Artwork for Wing Commander 3

Wing Commander 3 Box Art

There's no question that Heart of the Tiger's box art was designed to evoke the original Star Wars posters--it even uses the X-Wing-like Longbow bomber rather than the more emblematic Excalibur! Still, the art is magnificent!

Early Sketches of Ships and Characters

A collection of sketches developed early in the design process of Wing Commander III, from which both 3D models of ships were built and actors were cast.

Gunnery Control From Sketch to Finished Product

How much work did it take to 'build' one of Wing Commander III's virtual sets? Check out the evolution of Gunnery Control, from the initial concepts to the finished render!

Set Sketches

How much work did it take to 'build' one of Wing Commander III's virtual sets? Check out the evolution of Gunnery Control, from the initial concepts to the finished render!

Bigger Cockpit Renders

Here's a rare treat--"bigger" renders of two of Wing Commander III cockpits, courtesy of Origin artist Craig Halverson. In this shot from his portfolio you get to see areas of the screen cut off in the actual game!

Crash Site Test Render

Here's an interesting comparison--a shot from Wing Commander III's early test rendering (first) compared with the finished game (second); note how much the set was changed as time went on... even the fighter class in the air above was switched!

Thrakhath Head and Flight Suit

Kilrathi Hand

When it came time to design the Kilrathi Saga box's claw logo, Origin's artists didn't just render what they thought a Kilrath hand might look like... they dressed up in a real one to see how it would look! This set of test photos was taken to determine what the 3D rendering should look like--you can trace the development from the original picture of the emperor all the way to the render itself! Most impressive, the photo session seems to have lasted six hours and required multiple hand models.

Kilrathi Emperor's Staff

Pieces of the Kilrathi emperor's staff.

Kilrathi Emperor's Head

The Kilrathi emperor's animatronic head!

Kilrathi Rifle Prop

This Kilrathi rifle was one of the few real props created for Wing Commander III's film shoot in 1994. It is visible in the background of throne room scenes, where you can see it carried by a fearsome Kilrathi guard. For the 1999 Wing Commander movie, the rifle was redesigned and given a name (Dor-Chak or Striking Bird) and backstory.

Hobbes Helmet Prop

Hobbes' flight helmet from Wing Commander III's video shoot, pictured here alongside a Wolfpack squadron helmet from Wing Commander: Prophecy.

Christopher Blair's Flightsuit

This awesome prop was given away as a trivia prize by PC Gamer UK (see WC3 Ads). Check out the detailed photographs of the combined forces logo patch!

Kilrathi Saga Calendar Sketches

This set of awesome sketches--created throughout the development of the first three Wing Commander games--originally appeared in the 1997 Kilrathi Saga calendar. Now you can see them all at their original resolution!

High Res Manual Ship Renders

These incredible renderings were created by Origin for their Official Guide to Wing Commander III. Now you can see them at the highest possible resolution--and learn every rivet on the side of your Excalibur...

Vukar Tag Sketch

Blair's Locker Photos

Unused Kilrathi Flight Deck Render

This image was discovered among Origin's publications material and is not seen in the game itself. It's a high resolution render of the empty flight deck of a Kilrathi Bhantkara-class heavy carrier.

High Res Wing Commander 3 Imagery

A collection of high resolution Wing Commander III images intended for print.

Wing Commander 3 Sheet Music

This Wing Commander 'sheet music' was found on an Origin disc. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you can use it to play the Wing Commander III soundtrack yourself. ace says: "It looks like it's just the first 20 seconds of the WC3 escort MIDI. It seems to be the same MIDI file that's on the CIC and doesn't fix any of the oddities to make it more sheet music friendly. I wonder if Oldziey wrote this stuff out on paper or some other format before doing the MIDI. I have to imagine he had some format where he could play it all on the piano by himself or something. That would be awesome."

Set of Sketches

Here is a set of Wing Commander III sketches kindly discovered and scanned by Sheri Graner Ray. Four of them are sketches of the game's live action sets (flight deck, bridge, etc.) which were rendered in 3D by artists at Origin... and the fifth is the Victory's escort destroyers (TCS Coventry and Sheffield!) Sheri notes that the "Dicko" under one of the sketches indicates it was done by Origin artist Richard "Dicko" Mather.

Origin Profile

This internal profile created by Origin in the mid-1990s is another great look at the company, featuring executive bios and history. The best part, however, is the page with cool Wing Commander III ship rendering artwork!

Japanese Box Design

The box design for the Japanese releases of Wing Commander III. The DOS/V edition box art was near identical to the Western release, but the one of a kind Windows 95 release has a unique design.

Kilrathi Carrier Concept Sketch

This sketch was found on the Making Of CD-Rom.

Kilrathi Cruiser Concept Sketch

This sketch was found on the Making Of CD-Rom.

Kilrathi Dreadnought Flight Deck Visual Study

AD took some screenshots of a very cool part of Wing Commander 3 that some Wingnuts might have overlooked. The shots below compare the look of Prince Thrakhath's Hvar'kann class dreadnought in the winning and losing endgames. Lights are off, the walls are burned, large pieces have fallen from the ceiling and there is debris everywhere on the flight deck when Melek surrenders. The same space is clean, dark and imposing in the version where Blair is captured. The setting is oddly mirrored in the two versions, so we've flipped it around for easier comparison. Exterior shots of the ship also show serious damage after the Kilrah shock wave impact.

3DO Exclusive Ship Design: Kilrathi Gun Platform

Think you've seen every ship in Wing Commander III? The 3DO version of the game actually includes two models not present in the PC release! The first of these, shared in this post, is the Kilrathi Gun Platform. The 3DO port cuts the famous 'ground missions' and instead has the player attack bases orbiting targets on each planet's surface. Once they're destroyed, a cutscene showing the elements of the ground attack necessary to the story is played (the destruction of Kilrah, for instance.) These gun platforms are heavily armored and something of a tough nut to crack... and they're also very simple, essentially just a square with a pair of turrets.

Overlooked Ship Design

Do you remember Wing Commander III's smallest, cutest spaceship? You have to look carefully! The Confederation and Kilrathi transports in Wing Commander III are designed to have cargo pods attached to their latticework. These components change the look of the ship and can be shot off during combat. For some reason, the Kilrathi transports don't ever actually have pods attached in-game... but the Confederation transports you escort do (pictured.) And when you examine the individual cargo tanks and pods you will find included: a tiny, smaller ship! So here's your exhaustive look at the model. Is it a shuttle or lander? A 27th century 'family car'? Some kind of environment pod? Who knows!? (Interestingly, the Wing Commander IV transports don't have pods... making for several missions where you seem to be escorting shipments of nothing.)

Prop: Playpen Magazine

Who says print is dead? In 2669, Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall, eternal teenager, still has a stash of printed pornography in his locker. When you chat with him in the barracks during the Blackmane series he takes a break from reading an issue of 'Playpen' magazine to tease Blair about flirting with Rachel. Is Playpen something created for Wing Commander III or is it the real 1980s magazine it appears to be? Find out here.

Prop: Vaquero's Guitar

The guitar used as a prop in the game is a Gibson SG Junior Cherry from the 1960s. The Gibson SG Junior is a solid-bodied electric guitar intended as a lower cost alternative to the Gibson SG. If you're musically inclined, vintage guitars of the same make and model are still available on the secondary market today for several thousand dollars. (As for Vaquero's specific guitar, it was returned to his family by Captain Eisen.) The prop team don't seem to have made any changes to the original guitar; in fact, Vaquero's scenes seem to be framed to avoid showing the head. (read on)

Prop: Cobra's Knife

So what is Cobra's knife? She is sharpening Marto-Brewer Explora (or Explorer) knife that dates back to the early 1980s. The Explora is a multi-use "survival" knife which includes both a multi-faceted blade and a variety of tools for survival situations. The knife was designed by true-life Venezuelan explorer Charles Brewer-Carías who has led more than 200 expeditions into the unknown. (read on)

Lost Ship: The Triangular Kilrathi Transport

The Kilrathi "Transport" modifier card may look out of place to you... it's the model used in the 3DO port of Wing Commander III. It later appears in a Wing Commander IV cutscene and was also present in the very first WC3 screenshots ever released by Origin but was cut from the WC3 PC release.

The CCG Art of Barclay Shaw

While much of the card art created for the game used traditional paintings, several of the contributors chose to work digitally with early 3D models. The result is a subset of cards with an extremely cool look distinct from anything else in the Wing Commander canon. These pieces were created by talented artist Barclay Shaw, who was kind enough send them to us.