Lego Avenger Is an Impressive Treat Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The procession of physical Wing Commander models continues! Today we've got a magnificent Border Worlds Avenger torpedo bomber made in Lego by John Nelson. While the ships featured over the last few days have been amazing, the creativity and talent on display here shines through in a unique way. It's quite a constraint to be forced to build within the limits of the physical Lego bricks at your disposal, which makes color-matching to a fighter's particular paint scheme like this super impressive. He's got the silhouette there - and if anything, this version is slightly sleeker than what we saw in Wing Commander 4. The turret is also an especially nice touch! We'd love to see him build more!
Hello. I finally got around to a project I’ve wanted to tackle and that’s making Wing Commander fighters from Legos.

My first go was the Border Worlds Avenger. The colors aren’t perfect and the proportions may be a bit off but I’m satisfied by the end result. Please let me know what you think.

3D Miniatures Set Stage for Larger Models Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Today we've got more physical models in the news. Not everyone is up to building a giant intricate model by hand, but 3D printing is a much more accessible way to go about creating something of your very own. L.I.F. has started down this path and his first creations are the Excalibur and Rapier. They look pretty solid for an initial effort with an impressive level of detail retained in a small package. He's done some non-WC tests next, and with those learnings in hand, he'll be moving on to a bigger Excalibur next!
We got our first 3D printer at our family workshop, and after calibrating it with a provided file, my first move was to test it with a more... complex shape, AKA Klavs' very own Excalibur. 6 centimetres long for a first run to see how well it'd work and what additional actions I'd have to take, but it's looking pretty nice already even if I´ll have to ensure the layering leaves no holes before smoothing out a full-sized ship.

It's definitely a first attempt to understand the specifics of 3D printing. I've shown it to my 91-year old grandfather, who's the family specialist in CAD and 3D design (he'll be the main user of the printer) and we've agreed that the next move should be to print a slightly larger test version vertically after he adds an easily-removable base to the model's rear. This should seriously reduce the issues concerning excess material.

Incredible Dralthi Model Construction Complete Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We are very excited to finally unveil the finished version of elend's physical Dralthi model! As you can see, it's absolutely exquisite - just a sight to behold! The detail is completely next level. All of the angels, curves, panel lines, intake serrations, tubes and more have been carefully sculpted and assembled by hand. The paint has been layered for rich dimensionality and there's even a Kilrathi pilot in the cockpit! All told, it likely took some five hundred hours to complete, and it's an amazing counterpart to the Banshee that he built a number of years back. Enjoy the pictures!
This is a scratch built Dralthi from the Wing Commander games series. More specifically, this is a reimagination by "Hangar B Productions", which I used as inspiration. I started this last year in June and basically worked daily on it, probably 2 hours on average. In hindsight I should have planned some things differently / better, but such is scratch building I guess. Scale is about 1/48-ish and the size of the finished pancake is approx. 320 x 320 mm in length / width.
Here's a sampling of photos of the nine month journey from drawing board to completion:

Early Rapier Available in All Its 3D Glory Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've seen a ton of Rapiers out of Klavs' hangar over the years, but this one's a little bit different. It's the CF-117 Rapier from the Wing Commander Movie! There are a handful of Wingnut versions floating around, but this is probably the most beautiful one yet. The gritty wallpaper really gives you a nice sense of how these might have looked zipping around Vega Sector outside the context of the film. You can download a 3D model version for yourself here. Klavs' other recent designs are available on Sketchfab.
So... I couldn't sleep and then THIS happened. Also, if anyone uses Substance Painter and wants to have a go at your own markings, the spp file is here.

Spanish Academy Up Close Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Christian Klein has posted some lovely pics of the new Spanish Wing Commander Academy that he's recently added to his collection. Aside from the obvious localization, the box also comes in a slightly different shape with different cropping. The local publisher DROSoft logo has been added to the front, but the back is especially interesting. More of the game's holo simulator room is visible - it's not just a case of them stretching the original back cover image. An additional horizontal span of greebles past the vertical frames on either side can be seen. It's very cool!

The Year in Video Games: 1990 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here's a video from Geeky Dad Gaming about a seminal year in gaming, 1990, and what some of the biggest games of the year were. Origin and Wing Commander take up a big chunk of the clip. He talks a lot about what a big deal the development process was and how it shaped the industry going into the rest of the '90s. Check it out below!
As we round into a new decade, PC gaming goes from strength to strength. The PC game landscape sees the introduction of the big budget release and the birth of a company that would go on to change the whole video gaming landscape. Inbetween that we have a titan of a point and click adventure showing how story and characters were just as important to a good game as graphics and gameplay.

WC4 Fan Remake Adds Beautiful Capship Shields Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The WC4 Fan Remake team has a new update to share regarding shields. Wing Commander 4's game engine didn't visually depict shields for capships: it's one of those things your brain either glosses over or subconsciously imagines was there all along. We got some gorgeous effects during cutscenes, but you don't experience them in flight. After 26 years, that's finally being rectified with a fancy animated texture technique. The thumbnail below expands into an animated gif so you can see the sparkly results in action! You can also read about the whole process in a new article at WCRespace.com.
We’ve tried to create something similar, but not identical. The FMV has flat, circular ripples which can be carefully placed. We have no control over where the player fires and, if the player fired into a corner, it would clip into the geometry or extend past it (as seen in WCP). Instead we project an animated texture over the collision geometry for a shield impact.

A few bits and pieces got improved as a result of our focus on this. Firstly, support for merging images into flip books was completed which Defiance has long been asking for (and will be used heavily with explosions and other effects), which allowed us to animate the impact. Secondly collisions for lasers were improved to prevent them colliding with the turrets and hull in a single frame.

Happy Holy Day of Acclivity! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Happy Holy Day of Acclivity! March 23rd is the holiest day in the McDanielist (aka Pilgrim) religion, honoring the anniversary of founder Ivar Chu McDaniel’s ascension to a higher form of being during a jump to Sirius in 2311.
What is a Pilgrim?

The term Pilgrim has come to refer to several related, but distinct, groups. Most broadly, it can mean anyone associated with the former Pilgrim Alliance, a political entity which existed from 2325 to 2635, or the surviving culture it created. The term can also be applied to anyone (generally descended from early human space settlers) who carries any of a number of specific genotypes which are beneficial to space travellers or to a small group of militant terrorists who identified with the former Pilgrim Alliance and targeted the Terran Confederation in the mid-2650s (and their sympathizers.)

In the case of this article and holiday, it refers to the religious sense: followers of the writings of Ivar Chu McDaniel, also called McDanielites or McDanielists. While there is a great deal of crossover between these groups, they are rarely all one and the same. In the example of Christopher Blair, he is a Pilgrim because he carries the so-called “Navigator” gene and because, being the son of one Devi Soulsong, he is descended from a citizen of the former Pilgrim Alliance. At the same time, he was not raised on Pilgrim culture or theology (his mother died at a young age) and has no other connection to (or practical knowledge of) the McDanielite orthodoxy (similarly, he was actively involved in opposing the 2654 Pilgrim terrorist attacks and held no pro-militant sympathies.) Note also that while the church historically favored those displaying Savant abilities, they were never requirement to be a believer or a member of "the Elect."

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Visual Guide: The Uniforms of the Wing Commander Movie Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Officer Uniforms

Duty Sweaters: Officers seen on the Tiger Claw, Concordia and at Pegasus wear a mix of two different types of knit sweaters, one without a collar and one with a turtleneck. The latter seems to be based on the Royal Navy's World War II-era submariner's sweater. There does not seem to be any particular division save that aviators are only ever seen wearing the collarless sweater. Both sweaters feature the officer's assignment patch on the right arm, rank indicators on the shoulder and nametag on the left breast.

Both types of sweaters may be worn with a brimless cap, seemingly the film's equivalent of a sailor's "Dixie cup" hat. The caps are personalized with an officer's name. The caps worn on Pegasus feature the Pegasus assignment patch while the caps worn on the Concordia and Tiger Claw have generic Confederation logos.

Both types of sweaters are worn with darker blue pants.

Peacoat: The peacoat may be worn over either type of sweater: Admirals Tolwyn and Wilson both wear it with the turtleneck while Captain Sansky, Commander Gerald and background characters wear it with the collarless sweater. When Blair and Maniac arrive on the Tiger Claw they are wearing (and in the case of Maniac later carrying) their unbuttoned peacoats. The flag officer version (worn by Tolwyn) seems to have a longer turtleneck and possibly more ornate buttons. The peacoat features a nametag on the left breast and the assignment patch on the right arm.

The peacoat may be worn with a cover; this is only seen on background characters. It features the same insignia as the more common brimless caps.

Role-Specific

Flight Suits: Tiger Claw aviators wear red flight suits which consist of a red top worn over a red jumpsuit and gray thermal underwear. The outer jackets feature the assignment patch on the right arm and a small medical kit in a clear pocket on the left. The pilot helmets are personalized.

Boarding: The Tiger Claw's Marine detachment wear C-524 Space Armor, C-532 Life Support Packs and C-512 Combat Helmets plus optional C-545 External Web Harnesses for storing additional equipment. The outfit features red armor pieces attached to a black undersuit. The only identifying information is a silver nameplate on the left breast.

The Confederation Handbook has extensive lore regarding the space armor and associated equipment:

Military Police: security is seen aboard the TIger Claw, Pegasus and Concordia wearing the turtleneck sweater and brimless cap plus black body armor, black pants and an optional balaclava (seen everywhere but the Tiger Claw's bridge). The body armor has a rank insignia on the right breast and the turtleneck sweaters worn by MPs have an additional Confederation patch on the left arm.

Weapons Loaders: enlisted crewmen seen working in the Tiger's Claw's torpedo batteries wear a yellow jersey under a set of gray coveralls with yellow highlights and optional yellow hearing protectors. The coveralls have the enlisted rank on the shoulders and the assignment patch on the right arm.

Flight Deck

Watch the background in any of the flight deck scenes on the Tiger Claw: there's a great variety of extras wearing colorful clothing constantly moving around in the background. The movie's flight deck operations are based on modern aircraft carriers and their color coded jerseys that allow crewmen to be quickly identified by their roles on a noisy flight deck (though the colors are changed somewhat). As in real life, there are seven colors: The first five wear colored jerseys with tan vests that have matching reflectors/highlights, dark pants and a matching colored deck helmet. The jerseys feature the assignment patch on their right arms and the vests feature rank insignia on the shoulders. The medic vest has a red cross on the back instead of a reflector pattern.

Yellow Jersey - Spacecraft directors and catapult officers, aka the "shooter" who gives the final approval to launch a spacecraft.

Green Jersey - Plane Captains (Brown IRL)

Purple Jersey - Catapult personnel, space wing maintenance crews and ground support equipment operators. (Purple IRL)

Red Jersey - Plane handlers, elevator operators, tractor drivers. (Blue IRL)

White Jersey - Medics

The other two types of flight deck workers wear full coveralls identical to those worn by weapons handlers in the battery room in different colors and with different undersuits.

Ordinancemen: gray coveralls with green reflectors and the same gray hooded thermal undershirt as aviators. (Red IRL)

Fuelers: orange coveralls with dark reflectors over a white undershirt with a dark tool belt (Purple IRL)

When Angel is working on her plane early in the film she wears the same coveralls as a fueler (without the belt) over her duty uniform. The script identifies it as a "disposable plasticine coveralls" and the Confederation Handbook says that it's a flight deck rule that anyone working on their fighters must wear one:

Additionally, the Deck Boss and Flight Boss (when he is on the flight deck) wear the vest with green highlights over the blue duty sweater.

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GOG Spring Sale Discounts Wing Commander Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's finally spring for the majority of Wingnuts, and GOG is welcoming the season with a big discount on Wing Commander games. The series is marked down a customary 75%, so that means all DOS/Windows games are available for less than $12. It's a steal for easy digital access - even if you already have physical copies! Also, we know there's quite a bit of overlap between Star Trek and WC fans, and GOG has recently added a slate of Trek games to their catalog. Those additions are all 20% off too.

Rapier: What Came Between? Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've recently seen Klavs model a couple of early (WC1&2) era Rapiers, but there are a handful of intermediate designs implied in between those. Based on popular designs cues from some of his previous designs, Klavs has filled in the game with hypothetical Rapiers that might have flown before the workhorse version we're familiar with on the Concordia. The results are below! And he's definitely not finished with the Rapier here... You will be eventually be able to find these variants on Sketchfab.
I was thinking about the front intake version of the Rapier, I've been very humbled by how many other Rapier designs have included it over the years, I figured I would make it an option! So here's, I guess, the Rapier E, Wider Body, front intake, upper intakes deleted, extra engines like the G model. Extra hard points, extra gun positions.

Maybe the EF versions were license built by another Aerospace firm? Maybe Douglas built them under license when the Hellcat wasn't ordered in the numbers they wanted. Maybe the EF version is more robust and easier to maintain and build, but not as nimble as the C? Maybe the G is the amalgamation of the best lessons learned from the A-F? What is that intake even for? Is it for the ramscoop? Who knows! Who cares! I just like Rapiers!


Star Wars Audio Boosted by Wing Commander Source Material Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Enough time has passed that I think we can finally share this spoiler content in the news. A recent episode of The Book of Boba Fett features an AI-enhanced CGI-esque Mark Hamill along with similarly artificial spoken lines. Respeecher was the company involved with doing the voices, and Klavs has nifty WC tie-in anecdote to share. He had the opportunity to work with them in the past, and he made sure the team was aware of Hamill's Wing Commander performances to power their machine learning engine. In fact, it was literally ODVS' video packages that they used for easy access to all of FMV Blair's lines! You can read more about this process here.
The Respeecher staff also used the High Resolution video packs from Wing Commander IV and III by Owen Davies. A veritable treasure trove of ~10 aby Mark Hamill audio! I know because I provided it to them during a collaborative project last year.
Here are links to the latest versions of each pack in case you still need them!
Here are links as well for the latest iterations of the WC4 and Prophecy packs from last fall. The WC4 files drop right into the video folder for the DVD edition of The Price of Freedom. WCP can be upgraded by applying the DVD upgrade patch and then copying the files over.

Wing Commander in Real Time: Epilogue Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Surprise! Most diehard Wingnuts know the movie takes place from March 15 to 17, but the novelization has an epilogue that happens the next day. It's a dark scene that takes place on Mylon III. This sets the stage for the events that unfold in Wing Commander Pilgrim Stars and are concluded in Pilgrim Truth. There's some wild stuff in those novels!
Day 4 - 1900 Mylon Time - BREAKING NEWS: The supercruiser TCS Olympus has fired on Confederation forces in the Mylon System?! MORE

Wing Commander in Real Time: Conclusion Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Now THAT was an exciting three days of Wing Commander in real time! We got a lot of great feedback, and that's given us lots of ideas on how to take the experience further in the future. It was wonderful to see LOAF's idea for this finally pulled off, and AD/Kris did some impressive last minute video prep so everything was ready in time. Thanks for coming along with us in this crazy Wing Commander adventure!
Day 3 - 1000 Zulu - The Tiger Claw has suffered significant damage in the depth charge attack. Another enemy destroyed has been spotted and Commodore Taggart has a new plan! MORE
Day 3 - 1030 Zulu - The Diligent and a pair of escort fighters have launched to intercept the Kilrathi. Aboard are a company of marines who wil attempt to board the enemy ship to salvage his fuel stores. MORE
Day 3 - 1100 Zulu - The situation aboard is hazy but Confederation marines have boarded the Kilrathi ConCom! MORE
Day 3 - 1130 Zulu - Shocking discovery aboard the ConCom: evidence of a human traitor AND the lost NAVCOM AI device from Pegasus. MORE
Day 3 - 1200 Zulu - The Tiger Claw has suffered too much damage to jump to Earth; instead, they will now attempt to send two fighters through the Charybdis jump point to deliver the Kilrathi coordinates to Admiral Tolwyn. MORE
Day 3 - 1245 Zulu - Lieutenant Blair has arrived at the jump point after fending off a Skipper missile! BREAKING: the Tiger Clwa is under attack by an enemy battleship. MORE
Day 3 - 1259 Zulu - Commodore Taggart has lead the Tiger Claw to a stunning victory by fighting a close range broadside against a Sivar-class dreadnaught! MORE
Day 3 - 1303 Zulu - The Snakeir is destroyed! Lieutenant Blair has tricked the Kilrathi into becoming trapped in the Scylla gravity well. MORE
Day 3 - 1315 Zulu - VICTORY! Lieutenant Blair's message arrived in time, allowing the 14th Fleet to position itself to intercept the Kilrathi just as they exit jumpspace from Charybdis. Dozens of capital ships destroyed! MORE
THE END! Angel has been rescued and Blair has returned to the Tiger Claw. Thank you for joining our first attempt at Wing Commander in Real Time. We're hoping to continue to expand the project for next year, so stay tuned! Credits

Wing Commander Movie in Real Time: Day Two in Full Swing! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We are cruising through this real time live tweeting event like the Tiger's Claw slices through the Vega Sector! A sampling of day two is below. Be sure to follow @WCCIC on Twitter for more. The action really heats up when the Claw reaches the Kilrathi fleet!
Day 2 - 0330 Zulu - Captain Sansky has reviewed Tolwyn's orders and decided that the only chance to intercept the Kilrathi is to make a dangerous pulsar jump from Enyo to Dakota. Meanwhile, Tiger Claw security reports a fight has broken out in the mess hall! MORE
Day 2 - 0930 Zulu - The Tiger's Claw continues to head towards a dangerous Pulsar jump. Lieutenants Forbes and Marshall have been assigned to fly CAP. MORE
Day 2 - 1130 Zulu - Lieutenant Forbes' patrol did not encounter enemy fighters but... breaking... there's been a near-miss accident on the flight deck during fighter recovery! MORE
Day 2 - 1330 Zulu - We are now hearing that Lieutenant Forbes has been informally cleared of any wrongdoing in the recent flight deck incident. MORE
Day 2 - 1415 Zulu - The Tiger Claw has arrived at a Class 3 Pulsar and is preparing to jump to the Dakota System. No Confederation capital ship has jumped a Pulsar since the conclusion of the Pilgrim War. MORE
Day 2 - 1430 Zulu - SUCCESS! The Tiger Claw has jumped to the Dakota System and it is now possible they may be able to engage the Kilrathi fleet before it arrives at Earth. But can a single ship hold off a fleet of forty? MORE

And We're Off - Live Tweeting in Progress! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The Great Wing Commander Movie in Real Time Event has begun! The @WCCIC Twitter account is now tweeting the events of the film in real time as they happened across March 15, 16 and 17 in the year 2654. As we mentioned yesterday, this is much more than little snippets posted to social media. Many tweets are accompanied with a link that has script notes, video samples, storyboards and more that go along with that point in the film. A few examples are below. Follow the full event as it unfolds live here.
Day 1 - 0900 Zulu - BREAKING NEWS FROM THE VEGA SECTOR: a fleet of forty Kilrathi capital ships have launched a surprise attack on Pegasus Naval Station in the Dakota System! MORE
Kilrathi marines have boarded Pegasus and made their way to the bridge in an apparent attempt to capture the NAVCOM AI! Admiral Wilson and crew are presumed dead.
Day 1 - 2100 Zulu - TCS Concordia, flagship of the 14th Fleet in the Enigma Sector, has received a drone message from Pegasus warning of a Kilrathi flotilla en route to Earth. Admiral Tolwyn has ordered the fleet to return to Sol. MORE
Day 1 - 2130 Zulu - Admiral Tolwyn has issued orders for the TCS Tiger's Claw, currently in Enyo System, to attempt to delay the Kilrathi fleet. The orders have been passed to a replacement pilot outbound to Enyo aboard the merchantman Diligent. MORE
Day 1 - 2140 Zulu - Intelligence intercepts suggest that Admiral Bokoth has begun a council of war aboard his Snakeir-class dreadnaught flagship. MORE
Day 1 - 2150 Zulu - DANGER! While on course for a jump at Beacon 147, the Diligent appears to have accelerated to unsafe levels. The nearby Scylla anomaly threatens to destroy the ship before it can jump. MORE
Day 1 - 2200 Zulu - Captain Taggart has ordered his crew to attempt to make the jump to Enyo in spite of the damage to the ship. Fingers crossed that their NAVCOM will stay online! MORE

The Great 'Wing Commander Movie in Real Time' Event! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've got some exciting news for this week! For years, LOAF has been talking about what it would take to live tweet the Wing Commander Movie exactly as it happens from March 15 to 17. Based on events in the film, we know exactly when most everything takes place over a fast-paced 48 hour period. But it wouldn't be enough just to tweet out 140/280 character snippets over that time. To truly do it justice, LOAF has carefully choreographed all of the events, quotes, script notes, notes from the novelization, diagrams, photos, concept art, video clips and much more to string together a magical two days in the life of Wing Commander. As an early preview, check out the introduction page for a sampling of what you get from the movie's beginning montage. Even this is a work in progress and more will be added as we go. So be sure to follow @WCCIC on Twitter and buckle in for an action-packed thrill ride!
Introduction

Welcome to Wing Commander in Real Time!

From March 15 through 17th we will be reporting out the events of the Wing Commander movie using the @wccic Twitter account in real time as they will happen in 2654! Each event will be accompanied by a WCPedia page that offers video footage, script extracts, storyboards and portions of the novelization so you have the option of following the action more deeply.

This is our first proof of concept prototype and we hope to add more material over time to improve and replay the event in future years! This page covers the movie's introductory sequence which showcases the history of the Terran Confederation in quotes and paintings taking you from 1962 to 2654.

The adventure begins Tuesday, March 15th at 0900 Zulu (GMT)! (And then pauses for twelve hours for Admiral Wilson's message to arrive at the Concordia.)

Please note that we are following the timeline defined by the novelization which is based on the shooting script; as a result, several scenes will be presented in a different order than they appear in the final cut of the film!

Rapier G Streaks Through the Sky Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Whenever you see an F-44A cruising around these parts, it's a good bet than an F-44G is somewhere nearby. Klavs has rolled out his WC2-style variant of the popular Rapier. This time he's spending extra time to line up markings and design with the version seen in the game. All of his modern variants will eventually be available at Sketchfab for folks who need the full fledged 3D version!
F-44Gs of TCS Concordia! I'm being more faithful to the game markings than I ever have in the past. It's tough, but I think, worth it to make a decent homage.

The C model is up next, that'll be very close to the previously established Tarawa Livery I came up with previously. I'll also be providing some blank, grey liveries so you guys can come up with schemes to your heart's delight!

I should note that all these versions will be updated into the existing Sketchfab link, so if you purchased already, the upgrades and all models will be included eventually!

Happy Birthday Wing Commander! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Today marks twenty-three years since the Wing Commander Movie was released! It's hard to believe it's been so much time since we - and many of you - lined up at theaters. A lot has changed since then. Sure, there are still plenty of snarky podcasts that do their thing with it, but I've also noticed a big shift in the last few years. Lately, a lot of people have given it a second chance and can appreciate it for what it is. While the film remains hard to find on physical disc, it's also nice to see that it's once again easy to rent or buy on various streaming services. If you're checking it out again, let us know. We're always down for a rewatch or discussion!
Also if you missed it from a few weeks back, I wanted to point out Klavs' clean-up of the movie's universe map. It's pretty slick!

Double Shadow Appears Again Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Look what ChrisReid caught in the new episode of Picard: Seether’s knife in Picard’s collection! I’m joking, it’s not really a Wing Commander reference. It’s a Gil Hibben Double Shadow knife which has been used in all sorts of sci-fi productions including Star Trek Nemesis as Shinzon’s knife. Here’s a cool history.

The Double Shadow also showed up last season on Picard as a Romulan dagger! They’re readily available for about $50 if you want a cool space knife that serves no practical purpose.

FAQ: the reason the WC4 novel calls it a “laser knife” is because it’s based on the script which describes “a mean looking instrument known as a laser-blade (a curved handle with a lethal thread of light that pulses from one end of the handle to the other)...".
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1999 Blockbuster Preview Highlights Wing Commander Rental Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here's a neat commercial for the Wing Commander VHS appearing for rent at Blockbuster. It mostly uses recycled footage from the various trailers, but it's interspersed with "rent Wing Commander this week at Blockbuster and go home happy!" style voiceovers. This makes it kind of a double time capsule. The clip dates back to July 1999, so it wasn't so easy to just look up the release date for every imaginable media product back then. TV commercials and in-store rolls were how we learned about things like this!
From Blockbuster Video, here's a commercial about their latest rental, 1999's WING COMMANDER starring Freddie Prinze Jr and Matthew Lillard!

Rapier Steps Out in Familiar Colors Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We only just recently got a good look at Klavs' new Rapier, and now we've got a new variant. It originally launched with cool post-war orange checker highlights, and now we get to see it in popular Vega Sector greens and grays circa WC1. These appear a little bit more weathered, which makes sense - not as much time to polish those hulls at the height of the war! You can play around with the model further at Sketchfab.
F-44A In Black Lion colors coming along!

Tractors for the Memories Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Well folks, it looks like like 100% of people are eager for some tractor content... which I assume is representative of all 200 million Twitter users! Let's talk Wing Commander's tractors... and other deck vehicles!

First of all: what's a tractor? We aren't talking about farming here but instead the specialized vehicles carried aboard aircraft carriers that help with deck operations: towing aircraft and munitions, fighting fires, clearing wreckage, etc. Here are some real ones:

Our very first utility tractor is seen driving around in the original Wing Commander pulling a cart of missiles. It shows up during takeoff and landing: The game stores this little guy as two separate sprites which allows it to be 'driven' heading either left or right! Wing Commander II has a 3D rendered yellow trailer which appears in the Concordia Flight Deck and Repair Deck establishing shots. Multiple tractors really gives you a real sense of the size of the flight deck on a Confederation dreadnaught! Quick aside: I really enjoyed this article from someone who has made models of different aircraft carrier tractors throughout history while I was reading up for this. It's a nice overview (and neat that the original ones were just Jeeps).

Wing Commander III features a nice yellow tractor on the TCS Victory flight deck set. It's visible during takeoff scenes and whenever a shuttle comes or goes.

You also get to see it in flight! The 'fly through bays' in the PC and Mac versions include landed fighters, containers and... a tractor with the Victory's CV designation on it! The object is flush with the wall because the number is mirrored on the other side. Moving on to Wing Commander IV... hey, asset reuse! The Lexington's hangar has the Victory's tractor but reversed so it kind of looks like '0A' instead of '40'... or maybe Confed equiped the ship with Blair's beloved wartime yellow truck. But wait! As we move to the Intrepid for the rest of the game we find... They DID build a more detailed tractor model for the Lexington's flight deck virtual set. It shows up only ever so briefly! Of course, these little support vehicles aren't exclusively used on aircraft carriers. You've seen them at commercial airports, too. So it stands to reason... ... that they'd show up in Privateer, too! This one appears in the ship dealer's components screen... and luckily we have the original 3D models for the Privateer environments so we can see it up close! A variant drives by in the Perry and mining base screens. It lacks the arm but pulling a little cart! Then there's the mysterious story of the fuel truck. Compare this pre-release screenshot to one from the actual game. There was originally a truck sitting on the flight line at Oxford and they removed it for some reason?! Luckily for history, the mesh for the lost truck has been found hiding in the 3D scene files recovered from Origin... it had been quietly closed off in the garage from the screenshot! Now the wags are saying 'that truck isn't canon, it was never published!' and so I would encourage you to look closely at the back of the box! Wing Commander Academy's first episode offers us this cool fuel truck. This is on the flight line at the Terran Confederation Space Force flight school at Sirius: The third episode introduces us to an orange crash truck aboard the Tiger's Claw and then the same design continues to appear through the rest of the series! Finally, the 1999 Wing Commander movie had several real trucks! The production wanted to rent a single truck that could be modified into an unmanned firefighting vehicle but in one of those typical movie making scenarios ended up having to rent several to get the one they wanted. The most visible (and the one that appears in the storyboards) is this firefighting truck: A scene showing the truck using its foam to put out a fire in the aftermath of the depth charge attack was shot but not included in the final film. Tiny press images: (Aside: it reminds me of GI Joe's unnaturally sturdy APC) The unwanted second truck rental became a fueling truck which is never seen in one piece. But you see it drive by Maniac while he's running for Rosie and you see the other end of it in a couple of shots. Oh, of course, Rosie: the most famous shipboard vehicle in the movie must be the all-CG "deckdozer" (per the novel) which pushes Rosie's Rapier... uh... (checks physics)... off edge of the flight deck. That's it for tractors, so now we will move on to scissor lifts! Just kidding, I only found those on the Lexington in Wing Commander IV and the Tiger Claw in the movie: That's it for tonight's vehicles! If you want this to continue we can look at CIVILIAN VEHICLES tomorrow. Vote here to decide:
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Tanks for the Memories Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Since social media these days is mostly just people identifying different kinds of tanks I got to thinking... I can do that, too! Here's a thread of tanks and other military ground vehicles from the Wing Commander universe. The first tank we actually fight shows up in the ground missions in Wing Commander III. You're called to pick off these angular, quadruple-treaded Kilrathi tanks which have a dual mount laser turret. The games' files also include a version which carries a missile launcher instead of a turret... unfortunately, NPC missile launchers were bugged and not fixed in time for the game to ship (this also killed a Confederation frigate). The novel End Run describes an amphibious assault against the Kilrathi and mentions three fighting vehicles: the Confederation “M-77 light ground assault vehicle” (carried two to a landing craft), the Kilrathi “medium assault tank” and Confederation heavy armor so described: “heavy weapons landers touched down, disgorging their massive ‘walkers’ which could traverse any terrain and carried as much armaments as a light corvette.” Picture is an unrelated franchise’s vehicle which surely didn’t inspire this. Wing Commander IV introduces us to a tank battle between Confederation-backed mercenaries and the Border Worlds in the Circe system. The cutscene has a hover tank being used by both sides: Here's the tank battle cutscene itself, which is as perfect as 1995 video game CG can be.
The same series has a tank killing ground attack mission with an in-engine battle going on. This design, which looks a bit like a Tarsus, is the Union of Border Worlds tank. The mercenaries (... Hammer?!) get hover tanks that don't match the ones in the cutscenes at all. There's a version with a laser turret and a missile version! The team managed to get the missile launchers working between releases. (Or not, they're extremely annoying because the missiles in the game are deadly and they carry unlimited rounds!) And we can't forget Wing Commander's best known tank: straight out of Cobra's playbook, this Kilrathi drill tank appears in a flashback scene in episode 5 of Wing Commander Academy (Word of Honor) that shows trench warfare on Repleetah. The turret can be locked under the drill for greater protection. Also yes Grunt does seem to blow one of them up using a TOS tricorder. Also honorable mention for this Kilrathi army hover-platform from Wing Commander I. You know they didn't steal this one from Star Wars since it's almost entirely handrails! It reminds me a lot of the little skiff the apes fly at the start of Space Quest II, too. That is all the Wing Commander tanks I can think of tonight but if you're interested in seeing this thread continued vote below and I'll add more about TRACTORS tomorrow!
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Klavs Debuts New Wallpaper and Sketchfab Rapier Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Klavs has put together a beautiful new wallpaper of his Rapier cruising through the sky. I really like how rich the color here is with red warning tape, colorful insignia and even orange wing patchwork just like we see on the Bearcat. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the gorgeous imagery, but modders and modelers can also buy the design at Sketchfab. As we've previously mentioned, the proceeds go to help Klavs' family with ongoing medical bills. His Dralthi and Hornet are also available!
Hi everybody, work is continuing slowly on the Rapiers!

I've made the YF-44 available on Sketchfab for a super modest fee. As always, profits will go towards our daughter's continuing medical care. As I release the other variants I'll be continuously updating the other models, so you'll always be able to go back and re-download the version you've purchased once landing gear, weapons, missiles, and cockpit become available. Hope everyone is well!

I'm forever grateful to the WC community for yours years (decades!) of support and encouragement.

Cheers,

-Klavs

EA Suspends Sales to Russia & Belarus Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Electronic Arts has announced that they have stopped sales to Russia and Belarus as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine. This is on top of their plans to cut Russian and Belarusian teams from upcoming FIFA and NHL games. As a result, this effectively means that digital Wing Commander sales (via the Origin store) are being used as wartime sanctions. It is of course not lost on us that withholding Wing Commander will not stop the tanks on the ground, but it's one small part of the larger effort to step up pressure on the Putin regime. You can find a list of ways to more directly support relief efforts in the region here.

WC4 Fan Remake Revamps Lexington and Much More Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The WC4 Fan Remake team has been outwardly quiet these last couple months, but they've been very busy! This was revealed today in one of their biggest updates yet. The TCS Lexington has been massively overhauled with incredible new geometry, textures, detail and especially lighting, which is a new dimension for the team to play with. Things like capship turrets are now exquisitely modeled with accurate physicality and are fully destructible. The flight deck is also starting to come to life with plenty of environmental object filler. And there's even a flythrough video! As an extra cherry on top, variants of the recently revealed frigate model have also been shown off. Check out the full update at WCRespace.com here.
We first wanted to say a big thank you to the community for the fan project of the year award! We had very stiff competition this year and it means a bunch to the whole crew that you thought highly enough of our project to cast your vote for us.

Secondly, we know it's been a bit since we posted an update here, We hit a bit of a snag going into the holidays with work, pandemics and the like, which slowed our progress some. but rest assured we haven't stopped working on it, in fact, we have a new update for you. The team has been hard at work bringing the TCS Lexington to life. We think she looks good, hope you do too!

People may think that the lighting doesn’t match what was in the FMV; however this isn’t quite the case. We captured a number of scenes from the Lexington hangar and what we realised is that there appear to be two sets of colour grading on the Confed track; the tint on the Lexington changes from reds to blues after captain Eisen is replaced by Paulsen. Although not relevant for the demo we are talking about matching the in-game colour grading to the FMV for the final release. I do love discovering things like this about my favourite game all these years later.

TCS Majestic Crew Kicks Back on Friday Night Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The Wing Commander Gemini Sector crew continues to keep a busy schedule! The crew has added Friday night sessions that kick off at 10 pm Eastern time. They role play through a variety of social situations that the crew of a Confed warship might actually engage in on their downtime. There's also still plenty of Wing Commander action - here's a couple of their recent mission briefings! Join the fun via their Discord server.
The crew is exiting the Nitir system. They will try to give the civilians and ISS a fighting chance to survive.
Behind veils, the Kilrathi plot on their next move, as the crew of the TCS Majestic engage a task force threatening the planet Nitir.

Unboxer Breaks Open German WC3 Special Edition Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

I usually try to shake things up a bit more, but we've been on kind of a roll this week with unboxing videos. Dare I share a third one in a row? I will! Yesterday we saw one of the big box/film can versions of Wing Commander 3 opened up, and today we have its exotic cousin - the German big box film can WC3 special edition! You can find a photo of its contents in Dennis Mull's collection here. Or watch CometMatti open his below! It's in German, but the excitement is clear in any language!

Help Sooth the Wounds by Immersing in Wing Commander Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Yesterday's WC1 unboxing kind of hit the spot, so we dug a little deeper and found a similar clip for the elaborate special edition for Wing Commander 3. I also have to kind of laugh at the intro, "Greetings internet, Mickey P here. With the world plunged into darkness by the absolute f*cking bullsh*t of politics, I think it's a perfectly good time to hide in '90s DOS game nostalgia." This clip was posted in November 2016. Oh boy, Mickey, it's been a hell of a half decade, huh? Still as good a time as ever to dive into Wing Commander, though!
Darkness falls across the land, but 90s PC game nostalgia may help sooth the wounds. Check out an elaborate package for what was at the time quite an elaborate game. Oh my god this is like the second FMV game I've looked at here.

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