News from Bot

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Here are this week's main stories.

Expansion of the Witch Head enclave has continued with the installation of seven planetary ports. Focus has turned to supporting the influx of new colonists, now that access to meta-alloys in the region has been secured. It is hoped that the new ports will accelerate ongoing efforts to repair the starports damaged in recent Thargoid attacks.

In related news, new engineer Chloe Sedesi has opened for business at one of the new planetary facilities, Cinder Dock. Sedesi's services have been complemented by a tech broker and material trader, available at Bray Landing and Ratchet Hub respectively.

Finally, the Alliance Festival of Culture has entered its third week with a music festival in the Phekda system, which organisers have called 'the greatest gig in the galaxy'. The line-up includes a mix of established and new talent, with a one-off performance by

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Jason Dugs

has posted a neat mini documentary/commercial for the Amiga CD32. It's narrated in German, but the vintage visuals speak for themselves. The

Amiga port

of Wing Commander is lesser known than its PC counterpart, but the

Amiga CD32

console port is even more obscure. It adds back in 256 colors similar to the DOS edition. It's a pretty cool reference for the archive!

This special shows games for Amiga CD32 and Commodore CDTV and explains something about the origin and why both systems have failed. There is also a commercial for the games Banshee, Wing Commander and Defender of the Crown II.

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Happy Birthday, friends! Today marks 21 years of the Wing Commander CIC at wcnews.com! We first opened our doors in 1998, and it's been a crazy ride ever since. We're super happy to have made it this far with all of you. As we've previously announced, we'll be formally celebrating the event in an enormous chat party and livestream next weekend. It's easy to join the fun in #Wingnut on the CIC's Discord Server. The YouTube video link will be provided here closer to the event. Mark your calendars for 7:00 pm EDT (4:00 pm PDT and 11:00 pm GMT) on Saturday, August 17. We can't wait to see you there - it's going to be super fun!

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The Alliance Festival of Culture enters its third week with a massive music festival in the Phekda system drawing thousands of attendees. Organisers are calling the event 'the greatest gig in the galaxy'.

Corinne Macintyre, cultural correspondent for The Alliance Tribune, reported:

"The programme is certainly diverse, encompassing everything from megastars like Spectacular Nemesis and Jade Graceland to up-and-comers such as The Lasting Hold."

"Meanwhile, for those whose knowledge of contemporary music stops with Mahler, the Topaz Philharmonic is one of several orchestras performing this week."

"But the big news is that legendary singer-songwriter Xiona is coming out of retirement for a special one-off performance."

The Alliance Festival of Culture will continue for a further four weeks.

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Classic Vgm Soundtracks

has posted the music for Wing Commander

Prophecy on the Game Boy Advance

. As we know from the

History of Raylight Games

, the developers did not have access to the source tracks and had to make this from scratch. Prophecy Advance's audio may not be as technically impressive as its 3D engine, but all aspects of the game are

vastly under appreciated

, so we love to see stuff like this. Jump ahead a few minutes if the intro music seems to run long and enjoy!

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DefianceIndustries

' conceptual

Wildcat

has gotten a handful of tweaks. In particular, the recognizable wingtips, nose shape and engine position have been changed to improve the lineage connection to the Hellcat. The ship's also gotten four external missile hard points, which make it look rather tough!

I got noodling on my doodling again (sorry it's been a long week already). And the things that to me say "this is a Hellcat" are the downward pointing wing tips, squared-off and stubby nose, overall delta shape, and 3 main drives. Otherwise it's a Bearcat XD. So I didn't want to just throw a 3rd engine on the back, it would ruin the tail assembly, so I tried offsetting an engine along the centerline. Above the hull oddly caused the ship to look A) too much like a viper and B) it kind of messed up the lines. So I stuck the engine on the ventral hull and I think it looks pretty good - it blends in better

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Humanity's expansion into the Witch Head Nebula has continued with the introduction of seven planetary ports.

Six ports now occupy systems surrounding the existing enclave. The Alliance, Federation and Empire have each established two ports, strengthening the presence of their representative factions.

The seventh port, Cinder Dock, is located in Witch Head Sector DL-Y d17. Professor Alba Tesreau of Aegis Research provided some additional details:

"A facility managed by the engineer Chloe Sedesi has been installed at Cinder Dock. The engineering blueprints available at the facility offer upgrades to frame shift drives and thrusters."

"Following last-minute discussions held aboard the megaship Spirit of Minue, a tech broker and material trader have also agreed to bring their services to the planetary ports. These contacts are located at Bray Landing and Ratchet Hub respectively."

"With these new

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Rule of Acquisition # 74: Knowledge equals profit. Any wise Captain knows that when a sale this good comes your way, it’s best to take advantage of it. We’re pleased to announce that Ferengi Merchants are putting a 15% sale on Keys from August 8th at 8am PT to August 12th at 10am PT. Now is the best time for Captains to load up on your Keys and grab those ships you’ve been eyeing. Remember Captains, Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. Now is the time to act. For a limited time only starting today, players will be able to purchase the Key Ring Bundle! This special pack includes 20x Master Keys (used to open any Lock Box) for the price of 2250 Zen. As an additional special promotional offer when purchasing this bundle, every pack also includes a single Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Applying this item to any upgradeable piece of equipment will instantly set both its

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We are excited to announce the return of the Phoenix Prize Pack, which return to Star Trek Online on PC from August 8th at 8AM PT til August 15th at 10am PT. Just like Zefram Cochrane’s experimental vessel, the Phoenix Prize Pack blazes a trail into new frontiers! And, following in the model of its mythological namesake, the Phoenix Prize Pack also represents the return from the ashes of items, ships and other rewards that have been retired from Star Trek Online, and are no longer accessible by any other means. Purchasing and opening this promotional prize pack will offer players the unique opportunity of obtaining many otherwise inaccessible items, ships and equipment, which were previously available from events or promotions, or as other limited-availability rewards. (Check further below for complete prize information!) How it works is simple: Players may visit the Dilithium Store to purchase a

Quote from No Man

Hello!

Thank you for your patience. Our biggest update yet launches in a little under a week on August 14th and we couldn’t be more excited to share this trailer with you, showing off the massively expanded online component of Beyond for the first time.

BEYOND is the culmination of 12 months of work on what was originally going to be 3 large separate updates.

The more we got into development however, the more those individual pieces started to coalesce and become interdependent on each other.

Virtual Reality is cool and a major undertaking for a procedurally generated universe, but virtual reality becomes all the more enjoyable and immersive when you’re playing with friends, be they VR players or not.

Bringing the social multiplayer enhancements we wanted to make together with VR seemed not only desirable and natural but unstoppable.

Remember that everything you see in our launch trailer can be experienced in VR if

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PC PATCH NOTES FOR 8/8/19 Event: The Arena of Sompek The Arena of Sompek returns as a Featured Task Force Operation! This event will last for 3 weeks and Captains can earn an all new reward! Complete the TFO on 14 different days to earn the Section 31 Heavy Phaser Rifle in addition to marks, dilithium, and three Featured TFO Reward Boxes. There will be a buyout option associated with the Event, which can be purchased from the Zen Store to receive 10 Featured TFO Commendations and 1 Ultimate Tech Upgrade. Arena Of Sompek Updates: The minimum level for participation has been reduced from 50 to 10. Romulan and Jem’Hadar characters must have chosen a primary allegiance. There will no longer be a “Timed” and “Untimed” version of the TFO. The failure condition of having all players dead simultaneously has been removed from the Event version of the

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

It’s time for a Bonus Coupon Progress Token weekend! Playing the Featured Task Force Operation, ‘The Arena of Sompek’, from August 8th at 8am PT to August 12th at 10am PT, will earn you 100 Coupon Progress Tokens per day! You can apply these Tokens to your progress towards unlocking a Tier 6 ship of your choice! For more details on this new system, read below. We’re debuting a brand new system for Star Trek Online. Earn progress toward a Free Ship by participating each day in the Featured TFO Events that will be running from now until Fall of 2019. By playing these three Events, you can earn Coupon Progress Tokens each day, allowing you to eventually claim a '100% Discount Coupon: Tier 6 Ship' that will allow you claim a free Tier 6 Starship of your choice from the Zen Store. When you play the 'Arena of Sompek' Featured TFO Event, once per day, you will receive 50 Coupon Progress Tokens. Progress

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We're back from Star Trek Las Vegas, and boy do we have some news for you! This weekend, we were joined on our Star Trek Online: Awakening panel by Anthony Rapp himself, and we spent some time discussing the future of Star Trek Online, and everything coming up in the game. Luckily, Priority One: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast was there, not only to lend us a panel moderator in Elijah Lleo, but also to record the podcast and several interviews with the developers at the show. Want to hear more? Check out the link below. .share-footer a { margin: 20px 10px 10px 0; background: url(d7afaaa14e96d0d973f76157ae31ec5b1466398539.png) no-repeat 0 0; opacity: .5; display: inline-block; height: 60px; width: 60px; padding: 0; border: 1px solid transparent; -webkit-transition: opacity .3s; transition: opacity .3s; } .share-footer .TI { background-position: 0 20%;

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Attention flying pancake fans! Today's all about the Dralthi. First up,

Howard Day

has started building the interior cockpit for the Dralthi in

Wing Leader

. The preview below compares it to the peek we got in Secret Missions 2. It's off to a wonderful start!

Additionally,

Goliath

has taken Howard's updated Dralthi model and incorporated it into the

Sprite Refresh

, which is another cool WC1-centric project. Whereas Howie is recoding the engine from the ground up, Goliath is finding clever ways to incorporate higher quality assets into the original engine. And it's just fantastic to see how far both projects can go when they work together!

Finally, here's some sprite spinners of the new Dralthi model that we missed posting originally. There's both a standard and ace variant, which is pretty sweet!

Dralthi update for the #WingCommander #Pixelart #Remake! More details, markings. Done before I got

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The human enclave in the Witch Head Nebula has attracted thousands of migrants looking for a fresh start.

One of those heading to the area is Chloe Sedesi, a former apprentice of Professor Ishmael Palin. She gave an interview to Leon Banerjee for Vox Galactica:

"I've been working with the professor for years now, and he's taught me so much about rejigging modules to improve their function. He might come across as a bit serious, but Ishmael's actually a total sweetheart. Although he'll probably frown at me for saying that."

"I'd been thinking about striking out on my own for a while, and the creation of the Witch Head enclave seemed like a good opportunity to do just that. All those independent pilots have done so much for the new enclave, I thought it'd be good to offer a little support."

Sedesi is currently overseeing the installation of a facility at Cinder Dock in Witch Head Sector DL-Y

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

The Infinity Lock Box, containing prizes from nearly all previously-retired Lock Boxes, will be available again for an appearance beginning on PC on August 8th and on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in September. During this time, enemies defeated on both Ground and Space maps will have a small chance of dropping one of these prize-filled packages. This run of the Infinity Lock Box will feature the addition of the Emperor’s Lockbox contents, Tier 6 versions of the Voth Flight-Deck Cruiser and Voth Science Vessel, and more! Continue reading further on for the full details on these new and updated starships! Updated Prize Lists! Along with the upgraded starships and all of the prizes offered in previous appearances of the Infinity Lock Box, additional prizes originally seen in the Emperor’s Lock Box have been added to the rewards! They now include all of the following: Styx Dreadnought Cruiser

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Hardcore Gaming 101

has kicked off a lengthy two-part Wing Commander retrospective. It's not too uncommon to find a classic review of Wing Commander here or there, but author AB Silvera has gone into considerable depth this time around. The piece starts with a nice introduction to the history of Origin and how the company went from being Ultima-centric to branching out to games such as Wing Commander. That's followed up with some solid backstory on how Chris Roberts found himself making the game in Austin. The article also goes into detail concerning ports and expansions, which is subject we're particular fond of. This includes five-way screenshots to show how people and places could differ from one platform to the next. It's great to see someone spend so much time to scratch beneath the surface! Check out both segments below:

• Wing Commander
• Wing Commander II

'In the distant future, mankind

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Beginning on August 8th, 2019, the combat trials of the Arena of Sompek will be returning as our next Featured Task Force Operation, with many changes to make the Arena easier to face on a daily basis. While this TFO is available, Captains may participate daily to earn progress towards a brand new Featured-TFO reward, as well as earning Coupon Progress toward a Tier-6 Starship Coupon. This is the third and final FTFO in our Free T6 Ship Event. Don't miss this chance to finish your progress and get a free ship! Continue reading for full details! Reborn For a New Era In anticipation of the Arena’s return as a long-running Event, and in response to player feedback received during previous runs of this challenge, we have made a number of alterations to the structure of this Task Force Operation. The minimum level for participation has been reduced from 50 to 10. Romulan and Jem’Hadar

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As the CIC's 21st Birthday fast approaches, it's easy to find ourselves thinking back to how things have changed over the decades. I remember stressing about how it felt like we were late to the game in 1998 since there were already so many well established Wing Commander and space sim websites out there and we were starting fresh post-WCHS. Eventually, hundreds of other sites faded away, and while there's still a few great ones out there, not a whole lot of new entrants appear. Some of the ones that do only live in social media.

So it's especially exciting when someone does kick off a new site, puts down roots on the web and dedicates themselves to the space sim genre. In my mind, Space Game Junkie is one of these new places out there, but it's actually not very new at all. Brian Rubin founded the site way back in 2011 and has been steadily building a larger following all this time. He got a

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

It's a lazy Sunday here at CIC central, which is a great opportunity to get ahead before starting up

Righteous Fire

. All the fancy new gear is not cheap, so LOAF's strapped into the cockpit to earn some extra credits!

Sunday afternoon grind in a special bonus All Wings Considered hangout! Join me for Privateer and conversation.