AllTinker
1st Lieutenant
Hey all - I thought I'd post something about a project I've been chipping away at for quite a while now, which I've been calling Confederation.
Confederation is essentially a custom cross-platform engine which reads original data files from the Wing Commander (and Privateer) series - based on some of my own ("clean room") reverse engineering, but also of course the work of various members of the community over the years. I don't think there's any format left to figure out at this point, at least as far as this project is concerned...
My immediate goal (which may well still take a couple more years) is to fully re-implement Wing Commander 1 & 2, favouring making subtle improvements here and there over perfect accuracy. It's not the only motivating factor, but the main one is honestly the lack of speed limiting in DOS WC1/2... I can't deal with it anymore. I've tried modifying the original machine code in various ways, but without the source code I've given up on achieving what I want with the original engine. I've tried Kilrathi Saga, but that doesn't do it for me either.
In concert with rebuilding WC1/2, I've been working on a mission editor, not only to view/debug existing missions, but to create new ones; and new campaigns, including new cutscenes/dialogue and so on. The whole thing is built around a scripting system, so even before I open source it (which I plan to do), it should be possible to make very complex addons.
I'm also trying to make sure it can easily support new and/or replacement art - one of the many things I've been slowly working on are widescreen extensions of the WC1 art (supporting up to 21:9 currently). Keep in mind these are very much work-in-progress / in lieu of something better by a more skilled artist:
I've also been experimenting with building "wrap-around" versions of the cockpits, so they can give more of an impression of your head actually turning, rather than just snapping from view to view:
And I'm not sure if this is going anywhere or worth showing, but speaking of adding new stuff here's a rough sketch of a potential Firekkan Confed pilot (with original art reference on the left). I'm not sure if they'd wear something so similar to regular uniforms though (maybe?):
Here are some quick shots of the inbuilt content browser, just showing some ships from WC1-4 and Armada respectively:
![content-wc1-hornet.png content-wc1-hornet.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13178-8fd5ccfe443785ab8e519c79b9241707.jpg?hash=j9XM_kQ3ha)
![content-wc2-crossbow.png content-wc2-crossbow.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13179-5a71dbb80509e1ecc530150164076384.jpg?hash=WnHbuAUJ4e)
![content-wc3-arrow.png content-wc3-arrow.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13180-3bb47e127b8c3754d2240e837ff261bb.jpg?hash=O7R-EnuMN1)
![content-wc4-bearcat.png content-wc4-bearcat.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13181-f3972c0d33b80eb9870ee154efacf85c.jpg?hash=85csDTO4Dr)
![content-armada-dralthi.png content-armada-dralthi.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13182-737fb9614a5667fe0249ee5a51684402.jpg?hash=c3-5YUpWZ_)
I'm not quite ready to show actual gameplay, but for the sake of showing something in motion, here's a short vid of the OriginFX intro running in my engine (using inbuilt MT-32 emulation for the music).
Anywho, that's probably enough for now. Life and motivation-willing, I hope to have some gameplay to show "soon". Maybe some other things in the meantime. I dunno, if anyone cares please let me know!![Wink ;) ;)](/chatzone/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/wink.png)
Confederation is essentially a custom cross-platform engine which reads original data files from the Wing Commander (and Privateer) series - based on some of my own ("clean room") reverse engineering, but also of course the work of various members of the community over the years. I don't think there's any format left to figure out at this point, at least as far as this project is concerned...
My immediate goal (which may well still take a couple more years) is to fully re-implement Wing Commander 1 & 2, favouring making subtle improvements here and there over perfect accuracy. It's not the only motivating factor, but the main one is honestly the lack of speed limiting in DOS WC1/2... I can't deal with it anymore. I've tried modifying the original machine code in various ways, but without the source code I've given up on achieving what I want with the original engine. I've tried Kilrathi Saga, but that doesn't do it for me either.
In concert with rebuilding WC1/2, I've been working on a mission editor, not only to view/debug existing missions, but to create new ones; and new campaigns, including new cutscenes/dialogue and so on. The whole thing is built around a scripting system, so even before I open source it (which I plan to do), it should be possible to make very complex addons.
I'm also trying to make sure it can easily support new and/or replacement art - one of the many things I've been slowly working on are widescreen extensions of the WC1 art (supporting up to 21:9 currently). Keep in mind these are very much work-in-progress / in lieu of something better by a more skilled artist:
I've also been experimenting with building "wrap-around" versions of the cockpits, so they can give more of an impression of your head actually turning, rather than just snapping from view to view:
And I'm not sure if this is going anywhere or worth showing, but speaking of adding new stuff here's a rough sketch of a potential Firekkan Confed pilot (with original art reference on the left). I'm not sure if they'd wear something so similar to regular uniforms though (maybe?):
Here are some quick shots of the inbuilt content browser, just showing some ships from WC1-4 and Armada respectively:
![content-wc1-hornet.png content-wc1-hornet.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13178-8fd5ccfe443785ab8e519c79b9241707.jpg?hash=j9XM_kQ3ha)
![content-wc2-crossbow.png content-wc2-crossbow.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13179-5a71dbb80509e1ecc530150164076384.jpg?hash=WnHbuAUJ4e)
![content-wc3-arrow.png content-wc3-arrow.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13180-3bb47e127b8c3754d2240e837ff261bb.jpg?hash=O7R-EnuMN1)
![content-wc4-bearcat.png content-wc4-bearcat.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13181-f3972c0d33b80eb9870ee154efacf85c.jpg?hash=85csDTO4Dr)
![content-armada-dralthi.png content-armada-dralthi.png](https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/data/attachments/13/13182-737fb9614a5667fe0249ee5a51684402.jpg?hash=c3-5YUpWZ_)
I'm not quite ready to show actual gameplay, but for the sake of showing something in motion, here's a short vid of the OriginFX intro running in my engine (using inbuilt MT-32 emulation for the music).
Anywho, that's probably enough for now. Life and motivation-willing, I hope to have some gameplay to show "soon". Maybe some other things in the meantime. I dunno, if anyone cares please let me know!
![Wink ;) ;)](/chatzone/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/wink.png)