Wing Commander Gets R*E*A*L
The first was a 1994 demo of Wing Commander III (here - 29 megs), initially released on the first ever PC Gamer cover CD. Demand was very high - PC Gamer ran out of CDs quickly and the demo was very rare for several years. The demo is a unique patrol mission, which plays slightly differently than the finished game.
Several versions of the Wing Commander IV Demo exist. The first included a cinematic trailer and was released on magazine cover discs (here - 43 megs). That was a huge file for an era when ordinary people didn't have CD burners or fast internet connections... so Origin later released a smaller internet version with the trailer removed (here - 14 megs). Even that seemed like an impossible download at the time, though! The mission is a fun gauntlet where you have to shoot down as many pirate fighters (and frigates) in a set time limit. There's a neat easter egg, too -- lock onto Dekker's shuttle for a few seconds to recieve a special weapon. A Macintosh version was later released (here - 6 megs).
Then came a little known demo - a playable preview of Privateer 2 (here - 54 megs). The Privateer 2 demo was never released online by Origin - it only appeared on a magazine cover disc. The demo does not have a new mission... instead of lets you explore the entire game universe for a limited amount of time. It's most interesting because it contains two short video clips not included in the original game, greeting Joe the Bartender.
Wing Commander Prophecy took demos even further -- with two different demos and a total of six unique missions! Origin initially released a '3Dfx Test' demo (here - 13 megs) to let users who had 3Dfx cards see what the game was going to look like. The 3Dfx Test is a timed, scored gauntlet, which lead to fierce competition among fans lucky enough to have the special graphics cards at the time. Then, an entire series of missions was made available to everyone. The Wing Commander Prophecy Demo (here - 38 megs) contains an entire four mission series which takes place 'between' other missions in the game. The demo even has a winning and losing track! A separate pack of FMV movies (here - 19 megs) which could be added to the demo was also posted.
Finally, Wing Commander: Secret Ops (here - 112 megs) is itself a demo. While the later episodes were not kept available for download, the first remained online to serve as a playable demo for Wing Commander Prophecy Gold.
I tried to make the face not too cute.. otherwise it wouldn't be quite menacing enough.
To illustrate the concept, Young discussed what he considered feature IP. One example was the introduction of Aspirations to Sims 2. "It coexisted with and leveraged the needs and motives system [of the original Sims]. It added a new dimension to the gameplay, because it gave you objective-based gameplay without breaking the game."Young further emphasized the impact of feature IP when discussing Gameface, an innovation that allowed players to customize the appearance of their in-game characters and shipped with Tiger Woods 2004.
This success included a year-on-year growth rate of 44 percent and more than $40 million in revenue, as well as the ability to use this technology across games. For example, Gameface was modified for use in the Godfather game, under the name Mobface.
There are at least two promotional caps, too. A hat featuring the Secret Ops logo and URL was given away to promote that game in 1998. Then in 1999, FOX gave away black hats featuring the yellow Wing Commander logo to promote the film.
The various teams who worked on the Wing Commander movie received hats, too - they're blue and feature the Tiger's Claw logo and registry number. The backs of these hats have their specific movie units stitched into them... "Effects Unit", "Aerial Unit" and so forth.
These Tiger's Claw hats inspired our own design -- the TCS Eisen crew hat. You can find out more information about them here. They're certainly not as rare as an official Wing Commander hat... but they're pretty cool none the less (and at $15, they're a lot cheaper than you might expect to pay for a movie crew hat on eBay).
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I've given my WC comic a green-light. I've completed the first two pages, nothing fancy, but at least I tried. Page three is still in rough-pencil-sketch form and I'll do it with any free time I have. Feedback would be good though. I just hope I can get at least one page per week or close. I could color it, but I'm using a frakin G1/G2 pen, non waterproof, BIG MISTAKE.... So I'll have to go without colour.
Fans are also anxious to get their hands on some sort of playable release. Exarch has posed two options for this. Hit the discuss link below to tell him what you think.
I'm going to give you all a choice on what you want for the first release. Basically, you have two choices. I wanted to ask you which you would prefer the most.Option 1: I can reasonably add in most if not all ships planned for the mod, complete with proper weapon loadouts and most everything else. However, I would leave the high resolution textures out of the mod, except the ones I've already completed. While you guys are having fun with the mod, I'll be working on updating the rest of the textures for a future release. This would maximize the gameplay experience, but minimize the graphical quality on the first release.
Option 2: I continue doing what I am now and add in a few more ships complete with their new textures. This would ensure everything looks like it fits together, but at the same time, it may not be as fun to play as the first option.
Gaming website Firing Squad met up with Richard Garriott last week to interview him ahead of last week's Game Developers Choice Awards where he picked up a Lifetime Achievement Award. Sadly they missed the opportunity to ask about NCSoft's recent partnership with Spacetime Studios, a new company founded by a number of former Wing Commander developers. Where the article does focus is on Garriott's involvement with the Ultima series and his experiences and opinions on MMORPG games. Garriott also gives a few details about his upcoming game Tabula Rasa which is due for release some time this year. You can read the full interview here. Thanks to BrynS for the news.
FiringSquad: Even though you haven't been involved in the Ultima franchise for several years now your name and your "Lord British" persona will likely be linked with that franchise for a long time. Did you ever think that the RPG series would have evolved into one of the most well know game series ever made?Richard Garriott: No. For the first few Ultimas, I did not expect there to be a sequel, or perhaps even an ongoing industry. After a while, I figured that I could keep doing this for a few years. It was only late in the series that I realized the power Ultima had and Ultima Online really proved that well.
The filming of all the possible variations makes the pace of filming much slower than a regular movie. Depending on the choice the player makes, Blair's response is quite different. The dialogue is mapped out and acted in rapid succession.The filming is extensive. At this middle stage of shooting, the already filmed clips were being contained on a nine Gigabyte drive that was full (that's the equivalent of the Random House Unabridged Dictionary multiplied by 10). A second had arrived and was in the process of being filled with additional footage, much of which would end up on the silicion equivalent of the cutting room floor.
Based in Austin, Texas, Koster is widely considered an expert when it comes to the design of massively multiplayer online games. He often participates in event panels and maintains an active blog that focuses on the nuances of the genre...Mr. Koster also has a personal website at raphkoster.com.Prior to joining SOE's Austin studio, Koster was part of the Ultima Online team at Origin Systems. In addition to Galaxies, Koster was instrumental in the development of EverQuest II at SOE.
Yes, it is true I am leaving SOE.Why? Well, I’ve been here for gosh, almost six years maybe? It’s been a good ride, and I think we’ve gotten to do some really fun and interesting work. But I am getting interested in doing some stuff that is a bit off the beaten path — really, anyone who has been reading the blog can see that! — and while SOE feels it’s really cool stuff, it’s just not where they are at right now. My contract was up, and it was the right time to poke my head up and look around, that sort of thing. It’s all quite friendly, and actually, I hope that I’ll work with SOE again in the future, because there’s a lot of wonderful talent here and a lot of cool technology, and a lot of friends.
So, sometime soon here I’ll be off on my own. Nope, no announcements about plans or anything. I don’t have a new studio in my back pocket, I don’t have a job lined up, any of that. And… we’ll see what comes. I’m thinking sleeping in next week sounds good.
Producer Grazer summarizes, "Inside Man is a thinking man's heist film, a twisty, turny thriller. It is designed to be entertaining, where audiences are at the edge of their seat—with combustible moments between this genius character played by Clive Owen and a cop we're not certain has the command, knowledge or wisdom to challenge a criminal mastermind."Thanks to MajorCamKollent.
ChrisReid: Some people left the pool to continue the party search and ran into Teo with his hovercraft.
LOAF: Literally.
Eraser from Lancers Reactor tipped us off about a new GDC interview with Microsoft's VP of Interactive Entertainment, Peter Moore. The first question that IGN editors asked the executive was about the fate of former Austin developer Digital Anvil. He seemed to be caught almost off guard by the question and the answer comes out pretty awkwardly.
IGN: What happened to Digital Anvil?It's possible that some of those future plans had to do with Spacetime Studios.
Peter Moore: They're a great developer: There was nothing there that was integral to our plans moving forward. Actually, they're all doing fine. They were a great studio, and I think the core studio is still together. We offered them all jobs at Microsoft Game Studios and a few people accepted; some others didn't want to. I think they're trying to get some financing together to form a new studio. But I don't want to mess with any future plans that team has, so I'd rather not say anything more.
What would WC be without autopilot and nav points, two features that were not present in Freespace 2? We received a nice code feature that allows us to autopilot to different mission areas without any loading cycles between the nav points. Our autopilot function doesn't show an automatic flyby scene, but it uses a “real traveling” system. When the autopilot is engaged, the ship steers itself and the engine slowly engages up to a 64x time compression, otherwise it could take quite some time to get to the next area.
In the year 2564, a rookie fighter pilot and his pals hold the fate of the human race in their hands during an outer-space war between humans and a nasty race of aliens. Based on a popular video game. Also with Tcheky Karyo, Jurgen Prochnow (The Seventh Sign), David Suchet and David Warner (Titanic).Thu 3/23 08:00 PM ACTION MAX - EAST
Thu 3/23 11:00 PM ACTION MAX - WEST
Fri 3/24 06:15 PM CINEMAX - EAST
Fri 3/24 06:15 PM Max High Definition - EAST
Fri 3/24 09:15 PM Max High Definition - WEST
Fri 3/24 09:15 PM CINEMAX - WEST
Mon 3/27 11:50 AM @MAX - EAST
Wed 3/29 02:50 PM ACTION MAX - EAST
Wed 3/29 05:50 PM ACTION MAX - WEST
Thu 3/30 01:20 AM ACTION MAX - EAST
Thu 3/30 04:20 AM ACTION MAX - WEST
Fri 3/31 12:00 PM @MAX - EAST
Exarch has been answering various questions about WC Apocalypse at Crius.net and described the battle in more detail.
The destruction of the Dreadnought may seem easy, but really, it wasn't. I played this skirmish multiple times, and this was the first time the Shrikes actually took her down successfully. The Shrikes carry 6 Valiant light torpedoes. It takes approximately 70 of them to destroy the Tiamat. There were 6 squadrons of 3 fighters, so that means a bunch of torps were shot down by the ship's turrets or the Barracudas escorting her. When you add in fighter cover, bigger ships than the Barracuda corvettes, etc., the battles are going to be very interesting.
It looks like Wing Commander fans have quite a wide assortment of favorite Destroyers. The ships in the six most prominent Wing Commander games each got about one-sixth of the vote. The Valiant and Achilles class Destroyers from Action Stations and Academy didn't fare too well, but the Coventry type ship from Wing Commander 3 edged out the good old Exeter slightly.
The new poll asks which episode of Wing Commander Academy is your favorite. Our alternate layout lets you pick from all thirteen shows. Here's a little refresher to help you decide.
It looks like that class time didn't go to waste. There is also a full size 763K, 3508x2480 resolution scan available here.The picture shows the TCS Atari, an old, recommissioned Bengal-class strike carrier with it's old refit (WC Movie). The ship was recommissioned to anti-pirate duty to engage and destroy pirates in space. The timeframe was pre/post-Prophecy as the Prophecy ships have come in service (Piranha, TigerShark, Wasp, Seahawk and Condor.) The ship, now in an asteroid field, retrieving ejector pods from downed CultOfSivar pilots hunted down by the Atari's fighters an hour before. I dont know how to draw a kilrathi insignia so I made up a CultOfSivar insignia. Also note the wing of one of the Dralthis is actually the WC1 "Pancake" Dralthi.
More about the Atari:
T.C.S Atari CV-96354-AT(fan idea)
Sent into combat during the early stages of the Kilrathi war. Five months in service, she was hit by Kilrathi torpedo bombers and was heavily damaged. By the time she was fully repaired, the new Bengal class carriers (refitted) were already in service. She was kept in storage and her hull has been re-used by the end of the Border Worlds conflict as anti-pirate ships to save Confed Command some credits into building newer and more expensive Vesuvius/Midway class Super/Megacarriers.
So what I try next to do is a mod for the ships. I had some problems with converting and including the models to the game, but was successful. Once you know how everything works, then it is EASY. It doesn't seem like much, but this was hell of a lot of work.
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There hasn't been much news about WC Saga's actual project status lately, so Starman has provided some details on what the team's been up to this year. The Prologue demo length, story/script flow and in-game video sequences have been the main focus of attention. Hopefully we'll see more specifics soon.
- We’ve completed two more simulator missions that will be released as part of the prologue release package. We hope that these additional mission will raise the replay-value of the entire thing to fill the waiting time before the main game.
- The full-campaign script has been undergoing some major fine-tuning, with work being done on issues of continuity and canonicity. This is time-intensive and detail-focused work, but it has been proceeding at a good pace. BTW, we still have some positions open for skilled mission designers.
- We have also been hard at work finishing up the video sequences that will be part of the prologue release. Another scene of the intro is nearing completion.
- In addition, Lars has released another wallpaper featuring some of the ships from WC Saga. You certainly noticed that on the front page.
In the year 2564, a rookie fighter pilot and his pals hold the fate of the human race in their hands during an outer-space war between humans and a nasty race of aliens. Based on a popular video game. Also with Tcheky Karyo, Jurgen Prochnow (The Seventh Sign), David Suchet and David Warner (Titanic).Sun 3/19 02:05 PM ACTION MAX - EAST
Sun 3/19 05:05 PM ACTION MAX - WEST
Mon 3/20 09:15 AM CINEMAX - EAST
Mon 3/20 09:15 AM Max High Definition - EAST
Mon 3/20 12:15 PM Max High Definition - WEST
Mon 3/20 12:15 PM CINEMAX - WEST
Tue 3/21 04:30 PM ACTION MAX - EAST
Tue 3/21 07:30 PM ACTION MAX - WEST
Wed 3/22 03:30 PM @MAX - EAST
Thu 3/23 09:35 AM ACTION MAX - EAST
Thu 3/23 12:35 PM ACTION MAX - WEST
Thu 3/23 08:00 PM ACTION MAX - EAST
Thu 3/23 11:00 PM ACTION MAX - WEST
Fri 3/24 06:15 PM CINEMAX - EAST
Fri 3/24 06:15 PM Max High Definition - EAST
Fri 3/24 09:15 PM Max High Definition - WEST
Fri 3/24 09:15 PM CINEMAX - WEST
My current project is to rip all the FMVs from the games (game intro, game endings, mission briefings etc). Since C&C and Wing Commander 3-4-P are from the same era maybe it is nice to make a comparison between the FMVs of both game series.Due to space and bandwidth constraints, this is the only game in the series that Mark currently plans to post.
Worth noting, perhaps, that the Origin FX 'TCS Paradigm' screensaver is set in 2664... and that Paradigm looks like the ones in Privateer. So, perhaps the Privateer paint scheme *is* the WC2 Paradigm.
The Tiamat has a soft, rainbow-colored skin underneath a hard, bone-like exoskeleton that extends over most of the ship. It took a very long time to replicate the Tiamat's skin, and I think it turned out pretty accurate. Progress is being made steadily, and I'm happy to say that I'm working hard to get a playable demo out during Spring break with the handful of ships I have retextured. No guarantees, but stay tuned!
And when you get right down to it, that’s what my experience with Privateer was all about. The feeling of boundless possibility, not the possibilities themselves. What I really, desperately wanted from this game, it could not give to me. I wanted to fly to all the gleaming space stations and planets I had seen in the magazine, to explore them, to get lost in them, to leave them and then find somewhere new to explore and get lost in. But whether it was because of technological limitations, or a limited budget, or because that just wasn’t the focus of the game, all you could do was stop at these places and stare.I blame the artwork for being so captivating and the music for being so melancholy. Whether I was on the drizzly streets of New Detroit, or inside the massive, hollow center of the space station New Constantinople, where you could see spaceships flying in and out and the stars outside swirling as the station spun around on its axis, these sights always hinted at something more. I wanted to become a part of these places, to discover the hidden wonders and secrets that lay buried beneath their surfaces.
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The WC Saga developers have previously released a number of pretty wallpapers, but I think this one is one of their best so far.The Wing Commander Saga team is proud to present a new wallpaper by gevatter Lars!
Kilrathi starships are designed to acheive both lethal functionality and demoralizing psychological impact. This new scene displays the intimidating might of the claw-like Kilrathi capital ships while it simultaneously evokes the pathos of the mysterious and deadly Strahka fighter, whose stealthy ferocity is laid out in stark contrast to the ethereal beauty of deep space.
BrynS tipped us off about the latest accolade for Origin founder Richard Garriot. The International Game Developers Association has announced that he will receive a Lifetime Achievement honor at the 6th annual Game Developers Choice Awards next week. It's only been a few months since the Academy of Interactive Arts Sciences announced that 'Lord British' would be the 9th inductee to their prestigious Hall of Fame. He's been a renowned developer for more than a quarter century now, and he was even the Guest of Honor in his twenties at DragonCon 1987. Garriott is currently developing Tabula Rasa in Austin. The IGDA has prepared a short biography that you can find here.
During his 20+ years as a programmer and video game designer, Garriott has received numerous awards including Computer Gaming World's "15 Most Influential Industry Players," Next Generation's "America's Elite," PC Gamer's "Game Gods," and PC Games' "Designer of the Year." Garriott, along with his brother, Robert, was also named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Inc. magazine...Son of Skylab and Spacelab astronaut Owen K. Garriott, Richard took an interest in computers at a young age. He began programming games in high school and produced his first published game, Akalabeth, at the age of 19. While attending the University of Texas at Austin, Garriott began developing one of the most successful, longest-running game series of all time: Ultima. Garriott and his brother formed Origin Systems, Inc. to begin publishing their own games, and the company was acquired by Electronic Arts (EA) in 1992.
Located in a longtime hub of game development, BioWare Austin already has a veteran management team in place. James Ohlen, BioWare's current creative director and former lead designer of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights, will become lead designer at the one-game shop. Richard Vogel, former SOE vice president of product development and a senior producer at Origin when Ultima Online launched, has also been offered a high-ranking position. Also on board is another MMORPG vet, Gordon Walton, a former VP at both SOE and Electronic Arts. The studio is also filling positions for programmers, designers, artists, animators, writers, and world-builders.
Prophecy Multiplayer Coming Soon
HCl is currently in the testing phases of a multiplayer patch for Wing Commander Prophecy. The original online component was removed from the game prior to release in 1997, but bits and pieces of related code remained in the final product. HCl is now working with several other techno-geniuses in the Wing Commander community to turn this into an another exciting way for fans to battle it out on the internet!
Electronic Arts Relaunching The Original Wing Commander Privateer
EA is partnering with the GameTap online distribution service to premiere a small number of its classic franchises. Sim City, Command & Conquer, Ultima and Wing Commander Privateer will be flagship titles for EA's role in the program. Although fans have developed a variety of methods to play their favorite WC titles on modern computers, this new delivery method will allow a whole new generation of players to experience Wing Commander without any complicated setup techniques. Everyone is hopeful that the positive feedback generated from this will help hasten the development of the next all-new Wing Commander game.
I had very small success in modding GalCiv2. The Wing Commander 1+2 style is my intention, that's why the modd looks so far as it looks. And I remind you that I have NO moding experience before. Thanks to "gevatterLars" the problem with the "Terran Confed Race Modd" is resolved.
I decided to start with a Kilrathi. This image is a compilation of concepts from Wing Commander II, Wing Commander III and the Wing Commander movie. The face draws heavily from the WC II style of artwork (mostly Thrakhath) with body proportions taken from Hobbes in Wing Commander 3. The armor is heavily derived from the combat armor worn by the Kilrathi grunts.
All told I spent about 8 hours yesterday on various sketches of Kilrathi to get it to have the right feeling. This particular image was created by drawing half a Kilrathi and then mirroring the image to make it properly proportioned for use by a 3d modeler. I should be producing a few more Kilrathi sketches and a couple of Confed Marines as well.
NinjaLA A.K.A. Alex Von Tolmacsy
Measuring by gross tonnage, the Fralthra-class is Kilrah's second heaviest cruiser... measuring by force projection alone, they have no equal. Sporting a 40-fighter complement and an array of anti-matter guns, the Fralthra was second only to a true Kilrathi carrier in offensive power. In fact, Fralthra formed the nuclei of the five carrier groups which attacked Ghorah Khar in Special Operations. At the same time, they exist in much smaller numbers than their counterparts. While the Empire produced Fralthi by the thousands, a quote in Fleet Action indicates there were only twenty heavy cruisers in service in at the Battle of Earth.
Several Fralthra appear during the course of Wing Commander II, including two during the game's initial Gwynedd series. The player isn't allowed to kill them, though: because your Ferret lacks torpedoes, you must instead protect the Concordia and her bombers while they destroy the Fralthra. An interesting surprise after being able to gun down the entire Kilrathi Navy yourself in Wing Commander I! The Fralthra's rounded appearance was anathema to the 'irregular blade' look established for Kilrathi ships in Wing Commander Armada and beyond, so it has fallen somewhat by the wayside in terms of canonical appearances. Still, it does boast one unusual sighting: a stylized Fralthra is seen launching a Jalkehi heavy fighter on the cover of the FM Towns port of Wing Commander 2 (seen below).
This is amazing: Privateer -- no, Wing Commander Privateer -- listed right alongside the earliest iterations of Electronic Arts' premiere modern franchises (Ultima, Command and Conquer and The Sims). This is a very positive indication that Electronic Arts sees a future for the franchise... and even more than that, fans need suffer through confusing DOS emulators and poorly conceived remakes no longer: Privateer will be available! Things are looking up!
A Privateer screenshot also appears at the GameTap website here.
AUSTIN, Texas, March 8, 2006—NCsoft® Corporation (KSE:036570.KS), the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announced today its latest partnership with a new company in Austin. Spacetime Studios™, composed of a core team with previous leadership roles on successful franchises such as Privateer, Wing Commander and Star Wars Galaxies, will publish its next game under the NCsoft brand.
AggieCon 37 (March 23-26, 2006; College Station, TX)You can read more about the CIC's annual visit to Dragon*Con here. Come help us show the (Confederation) flag!
San Diego Comic-Con International (July 20-23, 2006; San Diego, CA)
Dragon*Con (September 1-4, 2006; Atlanta, GA)
World Fantasy Convention (November 2-5, 2006; Austin, TX)
Hey all, Raptor hereI realise that it's been a good long while since we last had an HTL chapter published. There are a lot of reasons for the hiatus, but the main one is that the work on Holding The Line Dot Net was taking up most of the spare time I normally spend on editing chapters and co-ordinating the storyline. Now that the site is up though, normal service can resume. We've got a couple of major storylines coming your way as we wrap up the battle, starting with this tale, and followed by the sequel to Check And Mate. Speaking of Holding The Line Dot Net, the first major update will be unveiled very soon.
Several of our past stories in the Finale series have hinted that the Auriga group has been fighting the deadliest ship in the Nephilim fleet, a Kraken ship killer. Now, you get to read that story in a great four parter created by the Forge writers. Enjoy.
Long time fans of the Valley Forge group will know of their talent for writing epic storylines, and this one is no exception. It starts way back on the on the 18th, shortly after the fleet jumps in the Nifelhiem system, and continues on till it tracks alongside Check And Mate late on the 19th.
The story is at: http://www.holdingtheline.net/ch208.htm
Best, Raptor
The openings for the engine "intakes" had shield doors that opened and closed; most of the other renders were done with the doors closed. It would have been a cool effect in any cinematics we would do - that, and the fact that the engines were to have rotated around the axis of the ship, allowing it to corkscrew...
First off, my 3D program was able to read the vertices information out of the original file (vertices are those little points that make up all the polys in a 3D model.) Using those points as a guide, I modeled out the simple shapes that where needed. After that, it was a simple matter of searching all over the internet (mostly the Crius forums) for the images that would tell me just how to texture this thing.
Wing Commander: Apocalypse is a total conversion mod for Nexus: The Jupiter Incident. It is meant as an unofficial sequel to the events in Wing Commander: Prophecy and the Secret Ops expansion.Despite Wing Commander being a flight simulator, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident was a prime choice for my vision for this mod. For one, it gives Wing Commander fans something completely different to play with. My plans are to have the Nephilim return in much greater force with a large fleet of capital ships at their disposal; thus, Nexus was perfect for capital ship battles such as these. And Nexus is just a beautiful looking game.
Yes, I am the only person working on this mod. Sometimes it will be difficult to put out updates with school and work happening at the same time. However, I am just as excited about this project as everyone else, and despite being alone, I have been making substantial progress in a short amount of time. I don't plan on this mod dying, nor do I believe it will take years to complete.
Until today, some eight years later: we are proud to announce that HCl has accomplished the impossible. He has developed a patch reintegrating multiplayer into Wing Commander Prophecy. This is only the announcement - the project is still in testing. The current expectation is that it should be ready for release in about a month. It must be stressed that the software has already begun testing and that it works: during one attempt, four players in different countries managed to play the game smoothly together. In others, two and three players have played the game together on dialup connections. What remains now is simply to squash remaining bugs - something HCl is very, very good at.
Here's how it works: a host runs a special program to start while other players run a secondary utility which links them all together. The host launches Prophecy and everyone meets in the Simulator Pod for multiplayer combat!
The importance of this event can not be overstated- the single most asked for feature in Wing Commander has been added back where it belongs... by the fans! Look out, world: Wing Commander is back!
HCl has updated his website about the project - you can read all the impressive details here.
Sharp eyed viewers have noticed there's a new little section on the front page of the CIC. Kris put together a little program that displays the five most recent pilots' scores from the Standoff Simulator. You can see them below the first day's news. If you'd like to get in on the action, complete directions are available here. In the future, the score box should pull information from a wider range of missions and sources. And it's up to you to keep it fresh. Good luck improving your scores! Here's the top ten as it stands today. There's been quite an increase as people get more practice in.
| Pilot | Scores | Total Score |
| Sternenwind | 28 | 96826 |
| Jarmok | 28 | 78967 |
| Sonic TH | 28 | 76824 |
| Cardinal | 28 | 76517 |
| u4eake | 28 | 43541 |
| Justice | 22 | 35339 |
| Will_Styles | 27 | 31957 |
| Quarto | 10 | 25120 |
| Exarch | 8 | 24247 |
| CataclysmX | 18 | 23874 |
I finally figured out the process for getting ships into HL2. So far it works best with 3DStudio Max. Thanks to some help from Bob and a Rapier from Marc, I can show you I'm not lying. It's hard to see in screenshots, but the glossy paint effect is neat. You can see world geometry reflected on the ship.
Dr. Intat told GamesIndustry.biz that ten years from now "CDs, DVDs and boxed games will be as antiquated as cassette tapes and vinyl records.""Secondly, there will always be - well, always is a little too far-reaching maybe, but for a very long time there will still be distribution of physical products. We should not underestimate the value of the reach that we do have today with our products - the impulse purchases that people are making, and that there are a huge amount of consumers out there who still want to buy physical products. The gift market also, the parents and grandmothers who still want to purchase presents for kids, and will still continue purchasing products in physical form," he concluded.
Now when you select a part of the map, you can zoom to that area, center it to the screen, get a sortable list or perform different operations with those systems.
Valiant-class Destroyer: The Valiant-class is largely unknown. It was mentioned only briefly in Wing Commander: Action Stations. By the time the war started in 2634, they were already old: Ensign Tolwyn was surprised to notice "an ancient Confed Valiant class destroyer" at Gar's Emporium.
Achilles-class Destroyer/Transport/Fighter Transport: Achilles-class hulls appear to be the workhorses of the fleet in Wing Commander Academy. The ships serve as destroyers (TCS Ajax), transports (TCS Suffolk) and Fighter Transports (TCS Morgan). An Achilles-class ship also appears in the show's introduction sequence. The ships carry three Dual-Mount Laser Turret, one Single-Mount Laser Turret and one Dual-Mount Missile Turret... along with a 19-ship fighter complement. The Achilles-class should not be confused with the later TCS Achilles, a Heavy Cruiser destroyed by the BWS Intrepid shortly before Blair's defection... nor Achilles, a mining station in the Troy System... nor "Achilles," a Tiger's Claw pilot in 2654.
Exeter-class Destroyer: The Exeter-class was the first destroyer we ever loved... or, at least, the first one we ever saw: other than the Tiger's Claw, the Exeter was the only Confederation warship seen in the original Wing Commander. Notable Exeters include the Carraway, the Formidable, Gwenhyvar, Johann, Mitchell Hammock, Oregon, Talmud, Trygvie Lie, U Thant and the Vindicator. The Exeter's armament consists of six Dual-Mount Laser Batteries, four Single-Mount Laser Turrets, one Triple-Mount Laser Battery and one Spiculum IR Missile Tube. Exeters also boast an 18 ship fighter complement.
Gilgamesh-class Destroyer: The Gilgamesh was Wing Commander II's answer to the Exeter. Loyal Gilgamesh-class ships, the Hector and the William Tell, followed the Concordia wherever she went. Gilgamesh-class ships were in service than a lot longer than that, though - in fact, 2nd Lt. Blair's first assignment out of Flight School was a 30-hour stint on the TCS Gilgamesh herself. The Gilgamesh is armed with two Flak Cannons and two Anti-Matter Guns.
Paradigm-class Destroyer: The Paradigm was the only Confederation capital ship to appear in Wing Commander: Privateer. Commodores Reismann and Uhler both commanded Paradigm groups, and the powerful ships could be found engaging in anti-terrorism, anti-piracy and border defense missions throughout the Gemini Sector. The Paradigm mounts five forward guns: two Meson Blasters, two Tachyon Cannons and an Ionic Pulse Cannon. Earlier models have a Triple-Mount Laser Turret and a Triple-Mount Mass Driver Turret. Later versions replace these with a Dual-Particle Cannon, Single-Ionic Pulse Cannon Turret and a Dual-Neutron Gun, Single-Ionic Pulse Cannon Turret. The two versions have different missile loadouts as well. The initial Paradigms carried ten Dart DFs, two Spiculum IRs and a Javelin HS. Later models double the Javelin HS loadout and replace the Darts with eight Pilum FoFs. The TCS Paradigm herself appears in an Origin FX screensaver model, the appropriately titled TCS Paradigm. That same ship was the Confederation's flagship in 2664!
Coventry-type Destroyer/Minelayer: The Coventry-type may not have an official name... but it's certainly one of the most popular destroyers, owing to its appearance in Wing Commander III and Wing Commander IV! Two of the Victory's escorts, the TCS Sheffield and the TCS Coventry, were of this class. The class predates the war itself... but a design upgrade at some point added the capacity to carry a half-squadron of medium fighters (in fact, we know the name isn't Coventry-class specifically because the Coventry is newer than the Sheffield). Coventry-type ships mount nine gun turrets: nine dual-mount laser turrets or eight dual mount laser turrets and one dual-mount antimatter gun. They are also modified for use as minelayers and frigates.
Durango-class Heavy Destroyer: The Confederation retired the Durango-class in 2663... but the Border Worlds didn't -- the famous BWS Intrepid began its life as the TCS Delphi! The Durango is a heavy favorite in this poll specifically because it's the one destroyer Wing Commander fans are intimately familiar with... having served off of one throughout most of Wing Commander IV. Durango-class ships carry eight dual laser turrets and several torpedo tubes.
Murphy-class Destroyer: The Murphy-class, on the other hand, is shiny and new. These destroyers are a post-war design which premiered in Wing Commander: Secret Ops. Notable Murphy-class ships include the Arkhangelsk, Foehammer, Kuznetsova and Leonov. The Murphy-class carries three dual mount heavy lasers, four single mount heavy lasers, two dual mount missile turrets, eight starfighters and a central Mk. 4 heavy plasma cannon.
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