Kickstarter campaign has launched!
Sean Downey
Wing Commander: ProphecyProphecy is a different breed of Wing Commander, filled less with cinematic plot lines and more with white-knuckle gameplay. With its gorgeously refurbished graphics engine, Origin made new fans out of the space jockeys left cold by LucasArts' limp-wristed X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. Although I finished the game earlier this year, the release of Secret Ops episodes brought me back. The fact that Origin made this game-length mission pack freely avaliable on the Internet is the coolest event of the year. $20, www.origin.ea.com
VoodooExtreme reports there is a new DirectControl, version 2.0.8, DirectControl is a utility for DirectX that allows you to tinker with all the settings to get that extra little push from Microsoft's API.
One, the new menu and its graphics load much faster than the previous sixty-six graphics that made up the bar (yes, there were sixty-six!). There are also fifteen kilobytes less javascript coordinating the menu. On a related note, the menu doesn't change from page to page, so caches should handle it better, further decreasing load times. This will allow people to feel more comfortable checking news more often and catching things that come up on short notice (such as yesterday's Chris Roberts Chat).
Two, the more advanced SSI incorporated into the CIC's design adds increased flexibility and utility to the layout. We are now able to modify the menu much more quickly and with much greater ease. It might not look quite as flashy (actually, I think Hadrian's work looks sharp), but the CIC is based on content, not on looks. We hope you like it. Some of the new links on the menu do not work yet, we'll be filling those in on Sunday. If you encounter any linking errors or problems associated with the new design, please contact the CIC.
FYI...Chris Roberts from Digital Anvil will be our guest on GameTime today. GameTime is aired live (via real player) on the All Games Network at 6:00pm EST, located at http://www.allgames.com. Join us in chat, either by using the ichat plugin located on our website, or by pointing your handy dandy irc client to chat1.pseudo.com channel #allgames. If you miss the liveshow, the show will always be available in our archives.Check it out! :)
Stephanie Bergman
Associate Producer
AllGames Network
Wing CommanderAnd now the fact book (now titled 'Confederation Handbook')...
by Peter TelepGalaxy-spanning space action and intrigue, as human space pilots fight a hostile alien force bent on destroying Earth. Based on the blockbuster movie Wing Commander.
Fresh from training, two young officers join the ranks of a combat squadron--just as hostilities break out with a terrifying alien species. Experiencing real combat for the first time would be tough enough, but the officers face problems that could destroy the squad from within. The crew is increasingly divided on cultural lines, and the evidence mounts that someone in the unit is a traitor. As a climactic battle approaches, the officers must find the traitor and unify their crew--or see Earth be destroyed! Based on the new hit film Wing Commander, and on the five-million-selling CD-ROM Wing Commander games.
The Wing Commander game has gone through five versions, with ever-increasing sales. Wing Commander V has sold more than 2,000,000 copies to date.
The film, starring Freddie Prinze, Jr., and Matthew Lillard, will have a major toy merchandise program, as well as extensive media support from the Sci-Fi Channel and Starlog magazine.
HarperPrism will also publish the Wing Commander Junior in a young reader digest-size paperback and the Wing Commander Confederation Handbook in trade paperback simultaneously with the Wing Commander Novelization in March 1999.
Includes a four-color photo insert.
Peter Telep has published several SF and Fantasy novels, including two Space: Above and Beyond novels, and is working on a series of novels based on the space action game Descent.
Other Wing Commander books:
Wing Commander Confederation Handbook 0-06-107553-1 (pb)
Wing Commander Junior 0-06-106556-0
HarperEntertainment. ISBN 0061059854
$5.99/$7.99(Can.)
Wing Commander Confederation Handbook
by Chris McCubbin et al.A detailed blueprint of the Wing Commander universe--from uniforms to starships--straight from the blockbuster movie!
A must for fans of the wildly popular CD-ROM game and the smash movie Wing Commander, the Wing Commander Confederation Handbook is a complete guide to all aspects of the universe of Wing Commander. Heavily illustrated, the book examines the spacecraft, uniforms, weapons, badges, and all other equipment used by members of the Wing Commander military units, with special nuts-and-bolts details readers will find nowhere else!
The Wing Commander game has gone through five versions
HarperEntertainment will publish the Wing Commander Novelization in mass market paperback and the Wing Commander Junior Novelization in digest-size paperback simultaneously with the Wing Commander Confederation Handbook in March 1999.
Chris McCubbin works for IMGS, Inc., and has worked on several previous Wing Commander game books.
HarperEntertainment. ISBN 0061075531
$17.00/$25.00(Can.)
Roberts Talks 'Wing Commander'
During a press conference earlier this week, director and game developer Chris Roberts showed off the trailer and selected FX sequences from his forthcoming Wing Commander movie. "We're quite proud of [the movie]," Roberts told the Austin-American Statesman. "I think people will be quite impressed with the film even though it doesn't have the biggest budget for a science-fiction film."The director likened the tone of the Wing Commander plot to Das Boot and other World War II movies. The film draws heavily from the successful game series which pits humans against an empire of alien creatures known as Kilrathi. The movie promises to focus heavily on space battle sequences using FX footage created by Roberts' in-house studio Digital Anvil.
THE PRINCE OF WING COMMANDERSFreddie Prinze, jr. who plays Chris "Maverick" Blair in the big screen movie WING COMMANDER told EON NEWS, "WING COMMANDER combined two of my dreams in one. My dreams for making films were as follows: a western, which I haven't done yet, a war movie, and a sci-fi movie. WING COMMANDER handled two of those. It's huge! It's World War Two, seven hundred years in the future. That's what it is."
The film co-stars Matthew Lillard as Todd "Maniac" Marshall (the role BACK TO THE FUTURE's Tom Wilson played in the video games), Saffron Burrows as Jeanette "Angel" Devereaux, Jurgen Prochnow as Commander Gerald, Tcheky Kayro as Commander James "Paladin" Taggart, with David Warner as Admiral Tolwyn and David Suchet as Captain Sansky.
Prinze admitted to EON NEWS, "When I got the script, I thought, wait a minute, is this a computer game? But it was a feature script, and it's amazing. It talks about how this war starts affecting all these characters on a personal level. And some of them are able to step up to the challenge, and others are dying. They die. Characters that you love, you've had time to love them, and then they're gone. It's so real. Remember THE BIG RED ONE, that Samuel Fuller movie? The new guys would come in and they wouldn't even talk to them, because they were like, 'you're going to be dead in a week, man!' And that's how it was! In WING COMMANDER, we [Prinze and Lillard] get called 'Nuggets', because we're like the rookies on the ship."
Directed by Chris Roberts from a script by Kevin Droney and Mike Finch based on the popular computer game, the film has been rated PG-13 (for sexual references and sci-fi action/violence).
Prinze explains, "The basic plot is that Earth is now joined together, we're called the Confederation. There's this other race, called the Kilrathi, who have been trying to take over our galaxy now for a while. The only reason we've been able to resist them is because we have something they don't: a Navcom navigational computer. It helps you chart your way through black holes and quasars. It saves space travel like forty years, like you can go that far in two minutes, because you're warping through a star. So the Kilrathi get one of these Navcoms, and they have the coordinates to get into Earth's space. They'll be here in forty hours. The Confederation ships can't get back to Earth for forty-two hours. There's one ship between the Korathi and this jump point, the Diligent, and me and Matt are flying in that ship. So it's this last big stand for the Earth, against the Kilrathi, and it's the ingenuity of these pilots that has them defeat this warrior race. So it's really sick. It's cool."
Look for WING COMMANDER and the Kilrathi to attack a theater near you early next year.
Ever since the original Wing Commander hit store shelves in 1991, Origin has captivated gamers with its cinematic space combat series- but in recent years, many fans have felt the series has become less like a game and more like a movie.For Wing Commander: Prophecy, Origin chose a back to basics approach that restores the fast, engaging dogfights fans have been asking for, while cutting back on the FMV fluff. The result is one of the long established series' finest hours.
With the Kilrathi eliminated and the revolution put to rest, Wing Commander: Prophecy's story casts you as a new recruit assigned to the newly designed Mega Carrier TCS Midway for some non combat space trials. But your quickly called into action as a sinister new race of aliens begins its hostile pish into Confederation space. From here you're in a frantic fight against the alien horde, using your wits and your reflexes to keep the aliens from devestating everything in their path. Brought to life with a gorgeous new graphics engine, Wing COmmander Prophecy delivers fast, brutal action as you pitch anf wheel above large Capital Ships and battle sleek alien craft throughout dozens of missions.
Once again, you'll need a high end machine to get the best out of the experience but Prephecy's vell balanced mix of intense space battles and captivating cinematics makes this a far more engaging ecperience then the inevitably banal holiday T.V line-up
Origin is looking for your feedback. We have created a short, 5 question survey to help us understand what you want in a great massively multiplayer online game. Please go to http://www.owo.com/wcsurvey.html and tell us what you think. Thanks!So what are you waiting for? Go give feedback!
Even if you've finished the original, these tactics still make good sense for the add-on missions, which are available online.
Enemy Mantas are heavy fighters, meaning they can dogfight and carry capital-ship-killing torpedoes. Always go for Mantas first in any mission, especially the red ones, as they carry torpedoes.
When playing a mission that requires defending something, pull up the Navigation map with Ctrl-N and target the ship you're protecting. The red lines indicate who is attacking the targeted craft, hence showing you the specific enemy fighters on which to focus.
When making runs against the alien capital ships and their turrets, make sure to take advantage of auto-sliding. That way, you can maintain your direction and speed, and still keep your sights set on your target. Make sure while auto-sliding to go around your target, rather than attacking it head-on.
The successful computer game makes its way into the theatersWing Commander
The MovieWho doesn't know the gigantic Space Odyssey "Wing Commander" which made it onto Store shelves year after year just in time for Christmas? The space simulation, which by now has achieved Cult Status, topped itself game after game. The first part was small enough to fit on a few floppies, whereas the last two parts of this impressive Epic required up to 4 CDs for its Hollywood quality Movie scenes. These scenes, which were shown in between the single Missions, featured such known Actors as Mark Hamil (Luke Skywalker from "Star Wars") or Malcolm McDowell ("Star Trek - Generations").
Creator and Producer Chris Roberts could now finally make his dream come true - "Wing Commander" made it to the Big Screen.The Movie:
Pegasus is a converted Asteroid of the Confederation, on which Space travelers can relax from their everyday routine at one of the many artificial beaches. But the peace and quite doesn't last very long, as the evil Kilrathi, aliens that look like a combination of Humans and Cats, arrive at this location. On Board of one of the Kilrathi-Battleships is a "Pilgrim", a Human who doesn't belong to the Confederation. This "Pilgrim" betrays the people of "Pegasus" and with the help of one Kilrathi Warrior, he steals the navigation computer of the enclave, which contains valuable Positional data. Afterwards the Colony is destroyed by the Kilrathi.
The Navigation computer allows the Kilrathi to sneak behind the Confederation's borders and attack Earth directly. The Confederation's mission is to find this Computer and to stop the Kilrathi before they can attack Earth.
Admiral Tolwyn (David Warner) sends an encrypted Message to Lt. Chris Blair (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), a young fighter pilot who is fresh out of the Space academy. Blair is a "Half-Pilgrim", who attempts to use his genetically inherited ability, which gives him full orientation in Space. This ability comes in handy, as the ships in the "Wing Commander" universe have to travel great distances through so called "Jump Points" (Jump points through Hyper space).
Blair and is friend Todd "Maniac" Marshall (Mathew Lillard) are onroute to their first mission on the Battleship "Tiger Claw". On the Trade freighter "Diligent" they come upon the mysterious Captain Paladin (Tcheky Karyo), who allows Blair to fly through the secret "Jump Point" Scylla, which is located at the edges of a Black Hole - a dangerous undertaking. But Blair manages to complete the trip, which usually takes 6 months, in just 3 minutes even though he nearly destroys his ship in the process. When they finally arrive at the "Tiger Claw", Blair discovers the beautiful "Angel" Deveraux (Saffron Burrows), who, as it turns out later on, is the person in direct command of him as a "Wing Commander". He also meets the Captain of the Ship, Sansky (David Suchet) and his first officer, Gerald (Jurgen Prochnow), who doesn't hide his antipathy against Blair's "Pilgrim" Background.
Just a little later, Paladin navigates the "Tiger Claw" through a "Jump Point" to a small brown Dwarf Asteroid, where Blair flies his first Mission. During the patrol trough a nearby Asteroid belt, Blair and Deveroux find and destroy two Kilrathi-fighters, which where hiding out in the area. Deveroux gets an order from Sansky to continue the sweep of the area to find any other Kilrathi ships. After not detecting any other vessels, Paladin, suspecting a trap, orders the fighters to return to the "Tiger Claw". This first encounter is only the beginning of the Battle, in which the fate of the Earth will be decided. In addition the lines between good and bad are blurred because a traitor is aboard the "Tiger Claw"....The Production:
Filming occurred from February until April 1998 in Luxemburg, a pretty exotic film location for Americans. Producer Todd Moyer was full of enthusiasm about the Studios: "In the USA we could have never made a movie like 'Wing Commander' for only 25 million dollars - here it is no problem at all!" Moyer, who also worked on movies like "The Mask". "Timecop" and "Barb Wire", believes that Luxemburg offers great possibilities and discounts for this type of movie: "The Audience for this movie has very high expectations, and we are trying our best to make the movie look more expensive. In the USA 50 Million Dollars would have been a requirement." Todd guides the visitors through the studio and explains the very realistic sets of the "Tiger Claw's" Flightdecks. The buildings used to be part of an Ammunitions Factory and were just recently used as a Gothic Cathedral from the movie "American Werewolf in Paris".
In the background Technicians are working on the "Rapiers" - the fighters of the "Tiger Claw", which are lined up in the Hangar. These Fighters weren't just made out of wood, no, they are the old bodies of British airplanes, which were modified with Metal, Wood and Plastic in order to act as Trailer size space fighters. When one hits the fighter's body, one can feel the steel. These very massive fighters should be sold once the filming is complete because it would be a shame to recycle them.
Other interesting Space vehicles include a "Space Bulldozer" and a Tanker, both recycled from the movie "Judge Dredd".
The tour continues and Moyer points out a Storage room which is full of containers and piles of boxes and the walls are covered with Monitors, Cables and other lines - all very realistic looking. All of it came from the mind of the Oscar nominated ("Titanic") production designer Peter Lamont and his colleagues. "The small and confined areas on board of the "Tiger Claw" remind me of 'The Boat in Space'" says Peter Lamont.
A few minutes away from the Studio building is the Hotel Intercontinental Luxemburg, a gigantic Hotel, which is right at the end of the main street. The Hotel is completely packed with more than 200 Crew members of the Film. On the 4 floor they have an editing room and a Computer animation studio. From the they send daily updates with the latest data to Digital Anvil, the Animation Firm in Austin, Texas. It looks like the Post Production of the movie is happening simultaneously with the filming, but all this work is necessary to combine the endless special effects with the movie.The Actors:
Freddie Prinze Jr. (Blair)
His latest role was in the movie "I know what you did last Summer", alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Prince also starred in the movies "House of Yes" and in "To Gillian on her 37 Birthday" with Michelle Pfeiffer. Freddie was born and grew up in Albuquerque. His acting career didn't start until after school and his move to Los Angeles. He had small parts in the TV shows like "Family Matters", "The Watcher" and "Detention". He loves Computer games and Science-Fiction. "When I was a kid I watched Science-Fiction 24 hours a day 7 days a week. My bought my first 'Wing Commander' game when I was 15 years old and I was completely blown away, so obviously I bought all of the sequels that followed."Saffron Burrows (Deveraux)
The British Actress started her career in theater at the age of 17. She is known though movies like "Hotel de Love", "One Night Stand" and "In the name of the Father" with Daniel Day Lewis. She just finished filming "The Loss of Sexual Innocence", in which she played twins who were separated at birth and grow up and Italy and England respectively. She really liked her role in "Wing Commander": "It is a really different role from all the other movies I have done, where I usually play women who have some kind of problem! My character in 'Wing Commander' is completely different, she is very hard, cold and direct, but deep down very passionate.Mathew Lillard (Maniac)
His first big role in the Big Screen was a Stuart in the movie "Scream". His next two projects were "S.L.C. Punk" and "Senseless" (in which he play a Hockey Player). He also portrayed the serial killer in "Hackers" and appeared in the TV movie "If these walls could talk". Then role in "Wing Commander" was a real challenge for the Californian actor.Jurgen Prochnow (Gerald)
Compared to all the other actors, Jurgen Prochnow has been in this business for a while. In many roles include appearances in "Legendender Leidenshaft" with Brad Pitt, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Aidan Quinnas well as "Body of Evidence" with Madonna, "The Boat", "Dune", "Das7. Zeichen" and even a role in the "Wing Commander" related game "Privateer 2: The Darkening".
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