Happy Halloween from the Wing Commander Combat Information Center team! Can you identify all the spooky ships in this festive seasonal collage?
... and of course, if you have kiddos out trick-or-treating tonight you should make sure to check their candy. Some sicko might put a Razor in it:
The Crian demimonde is notorious for its obsession with cosmetic surgery, and this bar is the favoured watering hole of the surgery fetishists. Attracting a hard-core crowd of wilfully mutilated patrons, this is not a suitable venue for the faint hearted, as it really can get rather gruesome of an evening.Cobalt Blue drinks served in Erlenmeyer flasks with dry ice:
This Border Worlds outpost is present in Wing Commander IV's files and complete with damage states... but it doesn't appear in the game and it's not clear what it might've been intended for!
Wing Commander IV features a lot of bases -- in fact, it has more space stations than the original game had fighters. What it doesn't have is a Border Worlds base... even when you're ordered to rescue the biochemist from the Border Worlds, you do it by landing marines on a Confederation space lab. It looks like they had originally planned to rectify that, though -- with the Union of Border Worlds Outpost.
Ship specs, blueprints, an in-universe military magazine, some lore sidebars, and more. Origin went all-out on the contents in this box.You can also follow Boxography on Instagram.
I've been working away on a bunch of cool stuff - I'm close to being finished with my first pass at the 3D cockpits, and some further experimentation with 3D ships (from a voxel workflow, but trying to produce non-blocky models). I'm hoping my next update will show some or all of that in actual gameplay, with the first release not far behind.I've been working on some non-Confederation (and non-Originator) stuff too... Which brings me to: So for years before Confederation, and in the meantime since, I've made numerous attempts at patching the original DOS Wing Commander - first and foremost to fix the speed limiting. Well, recently I made a huge breakthrough as my understanding of the EXE hit a critical mass. So hopefully within the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be releasing a pretty huge fan patch which fixes the lack of speed limiting - and a bunch of other things besides. :)
It's been a distraction from Confederation, but it hasn't made me any less excited to continue it - there's obviously only so much that can be done with the DOS version (or Kilrathi Saga for that matter), but I'm looking forward to finally having a fix out there that I've wanted for 30-something years. :D
Wing Commander Prophecy’s C-9 Pelican transport, from proposal to sketch up to cinematic model to game mesh! Too bad we didn’t get the TRANS CO sign on the tower in the final version! The cine version has some nice detailed cargo pods, too.
While taking apart Wing Commander Arena I discovered that there are four different wrecked fighter models in the Boneyard map!
Charon System — The Boneyard
Welcome to hell! The Boneyard is the largest debris field in the sector. It began in 2655 when the Tiger’s Claw squadron fought a hard retreat through the area, riddling the asteroid belt with military debris. Since that time, it has come to encompass thousands of derelict ships and millions of asteroids. The Boneyard is for expert pilots only: success here requires that a pilot navigate between rocks and through the channels and tunnels that riddle larger planetoids. It’s also an excellent chance to turn a profit as the field is littered with useful salvage and even the rocks themselves are overflowing with priceless Gotherian crystals.
Analysis: In an example of galactic irony the home of the hellish boneyard is also the location of the largest Kilrathi pleasure world ever established. The notorious warpalaces on Charon III have been quenching warriors’ thirsts for generations. Humans are advised to visit with caution, as Kilrathi customs are often distinctly different than their own. Still, the chance to experience a live k’g’harg ceremony is worth the price of admission.
RadioShackCatalogs is an excellent resource for nostalgia-craving tech fans! The site offers high quality scans of 66 years worth of Radio Shack catalog. We've done the hard work for you, though, and have located the one listing for a Wing Commander game: Wing Commander III in the 1996 catalog! Chris Roberts' Strike Commander appears in the 1993 catalog, which was at the time an especially important new distribution deal for Origin.
Wing Commander is a 3D Space Combat Simulator game that released on the IBM PC in 1990 - over 34 years ago as of this episode - and it one of the finest games ever made. It took advantage of the IBM PC to maximize the immersion of a space combat simulation. Its game design had no equal. In today's episode we take a closer look at how Wing Commander came to be, its technology, game design, ports and how it shaped the series and the genre. Enjoy!Thanks to the many folks who sent this in (Salty, LeHah, HotT and others). One item of note: the link is titled "Thank you for playing Wing Commander," which alludes to the apocryphal story about programmer Ken Demarest replacing an error-on-quit message with that text. I see the anecdote has quite a bit of traction in the comments, but you don't have to go very far to debunk this myth. As anyone who originally played the game knows, it literally doesn't say this when you exit. Mr. Demarest has since explained that it was a true story from the development phase, but the issue was fixed before the game was finished. We have additional background on this persistent rumor here.
Look at this Wing Commander movie prop AD found. I can't believe how cool this is.
Greetings all. I just got back from Salt Lake City after a wonderfully successful day of recording the choir parts to the Wing Commander Volume 2 project. The singers were great, the engineer was spot on, and the conductor and fellow composer/orchestrator Philip Klein kept everything moving with artistry and finesse. Here are a few shots from the day's work as well as a link to hear a rough mix with the choir of a mission piece from Wing Commander 3 (same one I posted earlier with just orchestra). Bear in mind what you hear is just a mix of the reference track I gave the choir to hear and a rough mix of their performance. Once Bruce Botnick adds his ears and genius to the mix in early January I'm sure it will be quite stunning!Thank you all again for helping make my dreams come true once more!
Musically yours,
George
Last month we took a close look at the various spacecraft weapons identifiable in the Wing Commander movie. The resulting field guide helped show me the incredible level of detail and consistency that went into the background of the world… and of course it's pretty neat to catalog more of the Wing Commander universe, too! With that in mind, I decided to take a similarly close look at the weapons of Wing Commander Academy. Like movies, TV shows have a detailed preproduction process where style sheets showing the characters, vehicles, props and sets would look. These would then inform writers, storyboard artists and the animation production companies at all stages of making the show. Coming through all thirteen episodes has let us take a sort of 'space telescope' look backwards in time to learn more about what those style guides must have included!
PART ONE: GUNS
Laser Cannon
As in the original game it prequels, the simple laser cannon is by far the most common weapon seen on Wing Commander Academy. Laser cannon blasts are typically portrayed as rectangular bolts of varying lengths, more like their appearance in Privateer and later games. Our most interesting discovery about lasers concerns their colors. Some episodes have Confederation and Kilrathi lasers distinct colors: human weapons are light blue tinted while the Kilrathi ones are yellow. However, several episodes make all lasers an orange color that is maybe closer to the games themselves. A little research revealed exactly what's going on here: it's different style guides for different animation outsource companies! The nine episodes produced by Madhouse use the GI Joe-style faction colors while the four episodes produced by Koko have orange lasers (while Invisible Enemy is credited to Madhouse, it's actually a co-production). In addition to fixed lasers on fighters, capital ships use a variety of different laser turrets including barbettes, point defense emplacements and then single and dual mount turrets.
Particle Cannon
The Broadsword mounts two rear-firing particle cannons which are seen fired in The Last One Left. Unlike laser bolts, they fire smaller balls of energy.
Plasma Gun
Plasma guns are identified in dialogue on the Broadsword but they are never seen fired. The "wing plasma guns" mentioned by Maya refers to the single mount turrets above and below the Broadsword.
Flak Gun
The same flak guns seen in the early Wing Commander games appear sporadically on Wing Commander Academy. They are seen active defending the Tiger's Claw, the Agon'Ra'Sivar and a Dorkir. As in the games, we do not ever see their specific firing site.
Anti-Matter Gun
Large capital ships on Wing Commander Academy also mount more powerful Anti-Matter Gun batteries like those introduced in Wing Commander II. The Tiger's Claw has six of these weapons and others appear on the Dorkar, Kamar, Ralar and Naukar shared-style Kilrathi ships. Dual and triple mount versions are seen.
Tractor Beam
Multiple ships on Academy are seen using tractor beams in a variety of colors. The Scimitar, Broadsword and Kilrathi Salvage Tug have glowing yellow tractors while the Tiger's Claw has a pair of large scale green ones and a Grikath is seen with a pair of darker orange beams.
PART TWO: MISSILES
We've identified what we classify as eleven different missile types over the course of the show. That seems like a lot, but they're actually pretty consistent and different types match their equivalents from the game! For our purposes we've numbered the types in order of appearance (a spreadsheet linked below identifies each firing).
Type 1 - Heat Seeker
The standard Heat Seeker is by far the most common missile to appear on Wing Commander Academy with a very consistent look in almost every episode. It seems to be the animator's go to missile and it very consistently matches dogfights that involve a rear aspect lock.
Type 2 - Dumb Fire
Dumb Fire missiles are seen mounted on the wingtips of the Epees and fired by the Broadsword's centerline missile tube.
Type 3 - Image Recognition
More advanced Image Recognition missiles, identifiable by their fins and red warhead cones, occasionally appear including fired by Epees and the secret Strakha.
Type 8 - Friend or Foe
The Friend or Foe missile doesn't appear frequently but it does make a few cameos throughout the series.
Specialty Missiles
These four missile types are seen only as more specialized weapons system. Type 4 are the munitions for Kilrathi jump buoys, which fire multiple rockets at once. Type 5 is an all red missile seen (but never fired) turreted aboard Achilles-class ships. Type 6 is a capship missile fired by the Kamekh. Type 7 is a Kilrathi MIRV fired by the Strakha and capable of targeting multiple capital ships at once.
Torpedoes
Wing Commander Academy's Broadswords routinely fire torpedoes but the design is not as consistent as the missiles. In some cases, the torpedoes use the Heat Seeker or the Image Recognition missile models while other episodes introduce two unique blunted-nose torpedoes for a total of four distinct classses.
The Confederation also has a MIRV torpedo seen only in the finale: it splits into three submunitions as it approaches the target.
Decoys
Scimitars and Ferrets both drop decoys at various points in the show and they're typically represented as starbusts of chaff.
In Word of Honor we get a good look at the decoys being fired: Blair's Scimitar launches two projectiles that then ignite into the decoy's flare.
Appendix A: Ship Specifications & Appearances
As part of the research for this article we created a spreadsheet of ship appearances and identifiable weapons! Images of both are available below or you can access the original Google Sheet here which includes pages on the different weapon uses observed.
Appendix B: Dialogue Mentions
We picked out references to weapons spoken in the show's dialogue to help discern what is intended to be what. Here are the lines we picked out and the ships they're discussing:
Scimitar: "Hey, aren't those lasers supposed to be quarter strength?" (Red and Blue) Epee: "Don't worry, I got mine when Hyena's laser shorted out my cockpit circuits." (The Most Delicate Instrument) Broadsword: "These control the wing plasma guns and the quad lasers linked to your heads up computer. Now this is your real firing particle cannon. That sets your dumb fire and image recog missiles." (Expendable) Sartha: "That last laser hit took out our life support." (Expendable) Kamekh: "The laser turret's offline." (Walking Wounded) Strakha: "I'm getting laser fire but no…" (Invisible Enemy) Naukar: "Watch out for those laser turrets." (Price of Victory)
Appendix C: Visual Guide to Turrets
Mini Turret
Dual Particle Turret
Plasma Turret
Barbette
Point Defense Turret
Single Turret Turret
Ball Turret
Dual Laser Turret
Quad Laser Turret
Missile Turret
Double Battery
Triple Battery
Quick, what's that missile? I was studying Wing Commander Prophecy recently and realized I had never taken a good look at the alien missile graphics. Missiles are visible for perhaps a few frames at most so it's hard to get an idea of how they look in the game… but it turns out there was a lot of effort put into distinct missile textures, especially in Wing Commander Prophecy! Not only do the unusual alien weapons all have unique, organic graphics but almost every single Confederation missile and torpedo has a unique design. More, even, than were included in the high resolution renders in the manual and official guide!
From there I decided to look at the other games where I found lots of interesting missiles! I put together the following charts so that everyone can enjoy taking a longer look at the different objects than is usually possible. It also includes several cut weapons that you can't see in the game including Prophecy's leech missile, the null-g bomblets and the two torpedoes intended for use in Wing Commander Armada. Check back in the future, we are hoping to add the console ports (where different) to another iteration of these charts.
This effort also got me curious about the guns in Wing Commander Prophecy; by Wing Commander III, my brain starts blanking on what the different color bolts mean… so I made a quick and dirty chart to help! Then I checked Secret Ops, which adds a number of new guns and replaces the bolts for several of the alien guns.
The magazine also included a double-sided centerfold with some pretty interesting Wing Commander concept art (and a chart of guns that doesn't seem to have anything to do with the movie). Here they are arranged as they appeared:
You can also download an archive of the scanned pages here (1G). Previously:
In the lead-up to the Wing Commander movie, Starlog magazine covered the film extensively. After Starlog shut down in 2009, the powers that be offered scans of the entire run of their flagship magazine. This included a Wing Commander cover story and three feature articles which we reported at the time. What they did not include in their archival efforts, however, were two spinoffs that covered Wing Commander: a cover story in Sci-Fi Teen (#5, March 1999) and their dedicated Wing Commander Movie Official Magazine. Today we're adding the former to the collection! Sci-Fi Teen was a short-lived spinoff of Starlog aimed at a younger audience that was starting to take an interest in increasingly popular science fiction media like X-Files and Star Trek Voyager. Here's the Wing Commander material:
We have also scanned the individual pages of the centerfold 'pin-up' poster. Perfect for your locker!
More reference saves for the collection! We've played through both Armada campaigns and saved a game at the start of each sector. Want to explore unfamiliar regions of the Wing Commander universe or maybe see the ending cutscenes without playing a full evening of Armada? Here's your ticket! Drop these in your Armada folder (but be sure to make a backup copy of your saves first as these will replace them). Because Armada only has eight save 'slots' per game mode, we've divided this archive into three sets. Pick the one you want and go save the galaxy!
Stay tuned for additional packages! Privateer and Privateer 2 are coming soon. Previous releases:
The promised Wing Commander III saved game reference pack is here! As with our previous releases we've tried to include a saved game after each mission with multiple variants wherever alternate cutscenes are available. It's a great excuse to explode some of the game that you may never have seen before... or a nice quick way to track down a screenshot in a hurry! If you are playing the GOG version, drop these in the "cloud_saves/WC3" folder (but be sure to make a backup copy of your saves first as these will replace them).
One that we know is missing is a version of Hyperion 2 where cutscene N0BARFHS plays with the 'low morale' version. The scene requires that Flash be alive to discuss the Kilrah mission and theoretically has a 'bad' version where he isn't hopeful. As far as we can tell there's no way to have Flash's morale actually be low at this point in the game! Let us know if you've encountered this one and we'll keep experimenting.
Stay tuned for additional packages; we're working on Privateer, Privateer 2 and Armada right now! Previous releases:
Yesterday's shocking Wing Commander II SNES painting news wasn't just of interest to the Wing Commander community. Hardcore fans of Nintendo history were also all over the reveal! John Rairdin of Nintendo World Report even went right to work creating an image that simulates what the game's box likely would've looked like:
This is a case where the artist is the bigger expert to begin with but it looks pretty accurate to us! The real game probably would've had a different tagline but since we have no idea what it would've been reusing the original is a smart choice. Nintendo World Report also published an article on the find as did Go Nintendo. It's great to see coverage from the serious Nintendo community; when the game is someday located, I suspect they will be prime movers! For those unfamiliar with SNES branding and who would like a point of comparison, here are box scans for FCI's other Origin ports from SNES Central:
We're also thinking about the artwork itself! One question I always ask myself about paintings like this is: what material was the artist provided as reference. Michael Winterbauer's Wing Commander SNES painting is based on the PC game's box art while Greg Winters' Secret Missions piece famously referenced the Super Famicom manual's ship artwork (hence the green Salthi). This one is a little harder to determine: the Scimitar and the Star Post are extremely on model while the Kilrathi capital ship and the Dralthi are not. But what reference available for an artist in 1994 would've had artwork of the Star Post and the Dralthi? Our Discord's own DeerGazer came up with a pretty good answer: Mike Harrison's Secrets of the Wing Commander Universe, which features artwork that matches the Scimitar and the base very closely but only has a single side view of the Fralthi. Again, seems pretty likely to us!
Heritage Auctions has posted a preview of a November video game art auction and their slate includes a stunning, almost-never-seen-before piece of Wing Commander art:
Here's how they describe it:
Steve Lang
Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger Unpublished Video Game Original Box Art (Electronic Arts 1994).
Although the publisher ultimately selected a different image for the cover of Wing Commander III, this breathtaking painting offers a rare glimpse into an alternate vision for the game's box art. It depicts a colorful, action-packed outer space battle scene, showcasing the grandeur of the Wing Commander universe. Rendered in acrylics on Crescent all-media board measuring 20" x 17," it is signed and dated by the artist along the bottom border. Debuting on home computers in 1994 and ported to the 3DO in 1995 and the PlayStation in 1996, Wing Commander III is a landmark title, notable for its full-motion video cutscenes starring actors like Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell, and its groundbreaking blend of space combat and cinematic storytelling. This unique piece of art is a stunning tribute to the franchise's legacy.
That description, however, is wrong: this painting is the cover art commissioned for FCI's unreleased Wing Commander II port for the Super Nintendo! Eagle-eyed wingnuts will notice that the piece is dated weeks after Wing Commander III shipped, making it unlikely that this was in competition with Sam Yeates' Wing Commander III painting (additionally, all of the vehicles are from Wing Commander I and the faces do not match the live action characters at all). We've also seen (much lower resolution) clippings from this composition used as a header for Game Pro's review of the game:
The leap from Wing Commander II to III feels enormous, even with the ‘missing link’ that is Strike Commander. It almost feels ludicrous that we went from mute talking heads and short pre-mission cutscenes to full-motion video and a complex storyline where choices outside the cockpit can affect both story events and relationships with other characters. On release, the game felt like an incredible jump in gaming technology. Origin and EA pulled out all the stops with the box contents too, indicating their confidence that this was as momentous a game as the original Wing Commander: Ship blueprints, a manual themed as an in-flight magazine, and an enormous poster were all included. While Wing Commander III is often discussed in terms of its FMVs, it is still a space combat simulator first and foremost, and in this aspect it does not disappoint.
In February 1999, FOX put out a set of Wing Commander postcards to promote the upcoming film. Each features one of the movie's main characters with some pretty flashy graphics and a strange focus on retina scans. These were distributed at conventions, theater lobbies and elsewhere alongside a sweatshirt featuring the nose art and the movie logo down the arm. Origin even had a digital version at the now-defunct wingcommander.com which you could send as an ecard! So be sure and send someone you love a big honking Wing Commander picture today. We've scanned three of the original cards in high resolution and have made them available below. You can also access a 1200 dpi version of the scans here.
The flavor text for Blair and Maniac is taken right from the Confederation Handbook... but it's not at all clear what Angel's facts and figures refer to!
- FLIGHT RECORD -
SQUADRONS LED - / 175 [113]
SHIPS DOWN - / 423
PILOTS LOST - / 56 [T5-34]
Progress on the strike commander remake based on fabien sanglard's work (some gameplay footage, conversation, flight simulation, transition, source code available at https://github.com/remileonard/libRealSpace.Thanks to Vidmaster for the tip!
Greetings all. I just wanted to post an update about what's happening with this amazing project. I am about to head out to Salt Lake City next week to record the choir parts for the music. I will then have everything recorded and ready for mixing.However, a wonderful opportunity has presented itself. Bruce Botnick, who was film composer Jerry Goldsmith's recording and mixing engineer (Alien, Star Trek; Motion Picture, etc), has VOLUNTEERED to mix the entire project! I've worked with Bruce before on some projects when I lived in LA and he is indeed amazing. However I was stunned when I asked how much he might charge for mixing the Wing Commander tracks he smiled and just said, "don't worry about it, I just want to make beautiful music with you". Needless to say I was stunned and thrilled at the same time.
The only possible down side is our schedules don't coincide until early January. I'd wanted to get all this out to you before the holidays, but I don't think we can pass on this opportunity. Plus he said he would not only have stereo mixes for us but would throw in Dolby Atmos versions of the music for free for anyone who would have the capability of listening back in that format.
So, I've decided to take Bruce up on his offer. I think overall the benefits outweigh any delay in the project's culmination.
Again, thanks to all of you for your wonderful support. Looking forward to sharing the beautiful sounds when all is said and done.
Musically yours,
George Like
After having so much fun looking for missiles in the Wing Commander movie, I decided to spend an evening unraveling another blind spot in my understanding: the decoys, drones, buoys and probes of Wing Commander Prophecy! One (or two… or more?) parts of the game's plot have never been particularly clear for me. The game opens with a scene in which a planetological research ship is cracking asteroids with a flight of drones collecting samples for study. As the Devereaux is destroyed, we follow a beacon which rockets off into the distance. Later in the game, Casey must hunt down a Nephilim buoy which is sending a jamming signall. Soon after, Finley is studying a "Confed signal buoy" that she claims he recovered. How do these all go together, if at all? We have extensive documentation of the making of the game so I thought it would be fun to try and sort out all these questions… and in the process, put together an informal guide to the 'little guys' of Wing Commander Prophecy! We'll be covering all the drones, FMV-only spacecraft and cut ships below based on their presence in the game's various art scheduling docs!
Terran and Kilrathi Ships
TOBY Drones Wing Commander Prophecy begins with the TCS Devereaux launching a TOBY drone (named in the manual) flown by someone named Priest aka "Drop Three". He speaks with "Drop One" (Murdoch) and "Drop Two" about their sample gathering mission before his drone is damaged by a shockwave generated by the arriving wormhole and ultimately destroyed when it impacts with the newly arrived Kraken. Priest launches from slot two on the Devereaux, confusing the numbering somewhat and while the other two characters are assumed to be flying similar drones they aren't seen (and of course a strong argument could be made that they aren't really drones since they're clearly piloted). The drones are so striking and were so prevalent in Prophecy's marketing that they feel very important to the player even though they're only seen the once.
At first glance, it always seemed that the TOBY drones were self-explanatory: little parasite spacecraft with remote manipulator arms for the researchers to gather mineral samples for study back aboard their mothership. It may surprise you to know that this was not what the ships were designed for! The original plan for the introduction was to show a pair of scientists inside a little ship which would've been filmed in live action. "Packed with instrumentation; there is barely enough room for its two person (human) crew, MONROE (female, 38, sharp, knowledgeable) and O'NEIL (48, balding, and a longtime colleague.) Sunlight pours through the craft's forward observation dome; illuminating their faces." There was ultimately no budget for the introduction as pitched and it was decided to tell roughly the same story only using in-house CG. With a short deadline to come up with something spectacular, the team repurpose two extant ship designs for totally new jobs.
What are we looking at in the final product? The crab-like space pod was actually designed for a gameplay mechanic that was dropped from the game: capital ship repair. As designed, fleets of drones would be able to skitter around capital ships during defense and attack missions reducing the overall damage. So when the Midway was under siege, repair drones would automatically subtract damage as long as they continued to function… and during capital ship attack missions, you would need to eliminate enemy drones before they could rebuild shield generators, engines, launchers and so on. The feature was dropped from the game fairly late and as a result, a mesh of the original repair drone is still present in the game's files (as is its Nephilim equivalent, see below). The incomplete damage design resulted in one of the game's biggest bugs: the Midway can sustain damage that isn't automatically reset during missions leading to a crash if you try to take off after the ship's launchers have been previously hit. After the capital ship repair feature was cut and the budget for a live action introduction wasn't available, the design became the TOBY drone we're all familiar with!
This just leaves one further question: who is Toby, anyway? Eagle-eyed Wing Commander experts may remember that "TOBI" also appeared in Wing Commander III, the name of the Victory's computer interface and the AI pilot generated by the simulator. What are these references talking about? The original Toby, it turns out, was a dog which belonged to Wing Commander III programmer Alan Perez. Toby would come to work during the development of the game and was beloved by the team… until company policy changed and banned dogs from the office. It's funny how such an ordinary bit of work drama could have such an unexpected impact on the history of the 27th Century!
Distress Beacon In the scene above, the TCS Devereaux launches a distress beacon just before she is destroyed by a Kraken. The beacon launch is very clearly defined and it features pretty detailed shots of both the rocket itself and its launch tube on the research ship. In short, it's clearly supposed to matter! But… does it? Yes: the beacon is intended to be the device which Spyder reports capturing at the end of G'mar G3. During the mission, he contacts Finley to report: "Lieutenant Commander, it's some kind of distress beacon. My computer says it's from a Confed ship, but it's certainly not a newer model. I'm bringing it home." Then, at the end, Anderson repeats this news: "Here's some news, Lieutenant: Delta Wing's retrieved an outlying distress beacon. It's Confed in origin, but not one of the newer models. Even so, it might help us find out a bit more about what we're up against here. And... you're cleared to land." The intended tell was the reference to it being an older model of beacon. It's opaque, though, because it's difficult to immediately connect that back to a ship briefly seen in the introduction.
We went back to earlier game design documents to determine the original plan. In the earliest plans for the game, the player would have picked up the distress beacon themselves in a cut mission after the shipkiller assault. The interaction was moved back to G3 and now happens in the background in the final game. The series description confirms that it is the same distress beacon seen at the start of the game ("The recovery of the distress beacon launched by the doomed Monroe and O'Neil in the Prologue adds further to our heroes' knowledge.") and then the connection would've been explained much more clearly in the next briefing where the game would present to Casey the footage of the intro. The idea here is that the Nephilim's arrival at Kilrah was supposed to be a mystery to the characters themselves and this is where it would've been "revealed". In the final game, this is replaced with a scene where Finley explains she gained this information from the ship killer's database. So the beacon ends up being a bit of an appendix even though the mission designers kept it in there. (The beacon would've also marked an improvement in intel on the aliens, unlocking VDU information and translations of their language. In the finished game this happens much earlier.)
Copernicus It's not quite a 'little guy' but we thought we'd include the 'FMV only' ships in this article. The doomed TCS Devereaux is a Copernicus-class planetological (not a word) research ship. It's destroyed in the introduction and we never really think about it again! Like the drones, the fact that the Devereaux featured prominently in the marketing also felt at odds with its limited role in the story. Another odd cut content element has been found in the portfolio of David Russ: a seeming gameflow menu screen that appears to show the flight deck of the Devereaux complete with a Condor and a TOBY drone ready to launch. It's not known what this was for but it was potentially connected to the game's cut multiplayer scenarios.
Like the TOBY drones, an in-engine version remains in the game's files (though it is broken). And like the TOBY drones, the Copernicus-class originally had a completely different purpose: it was supposed to be a Confederation D-5 Nautilus-class destroyer! In earlier iterations of the game's design, the Midway was supported by a fleet of capital ships that included destroyers, cruisers and a standard fleet carrier. All of these ships had been concepted when the story was changed to cut the Midway off from the rest of the Confederation (though the carrier, now named the TCS Eisen, does appear off screen in act three).
Jump Buoy The standard Confederation jump buoy has gotten an upgrade since Wing Commander IV! The new design looks more like a tiny space station or even a mine.
SAR-23 Condor Shuttle (cut) We see the red (Search & Rescue) and yellow (Refueling) Condors in the finished game but the art list also specifies that the team create a third all purpose shuttle version. There is a Condor shuttle mesh in the game but it is broken and does not display. But the cinematic model was built and appeared in some marketing (though the final coloring may have been more distinct).
CA-31 Mercury Heavy Cruiser (cut) As mentioned above, Wing Commander Prophecy was originally intended to have a fleet of Confederation support ships. The destroyer became the Copernicus planetological research ship and the cruiser, even less complete, was dropped entirely… until Secret Ops where it had a star turn as the Hades-class TCS Cerberus! An incomplete and non-functional version of the mesh is present in the game files.
CV-8 Poseidon Carrier (cut) Is this the TCS Eisen? Maybe. The Poseidon-class carrier was to be the Confederation's standard carrier and, yes, would've filled the role of the Eisen in the initial design of the game. The Poseidon is still present in the game files labeled internally as 'cruiser'.
Cargo Containers (cut) Is it really a 1990s space sim without big, beautiful and boxy cargo containers? Wing Commander Prophecy was originally intended to have a set of three different Confederation cargo containers which would've been used primarily in multiplayer scenarios. Art direction indicates that the three variants, Red Cross, Ammo and Generic, should each have a distinctive identifying logo so that players can identify them by sight during battles. The variants were apparently not completed but a container remains hidden in the game's files.
Kilrathi Mining Facility (cut) Early art lists call for a Kilrathi Mining Facility which was intended as a setpiece in the game's first act. It was one of the first assets cut and no concept artwork is known to have been prepared.
Nephilim Ships
Decoy Emitter Buoy Types 1 & 2 T'lan Meth E1 "Treasure Hunt" asks the player to identify a jamming source from a collection of eighteen Nephiilm buoys, which include seventeen decoy emitter buoys set up by the Nephilim to hide the jamming device you are seeking. Ten of these are of a wholly alien design, six with a flat top and a longer tendril and four with a more rounded top.
Modified Kilrathi Buoy Finally, the asteroid field of buoys in T'lan Meth E1 includes eight of a third, more distinct object which features a central body with distinctly alien tendrils attached. If you look closely at the main structure of these buoys you will see they feature the Kilrathi Empire's insignia. Seven of these are additional decoy emitter buoys while one of these can be scanned and found to contain the mission-winning jamming device. After the mission, you speak to Finley in the briefing room where she is studying a silver metal tube. She says: "Recognize this? It's the transmission assembly from that Confed signal buoy you guys brought back. Ah! No touch!" Adding confusion, there's still the unresolved beacon from the start of the game. It is not related! The intent is that the object Finley is working on is the "signal buoy" which you have recovered. What's confusing (and in error) is the origin of the probe. The very earliest game designs call for a "Confed Spy Eye (Alien Mods)" to be created for the mission and this description is what the FMV script was based on. Later, however, the design was changed to Kilrathi and a line in a briefing from Rachel was added explaining that "best we can tell the source is a Kilrathi signal buoy that's been rigged with a scrambler." Sadly, this line was also dropped and the change was applied only to the art list (from which the team's artists worked) and never applied to the prop description for Finley's scene. So when Finley refers to a "Confed signal buoy" you aren't really sure what she means since you've only seen a distinctly alien one (that has a Kilrathi portion if you look very closely). What's more, you've only heard it referred to as a "signal buoy" if Stiletto wins the mission instead of you!
Confed Spy Eye (Alien Mods) (cut) Early art lists call for the team to develop a Confederation probe for T'lan Meth E1. This was incorrectly replaced with a Kilrathi version in a snafu discussed above. The game's script does continue to refer to the Midway's network of "spy eyes" although they are never seen and no art is known to have been developed.
Repair Ship See the entry above on TOBY drones for the history of the repair ship mechanic. The Nephilim repair ship survives in the game's files and it's a particularly cool design! While it doesn't show up in fight it DOES appear in the game… a little bit too far away to actually see! Seven of them appear in a cutscene that plays after T'lan Meth E4 showing the wormhole gate under construction. The script reads: "MEANWHILE at Kilrah: Alien ships put towers and structure in place around wormhole." Unfortunately, we never get a clear look at the ships themselves: they're just points of light in the distance buzzing around the wormhole gate structures.
Probe (cut) Here's one that doesn't appear in the finished game: a small, octopus-like Nephilim probe. The probe was created for the original design of G'wriss C1 and then T'lan Meth F6 but the unique mechanic it required was ultimately dropped from the game. The original version of the missions designs reads:
(C1) There will be an alien 'spy eye' probe sitting just outside of the Midway NAV point that the player can destroy if he notices it. If the probe is destroyed, the aliens assault on the Midway wll be less effective, and they will be more likely to break formation and run. (F6a) There is a small probe, not unlike the one in Series C, hovering near the Midway which will provide considerable annoyance to the player until he destroys it. He will have a fairly generous time limit in which to kill this probe, and if he does so, will dramatically change the aliens' attack strategy against the Midway. It should be something the player will remember from Series C, and can be used again later, if necessary. Launch: Near the Midway, there is a small probe which allows aliens to track specific damage to the Midway; with this thing alive, the Alien Command back at the starbase can put specific fighters onto specific areas of the Midway. The player has a very limited time to do this (20 seconds?), and it will be difficult and annoying. If he cannot do it, he is told to go on with the mission anyway. If he lingers, the aliens are able to form more formidable formations at Nav 1. If he destroys it, he goes to Nav 1 and the aliens begin attacking the Midway via a direct frontal assault (much more difficult for them). If he cannot destroy it and goes on, he may be able to take out a good number of aliens, but when they finally make it to the Midway they attack vulnerable areas first, making the mission considerably more difficult. This probe will not figure into the success/failure of the mission proper. Launch: A small probe which whips around quickly and is difficult to kill. It will fly according to a pattern, however, and sharp pilots will be able to see pattern and destroy it.
The followup mission that plays if you chose to attack the Kilrathi was intended to feature three probes instead of one! How close was the probe to appearing in the game? Not only is the model still stored in Prophecy's files but the finished mission still references it! Anderson begins the battle with a comm message: "There's an alien probe in the area. We must assume that it could be used to direct an enemy attack against the Midway. Seek and destroy same."
Alien Mines (cut) Larger scale alien mines were originally intended for Series E where they would have protected a jump point from Confederation capital ships. The mission was changed early (and most of the capital ships dropped) which rendered the mines unnecessary. While they do not appear in the game's files, concept artwork was created.
Floating Turret (cut) In the tradition of Wing Commander IV's turret mines, these alien space emplacements would've created additional challenges during capship strikes. They would've likely had some kind of animated turret or turrets. Their mesh survives in the game's files.
Containers (cut) Like the Confederation containers mentioned above, the Nephilim were originally intended to have alien variants for health, ammo and generic purposes. They would've appeared as additional targets in various capship strike missions. No art is known to exist.
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