False Armistice Explored Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Mac from Mac's Lore has created a new YouTube channel dedicated to explaining the deep backstory behind less famous sci-fi franchises. This style of exposition has gotten popular for series like Star Wars, Halo, Destiny and other AAA titles, so it's great to see it trickle down a little bit further to our neck of the woods lately. Mac's prior videos have been about the Starsiege universe, but he's kicked off the first in a lineup of videos about Wing Commander. Part 1 is all about the False Armistice as presented in Fleet Action. He's done a good job digging up an appropriate collage of images to fit the narrative as he retells the story, which makes it a fun watch as well as a good listen. We're looking forward to part 2!
The events of The False Armistice are a key point in the Terran-Kilrathi War depicted in the Wing Commander series. Humanity is lulled into a false sense of security by an unexpected peace proposal from the Kilrathi Empire. The aftermath of these events set in motion the dire state of the war for the Terrans by the time of Wing Commander 3.

I'm sure someone will correct me on how to say Firekka/n.

Haga Kaligara Gets the Last Laugh Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here's another look at EmuMusicFan's Kilrathi sketches. This update tries to convey a variety of emotions via new headshots. His WC graphical novel project would use these portraits to convey the feelings of each character in an anime-style talking head slide conversation. Emu's also thinking about little mini scenarios and plot interactions to prototype out. He's mocked up one below that you can provide feedback on at the CIC Forums.
"Hahahahahaha... Bugs Bunny the Great War Hero! Those fools in the psychological warfare department!"

I thought of a plot:

Haga Kaligara comes to Earth for the premiere of the Documentary and meets a young boy who is being bullied. The boy is coerced by a classmate into coming to Haga Kaligara with a rusty Confederation flight helmet to get his autograph.

Haga Kaligara is very angry and criticizes the boy for his weakness.

Is this reasonable? Thanks!

Boxy WC4 Ad Hits the Highlights Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Here's a nifty advertisement courtesy of Game Magazine Print Ads and RetroMags. It comes from the January 1996 edition of Next Generation, which was prime time for getting everyone hyped about Wing Commander 4. A lot of the ads at the time doubled down on Mark Hamill and/or Malcolm McDowell, but this one is based on the game's prime box art. It's got a handful of nice screenshots and key bullets listed on the side. With such incredible production values to look forward to in the next game, these were very exciting to see in print as a WC fan! You can find other ads for The Price of Freedom in our document archive here.
Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom
Source: Next Generation 13 (January 1996)
Scan source: RetroMags
Also, check out that URL! http://www.ea.com/origin.html was a very short lived site. By mid 1997 everything had transitioned over to www.origin.ea.com

Updated wcdx Plans Provide Peek at the Future Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Stinger has provided a hypothetical roadmap for the future of wcdx. The program is a massive compatibility patch for Wing Commander Kilrathi Saga, but it doesn't just make the game playable on modern iterations of Windows. The patch fixes a variety of bugs and goes back and adds in features that were present in the original DOS version but broken in Windows 95. While GOG and DOSBox emulation have allowed a new generation of fans easy access to the classic WC games, wcdx is gradually shaping Kilrathi Saga into a definitive way to play. Fans of the program have asked what's next, and Stinger's response is below. Note that he's only one man, so some of the ideas below have a very long time horizon. If something on the list sounds like something you might be able to help with, let him know that you can lend a hand! You can grab the current version 2.2 here. It was recently updated to help improve play in everything from WC1 through Special Operations 2.
Well, there are a few options here:
  • I really would like to get cockpit damage fixed, as that's really the final missing feature for WC1.
  • I also need to go back through this thread looking for any reported unaddressed bugs (I really should be tracking this in GitHub).
  • WC2 has some input issues (clicking during cutscenes sometimes counts as two clicks, for instance), and also appears to stall whenever entering autopilot. It also doesn't play well with non-QWERTY keyboard layouts (I use Dvorak).
Those I think are the most immediate issues to deal with. Looking farther ahead to larger projects:
  • I would like to spend some time investigating cutscene timing in WC2.
  • People have asked for graphics filters such as pixel smoothing, and I agree that would be a neat feature. This is something simple that others could reasonably handle if they were inclined to contribute to the project.
  • Throttle support in WC1 and WC2 would be awesome.
  • I could start work on WC3, with the specific goal of supporting ODVS's work on enhanced cutscenes.
There's certainly plenty of work here to stay busy, but time is certainly at a premium and I can't promise that any of these things will happen soon. If there's anyone out there who would like to collaborate, please let me know!

George Oldziey Updates on More Wing Commander Music Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Origin composer George Oldziey has provided an update on his work to create more Wing Commander music. Over the last several years, he's worked diligently to crowdfund and create wonderful orchestral and jazz albums based on our favorite WC tracks. There has been good progress on a second album intended to be recorded by a live orchestra, but the coronavirus has sidetracked all those plans for this year. Nevertheless, George is committed to push forward on this front. Stay tuned for word on a future crowdfunding campaign to help make this a reality next year! You can still purchase (physical or digital) copies of his previous work online here.
Greetings all. I am so terribly sorry that I have not seen or replied to any of the recent comments about Phase 2 of this project. I have no excuses other than to say life distracted me from fulfilling this goal. Late last year I got involved in working on a big Netflix project, and then of course Covid shut everything down.

I am indeed planning to rejuvenate the goal of recording an orchestral volume 2 some time in 2021 when the recording studios reopen. As I'd mentioned a while back ALL the orchestrations are ready to be printed and recorded for the project. There will need to be additional funds raised to see it through to the end. I hope I haven't lost your trust to get the word out once the time comes.

I wish you all a glorious holiday season and a much brighter 2021!

Most sincerely, and musically yours,

George

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

DefianceIndustries has another great model to share. This one is the UBW assault shuttle flown by Colonel Dekker. The ship is a huge contrast to the boxy Confed shuttle. It doesn't get an enormous amount of screen time in WC4, but it's a very neat design. Despite being a transport craft, I feel like there's an aggressive killer bee aspect to it, and the pair of turrets helps drive that sense home. Even without textures, the powerful little craft already looks super solid! We're looking forward to seeing it eventually make an appearance in the WC4 Fan Remake.
Minor update from the art department - The UBW Hermes is now meshed and art department approved. There will be two versions, one that is rigged with landing gear and doors for FMV work, and an in-game model without the extra rigging and triangles. Additionally, the turrets will be rigged so they won't be as toothless as before. :)

Livestreams Done Differently Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We've been sharing Plywood Fiend's unusual musings for some time, but in case you haven't watched his playthroughs of Wing Commander and Unknown Enemy for yourself, he's boxed up the highlights into one neat package. It's a super mix of his custom intros to the various series of the game. Per his instructions, send all invoices for any time wasted straight to Plywood Fiend.
Finished... well, Vega sector at least. A compendium of all the peculiar introductions I made for the videos in my let's play of Wing Commander. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll demand your 46 minutes back.

In any case, on this less-than-calm of days for many, I figured a distraction may be in order so I've twisted together this compendium of all the strange and/or comical intro videos I made for the series.

Take care all.

Happy Black Friday! Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

I don't know what you've found, but it seems to me like Black Friday sales are somewhat lackluster this year. Even Cards Against Humanity wasn't in the mood to pull any kind of stunt. But there are still Wing Commander goodies out there, so whether you're looking to complete your collection or find a thoughtful gift, consider the items below.

GOG can always be counted on to pull out a holiday discount, and they've once again put the entire Wing Commander series on sale for 75% off. This year we've also added a couple vendors to the list of Wing Commander Academy distributors below: Walmart and Deep Discount are now carrying it. It's a must have and an absolute steal for eight bucks!

Games ($1.49 each)
Movies & TV
Novels ($6.99)
Audio Albums
  • Team Fat's Wing One: Amazon $7.99 | iTunes $9.99
  • Wing Commander Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Amazon $9.49 | iTunes $9.99

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