Important: Wing Commander for Charity

I don't know if you're familiar with the MS150, a charity fundraising bike ride that's taking place next weekend; it's an organized fundraiser in which about 12,000 riders pedal from Houston to Austin over two days. I've ridden it before in 2003, and my wife has ridden it pretty much every year since 2001.

This year I'm riding it again with my wife, and this year our nine-year old son is going to be joining us. He's excited, but of course we'll see how it goes - 180 miles is a long way!

I know it's not specifically WC related, so here's my offer: for every donation I receive over $20, I'll create a custom wallpaper-quality render of one of the ships I've still got files for - the Shrike, Devastator, Midway, Murphy Destroyer, Vindicator, and Stingray. I'll send them to you guys to post on the site for public download, to use as you want.

http://ms150.org/ms150/donate/donate.cfm?id=185739

You can also learn more about the MS150 and Multiple Sclerosis at their home site: http://www.ms150.org/ms150/

Last year riders raised about nine and a half million dollars for MS research and for assistance for those with MS. This year they're shooting for 10 million in donations.

Thanks!

Sean Murphy is a former Origin artist who worked on Wing Commander IV, Prophecy and Secret Ops; you can find his online portfolio here. More importantly is that he's always been there for us - he's been keeping up with Wing Commander fandom, sending us artwork and answering our obscure questions about Wing Commander development for many years now.

Sean is a great guy and this is an excellent opportunity to show your support for both a good cause and for the Wing Commander community! We'll match his awesome rendering offer in so much as we can: anyone who donates $20 may have an avatar at the forums -- $20 is easier to come up with than the 2,000 posts ordinarily required!

Sean asks that anyone donating through the CIC please add one cent to the total -- ie, $25.01 instead of $25. That way he'll be able to track how many wallpapers he needs to make! Feel free to contact us with any questions. Let's earn some awesome graphics and do some good at the same time. Here's some of Sean's past work:

Time Running Out To Win Pete's Presents

There are only ten days left until PopsiclePete's birthday on April 28. On that date, you could well be the person receiving the gifts as Pete is hoping to give away prizes. To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is play Standoff's gauntlet missions in the simulator where your score will be automatically submitted to the Scoreboard.

The challenge is to steal one of Sternenwind's #1 ranks away from him and hold the top spot until April 28. If more than one person does this, the player with the most number of new high scores wins. There will only be one winner, unless there is a tie. The winner will receive $20 worth of CIC Merchandise of the winner's choosing. As things currently stand, Cardinal has managed to beat Sternenwind's top score for the Hornet in the Kilrathi gauntlet. Sternenwind still holds the top spots for the Kilrathi Gauntlet with the Wraith, Morningstar, Rapier, Arrow, Crossbow, Epee, Stiletto, Broadsword, Sabre, Gladius, Talon, and Ferret. He also holds the top Confed Gauntlet places with the Epee, Ferret and Sabre.

If you don't fancy that challenge, there's also an instant win prize for the first person to score over 10,000 with Pete's favorite ship, the Epee, in either of the two gauntlets. Good luck! If you need instructions on how to play Standoff and participate in the Simulator Scoreboard, you can find directions here.