Spanish WC3 Art Mystery Solved Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Several years ago we spotted a Spanish magazine that had a bizarre variant of the Wing Commander 3 cover in its review. At the time we wondered what would possess them to create such an odd photoshop. Then it started to appear in a few other places, which just deepened the mystery. And now we have a better clue about what happened! It was apparently a legitimate pre-visualization made before the final cover art, and it was circulated in limited fashion to certain regions like Spain before the box cover everyone knows and loves came to be. Here's LOAF with more:
Folks, I owe a Spanish magazine an apology. They did NOT make their own Wing Commander III box... because here it is again in the digital catalog included with the demo. In fact, what we're looking at was the actual comp that preceded the final painting!

Happy Birthday Wing Commander Arena! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Today marks 17 years since the launch of Wing Commander Arena for the Xbox 360! It was a small labor of love by a tiny New York studio called Gaia Industries with support from EA Vancouver. The game pioneered a new generation of digital releases for the Xbox Live Marketplace. Despite the many limitations created by this new mode of distribution, Arena was a stunning pioneer with 16-player multiplayer, high definition graphics and expansive lore packed in anywhere it would fit. And it's available for just THREE MORE DAYS!
Microsoft will be shuttering its Xbox 360 store on Monday, July 29. The game will remain playable on the 360 console after that, but you need to acquire your copy by then. Pick it up directly through the console or on the web here. It's only $0.99! Find more valuable info in LOAF's Arena End of Life FAQ here.

Wing Leader Project Raises Its Glass Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Today we've got even more new material from Howard Day's Wing Leader project to share. In a pair of new videos, you can see several new special effects. The Firekkan fighter on display has some fancy reflection in place that shows off the cockpit glass. And it's refined a bit further in the second clip with additional haze. The look of the guns in action has also been amped up! You can watch the AI engage in space combat within the game's engine in real time here.
Here's a update to the Wingleader cockpit glass reflections - going far more graphic/streaky and subtle. Lemme know what you think!
I've started to add some gun SFX to Wingleader, and did add a little bit of glass haze to the cockpit rim. Dunno if it helps?

Slick Video Shows Prophecy Advance Playing On-Device Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Oh wow, I love this perspective! I post videos from time to time of people playing Wing Commander Prophecy for the Gameboy Advance, but they're usually screen captures. It's very cool to see someone playing it in real time. The white gloves and arctic white console are nice touches too. There's a lot of cutscene and talking head content for the bulk of the video, but the clip includes some solid space combat towards the end too. Note that this unit has a screen mod that makes it really pop. You'd ordinarily need an Advance SP or original Nintendo DS to get a naturally lit up screen.
Handheld gameplay recording of Wing Commander: Prophecy (released in 2003) on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance (with IPS screen mod) without commentary.

Action Stations Observations Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

I noticed a detail I’d never picked up on in Action Stations! The book is a prequel about the start of the Kilrathi war that’s strongly based on Pearl Harbor (and At Dawn We Slept in particular).

The Kilrathi are preparing to attack Confed’s major base at McAuliffe. Earth dispatches orders to Vega to go on a war footing, but a series of random occurrences delay them from getting there until the battle is joined.
The first of these is that the officer delivering the pouch to the courier ship misses the hand off as he’s trying to appease his angry date, Nancy.
Chapters and more delays later the pouch finally arrives with Admiral Long at McAuliffe… who ignores it because his wife is furious over gossip regarding her friend… Nancy!
So who is this woman who inadvertently doomed trillions to slavery and death? I have my suspicions.
(For the record my mom is also named Nancy and she would betray Earth to help cats in a minute.)
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LOAF

Take a Swim With the Sharks Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

SHARK MOUTHS! Although most famously applied to the Flying Tigers' Warhawks, pilots started painting fierce faces on their aircraft during the first World War... and it continues to this day! So today let's see how that tradition continues through the 27th (and 28th) Century...

Wing Commander's very first shark mouth isn't even human: Prince Thrakhath's Bloodfang fighter has one in both the Wing Commander II demo and when redesigned for Wing Commander II itself.
The first human shark mouth we see is the Arrow in Wing Commander Armada which soon after appeared with a similar livery in Wing Commander III...
Wing Commander IV drops them entirely but they return in Wing Commander Arena! All three Arrow types (Scout, Eclipse, Guardian) have them, which is some attention to detail given you can't really see them in a top down game.
Wing Commander III also gives us the Thunderbolt VII. We see an ensharkened Thunderbolt in the CCG, too!
Wolfpack Squadron on the Midway puts their shark mouths in a unique place, on their Vampires' rotating engines!
Civilians like them, too! Privateer's Centurion breaks the Gemini system's unspoken very gray ship rule to sneak in an appropriate shark mouth.
In the Tri-System, the Kiowa pirate clan paints faces on their ships. Here's the Leighat and the Vector sporting them.
And I suppose the Skull also technically counts! Unless those teeth are just a coincidence.
Finally, honorable mention to this Kalrechi scheme seen in previews for Privateer 2. which has... uh... the Joker? A vampire? on its nose? Can you think of any others?
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LOAF

Krant and Firekkan Fighters Reintroduced to Wing Leader Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've got two Wing Leader ships today for the price of one! Howard Day has made major refinements to both his Krant and Firekkan 'Valtar' design. Both have extremely spiffy new cockpit art for display in the project's rolling demo. Pay close attention to the Kilrathi fighter and you'll see specially designed kat claws and articulated legs, not to mention cockpit damage. There's now a very nice lineup of alien ships in the game!
Got the Kilrathi Wingleader cockpits with legs and dual joysticks hooked up! Looks pretty cool, IMHO. Enjoy!

Spanish WC RPG Under Construction Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Narrarrol is looking at making a Spanish language Wing Commander game in the M-Space RPG. There's not a ton of information available yet, but the base game looks like a pretty flexible framework that would allow for moddability with WC assets. There's also historically not been very many non-English role playing games out there, so we'd love to see some fans get together and figure this out! If this sounds like something up your alley, let Narrarrol know on Twitter.
Investing night hours in a space hunting card game with classic inspiration. KF-227 Salthi of the Kilrah Empire (or Kilrathi Empire) still under construction. #juegosderol #rol #ttrpg #mspace #wingcommander

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