Check Out WC4 Cinematic Trailer With Full AI/Neutral Net Treatment Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

There's been a lot of talk in the news lately about the enhanced footage that ODVS has made for Wing Commander 3, 4 and Prophecy, but we've also heard from some folks who haven't downloaded the large (but not too large) file packs with the remastered clips. For all those folks, he's released this dazzling sample: the WC4 cinematic trailer. It's just gorgeous - even with YouTube's compression factored in! Owen made an entirely new set of clips for the CIC's recent birthday, and all the download links are available below.
If anyone fancies a moment of pure nostalgia, in the run up to this party, I also re-created the original WC4 Cinematic Trailer with footage from the V5.0 remaster. So again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY WING COMMANDER CIC and HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY WING COMMANDER FRANCHISE! Here's to many more decades of fun times with this vibrant community :D

Extensive Interview Covers All Aspects of WC4 Fan Remake Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Youtube and Twitch streamers ValiantClan have hosted a big interview with part of the WC4 Fan Remake team, ODVS and DefianceIndustries. The conversation spans a full hour, so it covers a lot of interesting topics! They start out casually talking about the Wing Commander series and then get into the details associated with the remake project. There's plenty of technical discussion mixed with fun anecdotes from the Wing Commander series, so it's a good listen. Check it out below!
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Wing Commander we invited the developers of the Wing Commander IV - Remake Project. We had a nice little chat about their project, the franchise, Star Citizen and Star Trek. The project is a fan attempt to allow owners of Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom to enjoy a more modern experience by loading the files from the original game into a new engine, complete with specially created, high definition assets.

Unauthorized Russian Privateer 2 Surfaces Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

quasardeep shared a neat photo of an incredibly elaborate Russian bootleg of Privateer 2. It has a color manual, printed disc and fully translated instructions. As there was no official Russian version, this was the only way for them to be able to play decades ago. It sounds like they've since acquired an officially boxed copy, but this is a fun and priceless artifact in its own way. You can now get P2 and the rest of the WC games at GOG for $5.99 or less.
I was a big fan in the 90s. Discs with Wing Commander were not sold at all. With great difficulty I was able to buy this pirate disc. But considering the Wing Commander legacy, I was eventually able to buy the official box.

New Privateeer 2 Enhancement Test Compares Beta Tape Footage Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

ODVS got a lot of feedback on his first attempt at remastering the Privateer 2 video footage. A frequent request was that he use the higher quality footage sourced from Privateer 2 director Steve Hilliker's 25th Anniversary video released in May. There's no doubt that this content, derived from Beta SP tapes, is much nicer than the original CD-ROM footage, but there are certain tradeoffs inherent with using an analogue source for the AI/neural net processing. This new example video shows off all three side-by-side. The version enhanced from the CD has more crisp detail while the Beta remaster segments have better frame rate and color. It's a little hard to say which is better overall as it depends somewhat on the specific scene in question. Let ODVS know wha you think at the CIC Forums!
Because people on the CIC forums kept asking, I did an experiment remastering Steve Hilliker's footage from his Beta SP Master Tapes.

While it has an undeniably better frame rate (I don't need to interpolate up from 12fps) and colour depth, this really highlights my concerns about attempting to remaster footage from analogue sources. Sources like VHS/Beta tapes soften the edges around objects, and the AI routines maintain that softness during upscale - so we lose a lot of image definition.

Ideally, it's best to work from a source that was digitally captured or scanned directly from film.

Watch Wing Commander Run on a Tandy 386 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

It's easier to play your classic Wing Commander games today with DOSBox, GOG and compatibility patches like wcdx readily available, but there's also a certain magic to getting an old 386 or 486 running. Not everyone has the time or space to make that happen though, so Philip from RadioShack put together this video of the game running on a vintage Tandy 2500 SX/25. This would have been a pretty good system for getting the original Wing Commander going back in the day!
The planets aligned and I was able to get Wing Commander running on my Tandy 2500 SX / 25 Hard Drive model computer - a 25mhz 386 running DOS 6.2 with Sound Blaster audio. RadioShack pro tip - add EMM3686 to your config.sys file!
He's got an in-depth review of the machine here that's also a fun watch!
My first computer was a 1987 era Tandy 1000 that ran at about 4.77 MHz, so I find this fascinating.

Retro Style Wallpapers Hit Kilrathi Saga Highlights Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Wing Commander fans looking for new desktop wallpaper have been a little spoiled in recent years as fellow Wingnuts turn out practically professional grade renders based on new high quality assets. It wasn't always that way though, and there used to be a time when anyone with Microsoft Paint could (and did) kick out their own simple artwork and collages. Maze59077 set out to make something similar with a set of four vintage-style pieces. They commemorate key scenes in the three Kilrathi Saga adventures as well as a bonus setting from the Prophecy intro. Let him know what you think at the CIC Forums!
Hi Everyone, I have edited some special Kilrathi Saga art. Hope you like them.

WC3 & Series Covered by French Retrogamers Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

The French retro video gaming channel Rewind has posted a new retrospective on Wing Commander (3). It's all spoken in French, but it's a cool cut of WC material no matter what language you speak. Although the focus is on WC3, the series at large gets included towards the end. Here's AD's translation and summary:
Video is kind of a retrospective. They approach it from the angle that WC isn't that well remembered, which I don't agree with though I do feel that it could be slipping out of people's consciousness in later generations.

It starts off briefly mentioning a few other games like Mass Effect, X-Wing and No Man's Sky before saying that the video is going to talk about Wing Commander 3. They briefly point out some of the Chris Roberts influences in making the series and the basic setup of the story. They run throught the cast (Ginger's porn thing gets a mention) and the budget gets brought up. Gameplay gets discussed for a bit and they compare the PC version to the console version. WC4 gets a bit of a mention, and they talk about how the games were pushing the technological boundaries. The extented universe gets some time near the end with the CCG, Novels, Movie and Animated Series getting a nod. I wouldn't say it's necessarily in depth, but it's a nice overview of WC3 from guys that sound like fans. They use a lot of footage from the making-of video throughout too which is kind of nice.

WC4 Fan Remake Dives Into Classic Assets Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We posted an exciting trailer this past weekend that gave everyone a solid update on all of the progress being made for the WC4 Fan Remake. The team has also published a new article on classic assets and how they differ from the fancy new models. The original models and textures are used as an index to ensure the new content is spot on. There will even be an easy switch in the game that allows players to swap between the old and new graphics. Read up on what they're doing at WCRespace here.
One of our primary aims with this remaster is to create a version of the gameplay which matches the FMV as closely as possible. This means creating new models based on the FMV. That said it is fairly standard practice for these kinds of projects to offer a classic mode where you can play the game unaltered.

Likewise when the remaster is eventually released you will be able to switch between Defiance Industries' beautiful models and the originals (which are still impressively highly detailed given their age) with a single button press. This of course applies to room images as well as models.

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