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Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

ACT has confirmed receiving evidence that NMLA attacks were orchestrated by Imperator Hadrian Augustus Duval, who immediately denied the claim.
Landgrave Delacroix of the Neo-Marlinist Order of Mudhrid provided details to ACT that the isolationist group Nova Imperium is at the heart of the NMLA. In response, Hadrian Duval made this statement:
"These accusations are completely false. Our political stance is the exact opposite of Marlinism, since we believe in restoring the Empire's traditions. Nova Imperium forces even fought against the terrorists in Mudhrid, as required by the Treaty of Paresa."
"As for Lady Astrid being a 'top NMLA agent', my wife has been a loyal Imperial Commander since she first piloted a ship."
Princess Aisling Duval has publicly decried the allegation and offered support to Hadrian Duval. However, Senator Zemina Torval told the Senate:
"Should we be surprised that an

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Mac's Lore has posted a new video, and this is a fun one! It's an overview of the TCS Tiger's Claw, which is an awesome story. He cover's the ship's origin, extensive service history and untimely end. Mac beautifully weaves together several sometimes-confusing threads from the game, movie, television show and Star*Soldier for a single compelling narrative. There's also a rundown of the carrier's stellar crew, with extensive backstory provided there as well. Give it a watch below!

The first carrier of the Wing Commander games, she would set the standard for all other ships in the Confederation going forward.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Francesca Wolfe of the Wallglass Investigations Agency examines the Hesperus megaship and the Dredger Clan that caused its recent discovery.
"When the Adamastor derelict received a strange signal, smart money was on it originating from its sister ship, the Hesperus. Both were owned by Azimuth Biochemicals and had vanished 200 years ago."
"After a united effort to decode and trace the signal, independent pilots located the Hesperus in an asteroid belt around the second star of the Perseus Dark Region KC-V C2-2 system. Like the Adamastor, it was devoid of life – but not alone."
"Alongside it was a dredger, whose proximity had triggered the Hesperus's mayday. This was a rare sighting of a Dredger Clan, one of the nomadic tribes that Gunnarson recently discussed."
"The Scriveners Clan was originally a fleet of research vessels for a long-forgotten academic consortium. Over centuries they became a

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

A frequent question we get is to ask what's up with Wing Leader, Howard Day's impressive tech demo in the Unity engine. It's been in suspended animation for a bit, but Howard recently posted some shots of what it looks like with Mattias_G's CRT shader in place. It gets quite a retro vibe! He's also been playing around with some character models. His Hunter and Angel are below. I especially like the recreation of the flight suits. Howard was careful to point out that this wasn't a restart of the project, but it's always good to see him tooling around with Wing Commander stuff!

Here are some more direct side by side shots of the shader enabled.

My very early take on some talking heads for Wing Leader. Rendered in 3dsmax 2022, using Fessler's index painting technique!

This time with "Angel" Devereaux! The face model is by Damon Czanik. Straight renders outta 3dsmax.

#Wingleader Video with the CRT

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Imperator Hadrian Augustus Duval of Nova Imperium is the mastermind behind the NMLA, according to classified information leaked from within ACT.
Independent journalist Flint 'Firemaker' Lafosse published the details on the Rewired network:
"Hadrian Duval: the illegitimate embarrassment of the Imperial Family, or their secret terrorist nemesis? That's the story being told by survivors from the Neo-Marlinist Order of Mudhrid, who gave up their secrets to save their own skins."
"According to my source, Landgrave Delacroix confessed to ACT that his faction transported enzyme bombs and Nova Imperium assassins to their targets on the direct orders of Hadrian Duval, who promised rewards and political power in return."
"Delacroix also revealed that Hadrian was converted to Neo-Marlinism a year ago by his consort Astrid Minerva, a top NMLA agent. She convinced him that becoming Emperor would be much

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NightBall06 has taken the wraps of his latest set of Hellcat drawings. As previously noted, these are some fancy 2D digital creations as opposed to a rotatable 3D model, which is a different way to do it. This one is referred to as the "final version," but NightBall notes that some changes around the canopy and with the guns are probably still likely. What do you think? Let him know at the CIC Forums!

And yes, indeed - in my imagination, with these new engines and the Jump-Drive, it was meant to be some sort of "modern reinterpretation" set during or shortly after WC Prophecy...

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It's been an excellent week for Excalibur models! The Wing Commander community has its own version of the twin movie phenomenon where it seems like fans develop similar items in totally separate bubbles. As is often the case, the result here is that we have double the amazing eye candy to enjoy! In his latest masterpiece, Defiance_Industries designed a slightly beefed up Excalibur based on the Secret Ops version as a bridge to the concept version meant for Wing Commander Arena. There are some very handsome shots of it parked in the Victory's flight deck - plus pics alongside a classic Excalibur and Midway megacarrier. Last, but certainly not least, Defiance has mocked up an entire virtual history of this variant in an ICIS style recap. You can read up on that in a PDF here.

While Pedro is providing quality digital entertainment to the masses, I needed something to keep my skills sharp. So I

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Trelane spotted something that you don't see every day: Wing Commander mentioned in the lede of an Associated Press article. It's not the most auspicious mention by any means, but it turns into an article talking about the potential merit of video game movies as a genre. We've been saying this all along. Movies don't have to be high art to be fun. Sometimes you just have to take your thinking cap off and enjoy the show. You can find the full article here!

NEW YORK (AP) — Is there a more woebegone movie genre than the video game adaptation? This is the pantheon of “Max Payne,” “Wing Commander” and “Assassin’s Creed.” In the 27 years since the first video game movie, “Super Mario Bros.,” these adaptations have been so regularly mocked that you might think the genre was -- like a teetering fighter in “Mortal Kombat” surrounded by chants of “Finish him!” -- on its last legs.

And yet, Hollywood is

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Shadow President Felicia Winters has claimed that the Proactive Detection Bureau is unconstitutional as it violates the Federal Accord.
In an address before Congress, she said:
"The Federation's constitution explicitly guarantees citizens the right to data security and privacy. The PDB tramples over this by raiding everyone's personal communications, casting aside decency and dignity so that algorithms can probe into every aspect of our lives."
"Furthermore, if ACT's hypothesis is correct and the NMLA is using an advanced dark-comms network, then the PDB's existence is baseless and unjustifiable."
Vice President Jerome Archer responded:
"The Domestic Counter-Terrorism Act is emergency legislation that temporarily suspends constitutional statutes, until we are satisfied that the terrorist threat has been negated."
"Following the PDB's success in uncovering extremist groups, we are widening the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Chronocidal Guy's recent 3D printed Excalibur model was a big hit, and fans wanted to get a closer look at the actual model renders to appreciate the design in all its beauty. They look wonderful, and Mr. Guy has provided a variety of angles to give everyone a great view. He has a few additional notes about areas that he had to tweak for producibility, but the fighter still looks pretty spot on!

The 3D model is currently a mess of assembly structures and supports, but drawings I can absolutely do. Fully orthogonal, instead of those odd perspective renders we've had for so long.

The second side view has the near tail and missile bay moved and flipped around to show their backsides, and give a clear view of the rest of the ship behind them, with the back engine bank moved down to show the inner surface. No markings yet, and I don't have the details built for the darker access panel areas, but those

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
An initiative by the Kumo Crew syndicate to construct new starports for increasing trade has ended successfully.
Pilots delivered large quantities of ceramic composites, semiconductors, polymers and water purifiers to Gabriel Enterprise in the Harma system. Bounty vouchers were also offered to protect the shipments during transit.
The Kumo Council has announced that rewards for both traders and bounty hunters are now available from Gabriel Enterprise via its loyal intermediaries, The Razor Whips.
Kavanagh Spaceframes Ltd will now fulfil its contract and construct new Orbis starports. These will be in place on the 29th of April 3307 at the following locations:
Pegasi sector PN-T C3-14, near the Harma system
HIP 18390, near the California Nebula
HIP 10792, near the Sothis system
HIP 62154, in the Coalsack Nebula
Eol Prou PC-K c9-91, in the Colonia region
A statement

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Ancient objects left behind by the Guardians have been requested by Aegis for a new anti-xeno research programme.
The Guardians were an intelligent humanoid species whose civilisation collapsed over a million years ago, and who were engaged in hostilities with the Thargoid race.
Professor Alba Tesreau, head of Aegis Research, gave this statement:
"At the Galactic Summit, Aegis agreed to undertake a fresh analysis of Guardian technology. The hope is that this will lead to the development of more effective defences against the Thargoids. We therefore require new samples to compare with Ram Tah's groundbreaking work on this mysterious species."
"Guardian artefacts including those previously identified as caskets, orbs, relics, tablets, totems and urns are needed. These can be unearthed from the ancient ruins scattered across dozens of worlds."
"I beseech the galactic

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Apparently 2021 is the year of the WC1 translation! Rehsin is making progress on a Polish version. He's running it through testing now to ensure everything is accurate, which is a great excuse to have to play through the game! Here are some examples of the game in action.

Hello WCNews staff and all wingnuts.

After a long break I returned to WC1 for a while and took care of translating the game into Polish. At the moment I have translated graphics files, messages and the Vega campaign. Now I'm testing the game and if necessary I'll make corrections to the translation.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Proactive Detection Bureau, which monitors all civilian communications in the Federation, has detected several home-grown terrorist groups.
Deputy Director Bethany Blake of the Federal Investigations Agency told the media:
"Our combination of sophisticated algorithms and skilled operatives has unearthed over a dozen extremist organisations, all previously unknown. The FIA launched pre-emptive raids on these groups before they were able to strike against civilian targets."
"In addition, we have arrested several thousand individuals who were conducting research into terror tactics, radical ideologies and other suspicious subjects."
"The PDB will continue monitoring all comms networks, and liaising with local security agencies via the Federal Justice Department."
Vice President Jerome Archer hailed these results as validation of the Domestic Counter-Terrorism Act, and stated that the PDB will

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Look at that little thing go! The Mars Perseverance team successfully flew the Ingenuity helicopter today. The first powered flight on another planet. Despite all the Earthly setbacks of the past year, it's just wonderful to see the progress still being made.

Witness the historic moment in full. The Mastcam-Z cameras on @NASAPersevere show us the takeoff, hovering and landing of the #MarsHelicopter. pic.twitter.com/ypdIWmC4D1

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 19, 2021

  

Have you heard? We flew a craft on another world for the first time ever with flying colors. Now, relive the scene in Mission Control as news of Ingenuity's nail-biting takeoff made it back to Earth.#MarsHelicopter pic.twitter.com/ER25G6uhdp

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 20, 2021

  

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Wing Commander mouse pads are relatively rare, but they do exist and they're crazy cool. Most people would be lucky to have one in their collection, but Dennis Mull now has three different ones just for Wing Commander 4! He is undoubtedly the coolest kid on his block!

New old mousepad arrived

Another Wing Commander IV Promo Mousepad

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Neo-Marlinist Order of Mudhrid has been granted sanctuary in the Marlinist Colonies in return for revealing the identities of the NMLA's leaders.
The faction's survivors arrived in the Hyades Sector RO-P b6-2 system after being defeated by Imperial forces. The Marlinism Reformation Party agreed to offer political asylum, despite all three superpowers demanding the refugees' arrest.
Imperial Senator Lorcan Scordato, who was visiting the Colonies on a fact-finding mission, announced:
"After meeting the Neo-Marlinists and the Marlinist Parliament, I have secured an agreement. The Landgrave of Mudhrid and his inner circle will cooperate fully with ACT to provide details on the senior leadership of the NMLA. In return, they will receive life imprisonment at a local detention facility."
"The Steel Majesty's population will undergo security vetting by the Marlinist Constabulary to identify

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
Commanders have reported receiving anonymous instructions regarding the 200 year old derelict megaship orbiting Chukchan 5 b.
A communications beacon stored onboard the Adamastor began receiving and rebroadcasting an encrypted signal on the 8th of April. Efforts by authorities to trace and decipher the signal proved unsuccessful.
However, a number of independent pilots claim to have been contacted by an anonymous source, who provided an access key to decode the Adamastor signal.
Commander Rex Trevelyan gave this statement to Vox Galactica:
"Not long after arriving in the Chukchan system, my ship received a message from someone calling himself 'Salvation'. He provided a decryption key, and when I downloaded the signal from the Adamastor it became readable. It seems to be an automatic SOS from its sister ship, the Hesperus."
"I've heard that some Commanders have made

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a nice preview of Wing Commander 3 from the October 1994 issue of the UK PC Games magazine. I don't see the connection between the "Resistance is Useless!" headline and anything else in the article, but everyone was still enamored with the Borg and all back then. The tone of the article is infectious and really gets readers pumped that WC3 is the start of something big. And for a time, it really was! The main scans are from Pix and AD found the cover. They sure picked a funny game to lead with that month - not a lot of people still talking about Inferno these days!

It has to be said that Wing 3 looks like it's the closest you're going to get to taking part in a sweeping space opera. Forget Battlestar Galactica, skip Star Wars - if Origin delivers everything it promises, Wing 3 looks set to be the start of the next generation of PC CD games.

If the 7th Guest was the excuse people needed to

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's a recorded copy of the George Oldziey live streaming event last year. We had posted about the interview in the run up, but never shared the final link. George talks with the Los Angeles College of Music where is is part of the Composing For Visual Media faculty. This was at the height of the summer coronavirus wave and they were finding creative ways for people to connect. It's an hourlong conversation, and most of the first twenty minutes or so are on his history with Wing Commander. They talk about how he got hired into Origin and into detail on how he orchestrated the games' music. There's even footage of the live WC orchestra recording that he crowdfunded several years back. It's a fun and informative watch!

Composing For Visual Media Faculty GEORGE OLDZIEY, gives us a behind-the-scenes look into his creative process for film scoring and orchestration! George is an award-winning