Smudo Autographs Are a Real Treat Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

A real surprise today: Dennis Mull sent me an envelope of Smudo autographs! Smudo is a German hip hop artist who loved Wing Commander and so got to have a cameo in Prophecy! You can learn more about that here.
These images were part of a photo series that we've also cataloged here.
Now we are learning about the music of Smudo.
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LOAF

Platolum Alloys + Prussian Retailers = Practical Thinking? Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

I’m reading the investment column in Victory Streak and there’s two things I don’t understand. I can’t tell if they’re meaningless or if it’s because I have absolutely no familiarity with finance...
  1. In the subhead “Platolum Alloys + Prussian Retailers = Practical Thinking?” what does ‘Prussian Retailers’ refer to?
  2. The last line of the article: “remember oil and carpets, two industries that enjoyed temporary fortune, then plummeted.” This has the cadence of a joke or an idiom... but it’s inscrutable to me. Anyone know what it’s referencing?
In case you were wondering, Colonel Blair did invest in platolum and it went pretty well! From the Kilrathi Saga scrapbook:
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LOAF

Exciting Revelations Lead to New WC Radar Insight Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

After learning about how Denis Loubet came up with Wing Commander's enduring radar display I've been looking into how the design developed over the series. I found a note in the WC2 manual I never picked up on: "In VGA graphics mode, the shade of the dot indicates its range."
I ran some tests and sure enough, it's true! Each dot has THREE shades reserved in the 256-color palette. Close is within 5,000 meters, medium is 5,000-25,000 and far is over 30,000! NEVER noticed in gameplay. So I made a chart:
Strange case I just remembered: Special Operations 1 has the Gettysburg escorted by Epees that show up as GREEN on your radar... for about a second and a half between cutscenes! What an odd addition that never shows up again.

I went on a little tangent experimenting with this. Trying to fly to the Gettysburg remotely to see them hits a bug, no ships spawn until you get to the exact nav point and suddenly you're inside the cruiser! If you're quick you CAN target an Epee, they're all named "Guard". I also tried using WC Toolbox to change other encounters into 'green' dots. It worked but there's not a full implementation: other distances display no color and so the ships will just vanish outside of 5,000 meters (letting you autopilot even though they're 'really' there!).

Anyway, this version of the system is only used in Wing Commander II and Academy... it doesn't return in III or any of the spinoffs, EXCEPT FOR: Wing Commander ARMADA... with five tiers instead of three! The lock crosshairs also match the distance in this design. And everything happens at much closer range, 13,000 meters is the maximum distance for a lock.
Here are the tables for the FMV games: WC3, WC4, Prophecy/Secret Ops and Privateer 2. They’re so much simpler! Lore heads might like to know that Privateer 2 has an in-universe brand name for this type of radar! It's "Patriarchal" (the Elite style is "Celestial").
I am also a huge fan of how Privateer used color to modify the familiar mechanic and create different tiers of radars that really impact how you play the game.
The evolution of the radar display! Can you identify the games they came from?
This would not have been possible without the tireless assistance of my monitor’s fur lining who spent the project lazily batting at my mouse. Now she has emerged to help catalog old tapes.
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LOAF

GOG Ready for Fall Gaming With New Wing Commander Sale Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It may be the dog days of summer in the northern hemisphere and the throes of winter in the south, but GOG is ready to kick off fall today. The Autumn Sale runs from August 28 through September 11. We've noted a few quirks and omissions in the discount rate this year, and they've stepped it up a bit this time. Wing Commanders Prophecy and Privateer 2 are discounted by 70%, and Armada plus Academy are each 55% off. All other DOS/Windows Wing Commander games get the regular 75% markdown from the normal $5.99 price. Just for fun, I checked Strike Commander and it's on sale for 50% off!

Cross This Bridge When You Come To It Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The TCS Victory has so many amazing locations. The jump to SVGA 'photorealistic' backgrounds is still seared in my mind. It's so hard to pick a favorite, but the bridge might be it. I love the bar, I love gunnery control, and the briefing room is freakin cool, but all of the little consoles and expansive window with your escort out front really take the cake. Scribbler has created one more ASMR/ambiance video so you can enjoy it for a solid hour in the background.
Today we return to the TCS Victory. She can already look back on a long service. As long as some work shifts in space. No missions and no attacks? It can also be quiet in space but be careful, everything can change quickly. So stay alert and keep an eye on your monitors. The bridge is the heart of every ship

For ASMR, radio plays or to relax

Origin Engages Manual Override Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Did you know that Privateer 2 has two very different sets of manuals? The game had an internally tempestuous release and one side effect of that was that Origin's creative services group completely reworked all of the packaging for the US release.
I thought it would be fun to look at the changes in the introductory letter. And right off the bat you can see it's a lot more than removing the "u"s from the "colours". They even change the name of the writer... flirty Jessica Montpellier becomes straight-laced Ian Esperanto!
Anyway I did a quick diff on the text and here are the results. And my question for readers is: did any of these changes make things better? It sure feels like a lot of change for the sake of change!

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LOAF

See How the Pixel Art Magic Happens Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've got another very cool ultra widescreen art piece today by AllTinker. It depicts the harrowing scene at the McAuliffe VI Research Colony where the scientists either turn the tide against the Kilrathi - or are massacred. He's added a ton of detail to the sides. This will eventually make its way to the Confederation project. At first glance, you might think this is "just" a door and some walls, but it takes some superior artistic talent to pull something like this off! And to show exactly what that entails, Tinker also made a time lapse video. It's amazing to see the expanded scene come to life like this!
First pass down. Like a few of the others, I have to make them wider than 21:9 so that they can still scroll/parallax.

Arena Delisting From Xbox Store in July 2024 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

There's some unfortunate news concerning the Xbox 360 and Wing Commander Arena. Microsoft has announced that the console's digital storefront will be closing in July 2024. This means some 220 games, including Arena, will no longer be available for sale in any form. Wing Commander's debut on the Xbox was part of a new digital-standalone push dubbed Xbox Live Arcade. The results were quite impressive given a variety of constraints such as a 50 megabyte download cap and $10 asking price. Arena was the platform's first 16-player game and made heavy use of features like matchmaking and online leaderboards. Although Arena never received a proper physical release, the "demo" of the game was included on the cover disc of the November 2007 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine. These demos could be "unlocked" into the full game, but that function will presumably be removed as well.
Since the game was released in 2007, this will mark 17 years of digital availability, which is honestly more than I would have expected given that the entire Xbox brand was less than six years old at the time. This will also mark 20 years since the virtual Xbox store rolled out in November 2004 (on the original Xbox). Fun fact: Arena was finally just released in the Japan market back in 2019! Anyhow, as the rest of Microsoft's Xbox infrastructure will continue, the good news is that people who already own the game will be able to redownload it. Online multiplayer is currently unaffected for the foreseeable future, although the writing is on the wall and this probably won't be available forever either. Hopefully by the time it goes away, the emulation scene will have figured out ways to keep things running. In the mean time, be sure to buy your copies before time runs out!

The Victory's Bar Welcomes You Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We're still in recovery mode here, so the team is taking it easy today with another ASMR style ambiance video from Scribbler. This one's a little more laid back than his other recent WC3 additions. You can hear the familiar hum of the Victory's engines and the elevator opening in the background, but this time there's also music playing. It's not quite the swankiest of Oldziey tunes, but it's a nice background track!
Mission successful, report submitted, off to the bar and finally peace and quiet. Let's grab some snacks and good cocktails. A little card games or charming conversations? Or just chill. We're not doing anything tonight.

Welcome! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Welcome to the CIC's 25th Birthday Party! It's unbelievable that a quarter century has passed, but time flies when you're having fun! We've got a nice slate full of items to share today, but the best part of the event is being able to connect with so many friends and fellow fans. Today wouldn't be possible without the contributions of so many of you. And on that note, to kick things off, we've got an exciting clip by Scribbler to help set the stage for what's to come!
Congratulations to the Wing Commander Community on their 25th anniversary!

Big Progress & Plans for WC4 Remastered Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The WC4 Fan Remake team is back with a thoroughly exhaustive overview of their recent progress. If you have any questions at all about the latest and greatest happenings with the project, this new video below has the details! It's full of information and beautiful WIP content. You should check out the clip for the full experience, but there is also a new article at WCRespace too with a bit more info... including a target release date! You can also find the recently updated playable demo here!
Happy Birthday, Wing Commander CIC!

As we don't have a new demo to release for this year's celebration, we thought that instead we'd share an in-depth update on the current state of the project: where we are, where we're going and, crucially, when we plan to get there!

Academy Music Remastered, SC-55 Style Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

FekLeyrTarg has a beautiful remaster to share with fellow Wingnuts today. He's gone through the Wing Commander Academy game soundtrack and overhauled it with an SC-55 sound font. This is described as giving the game the "Kilrathi Saga treatment" based on the digital audio enhancements that those games received. He's matched up the new tracks with the appropriate in-game clips in a wonderful YouTube vid below. You can also separately download the new album in MP3 (18 meg zip) or WAV (131 meg zip).
Happy 25th Birthday Wing Commander CIC!

What if the PC game "Wing Commander Academy" (not to be confused with the animated TV-series) received a Windows port like the "Kilrathi Saga" version of "Wing Commander I" and "Wing Commander II - Vengeance of the Kilrathi" and George Oldziey re-orchestrated the music again? Find out in this video.

To render each music track with Patch93's Roland SC-55 soundfont in separate channels, I've used Synthfont 2. Further mixing was done in Adobe Audition with special settings for the Full Reverb effect.

Confederation Project Improves Pixel Art Fidelity & Internal Code Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

AllTinker has been hard at work making progress on his Confederation project to enhance the WC1 engine. He's put together this new status update with a handful of tantalizing new screenshots to share for the birthday. Enjoy!
Hi all, I was hoping to have a playable test ready for the CIC birthday, but a few too many things have gotten in the way sadly... I've made a lot of progress on my format-reading library; I have a fairly short list of things I want to wrap up before I put it (and the viewer) up on github - it may be after the first Confederation test release, I'm not sure.

Art-wise one silly thing I realised was that my old widescreen redraws hadn't taken into account the non-square pixels in WC1/2 (being 320x200), so I've also been redrawing those to be even wider, to match my original 21:9 widescreen goal - at the proper original aspect ratio this time. Here's a selection of those (works-in-progress), scaled to a proper 21:9 resolution:

Confederation itself has been going through a major rewrite - ripping out all of the format reading stuff into this library was a good chance to rid myself of a bunch of cruft which had built up over the years.

I've decided that the first releases will be explicitly a series of tech tests (which it would be anyway, but so intent/expectations are clear). To that end it will begin with a multiplayer/cooperative test to cover as much ground as possible. Since I've run out of time for the CIC birthday, I'll give it some more time in the oven; but hopefully it shouldn't be too far off. I'm now aiming for a few weeks from now, so we'll see how that goes.

Of course it may take multiple tests over a period of time to get things fully working... Hopefully enough people are interested in helping test it, with the understanding that there will almost certainly be many issues to sort out! It'll be for Windows, Linux most likely, and Mac is a possibility (it'll happen eventually if not from the beginning).

Cake! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's a birthday party, so we've got cake! First up, some excellent brownies by Alexis!

And since it's an extra special birthday, we've got double cakes! Number two is a three layer wonder by Lacey!

Wing Commander Prophecy Production Archive Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Our archivists have been hard at work! Earlier this year we acquired Wing Commander Prophecy producer Billy Caine's archive of production documents; this consisted of seven folders containing hundreds of pages of internal documentation covering Wing Commander Prophecy's development from March 1996 to November 1997.

These documents, divided into the seven topics below, include correspondence, internal documents and reference material that Billy felt it was important to preserve physically at the time. All aspects of the game's development are touched on, but one document that will be particularly exciting to fans finally explains the intent behind the Aligned People and how it would have played out in future games! There are several early pitches and a long term product plan that includes never-before-seen summaries of canceled projects like Wing Commander 6, 7, Maniac Missions and the first person shooter. In short, we've finally answered some very old questions!

We hope you enjoy exploring these documents; there's a lot to discover and we'd love to hear what you find on the forums. We also hope future Wing Commander scholars will be able to use these to help tell Wing Commander Prophecy's story. Finally, this update would not have been possible without the help of LeHah, who arranged the deal, and an anonymous Wing Commander fan who donated almost $1,000 to charity to make this presentation possible!

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LOAF

Wing Commander Movie Cut Scenes Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

AD has been hard at work recovering and restoring some of the scenes cut from the final version of the Wing Commander movie. Enjoy this collection of work he's done so far!

Paladin Ejects - Paladin is forced to eject from his Broadsword after sinking a Kilrathi warship.

Blair Leaves the Diligent - Blair, originally the turret gunner, is lured aboard the Diligent in search of the NAVCOM AI.

Tattoo - Blair asks Paladin what his neck tattoo means.

Kilrathi Compilation - All the Kilrathi footage originally intended for the film.

Pilgrim Chat - Paladin reveals more details about the Pilgrims.

Alternate Intro - An alternate cut of the movie introduction featuring an opening narration from Blair. (As of publishing time this video is blocked because of an incorrect copyright claim; it should be available soon!)

FPS Experiment - An experimental sequence shot first person for the shipboard combat sequence.

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LOAF

Life on Perry Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

FekLeyrTarg has a second clip that shows off his modern video editing acumen! He's been experimenting with a variety of tools to enhance his ability to merge Wing Commander settings and live action. This is just the beginning of what he's got planned, but it's already pretty neat!
Happy 25th birthday Wing Commander CIC!

Some work-in-progress test shots combining low-quality live-action footage with renders of Perry Naval Base as seen in "Wing Commander Privateer".

CIC Glasses Return! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

There's a joke in there about being old enough to need reading glasses these days, but these are the drinking kind! Back for our sixth birthday in 2004, we had a fun batch of clear tumblers with a Confed logo printed up as door prizes. They were a big hit, and we continue to get frequent questions about whether they are still available. Here's our second edition, which are now full pint size. And we'll be giving them out at the birthday party live on Discord! Our graphical skills are a bit rusty, so thanks to Defiance Industries for making sure our Confed star is on point.

We don't encourage anyone to buy these and we make no money whatsoever on them, but we are sharing the Zazzle link to anyone who might be interested in getting their own. It looks like they're about $15 normally, but there is a 20% off sale this weekend that brings the price down to about $12. If you do pick one up, send us a picture with your favorite drink in it!

You can even pair them with CIC Coasters! (also on Zazzle, so try to combine your order under the same coupon!)

Polaroid Collection Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

A you may know, we recently purchased a collection of Wing Commander IV continuity photographs which we've been researching for front page updates. In honor of the birthday we thought we'd jump ahead and share the full collection of photos. Stay tuned for more articles covering the unsung histories of these actors and characters! You can find the current slate of feature articles here.

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LOAF

New Poll! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's time for our annual poll where we gauge how long fans have been visiting the CIC. Although this is our 25th anniversary at wcnews.com, we also have an option for people who've been following the team's Wing Commander news exploits for even longer than that! How long have you been visiting?

The old poll asked about the best Kilrathi ship recreation in the Wing Commander Academy television show. The Dralthi was the hands down winner, which is no surprise, but there were plenty of very well done craft in the show!

McDowell Redux Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

This one's a repeat, but it's so glorious that we can't help but share it again (and will be doing so for many years to come!). Last year, Klavs commissioned this wonderful Cameo clip from Malcolm McDowell to celebrate our 24th anniversary. He fondly remembers both his role as Admiral Tolwyn and how his late friend, David Warner, also got to portray the character. If you missed this earlier, be sure to check it out now!
I must say, I did love Tolwyn. A really wonderful character in many ways. Strong. Very, really cool. ... I'm thrilled that you liked my interpretation of him, because I really went for it, enjoyed it.

Thanks! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

And that's a wrap! We hope you've had a good time checking out what we've posted. And if you're reading this just as it went live, the party's still happening in #Wingnut on Discord. As always, this is a huge team effort. It takes all of the staff, all of the many talented Wingnuts who contribute to projects and submit news tips, and all of the many fans who visit each day to keep the community humming. We'll see you again Monday for the latest Wing Commander news!

You Are Cordially Invited... Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

To the Wing Commander Combat Information Center's 25th birthday celebration! TONIGHT at 7:00 PM Eastern US (4:00 PM Pacific and 11:00 PM GMT). Help us ring in a quarter century with fellow fans in #Wingnut on Discord!

  • A long-anticipated return!
  • Reams and reams of new material for the archive!
  • Deleted scenes!
  • Aural delights!
  • Photographic wonders!
  • Fan project updates!
  • All new prizes!
  • Cake... and more!
So join us in Discord, channel #WingNut! You can stop by any time to join the fun!

WC Retrospective Goes Viral Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Earlier in the summer, we reported on a WC1 retrospective review that was especially comprehensive. At the time, we noted that it was well researched, covered a vast range of topics and was surprisingly entertaining for a lengthy two hour episode. My favorite thing was how earnest the author was about helping new audiences discover Wing Commander. And many people agreed! It's since gone out to rack up 115,000 views. It's been so successful that others have taken notice. In this new clip, vidIQ dissects what made it so popular, which is an interesting meta analysis. I think both creators underestimate how many Wing Commander fans are out there eager for more content! I've relinked the original vid below as well if you missed it in June.

New Twitch Series Delivers Comprehensive Privateer 2 Experience Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We highlight a variety of Wing Commander streaming playthroughs from time to time, but I get really excited when fans are showcasing one of the less common entries in the franchise. Mufasa recently kicked off a new series that is going through Privateer 2. And he doesn't just play the games - he's reading portions of the game's unique documentation with each show as well. The first two episodes are linked below, and the next is scheduled for Wednesday evening, 8/17 at 7 PM Pacific time. Give them a watch!
I haven't played Privateer 2 in decades, so I started playing through it again on Twitch on Wednesday evenings. I start each stream reading some of the manual because it's so unique, different and includes some really interesting backstory and design choices.

Also, I forgot the days when there was zero in game tutorial. It just starts, and you have to know everything right out of the gate.

Shop Like It’s 1994 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Some wonderful soul uploaded an entire beautifully preserved Computer Shopper to the Internet Archive! Shall we take a moment to... shop for Origin games like it's 1994?! Let's see what we can find...

Hi-Tech USA has a Wing Commander / Ultima VI CD-ROM for just $18! This would've be an OEM copy published by Software Toolworks, which worked out a deal with pre-EA Origin to offset development costs on three CD-ROM games in exchange for rights to release OEM versions.
Hardware bundler Media Vision has a bespoke multmedia kit that comes with Ultima Underworld and Wing Commander II. EA developed this release and licensed it to a LOT of early PC and addon manufacturers. It doesn't include the Wing Commander II expansions!
Treasure Chest Peripherals is taking first generation OEM CD-ROMs and bundling them together for big bucks! $89 will get you the Software Toolworks Wing Commander Deluxe CD-ROM and a couple other excellent games.
MultiMedia Direct has the Ultima VI/Wing Commander CD-ROM for $29... better get it at that first place!
But the folks at Discount Micro have it for just $14! They also have a Wing Commander I and II CD-ROM, which would've been this 1994 retail bundle release from Origin.
Vektron International has also created their own 'Game Pack' out of cheap OEM releases including Ultima VI/Wing Commander... $100 is highway robbery! I could sure go for a game of Stellar 7, though...
MultiMedia Perfection will give you $20 off your Ultima VI/Wing Commander purchase if you bundle it with a CD-ROM drive!
ComputAbility has a whole range of Origin products including Academy, Privateer and half a dozen addon disks!
Raceway Computers has the retail version of Strike Commander CD-ROM! Full speech, people, don't sleep on this update.
Multimedia Super Source (are you detecting a trend?) has the OEM versions of U6/WC and Ultima 1-6, plus the retail versions of Strike Commander, UW/WC2, Ultima Underworld 1 & 2 and Wing Commander II Deluxe.
Free Spirit Software has got the retail copies of Strike Commander, Wing Commander II Deluxe and Wing Commander II/Ultima Underworld. Plenty of pornography, too!
World-Net Microsystems has the OEM Wing Commander I Deluxe for $18.
And here's the Software Toolworks Ultima I-VI CD-ROM from... Best Buy?! Huh!
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LOAF

Getting Into the Swing of Things Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

A mobile game called Ultimate Golf is having an event called ‘Swing Commander’. And so I played 18 holes of internet golf to see if there was anything more to it than the name. And there was not. And I’m terrible at internet golf.
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LOAF

Feast Your Eyes on This Snazzy Destroyer Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Today CMDBob has a stellar model of a Wing Commander 3 Southampton class destroyer. We've seen lots of gorgeous examples over the years, but this one goes in a new direction with a wonderful animated style. Even the weapon effect looks spot on. We love it!
I took an old, low polyish model of the Southampton destroyer I'd made a while back, and gussied it up. Ended up with a nice enough animated-ish render style using 3DS Max's ink and paint materials, along with some other material stuff.

WC3 Poster With Eye-Popping Five Autographs Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

LeHah is back with yet another fantastic Wing Commander collectible! Already the proud owner of such artifacts as a signed movie soundtrack and double-signed movie poster, he's set a new standard for impressive Wing Commander autographs. Here is his Wing Commander 3 poster with (clockwise from top right) Tom Wilson, François Chau, Malcolm McDowell, John Rhys-Davies and Mark Hamill all-in-one. Rhys-Davies was his latest addition, and the actor even added "Paladin" to it unprompted. LeHah has been hitting up various conventions and sending away merchandise for years, but it's getting increasingly nerve-wracking to make progress with this one. While the various autographs have cost some $600 in direct money to obtain, the associated time and effort makes it increasingly priceless. I don't know if I'd be able to put this one in the mail and hope for it to return with a sixth signature!

Happy 25th Birthday Wing Commander CIC! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Happy Birthday to us! Today officially marks twenty-five years at wcnews.com! It's been a long road, getting from there to here. It's been a long time, but we're glad you're still here! It's been our privilege to be a part of the Wing Commander community for more than a quarter century, and we're looking forward to many more years here with you.

While today is the formal anniversary of when we first unveiled the Wing Commander CIC, we'll be holding the big birthday party in a bit over a week on Saturday, August 19. The fun kicks off at 7:00 pm EDT (4:00 pm PDT and 11:00 pm GMT) in Discord #Wingnut.

To commemorate today's milestone, LOAF will be hosting part four of four of his exhilarating Wing Commander Confederation Handbook series this evening. You can watch live and see exactly what goes into deep diving WC lore (also targeted to begin at the same 7 pm Eastern/4 pm Pacific). Stop back here for the link when it goes live!

Today marks 25 years of the CIC! Hard to believe the Wing Commander website I started in high school is still a major part of my life today. We would not be here without the incredible dedication of my dear friends ChrisReid and KrisV. And the support of a community of thousands of creative fans! And we’ve got so much left to do...

Wing Commander Development Team Sizes Compared Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

A few months back, LOAF took a look at the development timeframes for the Wing Commander games. It's really interesting comparison! Someone asked how these durations correlated with the size of the development teams, which is also a very neat set of data, so LOAF compiled a new table!
This question fascinated me so I decided to put together some rough numbers with the previous chart. I divided credits by modern disciplines... you can see the size of the development teams basically quadruiples in eight years! (Does not include film shoot crews.)
With regards to the expansion packs, they were all very tight 3-4 month productions. A small team of rising juniors would usually develop them while the rest of the group moved to the next big game. They kept it up as long as the concept was profitable!

WCM Dorkir Cockpit Footage Uncovered Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's probably only really interesting to me, but here's two minutes of the Dorkir VDU footage from the various insert shots done for the Wing Commander movie. I rotated, cropped, and did some minor stabilization on this clip to make it slightly more viewable. The best looking section is about a minute in, but the low quality and partially cut-off shots are due to how it was shot or the source tapes it came from. You can see that it's a bit more WC1 Dorkir-looking than we thought before, because you can't really get a good or clear shot of it from the Blu-ray edition.
LOAF added this image for context:
For comparison, here's the Wing Commander I Dorkir design. The movie version looks like they just elongated the 'cab'. But it's pretty neat to watch a movie so many times and still be able to see a new spaceship.
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AD

Take a Closer Look at Life on the Frontier Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Remember the story in the Privateer manual? It’s very well written but it’s a little odd since it opens the booklet with eight pages of uninterrupted text. And none of the backstory is ever referenced in the game!
It turns out Origin had originally commissioned a comic artist to illustrate the story. The work was developed and the contract was doubled after the first delivery… but it was all dropped from the design very late in development!
It’s all this super cool 2000 AD style stuff. Thirty pieces to cover the story! It actually adapts a longer draft which has another act setting up a rivalry between Burrows and another privateer.
So my contribution today is that I have organized it all and matched it to the descriptions from the art list! It’s like a Privateer comic book. It’s in the wiki along with copies of outlines and earlier drafts of the story!
You can also find all the other unused art from the rest of the manual, more development docs and in-progress work here!
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LOAF

WC1 Cover Appreciation Post Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Is there anything more thrilling than the Wing Commander I box art? Despite the claim that “what you see is what you play,” it’s not a screenshot but a digital piece carefully composed by the incomparable Denis Loubet.
Back in the '80s, games would commission stunning traditional artwork for their boxes. The biggest purpose was to attract eyes in stores but they also served as a kind of ‘primer’ in an era of simple graphics. That green-and-black smudge you battle is actually a cool dragon!
Of course consumers are fickle and tastes change. By the end of the '80s games were more complex and their art had a much more distinctive style. Origin needed a new way to stand out. And their first answer was… male models.
Luckily, that experiment ended before Wing Commander! It looked so impressive that they felt showing the game itself was the way to go. So Mr. Loubet had to use the graphics that were ready to get across the experience of playing something that didn’t exist yet!
So I thought it would be fun to have a post of all the later art derived from that original box! Hit your afterburners, it’s time to push things to 2400 KPS…

I bet you know this first one! This stunning image is the box cover for the 1992 SNES port (in the US and Europe). It’s a traditional painting by Mike Winterbauer, who is still making cool art today!

The first two novel covers are both inspired by the original box. They are both paintings by prolific science fiction artist Paul Alexander (who sadly passed in 2021). The second also heavily references Wing Commander II!
The Japanese release of the SNES (SFC) port had a totally different painting with the same inspiration! I do not know who the artist is but they are clearly closely referencing the line drawings from Claw Marks for the ships.
And here’s one you might not know. This pen and ink take on the original art shows up on a special release of the Amiga CD32 that comes with WC as a pack in game!
The later games got Star Wars inspired paintings focused on their casts… but Wing Commander Academy, the 1993 mission builder, chose to reference WC1. This is digital… making it even more surprising that those ships don’t appear in the game!
Super Wing Commander, the 1994 3DO port, got a digital piece redoing the original with the game’s updated 3D art.
Both of the album covers for The Farman’s Wing Commander releases are funny versions of the original box art!
That’s all the official covers I can think of, but here’s an unofficial take: the cover of a totally rad multi game guide by Mark Minasi.
We did a homage when I worked on Star Citizen, too! It was to celebrate the release of ‘Arena Commander’, a game in a game.
It's also worth noting that the same first person cockpit artwork shows up all over the place. Here’s two unrelated things that are also called Wing Commander that use it!
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LOAF

Two Weeks To Party Time! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've moved into August, and now it's just two weeks until the CIC's 25th Birthday Party! You can join in and celebrate with everyone on Saturday, August 19. We'll be hosting a huge bash in Discord #Wingnut. Discord has rolled out quite a few new features over the last year, and we'll be trying some of them out with the large group. The main event gets going at 7:00 pm EDT (4:00 pm PDT and 11:00 pm GMT). Hope to see you there!

Don't Sleep on the New WC4 Fan Remake Demo Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

If you missed the big news earlier this week, be sure to check out the new WC4 Fan Remake demo! There are numerous fixes and updates, better joystick support and new in-flight comms. You can download it here (886 meg exe) and get right to playing! The WC Respace team has posted a full article with instructions and FAQs if you have any questions or issues. If you're not quite ready to jump in yourself, here's a video of The Eradicator checking the demo out. It's actually the original release, so the latest version is even better!
It looks like a team of modders are trying to remaster Wing Commander IV. In this video, we will check their work out.

What's up the Tarsus Butt? Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

This prompted me to dig up the original Tarsus model...
But what's that written on the rear!?! Zoom in and enhance... HIDDEN LORE!
Is this visible in the game itself? Not even a little.
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Advanced Tinkering Leads to Improved WC4 Comms in New Remake Demo Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Development of the WC4 Fan Remake is picking up again, and the team has a new update today on comm videos. If you were thinking the clips that play in the communications VDU were simply upscaled, that's just the tip of the iceberg! It was quite a process for AllTinker to extract the colorful Playstation versions and then sync them with the PC version which are higher resolution. They aren't even cropped to the same frame. Then all of that was given to ODVS for an advanced enhancement based on color channels. It was quite a process, and you'll need to read the full article at WC Respace for the details. There's also a video that walks through the comparison.
Oh, and last - but not least - there's a whole new playable demo! Grab it here (886 meg exe). It showcases these new comms, and also a whole bunch more:
  • Prioritize GPU based on maker if multiple are found
  • Support for 128 button joysticks
  • Support for joysticks/throttles with zero POV hats
  • Fix for taking screenshots with AMD cards
  • Fix for score tracking when critical components are destroyed
  • Reduce memory usage on cards with limited VRAM
  • Support for multiple language tracks (playing with -ger will give you a german trailer audio)
  • ...and color comm videos.

Revisit the Glorious Cutaway Poster Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's been a while since we've shared Matthew Cushman's awesome SciPubTech cutaway poster, and it's fabulous, so we take every opportunity we can get to put it front and center. The project was officially commissioned to support the Wing Commander Movie, but like the Wing Commander Ride or action figure vehicles, it was never officially released. On the bright side, the gorgeous art is available right here for all to enjoy. Mr. Cushman recently reposted it on Behance with a little blurb. There's no new info, but it's nice to see his 'official' statement on the piece!
Wing Commander’s Tiger Claw Cutaway ArtThis diorama was created with the help of the film’s creator. Reference for this piece was supplied by the movie studio to create an accurate depiction of this vessel, but eventually this was not sold as a poster.

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