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AD happened to run across a pair of new (to us) interviews with composer Mark Knight. Mr. Knight has had a long and extensive career in game audio, but the Amiga port of Wing Commander was basically his first entry. The unique Amiga tracks have a popular following among Wingnuts, so it's an interesting story to hear about how he got started in the industry. From Talkin' Games:

Talkin' Games: Let’s move back deeper into history again. 1992 was an important milestone for you as a musician. You were hired by a big and successful studio that developed games across many platforms. You are also known to arrange music for the Amiga port of Wing Commander, which had an excellent original soundtrack that I can easily backtrack in my memories. Perhaps even because of the fact I gave the game another complete playthrough not long ago. Was this the very first game you worked on?

Mark Knight: It was the first

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

DefianceIndustries has completed another slick little ship that is destined for the WC4 Fan Remake. We got a little peek last month, but the assault shuttle has since been fancied up with a battle worn Border Worlds texture. Little details like the doors and turrets look much sharper now, which makes the whole package nicer to look at. You can read more about how the Hermes was developed and what it will be used for in the months to come here. As a bonus, there's also an enhanced clip of the ship in action below. This sequence of the Telamon landing was used as a high quality reference for Defiance's design.

Evening all from the art department. Another asset for the demo is now ready.

The Hermes shuttle is one of those fun little guys that never really got enough screen time. Read all about it here.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Evidence presented at the trial of Fleet Admiral Vincent suggested financial links to Federal shipbuilding corporation Core Dynamics.
This significant development was covered by Ethan Takahashi for The Federal Times:
"The initial investigations around Starship One's destruction in 3301 were outlined by the prosecution. When the Federal Attorney's Office revisited this historical data, traces were found of financial transfers routed through non-Federation banking systems."
"The FAO brought in the expertise of the Wallglass Investigations Agency, which discovered that these transactions were made via shell companies created by Core Dynamics. Fleet Admiral Vincent, as well as several other naval officers, received billions of credits through these companies that went undeclared."
"Vincent refused to answer any questions about this evidence, once again claiming that he is the victim of a

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Like many aspects of life over the past year, the convention circuit has suffered due to the pandemic. There have been some fun developments though where certain cons have found a way to creatively circumvent the coronavirus by hosting events virtually. GalaxyCon is one such venue, and they're hosting a variety of virtual activities through the spring. This includes an autograph session with Freddie Prinze Jr., star of Wing Commander, the new Punky Brewster show and several other popular movies and series. Fans can choose to have Mr. Prinze sign an 11x14 inch Wing Commander poster. A basic personalized autograph costs $92, and he'll inscribe an additional short message for $30 more. The cutoff is April 18, so get your orders in soon! We'd love to see what customizations you end up getting!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
As the Assembly votes for its new leader, Prime Minister Edmund Mahon has requested mined tritium to aid expansion.
The new initiative follows on from his successful drive for industrial materials, which resulted in large amounts of ceramic composites, polymers and superconductors. Pilots who contributed to this can now collect their rewards from Dublin Citadel in the Gateway system.
A competing community drive by Councillor Nakato Kaine, Mahon's main rival in the election, brought deliveries of copper, micro-controllers and polymers.
Prime Minister Mahon's new tritium mining initiative aims to provide a stockpile of fuel to support the Alliance's expansion programme. This will involve constructing up to five new starports, which are expected to be operational within a month.
Mined deposits of tritium can be delivered to Dublin Citadel in the Gateway system.
Members

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It's not often that we make a new piece of CIC merchandise, but birthday parties give us a good opportunity to finally pull something like this together. It only took us four or five years to make these finally happen. We'll be giving some out at the party tonight, so we wanted to share the link for anyone that might want a set. We make no money whatsoever on these or any other items. They're just presented here as a novelty for folks who want a set of their own.

The photo on the left is from a pre production batch that was testing out sizing. The actual size is depicted on the right (picture courtesy of DaveO!). The coasters are available on Zazzle here for about $25. There is a 20% off coupon code ("AUGUSTSAVING") good for this weekend that brings the price down to $20 plus shipping. And thanks again to DefianceIndustries for the graphics!

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EmuMusicFan has a novel new technical proof-of-concept that he'd like to share. He's leveraged the WC Toolbox to find out how to trigger custom speech files during Wing Commander 2. WC2 was renowned for its revolutionary spoken dialogue in 1991, but there are only a few minutes worth of speech in the actual game. The standalone speech add-on pack added it in for spaceflight, but the majority of movie clips are still captioned text.

Emu's put together a couple of example clips that show how new speech can be inserted. Obviously this isn't just a recording placed on top of the video - he's managed to trigger the sound file to natively play. If you'd like all the wonderful technical details explaining how this is possible, check out his full explanation here. It would be quite an undertaking, but this demonstrates how it would be possible to do a full audio mod for the game!

I have found a way to add

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
The Delta Pavonis political conference has erupted into conflict between EG Union and Delta Pavonis Galactic Interstellar.
Yuri Grom, the ruler of EG Union, broadcast this message:
"This conference was nothing more than a trap! My delegation was apprehended at gunpoint by a squad of undercover Federal agents. Sacrifices made by my loyal guards enabled us to escape from Kessler City, only to find our ships under attack. The Federation has declared war – I will respond in kind!"
President Zachary Hudson gave an official statement:
"Yuri Grom is a traitor and a dangerous threat to Federal security. We cannot ignore any opportunity to eliminate this ruthless tyrant."
Delta Pavonis Galactic Interstellar has asked for Federal auxiliaries to provide combat support to its forces. In return, the EG Union called for help from "allies of Yuri Grom and enemies of the Federation".

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ZOmegaZ showed off an artistic mockup for a Wing Commander challenge coin a couple months back, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Many people asked how they might be able to get one, and now he's close to making that happen. He's put together a good solid design with a Confed star on one side and the Tiger's Claw on the other. Since revealing the prototype, a Hornet fighter has also been added for good measure - which is a nice touch! This is part of a combined project where he's also designed similar coins for Babylon 5, Star Trek, Serenity, Farscape, Frasier and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. You can mix and match as needed. WC coins are $11 plus shipping, which is very reasonable for a custom trinket like this. ZOmegaZ isn't marking these up for profit - it's basically just the manufacturing and shipping costs to get something cool in fans' hands! You can learn more and support

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Due to rising fuel costs, the Confederation Space Force has determined that the F-110 Wasp interceptor will now be launched into combat without booster rockets. This is after analysis has determined that 1400 kps is sufficient for most engagements. Studies are under way to determine if the craft's afterburners can be electrically powered going forward. After the drivetrain retrofits are complete, pilots will be responsible for plugging their craft into charging stations on the flight deck after each mission.

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Today we've got some new 3D print examples from L.I.F.. He's moved on from the Excalibur and is now testing out a Morningstar. There's some plastic scuzz that needs to be shaved down, but the spaceframe is one of Klavs' gorgeous designs. Here it is presented next to the universal unit of scale, a Nintendo Switch (non-OLED):

Still some issues getting the Rapier to work in the slicer, but in the meantime, here's a print of Klavs' gorgeous Morningstar (although nowhere even close from LYP's print of it), with a Switch for scale.

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We always like looking at little Wing Commander ships, and we thought you do too! Here's a couple of newbies that L.I.F. recently printed from DefianceIndustries' digital archive. These are deep cuts and date back to 2015 and 2016. These weren't originally meant to be printed, but they appear to have held up extremely well through the process. Super slick!

Since I feel the need to print all the coolest models from the community, here's how DI's Banshee and Lance look like, with minimal work done to make them printer-compatible. Thanks again, mate, for all the help you offered during these years working together!

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Speaking of pinball, today we have a peek at fantastic start to a custom Wing Commander pinball machine. The project was built by dotmos over at the FlipperMarkt Forums. It was designed with both Privateer and WC1/2 concept art influences in mind. There are traditional wood and electronics throughout, but he also fabricated 3D printed ramps and rocks to simulate navigating an asteroid field. Unfortunately he's been silent on the machine for a couple years, so we might not get to see the finished product, but this is so cool that we had to share what exists!

Ideas haunt my head from time to time to time, but I haven't really nailed it down yet. There are a few concrete ideas on some things... but this is not really recorded anywhere.I find it an interesting idea to choose the wingmen or anchor them in the game and have never really thought about it. Thank you for the mental impetus! So far, my ideas

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Shipments delivered to the Upaniklis system have enabled the Golconda generation ship to resume its millennia-long voyage.
Tritium, medical diagnostic equipment and power generators were needed to finalise the retrofit of the ancient vessel. Bounties were placed on all wanted ships in the system to protect traders from pirates targeting the flow of traffic to the Golconda.
A statement was provided by Captain Jonathon Forester:
"The Golconda has now achieved full operational status, and for the first time is capable of faster than light travel. I offer my deepest gratitude to all those who made this possible. It will be my honour to once again lead my people on our journey among the stars."
The majority of the original population have begun to migrate back to the generation ship, which nurtured their isolated micro-civilisation for over a millennium. A few thousand

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval has made a public announcement for the first time since the Battle of HIP 22460.
In an address before the Senate, which was broadcast on all Imperial networks, she stated:
"Our endeavour in the HIP 22460 system was a noble one, born from our duty to defend Imperial citizens against the Thargoid threat. We honour the crews of the INV Audacious Dream, INV Illustrious Fortune and INV Paramount, as well as other auxiliaries and volunteers who fought against overwhelming odds. Their names will be remembered."
"The disastrous outcome from the so-called coalition provides direction for our future. It is clear to me that the Empire must learn to trust its own military strength once again. Joint operations with the Alliance and Federation, and our reliance upon Salvation's superweapon, were strategic errors that we cannot afford to repeat."
"Henceforth, all inter-superpower

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Prime Minister Edmund Mahon has spoken out against Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval's decree to suspend inter-superpower cooperation.
At a meeting of the Alliance Assembly, Mahon said:
"This hasty decision from Emperor Arissa will have dangerous repercussions for the core systems as a whole, not just those within the Empire. Now that the Thargoids have become more hostile than ever before, humanity should be uniting against this common enemy."
"Let us not forget: the coalition of anti-xeno taskforces in HIP 22460 performed their duties admirably, despite the tragic conclusion. That degree of military coordination could and should be sustained, to a far broader scale."
"The Sirius Treaty, which I proposed at the Galactic Summit in 3307, would have established anti-xeno operations as a cross-superpower priority. I can only imagine how much better prepared we would now be to combat the Thargoids. But

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Allied forces have successfully defended the Andecavi system from Thargoid vessels.
The defence operation was centred around the megaship Kumiho Sky, which hosted the Alliance and Sirius Corporation's joint anti-xeno taskforce. A declaration of victory was made by Admiral Nikolas Glass:
"Operation Tyndareus is officially a triumph! Alliance Defence Force and Sirius Navy crews have fought side by side to protect the people of Andecavi from the Thargoids. The aliens withdrew from the system en masse, following several days of hard fighting."
"The taskforce was ably supported by many freelance pilots and AX squadrons, who can now claim their rewards from the Kumiho Sky. These include unique pre-engineered heatsink modules for qualifying xeno-hunters. In addition, the modules will shortly be commercially available via official Sirius Corporation technology brokers."

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots' Federation ALERT*
Two more rogue signal sources have reached human space, wreaking similar destruction to the Taranis Maelstrom.
The Indra anomaly arrived in the HIP 20567 system, with the Leigong anomaly slowing to a halt in HIP 8887. The Maelstroms, as these entities have been classified, both manifested as enormous gaseous clouds. These are known to be extremely hazardous to any ship venturing too close, but the nature of what lies within remains unknown.
As with Taranis, each new Maelstrom pre-empted staggering numbers of Thargoid vessels flooding nearby populated systems. Recent reports indicate that the alien fleets have completely dominated 9 systems in proximity to HIP 20567 and none close to HIP 8887. Starports, settlements and outposts have all been devastated or abandoned, with the total number of casualties unknown but feared considerable.
A total of 16 systems are

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

If you're up late Christmas Eve and still scrambling to complete your list - we've all been there, and the CIC is here to help! Give the gift of Wing Commander. The entire series is discounted to $12 as part of their winter sale. There are also great digital options that can virtually deliver the movie, music albums and ebooks. Whether you're done shopping or not, if the holiday stress has been too much to handle, head over to Discord #Wingnut and decompress with your fellow fans!

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Matthew Lillard has announced a fun event taking place on Monday afternoon. He'll be playing the board game Operation with Star Trek Picard's fantastic Todd Stashwick in order to promote the Tabletop News channel. He'll also have some giveaways related to his own gaming company, Beadle and Grimm's. Find it here live between 4 and 6 pm Pacific time on the 17th. Sounds like it'll be a blast!

I will be cutting into a patient with the hopes of victory! Watch us do it from 4-6PST. Giving away some @BeadleAndGrimms stuff on @watchtabletop!