Quote from Mass Effect News-Bot

This past N7 day was a particularly exciting one for Mass Effect fans, with BioWare announcing both the remastered Legendary Edition trilogy and that a team of veteran developers is now hard at work on a new Mass Effect game. Regarding the latter, a new batch of concept art for the upcoming title has been revealed thanks to BioWare’s recently released art book.

As reported by Eurogamer, Tumblr user Felassan posted a series of pictures from the newly released BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development art book. “A veteran team is hard at work envisioning the next big Mass Effect game,” reads the blurb from the book. “Expect amazing new worlds to explore with memorable characters buoyed by the series’ signature choices and consequences.” Interestingly enough, these images also suggest a possible return to Andromeda.

The first image appears to be a look at Remnant architecture, which

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The WC Toolbox is branching out to even further reaches of the Wing Commander universe. UnnamedCharacter's latest update adds the first features to help crack open console ports. WC3 is first up: on the 3DO, prospective hackers can extract .bun(dles) and .str(eam) data files. For WC3 on the Playstion, it's now possible to extract .lib(rary) and .tai (voice) files. Regular PC WC3 also gets .pak and .iff support as well. I wouldn't know the first thing to do with these exports, but the WC modding community is very excited to be able to get their hands on even more in-game assets from The Heart of the Tiger! You can grab the latest tool kit here or learn about how the new functionality work at the CIC Forums.

I was not planning on making a release just yet, but I have noticed some interest in the container formats for console versions of WC games. Since I have working code to handle some of these

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Due to popular demand, ODVS has put together and posted a complete set of enhanced Wing Commander 3 videos! There is not yet a method developed to integrate these directly into the game, but it's still an awesome trove of cutscenes to play around with. These are based off the Playstation version, so the source material is slightly higher quality. Then ODVS used his AI/machine learning process to increase the quality substantially. It's certainly not up to modern HD standards, but it's a huge improvement over the original footage. There are a couple of new test videos as well as download links below. It's highly likely that a superior iteration will be released in the months ahead, but this provides a fun collection of clips to play around with now.

Well, thanks to AD and EmuMusicFan's help, here's the first batch of remaster/comparison clips lifted directly from the PSX discs. The overall

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Second Officer’s Log, Supplemental My third night shift with the conn has been rather sedate thus far. Several members of the command staff are enjoying some off-duty entertainment in Holodeck Two; I believe it has something to do with a peculiar form of Terran mythology from the 20th century known as “super heroics.” The captain seemed amused by my tactical suggestions for the event, particularly regarding the inefficiency of capes in close combat situations. “All decks have reported in,” Ensign Chen said from the Operations station. “We’re ready to begin the system maintenance sweep at your command.” Second Officer Stoln nodded from the center chair while calling up a display to monitor the procedure. “Very well, Ensign. Begin the procedure, starting with deck 30.” The young Vulcan officer studied the holographic readout emitted from the command chair’s armrest and

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Happy Birthday, friends! Today marks 21 years of the Wing Commander CIC at wcnews.com! We first opened our doors in 1998, and it's been a crazy ride ever since. We're super happy to have made it this far with all of you. As we've previously announced, we'll be formally celebrating the event in an enormous chat party and livestream next weekend. It's easy to join the fun in #Wingnut on the CIC's Discord Server. The YouTube video link will be provided here closer to the event. Mark your calendars for 7:00 pm EDT (4:00 pm PDT and 11:00 pm GMT) on Saturday, August 17. We can't wait to see you there - it's going to be super fun!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Mystery continues to surround Gan Romero, the starship technician who single-handedly stole a docked vessel in the Vega system.

Romero's wife, Lara, agreed to an interview with Vox Galactica:

"I haven't the faintest idea why Gan took that ship, or how he managed it. It's totally out of character for him. He's not impulsive or even ambitious really. Always been the practical type, which is why I married him. I can't believe that he would do anything like this."

"Had he been acting strangely? Well, something was on Gan's mind…I guess you could say he's been distracted recently. I've caught him staring out into space a few times. And his sleep was disturbed by intense dreams, although he never wanted to talk about them."

"The kids keep asking when their dad is coming home. I just hope the Fort Dixon security services can find some explanation for all this, and bring Gan home to us."

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Here are this week's main stories.

The Empire has entered a state of conflict with the isolationist group Nova Imperium in the Paresa system. Senator Denton Patreus issued a call to Imperial auxiliaries to help destroy the Nova Imperium fleet. Imperator Mordanticus made a similar appeal, saying, "I urge all those who believe that Hadrian Duval should be the Emperor to support us."

A luxury star yacht belonging to famous actor Consuela Knight has reached its destination with nobody aboard. Computer records confirmed the crew's presence until a few minutes before arrival, when all five crew members vanished. Engineering and hyperspace experts have begun analysing data to unravel the mystery.

Meanwhile, the Interstellar Health Organisation is reviewing Vitadyne Labs's nanomedicines, which the company has admitted are based on advanced technology developed by Utopia. Many in the medical community

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The Secret Ops

Model Upgrade Pack

is itself getting an upgrade! One of its earliest ships, the Tigershark, has been revamped and looks better than ever.

DefianceIndustries

has cooked up several variants including a generic Confed skin, Diamondbacks Squadron version for WCP and a throwback green livery for Secret Ops. The renders below look fabulous, of course, but the in-game shots are just as pretty! Stay tuned for another significant playable release due out soon.

Admission time: I dislike the MUP Tigershark. I did it along time ago without the benefit of the actual mesh only loose guesses based on the renders. So while it's passable, it's not my favorite. So... what to do? Make a gen 2 Tigershark model!

On another note, I've begun packaging up the files for the next MUP release. I'll update everyone when we have the next package ready to go as well as the full changelog and feature updates.

Look

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

A spokesperson for Olelbis Holdings has announced that its appeal for commodities has reached a successful conclusion. Hundreds of pilots supported the campaign by delivering goods to Polyakov Orbital, and by eliminating agitators in Olelbis, thereby ensuring the safety of traders.

Pilots who contributed to the initiative can now collect their rewards from Polyakov Orbital in the Olelbis system.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Fantastic Plastic

has listed an interesting 3D-printed model kit for sale. They offer a 7-inch 1:72 Arrow designed by Alfred Wong for $70. Wingnuts might recall that he made a

9.5-inch 1:48 kit

last year. Aside from being a bit smaller and less detailed, the ship looks pretty good and comes in a fair bit bigger than a lot of miniatures or 3D prints out there. Their product page includes an

Arrow from WC Arena

as well as

WC Saga

, but those are slightly different designs than this model. You can check out the new Arrow for yourself

here

.

About the Design

"Wing Commander" from Origin Systems was one of the most successful space combat videogame franchises of the late 20th century. Combining "Star Wars"-like action with sophisticated story lines, the game spawned five full videogame versions between 1990 and 1997, plus novels, an animated TV series, a collectible card game and a 1999 feature film

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

The re-emergence of the Hur’q and their astounding biological capabilities has prompted Alliance scientists and engineers to research the nature of this new species. In studying the Hur’q, much progress has been made in developing equipment that is able to replicate the Hurq’s unique harmonic abilities. As new developments and advancements are discovered, the results are made available to the captains of ships on the frontier. The Hur’q present an incredible opportunity to learn from a new species of creature that lives a very different life cycle than other known species. The new Swarm Lockbox embodies the Alliance’s best efforts to replicate the capabilities of the Hur’q, and contains a ship, space weapons, kit modules, and traits. Getting to work on the Hur’q was an amazing experience for the team. Being that the Hur’q were spoken of but never seen on-screen meant we had a lot

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Federal Intelligence Agency has apprehended further members of the Far God cult, to determine if they are communicating with the Thargoids.

Media channels report a division in public opinion regarding the FIA's actions. Some see the arrests as illegal and tantamount to religious persecution. Others claim that the Far God worshippers have invited suspicion upon themselves, and that the detainments are justified.

Dr Jameelah Griffin of the Galactic Interfaith Commune commented:

"We strongly oppose this hostility against the Far God sect. These arrests are motivated by fear rather than evidence. We must fight for the civil rights of our fellow citizens, even if we do not share their beliefs."

A prominent campaigner against the Far God cult, Juanita Bishop, told the media:

"This is a victory for right-thinking people everywhere. Those warped alien-lovers are a blight on our system – one that

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

A recent report suggests that terrorist organisation the League of Reparation may be responsible for many more deaths than previously suspected.

Independent journalist Flint 'Firemaker' Lafosse shared his theories on the Rewired newsfeed:

"We know these League guys are wiping out people whose grandfolks used to work for the INRA, and it seems like things started when they poisoned that Imperial senator. But what if that wasn't their first murder, merely the first time they claimed responsibility? What if they've been active for years and nobody noticed?"

"I've been digging through old records of unsolved homicides. There's a dozen in the Federation alone where the cause of death was some kind of 'nerve agent' – just like with the senator and a few others. Not all the victims were identified, but I found four who definitely had the INRA in their past. These people didn't die recently but

Quote from Star Citizen News-Bot

Jump Point Now Available!

http://

Attention development subscribers: the May 2018 issue of Jump Point is now available in your subscription area. You’ll learn about the development of the Crusader Industries Hercules, meet Star Citizen’s optimization team, learn about Radegast whiskey and more!

Interested in becoming a development subscriber? You can learn more here.

Display More

Quote from Star Citizen News

Every week, designers, engineers and other developers from our five offices around the world answer backer questions submitted on SPECTRUM and voted on by YOU. This week, we address questions on the development of Crusader, swimming in Hurston’s oceans and more.

You can submit your questions for consideration in future episodes of Calling All Devs here

And for info on becoming a subscriber, go to: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pledge/subscriptions

Quote from Star Trek Online News

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

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The Wing Commander Gemini Sector crew continues to keep a busy schedule! The crew has added Friday night sessions that kick off at 10 pm Eastern time. They role play through a variety of social situations that the crew of a Confed warship might actually engage in on their downtime. There's also still plenty of Wing Commander action - here's a couple of their recent mission briefings! Join the fun via their Discord server.

The crew is exiting the Nitir system. They will try to give the civilians and ISS a fighting chance to survive.

Behind veils, the Kilrathi plot on their next move, as the crew of the TCS Majestic engage a task force threatening the planet Nitir.

Quote from Mass Effect News-Bot

Since the announcement of Mass Effect Legendary Edition, BioWare has provided an overview of some of what to expect from the neatly packaged trilogy remaster. The details provided have for the most part been surface-level info and insights into the development process, though the Dragon Age developer has now laid out all of the ‘gameplay calibrations’ made for Mass Effect Legendary Edition. These changes and improvements

BioWare took to the official Mass Effect section of the EA website to reveal the massive amount of gameplay calibrations made for Mass Effect Legendary Edition. The topics covered include changes to the weapons & combat system, some much-needed changes to the Mako, character customization improvements, and overarching gameplay adjustments.

As previously reported, most of the weapon and combat changes implemented in Mass Effect Legendary Edition are specifically for the benefit of Mass

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

We’re pleased to announce the return of the Research and Development Weekend! This event will run from Thursday, December 6th at 8AM PT to Monday, December 10th at 10AM PST, and features several bonuses throughout STO that will give Captains of all levels a leg up advancing their rank in the Research and Development school(s) of their choice. For those Captains looking specifically for extra help with their projects, all R&D packs throughout the game will give out an extra 25% of the items they currently disperse for the duration of this event. Queue R&D Material Reward Packages (Normal, Advanced and Elite) will reward 25% more R&D Materials and have a chance to reward a Catalyst. Alternatively, Captains wanting to advance through Research and Development schools as fast as possible should seek out Harvest Nodes, located in mission maps throughout STO, which will not only disperse 2 extra R&D

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a really cool find that LOAF recently came across. From the outside, it might look like a nifty WC1 Special Edition autographed by Chris Roberts, but it's what's inside that's pretty rare! The set was originally purchased directly from Origin in 1990, and the included Secret Missions were special mailed in a WC branded envelope instead of the standard slim black box. Not many of these were produced like this, and even fewer still exist today!

I lucked into one of my grails! It’s a copy of the Special Edition of Wing Commander with the Secret Missions mailer! This version was only available via mail order from Origin in 1990. The mission disk came separately in the mailer in December when it was finished.

They hadn’t originally planned to release Secret Missions at retail at all, it was an extra mailed directly from Origin. But there was so much interest they ended up doing a boxed