Well, let's try someone else then. I know, ex-Skunkworks A-10 producer and now Kinesoft employee Will McBurnett was always good for a quote (Kinesoft? What the hell is Kinesoft? Evidently, it’s a bunch of ex-Origin employees and they make games. That's all he'll say.):I tried to pump Will for some info, like, what is Andy Hollis working on now?
Well, Andy is getting out of sims. His next game is...a secret for now. It really sucks not working for him any more, but he has other subject matter passions that I don't share. I hope to work with him again.
For those who missed it, Andy's not doing Wing Commander Online (maybe all of you knew, but I sure didn't).
LAY IT & PLAY IT! Cockpit Collection Ltd, the makers of the revolutionary new Keyboard Control Covers or "skins" that make PC games immediately playable is pleased to announced the addition of several new models to their growing list of "skins" for PC simulation games.The company has completed Keyboard Control Covers with new printing techniques that gives the "skins" additional realism and 3D graphics. Thierry Annez, President of Cockpit Collection is excited about the opportunities of the new printing technology used to produce these new models. The covers allow players to simply place the "skin" over the keyboard and take off! There's no learning curve. No set-up or configuration required.
Made of high quality, durable plastic, our proprietary molded "skin" fits any standard (not ergonomic) PC keyboard. The control panel switches and buttons are automatically positioned above the appropriate keys, eliminating the need to remember countless functions.
Players will now simply place the "skin" over the keyboard and command the skies! There's no learning curve. No set-up or configuration required.
Made of high quality, durable plastic, our proprietary molded "skin" fits any standard (not ergonomic) PC keyboard. The control panel switches and buttons are automatically positioned above the appropriate keys, eliminating the need to remember countless functions.
Not only do Cockpit Collection Keyboard Control Covers improve the accessibility of the game, but the realistic "look" of the control panel complements all of the various flight simulation games - transforming the keyboard into a flight deck or space combat center in seconds!
Besides the Fly!, Flight Unlimited III, Freespace 2, Mechwarrior 3 and Wing Commander Prophecy covers, the company has available Keyboard Control Covers for the below flight simulation games.
Flight Simulation -
MS Flight Simulator
MS Combat Flight Simulator
Falcon4
F-15
Longbow
Comanche
F22-ADF
Fly!
Flight Unlimited IIISCI-fi -
Freespace 2 (available at www.interplay.com )
Mechwarrior 3
Wing Commander ProphecyThe gaming experience will never be the same. For a list of available titles, new ones in development, customization possibilities and more information on Cockpit Collection, visit www.cockpitcollection.com. And prepare to take control of your PC game experience!
Web Site: www.cockpitcollection.com
E-mail: neil@cockpitcollection.com
As mentioned yesterday, the CIC staff have been given an exclusive preview of Unknown Enemy, the upcoming fan made add-on to Secret Ops. This preview consists of a 90% complete version of the intro and the first mission, and here's my take on it:
Before even playing
This preview was quite a large download considering what it is. It's 25.5 meg for the intro and the first mission, so you can well imagine what the finished product will be like. Note that the download doesn't include the core Secret Ops files that you'll need installed. The reason for the huge size is there is a whole lot of speech there, and its all uncompressed presumably because no one has figured out how to get the game engine to read compressed stuff.
Starting the game
Well now there is the intro. All featured in this intro are Dragons, a Banshee, a Moray which just sits there while it gets shot at (?), asteroids, and music which ends long before the end of the intro (like I said, it's not finished). Also featured is crackly speech which comes complete with background buzzing, but hey, I guess not everyone has access to a professional recording studio. One thing about the intro... it changes every time and I don't think its designed that way. For example, at the end of the intro you are supposed to see two Dragons jump out, but on occasions you can only see one jump out because the fighters finish in different positions every time.
The mission
This is pretty much a standard WC style patrol mission... start out on a standard patrol then get a message diverting you to another objective halfway through. For some reason when you get the new Nav point, you have to target it manually. Pedro tells me it does that to make the game more interactive, but I don't think everyone would figure out what to do. The new objective has you shooting down pirates in Bearcats and Thunderbolts, while trying to stop Kilrathi in Pelican transports (don't ask because I don't know) and a Corvette getting toasted.
The screenshots
I bet most people just skipped to this section anyway. If you are wondering why the HUD shows the Bearcat as a Piranha, it's because the HUD graphics aren't done yet. Oh, and I'm flying a Banshee, not a Piranha. And the BWS Dauntless (the Bengal class carrier that you fly off in UE) isn't really a corvette. Pedro assures me that most if not all little things like this will be fixed for release. Anyway, screenshots...
Wing Commander: Unknown Enemy is nearing completion with nothing more but the editing of the fiction and the integration of the last few voice-overs to be done before the internal beta so expect to see it in the next few weeks. Unhappy with our current location of http://www.wcuknown.free-online.co.uk I have arranged http://www.UnknownEnemy.co.uk and we will be moving there in time for episode one's release however I believe that we should improve the site so we are holding a competition therefore I am asking you, the fans to design us a new website complete with new layout and artwork, the winner will then be placed on our website with full credit going to them.
Why wouldn't you talk about UO2 before?A massively multi-player game is a huge undertaking and we wanted to be able to share with you information and plans for UO2 only when we were certain we could release information that was accurate and solidified.
If you've had a chance to pick up and read my new WC novel, I'd appreciate a review over at Amazon.com. The next book, Pilgrim Truth, should be out some time next year. HarperCollins hasn't given me a firm date yet.
Brain-Space InvadersWing Commander (PG)
Director: Chris Roberts
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr, Saffron Burrows, Matthew Lillard, Ginny Holder, Tcheky Karyo, Jurgen Prochnow
Rating: *1/2Starship Bloopers
As anyone who has sat through Mortal Kombet, Super Mario Brothers or even Pac Man : The Movie will readily tell you, films based on video games are about as worthwhile as novels written by supermodels.
Wing Commander is the latest example of this game-over genre, and does precious little to improve it, let alone maintain its lacklustre standards.
It is the year 2564, and Earth is locked in a non-stop battle for space supremacy with the Kilrathi, and unpleasant bunch of warrior aliens with the rather pointless ambition to destroy the universe.
The future of all human life rests with two young pilots, Chris (Freddie Prinze Jr) and Maniac (Matthew Lillard), and their attractive female boss (Saffron Burrows), and a few disposable cohorts who are either much older (Tcheky Karyo and Jurgen Prochnow), or not all that relevant to the plot (Ginny Holder).
The 100 minutes of action coughs and splutters its way towards a predictable end.
A trillion and one Kilrathi perish courtesy of well-aimed Earth artillery, while our side loses only those unlucky enough not to be listed near the top of thefilm's opening credits.
Only a few noticeably numbskull plot flaws truly grab the attention.
Computer technology some 565 years from now doesn't seem to have advanced all that much. Microsoft, Apple and IBM should be worried about their futures.
The deep space within which the heroes of Wing Commander fight is exceptionally noisy, defying the notion that our universe is mostly a sonic vacuum.
The spaceships of tomorrow also suffer from poorly lit interiors.
Does this mean our descendants will have lost the recipe for making light gblubs?
WING COMMANDER (PG)
Underwhelming deep-space battles between Earth and a bunch of alien warriors. Based on a video game, which probably sums up its prospects, really.Rating : * 1/2
General release
The Wing Commander movie was actually released here in Western Australia today. Apparently there was an advertisement on T.V. a couple of days ago, but I didn't see it. There was however an ad in today's paper. I guess the correct way to promote a movie is to advertise it the day it opens?It is only screening at major cinema complexes for two or three sessions a day. My local complex was only screening it at 10:00am and 12:20pm, unfortunately I and most other people were working and kids were at school. I'm sure the cinema staff enjoyed it. I did however see the movie at another complex. It was a small theater, but the atmosphere was really good as a lot of fans of the games were present.
I attended with a friend who hadn't played any of the games and didn't know a lot about it. He did enjoy it though. He especially enjoyed the fact that the confederation used fighters reminiscent of WW2 and used weapons like torpedoes and machine guns. I admit I enjoyed that fact about it too.
I found the movie quite enjoyable, but a little slow in the beginning. It seemed to me that Chris Roberts has done this to set up the story and characters in order to develop a series of movies. I can understand this, but I would have enjoyed a few more battle scenes.
I have been reading reports since the movies release earlier this year about how the special effects were very dark in theater versions, but very bright on VHS, DVD and in theaters in other countries. In the theater I was at the picture was very dark. Obviously the film was being used in Australia was used in U.S. cinemas.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie, but was disappointed I had to wait so long. It was worth the wait however and will be a worthy addition to my video collection when it come out here. Hopefully we will get to see a sequel eventually.
Hey Guys. Thought I would drop you a quick line about the movie, it will be short in light of the plethora of reviews that have appeared on the news page.Well I've been waiting for this movie for 6 or 8 months now, and in the time I must admit that I had managed to build up a lot of negativity about it.
Without going into great detail, I think there were 10 - 15 people in the cinema, I haven't seen ANY advertising for the movie. Even in the three times I saw Star Wars the trailer didn't appear. I was really surprised about how much I enjoyed the movie, it was a lot better than I had hoped for, the effects were bloody amazing! (as good if not better than EP1).
The only thing I didn't like was Hunter's accent, it must have been the single worst attempt at an Australian accent i have ever heard... except for maybe the voices that were on that episode of the Simpsons, well that's up to debate. The acting I thought wasn't brilliant -- but what do you expect for 27 million?
In all it wasn't a bad flick, I think I'll order the DVD now.
First the story. I didn't play WC1 the first time around (still looking for KS here in Venezuela), so I didn't mind any story contradictions with the game. Basically, as Darcrider said, it's a movie based on the games, not a movie of the games. The story, while having some bland points, was better than some higher budgeted, higher profiled movies around (Universal Soldier 2 and Wild Wild West, for example). There were some parts that showed clearly that something was filmed there and cut. For example, a shot of a door to the side when Blair and Maniac enter the rec room for the first time. The Kilrathi weren't as frightful as I remember them in the games, but that was something even Chris Roberts said.The fun factor, at least for me, was really high. When the opening music started to sound and the star map appeared, I felt at home. The special FX were great, not dark at all, and I would even dare to say that the space sequences of the movie were better than the ones on The Phantom Menace (that was a little weak on space battles). There where plenty of little details that I couldn't see the first time I saw it on VHS that added to the overall experience, like the Kilrathi destroyer actually splitting in half when it was hitted by Paladin's torpedoes, the sheer number of Kilrathi fighters that attacked Pegasus space station and the way the Snakeir fell appart by the gravity force of Scylla.
Contrary to most WC fans it seems, I liked the ship design in the movie. I even would dare to say that the movie Concordia design was better than the game one, but that's just my opinion.
Unfortunately, to prove again my theory that people doesn't like science fiction here in Venezuela, the movie lasted only one week showing, in one room, one theater. I say that because it's not the first time that happened, the special edition of Star Wars lasted only 1 week each and they never showed the three of them at the same time (much to my dismay, because I wanted to see all three of them in one day). The Phantom Menace, with all its hype, lasted three weeks, and the Star Trek movies never even come to the theaters, only to video, so the fact that the Wing Commander movie even came to theaters here is good. I went to see it twice, and I want to go again... maybe I still have hope if it's released in another theater (a couple of them still have the poster up, but one of them has had the Star Trek Insurrection poster for over a year and a half now and never shown that movie).
Well I don't know what file format you guys like to take but I put it in jpg. Both sides are included in the one image. To make the coaster simply print out the image on a photo quality printer or your choice of multi purpose paper, presentation paper, photo paper or card stock. Once printed out, cut out the two images. Then if you didn't print out using card stock, glue both sides to a material like cardboard, formcore or matboard. A damaged CD works as well. A CD is the perfect size and I used one of the many AOL CDs I seem to get on a weekly basis. The glue I used was rubber cement, but other glues or adhesives could be used depending on the surface. Now if this coaster is to be used it is highly recommended that it be covered by some protective coating. I am still experimenting with that.I am very happy with this design, but I am thinking about coming up with some variations of it. I was thinking along the lines of doing each main character or an event from the movie. They will also be in the same format unless I find a better way to make them.
I saw it the first opportunity I got and can't say I was disappointed. I was particularly impressed with the special effects sequences, which were easily on par with Star Wars. I liked the acting since Blair and Maniac had a bit more depth then they usually seemed to have. The movie was definitely a solid effort from a first time director with a limited budget.When I went early in the afternoon with a friend there were a few other people who had come to see the movie, surprising since most other people would've been at work or school. My friend said it was OK, even though the local reviewer gave it 1 star. Definitely DO NOT listen to reviewers!
On a side note the effects were quite dark so maybe Auckland cinemas use the same cameras or film or whatever as the US cinemas. Advertising is also pretty slack, I've only seen one small poster stuck at the back of the cinema, one short TV ad and ads in the movie directory only appeared when the movie began screening. Here's hoping the soundtrack won't be so scarce.
Here's my review of the Prophecy Keyboard Cover by Cockpit Collection. It retails for $15 US and we're still waiting on finding a cheap shipping rate to Europe through simw.com.
When I opened the shipping box it seemed rather frail and asked to be handled gently. But it survived being bent in two for shipping really well and didn't have a mark when you layed it out, so it actually seems rather durable on closer inspection. All the main keys fit great on both my and Celina's keyboards. The function keys can vary in position, so they're the only ones that aren't a tight fit. Although it's not really necessary, if you're going to use the Cover to play, you should probably use the adhesives they provide and tuck the edges under the board. Not only does the Cover stay in place better, you feel more confident about pushing on the keys. Naturally the keys wont be as smooth covered as uncovered at first, but the effect is worth it. That's probably my biggest concern. You have to get used to pushing through a thin plastic to get to your keys. Controls where you have to hold a key (Tab/Ctrl/Alt) will feel a bit funny because you wont want to put much strain on the Cover, and this might slow you down a bit. But this would be the case for just about any new keyboard or joystick that you were unaccustomed to.
The computer circuitry background is different. Maybe a sleek blue would have been nice, but I suppose Cockpit Collections has to get a bit imaginative or else all their Covers would end up having pretty similar generic "cockpit backgrounds." There's some nice color coding that works well with the background too. Thruster related things have their distinctive colors, things that require the Control or Alt keys are appropriately color bracketed, weapon related functions are marked in bright red and so on. The Print Screen key is even detailed. There's only about a dozen keys off a "104 key" keyboard that don't have a designated function. For newbies, they even have small boxes in the bottom and upper right for Nav Map and Wingman Comms information.
Even if you play with a joystick the Cover is a nice item to have. You'll never have all your keys mapped to your stick, so you'll have your keyboard there anyway.
It really adds to the feel of the game to play with the Cover and adds to the feel of the room to have such memorabilia nearby. I'm thinking about digging up an old keyboard and leaving it set up on that as a display when I'm not playing.
I am a Wing Commander fan in Western Australia and it would appear that the movie won't be released here until September 23. I believe it was only released in Victoria on the 16th.Regarding advertising, back in about March april I saw a poster at one particular complex and that's it. Posters have only begun popping up at all major theater complexes in the last few weeks. There have been no ads on television and I saw the trailer once at a screening of Star Wars. I saw Star Wars four times at four different theaters and the trailer was only played at one of them. A couple of weeks ago a radio station played a commercial for the movie, but was more of a promotion for a competition where you could win tickets. Advertisements in the paper haven't even begun yet and the movie is supposed to open in four days! I will let you know if the movie actually does open here on the rumored date.
I just got back from seeing Wing Commander here in Brisbane. You'd hardly know that it was showing at all. The small independant cinema I went to only had two screenings each day for weekends and three for weekdays. With holidays on, you'd think there'd be more. But, with so little advertising, the distributors mustn't be expecting much to come of this movie.After dodging all the munchkins and their parents who were there to watch Tarzan (which I hope to see) and Elmo in Grouchland (which, strangely I also hope to see... Hey don't judge me, I'm a child of the 80's!) I and my dad finally got into the cinema, which was relatively empty. Interestingly enough, I think I was one of the youngest people in there.
I've been waiting for this movie since February, so I was excited. I was also cautious, after having read and heard so many negative reviews. After seeing this movie, I have vowed never to listen to a film reviewer or critic again.
This was a brilliant movie. The opening was beautiful, with the star map tracing out humanity's exploration of the stars, and the voiceovers narrating history as it sped along, before the dark cloud of the Kilrathi Empire merged into the map. Absolutely gorgeous.
As for complaints about a lack of plot, there was plenty here. Earth's gonna get wiped out: someone's gotta stop it. What more do you need? And space has probably never looked so good, the team that did the SFX work for this movie should be commended.
I'm not sure if the Pilgrims were always part of Chris Robert's vision for Wing Commander, but I felt they contributed well to the universe he's created here. It also an alternative explanation as to why Paladin liked Blair so much. That was another thing: I had to put most of what I knew about the games aside here. This is not a movie of the game, but based on the game, and its still great.
The cast was wonderful; everyone portrayed their characters well, especially Freddie Prinze Jr. and Mathew Lillard. I loved the friendship these two shared: I was expecting them to hate each other, a la WCIII, though this was much better. Maniac's still a psycho, but he's got a compassionate side as well that gives him more depth.
I only have two minor complaints, why did they have to send Blair in with the marines, unless I missed something. Are pilots crossed trained as marines in this Confederation? Also, I was disappointed that they didn't show us more of Blair's genius as a pilot. Sure, what they did show of him proved to us he is very good, but I would have liked more.
I hope this does get a sequel. While it has a muted ending, which I liked, the war is still on. I'd love to see how they'd incorporate plot elements of WCII into this WC universe.
Speculating about a sequel also made me ask myself a question I didn't think I would: would I want the game cast (Mark Hamill, Tom Wilson, Malcolm McDowell and others) to star in future sequels? While I'd love to see Mark Hamill have a crack at this new version of Blair's character, I felt Freddie Prinze Jr. and co. did such a great job that I wouldn't mind if he and the others stuck around.
Anyway, I gonna recommend this movie to everyone I know. Sure, some of them might not like it, but most of them will. Hopefully we'll make enough noise to make the distributors realise they have a good movie on their hands here, and they should advertise it like one. But then again, one newspaper described this as "Star Wars Episode I, but without the hype." Fair description that, considering how much I like both Wing Commander and Star Wars.
Anyway, any Australians that are reading this, GO SEE THIS MOVIE! Sure, its not the games, but its still Wing Commander, and I love it to pieces.
Like Australia, there has been a lack of advertisement for the movie. Only since the movie has opened have there been any TV ads, which only screen in the morning.The movie is running around four times a day in Wellington, but in one of the smaller theatre rooms. I took some friends of mine to a showing around 4:30 pm. Even though it was early in the afternoon on a weekday, there was quite a large crowd, roughly 30-odd people in a 50 seater room. The large majority of the crowd really liked the movie, even a few liked how the Kilrathi looked. People were also a bit disappointed with the lack of screen time they were given.
I was lucky to see the movie in the US when it first came out. When visually comparing it to the screening in New Zealand, the New Zealand showing was a lot lighter than the US, which is how it would look on the DVD I'm guessing.
In the local cinema in my town (Heerlen), the poster of WC has been removed from the wall. It was there for about three months. I know the employees of that cinema quite well, so I asked them for a release date. Last thing they heard was that the movie isn't going to be released in cinemas in the Netherlands. It's going straight to VHS.Even if the movie doesn't come to a theater near you, having the VHS as an option is better than nothing (as is the case in some places).
Came back a few hours ago from seeing the movie. The film was great, but the entire handling of the movie stinks! There have been no ads in the newspaper and only about ten ads on TV. In Melbourne each cinema has an average of ONLY TWO screenings per day (the one at Crown had three, 1am, 10:30 am and 1:15 pm). To make matters worse, I haven't been able to find any Wing Commander Merchandise (the books, action figures or even the soundtrack!).I wish more people would have organized outings like this for the movie. Also, Mark Trzcinski reports that his local theater in Australia is not showing Wing Commander until September 23, so there might be more showtimes soon.I'm planning to organise some WC Movie thing. It's probably going to be on next week at Crown in the City. Anyone planning to go can contact me at Sendell@rocketmail.com.
The editors of Computer Gaming World want to know your favorite games. Vote now, see the results in next month's issue.
Hey everybody, long time no see! Haha. I'm doing good so far and am now able to do a few things with my computer. If my retina stays on, I'll be back to flying status in about five weeks. After my last surgery, my doctor showed me how I could read by looking straight down through the gas bubble in my eye -- and the arrival of the latest Wing Commander novel, Pilgrim Stars, from Amazon.com really lifted my spirits. Thusly, in an attempt to have something to do here is my review of the book. Also of note, I can now read my e-mail again, so if anyone needs to talk to me, they now can.Pros:
When I reviewed Peter Telep's adaptation of the Wing Commander Movie, I noted that we would soon see if he was capable of telling his own Wing Commander story. With the release of Pilgrim Stars he has proved himself more than worthy of the universe in which he is writing.Pilgrim Stars has a flavor all its own. Its style is distinctively different from any of Baen's novels, and it seems to blend some more emotional aspects with the especially technical style common from Peter Telep. All of the characters remain very faithful to their original forms, especially Maniac, for whom Telep writes for superbly.
The influence of the Confederation Handbook is visible throughout, and Peter Telep does a particularly good job of increasing the meaning and danger of the Pilgrims. With the addition of a Paul Atreides-esque universal consciousness and another scary power which I won't spoil, the Pilgrims can now threaten something besides "watch out, or I'll navigate you!".
Cons:
It may sound trite, but my biggest problem with Pilgrim Stars was that it ended -- but let me to further explain. Stars ends in the largest cliffhanger of any Wing Commander story... and it leaves you wanting to read Pilgrim Truth as soon as possible.In addition, there is the ever present issue of game versus movie. I preface this final paragraph with a disclamer: it is utterly unfair to the book to compare its facts to those of the games -- it is a movie book. That said, there are very few differences between this movie book and any game fact. In my first reading, the only things that jumped out at me were the designation's of the Rapier's and Tolwyn's age. Both of which are minor, and not fair game in commenting on the quality of the book.
Regarding the extensions in South American titles of WCM, it's a very common plague, at least in Brazil. They take a perfectly good title, don't translate it and add something. For instance, Oliver Stone's JFK became "JFK, the question which won't shut up." ! In an approximate translation, it's really annoying.While we're on the topic of the movie in South America, Mario Muñoz sent in some differences between the movie in the US and the movie in Columbia.
I saw the WC movie here in Colombia and I had the oportunity to see it in the US after the release date of March 12. The differences that I found were: The movie was really bright, some of the fx were ruined by that fact, for example, the asteroinds looked really unreal and plastic. A good fact is that the sound track was louder though.
The game's ships and special effects look as good as any Wing Commander-style space shooter.
I would like to ask some people if they can help with the Fleet Commander project. We are still short on programmers so if you can program in C, C++ or any kind, pleace mail me. We also need a good sound editor, who needs to make music and SFX.Last, I would like to ask people to help me with the story design of the game. I thought of something like this:
The story begins right before Prophecy starts. The Nephilim don't play in the game, but the Kilrathi have designed a few new ship types. They are constructing them secretly somewhere where Confed doesn't look. And then the player needs to fight them. The game will be played in one huge map (so the game contiues between the missions), giving the player the ability to fight the Kilrathi any way he or she wants.If you have any comments on this please mail me.
I just wanted to mention that the little intro paragraph was slightly inaccurate. WC:RH is based on an older MUSH called Horizon, which had a unique theme. About late winter or early spring of this year, the theme was changed to WC:RH. Although some people moan and gripe about a lot of things, it's pretty fun and probably one of the better games I've experienced in my 8+ year MU*ing experience.Anyway, just thought that calling it "new" was kinda a disservice to the place. It's very active, has lots of players, and is quite seasoned by now, having survived almost a year of chaos by now in the new theme, and even more time total. And the admins are just great!
If you want a new way to play, try Wing Commander: Red Horizon. WC:RH is a MUSH, which is a text based roleplaying game. You can be anything from a privateer to a Confederation Senator. Try it and you will be hooked. WC:RH is very newbie friendly and we will help you in anyway we can....
Just go to telnet://redhorizon.seul.org:2197 and follow the instructions. If you just want to check it out, type connect guest at the prompt.
PCPL: "What are your duties here at origin?"There it is..
AlPv: "I am producing an online game which happens in the Wing Commander Universe"
PCPL: "Privateer Online?"
AlPv: "No comment!"
"It's quite sure that there will be made an online Wing Commander game, but they did not want to reveal more details about this probject. But we could hear the words 'Privateer Online' during our stop at the coffee machine."
Simware will inform me when they can get hold of the Prophecy covers. Shipment to Europe will indeed come down to about $5 US (£3, 190BEF) up to 2 pounds. Because the cover is extremely light, we can be sure of that price.
I've just found out that Eric Peterson will be unable to make the chat tomorrow due to a birthday celebration. I'd like to wish Eric a happy birthday and hopefully we can chat with him in the future.
However, Digital Anvil will still be represented because Erin Roberts himself will be there!
As a reminder, here's the basic info: the chat will be held at 1 PM Eastern at the #space-sim channel on Gameslink servers. Representatives from Jumpgate, Klingon Academy, Parsec, Starfleet Command, Starlancer, and Tachyon will be on-hand.
AcknowledgementsWarm thanks as always to the folks at HarperCollins: John Douglas, Caitlin Blasdell, Rich Miller, and John Silverberg for their continued commitment to my writing.
Chris McCubbin and David Ladyman at Incan Monkey God Studios gave their much-needed advice and criticism during the early stages of this work. Moreover, the Wing Commander Confederation Handbook, produced by Chris and other talented people at IMGS, allowed me to create a strong sense of continuity with this new Wing Commander film-based universe. I'm deeply indebted to their fine work. Those familiar with the handbook will notice my many allusions to it in this text.
I'd be remiss if I did not salute Mr. Ben Lesnick and the other passionate and articulate members of the Wing Commander Combat Information Center website. They provided me with timely information on film-related news, answered my pesky questions, and even helped to promote my work.
Finally, I'm overjoyed to note that my wife delivered our second daughter during the writing of this novel. Any woman who can do that and put up with a workaholic geek like me should either be committed or get a medal. Actually, she had expensive jewelry in mind...
Not really a hot news, but I too got my cross today. Very impressive delivery speed. Also all correspondence was very fast and friendly I can only very highly recommend the Tuscany Trading Company. That said back to the cross... As already said by others it is a bit at the heavy side, maybe a bit too heavy for wearing all day. But then who would? It might get a scratch. (G) That brings you to the really nice wooden plate. Perfect for displaying this collectors item. Only downside I find is that the knife does not retract into the cross. All you can do is to remove it.And while I was playing with the Cross last night I realized that if the blade did actually spring out there'd be a lot of injured WC fans this weekend. :)
We're getting reports from a number of people that they've received their Pilgrim Crosses. Lots of interesting comments so far.
From Veteran GG:
It's really cool but a little more heavy than I expected. The size is really great. Wish they could be made of silver like the movie but beggars can't be choosy. The knife detaches so I can store that and it comes with a wood plaque.From Brian Fasano:
Some assembly required. The blade is quite long and it does not retract into the cross itself. Also the cross is smaller than I thought it would be. It also came in a Wing Commander box showing Blair in the marine suit with the cross on it.From Knightwolf:
It comes in a nice collectors' box along with a wooden plaque. The chain necklace is made of heavy guage metal. The cross itself is very intricately detailed on both sides, silver with gold accent. The blade is separated during shipping, and slides into the bottom which then locks into place. To release it you press the button on the cross as in the movie. And the edge is nice and sharp, although the wings on the side are not :(. But overall a very nice collectors' item.
Electronic Arts today announced the acquisition of PlayNation, a developer of online entertainment, headquartered in Carlsbad, Calif. Under the agreement, PlayNation becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts. ... The acquisition is part of Electronic Arts' strategy to create new online entertainment and extend its brands and franchise properties to the Internet.
After reading about LOAF getting his Pilgrim Stars book I called my local Barnes & Noble demanding to know where mine was. The lady told me they had it in their warehouse but the publisher put a hold on it for some reason. I got fed up with her and talked to the manager who said that was a computer error and I should have the book within the week.
Colonel Blair’s Archenemy
Okay, I know this is gonna sound old, but the best PC game villain has to be Prince Thrakhath from Wing Commanders 2 and 3. I guess it would help to have read the novels to know what a devious scoundrel he was, but he easily gets my vote as top villain.
-Jordan
Around the halls of Renton High you can now find several of these trendy new CIC garbage cans. The front says "www.wcnews.com, loaf, ace, chris, had, hades, tre and byyydo." The back says "Talking Stick, Celina." Sorry, these aren't for sale.
We thought you would like to know that the following items have been sent to:
Ordered Title Price Dispatched Subtotal
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2 Pilgram Star (Wing Commander) £3.62 2 £7.24
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Subtotal: £7.24
Delivery Charge: £4.95
Total: £12.19
This completes your order.
If you have any questions, please contact us via e-mail (orders@amazon.co.uk), Fax (0800 279 6630) or phone (0800 279 6620).For international customers Fax (+44 20 8636 9401) or phone (+44 20 8636 9451).
Thank you for shopping at Amazon.co.uk
Expertise: Programmer, Software Engineer-Rendering(PC)
Locale: Texas-Austin (United States)
Start Date: Negotiable
Description: We are searching for a talented and experienced Client Lead to work on ORIGIN's next original persistent world game. Responsibilities include working with an existing 3D rendering system, as well as network solutions such as dead-reckoning and smoothing algorithms.
The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:
Previous game industry experience, Minimum 5 years programming experience, Proficient in C++ / Object Oriented Design, Proficient at debugging x86 assembly code, Experience programming for Windows and DirectX, 3D graphics experience (including familiarity with Direct3D), Experience building and maintaining programming schedules, Ability to work with an existing code base & Excellent communication skills
Pluses include:
Experience developing high-latency multiplayer action games & Technical documentation
The latest of ATFW's developer chats is now set. It's scheduled for this Saturday, September 11th at 1 PM EST/10 AM PST/6 PM GMT. If you need a translation to your time zone, hit CNN's time zone converter (Javascript required). Guests at the third dev chat include representatives from Jumpgate, Klingon Academy, Parsec, Starfleet Command, Starlancer, and Tachyon. As always, the chat will be held in the #space-sim channel on Gameslink's IRC network. For your nearest server, check out their Servers page. The chat will also be mostly moderated; for more info, check out the Chat FAQ.
Subject: Your Amazon.com orderAnd LOAF (yay) noticed their new book description.
Date: Donnerstag, 02. September 1999 00:45
We thought you'd like to know that the following items have been shipped using standard surface mail (Averages 2-12 weeks).
Please note that these shipments do not have tracking numbers.
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Ordered Item Price Shipped Subtotal
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1 Pilgrim Stars (A Wing Commande $5.20 1 $5.20
Combat Alert In Deep Space!Naturally this made us check the other major online sites.. and they've been updated similarly. Barnesandnoble.com reports that Pilgrim Stars is now shipping in "2-3 days."
Welcome to the real world! Christopher Blair, his sexy flymate, Dev, and his pal Maniac graduated from the Confed's elite Academy straight into a nasty, three-way war. Their ship, the Tiger Claw, is battling not only alien Kilrathi destroyers, but rebels who have stolen the swift Rapier and Broadsword fighters of the Confederation!
Claw and crew are caught in the middle of a deadly rebellion, led by rogue Pilgrims who want to cleanse the Universe and reseed it with perfect humans. Choosing sides isn't easy. Especially when your former friends are even more ruthless than the aliens you were trained to fight!
(The first movie review, negative as expected. This is from one of the Brazilian main newspapers, O Globo. At least he didn't compare it with other computer game movies. He is wrong in his statement about the fans...)Delance also notes that Wing Commander is opening in 8 theaters in Rio, which is not bad, considering that "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Eyes Wide Shut" are being released at the same time.
1 of 5 (sleeping)
Wing Commander
by Tom Leão
"A game that doesn't change level"
The space adventure "Wing Commander" (released today on Rio Sul 1 and circuit) is the cinema recreation of one of the most famous computer space combat games. However, the game is much more dynamic and interesting than the movie, despite the fact it was directed by the creator of the games, Chris Roberts.
The Confederation (us) faces the threat of the Kilrathi, an alien race (that looks like poorly articulated Ninja Turtles with a cat face) that intend to invade Earth which results in some space battles (the only point of interest in the movie). And that's it. The rest is a rain of cliches, that would be even tolerable if it weren't the amateurish performance of the main actors. The teen actor of the moment, Freddie Prinze Jr. (she's all that), for example, is laughable on the dramatic moments.
The bottom line is, prefer the computer screen to the cinema. Or rent the legitimate space war trash "Starship Troopers". Not even the fans are going to stand this.
(Note: Episode 1, TPM got 2 ratings, 1/5 and 2/5. Thomas Crown also got 1/5.)
I watched it yesterday and as reported before it looked very dark comparing to the DVD version. It has now been shown in several movie theaters across the country and despite of the official reviews, sci-fi lovers are really enjoying the movie. I interviewed some people and took some pictures and I'm working on a graphic which shows several different points such as visual effects in the public opinion. It will be ready in some days.
Everybody who has ordered one of these has been waiting a long time. United Cutlery greatly mis-estimated when they would be receiving these. To make matters worse, they continued to give erroneous delivery dates on almost a daily basis. Fortunately, we received word yesterday that they have arrived and are actually on their way to us. We will receive them next week and get them out as soon as possible.From Kris:
Good news! They're here! We'll be boxing them up this weekend and shipping them out on Tuesday since Monday is a holiday.
Just to add this to my previous email, movie critics around here so far haven't said much about the WC movie, but the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, the biggest in the country, put a small article on last Saturday's kids' section about the pre-release. It didn't make any good comments about the movie, just that it's 'senseless' and 'was made as a preparation for the new SW movie'. Nothing to worry about. This newspaper's critics like only drama movies. They rated SW movie as 'a child's tale' and Austin Powers as 'another dumb comedy', for instance.
I saw it yesterday. There was about six people (not bad for a movie that had one single poster one week in advance as the only advertising, and considering that Austin Powers 2 had about 8 people on its premiere day as well). The reactions where quite good however. The movie wasn't dark at all, the space battle sequences where nicely lit, and I could see every detail on them. A lot better than the low-quality VHS copy I saw first. I really enjoyed it a lot, and I plan on seeing again.
Good timing.....our Keyboard Cover for Wing Commander Prophecy will be available starting next week! Enjoy....and thank you for your interest,
Thierry
Sorry, we must have missed you with the last update. All orders for Pilgrim Cross knives have been cancelled due to United Cutlery's inability to supply them.In our last update we reported Tuscany said they were thinking about cancelling orders until they actually received their Crosses. We haven't heard of a single person getting an email informing them of such a broad order cancellation. We're looking into the matter ourselves today.
Tomorrow it will be released!There's further promotional material to watch the movie at zaz.com.br here.
@ A versão filme do game de computador "Wing Commander" tem pré-estréiasábado, 28 no Cinemark. Só que sem Malcom McDowell e Ginger Lynn. É que o filme se passa alguns anos antes do jogo.
The movie version of the computer game "Wing Commander" will have the premiere Saturday 28th at Cinemark. But without Malcom McDowell and Ginger Lynn. It's because the movie takes place a few years before their games.
In 2654, the Confederation is involved in an arduous war with the Kilrathi. This violent alien race has in its power a navigation device that might mean the destruction of Earth itself. To stop these villains, a squadron of young elite space pilots is deployed.
Despite being a rookie, Christopher Blair (Freddie Prinze Jr.) has an innate skill to pilot ships. His best friend, Todd Maniac Marshall (Matthew Lillard) hates following roles and makes his name worth on some maneuvers. The beautiful Jeanette "Angel" Deveraux (Saffron Burrows) commands the squadron with an iron fist (or tight fist) and becomes a true temptation to Chris. Will they stop evil?
The movie (100 minutes) will be released by FOX Filmes september 3rd on theatres around brazil, with doubled and subtitles versions.
DVD Box Office's TOP 10 list for the month of August:
1. There's Something About Mary
2. Payback
3. Wing Commander
4. Ghostbusters
5. Alien Legacy (4 Pack)
6. Clerks
7. Austin Powers
8. Meet the Feebles
9. Starship Troopers
10. Gods and Monsters
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