Strike Commander Strikes Back (in VR!)

There's some pretty exciting news from Remi Leonard's libRealSpace project, an attempt to recreate the RealSpace engine originally built for Strike Commander as an open source platform. They've released a new build of Strike Commander with VR support just in time for 2026! Check out the video below which seems just about perfect.

RealSpace was created for Strike Commander and the game's "virtual cockpit" mode actually lends itself to VR very easily. Pacific Strike and Wings of Glory also had this feature and WoG actually supported 1996-vintage headsets like the VFX-1! But even more exciting, RealSpace was the engine for Wing Commander Armada, III and IV so we can dream about this somehow being adapted to our favorite series. You can download the build here.

Privateer Article Half Arsed

Condé Nast's longtime tech news website Ars Technica has published an article on, of all things, Wing Commander Privateer! It's a short--and to our ears accurate--look back at the game and how it managed to pull of something very special that still hasn't quite been repeated in the genre. Don't expect a detailed history or any shocking news (they're ultimately just trying to collect GOG affiliate sales) but it's nice to see the game celebrated... and thanks the prominence of the outlet there's already been a lot of chatter about Privateer on social media!

Reminder: #Wingnut Movie Night Tonight!

This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that are referenced by Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is Class of Beverly Hills (1990), the pilot film that kicked off Beverly Hills 90210, and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here. The movie will start at 7 PM PST/10 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time!

After Action Report: Arcadia of My Youth

We had some anime superfans in the audience for Arcadia of My Youth but we also had a lot of people who had never seen any anime at all ever. The former knew what to expect and I think everyone else was surprised. From the opening Goethe quote it was was clear this was going to be a serious space opera and not frivolous sex and violence. Just what Wing Commander fans want!

Here's Captain Harlock's distinctive skull logo as seen very, very briefly on Wing Commander Academy!

And here's a great example of how Tim Eldred's Wing Commander Academy storyboards were often inspired by shots from classic anime:

Happy New Year!

It's stardate 2026.001 which means that we would like to wish the Wing Commander community a very happy new year! Sadly, the time has come to once again put away your Kilrathi Saga 1997 calendar... you won't be able to use it again until 2031! Despite this setback, we're hopeful that 2026 will be a better year for both Wing Commander and our enduring family of fans.

It goes without saying that we're moving closer to the Wing Commander timeline every day: it's just 603 years until (the official) first contact with the Kilrathi! And we're just 56 years to the day from… the Mongolian invasion of China? That's what Action Stations says, anyway!:

Washington did it at the Battle of Trenton and turned the tide of the American Revolution. Sure, the British and Hessians screamed foul, but it brought victory. The Arab states did nearly the same thing in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, and the Mongols did it in their Chinese New Year strike of 2082.

New Year, New Poll!

Chip Bits

We spotted a tantalizing reference to the lost console port of Wing Commander II. The March 1994 issue of German magazine Mega Fun has a short article about the upcoming Sega Virtual Processor chip... which mentions that Electronic Arts plans to use a similar chip with Wing Commander II for the Genesis. That project was cancelled over technical issues and not much is known about the special chip! The project was then completed internally for the SNES but never released!

Sega Virtual Processor

Virtual Racing will be the first MD game with a built-in additional chip (March). Sega's Virtual Processor (SVP) is also planned to be released separately in the future. The other games that use the chip will then simply be plugged in like with an import adapter. Electronic Arts is also working on a game with a co-processor: Wing Commander 2. However, the chip is not from Sega, but from ASICS. Argonaut Software, meanwhile, is working on the successor to the SFX chip for Nintendo. Who will ultimately win the race...

Last Chance for Year End Wing Commander Discounts

Wing Commander Movie Night: Class of Beverly Hills

For next week (and the week after), the club voted to do something a little different: we're going to kick off the year by looking at two very different TV pilot movies from the 1990s. This next week will be Class of Beverly Hills, the 1990 pilot for Beverly Hills 90210 and next week will be Babylon 5's The Gathering telefilm. If you're old enough to remember 1990 then you might recall the 90210 pilot kicking off the cool, brightly colored California summer vibe often associated with the era. It'll be fun to see how it holds up! You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

Our Wing Commander connection here is pretty odd: one of the pre-slugged high scores in the TrainSim in Wing Commander I was… "BRAIN 90210". Is this a reference to one of the multiple Brians on the core Super Wing Commander team? Or the character of Brian on 90210? We'll find out!

We also have a couple of Wing Commander-adjacent actors! Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders) would go on to play the lead Edison Trent in Chris Roberts' Freelancer… and Luke Perry (Dylan) would eventually voice Sub Zero in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm… which crossed over with Wing Commander Academy! Now that's a stretch.

Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?

Class of Beverly Hills is available to purchase on the standard streaming services. It is typically listed as episode one and two of the first season of Beverly Hills 90210. It is currently streaming on Paramount+ in the United States. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing.

How do we watch the movie together?

It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Friday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the film in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should bring their own copy and we will count down to play them together at 10 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!

How can I help pick future movie club movies?

The movie club movies are voted on each week by the Wing Commander Discord. The poll is typically posted 24 hours before each week's screening and the next movie is announced at the end. The choices for the poll come from a master pool of Wing Commander-related movies. If you would like to suggest a film for inclusion in that pool you can post it to this thread.

Count Snaps Back

We only just reported on their Bearcat and CountvonSchnaps is already back with two more classic takes on Wing Commander ships... this time the Dralthi and the Krant from the original game! That's right, they've gone furball. I'll always argue in favor of two cockpits for the Krant... but these are still pretty wonderful. Enjoy!

Wing Commander II: Dralthi (DeviantArt)

Another Wing Commander design and this time a Kilrathi design! Again thanks has to go out to Shoguneagle for commissioning me to make another iconic design.

The Dralthi medium fighter has seen many iterations during its long service history. The one depicted here is an early Mk I version. Armed with two laser cannons, 2x missile hardpoints and a mine launcher.

The Dralthi can be found at all frontlines during the Kilrathi-Terran war and was the most numerous medium fighter produced during the whole war.

Wing Commander II: KF402 - Krant (DeviantArt)

The second Wing Commander Kilrathi design made possible thanks to Shoguneagle for commissioning me not one but two iconic designs.

The Krant is like the Dralthi a medium fighter but is more capable as a light bomber then being a fighter. Armed with two laser cannons and 4x missile hardpoints or two Torpedo mounts.

When armed with the torpedoes the Krant is different compared to the regular doctrine of the Kilrathi Navy in that it will run when delivering its payload to re-arm instead of pressing the attack with its dual lasers.

Hope people like my view of the ship. Like the catamaran hull but lost the other cockpit in favor for additional sensors.

Print Your Own Fleet!

Isn't it great finding Wing Commander in the wild? I recently came across a BlueSky post from Tyrel Lohr about a 3D model they've been working on of a Dorkathi!

Finally, I also started on a version of the Kilrathi Dorkathi Transport from Wing Commander 2. The fins are not 100% perfect, and I had to ad lib a few details, but I think it mostly works.

Even better, though, tt turns out Tyrel Lohr has been building entire fleets! They build 3D-printable models of sci-fi ships that they offer on Cults. They've already build a host of fighters and capital ships from Wing Commander I and II for both the Confederation and the Kilrathi. Most are completely free and the most expensive is just a few dollars. If you pick one up, we'd love to see how it prints!