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Quote from Star Citizen News-Bot

Writer’s Note: Phantom Bounty: Part One was published originally in Jump Point 3.1.

Two hundred and sixty-five days. That’s how long they’d been hunting the Phantom. It seemed like they’d entered a thousand of these tiny, dark, hole-in-the-wall taverns, seeking leads from shifty informants, always just too far behind. Mila leaned against the metal prefab wall and tried to breathe through her mouth, but the scent of stale alcohol and vomit flooded her nostrils anyway.

Rhys stood at the bar, towering above the other patrons, his broad back all she could see as he haggled with the owner for information, likely bribing away the last of their meager credits. Her stomach churned just watching him. They had to be close this time. Because if they didn’t land that massive bounty soon, they wouldn’t be able to afford so much as a mug of this dive’s swill.

Mila ran a hand through her straight brown hair, and a

Quote from Star Citizen News-Bot

Writer’s Note: Phantom Bounty: Part Four was published originally in Jump Point 3.4. Read Part One here, Part Two here, and Part Three here.

Mila was a traitor. She’d risked her career as a bounty hunter . . . had betrayed her partner, Rhys, to free Casey. Was it all worth it? Had Casey been telling the truth about her father developing bioweapons?

Mila snuck a glance at Casey as she returned to the co-pilot’s seat. The dark-haired woman offered her a small smile, then harnessed herself into her seat. Mila’s childhood friend. A terrorist.

The emptiness of space loomed before them, nothing but darkness beyond Devana’s forward screen. Mila gripped the controls so tightly her hands ached.

“I’ve managed to mask our signal,” Casey said, “but it’s a temporary fix only. We have a half hour. No more.”

“How . . . ?”

Casey explained the method, and Mila shook her head, partially in awe of the hacking skills

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Famous Origin artist

Denis Loubet

is back with a new Wing Commander item. He's been experimenting with 3D printing for some time, and we've been excited at the possibility of something out of the WC series. The Terran Confederation

Medal of Honor

has been at the top of our list, and that's exactly what's on the docket here. A prototype design has been put together as a type of pin, but LOAF has gone one step further and found the exact type of ribbon necessary to make it perfect. They still need to work out the details of how the two components might be attached, but this is already a great start. We can't wait to see the finished product!

Sorry for the long wait, but I finally created a 3D printing file for the Terran Confederation Inter-Congressional Medal of Honor! You can order it now, but before you do I want to ask the forum what kind of attachment to the ribbon do you want on the back of

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

As part of our continuing efforts to make more parts of the game accessible to every one of your characters, from those of you that have 2 to those of you have that 592, we’re happy to announce that beginning on June 25th, all purchases made from the Personnel Tab of the Zen Store will be unlocked for your entire account! This includes: Bridge Officers Combat Companions Companions Tribbles And more. If you already purchased any of these items, fear not, they will immediately become unlocked for your entire account. However, if these items were purchased as part of a separate bundle, they will remain fixed to the character that claimed them. Because these items are now unlocked for your entire account, they will no longer be tradable with other players. The only exception to this change will be the Bridge Officer Slot that was purchasable in the personnel tab – this will now live

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

With the release of our 9th Anniversary Update for Star Trek Online, we will be rolling out a new account-wide progression system for Captains to enjoy, Personal Endeavors! Inspired by the positive feedback we received from the current Endeavor system, Personal Endeavors bring new Endeavors, Account-wide progression, and increased opportunities for daily rewards. All high level Captains (level 60 or higher) will now be able to unlock account-wide stat increases by completing daily tasks. Every day you will be given three Personal Endeavor tasks of varying difficulties (Easy, Medium and Hard). These tasks are shared account-wide and unique to every account, and are granted in addition to the existing server-wide Endeavors (which we are re-branding as “Universal Endeavors” for clarity). Completing your Personal Endeavors will grant experience within this system, as well as other rewards

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We spend a lot of time in the world of science fiction here at the CIC, but when history is made in the real life realm of science and technology, we like to take a moment and recognize how incredible it is that the imaginary events of yesterday are actually happening today. As you've hopefully heard, the Perseverance rover successfully touched down today on the surface of Mars. Like its sibling in 2012, the maneuver was accomplished as the rover was gently lowered by a levitating aerial crane. The fact that this time the "rover" was a one ton beast the size of a car makes it all the more amazing. On top of the ability to search for signs of life on the surface, this probe packs a flying helicopter for the first time. This will provide unprecedented views and mobility for a craft on another planet. I can't wait to see what we learn in the weeks, months and years ahead! Congratulations to all of

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

The planet Pahvo has been a flashpoint of late, particularly after a recent trans-dimensional temporal event. Forces from the year 2256 (and two universes) have found their way to Pahvo through spatial aftershocks, and are hell-bent on conquering the enigmatic world. In Peril Over Pahvo, a new Featured Task Force Operation, five Alliance captains will deal with the invasion events in the Pahvo system. Temporally and dimensionally displaced fleets are closing in as Alliance forces scramble to implement planetary defense systems to safeguard the planet. Until those systems are in place, it’s up to a small group of ships to defend Pahvo from attack. This event will last for 3 weeks starting in March for PC players, and on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in the spring of 2019. All players level 10 and above will be able to participate, and can earn a TFO Commendation once every 20 hours. Complete the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The German Shock 2 gaming site has posted a new speculation piece about the potential for a new Wing Commander game. They base this on comments in Jeff Grubb's GamesBeats show. As the story goes, EA Motive of Star Wars Squadrons fame is working on a new game that's a comeback of a popular franchise. For many years, Wing Commander was in a distant third place behind Electronic Arts' other space sim franchises, Star Wars and Mass Effect, so prospects were slim. A lot has changed lately with Star Wars going non-exclusive and the mixed fortunes of the Mass Effect franchise. This means Wing Commander is certainly a potential contender once again, although the stars would need to align for a viable project to actually see the light of day. It's only a matter of time though, and we'll be here to bring you the news when it happens!

Google's translate features are working better than ever these days, so

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

There's a little error in the intro to Super Wing Commander. Paladin reports that his wing is "approaching Fralthi target" when what they're actually attacking what immediately turns out to be a Snakeir carrier.

You can watch the full intro here. An even dorkier continuity error is that the intro can't happen BEFORE WC1 because the Rapiers, Fralthi and Snakeir are the (only) specific ships that are introduced as being brand new during the game.

So wondering if there was a story here, I went back to access the 3D models used to render Super Wing Commander's ships. SNAKEIR.OBJ is the carrier (later reused by Armada as the Shiraak) but FRALTHI.OBJ is... this:

I forgive you if you don't know the Super Wing Commander Fralthi redesign by heart, so here it is from the manual:

Is it just a case of giving up on one concept and switching to another for the actual game? Well, I found another piece of the puzzle:

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Privateer 2 programmer Paul Hughes recently shared a pic of some vintage Origin trinkets. Over the years, Mr. Hughes has been a wonderful source of amusing anecdotes and behind-the-scenes info, and these are neat too. The 3fx pin is pretty standard and features their main logo. I imagine there would have been a bunch of these going around in 1996-1997 during the development of Wing Commander Prophecy. The other emblem has an Origin label surrounded by the phrase "It beats working for a living." Cute!

Heavens knows what these were doing in a disk box. Some old pin badges from 3DFX and Origin Systems.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

There have been some new developments with the Peacock service this month, and this could affect your access to stream Wing Commander Academy. As you know, Peacock added WCA to its slate of shows back in 2020. Although the series is readily available on DVD for cheap, there are a handful of improvements that make the streaming edition arguably superior, including better music/voice sound balance. A few items fixed on disc were not incorporated, however, and you can read all about these differences here. In 2021 a countdown appeared that implied the show would be moving to a higher paid tier, but this was soon dialed back. The ticker has now reappeared, which suggests it may only remain in its current form until the end of the month. Presumably, the show would remain in either the Premium or possibly Premium Plus category.

On a very much related note, there have also been some big changes in who

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The rise of the xeno-peace movement has caused a number of public figures to discuss coexisting peacefully with the Thargoid race.
With military options currently under discussion in the political capitals of all three superpowers, calls for diplomacy have sought to keep pace. Professor Shamus Madigan, Head of Xenology at Olympus Village University, is one of several figures to have weighed in on the matter:
"The ancient records of the Guardians, as deciphered by Ram Tah, describe how they learned enough of the Thargoids' language to make peaceful overtures. These were rejected in favour of total war. Though millions of years have passed, it seems improbable that the Thargoids will view humanity any differently - particularly since we actively deploy Guardian-based weaponry against them."
Federal Governor Dalton Chase:
"Assuming the communications barrier can be broken, I see no reason why

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News

Independent journalist Chukwuma Grant has published an article on peace activist and former Federal President Jasmina Halsey. Grant has described the report as a wide-ranging analysis that addresses "the political impact of a politician renouncing politics".

Key extracts from the article are reprinted below:

"Some believe that Jasmina Halsey always intended to defect from the Federation and join the Alliance, where she currently acts as an advisor to Prime Minister Edmund Mahon. Others assert that after years of inhumane politics, her conscience broke through – that she sought meaning by helping others and striving for concord between the powers."

"But it was Starship One's destruction that transformed Halsey – something that she herself could not possibly have planned. Her subsequent 'visions' made her politically toxic, at least as far as the Federation was concerned, allowing her to simply

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We're going to wind down this week with another set of Spanish Pcmania scans from Maxi de Sokar. These compromise their preview, review and advertisement for Wing Commander 4. I like how their blue formatting matches the game's Confed uniform tones, but overall it's a lot less flashy than some of the magazine layouts from earlier in the decade. We've added translations again for folks who are curious about what they say, which is generally pretty positive with a 91% final score. You can also compare these to their WC3 article here.

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

While flipping through the October 1994 issue of British gaming magazine PC Zone, noted retro gamer

Pix

spotted a vintage

Armada review

. The reviewer praises the graphics (a low resolution preview of the still upcoming Wing Commander 3) and was especially impressed with the hybrid turn-based/split-screen multiplayer feature, in which two players can go head-to-head on a single computer. The user friendliness of the menu system for setting up modem or netBIOS sessions also received a nod of approval. The five page spread contains ample screenshots of

Armada

's different game modes, although some space is reserved for a large inset preview of Wing Commander 3. Shortly after the game's release, the free

Proving Grounds

expansion would add support for IPX networking and six player sessions. A decade later, a

fan patch

by

HCl

enabled internet play. Scans below courtesy of

Pix's Origin Adventures

!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

While flipping through the October 1994 issue of British gaming magazine PC Zone, noted retro gamer

Pix

spotted a vintage

Armada review

. The reviewer praises the graphics (a low resolution preview of the still upcoming Wing Commander 3) and was especially impressed with the hybrid turn-based/split-screen multiplayer feature, in which two players can go head-to-head on a single computer. The user friendliness of the menu system for setting up modem or netBIOS sessions also received a nod of approval. The five page spread contains ample screenshots of

Armada

's different game modes, although some space is reserved for a large inset preview of Wing Commander 3. Shortly after the game's release, the free

Proving Grounds

expansion would add support for IPX networking and six player sessions. A decade later, a

fan patch

by

HCl

enabled internet play. Scans below courtesy of

Pix's Origin Adventures

!

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Today we've got a historical profile from the July 2000 issue of PC Zone. It works two ways: the article is a recap on the highlights of the PC space sim genre from 1984 to 2000, but at the same time, it's ancient history itself. While there was quite a lull in the space sims during the 2000s, the past decade has certainly seen something of a revival, and I look forward to reading that recap someday. I vaguely remember this article when it was new, and it's kind of amazing that more time has passed since it was published now than the mere 16 years of timeline that they were covering back then. They hit on the big three: Elite, Wing Commander and Star Wars - before finishing off with a bit about some of the late '90s entrants like X and Starlancer. There are also some fun quotes from the editor of A Talent for War, which was a space sim community hub that started up around the same time as the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The kind human behind the X-Wing Game Series Twitter account has sent us a wonderful vintage interview. This piece from the May 1996 issue of PC Powerplay magazine talks to Mark "Hammil" (Hamill) about his experiences on the Wing Commander games. Mark is in rare form and it's a compelling transcript -- I wonder if he ever played that 3DO! -- but even more exciting than the text is this rarely seen production photo of Hamill as Colonel Blair wearing a Confederation flight suit with a Border Worlds patch. Awesome!

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

General: Added Crafting Weekend event to 9/6-9/10. Added Shuttle Weekend event for 9/20-9/24. Systems: Cardassian Bridge Officers of Uncommon, Rare, and very-Rare qualities are available as a Duty Officer Recruitment Assignments. Resolved an issue where Co-Opt Energy Weapons could cause excessive amounts of healing in some cases. The Slipstream Turn-rate boost from the Obelisk Subspace Rift Warp Core and Polaric Modulator Engineering Console has been increased to 100%, from 20%. Character: Resolved an issue that prevented some 23rd Century Tellarite, Gorn, Klingon, and Andorian costume options from being available to players that had completed the 23rd Century Story Arc on any character. The second color choice now works for the Cardassian Tight Pants for male and female. Resolved a clipping issue for Jem’Hadar Captains wearing the Nol Ennis helmet. Klingon faction Jem’Hadar

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Content: The "Mycelial Realm" TFO is no longer eligible to be chosen for Random TFOs. Systems: Resolved an issue that caused updated Delta patrols to reward more skill points on completion than intended. This does not reduce points earned for starship mastery. Increased the XP/MasteryXP modifier present on Patrol maps in the new Patrol System from 2x to 3x. Resolved an issue that prevented Unstable Anomalies from working with some Anomalies.