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AD found a couple of nifty vintage mid '90s magazine scans from a Portuguese publication, Super GamePower. The topics are slightly different than your usual fare: this time they cover WC1 on Sega CD as well as the 3DO edition of Super Wing Commander, which are both lovely games with some unique features compared to your typical Wing Commander. Both articles are also heavy with screenshots, so you can enjoy them regardless of whether you speak the language!
Jun
…The Wing Commander Gemini Sector RPG is about to kick off a brand new campaign! They will be launching into the Nitir Sector soon, so it's a great time for new pilots to join up. This RPG has really grown over the last few years as they've leapt from the web to Discord. Rear Admiral Tarsus has put a lot of work in to creating animated mission briefings - plus there are bonus animations for things like autopilot and destroying a fighter. The whole production has a lot of heart. Visit their website for more information or hit up Tarsus!
Hello all you beautiful Wing Commander fans.The Gemini Sector RPG team is starting a new campaign in the Nitir Sector.
Our events calendar is available on geminisector.wikidot.com and we need pilots. Trust me, I am going to throw a real challenge at the players this time.
Also, the combat engine has had some minor cosmetic enhancements that will be revealed this Sunday.
Aug
…Here's a few more shots of the glorious Tarawa model that Mac has been experimenting with lately. It's good to see people still putting Klavs' design to good use! The main purpose seems to pretty much be setting up for some prime B-roll in future lore videos on YouTube, but it still makes for gorgeous still imagery in the mean time.
Oof, looks like I'm gonna have to get back to work on getting the Tarawa fully working!Something that I didn't mention was that my work with the Tarawa, was actually based on the work of someone named littel_ludi on the Hard Light Production boards who imported Klav's models into Freespace/WCSaga and made it public on their forums here. At the moment all I've done is the retexturing, the glow points, and the bump maps, with the full intention of making the Tarawa into a fully working CapShip (It's missing a lot of functionality atm). Although I might end up abandoning
Aug
…An investigation into the tri-superpower organisation Aegis is seeking to establish the reasons for its failures.
Dr Paul Baumann, chair of the independent board of inquiry, outlined its scope:
"The initial phase is to fully understand the work of Aegis, before examining strategic and operational decisions. Interviews with senior staff have been scheduled, with Admiral Aden Tanner providing details on military activity."
"One specific area of attention is the lost megaship Alexandria. We are performing a thorough analysis, including background checks on its crew. Hyperspace physicists are theorising probable causes for its failure to arrive at HIP 30944."
"We will be raising issues of culpability, specifically whether the concentration of Guardian artefacts aboard the Alexandria directly led to systems coming under Thargoid attack. Other incidents will be reviewed to identify possible grounds
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
Feb
…*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Brewer Corporation has requested a new batch of deliveries to the Alcor and Colonia systems.
The Colonia Bridge is comprised of 56 stationary megaships and six starports, providing facilities to travellers between the core systems and the Colonia region. However, the starports are still in a state of construction.
The megacorp outlined its latest requirements in a press release:
"Phase four of the Colonia Bridge project launched with a highly satisfactory first week. Shipments of coffee, emergency power cells, geological equipment and liquid oxygen arrived in sufficient numbers to ensure Universal Cartographics and Vista Genomics services were added to all six starports."
"The goal of the second week is to continue assembling the stations' infrastructure, and install Pioneer Supplies, Crew Lounge and Search and Rescue services. To achieve this, performance enhancers,
Jun
John Nelson has been hinting at this Lego model for a while, and he’s finally ready to reveal his Dragon fighter from Wing Commander 4. In order to contrast the primary airframe with some of the detailed elements, he’s colored the main hull black. There’s an imposing red cockpit canopy and a variety of dark gray highlights. It can be a challenge to perfectly mimic the in-game models, but I particularly like how the forward lower fuselage and fission guns turned out. The hot red intakes are also a nice touch!
I teased it awhile ago. Finally done and no not perfect but the most Barney badass Wing Commander fighter ever, the Dragon, is done. I needed more pieces and really wanted to scrutinize the wings and fuselage. No part of this super craft was an easy build. Please enjoy.
Jul
…The Federal Intelligence Agency has launched a multi-system crackdown against the organised crime network known as Red Family.
Synchronised raids are currently taking place in over a dozen systems across Federal space. Multiple ships, properties and manufacturing plants connected to Red Family's illegal operations are being seized.
FIA Deputy Director Bethany Blake provided a statement to The Federal Times:
"For decades the Red Family cartel has trafficked colossal quantities of dangerous drugs to our citizens, leaving a trail of death and misery behind them. The FIA dealt a severe blow to the syndicate in 3305, but its kingpin Oberon Church escaped justice and remains one of the most wanted criminals in the Federation."
"This current operation was only possible thanks to the Proactive Detection Bureau. Our algorithms intercepted key messages that identified Red Family's allies within local
Aug
Our thoughts are with Salman Rushdie this afternoon. Did you know that he was the basis for the character Hunter Toth in Wing Commander: Privateer? Toth’s VDU image was even taken directly from the dust jacket of The Satanic Verses!
Aug
…We're still riding high off the CIC's 24th Birthday earlier this month, and Klavs has something special to keep that train going. He commissioned Malcolm McDowell on Cameo to film a clip commemorating our latest milestone. It's really tremendous to hear him talk about his memories on the role. "I must say, I did love Tolwyn. A really wonderful character in many ways. Strong. Very, really cool. ... I'm thrilled that you liked my interpretation of him, because I really went for it, enjoyed it." Klavs put in a little extra to give him additional context that resulted in a longer four minute video. It's also really nice to hear him speak about David Warner and how he was glad that his friend got to reprise the role in the WC film. I love this so much - thank you Malcolm McDowell and Klavs!
The 32-year mark that Mr. McDowell references at the start of the clip is the age of the WC franchise in
Aug
Display MoreAnd now, all of Maverick's outfits that weren't uniforms from Wing Commander Academy. First up: space pajamas ("Red and Blue").
Undershirt to disguise himself from the Kilrathi ("The Last One Left").
Medical gown ("Expendable").
Swimsuit ("On Both Your Houses).
Kilrathi cold weather survival jacket ("The Price of Victory).
That's it, that's the whole post. Go home now.
Feb
…I’m working on a Righteous Fire walkthrough and while playing the last missions I noticed the Elite Salthi were firing fusion guns. But my increasingly old man memory was sure the big reveal was that they fired copies of the Steltek Gun. Was I misremembering because there’s dialogue about the gun being copied? I watched a dozen YouTube videos and they were all fusion guns. Huh!
Then I realized: I first played the expansion when it was released on disk in early 1994, just a few months before the CD-ROM came out and that became the de facto version of Privateer. Could there have been an intentional change? I installed the floppy version from disk images and… sure enough!
WHY? It’s not an accident as the Dralthi uses fusions in both versions. I’m guessing the support folks were sick of people asking how to get the gun back and decided not to tease players. Too bad, as it was a distinct enough moment
Mar
Dominus of Exult has managed to track down another rare and exotic Wing Commander find. While scoping out a lot of vintage games, he noticed some extra pack-ins with WC1/2. It turns out they were physically mailed patch disks that the original owner received after working with Origin Tech Support. That’s how it worked before patches were easily downloadable online! A few of these pop up from time to time and they’re always very cool to see.
Bought a Wing Commander lot for $50 (1-5, Secret/Special, Privateer2, Academy, Armada). Mainly because I didn‘t have the regular Prophecy and spied some oddities. I think it was worth it
Apr
Scribbler has a new entry in his line of classic Wing Commander ambiance/ASMR videos. This one takes place in the green bunkroom of Caernarvon Station. You can hear the hum of equipment and various chirps from time to time. There's a solid hour in store to help you zone out!
In this file we remain in the ambiance of the quarters on the Caernarvon space station. A remote outpost of the Confederacy. Ideal for making money without the dangers of war. Except for a few minor skirmishes on patrol. Another day comes to an end in space. Then come to your sleeping quarters and rest. Everyday life stays outside. Today we don't do anything anymore.
May
…Jerome Archer, Felicia Winters and Zachary Rackham are lobbying for public support as the Federation prepares to elect a new president in August.
Political correspondent Sofia Trevino covered the race for The Federal Times:
"With Zachary Hudson's eight-year term approaching its end, citizens must decide who will be the president of the Federation by the year's end. The electoral machines for all three candidates are in full swing, with campaign slogans appearing at all Federal starports."
"The Republican Party has pinned its hopes on current Vice President Jerome Archer, who hopes to reassure Hudson loyalists with his similar leadership style and focus on interstellar security. Shadow President Felicia Winters, head of the Liberal Party, is promising a more humanitarian approach to government policy. And the wild card is independent candidate Zachary Rackham, whose wealth and notoriety afford
Jun
…*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
An initiative in Rabh has enabled Aegis to begin manufacturing a module that gathers data about the Titans.
Deliveries of ceramic composites, polymers, gallium and indium were immediately put to use mass-producing the pulse wave xeno scanner. Distribution is underway and rescue ships have already begun stocking the module.
Professor Alba Tesreau, head of Aegis, released a statement:
"The Thargoid Titans represent not only the greatest threat to humanity, but also the greatest scientific opportunity in a generation. Learning more about these enormous constructs could be crucial to our understanding of the Thargoid species, which I still believe is the only path to ending the war."
"A coalition of Allied, Federal and Imperial technicians worked around the clock to modify Professor Palin's xeno scanner using pulse wave technology. Thanks to the dedication of independent
Jun
…AllTinker has a variety of updates to the Confederation project that we shared last month. First up, there are more shockingly good graphical test assets to share. His extended take on the flight deck looks incredibly natural - it's surprising to check out the animated version that compares his take to the original. There's also a great interpretation of what a young Ralgha looked like. He was a pretty buff guy in his youth! This version was partially inspired by EmuMusicFan's sketches. There's also a handful of technical enhancements that have been made that you can read about in more detail at the CIC Forums. This includes some in-depth discussion about how visuals like the landing sequence below were made!
A quick update on the project: I've recently started work on splitting out the code for reading the original data formats into a separate C++ base library which will be open sourced as soon
Aug
Authorities in the Kamici system have reported a distressing rise in the number of criminals operating in the area. Reports indicate that these felons are attacking pilots travelling in the system, disrupting trade and generally causing mayhem.
To counter this threat, Kamici Incorporated has placed a kill order on all ships on its wanted list, and has promised to reward pilots who deliver bounty vouchers to Gaiman Port.
The campaign begins on 16th of August 3304 and will run for one week. If the final target is met earlier than planned, the campaign will end immediately.
Feb
A military supply campaign to increase security in the Merope system has concluded successfully.
Jacob Chowdhury, Defence Director of the Atlas Research Group, said:
"Our gratitude to all the pilots who delivered Reactive Armour and Military Grade Fabrics. These resources will prove vital in enhancing Merope's defences against Thargoid attacks."
The Atlas Research Group also helped protect traders from piracy by placing kill orders on all wanted ships in the system.
Contributors to the campaign can now collect their rewards from Reed's Rest in the Merope system.
Feb
…The weapons manufacturer Prax Incorporated has dismissed accusations of poor safety measures in its development and testing programs. Concerns were originally raised by Adley King of The Federal Times, as part of an investigation into weapons testing within inhabited sectors.
CEO Lucina Prax gave this press statement:
"I can assure Ms King that my company takes every precaution when evaluating its products. We have never – and will never – ignore safety protocols."
"Regarding these accusations, I am aware of the claims being made but have yet to see a single shred of evidence to support them. We act in full compliance with the most stringent industry regulations."
"3304 was a record year for Prax Incorporated. The latest version of our proprietary threat-recognition firmware propelled our stock to new heights, and we are developing a new system that I believe will be considered revolutionary."
