News Collection: On This Day in WC News

2024.002 (January 2, 2024)

Originator Update Helps You Create Worlds

New year, new Originator! AllTinker is kicking off 2024 with another release to his impressive Wing Commander modding and hacking tool. New features include a better reader for hex editing, support for more WC3 elements like cockpits, improved decompression of Privateer 2 contents and more. You can download the updated package here!

2023.002 (January 2, 2023)

Broadsword Bomber Profiled in Latest Lore Video

While most people were getting ready to party on New Year's Eve, Mac was hard at work putting the finishing touches on his new Wing Commander lore video - a man after our own hearts! This one is a thorough profile of the A-17 Broadsword. It focuses on the elevated role of phase shielding versus torpedoes in the late 2660s but also goes all the way to the ship's exploits against the Nephilim decades later. Check it out below!

2022.002 (January 2, 2022)

Fan Project Vote Kicks Off

It's been a big weekend for annual front page posts, and today we've got another! This formally kicks off our "Fan Project of the Year" contest for 2021. In further recognition of the great things Wingnuts did all year long, we're recognizing a sampling of them to win our annual award. Folks sent nominations in during December, and we've added a couple of our favorites to the mix to produce the slate below.

2021.002 (January 2, 2021)

Happy New Poll!

It's that time of the year again! Having see what all we managed to accomplish in 2020, what do you think 2021 will look like? Although more people will hopefully be able to spend more time outside this summer, we are blessed with a large group of folks who are pretty content to just be indoors. In either case, it's hard to not imagine this year will be better than 2020 in almost every way!

2020.002 (January 2, 2020)

Happy New Poll!

It's a new year and time for a new poll! Our annual new year's poll asks what kind of year you think it'll be for Wing Commander. As we saw in yesterday's recap, 2019 was a big year for Wing Commander, and there's no sign of letting up in 2020! The old poll asked about the most underappreciated Wing Commander games.

2019.002 (January 2, 2019)

Academy Script: The Most Delicate Instrument

We have an exciting new addition to the archives today: a script for the third episode of Wing Commander Academy, "The Most Delicate Instrument." Over the years we've preserved shooting scripts (and a number of drafts) for all of the Wing Commander games and the 1999 film... but tracking down Wing Commander Academy teleplays has proven much more difficult. Until today, only two of the thirteen episodes were represented in the archive.

2018.002 (January 2, 2018)

Kick Off 2018 With Some Slick Sketches

Arne from Android Arts is currently putting together some awesome Wing Commander sketches. He started with an Exeter and has drawn a contemporary flotilla around it. There's also a gun mockup and fighter concept art, plus a really cute 'Dralthi Commander' diskette. All of the little fine details are really endearing.

2017.002 (January 2, 2017)

A Look Back At 2016

The past year has been another exciting adventure for Wing Commander fans. With 366 days of material to go through, it can be hard to remember all of the significant things that happened in the past twelve months, so that's why we did it for you! January started off with the big news that George Oldziey's physical Wing Commander album was shipping, and fans who missed the earlier crowdfunding effort even got a way to acquire a few surplus copies. The Homeworld Remastered Mod also kicked off a steady series of major technical upgrades that kept fans' fleets doing more and more advanced maneuvers.

2016.002 (January 2, 2016)

Happy New Poll!

It's a new year, and that means it's time for our annual New Year's poll. Recapping all of the past twelve months' worth of news always gets me very excited for the potential ahead. And this year, we have 366 days to do great things together! The previous poll asked about people's favorite ways to bring down capships.

2015.002 (January 2, 2015)

Renowned Origin Artist Connecting With Fans

It’s now possible to commission an authentic Origin style art piece for your own projects! Famous character, concept and cover artist Denis Loubet is now taking requests to create your RPG characters or other designs for a nominal fee. Denis is the link that connected Chris Roberts to Origin Systems in the late 1980s. Chris had been working with a freelance Denis for concept art on a new game when he was just getting started in Austin.

2014.002 (January 2, 2014)

Now Focus on the Future

The new year also means it's time to run our traditional January poll. Based on what's happened lately and what you think about the year ahead, how do you think 2014 will be for Wing Commander? The last poll asked which fighters everyone considered their favorite in Armada. The Wraith and Banshee were neck and neck in one of the closest races we've ever seen.

2013.002 (January 2, 2013)

Wing Commander "Defiant Few" Prepares to Launch

Plywood Fiend has kicked off his new Wing Commander audio project! Defiant Few follows the Confederation response to a surprise attack in the Gemini Sector. Plywood's last project, From the Jaws of Defeat, turned out surprisingly well, and Wingnuts have been lining up to participate in the next story. If you'd like to volunteer as a voice actor for the new adventure, recordable audition lines are available here.

2012.002 (January 2, 2012)

Annual Awards Kick-off Begins Now!

It's a new year, and that also means it's time for the CIC's annual Fan Project & Web Site of the Year awards! A handful of nominees that contributed to the Wing Commander community over the past twelve months have been chosen, and now Wingnuts can vote towards the winners. There were tons of exciting projects this year, so limiting the options to just six isn't easy. Thanks to everyone who contributed in 2011!

2011.002 (January 2, 2011)

Saga Reveals Gameflow Set

WC Saga has posted screenshots of its "main hall" ready room that serves as the central launching point to the game's various areas. Doors and console lead to different menu options, and fighters occasionally fly by the flight control window. You can find more screenshots here. We have tried to make the main hall a compelling hub for the game that provides ambiance and atmosphere.

Fast Forwarded F-18 Fabrication Fun

The Australian Air Force and Boeing Store have posted a fun 'put together quickly' video detailing the construction of the AF/A-18F Super Hornet. 27th Century fighter construction is certainly a bit more automated than current day manufacturing, but it's pretty interesting to see what all goes into building one of these things today. The video posted on Facebook is a bit higher quality than the YouTube equivalent. What better way to start the new year than by watching Boeing build an F/A-18 Super Hornet?

2010.002 (January 2, 2010)

Vote Here!

Voting is starting a little late for the 2009 awards, but here is your chance to pick the Wing Commander Fan Projects and Web Sites that were your favorite. This is by no means an exhaustive list of WC undertakings from the past twelve months, but it sure is an impressive lineup! The nominees have been narrowed down to make voting easier. Without further delay, here are the nominees!

2009.002 (January 2, 2009)

Paper Venture Body Comes Together

Here's one of the super new paper models that we mentioned were in work yesterday. Péricles is currently in the middle of the Venture corvette design. This one has a twist - it's based off the Standoff color scheme. There is still work yet that needs to be done, but expect a few new ships and a full Paper Commander update in a month or two.

Privateer 2 Journal Previews 2009 Replay

The Community Replay is on break this week as fans finish up Prophecy and prepare for Secret Ops. quaker2k8 has his own replay in progress though, and he's currently in the middle of an in-depth Privateer 2 replay. He's been posting very detailed journal entries from the point of view of Ser Lev Arris. Here's a sample of his recollections.

2008.002 (January 2, 2008)

Standoff Team Talks 2008

In his New Years message, Standoff's Eder reflects on past successes and the current state of episode five. It sounds like the final chapter should be finished before the end of the year. He's also released a new wallpaper for us. Their detailed Rapier model on a plain black background is available in many different sizes.

The Art of Wing Commander Arena - Part Forty-Eight

This is the first of four paintings which show potential map hazards. This one is a comet field which ultimately became the 'Meteor Storm' single player mode. This is part of a series of beautiful Wing Commander Arena concept images graciously provided by Gaia Industries. You can find the original article here.

2007.002 (January 2, 2007)

New Ships Commissioned In Homeworld Engine

Aaron posted a new batch of WC4 Homeworld 2 mod shots today to start the year off with renewed momentum. Pictured below are modified frigates and jamming transports that Black Lance players will have access to in the game. The next items on Aaron's plate are the Axius Starbase and flashpak device. Head on over to Crius.

Ranger's Glory Wins FC Mod Contest

The winner for Flight Commander Mod of the Year was announced yesterday, and Ranger's Glory took the honor in 2006! A number of projects were active in 2006, but RG came in as the clear winner. Iceblade's last major release came out around Christmas 2005, but he has been working on a new update which should be ready soon. Now about what the release will be this year.

2006.002 (January 2, 2006)

Watch Out For Flak!

Klavs81 has prepared another wallpaper featuring his popular Sabre and Rapier models. "The Long Run In" follows a handful of fighters attempting to soften up a Kilrathi capship's defenses. It's available in resolutions up to an amazing 2560x2048. The aspect ratio is 5:4, and centering the image should make it look nice on virtually all screen shapes.

Party Like It's 1995

Has it been eleven years already? Packrat Wing Commander fans will be happy to learn that they can finally use their 1995 Wing Commander III Premiere Edition calendars again -- 2006 uses the same days! You can once again thrill to monthly pictures from Wing Commander III's amazing FMV sequences. Be sure and hang on to your Kilrathi Saga 1997 calendars, too -- we'll remind you to take them out of storage around 2014.

2005.002 (January 2, 2005)

Green Menace on the Move

Cyberion has been doing some freelance work for the Holding The Line guys. This 1280x960 wallpaper weighs in at about 1.2 megabytes. I've created a new wallpaper for the Wing Commander Universe.

Reflecting on Standoff Prologue

Some 700 people have downloaded the Standoff prologue from us since its December 23 release. Two other websites are now mirroring the file. (67 MB) Wing Commander CIC Wingcenter Boomtown (free registration) Lots of mirrors can be found here. Standoff requires that Wing Commander Secret Ops is installed on your computer.

2004.002 (January 2, 2004)

Jutland For Standoff WIP Released

Lynx's Jutland Class Carrier has made the leap from WC Saga to Standoff. It has incorporated some slight structural changes and the coloring has been changed to match Standoff's style. It's very cool to see the similarities and differences in this design in both the Freespace and Secret Ops engines. The above shots are works in progress.

It's Winter Up Here

Can you believe they just announced the new Super Soakers for 2004?

2002.002 (January 2, 2002)

WCA Art 1: Ex-Scimitar

I've collected some original Wing Commander Academy artwork... and now, thanks to the magic of technology, you can compare this original artwork to the finished product! Here's part 1: Blair's Scimitar crashed on Pisces from the fourth episode, Word of Honor. (The back of the painting says that it's from Show 5 -- Word of Honor was probably the fifth episode produced...

Chris' Confusing Career

Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts has been busy... or has he? The IMDb seems to indicate that he's been Assistant Director on three movies that no one has ever heard of: The Man Who Counted (1998), Wirey Spindell (1999) and Bad Seed (2001). Is the IMDb mistaken?

2001.002 (January 2, 2001)

I'm Ready for my Closeup

The nice new look was done primarily by KrisV, with help from Cpl Hades, Chris Reid and myself (and, of course, graphics by Hadrian). It's based on a graphic by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl. We're still working all the little bugs out, but I think it looks pretty cool! Please report any problems, and be sure to let us know what type of setup you are using.

UO'll Always Have a Future

Here's an interesting article at CNN.com, titled Gamers Looking to Hit the Jackpot Online.EA.com, majority owned by No.

Ship Gets Shinier

NoRemorse has updated the TCS Austerlitz website, with an all new "Onboard Network", featuring Flash Technology. C'est tres bien!

2000.002 (January 2, 2000)

Chat Zone Under Reconstruction

As of now the Chat Zone is no more, sorry for the lack of warning, but we needed to get moving on this. We're upgrading the Chat Zone right now, and this can be a complex process. But when it comes back online it will have neato new features in addition to Y2K compliance. We're working on getting it up as soon as possible, but please be patient.

Minor Wing Commander Mention by Garriott

GamePen recently conducted an interview with top Origin guy Richard Garriott. He doesn't say anything specific, but here he makes a reference to not making his new game too sci-fi because it would infringe on Wing Commander. This is just another one of a great many direct and indirect references by top officials that a new Wing Commander game is in the works.

Statistics Debate Rages On

A report by Krispin Barosso. The debate between Crius Entertainment Secretary Noel Dibley and 'Sacred Life' campaigner Mary Brazeel rages on. Brazeel is pushing hard for the banning of Deathball, the system's favourite sport, syaing it is saacrilegious and immoral; a poll she has conducted amongst memebrs of her parish shows that 97% of them find the sport offensive and wrong. Dibley has consistently countered by saying over 900 million people regularly watch the game, which generates in excess of 300 billion credits per annum, and if people are going to volunteer to kill or be killed by other people in the name of entertainment then he isn't going to stop them.

1999.002 (January 2, 1999)

Up To Speed

The Fan Directory is now fully caught up. As of this writing we have profiles for seventy-four fans (pictures for twenty-four of them). If your profile was not included, please resend it. Check out the Fan Directory here.

Date Correction

Previously I said that Week 5/6 Trivia was due before January 2, 1999. That should have been January 3 (Sunday). So.. if you haven't played yet, time is running short.