Wing Commander Album Sent Out For Production! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Composer George Oldziey very excitedly reports that his physical album of Wing Commander music is finally finished! The initial live recordings were first released before Christmas 2014, but George spent a good portion of this year completing additional digital tracks to round out the compilation. Now the compact disc with everything on it has been gone out for manufacturing. Backers should have received an email this past weekend asking for current shipping addresses. If you didn't get one, check your spam folders or log in to Kickstarter for details. While you wait for the discs to start shipping, check out the Making Of Documentary to see how everything came together!
CD is Finished!!

Greetings all! I've just sent the CD in for replication, and should have it within a few weeks! It may not get to you before Christmas as I'd hoped, but you should have it by the New Year. I'm very excited by how it all came out.

What I need you to do now is send me your shipping info. Please send it to [email]. Put "WC Shipping Info" as your subject. Also, and this is important, please include the [code word] so I know which tier level you are.

I'm very excited to have (finally) made this available to all of you. And again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your amazing support! Maybe we could do this again some time!

Musically yours,

George

Secret Ops Ship Upgrade Project Off To Great Start Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

DefianceIndustries' new mission to swap out the models in Wing Commander Secret Ops has already reached a significant milestone. The video below shows an enhanced Piranha fighter in flight within the game. This important step proves out the initial feasibility and technical possibilities that Defiance is aiming for. He lays out several iterations for how the mod will grow below, but it's already a huge visual improvement over the original. Over the years fans have worked wonders to initially up the game's original 640x480 resolution, and then they added more advanced graphical effects for modern cards. This is the next evolution of Wingnuts doing amazing things with an engine that's now 18 years old! Check out more pics and stay up to date on the latest developments at the CIC Forums.
I plan on doing the pack in several releases; the first major release will replace all models in the game with HD versions, including new textures and spec maps. A stretch goal for 1.0 will include updated cockpits as well; but depending on how long the models and testing take, that might get moved to 1.5. 1.0 will also include an updated Cerberus .ROM file with a simulator and model view built in. Briefing models remain a question mark, I'm pretty sure that the way I'm assembling the models will break the briefing wireframes in ICIS. I'll look at a work around for it but that may also slide to 1.5 unless it totally ruins playability.

2.0 will include visual improvements to the models as well as any "nice to have" fan requests. So far I have fully modeled cockpits and potentially animated pilots on the docket. I'm also talking with a friend of mine who is a good 2D artist, if I can land his help, I'll also look at potentially improving the weapon and damage effect sprites but that's still TBD. From my other thread I've been able to get a Piranha model and an Excalibur model into the ship viewer. The geometry and textures (after some heartburn) now look like they will work.

If anyone has a hankering to help, I'm never too proud to accept it. ;)

German WC Saga Released! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The long awaited German language version of Wing Commander Saga has been released. A special launch trailer was also provided in the run up to their counter hitting zero. On top of the audio conversion, the game got new subtitles, an enhanced fiction reader, better game flow navigation, in game graphical improvements and support for newer technology. English speaking players have also benefited from the development process as elements are made available for Saga Plus. Big congrats to Luke and team for toughing it out to make this upgrade a reality. Grab WC Saga Deutch here!
It's an exciting time for our fans in Germany and Austria as a group of talented individuals produced a German version of Wing Commander Saga. In addition to the German translation this addon also introduces many enhancements to the original release of the game. A detailed list of all new features is available here.

1990s Chris Roberts Talks Wing Commander, Star Citizen Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

YouTuber RetroMantic has dug up an old interview with Chris Roberts from 1996, sometime between the releases of Wing Commander IV and the Darkening. He talks briefly about getting into game development and his first commercial projects before moving on to Wing Commander and Privateer. The interview closes with Roberts stating his views on the future of videogames, which he sees moving in two distinct directions: scripted, solo games with a focus on story-telling, and massively online multiplayer, where players set out to achieve some goal of their choosing within a living universe. Twenty years later, the Darkening's Erin Roberts is overseeing development of Squadron 42, a story-driven solo game set in the Star Citizen universe.
Chris Roberts (born May 27, 1968) is an American video game designer, programmer, film producer and film director. He is best known for creating the popular Wing Commander series while employed at Origin Systems. Currently, he is working on the crowd-funded space simulator Star Citizen.

Happy Thanksgiving! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's every Wingnut's favorite Pilgrim-themed holiday today, and so we're here to remind you about an important Wing Commander product. The Wing Commander Movie novelization and its sequel, Pilgrim Stars, were released as timely tie-ins in 1999. But the third novel never got a proper release... until just a few years ago when author Peter Telep graciously made the book available digitally. Fans can now find the rest of the story online here or as a mobi (Kindle) / epub (iBooks or other). And hey, if you happen to be in the USA today, we hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving too!
When I was first hired to adapt the Wing Commander screenplay into a novel, I was thrilled and frightened out of my mind. I knew there was a huge fan base, and I knew that some well-respected novels had already been written and published. I also realized after reading the screenplay that Chris Roberts was making changes to his own universe, and I was wary of how fans might react to those... so what did I do? I went straight to those same fans and asked for help. The guys at WCNews and others provided me lots of great research, insight, and suggestions for what I could do with the book, and between them, the screenplay, and my own imagination, I think we created something that bridged the gap between the film universe and the known and beloved WC universe of the games and previous novels. It was no easy task, trust me. Despite the film's reception, I was quite proud of how the books were received and am still getting fan mail to this day asking for that unpublished final novel, Pilgrim Truth. That it's been ten years and fans are still hungry for more WC is a testament to the quality of the work that's been produced over the years, and I can only tip my hat to every other artisan who came before me and helped pave the way. I'm very proud to be associated with Wing Commander and truly loved the experience! ...

-Peter Telep (August, 2009)

Blue Origin Rocket Nails Vertical Descent Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Fans create awesome Wing Commander content every day, but sometimes it's nice to see the real thing! Blue Origin successfully landed their New Shepard rocket for the first time earlier this week after the vehicle briefly reached the boundaries of space. There's been some debate over how this accomplishment compares to SpaceX's attempts to land their orbital vehicle on a floating platform, but that's just noise. If competition between the two companies spurs faster future development of space craft, then we all win! For now, check out this awesome video:
Blue Origin’s New Shepard space vehicle successfully flew to space, reaching its planned test altitude of 329,839 feet (100.5 kilometers) before executing a historic landing back at the launch site in West Texas.

Hornet Evades Determined Attacker Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

NinjaLA has another nice starry nighttime sketch. This one features a Hornet light fighter evading laser blasts. It looks like the shadowy figure in hot pursuit could be the very same Dralthi that Ninja shared last month, which would be great continuity. I'm sure the nimble Hornet will be able to turn the tables and regain the upper hand though!
Fast and dirty. A Hornet gets a little more action than expected.

Secret Ops Ship Swap Project Looks Very Promising Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

DefianceIndustries has kicked off a fantastic project to swap out the ships in Secret Ops. While there are some great fan patches out there that upgrade the engine resolution, graphical effects and even add DVD quality video, the ship models remain limited by their 1997-1998 vintage constraints. Defiance has recently been able to figure out how to trick the game engine into accepting higher poly count fighters by treating them as subdividable units. The difference is stunning! There are still some lingering hurdles, but other talented Vision Engine modders have been lending a hand to help make this a reality. Anything is possible when these Wingnuts team up! Check out some original and upgraded model samples below.
I decided that while sitting idle and making snarky comments on forums is appealing, I decided to try making higher-poly models for Secret ops! I was playing through it the other night and thought to myself "the game is still fun and has good replay value, why not try and give it a facelift?" Thus my current bit of madness is born.

There are a number of challenges in doing this, largely that there seems to be an arbitrary limit of around 1,200 triangles (not faces) per model or the engine crashes. The idea to work around it is to treat the fighter like a hybrid corvette/fighter model and slice it up into 1,200 tri chunks and then reassemble it in the pascal code in the .iff files using hard points. The advantage is that I can use a single 1024x1024 texture for it (I tried higher resolutions but it crashed the engine) rather than a bunch of 256x256 textures so you can pack more detail in. (The openGL patch doesn't currently support normal or emit maps so those are excluded for now).

Amazingly it actually seems to work - at least from a geometry perspective. There are probably a number of hidden gotchas that will need to worked out like some hidden upper limit of polys per mission or screwed up briefing models (I know this one's coming). Kudos for the work thus far aren't solely mine: Quarto and Pedro have been great resources along with Kevin's excellent Blender Commander scripts. As well as everyone who worked on UE and SO (as I've been trolling their tutorials extensively).

At any rate I'll keep tinkering with it. If it gets legs I'd like to do a model replacement pack for WCSO. Because let's face it, wouldn't you rather fly a mission with this [low poly model shown above] rather than this? [high quality model shown above] :D

Roberts Space Industries Moves To New Home Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Chris Roberts and team at the Los Angeles-based headquarters of Cloud Imperium Games are in the process of relocating this weekend. They've closed up shop at the historic 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica now that they've run out of room to expand in that location. Here's some pictures of the Wing Commander decorations that they used to decorate (until yesterday). The good news is that the new location should allow for display of even more cool artifacts! Check out the movie models for the Concordia, Tiger's Claw and Diligent in the first row of shots below. There's also a Wingnuts' dream shelf containing a wide variety of WC products - many of which are still in their original shrink wrap. Not to be outdone, Chris himself sat in front of the giant star map from the WC Movie opening as well as a Snakeir model. Other misc concept art and promotional posters can be found throughout.
Here's everything in the process of being packed up:
And the new office space, ready to unpack!

3D Prophecy Possible With Special Wrapper & Glasses Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Alien Grey recorded an interesting video showing off how he got Wing Commander Prophecy running in helifax's 3D Vision Wrapper. This also takes advantage of the OpenGL upgrade to make the game compatible with the software (and also look great!). Users with these nVidia glasses and a similar setup would then be able to play the game in virtual three dimensions. We've come a very long way since the original 3DFX Glide wrappers!
Wing Commander - Prophecy running in stereo 3D with the 3D Vision Wrapper. Recorded with NVIDIA ShadowPlay.

EA's CFO Talks Funding, Digital Downloads & More Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Gamespot and and a number of other media outlets have picked up on a portion of a speech from Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen that was made at the recent Global Technology Conference in San Fransisco. In typical click bait fashion, many sites are latching on to a single comment about acquiring companies in a larger presentation that touches on everything from DLC, digital distribution, mobile strategy and micro transactions. What things like the Star Wars IP allow them to do, how to reach new markets and what to do with their over-a-billion-dollars profit this year are also discussed. While no one forgives the company for dithering away the Wing Commander games, it's also true that EA's money helped make blockbusters like WC3&4 possible. It's interesting to see their perspective on it. Have a listen to get the full story.
"[We're also] always looking at potential acquisitions. Our history obviously with acquisitions has been spotty at best, so I would say there is an extra level of caution around that," he said. "We also believe we have the ability to do it ourselves in many cases, or hire people to do it. So we're careful about acquisitions. But we're going to continue to look for those opportunities and having a strong base globally allows us to be able to do that."
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Wing Commander Stars Discuss Return To The Action Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

To celebrate the third anniversary of the initial livestream that concluded their first crowdfunding campaign, Roberts Space Industries has unleashed a media blitz for Squadron 42. Mark Hamill is front and center in several new videos talking about his return to video games. He's quizzed by both PC Gamer and GameStar magazines about the differences between Star Citizen's motion capture process and Wing Commander's green screen filming. It's great to hear him fondly recall working with Chris Roberts for the first time. GameStar also interviewed John Rhys-Davies, and he talks about his time acting as Paladin. Both actors come across as very kind and tons of fun. Check out the clips below!
Last month Squadron 42's sparkling cast was revealed. Gary Oldman, Gillian Anderson, John Rhys-Davies and Mark Hamill all take leading roles in Star Citizen's single player campaign. PC Gamer's Chris Thursten sat down with Hamill for a chat about Star Citizen, Wing Commander, Hamill's fear of getting the Joker part, the joy of sci-fi fandom and, of course, Star Wars.

Battled Hardened Kilrathi Ready For War Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Origin artist Denis Loubet has completed a new ink drawing of a Kilrathi warrior. As the creator of the original characters like Thrakhath and Hobbes, seeing his modern perspective on the feline race is very interesting. On top of just looking "right," he's managed to impart a very sage imperial quality to the character. The original pen and paper copy of this design is now on its way to one lucky fan of Mr. Loubet's work. You can help contribute to his future efforts, get a special peek into his creative process and possibly win items like this by following him on Patreon. If you missed it earlier, check out his recent take on Spirit here.
Colin Mueller wins a picture of a Kilrathi! This is very reminiscent of the art I did for The Space Gamer Magazine way back in the 80s: A portrait with a background that suggests backstory.

RPG & CCG Development Steadily Forges Ahead Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

capi has continued to make great dual path progress on both his Wing Commander RPG and the digital WC CCG. He's expanded the Elegy of Sivar campaign and is now more than half way done translating Kilrathi phrases to help with immersion. Additional WC Aces designs have also been incorporated as capi works to add lots of fan background material to further boost the project's atmosphere. There's also a "plot points" concept that he's playing around with that will allow players to have a greater influence over the story as their play.


Last, but not least, capi will be suspending updates for a couple weeks and he prepares for the imminent arrival of a new baby, but updates will resume after Thanksgiving. In the mean time, he's still looking for fans to playtest his VASSAL engine CCG. You can download the test release of the mod as well as find quick tips to get started at the project webpage here.

I'm still looking for opponents to play the WCCCG mod with me. My six-year old opponent played one more game with me on Thursday - he was in a position to win but didn't realize it, and quit on me a few turns short of his victory. Any win you can get I guess, but these last two sure have been hollow. He did win a game on Saturday - gave me a thorough trouncing, actually - but it took me really crippling my deck to do it. I miss those Hard Brakes and Kickstops, and a deck full of Darkets couldn't defend a wet paper sack...

Revisit The Saga Of The Warrior King Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Den of Geek has shone a light on one of the strangest cartoon crossovers of all time, The Saga of the Warrior King. In November of 1996, Wing Commander fans excited to see the eighth episode of Wing Commander Academy were treated to an odd surprise when the show was deferred for a half hour so that an episode of Mortal Kombat could air instead. What nobody realized at the time was that four different shows had inexplicably collaborated so a space viking voiced by Michael Dorn could hop through Street Fighter to Savage Dragon to Mortal Kombat and finally Wing Commander while chasing a mysterious object. There was never any promotion nor apparent reason for the bizarre tie-in, and Wing Commander fans have long regarded it as an enigmatic oddity of Saturday morning cartoon history. Author Gavin Jasper has done a good job recounting the entire tale at DoG here. For more background, check out the CIC's original writeup.
I’m going to level with you. I don’t know much about Wing Commander. Flight games aren’t my thing. I know that it’s about future space stuff where humans take on evil Thundercats via cosmic dog-fighting and the third game was groundbreaking for its use of cutscenes with real deal actors like Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell. That’s about as far as my knowledge goes on the subject prior to watching this episode.

There are two big things I notice from the start. First, the animation is very crisp for this era. It makes the other three shows look all clown shoes. Second, it pulls no punches. Death happens on-screen and it’s important. Enemy ships are blown up in space and it’s not like GI Joe where we see parachute escapes to assure us. Those cats are dead.

The pilot Gwen actually goes through emotional turmoil from killing and openly talks about how she loses a bit of herself every time she blows up a Kilrathi ship. That’s really unique to me. I’m so used to seeing cartoons sidestep murder that seeing the ethical and emotional repercussions talked about is mindblowing.

German Edition Of WC Saga Coming Soon Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Luke has announced that the long-anticipated German language conversion of Wing Commander Saga will be released November 28. It was originally planned for development shortly after the original game's 2012 release, but a decade of mod development left the original team weary of tackling such a major project. Fortunately for the large audience of German Wingnuts out there, Luke assumed the mantle and ran with it. We see the fruits of his labor through frequent updates to the WC Saga Plus tools that he has made, but the intent of these new programs and features has been closely associated with getting the game for German speakers off the ground. We're anxious to see how everything comes together with the new damage debris, multi monitor support, enhanced fiction reader and more! The game will be available from the new project website at WCSaga.org. You can grab the English version of the game here.
For our german speaking fans: We have started the countdown. The WCSD Release is at...

Für unsere Deutsch-sprachigen Fans: Wir haben den Countdown gestartet. Der WCSD Release ist am...

28. November 18:00 UTC +0100 CET


Twins Review Wing Commander Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Hey there wonderful Wingnuts! It is the weekend, and I may or may not have had a little to drink this fine evening, so I'm going to just leave this ridiculous Wing Commander Movie review here for you to enjoy or not enjoy at your leisure. Long live the Confederation!

Plz subscribe so we can get to 100 subs :D

Deep Discounts For Wing Commander, Other Classics at GOG Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

If you still haven't picked up Wing Commander on GOG, you have just a few more hours to take advantage of a massive discount. GOG's entire Wing Commander and Privateer catalog can be had for just $9.50, an 80% reduction off the list price. Individual titles can also be purchased at 60% off. Other classic bundles with discounts of up to 90% include Ultima, Myst, classic Fallout, Leisure Suit Larry, a broad selection of Bullfrog titles and many more.

The Wing Commander bundle in particular offers incredible value. All the expansions are included, WC3 comes with a digital copy of the Fleet Action novel, WC4 is the high quality DVD edition, and many games come with the official strategy guides and more. Buy it here, for yourself or as an early Thanksgiving gift for a friend.

Vega Battle Fleets Take To The Skies Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here's some fun shots of Mike Peters' WC Vega film project with a photoshopped starry background. The results are surprisingly good considering these were made out of simple household materials in his high school film class. This is the progress he'd made with ship designs through this past summer, but we're hoping the project resumes this fall with his new students. You can find more photos that document the ship construction as well as preliminary story chapters at the project website here.
It is a bright time for the Confederation in the Vega Sector. Since the Terran Navy routed the vicious Kilrathi from these systems, there has been no sign of the Cats – until now.

Lulled into a sense of complacency, the Confed has stationed only one strike carrier to defend the sector – T.C.S. Tiger’s Claw. When the Kilrathi embark on a crusade to secure a religious relic at the heart of the Vega Sector, the pilots and crew of the Claw find themselves outnumbered and outgunned...

And things are going to get worse before they get better.

WC Toolbox Supports Additional Encodings & File Types Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

A new version of the WC Toolbox game data editing package has been released with a variety of extra features. It now supports character encodings and can be tested with executables and the 'midgame' file format. There is also a brand new console interface. UnnamedCharacter expects to include a more user friendly graphical interface in a future update, but this iteration was put out in its current form so more users can try things out immediately. You can find more tips on how to use the latest version of the program here and grab the software here.
WCToolbox-3.0.0-beta.1.zip
  • Support for single-byte encodings beyond ASCII.
  • Partial support for executable files (reading and merging).
  • Experimental support for MIDGAME data files (reading and writing).
  • Console application (WC1ToolsCmd) replacing previous applications. Functionality provided as commands to perform actions on data files. The commands can be used to decompress data files, extract assets, and pack/unpack data to and from XML.

Wing Commander Theme Remixed With Flair Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Adam Monroe has put together a great keyboard cover of the original Wing Commander theme. It looks like he's playing a piano in the video below, but it's actually much more. He started with a live recording of himself playing the notes and then he took this input to digitally enhanced it with orchestral tie-ins. A better technical explanation is below, or you can just listen to the wonderful result here. It may not have been intentional, but he actually finished and posted this work on September 26 - Wing Commander's 25th birthday!
This is a cover of the main theme music fanfare for the 1990 computer game Wing Commander, composed by Dave Govett and George Sanger. You can download a piano transcription here.

Although I am playing a keyboard, a piano is not the sound you hear, so allow me to explain my process for this cover. The whole thing took 3 days - 1 day to learn and transcribe the theme music, and 2 days to record and "orchestrate" it. I recorded the performance data live like you see in the video, I then went into my DAW and changed what the midi notes trigger to match orchestral samples. I tried not to add too much to the performance that wasn't already there, hence there aren't many "extra notes," just adjustments to midi lengths and some octave shifting. I think it's amazing how much of an orchestral sound you can capture with a piano performance. I'm mostly using Spitfire BML Mural. I could have done a better orchestration, but for the most part I wasn't doing much midi automation or adding extra rhythms, just orchestrating a performance.

The music to the Wing Commander games is all pretty good, I especially like some of the Wing Commander: Privateer stuff. These are great games, check them out if you haven't already! Of course George "The Fatman" Sanger is a legend in the video game music biz!

Klavs Wakes Up His Escort Carrier Model Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Klavs is back with a new capship model, the Wake class escort carrier. This particular beauty is the famous TCS Tarawa. It's a design that he played with extensively a couple years ago and has come back to complete with some very nice polish. A couple of things make this a pretty popular model for fans to take on. It's only ever really glimpsed on the cover of End Run, but the exciting circumstances we find it in combined with the compelling plot of that book have endeared it to many Wingnuts. There's also a curious link to the legendary TCS Concordia. While it's described as a conversion of a medium transport, the final result bears a striking resemblance to a streamlined version of a Confederation class dreadnought. And you've got to love that green Confed paint job!
It is...

it is...

it is...

it is green.

More Than One Way To Skin A Kat... Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've got a fun new poll starting today that asks about your favorite method for carrying out a capship strike. Lots of people might generally prefer conventional guns or standard ordnance, but that just scratches the surface. There's different ways you can use the normal armament, plus there's a host of special weapons pilots sometimes have access to. Occasionally, you just feel lazy and get to sit back and watch your escort do all the hard work. I wouldn't recommend it, but I've even seen some kamikaze pilots out there!
The old poll asked how long visitors have been coming to the CIC. More than a quarter of you have been around since the CIC's grand opening in 1998 - or even earlier! Another fifth of the audience has been around at least fifteen years. Interestingly, almost one in six people is a new reader here, which is the highest proportion in more than a decade. Overall, it's a great mix of veterans and newcomers!

Kilrathi Lurk In The Shadows Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here's an idle weekend observation that might blow a few minds. LOAF keeps one of the slick fiery logo Wing Commander Movie Posters hung above his desk, and after countless hours staring at it, he just realized that a large Kilrathi head looms in the background. Wow! I have to admit I never noticed it either, although AD points out that it's also visible in the French and Spanish advertisements for the film. It's definitely easier to spot on the version for France due to how the image is cropped and the text is superimposed. The more you know... (and even without the giant Kat, it's a darn cool poster!)
banditloaf: It took me sixteen years to realize there's a Kilrathi face at the top!

DMCA To Get Exemptions For Preservationists Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Wired has a report on some new exemptions that will be added to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If you own game that needs to talk to a defunct authentication server in order for (offline) single player to function, you will be allowed to circumvent that mechanism. In addition, libraries and museums will be allowed to jailbreak consoles if doing so is necessary to get a game up and running on ancient hardware. The author reached out to Origin Museum curator Joe Garrity to get his take on the changes:

Joe Garrity of the Origin Museum -- a private collection dedicated to preserving the history of Origin Systems Inc. games such as Ultima and Wing Commander -- told WIRED that the ruling was "more about what gamers cannot do, rather than what they can do."

"The DMCA does not allow people to copy games. It does not allow gamers to play shut down MMOs. This is simply a ruling that allows an exemption to copyright law for the specific use of preservation by libraries and museums. While yes, a gamer can now legally back up their old games, they have to have a physical copy of that game, and they can only back it up for their own personal use. Anyone who thinks that they can now run free [Ultima Online] shards legally is mistaken".

SyFy UK Airing Wing Commander Movie Saturday Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Wing Commander's proliferation on streaming services this year has reintroduced the film to many new and returning fans, but it's also nice to see the movie still show up occasionally on regular television. SyFy UK has been a reliable broadcaster and is showing WC this year at almost the exact same time they did in 2014. It'll air this Saturday at 6 pm. I wonder what sort of algorithm they have that decides the first full weekend of November is the best time for Wing Commander viewing. Don't let the Kats destroy the universe!

Playstation's PAL Wing Commanders Unboxed Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Nostalgamer has posted "unboxing" videos of the PAL editions of Wing Commander 3 and 4 for the Sony Playstation. Sometimes it feels like we missed out on this trend, so it's nice when a good retro unboxing pops up now and then. This clip's a little weird because it lacks the customary audio commentary, but it should still be an interesting sight for fans who didn't own these console ports. One of the most obvious differences is that the Playstation versions shipped in jewel cases and WC4 came on four rather than six discs, but there are a handful of other visual tweaks since this is the configuration packaged for the UK. These vids are also heavy on the instruction manuals, but those are also a neat comparison to what came with the PC editions.
Unboxing All UK PAL Wing Commander Games On Sony Playstation One UK PAL System Region Version

Have A Seat (Or Two) Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The Wing Commander games drew a lot of inspiration from historical items, other science fiction works and contemporary art. Howard Day recently stumbled upon another similarity that looks like more than coincidence. First up below is the familiar cockpit seat thanks to the rear direction view in WC1. The second image looks like it could have been the concept art that directly led to our familiar chair, but it's actually a sketch by Ron Cobb for the famous Alien film starring Sigourney Weaver. A final shot shows how the chairs ended up on the set of the Nostromo. They're a bit different there, but there still seems to be a linkage - especially considering other parallels in the game. What do you think?

Excalibur Prototype Helps Prove Out Design Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Adm_Maverick has started to build the first mockup for his precise Excalibur model. This is a test fit to prove out the dimensions, and it's already provided some interesting results. When compared to high quality renders, a slight curve exists around the lower nose section that wasn't apparent at first. It's a more difficult thing to portray in a physical model, but that's part of the challenge. Even though these builds are still preliminary, it's exciting for Excalibur fans to see that familiar fuselage start to take shape!
You have to plan your build. You can frequently work around spots you didn't plan properly, but not always. Also the mock isn't so much meant as a means of exact build, but rather a means of low-cost construction that will lead back into additional design work. As I've said I do not have design experience or training. Add to that my rather dubious knowledge of geometry... yeah. Uphill battle with a fairly substantial learning curve involved. But that's also the appeal of the project for me. More then anything else, the mock-allows me to work with the physical design and understand how sections work with each other and see details that may not have been apparent in the line studies.

Digital CCG Playable Test Released! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

capi's digital WC CCG has come together very rapidly over the past month, and now it's time for adventurous players to give it a try! Fans can check out the full rules here at the CIC, but capi has thoughtfully provided key information on how to get playing quickly at the project's VASSAL module page. You can also download the current test release package there. capi has also put together a variety of interesting theme decks to spice up the gameplay and kickstart the prep for new players. Let everyone know how it goes at the CIC Forums!
Here's a question for y'all - what's your typical deck size? I'm an old Star Trek CCG and MTG player, so I usually go for sixty card decks when I play CCGs in general, but running some numbers this morning that size of deck for WCCCG looks a little...anemic. IMHO.

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