I just watched the film today in a cinema in Augsburg and I think it's basically a good movie but why the hell did they change so much? The ships look completeley different and I'm sure I don't have to say anything about those strange Kilrathi. I think that's the reason why so many fans of the games don't like the film.However, I think the movie is a good addition to the WC universe, if you just try to accept those changes. It sure isn't a blockbuster but it was nice to see a Wing Commander film on the big movie screen and not only on my small monitor.
Yesterday I went to the movie premiere in Oldenburg. There was just one theatre to show it (in it's smallest showroom). There were at most 10 or 12 people present (definitely no WC fans beside of me). No trailers, no advertising, no service and the girl that checked the tickets was ugly as hell.We sure try our best to induct new recruits though, don't we? :)The movie itself was great. The dialogue was much better than in the original and the synchronization was excellent. The only thing that bothered me were the Kilrathi voices (by the way, they were pronounced "Kilrati" with a German `R`). They sounded like growling Norwegian blackmetallers. But altogether it was a great space-war-movie which can compete with other current science fiction.
I was there with 2 friends who hadn't known much about Wing Commander before. They both liked it, and none of them had problems understanding the plot. In spite of it, I don't think that they'll become fans.
Super the Macintosh Wing Commander
(To the tune of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer)
You know Heart of the TigerMulti Player
and The Price of Freedom
Prophecy and Academy
and Privateer and Armada
But do you recall
The most famous Wing Commander of all?
Super the Macintosh Wing Commander
Had a very full speech pack,
and if you ever heard it,
You might even call it great.
All of the other Wing Commanders
Used to laugh and steal its graphics
They never let poor Super
Play on any normal platforms.
Then one foggy release deadline
Roberts came to say,
"Super with your speech so full
Won't you make the Armada intro?"
Then all the Wing Commanders loved it
And they shouted out with glee
Super the Macintosh Wing Commander
You'll go down in history!
Dashing through spaceWing Commander The Movie
In a one-manned light fighter
Through asteroid fields we go
Dogfighting all the way.
Taunts from furballs ring
Making Spirit bright
What fun it is to play a Wing
Commander game tonight.
Multiplayer, Multiplayer,
Why can't we have you?
Oh what fun it would be to play
This great game that way.
Wing Commander the MovieAway is the Manager
Was a jolly happy film
With Freddie Prinze and Matt Lillard
and no S on Tiger's Claw.
Wing Commander the Movie
Was an awful film 'they' say
Reviews were crap
But the true fans clap
When they see that intro scene.
There must have been some confusion
On that old movie set
For when they filmed a traitor plot
It had to be cut out.
Wing Commander the Movie
Was as good as it could be
And the true fans say
It was better most ways
Then Star Wars TPM.
Away is the manager, who cancelled Wing 6,Hull the Decks
The little Lord Sivar will have his revenge.
The stars in the sky look down where he lay,
The little Lord Sivar will taste blood today.The Strakha are cloaking, the target awaits.
But little Lord Khasra no sight does he make.
I love thee, Lord Khasra, come down from the sky
And fire your missiles so as he might deep-fry.Be near me, Lord Melek, I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever, and make them all pay
Bless all the dear furballs in thy tender care,
And take them to Pasqual, to live with thee there.
Hull the decks with balls of neutron,
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
'Tis the season to fire tachyon,
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Don we now our Rapier II's
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Against a Salthi we can't lose
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-laSee the blazing hull before us.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Strike with torps and join the chorus.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Follow me in merry measure.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
While I target shield generators.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-laFast away the old ship passes.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Hail the kill ye lads and lasses
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Scratch one flat-top all together
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
heedless of the wind and weather.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
On the first day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. rumors of Privateer three..
On the second day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the third day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the fourth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the fifth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the sixth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the seventh day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the eighth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the nineth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. a brand new poll, eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the tenth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. ten thousand hits, a brand new poll, eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the eleventh day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. the Wing Commander card game, ten thousand hits, a brand new poll, eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. Thrakhath's severed head, the Wing Commander card game, ten thousand hits, a brand new poll, eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
Here's a short overview of my feelings about those so-called WC reviews.And this is from Bugscratch..."Wing Commander is based on a space combat game that's 90 per cent action and ten per cent story and characters"
10% Story and Characters? What Wing Commander did you play? WC Armada or what?
"Pilgrims are a dying race of humans that evolved to have incredible space-flying skills, but lost their 'humanity' in the process. How they managed to evolve from 20th century humans and then go extinct all in just over 600 years is never quite explained, but Darwin would have been proud"
It is explained... they got killed in the Pilgrim War.
"Maverick and Maniac fight to save the world for humans by ignoring just about every order they're given. They're so lovably independent-minded; it's amazing that any of these folks lived beyond their initial training."
That's only Maniac... and he does that since WC 1... so why didn't you recognize before ha? And Blair... he never ignored any orders... tell me where he did.
"The heart of Wing Commander isn't the story or the characters."
Again... are you crazy? We see a 8 million dollar FMV game with WC4... but the story isn't important?
"...the film degenerates into a series of space battles, ...."
Hey... what film did you watch? All WC Fans did complain about too few spacecombat scenes....and you say... its a series of them? Wow...I didn't see 'em... must have been in another WC Movie
"....there is some mistrust of these pilgrims for reasons that aren't explained."
Hey helloooo...what movie did you watch...didn't you see that chat of Blair and Paladin...or the mentioning of the Pilgrim war ha?
"Also, I didn't like the relationship between Angel and Blair. This is actually a storyline that happened in the original game, but there the pair were simply fellow pilots, and not in a superior/subordinate position. I don't buy a pilot falling for his C.O., especially in the middle of a war."
So the CAG Colonel Devereaux in Wc2 wasnt Captain Blairs superior officer or what...in THAT game we FIRST and MOST see that relationship....HEY WHAT GAME DID YOU PLAY?????
"The Tiger's Claw looks impressive from space, but inside it's cramped, with tight bulkheads and pipes snaking all along the walls, like the inside of a submarine."
That Tigers Claw was an old ship...like mentioned in WC1...hell.....do you know what WC is at all???
"...the Kilrathi look terrible. They're supposed to be lion-like, and they end up looking like rubber suits."
Ok...but how to make good Kilrathi without good budged? Ha?
"They have shamelessly stolen from everybody. The special effects and the fighter aircraft are pure Star Wars,....."
Hahaha... and other people said the air(?)craft looked like old tin cans...but If you think their Star Wars like and even the Special Effects...wow...thanks for the compliment..."
"...the music is practically note for note The Empire Strikes Back....."
Ha?...I watched that movie...and I listened to WC Soundtrack....where is that note.....the high C or the low E?
"the dialogue is Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo......"
ah..ok..well if you mean.....
" the characters are a cross between Ferris Bueller and Bill and Ted, and a climactic scene where Lieutenant Chris Blair (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is saved by the club-headed bigot who is his nemesis, is lifted straight out of Alien."
Guy...the characters are out of a 10 year old game, so...ah...forget it...."
"make the head fighter pilot gorgeous Angel (Saffron Burrows) who volunteers to die, but is saved at the end by a method so improbable they don't even bother to explain how it could possibly have happened, and who lives to plant a passionate kiss upon the lips of our Hero Freddie Prinze Jr. - amazing, since she appeared to be stone dead only seconds before - I know! Sleeping Beauty - and you have the makings of a hit."
Yeah...but if Arnold Schwarzenegger holds himself at position at the outside hull of a aircraft in "Eraser" thats realistic ha?
"But if you want non-stop Special Effects; inter-racial suggested sex (or was it interspecies?); lots and lots of bam bam boom boom whish whoosh; bad guys who aren't really bad at heart; good guys who "have the gift," that is the Pilgrim gift; and a space ship filled with gorgeous female fighter pilots who wear skimpy, sexy nightgowns to sleep even as their world teeters on Kilrathi destruction - WingCommander is the place you want to be."
Do I have anything to say about that?
""Wing Commander" is such a mind-numbing, awful, embarrassing, idiotic, corny, ludicrous, laughable, superficial, just plain bad, movie that I almost couldn't believe my own eyes or ears most of the time. How could 20th-Century Fox, the movie's studio, have the nerve to even release this...this...I can't even think of a word awful enough to criticize it with. "
Again...please go...dont no awful enough to send you
"The biggest downfall of the movie, however, was that it sucks. No, I mean it sucks, hard. Yes, it sucks, if I would have spent my $5 on the corner of Main street I don't think I could have gotten more suckage out of someone, er, thing. Oh damn, only 487 words so far, so I guess I'll go on about why this movie sucked. Hey! It'll be just like a high school essay. "
Anything else you can say`?
"Quite frankly, I honestly think that the team in charge of all of the animation got 3D Studio Max and bought "How to Make a Movie on your Roommate's Computer: For Dummies." Not only is the computer animation downright raunchy, but the blue screen and other special effects suck as well. "
Ah yeah...go and make it better...I wanna see
"Wing Commander, well, hahahahaha! Hehehe, oh boy, hahahahaha. Bwahahahahaha; story& Wing Commander, hahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha! "
And THAT you tell a critic yeah? Ok just wanted to know...The next please....
"I don't even think they filmed it in the right order. For instance, in one scene we see Maniac having sex with his co-pilot, but a few scenes later we see them meet in a bar, which appears to be for the first time."
Ah yeah...where was that? She DIED after that scene man...."
"Who knows, maybe it's better for all of us if Hollywood sticks to making movies and not signing licenses to game companies, and if developers stick to making games and not signing licenses to Hollywood. And after all of this, I have only one question on my mind - when will they learn?"
There it is...the REAL reason...you just dont watch the movie...you say...aha that movie is based on a game....it must suck....I tell you something.....THAT SUCKS!!
Finally I have to say only one thing: "WC rocks"
Thank you
Here's a report from the opening day of WING COMMANDER in Germany. I went to see it together with two friends at the LUXOR theatre in Karlsruhe (That's the cinema where we did also see the WC trailer that I reported to you a few weeks ago). We went to the 8.30 PM showing and we were really dissapointed that there were just 14 people (including us) in the evening showing on the opening day !!! Finally, after hearing some incredibly cheesy christmas songs the film started. We cheered a lot and all of us think that Wing Commander is actually an incredibly underrated film. We think that considering the low budget of the film Chris Roberts has actually acchieved a lot. Wing Commander has received almost exclusively bad critics in Germany, and it was even used as an example for about the worst possible movie by the magazine "Moviestar": It wrote in the review of "The 13th Floor": "Rusnak filmed a [...] hardly exciting Science Fiction Thriller, that drifts into chaos towards the end, but which is sure more worthwile than celluloid trash like WING COMMANDER". I think that it's very sad that a good film like Wing Commander gets that little attention while everyone hypes Star Wars 1 or other films that would have never been that successful without their ancestors.
Origin is searching for a talented and experienced 3D Client Programmer to join us in creating our next original persistent world game.You will be primarily responsible for coding and implementing new game content as well as extending our current code base. You will work with a team to plan and implement new features and systems, as well as evaluate current systems for optimization and bug fixes.
Responsibilities include design, implementation, tool creation, and maintenance of the real time 3D graphics system. This position also involves keeping current with the latest 3D technology, interfacing with internal and external entities, with possible travel to conferences and shows.
REQUIREMENTS:
· Proficient in C++ / Object Oriented Design
· Solid understanding of / minimum 3 years actual experience developing real-time simulations on the Windows platform
· Strong 3D and mathematical background
· Actual experience using DirectX (primarily Direct3D) or OpenGL graphics APIs
· Ability to quickly adapt existing technology and systems to meet new needs
· Practical experience debugging and optimizing graphics code for 3D graphics
· Thorough problem solver; persistent in identifying sources of problems and fixing those problems without causing additional instability in an existing code project
· Understanding of the importance of / disciplined in using versioning control software
· Team player, able to manage and respond to fast-paced input and requests from multiple levels of team and company management
· Highly documentation-orientedHIGHLY PREFERRED:
· Shipped at least one professional title within the last 18 months
· Experience developing skeletal-based character systems
· Experience developing efficient scene/world management systems
· Experience developing efficient terrain systemsPREFERRED:
· Understanding of / experience with TCP/IP programming with Windows sockets
· General Windows SDK/MFC programming for building tools for internal use
· Design and implementation of client user interface
· Experience with third-party memory management tools
· Experience in the electronic gaming industry, preferably on the PC sideLocated in the scenic hills of Northwest Austin, we offer a unique, casual work environment along with competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package.
For immediate consideration, please send resume to:
Origin Systems
Attn: Anthony L. Sommers, Lead Client Programmer
5918 West Courtyard Drive
Austin, TX 78730
Or send E-Mail to asommers@origin.ea.comNo phone calls, please. Please indicate the job title for which you are applying. We're an equal opportunity employer. All contents ©1998 Electronic Arts, Inc. All rights reserved
At the beginning of the year I got a glimpse of Starlancer. Now I've gotten to play the early Beta - and it didn't look all that bad.The Roberts Brothers
Most of you who think of the words 'Space Sim' immediately think of games like X-Wing, Freespace and, of course, the Wing Commander series. With the Wing Commander games we had a lot of fun for a long time. Chris Roberts, the creative mind behind the Wing Commander series, decided to leave ORIGIN to start his own company and with his brother Erin formed Digital Anvil. They have been working on two titles for a while, Starlancer and Freelancer - and guess what kind of games these will be. That's right, space sims! We will have to wait a while on Freelancer, but Starlancer will hit stores in Spring,2000.Voluntary
Starlancer is set in the 21st century, and space technology is finally advanced enough that the superpowers are working hard at the colonization of the solar system. As you can expect, this brings along the usual problems - it even goes so far that a 3rd World War breaks out, the old rivals once again against each other. The west (USA, UK, France) versus the East (China, Japan, Russia). Here's the important difference compared to other space sims - in Starlancer you don't have to fight alien species or such - rather, you fire your lasers at normal human beings. In the game you play a volunteer who fights alongside other voluntary soldiers in service of the Allies. They are not taken very seriously by the professional pilots. No wonder seeing that you have to work with old junk ships and weaponry. After a few succesful missions you can really show your teeth and will slowly earn respect, better ships and better weapons.Space-Movie
Starlancer might make you think about Wing Commander, but luckily there are differences. You have to make certain main targets, but besides that there are lots and lots of sub targets which you CAN, but do not have to, attack. Many things can happen during a mission. Sometimes the computer takes over the camera movement - this makes you feel as if you've landed inside an action packed space movie. The graphics are great! With small monitor images of your wingman, a lock on camera of your missiles (you can see what you hit), beautiful space flights, huge space stations, neutrals and planets where lots of things can happen, you don't have to blast every ship in sight. The game will run on a Direct3D engine so that Starlancer will support almost every 3D card. The game will have about 30 hard core single player missions and there are at least 100 ships in the game. Lets hope that's enough, because even though it looks super, this game offers little new. But maybe the fans don't need that and maybe this is just what they are waiting for! Wing Commander fans MUST keep an eye on this title!
It's been almost 2 months since the last update so let me fill you in on what has been happening. First of all we thought we could be finished very soon and then exams occured, my new PC wouldn't upload anything and things weren't looking good for Unknown Enemy. Recently HCl left the Wing Commander editing scene and that left us with very few programmers (I still don't know about the status of Dude ;). Anyway I had quite a few e-mails (over 25) regarding what was happening with Unknown Enemy and I wasn't quite sure what to say, to be honest I have had other things on my mind recently but don't worry since HCl's disappearance rather than the crew giving up it appears that each and everyone of us is more determined to prove that Wing Commander is not dead than ever. Thomas Bruckner sent a message in today (yes he's back as of now it seems) that we should aim for a 1999 release, how realistic this is is anyones guess but keep your fingers crossed and maybe in the last few hours of this millenium while everyone else is partying I'll be uploading episode one. It's good to be back!
Worst Picture
$27 million, low-budget special effects, and two leading men who's biggest roles have been the murderer in Scream and the full-eyed hero of She's All That. Built on one set with special effects by a studio that worked on PCs, everybody expected this movie to underperform, and it did, big time. There's a generic good humans vs. evil cats storyline and when "It's too big!" is the most exciting line of the entire movie, you know it's got problems.Worst Special Effects
Wing Commander racks up another big turkey in the special effects department. Although the computer-generated effects are adequate enough to give The Last Starfighter a run for its money, it's the Kilrathi that take the prize. After a tense boarding party landing, these vicious, catlike aliens turn out to be giant foam rubber puppets that wouldn't look out of place at Disneyland. Yeesh.
Wing Commander veteran William Forstchen has worked on two upcoming non-fiction books...
It Seemed Like Good Idea : A Compendium of Great Historical Fiascoes. February 2000. Read about it here.
Hot Shots: An Oral History of Combat Pilots of the Korean War. April 2000. Read about it here.
If you're like me, and have seen , and been fascinated by small, detailed, museum quality figures and have a love of Wing Commander or any other PC games, then you're a natural fit for giving figure building a shot. Although a few popular game makers have been licensing figures from their products, most still aren't, and I'll bet that one or more of your favorites will provide you with a wealth of untapped subjects for the future. But, if you really are like me, and are not an artist by education or profession, you're going to have to take the ol' crawl - walk - run route. Which leads me to a couple of thing that you'll have to get for yourself before you ever step into the art or craft store to purchase your starter supplies.He's sent two more sample pieces of work: "Mekel, a member of an elite team of mercenaries with genetically enhanced mental powers (that I created for a story I've never finished), is based on a family friend named Michael, who's a psychology professor. Kohr, an alien merchant, is just a "sketch" that I made off of the top of my head, without a preliminary drawing, while I was being very bored watching t.v.."Figure building, like any other type of an art form, does take a smidgen of talent, but I'm finding that it really takes a lot more guts.....to try something that seems daunting at first glance. You cannot allow yourself, much like anything else in life, to say, "That's too tough for me", or, "I can't do that". If you do, you've failed before you can even get started, and your results will be predictably below what your talent could have ultimately achieved. My first efforts were really cruddy, as some of you may remember (Loaf), but I learn, or try to incorporate, something new every time I pick up the tools or brushes. But beware, unless you're a professional sculptor (and why would you be reading this), this is for fun and your own pleasure. Don't beat yourself up if your first several tries aren't scale models for Venetian statues. Work at your own pace, and to satisfy your own goals. Admire, observe, and learn from the pros, but while we're building our own skills, we should measure ourselves by our own yard stick.
Start using your eyes. No I don't mean trying to develop x-ray vision to see through folks' clothing. I means being very observant of the common things around you. Even the things that you think that you know. How many times have you played that game, or watched that television show, and still you cannot describe what the lead characters' costume or facial features look like. You'll need to use those observational skills for simple things like, learning and following the rules for human anatomy so you can see when something's not quite right (and knowing when to break them on purpose), choosing or matching colors, learning how fabrics drapes and fold, skin tones and musculature (for you barbarian-type RPGers), and for a whole host of other applications.
I'd also suggest that at some point, IMO preferably earlier on, you'll want to invest in some reference books. I don't just throw this out there, and you shouldn't take this lightly. If any of you know any professional writers, artists, or even scientists/professors, you've seen the shelves and stacks of books, charts, maps, pictures, etc., that they keep in their work areas, and for good reason. they use them! I can't tell you how many times I've had to go look up an approach to a particular technique, or have a look at a subject's uniform, or to see how a particular muscle group is formed, or just to get an idea. I've even kept some pages from newspaper circulars to have reference on hair and women's makeup. But here are a couple of references books that I've used for drawing, model building, and sculpting, that will start you off:
1) Building and Painting Scale Figures by Sheperd Paine. Published by Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, Wisconsin, 53187. ISBN 0 - 89024 - 069 - 8. A great book where "Shep", one of the foremost modellers in the world, and the first elected Grand Master of the Miniature Figure Collectors of America, will provide you with soup to nuts information on how-to. He goes through all of the different, popular mediums, and will provide you with a lot more information than I can provide here. IMO, your best first stop. (Or is that "Last Best Hope.....").
2) How To Build Dioramas, also by Sheperd Paine. ISBN 0 - 89024 - 551 - 7. Same publisher, Kalmbach Books, which seems to specialize in hobby books and periodicals. Another great book which was my first exposure to Paines' work. He does touch on figure building and conversions (cutting up existing plastic figures and recombining them with all sort of parts/stuff to make - your - own - Sunday kinda thing). But this one teaches you a lot about placing your figures on "dioramas"; bases and scenes which tell a story with your hard won and crafted figures. IMO, another great source.
3) The Art Of The Diorama by Ray Anderson. Also Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0 - 89024 - 092 - 2. Anderson was an automotive and aerospace industry executive until he gave that up to work full time on his historical dioramas. He has an interesting technique using existing "academy" nude figures as a base for conversion by adding facial tissue and dissolved styrene plastic. While I admittedly haven't used this technique much, it has it's applications, and some of you reading this might prefer this to Sculpey or epoxy putty for sculpting figures. He adds a lot of information and techniques on figures that are quite different from Paine's, and his results are distinctive and striking.
4) Drawing The Head & Figure by Jack Hamm. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York. ISBN 0 - 448 - 1587 - 0 for the trade edition. This is an art student staple for many years, as you'll see by Hamm's style. Very 1950 -ish. But this guy knows his stuff, and the clothing folds, shading, facial and body part information, makes me pull this one off the shelf regularly. Invaluable. You've got to have this type of book as well as an anatomy text book. There's a crapload of anatomy books out there, and you can occasionally find them at textbook liquidators, college bookstores (look for the used text section). You can even ask your doctor if he's got an old text in his basement that he doesn't need anymore (how I got mine). This is also a must if you plan to build scantily clad lasses for your pals to drool over, or build your run - of - the - mill, alpha male barbarian!
Make sure that you give your self plenty of time to think about your project before you even start. You can keep a piece of paper and a pencil nearby to jot down your ideas, or to make notes about your observations, and if you can, try to track down some of these books and give them a quick perusal (especially #1). Hopefully that'll suffice to really get your juices flowing to dig in and get started. Good luck.
Next time: We'll look at some basic tools, materials, and a place to work.
The runner's up (in order) receive the Runner Up image... of course, you don't actually have to display the image -- it's a status thing. The race was very, very close -- especially between the top two.
How will Player Killing be controlled?They also put up a letter from the game's producer, Starr Long. You may recognize him from various past Wing Commander games...
Player killing will be limited through the use of Player vs. Player zones. This will give players a chance to develop their characters and adventure without risk, and yet still give the adrenaline rush of player-vs-player combat once they have determined they are ready to face higher risks for greater rewards.So there won't be a Player-Killing switch?
No, there will not be a 'PK switch', in the manner that other massively multiplayer games have adopted.Will UO2 feature permanent death?
No. UO2 will not feature permanent death, as in "When you die, your character is destroyed and you must start anew". Among other issues, such permanent punishments are not well suited to an Internet game - what if your ISP were to go down while you're in the middle of the dragon's den?
BB: I am a big fan of Privateer and both, Privateer and X - Beyond the Frontier seem to have a similar concept/idea in play. Did Privateer have any influence on X - Beyond the Frontier? If so, how are they similar? If not, how are they different?Bernd: Many games we played probably had some influence. Especially the original Elite is always an inspiration. Privateer is one of quite few games in this category. We never tried to copy any specific game, but of course we always look at what other games do, how they solve problems, and how we can possibly solve these problems even better. For the fiction, we probably all have the same idols...from Isaac Asimov to Arthur C Clarke, and from Star Wars to Star Trek. :)
You have until midnight tonight to submit an entry for the Top Wing Commander Fansite Award! The race is very close, and your opinion matters!
Nominees
I started doing these little people just as the movie came out, doing about a figure or two a month, but not all of them based on WC. I've done my friends and family as Trek, Star Wars, B5, sports and literature characters and given them to them as gifts, which is a really big hit! I value and price my time out as about $15.00 an hour, like for handyman work, so that can kinda factor the value of the gift. But one of you reading this may be a future garage kit, figure sculpting, genius, enroute to internet business fame and fortune (well, maybe).He's sent quite a few pictures -- and we're hoping he'll send more -- so I've set up a separate page to show them all. See it here.Anyway, I made the little WC1 Blair to celebrate that movie coming out, which was after all, mostly based on events around WC1. But I wanted to make him appear much like some of the little cartoons that I sometimes sketch, trying to capture and emphasize the fun, simple, cartoonish-ness of the original game characters. You know, with the short little legs and larger upper body that are called "deforms" in the garage kit industry. But after sculpting up that first WC1 Blair, I decided that I wasn't really quite satisfied with that kind of look in 3D too very much. It was fun to do, gave me a direction in which to go, but was a little too extreme for what I wanted. I decided to still keep trying to develop my own style of deform figures, but tone it down a little (compare the WC1 Blair to the WC2 figures).
I'd always felt that those first two games had a special place in my heart and were actually some of my fondest WC memories Not only because of the technological advances that those games had ushered in, but because of the then novel storytelling aspect, and the uncomplicated simplicity (read that: just plain ol' fun) of WC1 and 2. It was natural that they would jump to mind as a great starting point for WC figure sources, and how I got the idea to do my own version of WC figures in this style for 1 and 2, who are all but forgotten to the newer WC fans. Then, maybe later, I'd move on to a popular selection of the more realistic, 7.5 to 8 heads tall (artists' measure) figures for WC3 through Prophecy.
Once I get some good photos, I'll break down some of my figures, how I do them (tools and paints) and encourage you fellow wingnuts to get started and give it a shot, finding your own style along the way. How much time it will take you is variable: based on your wiilingness to practice, natural talent, level of subject detail/difficulty, and personal work preferences. But really, how much time it takes is how much time it takes. This is not a business, it's supposed to be fun, after all. Right now, I probably average about 6 to 8 hours per figure (faces, details, and clothing folds take the most time. Then, it's another 4 to 8 hours painting, etc., with a variety of mediums and materials, but mostly craft acylics. I'd only done about ten or twelve figures myself, before I even started these WC guys. That includes the Arrow, Hellcat, and Blair I did a couple of years ago, and I'm now close to about 25-30. If you can draw or sketch, you can do this. Even if you can't, you can have some fun, and what could be better for subject matter?
The first round of votes are in! The best eight of the many entered sites have been selected as nominees -- and now it's your turn to vote! E-mail us here and let us know which of these eight you like best! The voting period will end next Wednesday. A number of other entered pages have been given runner-up status and been listed below -- check them out, they're all excellent.
Nominees
Runners Up
I need the help of the fans of WC. It's been reported that I am working on a WC sequel script, which is true, however I don't have a solid title yet. So I would like to know what the fans think and see if there are any suggestions for title.
As reported before the first half of the story revolves around the pilots of the Claw training in a new variant of the Rapier before being sent out to cover Hobbes' defection and return his cruiser safely to Naval Intelligence. The second half of the story brings Blair to disgrace for allowing the 'apparent' destruction of the Tiger's Claw at the hands of Kilrathi ships, which later turn out to be Strakha. He is sent to his back water assignment before being snapped up by Paladin, and NI, for a secret Op aimed at stopping the Sivar Eshrad on Firekka.
This whole story will probably end up being about the length of a mini-series, but hey that would be cool. Anyway I have three potential titles so far they are:
Honor Bound (thanks to Blackwolf for this one)
Sivar Eshrad
Vengeance of Sivar
Let me know what you think at shaggy@ohmss.com, also if there are any other title suggestions I'll consider them. They need to be fairly short, four words max-unless it's a really damn good title, and the title needs to be somewhat descriptive of the story without carrying to many expectations, that's mainly why I didn't want to name it Vengeance of the Kilrathi- the name carries to many story expectations to the game.
Anyway, let me know what you think!
When we launched the game, it sold so fast that it became Electronic Art's and Origin's fastest selling game in history. We actually had to stop selling it because we filled our worlds to capacity within the first couple of months. It really took us a year before we could build servers faster than the demand; so we filled the demand in the U.S. Only after a year did we begin selling it in foreign territories because we couldn't support them until then. The net result of all that was that we decided that with such a small company as we were, the only way we could master online was to devote the entire company to it.
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