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Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

It’s Star Trek Las Vegas weekend, Captains, and we’re joining in the celebration. With all the amazing news coming out of the convention this weekend, including this morning’s announcement of Star Trek Online: Awakening, we wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to party with us. With that in mind, we’re putting on a brand new sale this weekend! From July 31st at 8am PT – August 5th at 10am PT, you can save 20% on Starter Packs, Expansion Packs, and Ship Bundles on all three platforms! Enjoy the savings, and keep your eyes peeled to Star Trek Online for even more news this weekend! .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(d7afaaa14e96d0d973f76157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition:

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Yesterday, at Star Trek Las Vegas, we unveiled a new roadmap for the upcoming year of Star Trek Online. Want to know some more details about the future? Well, look no further, the roadmap is available below! .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(d7afaaa14e96d0d973f76157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .YT { background-position: 0 40%; } .share-footer .TW { background-position: 0 60%; } .share-footer .FO { background-position: 0 80%; } .FB:hover { background-position: 100% 0%; } .TI:hover { background-position: 100% 20%; } .YT:hover {

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The new Flag Commander update with realistic starscape backgrounds is live! As we mentioned last month,

L.I.F.

got some neat skybox software and has been carefully adding cool scenes to the

Homeworld Remastered

mod. Grab the update with the pretty backgrounds

here

. Here's some gorgeous examples and creative flavor text!

The Concordia wasn't exactly the first ship I'd have thought about when it came to pull a gut punch like this one, but I was a pilot, not a brass, so there I was, flying escort in my trusty Sabre. Sure, we were going to be cut off from reinforcements or easy retreat, but the Cats wouldn't see us coming, if Intel didn't mess up too much on that one.

It was a long shot that ultimately paid off big, since I'm able to write about it now. A science officer briefed us about some strange astrogation phenomenon that involved a couple of jump points in interstellar space that somehow got

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

After a stellar launch, the Kickstarter campaign for the Through the Moongate sequel has been fully funded and is well on its way towards a set of new stretch goals. First things first, we're (at the €50 and up level) getting a Wing Commander bookmark by Denis Loubet! The new secondary goals are exciting, but not necessarily as directly tied to Wing Commander. For people interested in the full story of Origin, they're still cool additions, however, and some Wing Commander anecdotes may certainly find their way into the new appendix. The project is nearing €35,000 now, and for various milestones along the way to €45,000, there will be new additions in the form of a 'forward' and 'last words' add-on, additional photographs will be available in certain versions, a development patch will be created and there could even be a new edit of the original volume made.

Let me just say...wow! 100% funded in

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

An extremist group from the Kappa Fornacis system is responsible for the contaminated fertiliser that has caused widespread crop failures.
Gino Borstein made this statement on behalf of the tri-superpower taskforce investigating the blight's origin:
"Our investigation has confirmed that an activist group known as Scythe of Panem managed to infiltrate Rockforth Corporation manufacturing plants in the Riedquat system. Members of the group contaminated the EX7 fertiliser with a synthetic agent designed to putrefy plant matter."
Recent efforts by the galactic community have almost eradicated the EX7 fertiliser. But Borstein warned that the activists have turned hostile upon discovery.
"The group's manifesto discusses revenge for the Federation's 3301 campaign to wipe out the recreational drug known as Onion Head. This involved an orbital bombardment of Onion Head crops on Panem using biocides

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Joe Garrity shared this awesome picture from Washington, D.C. today. Wing Commander fans don't really need a reason to dress up like they're about to take the fight to the Kilrathi, but in order to boost vigilance in his workplace's IT security, Joe donned his authentic WC4 flight suit. The extra attention helped promote two causes (info sec and WC fandom) at once!

"The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance."

To help promote IT Security in the Federal Government (where I work), I took advantage of the Origin Museum's collections. This is one of the actual uniforms from Wing Commander IV. Thanks to the staff at Origin Systems, the legacy of Wing Commander lives on.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Artist Gilles Nuytens has taken a stab at remastering the main Wing Commander theme from the Wing Commander Movie. He's taken the primary track off of the official album and then extended it with music from the credits (that wasn't on the album). The result is a longer take that potentially has a more lengthy and robust conclusion. Check it out below and let him know what you think!

This is an extended version of the Wing Commander theme by David Arnold & Kevin Kiner from the 1999 movie. The original theme from the CD album was good enough as itself but I thought it would be cool to extend it with the (unreleased) end credits (which was actually a rebuild of several cues from the album). The sound was quite muffled and wasn't very clear even on the original CD! I did what I could to make it sound better with my tiny and limited sound editing skills. Legal note: I do not own this music! All rights

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Electronic Arts has relaunched its Origin Access and EA Access services as EA Play. The big change is a unification of the subscription across four platforms: Xbox, Playstation, the Origin storefront and Steam. There are two tiers: Play for $5 per month and Play Pro at $15 per month or $99 per year. Both give varying levels of access to specific EA Games with the more expensive level obviously granting more and newer content. As far as Wingnuts are concerned, both tiers include five Wing Commander games in their library: Wing Commanders 1 through 4 and Privateer. Most people reading this probably already have these titles at their fingertips, but this is a major boon to more casual players. As EA has upped the value proposition and reach of the service, an even greater number of people now can easily try out the WC series. Chances are that you already know someone who's a subscriber but doesn't

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The 8-Bit Guy has posted a neat video of a recent road trip to Austin to explore the area's rich tech history. He checks out places like the Dell headquarters and the building where they filmed Office Space. There's a fun stop at a Globe Theater reproduction sponsored by Richard Garriott. Of course, he also had to highlight Origin's old offices - both campuses - which is very fun to see (start at the 13:30 point to jump ahead). Extra bonus points for making the trip in a Chevy Bolt EV! Thanks to Rustic Dragon for the tip, who also makes an appearance. Check it out below!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The original DOS versions of Wing Commander I and II included a handy debugging feature for instantly killing your current target (alt-delete) or every enemy on radar (alt-insert). You would activate these special keys by passing Origin as an argument to the game executable. Also passing -k would activate invincibility without changing your pilot name to CHEATER. Playtesting certain aspects of the game would have been a lot easier with these keys at your disposal.

When the Windows 95 ports came out as part of the Kilrathi Saga box set, this method no longer worked. Eventually, players figured out that you had to put Origin -k -b in Wingcmdr.cfg and WC2.cfg. This made sense, since passing arguments to the executable would have been a little less straightforward in Windows 95, and would have required players bypass the Kilrathi Saga launcher menu. For the next 23 years, we assumed that these "finger of

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

AD spotted an awesome rendition of the Dralthi IV over at Bricksafe. Malcav put this together based on the ace variant, which is pretty slick. I don't know how people have the patience and talent to pull creations like this off, but it's very impressive! He's got plenty of other designs from Star Trek and Star Wars that look great too.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
New Kuwembaa Labour has successfully seceded from the Federation and inspired other systems to declare independence.
The conflict in the Kuwembaa system ended with Federal loyalists Li Chotep for Equality being defeated. As a result, all systems controlled by New Kuwembaa Labour will remain independent.
This has inspired Selkana Labour, United HIP 108095 Values Party and Mutumu Future to also sever ties with the Federation, spreading the rebellion across a further 28 systems.
The victory was announced by Governor Sonal Mishra, the leader of New Kuwembaa Labour:
"We owe a huge debt to all pilots who helped us secure our freedom. It is regrettable that we were forced to secede, but this should be a warning to President Hudson that he is taking the Federation down a dangerous path."
The rebelling systems have now shut down links with the Proactive Detection Bureau, which

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Delegations from the Federation and the dictator Yuri Grom are meeting to determine the Delta Pavonis system's future.
Both are on a diplomatic mission to convince its controlling faction to either swear allegiance to Yuri Grom or become a Federal member state. Delta Pavonis was one of the original signatories of the Federal Accord in 2242, but has recently been governed by an independent autocracy.
Yuri Grom himself is present, having arrived on the megaship Indomitable. Grom was once a respected admiral in the Federal Navy, before defecting with huge numbers of ships and followers. They established the independent EG Union, which he presides over as a military dictatorship.
The rival delegation is led by Ambassador Delphine Dumont of the Federal Diplomatic Corps. They were transported on the Freedom's Foundation megaship courtesy of Delta Pavonis Galactic Interstellar, which formerly

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The subject came up on the CIC Discord and I was surprised some folks didn’t realize that the aces in Wing Commander III had custom, souped up versions of the standard fighters. Let’s go, there’ll be a spreadsheet at the end!

Victory Streak introduces us to five Kilrathi ace pilots, one per ship type in the tradition of Wing Commander I. Three of them appear in the PC version and two were cut but still have cool ships hidden in the game’s guts. All five appear in the 3DO port without special ships.

The aces themselves all look the same… in fact all the Kilrathi VDUs in the game use the same footage with updated dialogue. Each one does have its own set of taunts:

Aside: the 3DO and PSX versions use color versions of the Kilrathi pilot… and in the spirit of using every part of the animal, Wing Commander Prophecy reuses them with new audio instead of making/rendering new cats.

Time to meet the cats! For each

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Jayden Morris is back with a lovely follow-up to the Jincilla Veldor fighter remake he posted last month. At the time, he hinted that there was a nifty Privateer 2 project in the work and this is the result. He's recreated the landing cinematic for pilots landing on Anhur. This really caters to the interests of a niche subset of a niche fandom, and we salute Jayden for the effort here! You can find some sharp renders from the scene here.

I would also like to apologize for sitting on this for a week. He sent it to us just in time for December 9, which was the 25th anniversary of Privateer 2's launch. So Happy Belated Birthday to P2 as well! Here's the video:

We also have the original for comparison:

And here's a HUD-free version:

Last, but not least, Jayden did a more thorough fly-around of the environment:

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We recently reported on Malcolm McDowell's official website adding Wing Commander autographs to their online store. In case you were curious about the final product, here are the results! LOAF's copy came a few weeks after placing an order, and it's pretty nice! It's an odd choice of art, but that also makes this somewhat unique. You can add one to your collection for $65 plus shipping here.

Ta da! It’s a nice heavy stock paper with a semi-gloss printing. Why did they choose a 1995 Wing Commander III Playstation port ad? Who knows!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Medical and military commodities have been delivered to the HIP 22460 system in support of the anti-xeno operation.
Commodore Morag Halloran expressed gratitude that so many Commanders took part in the initiative. She indicated that payment was now available from the megaship Heart of Taurus. This includes tailored ship liveries for those Commanders who made the greatest contributions.
Azimuth Biotech has requested that pilots continue supporting the operation by obtaining Guardian artefacts, which will form part of the Proteus Wave's construction process. These can be delivered to the Bright Sentinel megaship.
The shipments of advanced medicines, basic medicines and reactive armour will be distributed by Azimuth Biotech to the Allied, Federal and Imperial taskforces within the system.
Experimental anti-xeno weaponry has been installed on the three taskforce

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Oberon Church, founder of the crime syndicate Red Family, has managed to avoid capture by the Federal Intelligence Agency.
The Federal Times's crime correspondent Ethan Takahashi reported on the latest developments:
"In many ways, the FIA's operation against Red Family can be considered a success. Coordinated raids and arrests have seized most of the organisation's assets, including colossal amounts of illegal narcotics and weapons."
"But Oberon Church has lived up to his self-styled image as 'the man of smoke', forever drifting through the fingers of those who try to grasp him. And until this notorious drug lord is finally apprehended, the agency cannot relent in its work."
"Proactive Detection Bureau analysts are working to decrypt communications found on captured data drives. They believe these include coordinates where the surviving syndicate members are gathering to protect their leader."

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Salvation's anti-xeno superweapon is now complete and final preparations are underway in the HIP 22460 system.
Commodore Morag Halloran, Azimuth Biotech's military coordinator, broadcast this announcement from the Bright Sentinel megaship:
"Salvation has confirmed that the Proteus Wave core mechanism is fully active. Calibration inside the Thargoid structure on the surface of HIP 22460 10b has successfully concluded. Power sources derived from Guardian designs are building to the required levels, and a final series of safety checks are currently underway."
"Upon detonation, the energy pulse generated by the Proteus Wave will cause catastrophic disruption to all Thargoid biomechanical technology within range. Every alien vessel in HIP 22460 will immediately cease to function. Salvation predicts that the wide-ranging impact of the superweapon will drive all Thargoids

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

If you caught Mac's short video last week, you got a taste of what he's up to with Klavs' amazing Rapier models. His last scene went heavy on the red tones while this one emphasizes more of the blue notes. You can now pick whichever is your favorite as a glorious 4K wallpaper!

So yeah, I'm doing a #wingcommander thing. A small thing mind you, based on a story about a little Corvette that could. Somehow I seem to be having difficulty getting back into the ~*Youtuber Grindset*~, so I figure a small warmup project is just what's needed.