Wing Commander related material at the Internet Archive

BrynS · 02-06-2005, 13:08

I was using the Wayback Machine over at the Internet Archive a couple of weeks back and noticed that amongst the Archive's various sections there is one dedicated to Computer Chronicles, which I'm sure that some or perhaps many of you will remember was a television programme (broadcast from 1983 to 2002) covering general purpose computing -- it's sister show was called Net Cafe'. I believe it was quite widely syndicated in the US and in many other countries.

The Computer Chronicles section seems to be in the process of archiving and uploading the show's episodes (available in number of compression formats) for streaming and offline viewing, as when browsing archived episodes by year, it is apparent that specific years are absent. With this in mind I set about searching the existing archives for any related Wing Commander video clips and material.

So far, I've managed to locate three segments containing references (I think the episodes concerned were uploaded at various points during the past 10 months or so), namely an interview with George Sanger AKA The Fat Man, a gameplay overview of WC3 with Mark Day and a brief gameplay overview of WC2. I would think it fairly probable that additional Wing Commander related material may surface as the back library of Computer Chronicles episodes is uploaded to the archive, given the period covered by the show, i.e. 1983-2002. So, IMO it would be worth checking up on this portion of the Archive every few months!

Anyway, below are the links to the episodes concerned, as well as two versions (Full Resolution and Half Resolution) of the specific Wing Commander related segment on that episode.

All segments are encoded using Xvid -- for the latest stable Xvid binary go here. Alternatively, you can use the DivX Codec amongst others. If using IE6, the usual right-click and "Save Target As" procedure will download the files or if using Mozilla/FireFox, right-click and "Save Link To Disk" to download.

Computer Chronicles: Space and Astronomy Software Episode Production No: 946
http://www.archive.org/movies/detail...id=episode_946

Wing Commander 2 Segment

WC2 Half Resolution (320x240 Xvid, 2m:00s) 7.82MB

WC2 Full Resolution (640x480 Xvid, 2m:00s) 31.3MB

Computer Chronicles: Greatest Computer Games Episode Production No: 1218
http://www.archive.org/movies/detail...greatest_games

George Sanger, AKA The Fat Man Segment

Fatman Half Resolution (320x240 Xvid, 3m:00s) 10.4MB

Fatman Full Resolution (640x480 Xvid, 3m:01s) 46.1MB

Wing Commander 3 Segment with Mark Day

WC3 Half Resolution (320x240 Xvid, 3m:40s) 13.0MB

WC3 Full Resolution (640x480 Xvid, 3m:44s) 58.6MB

Enjoy!

BrynS

BrynS · 02-06-2005, 13:15

I also noticed these Wing Commander game previews while searching through the Archive for other Wing Commander related materials. They are in the Videogame Previews section -- a collection of more than 2,200 custom-created videos from the period 1993-2004. The two major sources of content for this collection were the Video Pipeline website, which provided previews to retailers and distributers for promotional purposes and Kikizo.com, a UK-based games website that has been archiving games-related footage for a while.

VIDEO GAME PREVIEWS
http://www.archive.org/movies/collec...=videogameprev

WING COMMANDER TRAILERS

1. WING COMMANDER: SECRET MISSIONS

5.5MB WM8 - To download go here

2. WING COMMANDER ACADEMY

4.0MB WM8 - To download go here

3. WING COMMANDER ARMADA

3.6MB WM8 - To download go here

4. WING COMMANDER III: HEART OF THE TIGER

7.9MB WM8 - To download go here

Enjoy!

BrynS

Bandit LOAF · 02-06-2005, 13:33

Hehehe -- that's awesome, thanks. Good old Mark Day!

BrynS · 02-06-2005, 13:37

Loaf, do you know if he' s still working for EA or has he moved on?

Cheers,

BrynS

Bandit LOAF · 02-06-2005, 14:18

He's no longer with EA. After Prophecy he started Daylight Productions, which did the WCIV and WCP DVDs... and then they were sold to a French company and he moved on again.

Edfilho · 02-07-2005, 05:42

Did he get rid of that Mullet???

Great stuff. I'm downloading the whole thing.

TopGun · 02-08-2005, 13:23

Thanks for the links

Edx · 02-12-2005, 13:36

man their general midi sounds were crappy back then eh?

Ed

Edx · 02-12-2005, 13:47

Why do people keep thinking the Fat Man did Wing 3 music!

Ed

BrynS · 02-12-2005, 18:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edx

Why do people keep thinking the Fat Man did Wing 3 music!

Ed

Well, at least as far as the above Fat Man segment is concernced, the narration does not specifically refer to Wing Commander 3, just Wing Commander, i.e. the series, although the corresponding graphic sequence at that point in the narration is from a scene in Wing Commander 3 (Scramble Take-off sequence), which could be misleading to the casual viewer.

I would have thought that a possible reason for the inclusion of a WC3 scene (instead of WC1 or WC2) as a point of reference regarding the Fat Man's Wing Commander association could be due to the editors of Computer Chronicles having access to related footage for a different segment airing in that same episode, i.e. the WC3 overview with Mark Day -- it was probably easier for them to use a bit of that footage than search through their film archive for any footage of WC1 or WC2 (which they do have).

As to why there is a more general perception that the Fat Man did the Wing 3 music as well -- I don't know.

I think that George Oldziey did a great job with the Wing Commander 3 music in particular. I hope he gets round to resampling and/or compiling his various Wing Commander creations in his updated home studio!

Cheers,

BrynS

Wedge009 · 02-16-2005, 06:30

That particular segment, the WC3 scramble, uses the music from the WC1/2 take-off sequences which was composed by the Fat Man.

02-06-2005, 13:08	#1
BrynS Mr Kat says... Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: TCS Victory Posts: 481	Wing Commander related material at the Internet Archive I was using the Wayback Machine over at the Internet Archive a couple of weeks back and noticed that amongst the Archive's various sections there is one dedicated to Computer Chronicles, which I'm sure that some or perhaps many of you will remember was a television programme (broadcast from 1983 to 2002) covering general purpose computing -- it's sister show was called Net Cafe'. I believe it was quite widely syndicated in the US and in many other countries. The Computer Chronicles section seems to be in the process of archiving and uploading the show's episodes (available in number of compression formats) for streaming and offline viewing, as when browsing archived episodes by year, it is apparent that specific years are absent. With this in mind I set about searching the existing archives for any related Wing Commander video clips and material. So far, I've managed to locate three segments containing references (I think the episodes concerned were uploaded at various points during the past 10 months or so), namely an interview with George Sanger AKA The Fat Man, a gameplay overview of WC3 with Mark Day and a brief gameplay overview of WC2. I would think it fairly probable that additional Wing Commander related material may surface as the back library of Computer Chronicles episodes is uploaded to the archive, given the period covered by the show, i.e. 1983-2002. So, IMO it would be worth checking up on this portion of the Archive every few months! Anyway, below are the links to the episodes concerned, as well as two versions (Full Resolution and Half Resolution) of the specific Wing Commander related segment on that episode. All segments are encoded using Xvid -- for the latest stable Xvid binary go here. Alternatively, you can use the DivX Codec amongst others. If using IE6, the usual right-click and "Save Target As" procedure will download the files or if using Mozilla/FireFox, right-click and "Save Link To Disk" to download. Computer Chronicles: Space and Astronomy Software Episode Production No: 946 http://www.archive.org/movies/detail...id=episode_946 Wing Commander 2 Segment WC2 Half Resolution (320x240 Xvid, 2m:00s) 7.82MB WC2 Full Resolution (640x480 Xvid, 2m:00s) 31.3MB Computer Chronicles: Greatest Computer Games Episode Production No: 1218 http://www.archive.org/movies/detail...greatest_games George Sanger, AKA The Fat Man Segment Fatman Half Resolution (320x240 Xvid, 3m:00s) 10.4MB Fatman Full Resolution (640x480 Xvid, 3m:01s) 46.1MB Wing Commander 3 Segment with Mark Day WC3 Half Resolution (320x240 Xvid, 3m:40s) 13.0MB WC3 Full Resolution (640x480 Xvid, 3m:44s) 58.6MB Enjoy! BrynS __________________ "Your work is both good and original. Unfortunately the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good." - Samuel Johnson

02-06-2005, 13:15	#2
BrynS Mr Kat says... Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: TCS Victory Posts: 481	I also noticed these Wing Commander game previews while searching through the Archive for other Wing Commander related materials. They are in the Videogame Previews section -- a collection of more than 2,200 custom-created videos from the period 1993-2004. The two major sources of content for this collection were the Video Pipeline website, which provided previews to retailers and distributers for promotional purposes and Kikizo.com, a UK-based games website that has been archiving games-related footage for a while. VIDEO GAME PREVIEWS http://www.archive.org/movies/collec...=videogameprev WING COMMANDER TRAILERS 1. WING COMMANDER: SECRET MISSIONS 5.5MB WM8 - To download go here 2. WING COMMANDER ACADEMY 4.0MB WM8 - To download go here 3. WING COMMANDER ARMADA 3.6MB WM8 - To download go here 4. WING COMMANDER III: HEART OF THE TIGER 7.9MB WM8 - To download go here Enjoy! BrynS __________________ "Your work is both good and original. Unfortunately the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good." - Samuel Johnson

02-06-2005, 13:33	#3
Bandit LOAF It wears the skull of its dead mother on its head. When it becomes lonesome, it is said to cry loudly. Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Ashton, MD, USA Posts: 23,925	Hehehe -- that's awesome, thanks. Good old Mark Day! __________________ Long live the Confederation, Ben "Bandit" Lesnick, LMG. "You go, Loaf! Get some!" -JPG

02-06-2005, 13:37	#4
BrynS Mr Kat says... Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: TCS Victory Posts: 481	Loaf, do you know if he' s still working for EA or has he moved on? Cheers, BrynS __________________ "Your work is both good and original. Unfortunately the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good." - Samuel Johnson

02-06-2005, 14:18	#5
Bandit LOAF It wears the skull of its dead mother on its head. When it becomes lonesome, it is said to cry loudly. Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Ashton, MD, USA Posts: 23,925	He's no longer with EA. After Prophecy he started Daylight Productions, which did the WCIV and WCP DVDs... and then they were sold to a French company and he moved on again. __________________ Long live the Confederation, Ben "Bandit" Lesnick, LMG. "You go, Loaf! Get some!" -JPG

02-07-2005, 05:42	#6
Edfilho Cry some more! Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Rio de Janeiro - Brazil Posts: 3,522	Did he get rid of that Mullet??? Great stuff. I'm downloading the whole thing.

02-08-2005, 13:23	#7
TopGun Vampire Ace Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Portsmouth, UK Posts: 3,367	Thanks for the links __________________ Wing Commander, Alpha Wing, Wolfpack Squadron, TCS William Eisen

02-12-2005, 13:36	#8
Edx Captain Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 397	man their general midi sounds were crappy back then eh? Ed

02-12-2005, 13:47	#9
Edx Captain Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 397	Why do people keep thinking the Fat Man did Wing 3 music! Ed

02-16-2005, 06:30	#11
Wedge009 Rogue Leader Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 8,349	That particular segment, the WC3 scramble, uses the music from the WC1/2 take-off sequences which was composed by the Fat Man. __________________ Soli Deo Gloria \| wedge009.net

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