ScoobyDoo is back with another underappreciated Wing Commander ship. He's modeled the Shrike bomber in his characteristic heavy metal style. By some accounts, the TB-81 was a fairly average strike craft, but it did have a few surprises up its sleeve. The variant flown in Prophecy typically carried a respectable mix of 8 torpedoes and numerous rocket pods, but the torps could be swapped out for an even larger load of HARM missiles. Talented pilots could do some serious damage with the charging mass driver, and Secret Op's "Black Strike" was quite a powerhouse with its twin dust cannons.
A few personal liberties: it's definitely a two-seater now (most bombers should be anyways), one of the mass drivers was dropped.
Origin designer Sean Murphy's original renders are also pictured below. He's revealed previously that the forward fuselage was planned to be a detachable fighter pod at one point in development, and the underslung tube was originally intended for electronic warfare!
Roberts Space Industries has posted a new employee profile that introduces readers to an Origin vet that has a long history working with the Wing Commander franchise. David Ladyman joined OSI in 1991 and worked on pretty much every Wing Commander game from Wing Commander 2 through Prophecy. His primary role was editing game documentation for WC and other Origin series. He even contributed to the WC Movie's Confederation Handbook companion and gave WC Movie novel series writer Peter Telep some insight into the universe. Mr. Ladyman now produces the digital brochures and electronic magazines for Star Citizen. You can check out the RSI interview here and catch him on the Wingman's Hangar webshow this Friday.
What projects have you worked on? Have you worked with Chris Roberts before?
Projects … I arrived a Origin a few months after Ultima VI and Wing Commander (I) shipped. As editor, my name was on every product that shipped from that point until I left, in 1997. That includes WC II – V (Prophecy), Ultima VII – IX (some of this after I left Origin, as a contractor), all of the Speech Packs, Secret Missions and other add-ons, all the various console titles, Strike Commander, WC Armada, and so forth.
… yes, I’ve worked with Chris before. :)
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