Go For a Quick Excalibur Run Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Mac's got a short clip today, but what it lacks in length is more than made up for by its awesome subject matter! He's taken Klavs' glorious Excalibur model and run it through its paces. There's even a rousing soundtrack thanks to George Oldziey's live orchestra recording. Enjoy:
I've become fascinated with 3d Animation from doing the Tarawa Video.
Thanks to Sebastian for the tip!

Open Matte: More Than Meets the Eye Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

AD has been on a twenty-three year mission to learn more about all things relating to the Wing Commander Movie, and his latest research is about the "open matte" broadcast of the film. At least Australia was airing this version in 2008, and there may have been other times and places that got it as well. As you can see by the example below, by adjusting where the edge of the frame is, viewers can see detail like the universe map's border and Paladin's journal in the intro. It'd be pretty amazing to see what other visual data might exist out there! If you have a copy or any more detail, please let AD know!
The DVD and Bluray are in 2.35:1 as intended. This screenshot is the only proof that it aired that way I've seen. Anyone else out there happen to catch the film on TV in this format?

The extra map borders - not normally visible in the movie - in that shot match the high quality digitizing of this map I've seen since that update was posted. The map hung for a number of years in the LA Cloud Imperium offices of Chris Roberts.

Paladin's notebook in the lower left is also visible. It's the one he's making notes in while looking at the star charts at the beginning of the movie... He also uses that notebook when he inputs the shortcut coordinates for the Claw to make the jump into the Ulysses corridor

Speed Runners Continue to Refine Wing Commander Playthroughs Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

What the Fox Project has posted a pretty impressive speed run of Wing Commander 1. The game features an extensively branching mission structure, so players can experience vastly different games on multiple playthroughs. As we've previously noted, there's some strategy involved here. One short path through the game is to eject through the Enyo, Gateway, Chengdu and Port Hedland systems, then win in Hubble's Star (or Port Hedland) and Rostov, then eject again through Venice and still rout the Kats from the Vega Sector. This shouldn't be seen as cheating - it's its own type of art form to figure out how to legitimately game the game and still see the winning ending in the shortest possible time. The final score here is 23 minutes and 7 seconds, which is amazing! It's also half the time that speed runners were hitting four or five years ago. Check it out below:
Well, it's been a year since I've tried running anything - but I've really wanted to get back into space. Wing Commander is an awesome series from my childhood I'm excited to run, and hopefully improve my time on.

The Price of Freedom... Varies Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

FrankyFiggs14 has posted another classic French mag scan, and this one has an interesting take on Wing Commander 4's tagline phrase. It comes from the December 1995 issue of Joystick. After translation, the big caption reads, "The Price of Freedom is Eternal Combat." As LOAF notes, "Eternal combat sounds a little less prestigious than eternal vigilance!" It's also one of the many pieces of copy out there that advertise a December release. After tons of marketing went to print, the game was delayed until February 12 the following year. Pretty neat artifact all around!
A few other pages from the issue for context:
And here are some English versions of the ad for comparison:

WC Challenge Coins Delivered Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

ZOmegaZ has been steadily shipping out batches of challenge coins over the last few weeks, and most people who pledged in his recent Kickstarter should have received theirs. Ours came this past week as well, and they're very snazzy! The pictures don't quite do the material justice. All of the gold outline is very glittery and the colors pop as well. Not bad at all - we'd love to see another Wing Commander design!
Everyone who provided me with shipping information, your coins are now on the way! I'll give everyone else a few weeks, and in the meantime I'll be working on the next round of coin designs.
LOAF: The challenge coins ZOmegaZ’s Kickstarter are here! They turned out pretty neat and now I’ll never have to pay Shotglass for another drink (or ice cream sundae in the SNES version). Yes I also got a Frasier.

WC Vets Hitting the Convention Circuit in 2022 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It continues to be a good season for Wing Commander autographs. Despite the ongoing pandemic, there are quite a few conventions still planned for this year. Here's some highlights that will feature familiar faces:

The Texas Frightmare Weekend will provide a double opportunity in Dallas from April 29 to May 1 with both Ginger Lynn Allen and Matthew Lillard appearing. Lillard also has a solo appearance lined up at the HorrorHound Weekend in Cincinnati March 25-27 as well as a mail-in event via CPA Authentics in April. Francois Chau, who played Vagabond in WC3/4, also has a busy year with appearances at the Lexington Comic & Toy Con March 24-27, Huntsville Comic & Pop Culture Expo April 22-24 and Rangerstop & Pop Comic Con June 10-12. There is another neat mail-in option via Galaxy Con in March as well. Robert Rusler, who played Seether in WC4, will be at the Mad Monster Party Carolina February 18-20 and Cult Classic Convention February 25-27.

A handful of upcoming conventions have been getting canceled as the omicron wave continues, but it's likely those those later in the spring (and located in or around Texas) could go on as scheduled. Plan accordingly and be safe while getting your autographs! Thanks to LeHah for the tips!

Fan Project Vote Under Way Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Somehow we're well into January, so our annual Fan Project of the Year vote will soon be coming to a close. There's still time to register your favorite, so here are the nominees one more time. Scroll down for the official poll entry!
  • AI/Neural Net Enhanced Wing Commander Videos - ODVS has expanded on his award-winning enhanced WC videos by adding new language options for WC3, dabbling in 4K, experimenting with WC2/P2 and pushing image quality even further.
  • Bonkus Maximus' Streams - Bonk has been publishing Wing Commander livestreams all year long. He's covered every main game in the series, plus spinoffs like Academy. In the words of his nominator, his streams are "both good quality and plentiful."
  • Collectors: Rare WC Finds - This one is a different type of nominee. For the first time, we're recognizing the combined efforts of adventurous fans (such as, but not limited to, the work of Dennis Mull and Christian Klein) searching far and wide to build their Wing Commander collections with all manner of limited editions, different international translations and other exotic finds.
  • DefianceIndustries' Art - This is another example of one vote doing a lot of heavy lifting. Defiance has done everything from animated series style art (with integration into the WC1 engine) to Arena inspired renders to a whole tabletop mod with gorgeous miniature depictions, just to name a few of his projects.
  • Flight Commander 2 - We got an updated playable demo for FC2 this year. The spaceflight doesn't just look gorgeous, it also has very cool indoor game flow options. This project is just bursting with potential!
  • Gemini Sector RPG - The crew of the has their work cut out for them in the Gemini Sector. This RPG stays very active and is supplemented by numerous live chats, animated briefings and even livestream tie-ins.
  • Graphical Novel Project - EmuMusicFan sketched lots of gorgeous Kilrathi this year - and got some great attention for it!
  • Language Mods - This one is another combined option because so many people made so many big updates this year. WC1 into German, WC2 and P1 into Spanish, cleaned up text and more. There's a lot of great modding happening to even the oldest WC games!
  • Lego Creations - It was another fantastic year for Lego building. It continues to amazing me how authentic fans can make these ships look!
  • Mac's Lore (& Art) - Mac's YouTube channel really hit its stride this year with a variety of Wing Commander and other sci-fi videos, but he didn't stop there. He also shared a whole bunch of high class art that was used in the making of his vids.
  • WC4 Fan Remake - The WCRespace team is hard at work on bringing a next generation update to this beloved chapter of the Wing Commander series. Throughout the year, they kept us updated on the progress of their art and technology. We're looking forward to seeing something playable in 2022!
  • wcdx 2.2.1 - The latest version of wcdx makes the program functionally complete for the Kilrathi Saga version of WC1 and adds cockpit damage back into WC2. It takes what was once a somewhat buggy experience and makes it a very compelling way to play Wing Commander on modern systems!
  • Wing Leader - Howard Day's Wing Leader project also had a pretty productive year with new characters, shipboard scenery and the addition of the Krant to the game engine. This continues to be a project we get a lot of questions about, so we're looking forward to another burst of activity in 2022 hopefully!

The Lineup Looks Pretty Sketch Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

EmuMusicFan has shared this collage of the many different Wing Commander characters that he's sketched out for his graphical novel project. He's been at it for almost two years and built up quite a stable. Many of the faces here will be familiar favorites, but some dig deeper into some of the novels' lore and haven't otherwise been pictured before. It's nice to see them all in one place for the first time!
I have drawn more than twenty WC characters appearing of being mentioned at least once in the official works.

New Lore Vid Follows the Tarawa's Adventures Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The new Mac's Lore video alluded to earlier this week has finally dropped! It's a focused look at the Wake class escort carrier TCS Tarawa. We start with a comprehensive overview of this ship type as well as some highlights from the 'End Run' that preceded the False Armistice. Most Wingnuts are pretty familiar with these early novel exploits, and fortunately there's also some really good False Colors history included that's less well known. Mac also created some really beautiful animations and scenes with Klavs' models that are wonderful to see here - don't miss it!
When 1/3 of the carrier fleet gets blown to hell by the Cats, the Terran Confederation looks to stealing ideas from World War 2 to keep them in the game. It ends up working astonishingly well.
Thanks for HotT for the rapid tip!

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