Sep
LOAF found a great mention from a game design document for the original Wing Commander a while back. It includes a previously unspecified last name for Shotglass. He is listed as Major Sam Walker (retired). Previous speculation had guessed his last name could be Siegler after mention of his cousin in The Secret Missions. As interesting as this is, it's not necessarily the final official word since Colonel Halcyon's name is listed as Walter rather than Peter. And although not new information at this point, the references to Dart and Joker (who later became Hunter and Maniac) are fun inclusions as well. Anyhow, for anyone out there writing Shotglass fan fiction or for folks involved in the creation of a future WC product, keep "Walker" in mind!
Another fascinating discovery for WC fans: Shotglass' last name!
Mar
Today we've got a pair of tiny reviews from vintage mid '90s magazines. They're arguably less exciting than the big spreads that the main story games would usually get, but my take is that these are still important in the context of Wing Commander history. Both are short, but that's why I dug up two to share. Print real estate was valuable back in the day, so sometimes the only information you'd have about certain games would be a few sentences like this here and there. This would happen sometimes to games like Super Wing Commander (3DO) and Armada, which got a small strip in the January 1994 edition of Electronic Gaming Monthly and the February 1995 issue of Next Generation magazine. At least there were some screenshots, which is more than some of these titles got! Special bonus: Bioforge advertisement!
Aug
…Some wonderful soul uploaded an entire beautifully preserved Computer Shopper to the Internet Archive! Shall we take a moment to... shop for Origin games like it's 1994?! Let's see what we can find...
Hi-Tech USA has a Wing Commander / Ultima VI CD-ROM for just $18! This would've be an OEM copy published by Software Toolworks, which worked out a deal with pre-EA Origin to offset development costs on three CD-ROM games in exchange for rights to release OEM versions.
Hardware bundler Media Vision has a bespoke multmedia kit that comes with Ultima Underworld and Wing Commander II. EA developed this release and licensed it to a LOT of early PC and addon manufacturers. It doesn't include the Wing Commander II expansions!
Treasure Chest Peripherals is taking first generation OEM CD-ROMs and bundling them together for big bucks! $89 will get you the Software Toolworks Wing Commander Deluxe CD-ROM and a couple
Apr
…We’re launching a brand new type of bundle this week to celebrate some of our favorite ships, called Ships of the Line! There are a lot of ships in the galaxy that have multiple tiers available, and we want to make it easier to get your hands on every version of your favorite starships. First up: The Akira Class! This classic ship appeared in First Contact, which we happen to be celebrating right now, so it seemed like the perfect time to feature it. The Ships of the Line: Akira Bundle will cost 6000 Zen, and will be 35% off from April 23rd at 8am PT to April 30th at 10am PT. It contains the following: T6 Alita Class Heavy Strike Wing Escort T5 Armitage Heavy Strike Wing Escort T3 Thunderchild Heavy Escort Refit 1 Fleet Ship Module Along with the launch of this bundle we have revamped the model for the Akira-class Heavy Escort! The new model is much more detailed, screen accurate, and
Jun
…The Pilots Federation has reported that five independent ships have been attacked by terrorist organisation the League of Reparation, with the loss of all crewmembers.
No details have been released regarding specific names or locations, except that three of the ships were attacked in Alliance-controlled systems, one in a Federal system and one in Imperial space.
The Pilots Federation also confirmed that the message 'FOR JAMESON' had been etched by laser beam into drifting hull fragments from all five ships.
Captain Niamh Seutonia, a member of the tri-power taskforce investigating the League, released this statement:
"We are treating these incidents as terrorist actions by the League of Reparation, targeted against people with ancestral connections to the INRA. Analysts have been despatched to all five locations."
"Meanwhile, we have determined that League agents receive their orders via
May
…A journal maintained by Gan Romero, the technician responsible for stealing a docked vessel from a starport hangar, has been discovered.
Security Chief Misaki Sanders gave this statement from Fort Dixon:
"We have thoroughly investigated Romero's background to establish a motive for the theft and how it was accomplished. Our only lead is a series of encrypted voice logs that he deleted shortly before the hijack."
"Our analysts have recovered a few fragments of these recordings, which appear to have been part of a dream journal. In them, Romero makes repeated mention of seeing 'an area of space, not black but radiant…glowing like heaven,' and being called by 'voices that didn't come from anything with a body'."
"Medical experts have proposed that Romero's recordings, along with his recent distracted behaviour, may be symptoms of an undiagnosed dissociative disorder. If true, Romero was likely
May
…The investigation into technician Gan Romero, who stole a docked vessel from a hangar bay at Fort Dixon in the Vega system, has been officially suspended.
Security Chief Misaki Sanders made this statement:
"Apart from the remains of Romero's dream journal, we have no leads and have exhausted all avenues of inquiry. Attempts to track down the stolen ship have returned empty-handed. Until more evidence surfaces, we must reluctantly abandon our efforts."
Commander Bjorn Lennox, the owner of the stolen ship, commented:
"Obviously I'm not happy about losing my Diamondback Explorer, and I've had to fight for the station's insurance to cover my losses. Still, part of me wonders if my ship was stolen for a reason… It was fitted for exploration with a high jump range, and it sounds like this guy was heading somewhere really far away."
"They said Romero was delusional, right? Well, maybe he was just
May
…There has been much speculation about starship technician Gan Romero, whose dreams are believed to have directed him to steal a ship from a starport hangar.
On the Rewired network, independent journalist Flint 'Firemaker' Lafosse offered this analysis:
"Romero's dream journal entries were very similar to Jasmina Halsey's visions after the Starship One incident three years ago. Was this lowly grease monkey in touch with the same 'caretakers of our galaxy' that Halsey claims spoke to her?"
"Sure, it could be coincidence. Maybe even a shared psychological disorder. But it seems possible that Halsey and Romero were telepathically contacted by the same incorporeal intelligence."
"You can see why they might want to talk to a Federal president. But a starport technician? What's so special about Romero? If he's telling the truth then who knows how many more ordinary people have heard these summons
May
…There has been much speculation about starship technician Gan Romero, whose dreams are believed to have directed him to steal a ship from a starport hangar.
On the Rewired network, independent journalist Flint 'Firemaker' Lafosse offered this analysis:
"Romero's dream journal entries were very similar to Jasmina Halsey's visions after the Starship One incident three years ago. Was this lowly grease monkey in touch with the same 'caretakers of our galaxy' that Halsey claims spoke to her?"
"Sure, it could be coincidence. Maybe even a shared psychological disorder. But it seems possible that Halsey and Romero were telepathically contacted by the same incorporeal intelligence."
"You can see why they might want to talk to a Federal president. But a starport technician? What's so special about Romero? If he's telling the truth then who knows how many more ordinary people have heard these summons
Apr
Display MoreAn independent pilot's ship has been stolen from a starport hangar in the Vega system.
The ship's owner, Commander Bjorn Lennox, told Vox Galactica:
"I'd docked my Diamondback Explorer at Fort Dixon for some routine maintenance, and to enjoy a short break following a deep space exploration voyage. When I went back to the landing pad I discovered the hangar was empty and my ship had gone missing!"
The starport issued a statement from Security Chief Misaki Sanders:
"We are at a loss to explain how the thief managed to hijack our security network, gain entry to a docked and sealed ship, and override authorisation checks to fly out of the station unchallenged."
"Nearby systems have been alerted and we are collecting leads to track down the stolen vessel. In the meantime, we are conducting an inquiry into how these breaches of docking bay protocols could have occurred."
Sep
An adept predator, the Hammerhead stalks its prey with ruthless efficiency and unyielding determination.
Jul
Ship Shape breaks out on it’s own! Host Jared Huckaby takes us on a tour of the ship making their way to the development pipeline with updates on the 890 Jump, the 300 series and an introduction to the new RSI Apollo medical ship.
May
…Users of the Supercruise Overcharge function of Achilles' new Frame Shift Drives have reported that the module puts ships under immense mechanical and thermal stress, often causing severe hull damage. Ship manufacturers throughout the galaxy are now diverting research towards overcoming this issue.
Stent Jackson, a ship engineering and design consultant, spoke to Vox Galactica about this new surge of research:
"Now don't get me wrong, every manufacturer I've spoken to considers Supercruise Overcharge to be a great thing, but it's also ripping our hulls apart. The good with the bad, as always."
"Funny thing is, every manufacturer is realising all at once that there are some crucial things about ship construction that they've all taken for granted. When you get down to brass tacks, we assume certain thresholds, right? Before, we didn't need to worry about exceeding certain temperatures or
Apr
Display MoreEver 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!
Aug
…As part of his never ending quest to better understand how Wing Commander works,
Unnamed Characterhas shared some interesting insight into how the original games calculated damage. There's some good raw numbers here in terms of how much damage fighters and capships can take as well as how much damage different weapons do. Even more fascinating is how random factors are computed for individual component damage. Most of you may never code or mod a WC fan project, but understanding how these things work certainly enhances my enjoyment as I play!
From what I have been able to determine, the damage system differentiates between capital ships and fighter ships. Capital ships employ a simple system, once the shields and armor are gone, the ship starts taking generic ship damage. Once this damage reaches an upper limit, the ship is destroyed; the upper limit varies by ship type (see list below).
Jan
…In our continuing mission to share bits of Wing Commander history from around the world, today we have a review of Wing Commander from the January 1992 edition of the Spanish gaming mag Micromanía. This comes from the RetroManía30 Podcast. I used to love all those little insets describing the fighters and stuff like that. The little cuts on the corners of the screenshot boxes also give it kind of a spacey cockpit vibe. I'm not so sold on the pink background, but it was the '90s!
There goes the review of Wing Commander (1990), published in MicroManía # 44 (SE). It was the beginning of a long saga, which to this day continues to have a multitude of followers. A space flight simulator, with a spectacular cinematic setting. A great title!As a double feature of Spanish content, The Game Abbey also has a Spanish language retrospective feature on the WC series. Language transition captions work on this
Sep
…We get questions from time to time from Wing Commander fans that read about the WC DIVX and the mistaken rumors of its cancellation. DIVX was a late '90s format based around single-use DVDs. Each disc was encoded and serialized to sync with an online (via dialup) account that controlled playback. Owners could pay to watch again or unlock the disc for permanent use. After just a year of production, the format went bust and inventory was quickly cleared out. As Wing Commander was scheduled to be released for home viewing at right about the same time as DIVX died, there's a persistent belief out there that the WC DIVX was canceled. But that is not true! Circuit City most definitely had them for sale in the summer of 1999, and many of us still have the unopened packages to prove it! Any editors out there are more than welcome to fix the Wikipedia entry accordingly...
GALLIFREY STANDS: I was
