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Reminder: #Wingnut Cartoon Party TODAY!

This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut event happening on Discord this morning! Join us at noon EST/9 AM PST for a fun filled morning of television... that all connect to Wing Commander somehow! This time around we've got a classic documentary about the Cold War AND the first arc of Exosquad, the 1993 animated series that brought together the creative team that would go on to make Wing Commander Academy. You can find details on the shows included as well as how to watch along with us in the announcement post here. Be sure to download the episodes so they're ready to play with the group!

Reminder: #Wingnut Movie Night Tonight!

This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that are referenced by Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is Contact (1997) and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here. The movie will start at 7 PM PST/10 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time!

And don't forget our fourth Wing Commander Cartoon party is early tomorrow!

After Action Report: Casablanca

There's no denying that Casablanca is an all time classic film! It's timeless, snappy and clever with some of the greatest performances ever put to film. It's also unfortunately more timely than ever today in a world that's once again figuring out how to fight fascists.

The Wing Commander connection was pretty easy this time around: here's Casablanca's legendary final line compared to Minx's in Special Operations 2!

News Bulletins Cataloged

We've finished a long-awaited addition to the WCPedia: a complete collection of screenshots showing all 233 Privateer 2: The Darkening News Bulletins! We've also included game-extracted text, scans from the official guide and new info and nav boxes to make exploring them much easier. Privateer 2 players may remember the bulletins as the system by which the game offers big changes to commodity prices. One is selected each time you land and available in the Booth. Some of them are tabloid articles, some are advertisements and some mark changes to pricing because of current events (a flood might reduce the price of water on a certain planet and so on). Many people don't pay attention to the text in Privateer 2 and I think that's a mistake: the game's designers wrote a fat novel worth of text for the Booth and the various missions and it expands the Tri-System and the Wing Commander universe in so many interesting ways!

As part of the process we squared each entry name to the sometimes-slightly-different one listed in the official guide. And in the process we made a pretty interesting discovery. The guide lists a title, "I'm just an 'armless orphan, guv", which doesn't appear in the actual game. For decades we assumed it was just a last minute cut. But by arranging everything in a spreadsheet we discovered that it was actually simply a case of one entry being renamed at the last minute. In the final game that bulletin is present but changed to Carts of Parts hit the Marts! You can find the complete News Bulletin index and more information about how they work here. I've also started an informal diary on the wiki to document what I'm doing. I'm hoping it will inspire others interested in joining a big, open project with a lot of fun work left to do!

Pretty Prophecy Prototype Procured

Here's a fun discovery: a game preservation group has posted a prototype copy of Wing Commander Prophecy on the Internet Archive! It includes all three discs complete with high resolution scans. They have a great writeup of what's included in the readme with details which you can find below. Since this looks to be a review copy sent out only a week before the game was finished it's likely not too different from the final release. But when it comes to studying this kind of history... every bit helps! (Please laugh.) We've mirrored a copy here.

=========================== Wing Commander: Prophecy ===========================
-------------------------- (1997-12-02 PC prototype) ---------------------------

Dumped By: Cut Into Fourteen Pieces

Released By: CVLT OF OSIRIS

CVLT OF OSIRIS presents a prototype of Wing Commander: Prophecy for the PC from 1997-12-02 (about a week before the game was released).

This release includes a three disc set of Wing Commander: Prophecy discs. The discs are EA branded CD-R media, and were from a build given to members of the press. No other Wing Commander: Prophecy discs were obtained from the same source, so CVLT OF OSIRIS members believe that this is a set of three discs sent as a single review build of the game.

Each disc in the set has a different version number, and the discs were created on different days. However, all three also appear to be consistent with the release build of the game.

Disc 1 is version 1.05F, dated 1997-12-02 on its printed label. Timestamps on this disc also indicate it was finalized on 1997-12-02.

Disc 2 is version 1.03F, dated 1997-11-27 on its printed label. Timestamps on this disc indicate it was finalized on 1997-11-30.

Disc 3 is version 1.01F, dated 1997-11-27 on its printed label. Timestamps on this disc indicate it was finalized on 1997-11-27.

Behind the Music: Eddie Rickenharp

Eddie Rickenharp is mini-mono artist who has attained megastar status and is best known for repopularizing his genre of music. In 2669, Rickenharp agreed to perform for Confederation forces on Bistango X in a spectacular concert amidst the planet's ancient art treasures. The Kilrathi launched a surprise assault on the planet during the concert which killed thousands and left the artwork in ruins. Rickenharp was badly wounded in the attack and left in critical condition.

--

Last time we looked at tHE lOVE aNIMALS, a band introduced in Wing Commander III that doing a TCSO-style performance for the troops. But Wing Commander III actually introduces a second artist with the same setup: "megastar" Eddie Rickenharp. He also has a fictional-but-familiar-seeming genre, "mini mono" and you get the sense that he's some kind of Steven Tyler-style aging superstar in 2669. Rickenharp appears in two of the TCN 'newsbriefs' that only appear in the 3DO and PlayStation ports of the game. In the first, Barbara Miles announces that he will be playing a concert on Bistango X. This news segment can appear starting in the Locanda series:

Scene 514

NEWSBRIEF 15 -> 15NWSNC

This newsbrief can be available anywhere from Series D through Series I.

BARBARA
. . . and now one from our People file: Megastar Eddie Rickenharp, who single-handedly brought back mini-mono as a popular musical genre, has agreed to entertain Confederation forces amidst the ancient and exquisitely beautiful antiquities of Bistango X. This is Barbara Miles with a TNC InfoBurst . . .

And then later in the game, starting with the Behemoth missions, there is a terrible update about the fate of the concert:

Scene 515

NEWSBRIEF 16 -> 16NWSNC

This newsbrief should be available from Series J through Series N.

NOTE: Though no scripted midgame currently exists that might complement this newsbrief, it may be possible for Origin’s graphic artists to come up with some matching animation.

BARBARA
. . . elsewhere on the war front, a blitzkrieg Kilrathi assault has taken the lives of thousands of Confederation servicepeople as they were enjoying a concert put on by the megastar Rickenharp - - against the backdrop of Bistango X’s priceless, millennia-old art treasures. The surprise attack has reduced the beautiful ancient structures to rubble and Rickenharp himself is said to be in critical condition.
-> (beat)
This is Barbara Miles with another TNC InfoBurst. Thanks for watching . . .

Bistango, invented here, is referenced again on Prophecy's Wing Commander Universe Map, though it's unfortunately spelled "Bistangio". Eagle-eared listeners may note that Barbara Miles pronounces the Roman numeral "ex" instead of ten in the first news briefing. The place is typographically cursed! The story is slightly continued in Wing Commander Arena's manual, which mentions that the ancient artwork destroyed in the story is now protected ruins (and the source of more conflict).

Wing Commander Movie Night: Contact

Last week we kicked off the second year of the Wing Commander movie club with an all time classic movie, Casablanca. And this week we've got another one that's a little closer to home: Robert Zemeckis' Contact (1997). It's a stunning adaptation of Carl Sagan's novel about a present-day first contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

Contact came after almost all of the main line Wing Commander games, so you know this is most likely to relate to the 1999 movie. Indeed, this is another case where Chris Roberts borrowed some of Alan Silvestri for the temp track to the Wing Commander movie. Specifically, a track called Small Moves was used over Maniac and Rosie's postcoital moment.

Of course, Wing Commander has a couple of disastrous first contact stories that we'll take a look at, too… stay tuned for the after action report next week!

Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?

Contact is available for rent or purchase on the standard streaming services. If you would like a physical copy, the movie was released on Blu-ray in 2010 and remains in print around the world. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing.

How do we watch the movie together?

It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Friday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the film in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should bring their own copy and we will count down to play them together at 10 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!

How can I help pick future movie club movies?

The movie club movies are voted on each week by the Wing Commander Discord. The poll is typically posted 24 hours before each week's screening and the next movie is announced at the end. The choices for the poll come from a master pool of Wing Commander-related movies. If you would like to suggest a film for inclusion in that pool you can post it to this thread.

Wing Commander Cartoon Party IV: The Prices of Freedom

It's time for another Saturday Wing Commander cartoon marathon… with real cartoons, this time! These marathons, currently scheduled monthly, celebrate Wing Commander-related media that doesn't quite fit with the Friday night movie club. This Saturday, November 15, we'll be bringing you another themed morning of '90s media and great Wing Commander conversation. This time we'll be taking a look at the management of the real life Cold War… and then the start of a pretty compelling sci fi version!

Pandora's Box, Episode 2: To the Brink of Eternity (1992): Pandora's Box is a 1992 BBC series by documentarian Adam Curtis which looked at various sociopolitical issues facing the world at the time (most of which are still relevant today). The second episode, To the Brink of Eternity, looks at how the United States has managed nuclear security through the Cold War. It's a fascinating show but we're watching because the original Wing Commander makes a surprise appearance!

Exosquad (1993, s1e1 through 5): Sometimes called the first "American anime", Exosquad was a 1993-94 syndicated cartoon from Universal which embraced complete serialization at a time when that was unheard of even for adult series'. Over two seasons, Exosquad tells the story of a near future war for the solar system that on its own should be pretty appealing to Wing Commander fans. Of special interest, though, is that the creative team that made Exoquad went on to create Wing Commander Academy for the same studio. And you're going to see a lot of similarities in aesthetic and writing! The first arc, Fall of the Human Empire, is five episodes and it's going to leave you wanting more.

So JOIN US on Saturday, November 15th at noon Eastern when we'll enjoy them all together! Previous marathons, we've had big fun wearing pajamas and eating cereal… so we recommend you plan to do the same again!

We've also uploaded a zip of both together locally that you can grab in advance. You can get that here. You can also find the complete Exosquad series on the Internet Archive. Pandora's Box is available on YouTube here.

How do we watch the shows together?

It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Saturday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the shows in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should download their own copies from the CIC and we will count down to play them one at a time together starting with the short at noon EST on Saturday. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!

Will there be custom certificates made for the attendees this time?

Yes.

Hey you're actually watching cartoons this time so the name makes sense!

Shut up.

I love these events but want to do better long term planning. Do you have any others coming up?

We do! Here's the upcoming schedule:

• Marathon 5 - Wing Commander Combat Information Center Family Day! - December 20
• Marathon 6 - I'd Rather Be Playing Wing Commander - January 17
• Marathon 7 - The Worst Parts of a Lot of Things - February 14

Prophecy Unlimited POWER!!!

### WCPUNL Beta 6.1

Support for both CD and GoG installations using the prophecy.exe supplied in this package. A CD check is done, if no CD is found a local file check is performed. If no local files found, Change CD screen will appear.

### WCPUNL Beta 6.0

Fixed memory leak in the new Movie Player

Turret barrel fire respects wcpunl.ini setting again

File loading priority changed so directory has priority over tree file (no need to patch data.tre anymore)

### WCPUNL Beta 5.2

Fixed spaceflight music not restarting after an in-flight cutscene (last mission).

### WCPUNL Beta 5.1

ODVS's HD and original DVD movie support. Added to Prophecy only.

Many thanks to Pedro for testing and updating the OpenGL to take full advantage.

### HD and DVD Requirements
Download ODVS's Prophecy HD Video Pack or the original DVD Movie Pack from the www.wcnews.com Resources/Patches page and extract into the 'movie' folder within WCP's root folder.

Ignore instructions to install the DVD Movie Upgrade Patch as this seems to be having problems with more recent Windows (hence this update).

ODVS's HD Video Pack:
Seems to work straight away with no additional codec packs installed. Tested on a fresh install of Windows 11 N 25h2 with Media Feature Pack added (required to play WCP and SO on N and KN versions).

DVD Movie Pack:
1. Download and install MPEG2 free from the Microsoft store. https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9N95Q1ZZPMH4
2. Windows 11 24h2 and later fresh install, install the Windows Dolby Audio package. (included)

No overlay window is created, no need to match resolutions. Uses existing GL movie function.

Movies will work in the original Software, Direct3d and 3Dfx Glide modes.

Movies will work in the OpenGL 1.2 and earlier, not filling wide-screens.

Movies will work in the OpenGL 1.3 and later, fills wide-screens.

Gamma Correction, Show Movies and Subtitles in game options work.

Even Interlaced Video will work in the original modes for a retro look!

gr1mre4per has also released a new version of the Wing Commander OpenGL Patch alongside the updated Prophecy Unlimited. You can download a copy of OpenGL Patch - v1.3 here.

Code: OpenGL Patch - v1.3

This patch is an additional optional graphics library (GL), compatible with both Prophecy and Secret Ops, and is ported from the release of Standoff Episode 5.

Originally designed to remove problems experienced when using Direct3D such as 32bit support for ATI cards, and removal of texture glitches.

The patch has since evolved into a specific visual style, featuring specular maps and slightly over-the-top bloom. This patch just screams 2000s, and I strongly recommend using it with both bloom and specular enabled. It supports hi-res, specular and iridescence overrides, as well as fairly dodgy implementation of bump mapping.

With Grim's help, the GL has been modified to support his HD movie playback in full screen. As Grim is creating his own GL, this is likely to be the last version of this one which relies heavily on outdated libraries. I appreciate his help creating this so that this particular look isn’t lost to history. I look forward to seeing the direction he takes with a modern implementation.

*** New in v1.3 ***

All modes:
Add support for Grim's movie playback (ODVS high-resolution DVD pack recommended: https://download.wcnews.com/files/wcp/wcp_hdpack_4.0.zip)
Decrease briefing line width on high-resolution monitors
Fix original FMV aspect on super-wide monitors
Fix pixel-based stars when starfield is disabled
Match 3DFX HUD transparency
Remove cockpit shake
Fix rendering of targets on the radar

With HDR Enabled:
Lens flares (were disabled for Standoff as it had super bright assets)
Make the briefing bloom less garish
Fix a bug with missile VDU which would cause the screen to flash

Twitch Overlay Released

Need a Wing Commander Academy-themed Twitch stream overlay? Who doesn't! Luckily, Reddit user Ford Crown Vic Koth has posted exactly that! Be sure and let us know if you're ever streaming Wing Commander; we're happy to spread the word!