Wing One, Take Two (December 8, 2007)

Bandit LOAF

Long Live the Confederation!
Edx found something cool that we missed from quite a while back: a version of the Wing Commander I main theme updated by WC composer Dave Govett! The original 2003 thread where the piece was posted is available here. You can download the track here (1.4 mb, MP3). The artist says:
This is still a work in progress. I've done all I can on it until I get back from LA in a couple weeks. The march and the slow part are not hooked together yet so there is a small pause between them. I'm not done with it yet and that is only one mic position so the ambience will improve and I still have to work on some articulation. This is still in sketch and composition mode but I like the results with this kind of speed. Thomas helped me with a good techique to smooth out the brass and get the french horns to have more attack with out being so brutal. (right now I layered portato with staccato but instead I'll try portato and sustain.)
Unfortunately, Mr. Govett was unable to finish the project and The Fatman's Wing One album was recently released using the original versions (plus some awesome extras.) Maybe someday!

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Original update published on December 8, 2007
 
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Wow, this is... really, really good. A crying shame there isn't more; I'd've loved to have heard him do the scramble music with this updated sound palette.
 
Wow, very nice.

Is Mr. Govett still working on it, or has it become "abandonware?" Its been 4 years, but who knows...he might be doing it as a side project.
 
Really perfect. I hope there's more out there somewhere.
 
Wow, very nice.

Is Mr. Govett still working on it, or has it become "abandonware?" Its been 4 years, but who knows...he might be doing it as a side project.

In all likelyhood it sounds like he abandoned it, as he is not apparently a police officer... But it would be nice if he did some more work on it after he posted this track. Thats all we could hope for, unless he is so moved by our responce that he decides start again. Fingers crossed :)
 
Is Mr. Govett still working on it, or has it become "abandonware?"

There is no such thing as abandonware. Put it out of your head.

I got an email back from Linda Law (she knows nothing) but am still waiting for Dave to email me back about all this.
 
There is no such thing as abandonware. Put it out of your head.

I got an email back from Linda Law (she knows nothing) but am still waiting for Dave to email me back about all this.

Well, if you want to be picky, there is no legally recognized idea of abandonware, but people generally understand what the term means: Software that the creator has stopped working on and has no interest on continuing to work on. What most people forget is that copyright law is still in full force, so it can't be legally used without a proper license.

Although its a moot point in this context because it really only applies to software not music. Both reasons why I put the word in quotes: 1. Its a colloquial term, 2. I was using it as a metaphor.

I'm glad to hear that you have some contact with Mr. Govett (first name basis FTW!) I hope you get a positive answer.
 
...people generally understand what the term means: Software that the creator has stopped working on and has no interest on continuing to work on.

I've always understood that abandoneware means pirated software that only crusty old retro nerds want. The whole lack of support riff is BS coined by those retro software pirates (just like the term itself) that only they believe.
 
Software that the creator has stopped working on and has no interest on continuing to work on.

Actually, Abandonware is any software / game whose creating company / publisher has closed its doors and no longer exists. It is not an IP that a publisher / developer has decided to stop working on, IE, Wing Commander (before Arena).

It's difficult to find true abandonware. In many cases, the rights return to the creator - such is the case with a game like Another World / Out of this World. Delphine no longer exists, but the creator, Eric Chahi, has released a collector's edition and now supports the new version.
 
Well, if you want to be picky, there is no legally recognized idea of abandonware, but people generally understand what the term means

People who know it doesn't exist and insisit on using the term anyway to justify stealing are people that need to have the blade of a shovel driven into their skull.
 
It does exist. You'll just be hard-pressed to find any from the last 10-15 years. The Atari / Commodore era of 8-bit gaming is full of Abandonware. Alley Cats, Necromancer, etc - a lot of games from that time had publishers that totally disbanded, or self-marketted games that never picked up. Synapse, for instance, was a sole proprietership, and the owner died.

Still, the funny thing that people assume about Abandonware is that the software is public domain. It is not. Things like that take decades after the fate of its creator to become public domain, unless released as open-source.
 
Actually, Abandonware is any software / game whose creating company / publisher has closed its doors and no longer exists. It is not an IP that a publisher / developer has decided to stop working on, IE, Wing Commander (before Arena).

I'm inclined to agree with this, although I would never have considered Wing Commander abandonware. By "Stop working on, and has no interest in continuing to work on." I meant that they completely stopped caring about a project. I will admit that this is a bit ridiculous for commercial products, but I was thinking more in terms of Internet projects such as apps, mods, and programs that the creators have given up on. For commercial software the term is usually closer to what you said, since you never know when a company will restart work on a product or franchise.

It's difficult to find true abandonware. In many cases, the rights return to the creator - such is the case with a game like Another World / Out of this World. Delphine no longer exists, but the creator, Eric Chahi, has released a collector's edition and now supports the new version.

I guess you would call that "unabandonware." (I think I just coined a new internet term).

LeHah said:
People who know it doesn't exist and insisit on using the term anyway to justify stealing are people that need to have the blade of a shovel driven into their skull.

I've never heard anyone use the term "abandonware" to justify theft. Copyright infringement (Civil) all the time, but never theft (Criminal).

BTW LeHah, could I ask why your so...uh...passionate on the subject?
 
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