This next one is the Lexington-class heavy carrier, a vessel that was in service around 2669. If you didn’t know already, this vessel was seen in the Wing Commander Armada game and as the remade Tiger’s Claw in Super Wing Commander. A Special Operations-modified version was the TCS Lexington from Armada. Other “stock” ships of the class include (but are not limited to) the Bradshaw, Kinney, Kennedy, and the Lincoln. For all sakes and intentions, these are the rivals to the newest Kilrathi Bhantkara-class heavy carriers and are comparable in size and tonnage.Armament is a modernized “WC3-era” loadout: 12 laser turrets and 3 IFF Missile Turrets. Spacecraft complement is 80 fighters, 20 bombers, and 20 support vessels.
The Zeji Imperium's warships are actually ships and structures used by the 'Nephilim' in Wing Commander: Prophecy. The title itself is a sort of homage to that same game, as well as deals with the subject of this story. I forgot to note who did it, but thanks to whoever extracted the ship models; seeing them available inspiried me to create this campaign, and finally create a worthy opponent for the Black Dream. Special thanks to Wing Commander CIC, as the source of these files, as well as reference to the ships themselves.The ships make their most notable appearance in air, buildings and special units. It's kind of neat to see them used like this.
Greetings,here are the latest pictures from Wing Commander Saga, showing new backgrounds and in-game action in never before seen quality (which is refering to the pictures I released before)
We have 15 missions finished (or almost finished) and more are yet to come. We are still looking for voice actors, so if anyone is interested he should drop me a line...Best Regards
Tolwyn
Hey all, Raptor here.HTL continues with part 8 of my "Into The Inferno" series, Extreme Measures. As you saw at the end of part 7, and of "False Hopes And Nightmares", the Combined Fleet's situation had gone from bad to worse, leaving them looking at battlegroups coming in from three different jump points. This story picks up from there, and is written by yours truly.
The story is at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~theraj/archives/ch179.htm
On another note, the Aces need web designers. Acenet hasn't been getting a lot of attention over the past couple of years. There have only been a couple of sites added to the Acenet in that time, and Acenet Central itself is long overdue for a major update. As part of the effort to revitalise the Aces Club, there are plans afoot to give Acenet Central a total revamp, and also to recreate the Aces Lounge, a place where the stories and other projects created by the Club can be showcased. Several people have already volunteered things like design templates, stories and renderings to go on the new sites.What we don't have, and what we really need if we're to get this effort off the ground, is people who can help with website building and programming. We need people who are willing to do the hard yards of building these sites. If you have the skills and the commitment to help see these projects through to completion, you would be helping the Aces Club out in a big way. If you're interested, please either email me or post to the new Aces board at: http://www.justinlee.ca/wca
Best, Raptor
Wing Commander 1 (1990) supported
Wing Commander 2 (1991) supported
Wing Commander 3 (1994) runnable
Wing Commander Academy (1994) supported
Wing Commander Armada (1994) supported
Wing Commander IV (1995) broken
Wing Commander Privateer (1994) supported
Hey All, Raptor HereHTL continues with "False Hopes And Nightmares", written by Joe "Wraith" Guida. This chapter traces events from the Combined Fleet's arrival insystem to the present, as seen through the eyes of the Yorktown crew. Please send any and all comments to Joe at captpowell1@earthlink.net, not to me.
The story is at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~theraj/archives/ch178.htm
Best, Raptor
Our previous poll asked which incarnation of Christopher Blair you liked the most. Mark Hamill won by a two-thirds majority, with Bluehair (Wing I and II) receiving most of the remaining votes. The outcome of this and all previous polls can be found in our poll archive.
Through our new poll we want to find out how many of our front page visitors are active on our bulletin board. Although the majority of our forums focus on Wing Commander (with topics ranging from general chat to fan projects and fiction) we also have an off-topic area where almost anything can be discussed.
Kit Vulpes wanted to let everyone know about another forum based Wing Commander role playing game that's been conducting business for quite a while under the radar. They've managed to keep things together for a couple years already and are now looking for new members. There are some creative people involved who have created a new alien race and combined it with a unique Wing Commander setting.
The year is 2653. The Terran Confederation and its allies are at war with the Kilrathi Empire. In the thick of the action is a cruiser named TCS Equinox. Assigned to this ship is a fighter/bomber squadron called "the Black Eagles." The Equinox is a "last chance" ship. That means the Equinox is the last stop for Confed military personnel before court martial or (since it's a time of war) execution. Consequently, the ship, crew and squadron are considered expendable. They usually get the suicide missions.You can join in at their site or email Kit Vulpes for more information.Our Wing Commander is totally nuts; the head trauma nurse is a real fox (No...seriously...she looks like a fox); Winter and Shadow's tech crews are constantly cleaning organic debris off of their figthers (again); the XO has pointy ears (and she looks like a fox, too!); the plot is somewhere between sci-fi space combat, bad horror movie, and melodramatic daytime television; and the bar is always open (except when we're on red alert, then it *gasp!* doesn't do deliveries).
If you seem incapable of producing roleplaying characters who are well-balanced, productive members of society, this may be the RPG group for you! We are the intrepid (or maybe just plain loony) pilots of the TCS Equinox, a last-chance stop for screw-ups who for whatever reason couldn't quite make it elsewhere. We meet on Sunday nights at 9pm EST for chat-based roleplaying and fill in on the message boards in between.
This magnified view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity of a portion of a martian rock called "Upper Dells" shows fine layers (laminae) that are truncated, discordant and at angles to each other. Interpretive black lines trace cross-lamination that indicates the sediments that formed the rock were laid down in flowing water.
This is sent in celebration of something that happened to me some time ago. I was able to obtain the Kilrathi Saga. Yes, you heard me right! THE Kilrathi Saga. After all those years of searching EBay actions, over-inflated prices, and having to be around two friends/WC fans who also have copies of their own.Most people would expect to pay hundreds of dollars to get this copy. Only the truly die-hard fans need apply. But for me, I found it in the most unlikely of places... the local flea market. For seven bucks.
I originally made this pic as a way of lamenting over the constant "defeat" a person goes through when he loses that special eBay auction. You had it within your grasp, only to have it brutally wrenched from you. It's always out there taunting them.
Earth & Beyond Says Goodbye^Death_ just recently went to a Jumpgate fan gathering. You can find some of the pictures here. Last September Earth & Beyond held a number of birthday parties around the US to celebrate its first year. It's kind of sad to see this one go so soon, but it's not the first EA massively multiplayer title to not pan out.
Starting September 22, 2004, Earth & Beyond will no longer be in service. After an amazing two years of galactic adventure, Electronic Arts has made the decision to close Earth & Beyond in order to focus resources on future games.
I like Treasure Planet, mostly because of it's art design. Sci-fi mixing into 17th century stuff sounded oh so cool to me. <G>. Little lockets with holo-projectors and pulse-muskets. Also reminded me of those "Steampunk" RPGs I used to always play. "Castle Falkenstien", for example.I basically re-texured the Hades-class ship using pics of wood panels. Colored a few, so they would look more differant. The front part, I've tried to make look like copper, but to me, it looks like old leather or something. <G>. Took me awhile, but I think the end results were worth the effort.
Hope I don't give it away too much when I say that this one's might make a few more appearences in the future.
Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga: Copies of Kilrathi Saga are always valuable... but this one even more so -- it's signed by Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts! Back in 1990, Origin released a signed edition of the original Wing Commander which included the first addon and a hat... and Mr. Roberts' signature doesn't look to have changed much in ten years! This KS would make the ultimate bookend to anyone's Wing Commander game collection. (5 Days Left, Current Bid $121)In addition, you can find posters promoting the likes of Bioforge, Ultima, Wings of Glory and others here! Good luck to all.Wing Commander Universe Poster: This is a Wing Commander Universe poster, like those included in Wing Commander Prophecy... or is it?! This is, in fact, a rolled version given to Origin employees - so it's nice and smooth, like a movie poster. Buy it and then carry it around so you'll always have something to be signed in case you run into Captain Johnny. (5 Days Left, Current Bid $.99)
Wing Commander Prophecy Poster: These posters were given out only to Origin employees and as promotional items at trade shows. This is only the second time I've ever seen one available for sale in the US - so jump on it! (5 Days Left, Current Bid $.99)
There's a Wing Commander MUSH by the name of Fiery Ardor that's been secretly under construction for the past four months. It's a text based role playing game. They're getting to the point where they'll soon have a bunch to show off and are looking for some additional staff to help fill in the gaps. Here's Ierocis with the request.
Unlike other WC MUSHes or MUXes in the past, Fiery Ardor focuses on character development and life of Terran Confederation Military personnel during the Kilrathi/Terran war. Therefore heavily coded combat is not as important as good RPing with one another. Most of the action will take place on the Ranger-class Light Carrier, TCS Ardor and it's carrier task group.You can find the full text of his request here.As we near the end of construction phase we could do with a wee bit of help to fill staff positions to help supply storyline for the MUSH, and finish off odd jobs like fancying up the webpage. If you are interested in checking us out and lending us a hand you can reach us via telnet, simpleMU, MUSHclient, or other MU client at:
HOST: ardormush.quackster.net
PORT: 8888
AMERICAN KNIGHT is a tale of man’s nobility and honor while fighting one of the bloodiest wars of all time. Tom Bishop, a brash, young American pilot, searches for meaning and adventure in the turmoil of embattled Europe and the aerial dog fights of World War I, where men battled in planes that were nothing more than glorified lawnmowers with wings.Chris Roberts will be directing this one, and the script is by Chris, Duke Selley and Joshua Rubin. Mr. Roberts is also the executive producer for the Punisher movie which debuts in the United States on April 16. Thanks to AwesomeAd for taking note.Baron von Richthofen, the Red Baron, is one of the last of his kind — a loyal and lethal soldier with the nobility and chivalry of the Old World. Both willing to die for their country, these men find something worth fighting and ultimately living for in the love of a beautiful French woman.
AMERICAN KNIGHT combines high-flying action with grand romance in a tale of courage and love.
Hey, we've detected a couple issues with the high res Wing Commander Academy downloads. Episode 5 - Lords of the Sky should not be downloaded right now. The second third and final third of the episode repeats itself. The file should be fixed shortly. Sorry if you've already burned a disc or something of that sort. Thanks to Rion and PrinceThrakhath for pointing this out. You can find the links to the other high resolution episodes here. Right click on "Klicke hier, falls nicht" and select "Save Target As" if you're having trouble downloading.
EDIT:There was also a mixup with Episodes 8 and 9, though this one is a lot easier to fix. The file you downloaded called HQ_Episode_08_-_Walking_Wounded.avi should be called HQ_Episode_08_-_Recreation.avi and the episode you downloaded called HQ_Episode_09_-_Recreation.avi should be called HQ_Episode_09_-_Walking_Wounded.avi. We're going to be changing the download links as soon as possible, but if you've already got the episodes, then that should clear you up. Again, here is information on what order to watch the episodes in.
Airdate: This is the order in which Academy originally aired on the USA Network in 1996. The show was run Saturday mornings at 11:30 AM (except for "Recreation", which was shown at noon) and then rerun on Sundays at the same time (the Oct. 26th showing was a rerun).
Airdate OrderTimeline: This is the order in which the series occurs within the context of the Wing Commander universe. It's noticably different, but probably best for watching the show in order... as, for instance, Chain of Command references the events of Expendable. Stardates are rough, and could be within a few days off in each case.
Episode 01 - Red & Blue - Sept. 21st, 1996
Episode 02 - The Last One Left - Sept. 28th, 1996
Episode 03 - The Most Delicate Instrument - Oct. 5th, 1996
Episode 04 - Word of Honor - Oct. 12th, 1996
Episode 05 - Lords of the Sky - Oct. 19th, 1996
Episode 06 - Chain of Command - Nov. 2th, 1996
Episode 07 - Expendable - Nov. 9nd, 1996
Episode 08 - Recreation - Nov. 16th, 1996
Episode 09 - Walking Wounded - Nov. 23rd, 1996
Episode 10 - On Both Your Houses - Nov. 30th, 1996
Episode 11 - Invisible Enemy - Dec. 7th, 1996
Episode 12 - Price of Victory - Dec. 14th, 1996
Episode 13 - Glory of Sivar - Dec. 21st, 1996
Timeline OrderProduction: Last, and probably least, is the production order. There's no real reason to watch the show in the order in which it was made (as animated shows are generally produced out of order), but it's an important historical footnote!
Episode 01 - Red & Blue - 2654.072-.073
Episode 02 - The Last One Left - 2654.094
Episode 03 - The Most Delicate Instrument - 2654.155
Episode 04 - Lords of the Sky - 2654.162-163
Episode 05 - Word of Honor - 2654.169
Episode 06 - Expendable - 2654.176
Episode 07 - Chain of Command - 2654.177
Episode 08 - Walking Wounded - 2654.183
Episode 09 - Invisible Enemy - 2654.184
Episode 10 - Recreation - 2654.185-.186
Episode 11 - On Both Your Houses - 2654.190-.191
Episode 12 - Price of Victory - 2654.292
Episode 13 - Glory of Sivar - 2654.292-.293
Production Order
Episode 01 - Red & Blue
Episode 02 - The Last One Left
Episode 03 - The Most Delicate Instrument
Episode 04 - Lords of the Sky
Episode 05 - Word of Honor
Episode 06 - Chain of Command
Episode 07 - Expendable
Episode 08 - Recreation
Episode 09 - Walking Wounded
Episode 10 - On Both Your Houses
Episode 11 - Invisible Enemy
Episode 12 - Price of Victory
Episode 13 - Glory of Sivar
Son of "Creating a Page Turner"
On the heels of last year's popular "Creating a Page-Turner" workshop (devoted to effective formatting on the printed page), Terry Borst invites conference participants to submit their thorny formatting issues, for live demonstrations (and accompanying discussion) of how to address and clarify complicated film scenes. Not sure how to indicate a phone call? Overlapping dialogue? Cross-cutting? Flashbacks? Dream sequences? 'Gosford Park' type ensemble scenes? Submit your question -- or problem page -- to: tborst@ureach.com While Terry cannot guarantee he can take up your question in the workshop, the odds are good that your dilemma -- or a very similar one -- will be discussed during the 90 minutes. Effective formatting is formatting that gets out of the way, and allows the reader to "project" the movie in his head while reading. Dare to use all the tools of cinema on the printed page! Be more confident in your formatting!
Our new poll asks which Christopher Blair was your favorite:
 Academy TV |
 Bluehair (WC1/WC2) |
 Super WC |
Mark Hamill |
Freddie Prinze Jr. |
Bill Fawcett: A writer, editor and game-designer, Bill has also packaged over 200 novels, including Wing Commander, Magic: The Gathering, Ultima and Ultima Underworld, for every major publisher.The "packager" contacts companies such as Origin and organizes the relevant resources for putting a novel project together. Mr. Fawcett was at DragonCon in 2001, so hopefully we can see what he's up to again this year. The other new guests can be found here. The current rate for a four-day DragonCon pass is $60. It's set to increase May 15. Feel free to ask us any questions about attending.
Question: What prompted you to move into the field of cartoons and comic books? Do you have difficulty finding acting jobs because of your role as Luke Skywalker?I remember when the Academy show was still "coming up." They second interview can be found here.MarkHamll: I found far more varied roles, character parts and so forth, on Broadway and off-Broadway. Animated voices seem to be an extension of that kind of character work. Coming up on the USA Network is "Wing Commander Academy" with Malcolm McDowell, Dana Delaney and Tom Wilson.
WizardTGTC: SAM MASTR asks: I read that your son didn't want to play "Wing Commander" anymore, because it's too much like real life having your father tell you what to do. Has he gotten over that? Will he play "Wing Commander" now?That's funny. I remember watching an old television interview about Wing Commander 4 many years back and Hamill said about the same thing.Mark Hamill: That comes from questions about what it must be like having a fantasy character for a father in the mundane "clean up your room, and get a haircut" world we all live in. Colonel Blair would never tell him to finish his homework. But I have to admit, he's better at the game then I am. If you're near a computer store, ask to play Wing Commander 4. It really is a compelling game!
No, Wing Commander Academy doesn't show on television anymore, but that seems to have slipped past the USA Network. Their original Action Extreme Team cartoon lineup schedule is still online. It's amazing that this little page has endured, long forgotten, on their web server for a good eight years or so. It brings back many memories of waking up early Sunday morning to catch the new episodes. In case you forgot, Wing Commander Academy used to show Sunday mornings at 8:00 am (7:00 Central).
Edit:New episodes actually premiered Saturday at 11:30 am and then were rerun in the same time slot on Sunday. That page refers to the reruns, which were shown in 1997 at 8:00 am on Sundays (and which occasionally got shifted to Monday-Friday runs at the same time).
Question:What do you plan to do for acting in the future? -AmandaEA MarkH: This is a good one. I currently have two products on the market. Wing Commander Prophecy my third installment in the Wing Commander series, The Black Pearl is in trade paperback from Dark Horse comics, which includes three pages of my drawings. This is a chance to see how much input I had by comparing my pages with the finished art.
Excellent news in these sad days: a mission making machine has joined our ranks. I am pleased to welcome Roy Fokker to our team, a member of the excellent FS2 mod Inferno. He and Starman were busy working on new missions during the past days and now 5 missions are complete save a few balancing issues and voice overs. We have planned a 35 Mission Campaign, broken up into several downloadable “Episodes.” Enjoy screenshots from the newly completed missions. Credits also go to Lightspeed for his excellent nebula backgrounds.A lot of work is being done behind the scenes. We hope to deliver a new Wing Commander experience very soon.
Neat, so he shouldn't be shocked when we walk up and do the same.What kind of reaction have you gotten because of playing Tolwyn?
I go to the supermarket now and kids will come up to me and say, "Hey, Admiral Tolwyn."
Tired of hearing about the new high-resolution Wing Commander Academy episodes? Well, your wait is... going to continue for a while, as we struggle to find a way to host the new, larger episodes. In the mean time, however, feel free to enjoy the Wing Commander Academy introduction ripped by KrisV from the new versions! You can download the file here (8 megs), which gives the best look yet at the format of the new encodes!
This is actually one of two introductions used by Academy - the other, used for episodes two through seven, has a different piece of music. Here's some screenshots for those who don't want to download an eight meg file:
You can find the original feature here.Only half of the set of the fighter hangar was erected. After repositioning the fighters, extras and adjusting the light, a second pass was filmed to be combined as a flipped image later in postproduction.
To realize the required camera lift of 5.5 m, MAGICMOVE delivered a special configuration where both the camera and pan head were mounted on a vertical track.
For a long time, we WC fans have held hope for WC. We've established forums, add-ons, total conversions and a whole slew of wonderful things Even as various nay-sayers continue to imply that the franchise is dead, I think it's the dedication and loyality of the fans that keep it burning bright and alive, and not just the company that produces it.I think this thinking of a shipwrecked crew. probably abandoned as well. But seeing hope in the horizion as well. That is, if you wnt to get all symbolic about it. Otherwise, it'd just be a very cool pic, IMO.
Austin-based game development company Origin Systems, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., will shut down local operations and lay off 64 employees in the next three months.That said, the article goes on to make a rather odd claim:Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts reported its plans in a letter to the Texas Workforce Development Commission. The reductions include software engineers, online support representatives and administrative support staff.
"I think when EA bought Origin Systems six or seven years ago, they had the goal of closing the Austin office eventually."In fact, EA bought Origin in 1992. As much as I hate to play the apologist, it is absolutely worth pointing out that Electronic Arts' money was responsible for funding every Wing Commander project from Wing Commander II Deluxe Edition on. Try to remember that the next time you're bashing EA at a message board... they made a lot of mistakes, but they were also responsible for allowing a lot of great things to happen. And I'll take playing Privateer over trying to find someone to blame for the current situation any day.
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