News Collection: On This Day in WC News

2025.015 (January 15, 2025)

Intel Poster Preservation

Here's a short but fascinating followup to our article on the partnership between Origin and Intel: st3lt3k added that an Internet Archive contributor named Star Raider has uploaded beautiful scans of all five of the 1994 CES posters! Origin wasn't promoting Wing Commander at the time but these is artwork worth studying nonetheless...

2024.015 (January 15, 2024)

SNES WC1 Review Unearthed from N-Force

AD found this nifty review way back in the February 1993 issue of N-Force magazine. It's more than thirty years old, and everything from color choices to the hair style of the reviewer confirms its age. You can tell they had a lot of fun putting this spread together, which is why I'm surprised it only got an 84. They also ran a contest that gave away free copies of the game and other associated merch, which is pretty cool!

2023.015 (January 15, 2023)

Google Play Store Finally Adds Freedom Flight Ebook

We've got good news for completionists today! From early 2016 through mid 2018, the full lineup of Baen Wing Commander novels was released in digital form. And nowadays you take it for granted that you can just carry all this amazing content around in your pocket wherever you go, but it was quite a saga to get there. The CIC team and many others lobbied Baen for 15+ years to get a digital release for the series.

2022.015 (January 15, 2022)

Tangy Gets the Last Word

I'm not a Wordle player, so I can't claim to understand what's going on here, but LOAF has this historical WC nugget to share with Wordist Wingnuts everywhere. Yesterday's word was 'Tangy', which is a term with some associated Wing Commander trivia to it! Saturday everywhere! So Origin’s Wing Commander Secret Ops page in 1998 included this screenshot that got fans talking.

2021.015 (January 15, 2021)

Frank Savage Talks Strike Commander, Wing Commander 3 and More

Fabien Sanglard has posted a great podcast interview with former Origin programmer Frank Savage. The main purpose of the conversation was to learn more about Strike Commander, but there's also wonderful information about Origin as a company, the technology of Wing Commander 3 and Mr. Savage's later work on Xbox. The whole recording close in at more than 70 minutes, but there's also a transcript you can skim to get the gist of it.

2020.015 (January 15, 2020)

Cargo Haul: Australian Kilrathi Saga Edition

After many years of admiring from afar, I finally added a copy of the Australian Wing Commander Kilrathi Saga to my collection. It's essentially the same game as the North American edition, but there are some nice cosmetic differences. I knew it had a spiral bound 'yearbook' manual, but I didn't expect the paper to be different. It has a softer and almost newsprint feel compared to more common glossy pages.

2019.015 (January 15, 2019)

Academy Script: Walking Wounded

As promised, a second Wing Commander Academy episode is now available! Today's script covers episode nine, "Walking Wounded." The episode starts with a cut scene that was intended to better establish Maniac's character for the episode, a scene taken from Wing Commander IV where he uncomfortably hits on a new Tiger's Claw bridge officer. You'll find everything from confirmation that the long-suspected captured Confederation ship design is intended to be a Sabre to the names of the doctors and nurses aboard the hospital ship!

2018.015 (January 15, 2018)

Vega Super Star Back In Action

DefianceIndustries is back from a well deserved holiday break with a slick new wallpaper image. It features a cool new Rapier model first teased last October. This is the variant featured in Super Wing Commander and Arena, so it's a bit more flat and round than DOS or GOG players might be familiar with. It's great to see some of the lesser known ships pop up now and then!

2017.015 (January 15, 2017)

Flat Universe Recruiting Pilots For Multiplayer Test

2016.015 (January 15, 2016)

Top 10 Countdown Laments Wing Commander's Absence

Forum members Afrim and Delance wrote in to report that a WatchMojo video features a nice Wing Commander mention. WatchMojo is a YouTube entertainment channel that produces "top ten" videos on a daily basis. Their video on the Top 10 Discontinued Video Game Series has a concise segment on Wing Commander, ranking it at number three, after Command & Conquer and Crash Bandicoot. For a 40-second segment, it gives a pretty good overview of the series, from the successes of the 90s to the 1999 feature film, and ending with Arena for Xbox Live Arcade in 2007.

2015.015 (January 15, 2015)

Throwback Thursday: The Rebel Assault Movie

Wingnuts do tons of great things each year, but whatever happens to the fan projects that don't quite make it to release? A number have gone by the wayside over the years, and the CIC archives go all the way back to 1998 (or further!) so there's a few loose ends out there. Phoenix dropped in to tie one up with the story of the Wing Commander Rebel Assault fan movie that was in work nearly fifteen years ago.

2014.015 (January 15, 2014)

Russian WC4 Translation In Development

ginger_tigra has kicked off an ambitious effort to translate Wing Commander 4 into Russian. It adds subtitles to cutscenes and revised interface text to the DVD version of WC4. The CD version can be upgraded to the DVD version via the DVD upgrade patch so it's compatible too. These upgrades do not yet work with the GOG edition of WC4, although tigra is hopeful that this could be possible in the future.

2013.015 (January 15, 2013)

WC Mod Adds Turret Gunner Position

There's a new batch of screenshots for the Last Line of Defense mod. Deathsnake has posted a picture that shows off the ability to play from the capship turret perspective, which is a fairly novel feature for a Wing Commander game. There are also updated looks at a Gettysburg class cruiser and beefed up destroyer. They certainly have plenty of turrets to man!

2012.015 (January 15, 2012)

Wing Commander Armada Taken to the Tabletop

capi3101's latest role-playing project is an exciting "pen and paper" translation of Wing Commander Armada! The setup is fun and easy: players can use any Wing Commander sector for their battle. Gameplay pieces are comprised of capi's printable WC tokens and several dice. The rules have been summarized at the wikia WCRPG page here, and a printable rules PDF is also available at the CIC Forums.

Last Week to Vote

The voting period is starting to wind down, but it's not too late to make a difference! This is the last week to vote for nominees of the CIC's annual Fan Project & Web Site of the Year awards, and results will be posted next weekend. Head over to the voting page if you haven't cast your vote yet! Fan Projects of the Year Enigma 2666 began as a remake of Wing Commander 2, but has evolved into its own fledgling campaign.

2011.015 (January 15, 2011)

Frontier Story Moving Forward

Last month lew82 asked if he should continue making new chapters in the Frontier - Prelude to Darkness series or devote time to the high definition/quality remake. The response was overwhelming tilted towards continuing the story, so that's the direction the movie will go next. Chapter 1 (Part 1 & 2) will be released in HD before long, but for now, work on Chapter 14 continues. Here's a behind-the-scenes shot of character animation in progress.

Last Chance to Vote

Winners in our annual contests will be announced in the next day or so, so now's your last chance to vote! If you were undecided before, head over to the voting page and make up your mind. There are lots of deserving nominees, and it's hard to just pick one in each category! Wingnuts can now vote for one pick in each category: Fan Project and Web Site of the Year.

2010.015 (January 15, 2010)

Conceptual Firekkan Ship Becomes Paper Model

RapierDragon's latest paper spacecraft is a design inspired by Firekkan Valtar built for Wing Commander Collateral Damage. He's put quite a few hours into the model so far, and it's quickly taken shape. The pictures below show the progression from engine pods to major subassemblies with vertical fins and finally a completed body. A canopy and finishing touches are all that's missing below.

2009.015 (January 15, 2009)

Visit Your Aunt Ella

The pilots of the Cerberus have gotten away from the enemy forces in Courage, and they now find themselves under attack in the Ella System. This second week of the Secret Ops Community Replay brings a tough set of missions, as Wingnuts will have to keep both their carrier and the Ella Starbase in one piece. Read this update if you still need to download and install Secret Ops. The game recently became entirely free again.

Checking Up On Invasion: Day 3

These shots of Wing Commander Invasion each highlight a major capital ship that should look familair from earlier in the week. Each image is posed in the Star Wars Empire at War engine. A Confederation, Yorktown & Behemoth hang in space near some interesting background objects. You can read more on the mod's progress and post feedback over at Crius.

2008.015 (January 15, 2008)

Das Erwachen Stille Printing Soon

Deacan has firmed up the details for a printing of his second German Privateer 2-themed fan novel, Das Erwachen Stille. The book price is approximately 16 Euros, which is the break-even point for printing costs. Printing should begin in about a week, so the best time to order is within the next couple days. There's no need to hold off if you're missing the first title in the series either, since Deacan is trying hard to reprint Das Erwachen Sturm by this spring.

Point of Origin: Vol. IV, No. 53

The promised 1994 'Valentines Day' issue of Point of Origin doesn't have much romance... but it does profile one past and one future Wing Commander developer. All in all, though, 1994 seems pretty quiet - with all the talk about Bioforge and Super Wing Commander, there's little to suggest the sheer size of currently-simmering Wing Commander III. A very special thanks to Joe Garrity of the Origin Museum for making this resource available and to Electronic Arts for sending them to him in the first place!

2007.015 (January 15, 2007)

Ascii Sector Gameplay Videos Released

Last week we reported on a 16-color, text-based version of Privateer, Ascii Sector. Now Chris Knudsen has recorded a few gameplay movies for us. These were made by pointing a video camera at the computer screen, so the quality suffers a bit, but they give you a good idea of what this unusual game engine is like. What do you think of the jump effect in the third clip?

Space Sim First Look: Tomorrow War: Factor K

akula65 noticed that 1C and Crioland have announced a sequel to Tomorrow War called Factor K. The story picks up shortly after the original left off and follows the popular science fiction novel series by Alexander Zoric. Interface enhancements and gameplay tweaks will be implemented along with various graphical improvements. New ships, locations and characters will be present, and a ship viewer will be included this time.

2006.015 (January 15, 2006)

Get Inside Pioneer's Camel

Howard Day has released pictures of the inside of WC Pioneer's Camel fighter. The ship is a fancy craft suited for upscale pilots who like to carry out their business in style. It has a luxurious cockpit to match, although the combat capabilities available will be somewhat lacking. Howie has made some fancy Quicktime VR 3D files for fans to check out.

Pioneer Adds Style To Loading

Howard Day has been continuing work on some load screens for the WC Pioneer project. In addition to the original four, he has now added another screen to the collection, and also a modified version of a previous design. The brand new load screen (second image below) depicts an Orion and a Tarsus tractoring in cargo pods from amongst the wreckage of another ship. Once again, if you have any design suggestions you should visit this thread.

2005.015 (January 15, 2005)

SFX Gets Early Movie Preview

Last month we brought you an article from the August 1999 (#54) issue of SFX, which was about a visit to the set of the WC movie. Now we have scans from the August 1998 (#41) issue which contained an early preview of the movie. Throughout they seem to be under the impression that Matthew Lillard plays Blair, but otherwise it's a very interesting read. The full size scans range from 1.

Holding The Line Chapter 198

Raptor has sent through the first HTL chapter of 2005, and it sounds unsuitable for children. I'll let Raptor explain. Hey all, Raptor here I believe you should always start a new year the way you mean to carry it on. In that vein, the first chapter of HTL's sixth and final year is a brutal and blood soaked tale.

2004.015 (January 15, 2004)

New Wing Commander Fan RPG Pops Up

Antman has opened a new RPG for Wing Commander fans to participate in. They have focused on three reference points to focus on: the Panama Wargames, the Gemini Conflict and K'Tithrak Mang. They have done some preliminary setting up at their forums here. This role playing game allows people to pose as characters and ship who play their positions across the various forums.

New Space Plan Officially Announced

As we mentioned last week, yesterday President Bush outlined a new set of objectives in space. Not content with orbiters and rovers, the new plan outlines a replacement for the space shuttle and the construction of a moon test base to prepare for visiting Mars. More than merely policy goals, Bush's announcement asks for billions of dollars of extra money to fund this program. Details on the announcement can be found at the NASA website.

Filler Finds Filler

Filler stumbled across what may be the "earliest Luke Skywalker sighting." Four years before Star Wars and twenty-one years before Mark Hamill took up the mantle of Colonel Christopher Blair, he was interviewed for a small magazine fact file. His name is mark Hamill and you asked to know more about him after his dynamite appearance on "Owen Marshall, Counselor At Law." Now, for the first time, here are the facts on groovy Mark!

2003.015 (January 15, 2003)

Amazon Adds Prophecy Advance to Catalog

US residents can pre-order Prophecy Advance from Amazon for $29.99. They list a February 20 release date, while many other stores have decided on late January. Only time will tell, as Destination still hasn't given us a definite release date.

Upcoming CGI Film Seeks Voice Actors

CamW asked if we could pass this around: Raiders - The upcoming CGI film based in the Wing Commander Universe, now has a new home! It's now located at: http://www.theartofwu.ca/...

WCPolaroids: Patricia Drake (5/7)

A track had to be put in so an ageing Blair could be pushed around the Midway in a cart.

2002.015 (January 15, 2002)

Ralgha is a Good Turtle

Here's something you don't see every day: the box for the FM Towns edition of Wing Commander, complete with amazing new art! Interesting that the Japanese use actual WC ship designs, whereas the novel covers do not... if you have any information about Japanese Wing Commander titles, please contact us immediately.

Russians Achieve Victory!... Streak

Black Joker of Wing Commander in Russia has put online a web based copy of Victory Streak (the WC3 manual), to serve the same purpose as TC's interactive Claw Marks. You can check it out here.

2001.015 (January 15, 2001)

Trivia 3 Week 12

Time for Week 12 of CIC/agwc trivia. You can find the new questions below, andall previous scores here! Best of luck...Welcome to Game Three, Week Twelve Trivia.

UE Up Against The Wall

Unknown Enemy has posted a fantastic new wallpaper, done by noted Wing Commander 3D artist Rylex. The UE site also reports that Locke is now working on mission 7a/b and that PopsiclePete is working on simulator missions and preparing to begin work on mission 6.

2000.015 (January 15, 2000)

All Nice And Pretty

Richard Bowden dropped us a note to say that he has completely redesigned Peter Telep's Wing Commander site. It is now even easier to navigate!

ETA: Two days

It's not long now until the WC Movie is available to rent in the UK, so now reviews are starting to appear. Here's one from today's copy of The Sun newspaper: WING COMMANDER (PG): The hit computer game has been turned into a special-effects adventure that is sure to keep children more than happy on a miserable winter's day. It is set in 2564 and Earth is caught in a brutal war with the Kilarthi, a vicious, bloodthirsty alien race. They have captured a computer which they are planning to use to jump behind enemy lines and destroy the planet.

Oh, What A Performance!

Says Lucy Stultus. Mums! Are your offspring driving you beyond the levels of socially-permitted abnormal behaviour with their petulance and whining? Don't you just wish that there was a wholesome and cheap form of entertainment could divert their hyperactive minds for more than three minutes?

1999.015 (January 15, 1999)

The Clock Is Ticking

There is less than one day left to play Week Eight of CIC Trivia. The new Service Ribbons (the first one for 100 Points) will be awarded this week. Get your answers in before Sunday (1/17) to be eligible for Week Eight. Check out the Trivia here.