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Star*Soldier Gloss: Page 27
This is the Star*Soldier gloss for the first Dralthi page:
CONCEPT: This is another filler article, designed to make the magazine printable after some other more important addition (you'll find we took full advantage of the need to add three extra pages for each new one EA dictated). The general goal is to further connect Arena's setting to the Wing Commander continuity... with the most famous fighter known to man or cat. The silhouettes - in most cases we painted over a VDU image, although the movie Dralthi is new.
REFERENCES-
- "E. Vielto" - Eder from the Standoff project.
- "Dakar... Kamar... Ralar... Naukar" - An attempt to classify and explain the generic 'Kilrathi Capital Ship' shape used in many episodes of Wing Commander Academy. Note that the words are all similar to other Kilrathi ships of those classes.
- "ten complete hull redesigns... KF-100 Dralthi" - I wanted to leave as much room as possible for future retroactive Dralthi and so I've made the KF-100 (movie Dralthi) an older design that just doesn't have a numeral. Furthermore, the 'ten major redesigns' could mean that there are ten or eleven Dralthi at this point.
- "2521" - The date comes from the Terran Confederation Handbook, which says that it was over a century old when first contact took place. I gave it a few more years because I'm tired of introduction dates all ending in '4' (which happens because various ships are said to be X number of decades older than the start of the war or than Wing Commander I).
- "Wu, Varni and Mantu" - Former enemies of the Kilrathi as introduced in Action Stations, Action Stations and Fleet Action, respectively. These aren't in timeline order (... but I probably meant for them to be.)
- "first twenty years of the war" - Although I'm not a huge fan of 'then it just disappeared!', it seemed the most elegant sendoff for some of the movie technology.
- "four times the range... Epsilon Prima" - This has long been my justification for a separate movie Dralthi design. Paladin has a story in Wing Commander I about how intell didn't expect that the *new* Dralthi would have the range to strike Epsilon Prima. So presumably there were OLD Dralthi before the 'Dralthi' in Wing Commander I (which in turn was before the 'Dralthi Mk. II'... and so forth).
- "lend-lease" - This comes from the Wing Commander Academy episode "Lords of the Sky", where the Kilrathi are providing what seems to be WCI Dralthi to a primitive species.
- "Mk. II" - Note well this intentional oddity - the designations are not necessarily linear, to allow for future Dralthi-additions. I've included the "Mk." where it appears in continuity (II, VII) and left it out when it isn't used (III, IV, IX). Obviously, the problem with the Dralthi Mk. II is that it looks exactly like the Wing Commander I Dralthi... so it's hard to explain, on some level, why it would have an entirely new numeral when other changes don't get them (ie, weapons loadout changes between WC3, 4 and Prophecy).
- "built without ejection systems" - The jury is still out on this one. We're told this in Secret Missions 2 (about the Dralthi Mk. II) and it's become fan legend that Kilrathi don't eject... but we see them do it all the time. ALL the time, from Thrakhath to every single ship you shoot down in Wing Commander III. Some spinoffs, like the Handbook, adopt the line that the Kilrathi don't eject at all... so this is an attempt to explain that mess which doesn't quite wash itself (doesn't Hunter eject from a Dralthi II?). What I should have done here was noted that the KF-100 Dralthi didn't have an ejection system but that later models did - although human technology prevented man-sized ejection seats from being installed in the Dralthi II...)
- "Firekka" - References the events of Secret Missions 2.
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Update published on September 9, 2008. View all news from that day.
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Official news, fan projects and topics of particular interest to Wing Commander fans.
- Some Ship Viewer Sample Shots Shown
- 2012-05-24 -- BoH_Havoc is continuing to move forward with his online ship viewer based on feedback he's received so far. Here are some new prototype images with the TCS Concordia rendered in the program. Pretty neat!
- Destroyer Destined for Guard Duty
- 2012-05-23 -- Kevin Caccamo's Ralari has taken a huge leap since the last time we saw it. The model has been plated with nice metallic textures that don't overdo the look. Running lights, windows, powered engines and intake glow all add significantly to the presentation here too.
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- 2012-05-22 -- centaurianmudpig spotted a new PlaySF interview with the folks at GOG.com. They discuss the state of the space combat genre and the possibility of releasing expansion packs for Wing Commander games.
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- 2012-05-21 -- Here's a new Confed showcase of capships for the Enigma 2666 mod. Each ship's length and scale is still subject to some potential tweaking to sync better with fighters, but the current lineup is displayed below. The TCS Concordia is very far along the design path, as is the Gilgamesh.
- "Sir, if we spot this Fralthi, should we engage?"
- 2012-05-20 -- Now we go from Fralthra to Fralthi WIP images. CMDBob's latest design is a classic Kilrathi light carrier/cruiser. His model has real clean lines and an animated WC1-style set of textures.
- Fearsome Fralthra Filling In Fast
- 2012-05-19 -- Red Baron has started to texture Cybot's Fralthra, and it's quickly turning into quite a work of art. The color scheme already does a great job of evoking Wing Commander 2. He's also scaled a Jalkehi as a point of reference and imagined what the entire fighter complement of the ship might look like.
- Wing Commander Saga Download Reminder
- 2012-05-18 -- If you haven't yet downloaded the long-awaited fan game, now is as good a time as any to get your hands on a copy! The Windows installer weighs in at a hefty 3.4 gigabytes, so we recommend some kind of download manager that can resume paused or failed transfers.
- New RPG Kicks Off
- 2012-05-17 -- The TCS Phoenix has launched and the game has begun in the Wing Commander: From the Ashes forum-based RPG. Some of the first characters have already been defined, and action in the Pentonville System is now in motion. There is also an out-of-character area where new players can ask questions and get situated before they begin role playing.
- Vega Sector Reinforcements Inbound
- 2012-05-16 -- Here's a preview of new designs that Klavs is working to bring to the Shapeways model factory. If all goes according to plan, this foursome may be available in a future bundle pack together. It's an interesting assortment of ships - Rapier, Super Wing Commander Rapier, Scimitar and Dralthi - and they all look fantastic!
- Academy Just Two Weeks Away!
- 2012-05-15 -- Wingnuts now have less than 14 days to prepare for the release of Wing Commander Academy on DVD! All thirteen episodes of the television series will be available in this set starting on May 29, 2012. Barnes & Noble and Deep Discount have some of the lowest prices, and there's still time to order from Amazon.
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- 2012-05-15 -- And to further get you in the Academy mood, here's another beautiful NinjaLA sketch. The CF-105 Scimitar was the workhorse of the cadets flying off the Tiger's Claw, and soon you'll get to watch them again in the new high quality release!
- Exotic Designs Hit the Spacelanes
- 2012-05-14 -- ScoobyDoo has put together several more concept renders inspired by a variety of sources. The first is a medium size capship with fighter-carrying ability, and it's followed by a beefier looking take on the Bearcat. The last design is a more unique idea that mixes Wing Commander elements with a Freespace ship.
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- 2012-05-13 -- Here's a big update for the Enigma 2666 mod. A handful of new pictures show off where the game is at today. Four different capship classes are pictured near a large Confed base, and all the fighters sport updated textures.
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- 2012-05-13 -- The world's biggest website dedicated to the Crusader series, Echo Sector, has gotten a big revamp. New features include a streamlined menu interface and increased security. Not all of the links work yet, but more features will come online soon.
- Va ka Garga ka naru ha Garga
- 2012-05-12 -- NinjaLA has sketched a new fearsome Kilrathi. With his latest warrior, Ninja has done a good job of introducing menacing facial features, and this sinister look goes beyond just drawing a humanoid tiger. The armor is inspired by the classic WC2 style with a WC Movie headpiece.
- Kilrathi Destroyer Continues to Take Shape
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- 2012-05-08 -- The WC Saga team has released the soundtrack to their Freespace mod. They are also working on a spinoff album based on George Oldziey's tunes from Wing Commander 3. You can grab the Darkest Dawn OST here (187 meg zip).
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- Don't Miss an Infoburst!
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- Glance at Mod's Gwynedd Mission
- 2012-05-01 -- Here's some new shots from the Enigma 2666 mod that show off a fighter launch, autopilot fly-by and ship size comparison. Sharp players will quickly recognize the familiar Broadsword/Ferret pairing from the Fralthra Strike at the beginning of WC2 - a very fun mission, if you can keep the Broadswords alive! Here I used the Confederation Class from Klavs and the converted Broadsword from Standoff.
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- 2012-04-30 -- Klavs has finished his Super Wing Commander Rapier, and the result is gorgeous. These ships are now off to a trial at Shapeways 'rapid prototyping' lab. If the design pans out, small physical resin copies may be available to order soon.
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