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In the SFF world there are few writers more beloved or missed than Sir Terry Pratchett, the British author of the Discworld series and a host of other classics. And he wasn't just a famously warm person and brilliant writer… he also had great taste. You see, Terry Pratchett loved Wing Commander! We've found several interviews where he talks about our favorite series. Here's one from the October 1993 issue of PC Gamer where he's promoting an upcoming game adaptation of Discworld:

Do you keep many games on your hard drive because you play them so much?

I don't actually keep many games permanently on hard drive. But I have got a fair number of games at home. I bring a couple with me whenever I come back from the states. I've flown my way through Wing Commander, X-wing and, well, most stuff I suppose.

...

Is there a Terry Pratchett top five?

Let me think, because I've played a lot of games of one sort or

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The wing Commander movie club gives The Dark Crystal a thumbs up! It's an impressive, elaborately made production with visuals that continue to impress throughout. And it's distinctive part of a vanguard group of 'dark fantasy' movies from the early 1980s that aren't so directly influenced by Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons like many films today. It seems like what is essentially a puppet show with no human actors would drag… but it's quick run time vanishes quickly and leaves you wanting more.

And The Dark Crystal is certainly full of Skeksises! The strange bird/lizard/dinosaur creatures are the story's major antagonist and they are perhaps one of its most distinctive elements. In their honor, we've done a deep dive into their pair of namesake ships from Privateer 2! To that end, the PL03 Skecis-class medium fighter is as middle of the road as you can get; truly the midpoint in Privateer

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This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that are referenced by Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is RoboCop (1987) and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here. The movie will start at 7 PM PST/10 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time!

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Have you ever noticed that Colonel Halcyon typically specifies in briefings whether you're encountering a "sport" (transport) or a tanker? That's because Wing Commander I originally had both. The idea was cut for disk space but the original design, heavily inspired by Traveller, was that there were both tanker and freighter versions of the Drayman and the Dorkir. So each briefing is written to tell you which one to expect! The variant graphics were reused in The Secret Missions as the Terran Diligent (originally the Drayman tanker) and the Kilrathi Lumbari (originally the Dorkir freighter).

We were curious what the original game might have looked like, so we poured through the original game (plus the addons and Super Wing Commander's extra campaign) and tried to identify the variant of all 41 transports that appear! You can access the inevitable spreadsheet here. As you can see, there's a lot of lore

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October Consortium has confirmed that Radicoida unica, an enigmatic flora found exclusively within HIP 87621, has entered an active reproductive phase.
According to their scientific teams, the plant's dormant cycle has ended, triggering the growth of hardened 'seed pods' across its upper platforms. These pods hold rare biological material believed to be the main source of the species highly valued physiological effects.
Researchers say that this activation validates early theories about the plant's sensitivity to nearby life signatures, with its bloom phase perceived as a direct response to recent studies by Commanders of the Pilots' Federation. Sceptics noted that some Radicoida sites are yet to bloom, however.
Military and corporate restrictions are still in effect while oversight of the enclave is coordinated in line with the recent October Accords. October Consortium has therefore called

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Sometimes you find interesting things in small places! Case in point: this breakout from the March 15, 1991 issue of Japanese gaming magazine LOGIN covering Origin's presentation at the 1991 CES show. It looks like LOGIN sent their own photographer who snapped a rare image of Origin's booth setup... don't you wish you could get a better look at that poster? There's also a pretty great photograph of a young Chris Roberts; we expect this was taken at the show, too, given the beer cans on the table in the background.