Happy New Year's Eve! (A Look Back at 2023) Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've come to the end of another year, but before we say our last goodbyes to 2023, it's time to take a look back at the highlights from the past twelve months!

The year began, as many do, with lots of glorious fan art and beautiful creations. Mac and Klavs had another very prolific year with a steady stream of gorgeous sights. Many of Klavs' designs were later released as 3D models while Mac took his renders all the way to multiple full fledged lore videos on YouTube.

It didn't take long to get our first "official," WC release when Google finally added Freedom Flight to their digital bookstore in January. Although it's been available for years on competing platforms, having this one title missing from such a major outlet was a constant annoyance to completionists.

Fan projects like WC4 Remastered and many different impressive Lego builds were frequently in the news through the (northern) spring. Dominus of Exult uncovered some very cool vintage Origin patch disks and DaveO put his massive video archive back online. An especially impressive new release was Destro's Wing Loader, which added official Sega CD speech to DOS Wing Commander. It was subsequently updated multiple times to add features to later games as well.

In May we got Van Burnham's campaign to create a vinyl album of George Oldziey's music. It failed to meet the necessary fundraising goal, but we'll continue to press on this one in 2024. On the brighter side, May also saw the first peek at AllTinker's massive WC1 overhaul, Confederation. While work continues on that project, it's already spun off a very useful tool called Originator that modders and curious fans are already using to great effect.

On the delisting front, Wing Commander Academy was removed from Peacock in July, although it remains readily available on DVD. We also got the sad news that Wing Commander Arena will be coming down from Xbox Live Arcade when that store is sunset next July. Buy your copies now! However, we also learned about WC products that we never even knew existed, such as official South Korean translations of both Academy on TV and a localized WC3.

There was plenty of artistic muscle flexing this year. Alexis made a glorious Wing Commander tote for LOAF's birthday and we finally brought back CIC glasses at our 25th birthday party. EmuMusicFan completed the full first chapter of his Freedom Flight comic and we found the source of the iconic SNES Secret Missions box art. And that wasn't even the only artist find! The true origins of the End Run cover art were also revealed in 2023.

There was lots of crafty 3D printing, as usual, headlined by LYP's amazing Centurion and Cpt. Streets' intricate Tarsus. Knight26-77 also made a really cool time lapse of an Excalibur being made.

AD once again did great things via exploration of the Wing Commander Movie's deleted scenes. This includes highlighting the movie's crazy console effect, exploring relationship context, analyzing the evolving cockpit, discovering the Dorkir and more. He and LOAF also GREATLY expanded the CIC's Holovids video archive for Privateer 2, Prophecy and Secret Ops. LOAF also brought back the streaming show in trial form with live steams featuring the Confederation Handbook, Voices of War, lost Academy missions and for the CIC's 25th Birthday.

Lastly, but certainly not least, LOAF had an absolutely banner year in terms of Wing Commander research. Here's a list of some of the topics he (with a few articles peppered in by others) explored in 2023!

Playstation 2 Backwards Compatibility Option Improves WC3/4 Textures Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

StarvingPilot shared a cool tip for anyone with a Playstation 2 and PSX Wing Commander 3 or 4. There's a neat backwards compatibility feature for people who have the original Playstation versions of these two games. The PS2 supports "fast loading" and "texture smoothing" that adds bilinear filtering. This means the textures appear slightly less blocky and pixelated. If you've got the right hardware, it's a neat trick to check out!
I found that texture smoothing can be enabled for old PS1 games. This includes the PlayStation version of WC3 (tested), and possibly WC4 (which I don’t own). This is done for any PS1 game without emulators on original hardware, although I imagine anyone running a PS emulator has been doing this for years.

To get to the option, just enter the main menu for the console, highlight Browser and press triangle to enter the Version Menu. Using the menu options, Texture Mapping can be changed to Smooth.

I tested WC3, and sure enough it worked! The smoothing is pretty rudimentary, but it’s cool to enable a feature that nobody anticipated being available when this game was developed. Screenshots included, but they aren’t great.

Here's a video on how to get it set up:

Gorgeous Midway Shots From the Holovids Archive Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Sorting through Wing Commander Prophecy's cutscenes means stopping everything each time I come across another exterior shot of the Midway hidden in a longer cutscene.
Where ya goin tonight???
In response to your many cards and letters:
  • The G'wriss jump doesn't have text
  • The G'mar jump isn't on the DVD (everyone boos forever)
  • There's no H'rissith jump scene
Visit the massively expanded Prophecy Holovids video archive here!
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LOAF

Retro Clip Shows of WC2's EGA Mode Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Binary Legends has posted an awesome 16-minute video featuring the intro and first mission from Wing Commander 2 - in EGA graphics mode! We've posted various screenshots before and LOAF has done some wonderful comparisons between EGA and other iterations of the games over the years, but I don't think we've ever shown off a raw clip like this. If you haven't seen it in motion, it's something to behold. There's an interesting contrast between the EGA visuals and digitized speech with beautiful music behind it. The game may not look quite like the WC2 that you remember, but it gives big vintage '80s Tandy/Sierra game vibes, which is pretty awesome!
Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (EGA - Intro and First Mission). Running in EGA 16 color mode with Roland MT-32 for the music and Sound Blaster for the digitized sounds.

Exotic WC3 Bug Produces Interesting Results Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Found a Wing Commander III bug! In the first scramble mission (B1 or C1) you are automatically assigned three wingmen: Weasel (a scripted death) and then Maniac and Mitchell. If one is shot down, they're replaced by a rotation: Vagabond, Bacon Boy, Hobbes, Flint, Cobra, Vaquero, Maniac, Vagabond. But it doesn't check for duplicates, so you can end up with two Maniacs or two Vagabonds! It's unlikely to ever happen during regular gameplay because there isn't really anything in the mission that will kill six of your wingmen.
author avatar
LOAF

George Sanger Releases Groovy New Album Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

If you're still in a post-holiday brain daze, maybe you need a shot of funky electronic music to get the body moving again! (In the event that it's Covid, we recommend instead getting a prescription of Paxlovid.) George Sanger and Team Fat are here to deliver with a brand new digital album titled Project Shish Kebab 2023. You can listen to and buy the album at Band Camp, and it's also available for free on YouTube below with an accompanying video to show off how it was all recorded.
The Fat Man and Team Fat just released Project Shish Kebab 2023, check it out here.

“Another New Years' Bonus: Welcome back to The Jam That Looks Like a Chess Match(R)!!

In case you missed it, this is our annual "Project Shish Kebab" get-together. It's exactly how we make videogame music according to our parents' imaginations.

It's a spin-off from 25 years of bloop-and-bleep jams at the legendary Project BarBQ audio hardware/software conference. 2023 is the third year we've done it.

As of this message, the album is available on Bandcamp but...Do you want to _see_ the sausage get made? Start the video playlist and chill.

See you in space. The _inner_ space of The MIND that is...wooo wooooooo wooooo wooo Beeeeeeeeeep!

<3 George Sanger
David Battino
Aaron Higgins
David Javelosa

As a reminder, you can pick up their MT-32 Archival Edition of the Wing Commander soundtrack here!

Merry Christmas! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Wingnuts everywhere! We hope you're able to enjoy a safe and comfortable day. We know that's not always possible, so if you're ready for a break from it all, feel free to drop by Discord #Wingnut. Whether it's discussion about the new Doctor Who special or Star Trek Prodigy dropping on Netflix, we're here to take your mind off all the holiday stress!

Originator Extraction Tool Expands Compatibility for File Types and Game Content Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've got another great update to a new fan tool today. AllTinker has released a new version of Originator, his multipurpose extraction tool that can decipher all manner of internal assets from within the code of classic WC games. He aims to support a broad cross section of Origin and Wing Commander titles, so today's update improves the program's ability to read certain formats. It will also read more types of information, including text content within the games. This all builds on an impressive list of supported games and audio/visual file types from the first release. You can learn more and download the app at the CIC Forums here.
Version 0.2.02 (2023-12-25)
  • Improved the IFF parser to cope with various quirks and non-standard features (e.g. Privateer's "table" structures).
  • Quite broad support for "shape" images - although there are palettes remaining to hook up for numerous games, so colours may be wrong. The majority of my attention has currently been on Privateer, so most shape images should be correctly viewable/exportable. WC3 and 4 should also be correct.
  • Added configurable GUI scaling for accessibility/very high-resolution screens.
  • Switched to using Unifont for broad language support (tested with Japanese in FM Towns Wing Commanders); custom TTF/OTF fonts may also be added to data/fonts.zip and selected in configuration.
  • Added the beginnings of a text viewer; can view textual content in several games, including Privateer dialogues.
  • Many other changes and improvements, most importantly a new "about" screen. :D
NOTE: If you get an error regarding MSVCP140.dll, you will need to install the latest Microsoft C++ 64-bit runtime (direct link).

New DOSBox Spinoff Set Stage for New Features Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Master O dropped by to spread the word about a new alternative to DOSBox. DOSBox has been a tried and true workhorse of the retro gaming community for nearly twenty years, but updates have been very sparse since about 2010 or so. Although the program works fairly well to get games like Wing Commander running on modern systems, technology has continued to evolve and there's an enormous opportunity to add modern quality-of-life improvements. That's where DOSBox Staging comes in. A new team of developers have picked up where the old program left off. There is much improved support for modern video and sound setups, better controller and joystick integration, plus compatibility with a host of modern operating system features. The latest 0.81 test versions even add support for Voodoo 1 emulation for 3DFX graphics. You can try it out here. Be sure to share your experience at the CIC Forums!
If you still play the first few Wing Commander games in DOS, take a look at Dosbox-Staging. It completely outclasses Dosbox 0.74-3 in every way.
This post originally referred to trying Prophecy & Secret Ops in 3DFX mode. Master O pointed out that the two games are designed for Windows, so it's not possible to get these running. Fortunately, alternate glide wrapper options are out there!

New Wing Loader Fixes Bugs & Adds WC4/P/SO Support Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Destro has released a new update of Wing Loader with a host of new features! The original project sough to bring voiceovers from the Sega CD version of WC1 over into the PC edition. He's since expanded his goals significantly with plans to add features such as the ability to incorporate high definition video into Wing Commander 3. This new version also adds preliminary support for WC4, Prophecy and Secret Ops in advance of offering new features for those games in the future. There is compatibility with Stinger's wcdx package of improvements to the Kilrathi Saga games, and the program now works with all the common GOG packages. You can find more details and installation instructions here. The main installer package is also mirrored here (800 meg zip).
Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Got a ton of fixes, upgrades and new features to share. Most notably, a fix for error 267 that causes folders to be invalid, full GOG support for all titles, an in-engine upgrade and patching system to upgrade Wing Commander I, II & III to their Kilrathi Saga versions while retaining the original, automatic patching for WCDX without the need to run a .bat file, added Wing Commander IV, Prophecy and Secret Ops as selectable titles and general bug fixes.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and I look forward to 2024 and beyond! Cheers!

Version 0.91
- Wing Commander IV, Prophecy & Secret Ops are now available options inside Wing Loader!
- Support for all Wing Commander (main series) titles via GOG installs (It should, in theory, work with EA App but it hasn't been tested)
- In-game patching of GOG_To_KS and WCDX. No more batch files (WCDX, WC1.5 & DDraw not included)
- Click the Gear icon at the lower right and select which game you want to patch
- Error 267 fix when running titles from Wing Loader!!!!!
- Game install folders renamed from WC1 to Wing Commander... Now that 267 is fixed I can use the actual game folder names
- Engine fixes and optimization's introduced with v0.90's engine re-write
- Fullscreen toggle fixed
- Games will now run while in Fullscreen
- Fixed SE_Pref.ini not saving on exit
- Some spelling errors corrected.... but defiantly not all
- Camera aspect ratio's fixed
- Wing Loader Icon now appears when running the app. resource.rc still a work in progress
- Pressing 'esc' now brings up a confirmation before closing
- Many more minor fixes

EA Discounts WC Games to 99 Cents Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Most of the Wing Commander games may be excluded from the holiday sale at GOG this year, but Electronic Arts didn't forget about them! The five WC games sold directly from EA.com (formerly the Origin Store) have been marked down as a part of the Player Favorites Sale. Each game is only $0.99, which is a pretty slick 80+% discount. Other Ultima and Origin games are included in a similar price range. There are some other hot titles as well like Star Wars Squadrons for $1.99 and the Command & Conquer Remastered package for $4.99, which are also good pickups!

See How Official WC3 Guides Stack Up Against Each Other Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Did you know that Wing Commander III has THREE different official guides?!

I thought it would be fun to compare what ships, wingmen and loadout each book recommends for each mission. And I was right, it was extremely fun.
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LOAF

Your Favorite WC Ship: Now a 3D Print Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Check out this awesome Seahawk model that LOAF recently got 3D printed. The CIC staff love things like this, but none of us have the hardware or technical knowledge to make these ourselves. Fortunately, that's where the cottage industry of make-to-order prints comes in! Some sources can seem kind of sketchy, but LOAF found this one on Etsy (3Dwitha4Kface) and the results are solid. They also make a Dralthi, Scimitar, Kamrani Corvette, Centurion and Tiger's Claw in sizes from 1 inch to 12 inches. If you pick one up, keep in mind that some gluing and assembly may be required!
I got a huge Seahawk from Etsy’s Black Friday sale.
The SR-51 Seahawk Airborne Early Warning/Airborne Warning and Control Ship aka the SWACS.

Wing Commander 3 3DO Reviewed in Vintage Magazine Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Today we've got a retro review that AD found in the August 1995 issue of the appropriately named Man!ac magazine. It's a German publication, so we've provided a rudimentary translation. It's easy to get a sense of what they have to say: lots of excitement around the video cutscenes and some commentary about the cool spaceflight. The final score is 86%. I really like the 3DO screenshots here. You see a lot of the same PC images pop up in most reviews, so the more colorful comm VDU clips really stand out!

Watch Wing Commander Running on the Sony Watchman Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

This is a new one for me: kyleisliving has posted a video of the SNES version of Wing Commander running on a Sony Mega Watchman. If it's the model I think it is, this one has a 4.5 inch black and white screen. It actually looks surprisingly good given the circumstances, and the music sounds great! Sony is also responsible for solving the need for something like this thanks to EA Replay on the Playstation Portable. We still love to see people finding new ways to play Wing Commander though!

1992 Screenshots Show Off Early Version of Privateer Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here’s an interesting find! Very, very early Privateer screenshots released at ECTS in 1992 and published in the November issue of PC Games. All gameflow, probably just renders…
In-game versions of these same assets. You can see nothing was close to final!
author avatar
LOAF

GOG Holiday Sale Marks Down (Only) Privateer 2 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

GOG has kicked off their big Winter Sale, and it's a weird one! We used to be able to predict what would happen pretty well, but things have been far less consistent this year. Sometimes we only see a few games marked down - or none at all in the case of Black Friday most recently. This time only Privateer 2 is on sale for 75% off. I looked around a bit and see Ultima has some similarly non-uniform pricing. The earlier games are on sale, but Ultima 8 and 9 are still full price. Both Crusaders are on sale, as is Strike Commander and others. I'm happy that at least The Darkening gets its price cut though!

Get a Good Look at the Privateer Equipment Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here are all the new components added to Righteous Fire. The 'booster' style upgrades don't have damage states, so they are either doubled up or they have weird little placeholder graphics! That little frowny face has been hiding for 30 years...

Here's the same sprite sheet but for Privateer, in case you want to scroll through all the damaged components you might never have seen!
The Wing Commander damage states are very cool! Here's an article from earlier this year about Privateer's cockpit damage - plus a comprehensive gallery of all WC4's flight deck damage views!
author avatar
LOAF

WC3 Cloak Confounded Early Windows 95 Build Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Dave's garage has hosted an interview with Raymond Chen, one of the developers of Windows 95. He has a fun anecdote about Microsoft's mission to minimize compatibility issues with the operating system. When testing Wing Commander 3, they detected an error that would occur when pressing Control+C to cloak at the end of the game. The conflicting behavior highlighted some broken logic around accepting keystrokes, which spurred them to change how Copy/Paste was interpreted behind the scenes. It's a cool story! I'm not sure who managed to stumble across this scenario: WC3 DOS didn't really run in Windows - it was a classic "Reboot in MS-DOS Mode" game, but this could have come in handy by the time The Kilrathi Saga came around!
Microsoft developers once drove a truck to Egghead in order to buy ONE of EVERYTHING! Dave interviews Raymond Chen, Win95 developer, about the time they took a truck to EggHead and bought one of everything!
Thanks to Jacob Harvey and TheBookfinder for the tip!

Splendid WC4 Preview Includes Revealing Set Shots & Early Engine Demo Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Found a pretty neat Wing Commander IV preview from the November 1995 issue of PC Power. Lots of cool set photos and a great one of Mark Hamill as Colonel Blair...
... but even more fascinating, look at that gameplay shot on the last page! That's the earliest build of Wing Commander IV I've ever seen. What's going on with the radar?!
Apparently the September 1995 issue (21) has a Privateer 2 preview which I'd love to see! Anyone out there have back issues of PC Power? I believe it's from the UK.
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LOAF

Contraband Lego Dragon Appears Online Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

I've been waiting for this day: AD has discovered the first ever bootleg Wing Commander LEGO set on AliExpress!
Here's the original source - a fantastic design by Paul Magurean.
The F-107 Lance was developed in the immediate aftermath of the Terran-Kilrathi War by the Black Lance, an elite special forces organization created by Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn. It was designed as an all-purpose heavy fighter to be used exclusively by the Black Lance for its intended use in defending humanity in future conflicts. It was funded by the Black Lance's many elusive backers and like all Black Lance projects, was designed and tested in the utmost secrecy. Ultimately though, the Dragon was an illegally-produced spacecraft that had been fielded without the approval of the legitimate Confederation authorities.

The Dragon was a heavily-armed fighter with some of the most advanced equipment to emerge in the 2670s. It was considered the most advanced fighter since the F-103 Excalibur, boasting both a jump drive and the latest in Terran cloaking capabilities. The Lance, while large, had great speed and acceleration combined with its large weapons payload, perfect for deep-space raids, as well as atmospheric combat. Its payload could be adjusted to carry a variety of weapons, including the Flash-Pak and later, the Gen-Select Bioweapon. The Black Lance was unique in that its state-of-the-art power plant ran on a matter/antimatter format, much like that of a capital ship. The Dragon's afterburner supply came directly from the power plant, allowing the craft to conduct quick bursts of immense speed, at the cost of energy drainage in the guns and shields. However, this unique ability allowed the craft to outrun its pursuers with ease.

Note: - this MOC is a request and I never played this game, so I hope I made it as close as possible to the model in the game Wing Commander.

author avatar
LOAF

Your First Peek at Korean Version of Wing Commander 3! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

This week I learned that there was a fully localized South Korean release of Wing Commander 3! Which means you’re all going to have the option to play WC3 in Korean soon. French, German and Japanese are well documented but this one stayed hidden until now. Here's a quick sample!

author avatar
LOAF

New Programming Tool Offers Powerful Wing Commander Extraction Options Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We have an exciting new project to share today! AllTinker, the talented programmer and artist currently working on the Confederation project, has also been working on an intriguing tool that he's dubbed 'Originator'. The program seeks to dig into the guts of a wide range of Wing Commander and Origin games and extract art assets, sound files and videos. A program like this would make many of the CIC's internal projects much easier. It's also very valuable to modders, artists or just fans who are curious about what makes up the games. There's still a lot of debugging going on, but AllTinker has big plans for future enhancements to add in later. If you'd like to try out the first release and read more about the app, visit the CIC Forums!
Hey all, here's an offshoot project I've been working on for the past few months, which has turned into its own monster... It's still very early days, but perhaps some folks may find it useful or interesting as-is - and it's the sort of thing that will probably never be truly "finished"; so I might as well release it now.

As some of you may know, I've been going through the process of a major Confederation rewrite; and in the process, building a code library which can also be used by/in collaboration with other projects (e.g. WC4 Remastered). The majority of my project time has been sunk into that library (called libOriginData), and I'll go into more detail about it once it's ready for a public release... But anyway, to test the library, and as a useful tool (for me, at least!) I've also been developing this software; Originator.

It's essentially just an integrated data viewer/exporter for a fairly broad set of supported games (obviously most of these are by Origin, but it also has some level of support for some spinoff/spiritually-related titles). I wouldn't call it a modding tool, per se, although it's primarily intended to help peek and prod around in the game data for reverse engineering and such. I don't have any plans on the horizon for writing back to game formats, although I do have some nebulous long-term ambitions specifically for mission viewing and editing.

In terms of games it "supports" (take this with a hefty grain of salt!), this is the current list:

  • Wing Commander (DOS / Kilrathi Saga / Demo / FM Towns / Sega CD)
  • Wing Commander II (DOS / Kilrathi Saga / Demo / FM Towns)
  • Wing Commander Academy (DOS)
  • Wing Commander Armada (DOS / FM Towns)
  • Wing Commander III (DOS / Kilrathi Saga / Demo / 3DO / Playstation)
  • Wing Commander IV (CD / DVD / Demo)
  • Wing Commander Prophecy / Secret Ops (Retail / Original Prophecy Demo)
  • Wing Commander Arena (XBox 360)
  • Super Wing Commander (3DO)
  • Privateer
  • Privateer 2
  • Strike Commander
  • Pacific Strike
  • Wings of Glory
  • Bioforge
  • Starlancer / Freelancer
  • Origin FX Screen Saver
  • Space Rogue (PC / FM Towns)
  • Longbow / Longbow 2
  • Crusader No Remorse / No Regret

Some of these are barely supported beyond some container formats and maybe a couple of codecs; for some I am planning on expanding support quite drastically based on my own previous work (not all of which is represented in libOriginData or Originator yet), others I think of more as experimental stubs for consolidating or encouraging community efforts. Many of these games share an awful lot, so I thought I might as well drop in some support while I'm about it... There are some obvious omissions; the biggest of which is no doubt the Ultima series - those seem to have their own active communities/ecosystems which I don't feel is necessary to double-up on presently.

So right now, you can browse almost all containers, listen to most audio, including MIDI (MT-32 and General), view many images, and most later RealSpace engine models (some palette issues exist for WC4). There's an IFF viewer, and a fallback hex viewer if nothing else will view the content.

X-Wing and Wing Commander Top the Early 1994 Sales Charts Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here's a great little time capsule from the fantastic X-Wing Game Series account. It shows a snapshot of the best selling PC games in early 1994. Due to print lead times, this would basically have depicted the holiday 1993 sales. Wing Commander Privateer and Academy are both included as they launched within a month of each other in September and August respectively. X-Wing and its Imperial Pursuit expansion are also up there. Plus, there's MS Flight Sim 5, the original Sim City, 7th Guest and more. What a time to be alive!
X-Wing, Imperial Pursuit together with Privateer and Wing Commander Academy (plus MS Flight Simulator 5.0) in the Top 10 best-selling PC games from February 1994 issue of the Electronic Entertainment mag. Great times for flight games!

The Making of Victory's Gunnery Control Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Super cool! Anatoly Shashkin recently posted this awesome September 1994 recruitment ad for Origin Systems. The background is the gunnery control virtual set built for Wing Commander by Mark Vearrier (who went on to art direct Prophecy!).
Want to watch it come together? Sketches and the initial wireframe:
Taking shape:
… and finally!
author avatar
LOAF

Late Night Cargo Pod Post Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Mods are asleep, post the Wing Commander III mini-shuttle.

It's one of the destructible cargo units that attach to the Confederation transport.
Attachments like these were pretty bugged and a bunch were cut from the game late. Here's the set that were intended to attach to the latticework on the Kilrathi freighter!
Unfortunately the bug persisted into Wing Commander IV and so the Confederation transports are all naked. Which is too bad given the number of convoy-related missions you fly! (And: the aforementioned Kilrathi transport.)
author avatar
LOAF

Claw Marks Editions: Just Scratching the Surface Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

I'm calming the old broken brain this weekend with a little research project: studying the evolution of Claw Marks! Like all holy books, Claw Marks evolved over time with edits and changes made by other contributors as Wing Commander I was ported and re-released...
And it's pretty fascinating seeing the changes! The original manual was developed in 1990 by the late, great Aaron Allston before Origin adopted digital publishing. It's the perfect lore booklet, absolutely defining the tone of the original game.
In 1994, Origin recreated it digitally for the Sega CD port (and then Super Wing Commander). Tuesday Frase overhauled the text, with changes ranging from dropping Oxford commas to rewriting sections and adding others!
And then in 1996 it was updated again for Kilrathi Saga with a host of lesser changes (and a totally new layout). And of course there are spinoffs and foreign translations that add interesting tidbits on occasion!
Just found a kind of haunting one: compare the last sentence of Bossman's bio between the original and the Sega CD version!
Sega CD - Cat Bites
3DO & Macintosh - Cat Bytes
This information benefits no one!
author avatar
LOAF

Annual Call For Award Nominations Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Woah, it's December! That means the year will be over in a blink, and we've got some annual CIC traditions to get to! In order to prepare, we're accepting nominations now for any Wing Commander fan projects that you'd like to recognize for their contributions in 2023. Email news@wcnews.com and let us know! There are some very strong contenders this year. Below is a rundown of our past winners:
  Fan Projects of the Year Runners Up
2022 WC4 Remastered Mac's Lore Videos / Gemini Sector RPG
2021 WC4 Remastered AI Enhanced WC Videos / Wing Leader
2020 AI Enhanced WC Videos WC4 Fan Remake / wcdx
2019 Prophecy & Secret Ops Model Upgrade Pack WC4 Fan Remake / Wing Leader
2018 Flat Universe Secret Ops Model Upgrade Pack / WC1 Sprite Refresh
2017 Secret Ops Model Upgrade Pack Homeworld Remastered / Flat Universe
2016 Flat Universe Homeworld Remastered / Secret Ops MUP / Enhanced Soundtracks
2015 Homeworld Remastered Mod Flat Universe / Secret Ops MUP / Klavs' Model Archive
2014 Flat Universe Klavs' Models / Prophecy Fan Movie
2013 Collected Works of HCl / Klavs' Models Defiant Few
2012 WC Saga Klavs' Models
2011 OpenGL Patch for WCP & Secret Ops TacOps Online & Standoff
2010 Astro Commander's Mini Models DirectDrawHack
2009 Standoff Gemini Gold
2008 Ascii Sector Flight Commander
2007 Standoff & WC Saga Ascii Sector
2006 WC4 Homeworld 2 Mod Das Erwachen
2005 Standoff Privateer Gemini Gold
2004 Standoff WC Saga
2003 Standoff & WC Saga Holding the Line & Vega Strike
2002 Unknown Enemy Kilrathi Empire & WC Saga BS
2001 Unknown Enemy Holding the Line & Vega Strike

  Web Sites of the Year Runners Up
2016 WCSaga.org Daedalus Station
2015 Daedalus Station WCSaga.org
2014 Daedalus Station Wing Commander RPG Wiki
2013 Concordia Hangar Daedalus Station
2012 Pix's Origin Adventures Wing Commander RPG Wiki
2011 Shotglass' WC Saga
2010 Paper Commander Prelude to Darkness
2009 WC Saga Standoff & Paper Commander
2008 Paper Commander Standoff & WC Saga
2007 HCl's Wing Commander Editing Site Pericles' Paper Inside
2006 HCl's Wing Commander Editing Site Wedge's Wing Commander
2005 WC Saga Fleet Tactics
2004 Fleet Tactics Wedge's Wing Commander
2003 Wing Commander in Russia WC3D & Wedge's Wing Commander
2002 Wing Commander in Russia BlackLance HQ & WingCenter
2001 Wing Commander in Russia Acenet Central
2000 Acenet Central Wing Commander in Russia
1999 Wing Commander in Russia Acenet Central & HCl's WC Editing Site

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