News from Bot

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Jan Sandoval, a founder of the Red Family cartel, has revealed why she surrendered to the Federal Intelligence Agency.

According to Executive Agent Viola Trask, Sandoval has provided proof that the Red Family has developed a new designer narcotic, genetically engineered to be far more addictive than all other substances traded on the black market.

"It's clear that such a narcotic would ruin billions of lives throughout Federal space," said Trask. "Sandoval sees herself as a businesswoman, not a mass murderer. Such an operation is incompatible with her principles."

"Sandoval also explained that she failed to prevent cartel kingpin Oberon Church from manufacturing the new product, leaving her with no choice but to request help from the proper authorities. For this, I commend her."

"Using additional details contained within this testimony, FIA field agents are already engaged in disrupting Red

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Reports indicate that the Thargoids have abruptly withdrawn from the majority of human-occupied space.

Admiral Aden Tanner, chief military liaison for Aegis, announced:

"Multiple reliable sources have reported a mass departure of Thargoid craft. Their forces vanished from dozens of locations within hours of each other. Only the Maia and Merope systems are still reporting Thargoid activity."

"Our theory is that the Thargoids have retreated due to our defence operations depleting their numbers. Then again, they may simply be reconsidering their strategy. Either way, Aegis will continue to monitor the situation."

In response, Professor Ishmael Palin of the Palin Research Centre offered words of warning:

"Celebrating any kind of victory over the Thargoids would be premature. We have no proof that their withdrawal was a result of human activity, and this action is at odds with their highly

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Witch Head Nebula has been confirmed as a primary source of meta-alloys, following an initiative hosted by Aegis Research. The news has triggered efforts to swiftly establish a human presence in the area.

Aegis Research released this statement from Professor Alba Tesreau:

"Having analysed large amounts of exploration data, graciously provided by the galactic community, we can confirm that the Witch Head Nebula contains enough barnacle sites to meet the demand for meta-alloys. I am confident that these sites will offer a suitable alternative to the exhausted barnacles in the Pleiades Nebula."

The Alliance, Empire and Federation have already dispatched advance teams to the region. Each superpower has asked the galactic community to support its respective initiative and help them establish megaships and Ocellus starports in the nebula.

With the Pleiades sources of meta-alloys now almost

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

General: Made behind the scenes changes to improve server performance and reduce the feeling of lag. Resolved an issue that was causing unbound Duty Officers to become bound after completing an assignment. This will also unbind any Duty Officers that were affected by this issue. Updated the Intel Jackets to reduce clipping around the neck. Resolved an issue that caused black squares to appear on the Risa Minimap Updated the lighting in the cave on Risa to make the lighting changes when entering or leaving smoother Ships: The main fin on the bottom of the Risian Escort T6 has been moved from the nacelles part to the hull part. If you choose the old nacelles and new hull, the fin and its windows will now appear correctly. If you choose the new nacelles and old hull, the fin and its windows will not appear. D7 Miracle Worker Flight Deck Cruiser [T6] now has access to

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Wing Commander SNES cover artist

Mike Winterbauer

has launched a new website that covers his extensive history with fantasy and video game art. There's a

page

dedicated to his Classic Game Covers art book and a new link where you can buy a copy for $30 from his

eBay storefront

. The digital ebook version is also still available for free. We've inquired about any leftover items from his WC

art portfolio

project, because everything from that was flipping cool!

Please check out my new website and give me a like! Much appreciated, I hope you like it!

Display More

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

Nenid opened her eyes, only to see the worried face of Centurion D’mev staring down at her. “Status report,” she said hoarsely, having taken in a lungful of smoke during the last exchange of fire. Coughing, she got to her feet with the junior officer’s assistance and took a seat in the command chair. “Preferably before the Tholians manage to find and destroy us, if you please, Centurion. “ D’mev blanched before speaking. “Commander, we are under cloak, per your orders. A Tholian fleet is massing within the Azure Nebula; it seems we encountered their vanguard during our investigation of the temporal anomalies there.” Nenid nodded as she called up tactical data to the main viewscreen. And in a moment, a mission of science becomes a mission of war, she thought silently. “Engineering,” she said as she activated her command channel. “What’s our situation? That volley from the Tholians

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The first test print of

Denis Loubet

's

Pewter Planet

has arrived, and it's pretty cool! It nails the shape of the original Medal of Honor, especially when paired with the correct green and black ribbon. Since this is the prototype, there are a few things that Mr. Loubet is looking at tweaking in a future update. He'll have to rework the attach point so that the ribbon has something to anchor to, and there are probably some opportunities to smooth the curvature to avoid the terracing effect. It's a really fun first effort though!

I was afraid the post wouldn't print. Shoot!Plus the layering is really obvious! I'll have to limit the materials to the fully polished metals to try to hide that artifacting. (Although it kinda looks cool anyway?)

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Here's another round updates to

Howard Day

's

WC1-inspired engine

. There's some very interesting work happening with the fighter pilot AI. The

current builds

have been using the simplest version of his four-tier AI setup, and there's already been some fascinating scenarios that have dynamically emerged. Future updates will include randomized personality factors that will continue to make dogfights feel unique. Additionally, graphics for the startup sequences have also been put together that help set the tone very nicely! He's got a launcher screen that resembles the original game's menus, and there's even a parody of the Origin logo ready to go.

Huh...I can't likely show the Origin logo when this thing starts up...I guess it's time for a dad joke with some mid-nineties logo and icon design!

State of the AI - right now friendly and enemies are using only one single level: Novice. I've been building

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Arcade Attack

has posted a wide-ranging

interview

with Origin veteran

Starr Long

. It discusses Mr. Long's extensive career at Origin and with the larger MMO scene, including his current work on

Shroud of the Avatar

. At about the 30 minute mark, there's also some fun discussion on Wing Commander. He talks about how Privateer and Armada were ahead of their time regarding their open world and multiplayer capabilities respectively. In addition to working quality assurance and playtesting on these two titles, he was also involved in QA with the Academy mission builder. There's also this quote, which is both somewhat depressing while giving fans reason to be optimistic about the future:

AA: Do you think there’s room for a new game in the [Wing Commander] series?

SL: Oh, absolutely. Every few years we ping Electronic Arts about some of the intellectual property they own like Ultima and Wing Commander.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Here are this week's main stories.

Aegis Research has announced a new initiative to locate a new primary source of meta-alloys. The news came alongside the confirmation that the Pleiades Nebula barnacle sites have been exhausted, possibly due to over-exploitation by humanity. The galactic community has been asked to provide exploration data as part of the search.

In other news, The Federal Intelligence Agency has prevented an assassination attempt on Jan Sandoval within their own headquarters in Olympus Village. Sandoval, founder of the Red Family drug cartel, is currently in protective custody at the building after unexpectedly handing herself in to Federal agents.

Unrest at Port Isabelle has continued to grow, following the forced emancipation of Imperial slaves by activist group Autonomy. Many of the freed individuals have besieged government buildings, demanding to be returned to slavery

Quote from Star Trek Online News-Bot

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 Mark and Quality to maximum (usually Mk XIV and Epic/Gold quality) with zero Dilithium Cost! This promotional bundle will be available in the C-Store beginning July 7th at at 10am PT to July 8th at 10am PT. .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

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The retro game site

Commodore4ever

has found another iteration of the Wing Commander 1 sell sheet advertisement. This one features a black banner with the words, "The award winning Space Combat Simulation. Available soon for the Amiga!" This poster-style image is a famous advert that actually predates WC - the earliest versions promote the game as

Wingleader

with the famous words, "What you SEE is what you PLAY!" Other iterations exist, including variants in different languages. Although this minor wording tweak may not seem super exciting, from a collector's point of view, it's fascinating to see just how many versions exist!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Thousands of forcibly freed Imperial slaves have continued to create turmoil in the capital city of Eotienses A 3.

Vox Galactica featured an on-site report by independent journalist Gwendolyn Nash:

"Three weeks after being liberated by the radical activist group Autonomy, the emancipated have banded together in their desperation for survival. Many now wield makeshift weapons gathered from the streets."

"One large group invaded Port Isabelle's spaceport, causing major disruption to flights. There were scenes of conflict when they attempted to hijack the very ships originally used by Autonomy to transport them."

"Others have besieged government buildings, demanding to be officially enslaved again so they can complete their terms of servitude. Many emancipated individuals still beg on the streets, despite charitable donations by some citizens."

"With welfare resources overwhelmed by the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

We'd like to wish our visitors from the US a happy and

safe

Fourth of July this year. If you're partaking in fireworks, keep water or a fire extinguisher handy and protect your eyes and hands. I, for one, will be indoors celebrating our army's ability to take over the

airports

243 years ago.

After last week's cancellation due to technical limitations, LOAF and Dundradal had a full slate of material queued up to share in this week's episode of

All Wings Considered

. Unfortunately, LOAF has taken rather ill and will be under the under the weather for a few days yet. Hopefully he'll be back on his feet next week. I know he's very anxious to get back to the world of Wing Commander! Please send positive thoughts and wish him a speedy recovery!

Hello everybody! I’m sorry for the radio silence, I’m in the hospital fighting an infection. I’m okay and it’s nowhere near as bad as last time, just a

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Federal Intelligence Agency headquarters in Olympus Village has been infiltrated by a mercenary unit attempting to murder Jan Sandoval, one of the Red Family cartel's founders.

Executive Agent Viola Trask gave an account to the press:

"This was an extraordinary breach of the FIA's most secure location. The mercenaries were highly trained professionals carrying false identification to bypass initial checks."

"It's clear that they were targeting Sandoval, who is currently in protective custody at FIA headquarters. Fortunately, our security systems exposed the intruders before they could reach her, and the threat was swiftly neutralised."

"This assassination attempt reinforces our belief that the information Sandoval offers is not only genuine but also a legitimate threat to the Red Family's existence. Interviews with Sandoval are ongoing, and we are reviewing her testimony in detail."

Quote from Crossfire News-Bot

What can you expect from the Lost Fleet update? Aside from the many improvements on Crossfire 2.0 new story content is available which tells the tale of a long forgotten faction that fell victim to the Coalition war. You will be able to discover a new, very unique region of space full of new secrets, new friends and old enemies.

Quote from Freelancer News-Bot

What can you expect from the Lost Fleet update? Aside from the many improvements on Crossfire 2.0 new story content is available which tells the tale of a long forgotten faction that fell victim to the Coalition war. You will be able to discover a new, very unique region of space full of new secrets, new friends and old enemies.

Quote from Crossfire Image-Bot

Quote from Crossfire Image-Bot

Quote from Crossfire Image-Bot