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Last year, we started a second vote to create a Hall of Fame honoring some of the greatest Wing Commander fans and projects of all time. The award very appropriately went to Klavs last year. This year's winner is a little less bittersweet but still just as deserving: the second member of the Wing Commander community's Hall of Fame is–of course!--Mario "HCl" Brito!
HCl has been synonymous with Wing Commander modding since before some fans today were even born. His incredible ability to take apart files and figure out what makes games tick allowed for many incredible creations: movie players, mission buildings, ship editors and so much more. And he gave to the rest of the community by publishing his research on his wonderful website. Without his work there would surely be no Unknown Enemy or Standoff or video patches or even a Wing Commander CIC! It's appropriate that HCl enters the Hall of Fame in this year when the annual project winners are continuing the legacy of preservation and exploration that he premiered. Wingnuts everywhere salute you. Wing Commander fans everywhere salute you!
The runner up Hall of Fame award goes to Unknown Enemy! UE was the very first large-scale Wing Commander mod, a total conversion for Wing Commander Secret Ops that told a completely new story! Unknown Enemy wasn't just a great game experience, it changed the fandom into something willing to break through Origin's not-very-moddable game engines to create new and wonderful things. Saga, Standoff and countless other projects are in its debt. And the Unknown Enemy team has gone on to do plenty of additional incredible things for the community! Here's betting they'll take the top spot for 2026.
