Luxuriate in the WC1 Box for a Few Minutes Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Boxography has posted a fun video where they go through and unbox the contents of the original Wing Commander. We've seen a few of these pop up in recent years, and this one is great because the narrator lovingly examines each piece with such care. He mentions that he's actually a relatively new fan of the series, but the whole clip just highlights what a timeless classic the game is. Check it out below!
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.

New Confederation Fan Mod Features and WC1 Slowdown Patch in the Works Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

AllTinker was recently asked how the Confederation project to modify and enhance the original Wing Commander was coming along. As we know, he has a lot of irons in the fire and is working on incredible WC series reverse engineering and exploration on many fronts. Despite these competing demands, he's very close to an updated release for WC1. Here's some more tantalizing information:
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

Pardon My French Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The much, much cooler French poster (featuring a Rapier and a menacing phantom Kilrathi) was designed by Digital Anvil and rejected by FOX (presumably for its lack of Freddie Prinze Jr. face).
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LOAF

That’s Why They Call It a Pelican and Not a Pelican't Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

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.

The Pelican has a cameo in Wing Commander Arena, too! The Boneyard map has a derelict Pelican (with Centurions spilling out of it!).
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LOAF

Busted Ships Provide a Tantalizing Glimpse Into the 28th Century Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

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.

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LOAF

Shack Up with These Vintage Catalog Ads Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Awesome resource via Dennie Edwards! I found Wing Commander III in the 1996 catalog. And Strike Commander in 1993, which was the result of a boots-on-the-ground sales campaign from Origin that got massive preorder numbers for Strike (on the back of WC1's smash hit status) from Radio Shack and Walmart.
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.
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LOAF

A Modern Take on a Classic Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Modern Vintage Gamer has done a wonderful retrospective on the original Wing Commander from the perspective of 2024. The channel has a huge reach and the video has been seen some 80,000 times in just its first day. Since a lot of these will be younger viewers, the clip provides some vital context for how groundbreaking the game was when it arrived in 1990. The narrator walks through all of the features and highlights and even details how several WC1 ports differ, which is always nice to see. Check it out below!
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.

Inspectorate THIS! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Look at this Wing Commander movie prop AD found. I can't believe how cool this is.

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LOAF

Choir Recording for WC Album Complete! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Origin composer George Oldziey reports that the choral recording that he conducted last week was a big success! Backers of the project's crowdfunding campaign can log in here to download and listen to a brief sample. Mr. Oldziey recently traveled to Salt Lake for an exciting session with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. With this complete, all of the live components necessary for his new album of Wing Commander music are complete! The next milestone will be the elaborate sound engineering/processing, which will begin in January with expert Bruce Botnick.
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

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