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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We'll keep this week of video posts going with a new retro review from SideQuest, who has returned to the Wing Commander series with Wing Commander 4. They covered WC3 earlier in the year, and while they could appreciate the earlier game, they came away as big fans of the sequel. I didn't catch exactly what version this was, but I suspect they were playing the GOG edition with DVD quality videos based on comments about the picture quality. The reviewer appreciated the variety of missions, improvements in storytelling and just overall polish and refinement. As for the extra wingmen, those are just tuckerized Origin developers. A handful of larger sequences need more wingmen, and pilots like George "Blade" Oldziey and Anthony "Yaeger" Sommers are there to answer the call!

Returning to the Wing Commander series now. While I appreciated Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger a lot, I had heard Wing

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
A new starport has become operational in the LTT 198 system, following Senator Zemina Torval's mining initiative.
Torval Orbital will serve as the administrative headquarters for Torval-Mastopolos Mining. The company successfully competed against Wreaken Corporation to establish a presence within LTT 198.
Marlon Royce, business analyst for Vox Galactica, observed:
"Mastopolos Mining should be boasting about the positive start for its new subsidiary. Instead, its reaction has only confirmed the widening rift between the Mastopolos family and their corporation's majority shareholder, Zemina Torval."
"CEO Gabriella Mastopolos officially distanced herself from the offshoot company, claiming it 'hijacked our name with the intention of luring our clients'. And speaking to Imperial media, both Adrian and Elena Mastopolos criticised Constantia Torval's suitability to act as

Quote from No Man

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone playing the Frontiers Update, especially those taking the time to report any issues they encounter via Zendesk or console crash reporting.

We are listening closely to your feedback, and have identified and resolved a number of issues. These fixes are included in patch 3.62, which will be live on all platforms soon.

Patch Notes

• Fixed an issue that prevented the Automated Mining Unit and other similar parts from being placeable or available to research.
• Fixed an issue that caused some bases to be powered incorrectly.
• Fixed a crash related to building generation.
• Fixed a crash related to terrain textures.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent games from saving correctly.
• Fixed an issue that caused standing lights to be powered incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue that caused the freighter captain interaction to close prematurely.
• Fixed an issue that caused various interactions that offered weapons to

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Neomedical Industries has requested deliveries to produce onionhead gamma strain for Alliance and independent systems.
The new variant of the popular psychedelic drug is currently sold in a handful of independent systems by the Kumo Crew syndicate. The IHO has confirmed that the product does have many medical applications.
Olwyn Kendrick, CEO of Neomedical Industries, outlined the initiative:
"Our goal is to gather sufficient resources for the manufacture of onionhead gamma strain as a medicinal treatment. Target markets will include both independent and Alliance systems, should enough commodities be delivered."
"We request that pilots transport H.E. suits, polymers and robotics to Crippen Port in the Haithis system. Reimbursements will be arranged by our corporate partner, the Haithis Purple Dynamic Group."
The Kumo Council has despatched a megaship, the Mictlan, to

Quote from No Man

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone playing the Frontiers Update, especially those taking the time to report any issues they encounter via Zendesk or console crash reporting.

We are listening closely to your feedback, and have identified and resolved a number of issues. These fixes are included in patch 3.61, which will be live on all platforms soon.

Patch Notes

• Fixed an issue that could prevent some Xbox users from loading their saves.
• Fixed a crash related to placing base parts.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues with cuboid rooms.
• Fixed an issue that caused the fleet debrief screen to close prematurely.
• Fixed an issue that caused the product research tree accessed in factories to close prematurely.
• Fixed an issue that caused the trading screen to close prematurely when trading with a landed NPC smuggler.
• Fixed an issue that caused the companion customisation screen to close prematurely.
• Fixed a number of snapping

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Eryx Channel has posted a video about the "Evolution of Wing Commander Games." It's a simple clip with edits of the games as they appeared in the franchise, but a few things caught my eye. Games like Academy, Armada, Righteous Fire, Super Wing Commander, Kilrathi Saga and Arena are included, which is always really great to see. It's kind of odd they added in WC Saga at the end, because the rundown should really just go through 2007. Fan projects like WC Saga are wonderful, but there are a bunch of awesome ones that could warrant their own complete video. Also, that's a Star Citizen/Squadron 42 screenshot in the thumbnail, which is extra weird because it's not even in the clip!

Oh, the other thing that caught my eye is this stellar comment:

I liked this series because my dad would always be on top of the newest release in the series.Those were the good 'ol days!

That's where we are now, folks.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We've got a lot of YouTube in this week's news slate! Today's video is a huge nostalgia trip by Lazy Game Reviews. LGR managed to get ahold of a brand new sealed Creative Labs bundle with a Sound Blaster, double speed CD-ROM, speakers and tons of awesome games. While quad speed drives were starting to hit the market and WC3 was starting to light up the sales charts, this would have still been a very nice set in early 1995. The $380 MSRP (nearly $700 in today's money) was a bit pricey, but not a bad deal. It was everything you needed to turn your boring old PC into a multimedia powerhouse! He goes through the unboxing of the exquisite machinery, then hardware installation and software setup. The included games are a win: Ultima VIII, Strike Commander, Syndicate Plus, Wing Commander II and more. And it's fun to see how much fun he's having opening all this!

2X CD-ROM! Sound Blaster 16! Speakers!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Alliance and Imperial leaders have responded to the recent wave of Federal systems declaring independence.
Eight factions have now severed ties with the Federation, in response to government surveillance of all private and public communications.
In an interview with The Alliance Tribune, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Corcoran remarked:
"The Proactive Detection Bureau's intrusive nature has caused millions of people to rightfully demand self-rule. President Hudson should be fearful that history might view him as the Federation's first dictator."
Senator Denton Patreus's comments were featured by Eye on Achenar:
"Of course the Federation's factions are turning against it. The arrogance and corruption of its leaders will inevitably cause it to rot from within. We can expect to see it dissolve into chaos before long."
Federal newsfeed Sol Today published a response by Vice President Jerome Archer:

Quote from No Man

Hello,

Today we are pleased to finally reveal what our small team has been working our socks off on. Full patch notes for Frontiers are available here.

Fittingly for our 5th anniversary update, Frontiers is one of our biggest updates for a long time.

Frontiers introduces the concept of large living breathing planetary settlements which travellers can encounter, interact with and even be elected Overseer of. As the leader of your adopted people, travellers can choose to help them, even lead them, ensure their future prosperity and happiness and ultimately develop these fledgling towns into even larger towns.

You are able to construct new buildings, to see your town grow as you welcome new inhabitants. Citizens will look to you to help solve their problems, make important decisions, keep them safely below sentinel radars, and help defend against drone attacks.

In addition to the introduction of these settlements, Frontiers

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
A data bank left by a crashed vessel on the moon Colonia 5 e a has reactivated, revealing clues as to its origin.
The crash site was first discovered over four years ago via listening posts in the Colonia, Neche and Wasat systems. These posts held transmissions from the ship's owner, Commander Hyford, discussing his attempts to avoid members of a private military outfit he had previously worked for.
This latest development was discussed by Erik Gunnarson of the Wallglass Investigations Agency:
"Commander Hyford spoke of making deliveries to a nameless organisation in the Pleiades, and left a data cache in the Colonia system that provided further details. Hyford's Cache, as some investigators referred to it, had remained locked until a manually-set timer system finally expired last week. The information within has apparently directed pilots to investigate the HIP 26176

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Maiden Ariana has posted a fun video about her journey to getting Wing Commander 3 running on a vintage computer. There have been similar videos in the past that have emphasized things like the config.sys and autoexec.bat type configuration, but she goes on an entire quest that ends up involving both CD-ROM and sound card replacement. While WC3 is not the most speed-sensitive Wing Commander game, it can still produce some quirky results with higher end Pentium era hardware, which led to some issues. But with enough time, effort and retro hardware, it's possible to get the game working smoothly! Check out the video to see how she did it:

I take you on a bit of my troubleshooting journey to get Wing Commander 3 hopefully running flawlessly on actual vintage/retro hardware (no DosBox cheating here).

This is my first full length Retro Alcove video. Many more to come in this series. If you like what

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The pharmaceutical giant Neomedical Industries aims to mass-produce onionhead gamma strain as a medicine.
The announcement follows a report from the Interstellar Health Organisation, which details how the new onionhead variant is an effective treatment for many psychological and musculoskeletal conditions.
Olwyn Kendrick, CEO of Neomedical Industries, told the media:
"The IHO has confirmed the findings of our research of onionhead gamma strain's use for specific medical purposes. Clinical trials prove that its psychedelic qualities are no more intense than the side effects of conventional neuroleptics."
"It is inappropriate that a crime syndicate should provide a product that can relieve the suffering of millions. Therefore, we aim to build our own stockpile to expedite its distribution to common markets."
This statement was viewed as controversial in some quarters, particularly within the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

EG1918 tipped us off about an impressive Russian effort to dub over Wing Commander 3. The team used ODVS' fancy AI-upscaled HD clips, so everything looks super slick, and they had a host of Russian speakers voice each of the roles. It's great to see such dedication around the world! Everything has been packaged up into this YouTube video below. For an extra meta layer, you can use the auto-translate feature for real time English (or other language) captions of the Russian speech!

While those are just the FMV clips, the team also recently streamed a full playthrough of the 3DO version of the game. This one shakes up the combat slightly to better fit the console. The 3DO port adds some fun gameplay elements and even adds back in movie clips missing from the PC version. You can find their four-part series on that below:

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Cybot is back with some fancy Wing Commander kitbashes. Back in the day, he was well known for experimenting with quirky designs based on familiar WC influences. He's got several new objects to share now, and these are largely based around Privateer-themed elements. This includes Steltek ships and Gemini Sector bases. You can check them out and grab the .objs for yourself at the CIC Forums!

Just some 3d model bashing mostly

Quote from Freelancer News-Bot

We are very excited to announce that Freelancer: HD Edition has now been officially released!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

I listened to the full 90 minute episode of this week's MK Podquest, which was all about the Mortal Kombat/Wing Commander Academy crossover involving the Warrior King. Hearing all that Wing Commander banter made me think about the CIC's own streaming web show, All Wings Considered. Although production has been suspended due to the pandemic, all 37 episodes of LOAF and Dundradal's epic tribute to Wing Commander are still available online. That's over a hundred hours of prime WC content! Everything is available on Youtube, but a few choice selections are available below. If you missed these during their first run, you're in for a treat!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The Bands of Her Majesty's Royal Marines has just released a thrilling clip of their massed band conducting a field performance of the Wing Commander Theme. It's possible that this is a recording of the same Beating Retreat performance that was released on their 2018 album, but the video was not widely available until this week. This is just a treat - don't miss it!

The TV theme Wing Commander composed by Kevin Kiner & David Arnold, arranged by WO1 Ivan Hutchinson RM and performed at Beating Retreat at Horse Guards Parade.

The UK has it right, we should dedicate less of our military spending to endless foreign wars and more of it to fantastic performances of the Wing Commander movie score.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Marlinist Colonies are recovering from a period of political infighting and inter-faction conflict.
Octavia Volkov has been voted in as the new first minister following a snap election. Her decisive action against Aaron Whyte's Neo-Marlinist movement, which led to the elimination of the NMLA's political wing, drew huge support from voters.
In a parliamentary address, First Minister Volkov said:
"We must focus on building an independent society rather than changing the Empire. In time we will evolve into the fully-fledged Marlinist Republic we have fought so hard for, and perhaps inspire our Imperial cousins to walk the path to democracy."
Marlinist factions now control all eight of their original colony systems, some of which had temporarily fallen under external governance. They have also expanded into a handful of new systems.
Prime Consul Kayode Tau, the chief ambassador of the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The MK Podquest is an undertaking after our own heart. They're a dedicated podcast founded to focus on the 22-episode 1998 television show Mortal Kombat Conquest. They've also branched out to other elements of the franchise, which led them to the Mortal Kombat cartoon, Defenders of the Realm. You know where this is going: the Saga of the Warrior King.

In 1996 Michael Dorn voiced a space viking that chases after an orb across the Street Fighter, Savage Dragon, Mortal Kombat and then Wing Commander Academy universes in an epic and inexplicable crossover event. The MK Podquest duo have spent the past month examining every chapter in this story, and Wing Commander is their finale event. They went in with low expectations and zero experience with the WC series, and the team was pleasantly surprised. It's their overwhelming favorite, and it's entertaining to hear them learn about and explore the WC

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
The Torval-Mastopolos Mining initiative in the LTT 198 system has outperformed Wreaken Construction's rival campaign.
Pilots delivered mined resources to the megaships Pride of Bitterwood and Tobias's Gift to support the competing corporations. Ultimately, it was the new subsidiary of Mastopolos Mining that received the greatest quantities.
Senator Zemina Torval provided a statement to Imperial media:
"This is an auspicious beginning for my new enterprise. I am pleased to offer rewards to my supporters at the Pride of Bitterwood in the EGM 559 system."
In addition to credits, the top 75% of Torval's supporters will be provided with an experimental mining laser and permanent permit access to LTT 198.
Constantia Torval, one of the senator's daughters, has assumed the role of director of operations with Torval-Mastopolos Mining. There has been no comment from the