Catching Up With Chris Roberts

Remember when Chris Roberts interviews were hard to come by? During the Star Citizen announcement and crowdfunding craziness, they were coming out faster than we could report on them. AD has collected a few that were overlooked but are still worth checking out today.

First up is delonick. He writes a technology column that gets picked up by a number of websites and magazines, typically shortened a bit for publication. His complete notes from the interview are available here: A Real Star Citizen.

I asked him what he felt made Star Citizen unique, versus other entries in the genre.

He responded that the level of detail Star Citizen offered, compared to its contemporaries, is extremely high. There's a fully-functional physics engine underlying the entire game, and unlike other Massively Multiplayer games like EVE, which is essentially played from the 3rd person point of view, Star Citizen puts you in the cockpit, which he feels is a far more immersive experience.

The other difference is the level of involvement a player can have. He compared it to buying a computer. You can buy a Dell out of the box, and just use it, or you can start to add things or overclock it. So in the game, your ship isn't just a ship. You can take the same hull and configure it to be a dogfighter or a freighter. The ship really is the character here, he said.

Forums member Don spotted a video interview with German gaming website PC Games. They talk about his experience developing video games and they touch on a few of Star Citizen's features. The interview is conducted in English with German subtitles.

Next up we have another video interview from krautgaming. It's an extensive, half hour interview that talks about Chris Robert's vision for Star Citizen.

Justin Olivetti conducted a one hour interview for joystiq's Massively Speaking podcast. You can listen on the page or download it directly here.

Today we have a Very Special Guest Star for a Very Special Episode: That's right, it's TV's Blossom, who's here to talk to us about the wonderful changes the human body goes through during puberty. No, that's next week; this week we have Wing Commander's Chris Roberts, the driving force behind the upcoming Star Citizen. Lock 'n load, listeners!

Finally, we have a massive two-part interview from Rock Paper Shotgun: Roberts On Star Citizen, Becoming A Space Crime Lord and Chris Roberts On PC Gaming, Going To Space.

During GDC Online, I find Chris Roberts situated in a plain white room – with little adorning it other than a conference table and Roberts’ PC. Given the almost ridiculous grandiosity of his plans, the sparseness of the room makes for something of an odd contrast. But soon, all of that fades into the background. Roberts runs me through a surprisingly polished demo of Star Citizen in its current state, and it’s hard not to let my imagination get away from me. The foundation’s clearly in place, and the possibilities seem endless. But this is still a game. There have to be limits. Moreover, where’s the line between pie-in-the-stars ambition and reality? So naturally, I ask. I ask about EVERYTHING. In part one, we cover why the universe is broken up into instances, Squadron 42, why Roberts doesn’t think this will become some crazy political struggle ala EVE Online, and of course, Roberts’ aspirations to a life of space crime.

Wing Commander in Concert Details Emerge

The Austin Symphony has released further details on the upcoming pops concert which will include music from George Oldziey's Wing Commander scores. The event is, unexpectedly, superhero themed:

“Superheroes”
October 18, 2013 8:00 PM
WHERE: Dell Hall
CONDUCTOR: Peter Bay
The Austin Symphony will open its Pops season with a night of iconic music from your favorite superhero film and television shows. Your spidey senses will be tingling and you will be at the edge of your seat when you hear music from some of your favorites, such as Batman, Superman, Captain America, The Incredibles, X-Men, and much more! In addition to the music there will be visuals on a big screen to enhance your experience. All concertgoers are invited to come dressed as their favorite superhero. There might just be a contest with a special prize for the winner!

There just might be some “super” special guest. Stay tuned for more details!
Special thank you to our promotional partner: Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy

Update 8/13: Wing Commander will not be part of this program afterall. Details here.

We reached out to George Oldziey, who is currently orchestrating the music, for confirmation that this is the correct event. He replied in the affirmative: "Yes it is. I talked Peter Bay into believing Captain Blair was a superhero:)" Tickets are not yet available, but we will post as soon as they are for sale. You can be sure we'll be organizing a Wing Commander fan event surrounding this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear Wing Commander music played by a live orchestra! Mr. Oldziey notes that he hopes to see some costumes... so we'd better get working on a super-Tolwyn outfit:

Fan Photos of Four Fighters

My Shapeways fighters have arrived finally. Had a bit of an issue with their ordering system forgetting to tell the printer folks that a Rapier II was supposed to be coming down the pipe. Took a few days but they've arrived and I've very happy with the results. You can smell the paint they're so fresh. Not as heavy as I thought they were either. The material feels semi-fragile but sturdy, similar to one of those figurines you're mom kept locked away to stare at that if you touched the floggings would continue till the next noon.

I can see what Sndwv meant in that there might exist some slight room for improvement in making the walls of the engine nacelles and vector plates a little thicker, not much more than a millimeter or more. You can see this the easiest on the rear shot of the Arrow where a few of the thrust-vectoring vanes have snapped off. Interestingly enough, the Rapier II's engines look more intact compared to the Arrow's (citing Sndwv's complaint). Still very acceptable looking considering the materials used, but I'm more than happy with the outcome and look forward to future orders. The lettering is also a little hard to read on the Rapier's wings, but you can still make out TCS Concordia.

Now the troublesome part... which one do I get next?! :S

Celebrating Ten Years of Wing Commander Prophecy Advance

Back in the very early 2000s, activity at the CIC slowed somewhat after the cancellation of several official Wing Commander games. The product that breathed new life into the community and proved that there was a future after Origin was Wing Commander Prophecy for the Game Boy Advance. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the game's release!

The story of Prophecy Advance began for us in January 2002. It was originally reported that an Italian developer named Raylight was putting together a game called Star Giants. This game had a very Wing Commander feel to it with space fighters on screen that looked identical to Rapier and Dralthi that we're all familiar with. The project turned out to be a tech demo for their proprietary Blue Roses 3D space combat engine, and their goal was to strike a deal with EA to create a handheld Wing Commander game. This agreement came to be in May 2002, and WCP GBA subsequently made a big splash at E3 2002 where it won awards for its advanced tech engine.

Regular development took about a year, and what a year it was! As dedicated reporters of Wing Commander news, it's always a joy for us to show off screenshots and report new features of an upcoming WC product. The CIC Staff was also lucky enough to assist Raylight during the development process by sending copies of the PC game and official guide to Italy and providing guidance on how to trim the original script down to fit the talking head version of the story on the GBA.

Anticipation was high in the spring of 2003, and we were on pins and needles as the game shipped on May 28. Reviews were quite positive with sources like IGN, GameSpot and Game Informer all putting it in the 7-8 range. Its faithfully recreated 3D spaceflight engine got high marks, as did its brand new 4-player multiplayer mode. It was also great to see that Raylight recognized the community members who contributed with mentions in the game's credits.

The story doesn't end with the game's release though! The CIC eventually posted the game's built-in cheats after giving Wingnuts a few months to play the game the authentic way. We also pointed out some of the slight differences between the PC and GBA versions and provided fans tips on how to get the game running on the GameCube with a joystick. Raylight also continued to be an active community partner, and they even released a wallpaper for Christmas 2003. It was presented in an awesome ICIS interface that is still online today! We also provided comparisons between the game playing on a GBA SP and a Nintendo DS when the latter system came out in 2004 (graphics and sound were much improved!). The game continued to be reprinted through at least 2005, and there are quite a few units still out there. It was a hit at DragonCon when the CIC staff made appearances there, and it's also in heavy circulation today on the used market. Just last weekend we found a couple copies when spot checking stores around Austin, Texas!

Happy 10th Birthday Prophecy Advance! And a big thank you to Raylight for the decade of entertainment that they've delivered with this game.

Lastly, here's a little bit more about Raylight. They have many products in their portfolio today, but they still credit Wing Commander for helping them make it big!

Raylight S.r.l., an Italian videogames developer company based in the sunny Napoli, was established in 2000 by Francesco Paduano, Massimiliano Di Monda and Fausto Cardone.

The goal of the founders is to create a new reality for the creation and development of high quality videogames, a new reference point in the game industry.

In its early times, Raylight becames very quickly official Nintendo GameBoy Color developer, thanks to its Rally demo on the little console. The demo received good feedbacks from Namco Japan and Nintendo of Europe, but never went to retail.

On 12 april 2001, the application to became an official GameBoy Advance developer was accepted by Nintendo of America and Raylight started working on Wings Advance, its first success.

In recent years, Raylight’s reputation has soared thanks to the development of Blueroses engine and tools, who ended into the development of the highly acclaimed Wing Commander Prophecy on the Nintendo Gameboy Advance.

At present Raylight is a leading Italian videogames development studio with dozens of games released all over the world, for the most outstanding publishers and on different platforms.

Composed of experienced and qualified people, Raylight is now committed to the development of cutting edge solutions for Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP and PC.

Major Milestone Demonstrates Community's Determination

The CIC staff is mostly laying low today, but we are celebrating a proud achievement as well! Yesterday marked ten years of continuous daily front page updates at wcnews.com. Back in May 2003, I never would have predicted how many cool and amazing stories we'd still have to share with everyone. In total since 1998, we've posted some 12,000 items in the news. In just the last few weeks, we've reported on the WC Movie's upcoming Blu-ray release, shown off a video of the 1997 WC FPS pitch, gotten a Kilrathi easter egg in the new Ultima Forever and reported that Wing Commander music will be featured in a live Austin Symphony Concert this fall. Those are just the 'official' news blurbs! The real meat of our regular update slate comes from all the amazing fan projects that Wingnuts are constantly undertaking. capi's RPG was released last week, more of Klavs' amazing 3D prints are available and new projects like Flat Commander, just to name a few, floor us with the dedication and ingenuity of the Wing Commander community. Here's to many more years of continued success!

While we're musing on the site, we'd also like to remind people to mark their calendars for August 10, 2013 for the CIC's 15th Birthday Party! It's also a big round milestone for the site at large, and this year falls on a Saturday evening/early Sunday morning, so people in time zones around the globe should be able to attend. Speaking of birthdays, today is Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts' special day! Happy birthday!

Happy Memorial Day

Arrow Shirt Unexpectedly Appears

Look what I've found on DX (a Chinese website some of you might know)... Weird. But I'll buy one anyway. Wish they had other sizes.

Hellcat Prepped for Paint

Hellcat V looks menacing and ready to take on some furballs (or maybe Border Worlds insurgents, seeing as this is the WCIV version...)

Next I need to do some general cleanup to make the model ready for painting. I'm also still considering the best way to add the panel lines. If they are simply drawn in, I can do them after painting. If however I decide to make small grooves to represent the panels, it will have to be done before painting.

That's all for now. More updates soon.

WC RPG Completed and Released!

IN THE DISTANT FUTURE, MANKIND IS LOCKED IN A DEADLY WAR...

The Wing Commander Role-Playing Game brings the wonder and grandeur of the ground-breaking video game series to the gaming table. Compiled using information gathered over two decades by fans of the original series, WCRPG has everything you need to create your own adventures in the Wing Commander Universe including.

-A simple, yet flexible character creation system allowing unlimited numbers of possible characters based on eighty unique archetypes and full details on sixteen unique sapient races.

-Full creation rules for characters, vehicles, ships, communities, planets and more.

-Flexible combat rules allowing players to fight with as much detail and complexity as they wish.

-Guidelines on creating adventures, including a list of adventure ideas and procedures for developing plots.

-A compendium and primer to the Wing Commander Universe, including a timeline of events, details on over 200 characters, and a list of lifeforms.

--------------------------------------------------------------

After two long years of work, I can finally report WCRPG's completion; it went to the press about half an hour ago. A couple of quick notes for those of you who are planning on picking the game up: at the moment, the eBook version lacks bookmarks. This is because Acrobat was being persnickety about merging the files and I couldn't find a descent PDF merge program that left bookmarks intact but didn't leave watermarks all over the place. This is a problem I mean to address in the very near future; right now, I wanted to get something ready for y'all. I'm not convinced I got the covers right on the print versions (Lulu won't let you put in a custom spine and their default spine designs look like crap), but the content is definitely correct and in full. If any of y'all were planning on picking up the hardprint, you might want to wait until my proof arrives so I can report back about it (unless you can live with a cover image that might be slightly off-kilter, then by all means go right ahead).

The eBook is free, meant for all; the hardprints cost a fair chunk of coin, they're for people who want them. The prices listed cover production costs only; I'm making no profit on it and it doesn't include tax/S&H.

Epee Bolsters Enigma Fleet

Epees tried to kill me every time I got close, man. Every time!

In Epees, I had three engine failures, a sneaky O2 system failure that gave me hypoxia before I figured it out, a reentry burnthrough, a missile propellant detonation, and finally, a total reactor breach that resulted in an ejection and loss of the spacecraft.

Epees hated me. I hated them back. I never wanted to fly one again!

The final straw happened as I was walking across the tarmac after one of the Morningstar test hops.

One of the Epees on the flight line had an 'accidental' weapon discharge. The whole damn world went pink and I was knocked square on my butt. A huge smoldering chunk of the tarmac was missing about a meter from where my left foot had been. I was pissed off, peppered with chunks of concrete, but otherwise okay.

The tech came running over, white as a sheet. She swore and swore and swore all the systems had been on 'safe'. Eventually, I believed her. Telemetry later confirmed that the Epee had shorted its own safety circuits in its bid to kill me.

I gave those suckers a wide berth after that. An Epee could look like it was innocently sitting out on the tarmac. Like it didn't have a care in the world!

But man, I knew better!

-Maniac

--------------------------------------------------------------------

With apologies to Scooby, whose Epee I cribbed shamelessly from. You made me fall in love with this goofy bird! :)

Tried to figure out how the heck this little ship could mount a torpedo and I decided it could carry a light torpedo to handle things like corvettes and light destroyers. Not a giant ship killer like the Broadsword carries.

Speaking of which, I know this is going to be Divisive, but my Broadsword is smaller than the original's whopping 36 meters. Still sufficiently gigantic, I feel. More than enough room for 3-4 guys in there. (2-3 in the crew area, sat like in an EA-6B Prowler controling the weapon systems [left and right turrets are remotely operated from the cockpit and more like the laser emiters on the Boeing YAL-1] and the tail gunner/tractor operator in the rear turret.) My other fighters are smaller as well, because, well, they're mine and I can make them any darn size I want! :)

Play Ultima Forever Today

1) Click "View In iTunes" on the Ultima Forever web listing.

2) iTunes will inform you that the requested item is not available and ask if you want to change to the Canadian store. Click "Change Store."

3) Click download. When prompted for your login, select "Create Apple ID."

4) Procede to create a Canadian iTunes account. Use a different e-mail address. When prompted for billing information, select 'none' and enter any Canadian mailing address (123 Fake Street, Ontario, Ottawa, L3M 4E9 works.)

5) Return to the Ultima Forever listing and download the free app to your computer.

6) Plug in your iOS device and change the iTunes account in your settings.

7) Manually sync the app to your device using iTunes.

8) Change your iOS device's iTunes account back to your normal Apple ID.

EA Soft-Launches Ultima Forever

Wing Commander 'Flat Universe' Unveiled

What I'd like to announce is that in some spare time that I am stealing from my everyday life (work, family, etc...), I have started to build a game that recreates Wing Commander I as a 2D top down shoot 'em up game (I loved ASCII sector) but with sprites, animations, opengl particles etc.

When hopefully this project is finished, it must fulfil the following goals:

a. Exact recreation of the Wing Commander I. Same ships, guns, missions, characters, story, dialogues, music even colours.
b. Top down 2D gameplay, with animations, physics, lights, particles.
c. Multiplatform support. Windows, Linux and Debians and Mac OS (mobile phones and pads will be considered in the future).
d. Multiplayer support and 2 player support on the same PC. With VS mode in the simulator and cooperative mode in the main campaign.

Xbox One Unveiled

Origin Museum Interviews the Vampire

Wing Commander Airing on HBO & On Demand

A space pilot (Freddie Prinze Jr.) with an encoded message, his sidekick (Matthew Lillard) and their superior (Saffron Burrows) fight attacking aliens.

WC Vet to Lead New UT Gaming Academy

Texas is an epicenter for the computer and video game industry. It has the second-largest concentration of game companies in the U.S., with more than 155 development and publishing companies throughout the state providing around 4,000 full-time jobs, according to the Texas Film Commission in the Office of the Governor.

The academy will be industry driven – instead of a graduate degree, students will earn a post-baccalaureate certificate, which offers fewer restrictions than a traditional academic degree and will enable the program to remain relevant and responsive to industry trends.

"The Denius-Sams Gaming Academy will create the most-intense program of its kind, in which aspiring professionals enlist in an all-in adventure, rather than complete mere credit hours," said Roderick P. Hart, dean of the College of Communication. "The program will prepare students to become creative team leaders who will drive the creation of games in the future, and ensure the vitality of the gaming industry."

A Little Austin Adventure with LOAF

I'm back in Austin visiting LOAF this week, and here's a tiny peek at our exploits. First things first, we hit up three vintage game stores and scored some WC merchandise at each one! It's always so great to see the store clerks light upon mentioning the Wing Commander name. Apparently, my rental was built for just this scenario and has a slot designed to carry an SNES cartridge. These images are followed by a picture snapped of us at the offices of Cloud Imperium Games/Roberts Space Industries.

We also caught the series finale of The Office on Thursday night and assembled all 18 ingredients from Michael Scott's Pretzel Day super pretzel to celebrate. And we even got some good old fashion Texas shootin' in! Last, but not least, we were at the premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness Wednesday night. Check out this link and like the photo to help LOAF win a Star Trek prize pack!

Strike Commander Gains OS X Compatibility

Do you feel like it's the time to spread your wings? Strike Commander is an action-oriented modern-day jet fighter combat simulation from the creators of Wing Commander, for only $5.99.

Slick Sabre Slicing Shapeways Soon

Blair put the eight of us in line astern formation.

Single file, with one Sabre behind and slightly below the next, the carrier could only hit the leading ship, and the rest of us would be protected from the defensive fire while we went for torpedo lock.

The tactic would guarantee that most of us would make it to torpedo launch. It was inspired, except that Blair forgot about his own skin, like always. The leader of the formation would be absorb the brunt of the Kilrathi point defense, sparing the other ships, but sacrificing himself.

Not to be out done in the suicidal bravery department, I firewalled the throttle and broke formation. Couldn't let him have all the glory, could I?

Cuhna squalled at me, but quickly shut up as I bored in on the carrier. Dry launching everything I had, I threw it into a 960° slew/spin, firing intermittently at the carrier while we corkscrewed along its length. I heard wretching over the ICS, but I also felt the 'whump' from the turret as Cuhna also fired at the carrier whenever it flashed into view.

Good girl.

My torpedoes didn't have a chance at penetrating the carrier's shields without a lock, but the Kilrathi were concentrating on us anyway, throwing up everything they had to take us out. Hopefully, it was buying the others a smoother ride.

As I spun over the bow of the ship a flight of Jalkehi flashed past, launched forthwith to put an end to our monkeyshines. Blair would be close to launch now, but I had to keep the fighters off the strike team while they gained a lock.

I charged into the Jalkehi formation, fighting them for what seemed like hours. All the while Cuhna whumped away with her little turret. At some point, I noticed the whumping had stopped.

Then the sky lit up like a second sun.

-Maniac

'Hazardous Duty' Pitch Revealed!

Origin alumni and consummate archivist Binky has discovered another great treasure: the 1997 Origin pitch video for Wing Commander: Hazardous Duty. Hazardous Duty, named after one of George Oldziey’s music tracks for Wing Commander Prophecy, was an attempt to spin Wing Commander off into an FPS game. Binky saved a VHS of the demo all these years and recently digitized it for the ages!

The Wing Commander FPS project would have been built on the then-modern Quake engine and pitted Terran Confederation marines against space pirates and Kilrathi warriors in the Border Worlds. The plan was for it to stand out in the FPS market (and connect back to the initial IP) by featuring a more elaborate AI “wingman.” A very basic demo was done in-house by the Maverick Team (largely a reskinning of Quake, with some level design.) While the project was ultimately not funded by Electronic Arts, the multiplayer was enjoyed for some time in-house by the team!

Check out the pitch video here:

BREAKING NEWS: Wing Commander on Blu Ray

Space Sim First Look: Wings of Saint Nazaire

Community member Howard Day is working on an indie space sim "in the vein of Wing Commander and X-Wing." The ship models look incredibly detailed, and the cockpit view has a pleasing '90s vibe. Wings of Saint Nazaire is being built on the Unity 3D engine, which means it'll run on Windows, Mac, Linux and even some consoles!

There are two reasons for the Sprite-based ship rendering in the game. The first is a desire to emulate the original Wing Commander games. In other words, straight-up nostalgia. The second is that it actually gives many advantages over normal 3d-polygons and textures: You can display as many ships as you'd ever want, You don't need LODs, You can very cheaply show complex lighting, glows, and shadows on every ship, They don't take much more memory than a normal set of textures and model ( the Copperhead 3d model would be 15MB in memory if it was a full 3d model, it's just 2 more at 17mb as a sprite set), The ships will look the same on every systems, and best of all, they feel like the ships from Wing Commander. I should be clear - the choice to do things this way was mine - the progammer agreed, as he also liked the way things looked when done as sprites. As AD noted - we're also doing modern multi-light source lighting on all the sprites. It's super neat to see a ship explode and light up all the floating junk in the scene that you'd just seen floating by the cockpit. It's very cool.

The team has a video up that first shows off some rendered models and then switches to actual combat action around the 1:45 mark. If you have the Unity webplayer plugin, you can play the alpha right in your browser for free.

Have a Helping of Homemade Hellcat

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a Hellcat!

I decided to get right to the point and glue the wings to the fuselage. I could maybe have spent more time on shaping the details, but I'm at the stage where it is important to get a feel for the overall "look" of the model. I have a habit of sanding and polishing for days on end before I'm satisfied.. :) You need a bit of obsessive compulsiveness to be a good modeller.

Lots of work still to do, but the effort has been well worth it. I'm happy to say that thus far, it has turned out even better than I expected. I hope you'll agree!

Time to Think Outside the Box

Wing Commander games are well known for their amazing manuals and other boxed goodies, but the boxes themselves are a treat too! They all feature iconic art, and many even include snippets of bonus fiction, deleted scenes and pre-production graphics that provide an even larger window into the universe. The new poll asks about your favorite. In order to keep the number of options manageable, assume all versions of the particular game box fit under one selection. So this would consider the Privateer 2 box containing the large Heretic (US) and the giant eyeball (UK) together, for example. Likewise, both the standard and Premiere Edition Wing Commander 3 boxes both fall under WC3. If there's one that's especially profound in your mind, hit the Comments link and let everyone know!

Wing Commander... In Iron Man 3?

Can it possibly be a mere coincidence that one the henchmen of Iron Man 3's villain is named J. Taggart? The name first shows up on a pair of dogtags as Tony Stark examines them in a lab and again reappears later in the film as Tony examines the man's military file.

RSI Approaches $10 Million Milestone

Roland MT-32 Emulation Still Beating

Back in the '80s and '90s, supported games sounded a lot better if you had an expensive Roland MIDI card for your PC. Now, it's possible to enjoy nearly the same audio quality through software emulation. We first reported on the munt Roland MT-32 emulator two years ago. The emulator has since been updated to version 1.2, getting even closer to the real thing. Best of all, it's DOSBox compatible. Taewong has posted a custom build of DOSBox that includes the munt 1.2 emulator as well as an OpenGlide patch from gulikoza.

The video below starts off using standard Sound Blaster music and switches to Roland MT-32 around 4:26. The difference is huge. More pre-recorded audio samples are available on YouTube. We have compiled a short list here.

Broadsword Bomber Swoops In

The Dralthi swings in low behind us.

Coasting without power, Agatha is dying. The Kilrathi pumps round after round into us. Mass drivers again penetrate the cabin. Harris and Burke are further distributed about the cockpit. Red orbs cloud my faceplate, but to wipe them away would blind me completely.

The Dralthi must have run down his gun charge, for presently he drifts alongside us to admire his handiwork. He is close, but still prudently above the firing arc of the poweless portside turret.

Soon, his guns have recharged and he slides aft to finish us off. Agatha staggers again and again. Tears of frustration and anger shut my eyes.

Agatha's little world tears to shreds around me. She is dying. I will not leave her to die alone.

I had no idea I could yell so loudly. The scream of white-hot rage reverberates inside my helmet, deafening.

It stops.

Again, the bat wings have appeared on our left side.

He is very close. I can see his eyes.

-Excerpt from 'Broadsword Agatha'

Goodbye, Tony Stockton

There is truly terrible news today, as we have learned that programmer Tony Stockton passed away yesterday. Tony worked on Privateer 2: The Darkening and was the man responsible for the game’s incredible booth trading system.

Super Wing Commander Played with Flightstick Pro

The unfortunate thing is, this game was just not well designed for the flightstick pro. They still make you mess with multiple button combinations, which is actually harder than the standard 3do pad since the buttons are spread out even farther on the flight stick. They don't even bother to take a real advantage of the throttle wheel or the hat switch. And the analog stick itself doesn't offer much benefit as the movement is very stiff and two dimensional.

The game just seem overly designed for the regular 3do dpad, the auto aim they give you with the regular pad is also a big help. Kinda interesting to play but could be better.

Wing Commander 3 fares a bit better on this stick but not by much. Once again you still have to rely on ridiculous button combinations that were just much easier on the regular 3do pad with all the buttons close together.

Either way, hope you enjoy the vid.

"Whiplash, I want you on my wing..."

As mentioned last time, I started construction on the wings this week. Here are a few pics detailing the process.

First I cut out the section flush with the fuselage. I then fit a horizontal section in the shape of the wing profile to give me a flat reference plane to build on. Previously I simply built the entire wing as a hollow box shape, but I think this approach will be easier and give better accuracy.

I cut out the hollows where the wing-mounted engine exhaust nozzles will be fitted later on. Next come the vertical stabilizers on the wingtips. You would think I would leave them for last, and only fit them once the rest of the wing is complete, but they actually help me determine the attatchment points for the final shape of the wing. As you can see here, I can now attach the wing surface directly to the top of the wingtip for a nice even finish.

There's some internal bracing to ensure the wings' surfaces don't flex too much. Balsa wood is very soft, after all. I glued all the external surface covers in place, and started the process of shaping them to the final finished look. You can see the wing engine ports quite nicely now.

Things are moving along nicely! Next time, there may just be something resembling a Hellcat to show you.

Fan Favorite Ferret Flies into Fleet Supply

The Ferrets were great fun for joyriding, fast, light, and a kick in the ass to fly. Literally.

See, the designers saved every inch of space in that ship for power systems, engines and sensors. The pilot was nearly an afterthought, so there was less margin for the accelleration absorbers. The Ferret had more of what us pilot types called 'feel'. Especially when you went to afterburner.

-Maniac

Facebook Page Turns Three

RetroN 5 Plays SNES, S Famicon & GBA WC Console Games

• 2 Original Controller Ports for Each Platform (6 Total)
• Includes 1 Wireless Bluetooth Controller
• 5 Cartridge Ports for NES, SNES, Genesis, GBA and Famicom
• HDMI Output with upconversion on HDTVs
• PAL and NTSC Cartridge Compatibility

Love playing retro games from the NES and SNES-era, but are sick of having all those consoles clutter up your living room? Or maybe your new-fangled HDTV is struggling to deal with the decades-old machines? Hyperkin has you covered, announcing the RetroN 5 retro-gaming console. The console can play games designed for the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy Advance and Famicom (Japanese NES). It can play games from both PAL and NTSC regions, and supports HDMI output with up to 720p resolution.

Just as the GBA supported Game Boy Color and Game Boy games, and the Genesis supported Sega Mega Drive games, so to will the RetroN 5. Super Famicom (Japanese SNES) games will also work in the SNES slot. This means the console can play games from nine different systems. The Famicom slot is the latest addition to Hyperkin's line of RetroN consoles, with the company stating that "we found that we could incorporate one more cartridge slot without hindering our current developmental cycle."

Six controller slots line the sides of the console, supporting controllers from the NES, SNES and Genesis. As well as being able to use any controller for any system (for example, you can use a SNES controller to play Genesis games), the RetroN 5 comes with its own unique wireless controller. The new controller has a Microswitch Directional Pad instead of a traditional directional pad.

Big GOG Sale Knocks 60% Off Low WC Prices

This weekend nearly 30 classic from the Electronic Arts collection make their way to GOG.com with a solid flat-rate 60% discount. A line-up of timeless games arriving at such speed deserves to be called nothing short of a Classic EA Convoy! You'll find memorable stand-alone titles here, as well as all-time favorite series. Games from many genres to suit all tastes and temperaments. Whether you are an adventurous soul, a keen manager, or a daunting pilot, you'll find an excellent match for yourself on our promo page. But before you go there, let's take a quick look at some of the brilliant games we offer you today, shall we?

Arena Match Set for Sunday

Boosting Gaming Session for Wing Commander Arena

Session starts on Sunday, 05 May 2013 at 20:00 for 1 hour

Intended achievements for this session: Wing Commander Arena TCS Tiger's Claw The TCS Tiger's Claw achievement in Wing Commander Arena worth 20 pointsCompete in a 16 player Capital Ship game

We are going to go for this again. Hopefully this is a better time than last attempt.

Steam Indie Game Introduces Curious Ursine Foe

StarDrive sets a new benchmark for the ‘4X Space Strategy’ genre. Starting with a single planet and a small number of space-worthy vessels, you must venture forth into the galaxy, conquer new worlds, build new colonies and defend your very existence against those who would take what is yours. How you play is your decision. Use diplomacy or brute force. Trade, spy and research your way to galactic domination. Make friends, or create mortal enemies…

Privateer Board Game Nears Printable Trial

Hello WC fans, I posted almost a year ago that this project was under way. I am pleased to update that we are now looking for playtesters.

Privateer embodied what I feel was the best of what was emerging as a genre in video games - self-guided experiences with the freedom to adventure through your own story. The boardgame we are developing is inspired by that sense of adventure, and open-ended story.

Virgin Galactic Pulls Off Major Test Flight

MOJAVE, Calif. – Today, Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s aabar Investments PJS, completed the first rocket-powered flight of its space vehicle, SpaceShipTwo (SS2). The test, conducted by teams from Scaled Composites (Scaled) and Virgin Galactic, officially marks Virgin Galactic’s entrance into the final phase of vehicle testing prior to commercial service from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

“The first powered flight of Virgin Spaceship Enterprise was without any doubt, our single most important flight test to date,” said Virgin Galactic Founder Sir Richard Branson, who was on the ground in Mojave to witness the occasion. “For the first time, we were able to prove the key components of the system, fully integrated and in flight. Today’s supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion of the spaceship’s powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year’s end. We saw history in the making today and I couldn’t be more proud of everyone involved.”