Wing Commander Academy further increases the number of specific support ships in the Wing Commander universe. This Confederation 'space ambulance' appears briefly in "Word of Honor."
Rooster Teeth will use this movie making feature to create a whole series of movies based on The Sims 2. As The Sims became a cultural phenomenon and brought computer games to the masses, Rooster Teeth movies from The Sims 2 are poised to do the same thing -- bring Machinima to the masses. The short The Sims 2 movies will be available starting today with new movies premiering on a regularly scheduled basis on www.strangerhood.com.Congratulations to the Rooster Teeth team. Hopefully they're making a lot of money doing what they want to do. The Intro available now shows off a little bit of what their style will be for the new series, and it seems to have some good potential.
A new release of Flight Commander is coming soon. Among the new features implemented are force feedback joystick support, 3d surround sound, and improved graphics and speed.Screenshots, details on all the implemented new features, and a pre-release web site are up at flightcommander.solsector.net.
We don't see a shuttle in the original Wing Commander (though there is one in the introduction to Super Wing Commander - which is itself taken from Origin's Bioforge!), but here we get a chance to see what one assigned to the Tiger's Claw looks like. This craft appears twice: once as Admiral Bergstrom's yacht in "Chain of Command" and then as the ship which transports our heroes to shore leave on Oasis in "Recreation."
This is a ship with much the same role as the TCS Tarawa in the Wing Commander novels - moving fighters from one point to another. In "Walking Wounded" the Kilrathi capture the TCS Morgan and turn her fighter complement (Sabres and Broadswords) against the Tiger's Claw. The Morgan's fighter complement consisted of nineteen ships in two launch bays: eight Dralthi, six Sabres and three Broadswords. Defensive armament consists of three dual-mount laser turrets, one single-mount laser turret and a dual-mount missile turret. The design is similar, but notably distinct from, the Achilles-class ship seen in other episodes.
The Sims franchise celebrated its fourth anniversary in February. The game skyrocketed to the top of the charts when it began shipping to stores in February 2000 and quickly became a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. The Sims PC based product and expansion packs were the best selling PC games of 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003. Translated into 17 different languages, The Sims has inspired seven top selling expansion packs. Combined sales for the franchise have topped 41 million units life-to-date.The Urbz are up next.
In the original Wing Commander we see Drayman-class transports converted as hospital ships (in the Dakota System). In Wing Commander Academy we get to see what a dedicated version looks like: the TCS Pleiku, a crippled hospital ship, is the setting for much of "Walking Wounded." The Hospital Ship is unarmed.
Byrd-class hulls appear as reconaissance ships in "Chain of Command" and as transports in "Recreation." They are armed with one single-mount laser cannon located on their bow.
Hi everybody.Sounds interesting! You can discuss the project on our Forums.It is with pleasure that I announce the birth of a new project dedicated to Wing Commander: Wing Commander Online.
The project is an online virtual interface based upon the recently released Atmosphere program, by Adobe. The purposes of this project are multiple, since its features include virtual online chat (you can chat looking directly at the person you want to chat with, via a 3D avatar), you can enter in a complete virtual reality featuring a Wing Commander III era ship, called "TCS MEDITERRANEAN SEA," with a bar, a flight deck, a bridge and so on.
As you may understand, the main objective at the time is to give the Wing Commander Community (and of course the CIC) a true ship to be in, to chat with other wingnuts and -somehow- to live together. Imagine to be really in the world of Wing Commander, with the rules of Confederation ships. All the RPG based game could receive a big helping hand by being put in a virtual world-universe like this.
Moreover this is not a mod but a completely new project, based upon a brand new engine. This together with many other features leads the way to let approach new fan at the Wing Commander Universe.
Which means: giving Wing Commander a future
To find more information please head your browsers to: frwebworks.altervista.org or frwebworks.tk projects area.
Thank you all,
Francesco "flap" Rossi
Next up we'll be identifying the ships created specifically for the animated series - from Confederation battleships to Kilrathi stealth fighters to unusual fighters no one has managed to conclusively identify! First up are the nine original ships of the Terran Confederation!
The TCS Manassas, a light cruiser, appears as part of Admiral Bergstrom's battlegroup in "Chain of Command." Unfortunately, we are never given a clear view of the ship -- so its complement and capacities remain largely unknown.
Wing Commander's Fralthi-class cruiser makes a very brief appearance in "Expendable" - and not just any Fralthi... Ralgha nar Hhallas' eventual command, the KIS Ras Nik'hra! Oddly, the ship is referred to as being a destroyer... but you can't win them all! Four dual mount laser cannons are visible during the Fralthi's brief appearance.
Sounds pretty darned cool! Everything is being sold together, and you can find the auction here. The auction ends in just under five days - bid early, bid often! Good luck!
- Making of Wing Commander III VHS
- Wing Commander III Behind the Screens CD
- Wing Commander 3 Poster
- VHS tape with three hours of raw WC3 footage
- WC3 Team Shirt
- WC3 Magazine Demo
- The original WC3 release candidate CD-Rs
This week both Sony and Nintendo announced new hardware. The Playstation 2 is getting a compact redesign, and the Game Boy line is evolving with the Nintendo DS. In the first few days of November, the model 70000 PS2 (or two) will go on sale for around $150. It reduces the original PS2 size by about 75%. The network adapter is also integrated as well.
This tightly directed military adventure about elite fighter pilots (and one cranky civilian scout) in a 27th-century war for interstellar domination stars Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer), beautiful Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea, Troy), Matthew Lillard (Thir13en Ghosts, Scooby-Doo) and Jürgen Prochnow (David Lynch's Dune, Das Boot). Shot through with submarine-drama suspense, it's easily one of the best movie adaptations of a hit videogame.Airs Tuesday, September 21, at 11PM ET/PT
Our next series of Wing Commander Academy Ships of the Day will focus on those which originally appeared in the original 1990 Wing Commander.
The CF-105 Scimitar-class Medium Fighter is the only ship to appear in all thirteen episodes of Academy. The armament of the Scimitar on Academy is remarkably similar to that which appears in the original game: five missiles (two above the cockpit and three in hardpoints below the fuselage) and two forward lasers. There is one odd addition - Academy's Scimitars have a light caliber laser turret in their nose, which appears only in "On Both Your Houses." In true Star Wars fashion, Academy's Scimitars are detailed in five different colors: blue, black, orange, green and purple. You can read more about the Scimitar's history here.
Foam Rubber Creature HandsSadly the photos featured with the auction have been taken down, but hopefully Joe can model them for us soon!
- oversized, but fitted inside for any size adult hand.
- 15" long, palm is 6" across
- fake fur and fake claws still in good shape
- originally created for a "Wing Commander" video game development session (for the Hobbes character). Likely only worn a few times by a CG model.
The last Wing Commander 2 ship in our lineup is also the first capital ship: the Kilrathi Kamekh-class Corvette. Kamekh appear in Episodes two (very briefly), six and nine of the series. The corvette has six forward lasers (four in the wings, two under the nose), two missile bays (one below each engine) and an upper dual-mount turret. Privateer features a destroyer-class variant of the Kamekh. Another source features Kamekh around the same time as Wing Commander Academy -- they're in Hunter's list of capital ships encountered at Firekka in Freedom Flight.
Wing Commander II's lightest fighter also shows up throughout the series: the Sartha-class Light Fighter. They first appear in episode two, and then are visible from episode seven through the end of the series. The animated Sartha carries a modest loadout: two laser cannons and two missiles in racks under the fuselage.
Hey all, Raptor hereI know it's been a fair while since you last saw a new HTL chapter, but it couldn't be helped due to a combination of real life and technical issues. We're just coming to the end of the holiday season in the seaside town I work in, and the pharmacy has been very busy. In addition to that, a few E-mail problems after downloading XP Service Pack 2 have been taking up my computer time. It's all sorted now though, and it's back to business as usual.
As you saw in the last few chapters, the fight against the Nephilim fleet coming in from Ymir has just started, but it's already getting bloody. As I'm sure you'll recall though, the human Combined Fleet is fighting off not one but two Nephilim forces, the second being the remains of the fleet that's been battered in the running battle to date. This fleet is coming in from the Loki jump point, and will be met by the Combined Fleet's reserves. We kick off that portion of the battle with part fourteen of the excellent Scraps Of Honour series, written by Nick "Chaeronea" Deane. Please send any and all comments to Nick at babylons@tpg.com.au, not to me.
The story is at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~theraj/archives/ch190.htm
Best, Raptor
Wing Commander 2's Kilrathi counterpart for the Broadsword serves the same role in Wing Commander Academy. The Grikath-class Heavy Fighter appears in episodes three, six, seven, ten, eleven, twelve and thirteen. Its forward armament consists of three lasers... but where the Broadsword mounted impressive energy weapons, the Grikath has an enviable missile loadout. The fighter carries a grand total of fourteen missiles: four in wing racks, two in fuselage racks and eight in internal wing hardpoints. Two magnetic grapplers (tractor beams) are mounted on the wings.
"Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow" is the first feature film to be shot entirely against a blue screen with backgrounds filled in later using computer imagery. Given recent technological advances, a film done like this was just a matter of time.You can find the full article here. A more appropriate question might be: Given the amount of time blue screen backgrounds have been used in film and video games, what took them so long?
"Earth?" you might say, then this must be a scene from the Battle of Earth, and that is correct. In my opinion I find that this is one of the most important fights for human survival, and that gave me the inspiration for the picture.There's quite a bit to see in this one. The original was a bit light, so the one above has been darkened slightly. Dijkman's original can be found here.Besides the Arrow cockpit and Dralthi you should also recognise the dead Hellcat and large piece of hull of a capital ship. In the background a fleet carrier is slugging it out against various Kilrathi fighters and bombers, and even further away you see a carrier in drydock moments from its destruction.
Next up is the Sabre's Kilrathi counterpart, the Jalkehi-class Heavy Fighter. Gharal nar Hhallas leads a flight of Jalkehi appears in Episode 4, "Word of Honor," and they show up on the flight deck of the Agon Ra Sivar in Episode 13, "Glory of Sivar." The Jalkehi is heavily armed in Wing Commander II... but we see very little of this in Academy; all it fires on the show is a single, central laser cannon. Gharal's use of Jalkehi to rescue a downed Dralthi pilot indicates that the fighter serves in an SAR role.
The CF-131/A-17 Broadsword-class Heavy Bomber is one of Wing Commander Academy's signature ships, appearing in seven of the thirteen shows (3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13). The Academy version of the Broadsword is very heavily armed, with a grand total of eight energy guns: two forward plasma guns, a dual-mount rear particle cannon turret and four laser cannons (two single mount turrets above and below and one dual mount chin turret). A central tube holds Dart and Spiculum missiles and a bomb-bay contains a pair of antimatter torpedoes. The Broadsword also has a tractor beam. According to The Confederation Handbook, the Broadsword entered service in 2635, and according to False Colors they have been retired to serving only with Reserve Wings by 2671.
EVE Online is the next generation in massive multiplayer online games. Set in a world of galactic magnitude, governed by a hyper capitalistic economy. Your aim is to establish yourself as a major mover and shaker, trusted by your friends and respected by your enemies. Your main tools to accomplish this, apart from the whole panoply of sophisticated equipment, space ships and corporations will be your business acumen and social skills, Machiavellian thinking and cunning combat strategies.An Eve expansion, Shiva, is scheduled for this fall. You can grab your free trial pass here.
Wing Commander II's ultimate player ship, the F-57 Sabre-class Heavy Attack Fighter, makes an appearance in three episodes of the series. It appears as Karnes' pirate fighter in Episode 2, "The Last One Left," as part of the Tiger's Claw's complement in Episode 4, "Word of Honor" and finally as a Kilrathi prize in Episode 9, "Walking Wounded." Two different variants of Sabres' appear on the show. Karnes' fighter has three forward lasers and launches one missile, while the Tiger's Claw Sabres have four forward lasers and two dual-mount rear turrets.
It was a close call, but Cinema came in third in our previous poll. This time we're asking what you like best, and I think we have something for everyone among the poll options.
Archived polls are located here. Poll ideas are always welcome.
Since we've received so much positive feedback about the recent 'Ships of the Animated Series' updates, we've decided to stick with what works and go through the rest of the ships in the series. Next we'll take a look at ships which were originally introduced back in 1991 with Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi...
The oft-disparaged F-54 Epee-class Light Attack Fighter makes two appearances in the television series. It first shows up as part of Karnes' pirate group in Episode 2, "The Last One Left" and then returns to fly point defense for the Tiger's Claw in Episode 3, "The Most Delicate Instrument." The animated version of the Epee mounts a single, centerline laser cannon and four missiles - two on external wing mounts and two located below. Some have argued that this fighter cannot be the Epee, given the Wing Commander 1 & 2 Official Guide's claim that the Epee "replaced the Hornet just six years ago" (2661) -- but there's probably some room to maneuver, since even the Hornet is still in service eight years after that point.
Fatcat sent us a status update on his wooden Behemoth model. He has evened the sides up and put the nose cone on. I'm looking forward to the next shot.
I apologize for the lack of developements on my Behemoth model. I've had almost non-stop vacation for a month, and I recently had some fitting problems. But I am now happy to announce that the hardest part of the model is compleated: the double-angled muzzle on the gun housing.
Our final "hidden" ship is the only one which originated with Wing Commander IV -- and it's another very brief cameo. The Union of Border Worlds' Avenger-class Torpedo Bomber shows up as the pirate shuttle that captures Blair and Maniac in Episode 3, "The Last One Left." Since so little is known about the backgrounds of the three 'spit and glue' militia fighters seen in Wing Commander IV, it's certainly quite possible for the Avenger to have been built as early as 2654!
The differences between it and the normal Claw Marks timeline is negligible. Some small additional details exist after the 2619 date.This may not seem amazing to everyone - but finding out so much data about the early days of the war is very exciting to a timeline junkie like myself! The Japanese timeline also gives more specific dates for the McAuliffe Ambush and Enyo Engagement:1. At McAuliffe, before being destroyed the Confed fleet manages to destroy the Kilrathi flagship causing a disruption in their chain of command which is apparently what's attributed to their retreat.
2. Slight clarification on the Enyo Engagement's mine plan. Primarily not only do the mines keep the Kilrathi clear of the jump point, but it splits them off decidedly between the gunships in orbit and the fleet units assigned to intercept the Raptors. The plan not only involved a quick strike against the orbital guns but also the additional final pincer between the Raptors and the main fleet. Enyo engagement is specifically stated to have lasted "only two days" apparently intended to show that the engagement itself was short by war standards.
3. 2642.082 - Two sides settle into a long and unending stalemate, which creates tension along the frontier. Several Terran worlds declare independence from Confed as a prelude to declaring neutrality in the conflict.
4. 2646.005 - Starting with Baird's Star, seven systems declare independence from the Confederation. Confed attempts to break the stalemate and prevent other worlds from seceding by changing their strategic aims from direct engagement to intelligent, particularly in cryptography.
5. 2648.305 - Confed succeeds in breaking the Kilrathi encryption code. In order to prevent a repeat of the McAuliffe debacle, Confed takes pains to make sure their interpretation of Kilrathi code is accurate.
6. 2649.189 - Terran Command using information on Kilrathi fleets and deployments gained through their breaking of Kilrathi encryption methods assemble a fleet consisting of 60% of the Vega Sector Fleet aimed at invading and occupying Kilrah itself. Given the overwhelming superiority in force and information as well as strategy, a Confed victory seemed well in hand.
7. 2649.205 - Kilrah invasion fails due to unexpected resistance on part of the Kilrathi. As Confed forces stage a full retreat, their transports are left at the mercy of Kilrathi forces.(Presumably this refers to Custer's Carnival.)
McAuliffe Ambush: 228 and .235 are the same events as listed in Claw Marks. .239 is officially the day considered to be the end of the McAuliffe engagement, which apparently is the day the Confed forces are wiped out and the Kilrathi flagship destroyed.Enyo Engagement: 2639.033 is the date the Kilrathi attack fleet reaches Enyo, 2639.036 is when Confed begins formulating the counter attack. 2639.038 is the actual phase one of the Enyo engagement including the detonation of the mines. 2639.040 is the date the engagement actually ends with a pincer to the remaining Kilrathi forces the Raptors had been responsible for drawing out. I sort of doubt they could possibly have been fighting a running battle for two straight days, however. So this bit should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
The Wing Commander Academy TV series has always been lauded for its proper use of 'early' designs like Scimitars, original Dralthi and Broadsword bombers... but the animators also managed to sneak in several Wing Commander III and IV ships! Over the next several days we'll take a look at four of these cameos and briefly discuss what they mean to the greater Wing Commander universe.
Our first ship is the Arrow V-class Light Fighter, which appears very briefly in Episode 1, "Red and Blue". The traitor, Burroughs, uses an Arrow to make his escape to a Kilrathi blockade runner. The 'V' designation occasionally referenced in fan circles (indicating that it is the fifth spaceframe named Arrow) comes from the Kilrathi Saga manual. This episode is the earliest appearance of the Arrow in the Wing Commander timeline, though the ship list which first introduced the fighter in Voices of War is curiously dated 2654. The Arrow is on its way out by the time of Prophecy; that game's official guide says of the Piranha that "the military is using it as a replacement for the out-of-date Arrow".
The F/A-76A Longbow is Confed's replacement for the venerable Broadsword bomber. The Longbow bomber has a single job, to deliver torpedoes to enemy capital ships, and it does this extremely well. On the downside, its lack of maneuverability and acceleration attract enemy fighters like hornets. On the upside, the Longbow's formidable set of defensive missile weaponry, armor protection, and gun turret will make any hostile fighter pay the price for entertainment.
As of today all CIC sections should be restored in full. This includes the website, Forums, files section, music area and all hosted sites. If you do find something is missing or if you're having trouble logging on to your Solsector account, please let us know. We went through an unplanned server move and these things are never easy or smooth.
If you're just looking for something to download, then the August 11 news is a good place to start. We added over a Gigabyte worth of downloads for our 6th birthday.
And all the kitties say he's pretty fly -- for a Drakhai (to the tune of "Pretty Fly For A White Guy")You know it's kind of hard
Just to get eight-kills today
Our subject isn't chakta
But he fakes it anyway
He may not be a Thrak'hra
And he may not die kabaka
But for everything he lacks
Well he'll make up with zu'karaSo don't debate, a furball straight
You know he really doesn't get it anyway
He's gonna play the field, and keep it real
Trav'hra'nigath! Trav'hra'nigath!
So if you don't rate, just cut your jugular
At least you know it'll all end at ko'bar yagar
The world needs Kilrathi,
So do that jak-ta thingHe needs some cool prey
Not just any will suffice
But they didn't have any ukta
So he bought a side of bak
Now cruising in his Sartha, he sees Hornets as he pass
But if he looks twice
They're gonna kick his kitty assNow he's getting a tattoo
He's gettin' ink done
He asked for a 'nagga', but they drew a 'merdha'
Takhars say he's trying too hard
And he's not quite zaga
But in his own mind
He's not rugalgaSo don't debate, a furball straight
You know he really doesn't get it anyway
He's gonna play the field, and keep it real
Trav'hra'nigath! Trav'hra'nigath!
So if you don't rate, just cut your jugular
At least you know it'll all end at ko'bar yagar
The world needs Kilrathi,
The world needs Kilrathi,
So do that jak-ta thing
We will restore the Solsector.net websites as soon as possible. At the moment we can't access the old server and we won't have access to the backup until Hades returns home from parading around Atlanta.
All FTP accounts are set up again. People who wish to do so can reupload their site right away. If your content changes very often our periodic backup is unlikely to have the latest version of your files. We will check before we restore anything from backup, but if you want to be certain we don't accidently overwrite your files, let us know at staff@wcnews.com that your account doesn't need restoring. Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience.
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