GOG's big annual winter sale end January 2. You've got just over a day or so to save 59% off the Wing Commander series. Each set is $2.45. Time to finish off the digital collection!
On Friday, the Wing Commander movie club watched the first two hours (exactly!) of Das Boot, taking us from occupied France right through a strikingly familiar depth charge scene. We noted a lot of elements Chris Roberts borrowed for Wing Commander (including the Captain) and we'll collect them all in a final after action report next week. But first, we need to finish the tour! You can join us on Discord on Friday for the screening and you're more than welcome to be part of the fun.
Das Boot is a 1981 film which follows the crew of a German U-boat fighting in the Atlantic in 1941. It is known for its realistic depiction of submarine life and for telling a story that isn't about heroes winning glory but ordinary men living through a terrible time. The film's success introduced director Wolfgang Petersen to the world; he would later go on to direct films like Outbreak and Air Force One.
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
Notably, there have been several cuts of Das Boot over the years. These include the 1981 theatrical cut (149 minutes), the 1985 miniseries version (308 minutes) and a 1997 director's cut (209 minutes). We will be watching the 1997 cut which is the one Chris Roberts would've most readily had access to when making Wing Commander the next year. We are also splitting the movie into two nights because of its length. We will be watching the final hour and a half this week.
Das Boot is currently available for rental or sale digitally at all storefronts. A copy is available as a free download from the Internet Archive. If you're interested in tracking down a physical copy, a BluRay version was released in 2012 and remains in print today. In Germany, there is a "Complete Edition" which includes every extant cut. If you are unable to track down a copy please ping a member of the WCCIC staff on the Discord in advance of the watch.
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!
Playing around with a concept for the Tiger's Claw from the first Wing Commander game, aligning it closer to the aesthetic of WCIII/IV.
If skulking about under the stars doesn't sound appealing, how about looking out of a spaceship's cockpit while flying among them? Wing Commander somehow made combining epic action space battles with impressively sim-like flight control and damage modelling look easy. Then they added an incredibly reactive story that continues on whether I succeed or fail a mission. All this complexity, even though it was designed for hardware with barely double-digit CPU speeds and 1MB of RAM.
This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that inspired Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is a big one: the first part of Das Boot, a movie that Chris Roberts… absolutely saw. You can find details on that as well as how to watch along with us in the announcement post here. The movie will start about 7 PM PST/10 PM EST, but feel free to drop by and hang any time!
Greetings WingNuts,
It's safe to say that everyone in attendance loved Starship Troopers; we're probably all just about the right age for it. It holds up as both a giant fun action movie and a not-too-difficult to decode satire… you can't ask much more from a film! We talked about how the movie compares to other adaptations and mostly just had a great time.
As we discussed in the intro post, Starship Troopers was the 800 pound gorilla in the room when the Wing Commander movie was germinating. The fact that Sony greenlit a $100 million sci fi war blockbuster without any a-list stars created the financing environment that let Chris Roberts sell Wing Commander in the first place… and it meant that his more modest project would be compared to Verhnoeven's masterpiece every step of the way. And when Starship Troopers bombed at the box office, Wing Commander's investors got cold feet and the deal had to be reworked (ultimately giving FOX worldwide distribution rights).
Starship Troopers star Casper Van Dien (Johnny Rico) had a cameo as Confed Redshirt #3 in Wing Commander IV.
But AD found some interesting proof that Starship Troopers loomed large over Wing Commander creatively as well as financially: Basil Poledouris's SST score was used extensively when temp tracking Wing Commander. Temp tracks are existing music used when a film is being edited to indicate the overall feel that the director wants for the scene. Wing Commander used five tracks from Starship Troopers a total of about two dozen times! You can find AD's complete temp track spreadsheet here.
Klendathu Drop: Pegasus Attack, Flight Deck (Blair Arives), Maniac and Rosie showing off, Rescue by Deveraux's wing, Briefing, Drones offline, All Batteries fire
Brainbug: Diligent Arrives at the Claw, Brown Dwarf, Out of the crater, Concordia Battle Group, Blair meets Tolwyn
Punishment / Asteroid Gazing: Blair Meets Gerald and Sansky, Tiger Claw ambush/scramble, rescue by Deveraux's wing, Angel pulls a gun on Maniac, Prepping the Diligent
Destruction of Roger Young: Reconnoiter, Attacking the Comcon, Skipper Missile, Fish in a Barrel, Angel Contemplates ending it / Paladin is going to look for Angel
They Will Win!: Broadside success
It's nothing super specific but there is a general 'Wing Commander IV' feeling to a lot of Starship Troopers' aesthetic. Obviously a hundred million dollar blockbuster looks better than an eight million dollar video game but the set designers and prop makers sure feel like they're coming from the same place. Just compare Starship Trooper's shuttle to the one from Wing Commander IV. Both sets are incredibly similar in construction and how they're shot!
We also talked a lot about how Starship Troopers compared to the book. There were a lot of hardcore fans of the book that weren't happy at all about the movie for all sorts of reasons… but the one that really materialized in the discourse was not its message but that it didn't have the power suits. And that is absolutely true! Heinlein grabs his readers immediately with descriptions of the futuristic combat suits and then proceeds to start giving them civics lessons. Here it's the relatable, somewhat campy world that brings you in. We also referenced the 1988 Starship Troopers OVA which was once held up as an example of a great adaptation of the book. Unfortunately it turns out all that means is that it had cool robot suits; the actual story is a lot closer to the movie and/or just a general anime. If it weren't named Starship Troopers, no one would have thought of it in recent memory.
That said, there is someone that does borrow from the book very literally… Dr. William Forstchen when writing the Wing Commander novels. Fleet Action in particular has at least two very obvious steals. One is the scene where Juan is lectured about the USS Chesapeake which Forstchen borrows in Fleet Action to explain why Bear is monitoring Admiral Tolwyn's classified communications:
What Jason was confessing was somewhat outside the regulations but it showed careful planning and foresight on his part. If something had indeed happened to Concordia the young officer before him might very well have to take full responsibility for everything that transpired.There was an ancient cautionary tale told in the service academies, the incident dating back to a war once fought between England and America. In an encounter between an American and British ship the commanding officer of the American vessel was mortally wounded, and the junior officer took him down below deck to the surgeon. In the short interval that followed all the other officers were hit and, without his even being aware of it, the junior officer was now in command. By the time he returned to the deck his ship had already been battered into submission and forced to surrender after barely putting up a fight. The junior officer was held responsible, court-martialed, and found guilty of dereliction of duty, a duty he was not even aware had suddenly come to rest upon his shoulders. The lesson was part of the tradition and backbone of the fleet—there is no excuse for defeat.
And then later in the book, he takes Starship Troopers' earring scene, meant to show how those not in the service can't understand those that are. Instead of earrings indicating a combat drop, he has gilded mugs that represent dying in your plane:
"Say, I like these mugs up here," the woman who had been talking to Jason announced, going up to the wall and taking one down. The bar went silent."Especially the ones with the gold handle. How can I get one?"
"You get killed in action, that's how. Gallagher gilds the handle of the mug when he hears that the owner bought a permanent piece of space," Jason said quietly, and the woman looked at him wide eyed and then turned pale.
Well, great artists steal!
Sully is glad the movie version didn't have any of those neodogs.
Greetings all. As we enter the holiday season I think very fondly of how blessed I am that you all supported me in the quest to create volume two of my music from Wing Commander. As I've mentioned before, all the orchestra and choir parts are recorded and awaiting mixing. As I write this I'm sending all the sessions to the legendary recording/mixing engineer Bruce Botnick so that he can gather the enormous amount of tracks involved and do his magic. I will be heading out to LA to mix the music with him during the second week of January. He will be mixing for stereo downloads, vinyl and Dolby Atmos. Once that is accomplished I will return home and begin the arduous task of creating the product that will be sent to all of you. I'm estimating that you should be receiving the music some time in February 2025.Once again thank you from the bottom of my heart. And may all of you and yours have a blessed holiday season and an extraordinary New Year!
Musically yours,
George
Merry Christmas to all the WingNuts that celebrate… and equivalent wishes for happiness for everyone else, as well! In honor of the holiday, we've collected twelve different Christmas-related items (many from the ghosts of CIC updates past) for you to enjoy. We'd also love for you to share your Wing Commander-related holiday memories–whether you opened a Wing Commander III in your stocking in 1994 or you read all of False Colors while sitting shivering in a Christmas tree lot the day it came out (both me) we'd love to hear about it! We also know that not everyone has a family to spend the holiday… while it's only a small company, you are more than welcome to join our community Discord if you ever need company!
Day One: Xmas Marc's the Spot
One of my very favorite Wing Commander traditions was always the warm and hilarious Wing Commander Christmas renderings that Marc used to create and send for us to post from 2006 to 2014. They never fail to make me smile to this day! Do you have a favorite? Here's the complete collection:
Day Two: To Absent Friends
We would like to take another moment to remember our dear friend Adam "Klavs" Burch who was tragically lost earlier this year. Not a day goes by that we aren't reminded of something he created or someone he influenced in the community; a terrible loss. Here are a few funny things he created for Christmas updates over the years… including a collection of 3D printed ship ornaments he made from his models!
Day Three: More Fan Art!
Here's a collection of some of the wonderful Christmas art fans have submitted to the site over the news including great work from EmuMusicFan, Music Guru, the Privateer Gemini Gold team and more!
Day Four: What You See is What You Play
In 2018, Rhesin created a playable Wing Commander I Christmas mod! In addition to adding the festive decorations seen below, the patch includes four optional holiday-themed missions that replace the ones in the Enyo System! You can download the package here and then just unzip it in your GAMEDAT directory to swap in the new graphics and missions.
Day Five: Do They Even Know it's Christmas?
Is Christmas still celebrated in Wing Commander's future? Short answer, yes! We actually see the crew of the Independence celebrate Christmas in False Colors and that story is detailed for Day Six. But Action Stations also claims of Confederation Day that "that's the biggest holiday of the year outside of Christmas." I don't think that's even true today, but go on! Three more minor Christmas mentions:
Now, if Christmas exists in the Tri-System, it might be a little different. It looks like coal is at a premium in that area of space…
Day Six: Christmas on the
And what would the holiday be without a Christmas story? Here is an excerpt from Wing Commander False Colors in which Jason Bondarevsky and Kevin Tolwyn hold a Christmas party with a group of Kilrathi renegades! It's kind of neat as a self-contained unit since it starts with a deceptive simulated dogfight just like the original Wing Commander and the first episode of Wing Commander Academy! Tropes on tropes. Plus, it stars an actual black cat!
Flight Wing Lounge, FRLS Karga
Orbiting Vaku VII, Vaku System
1925 hours (CST), 2670.358
"Break left! Break left!" The voice in Bondarevsky's helmet receivers was urgent. "Come on, Captain, you can nail this guy!"
Bondarevsky pulled the joystick hard over, rolling to the left and trying to spot his quarry. The Strakha bucked and kicked as if it resented the very idea of a human pilot flying it, but he fought the controls and forced the fighter into the turn. He reached for the sensor controls to narrow the focus and try to get an accurate position estimate on the cloaked enemy fighter he knew was closing in for the kill, but a split second too late he realized he'd instinctively reached for the spot where they would have been located on one of the Ferrets he'd flown back in his days as Tarawa's Wing Commander. The sudden realization made him try to shift in mid-reach, but that sent his bionic arm into a feedback spasm.
The delay was fatal. The enemy Strakha decloaked bare meters off his starboard side, and the red flash of incoming fire washed through Jason Bondarevsky's cockpit.
The buzzer going off in his ear made him wince and grind his teeth. The cockpit opened up, revealing a crowd of men and women surrounding the simulator unit. Money was changing hands as they paid off their bets. Bondarevsky blinked in the glare of the lights.
"Bang, you're dead," Doomsday Montclair announced from the other simulator cockpit, climbing out with the aid of a pair of his squadron's younger pilots.
"I noticed," Bondarevsky replied dryly. "I've got to hand it to you, Doomsday. You haven't lost your edge."
Montclair grinned. "Didn't let them promote me out of the cockpit, skipper," he said. "But don't sweat it. You'll get the moves back. And if you don't, I'll be around to bail out your sorry ass!"
That sparked laughter from the audience. Bondarevsky started to clamber out of the cockpit, and Harper and Sparks were quick to help him. The simulator modules were cobbled together from a combination of Confederation and Kilrathi technology, mostly the former. The Kilrathi had less use for detailed simulations of flight missions than human pilots did. According to Jorkad lan Mraal, the senior pilot from the Nargrast survivors who had been working with Sparks on building the modules, the Empire preferred live-training exercises with real ships, real maneuvers, and live ammo.
Jorkad was there now, looking out of place amidst the revelry of the Flight Wing's Christmas party. The Christmas holiday was something the Kilrathi couldn't quite grasp. The message of "peace on Earth, good will toward men" was so alien to their way of life that they simply had nothing to compare it to. But a kil enjoyed a good party as much as any human, and Jorkad seemed to be developing a special fondness for eggnog.
"I was studying your performance, Captain Bondarevsky," he said gravely. Jorkad was always studiously correct and formal. At first some of the members of the wing had assumed it was a mask for some underlying hostility to the humans, but on closer acquaintance the general consensus was that Jorkad was just naturally serious and punctilious all the time. "Your instincts are good. But I fear your reactions have been somewhat slowed by your injuries. The artificial arm . . ."
"Is a problem sometimes, yes," Bondarevsky said, feeling impatient. He still didn't like discussing the plastilimb, especially not with a Cat. "I'm getting the hang of it."
He wasn't good at reading Kilrathi expressions, but he thought Jorkad's look might have been the Cat equivalent of a frown. "I believe that Hrothark and I could design an interface that would connect your arm directly into the controls of the fighter," he said. "It is possible that you could substantially improve your performance by having many of the onboard systems essentially controlled by thought—or at least by the muscular impulses associated with specific actions, such as operating sensors or firing weapons."
"Thanks, but no thanks," Bondarevsky said.
Jorkad studied him curiously. "I do not understand. Why would you reject something which could give you an advantage in combat? Particularly when it turns a current handicap around and makes it an asset instead?"
Bondarevsky shrugged. "I don't know if I can explain it, my friend," He held up his arm. "Look here. You can see that the limb is designed to look as much like a biological arm as possible. It would be a lot more efficient, and cost-effective too, for that matter, if it wasn't built this way, but you'll find most people prefer artificial limbs that don't look artificial."
The Kilrathi pilot gave a very human head nod, at the same time making the Cat grasping gesture that stood for understanding.
"The thing is," Bondarevsky went on, "a lot of us don't like to be forced to admit to something like this. I've got a machine doing the work of a limb, and I'm damned glad to have it, but I'd far rather have the original. And the last thing I want is to lose my humanity more than I already have by plugging myself into my cockpit like one more onboard system. I learned to fly by my gut, and I'd rather keep on doing it that way even if I have to work a little bit harder at it. Do you understand?"
"I believe I do, Captain," Jorkad said slowly. "Your sentiments are reminiscent of some of the passages in the Seventh Codex. You've given me much to think about."
"Glad I could help out," Bondarevsky muttered as the Cat pilot stalked away in search of a refill for his empty cup of eggnog.
"Well, well, Jason Bondarevsky trading philosophy with a Cat. I never thought I'd live to see the day." The crowd parted as Kevin Tolwyn approached, trailed by a junior lieutenant carrying a large, bulky box.
"I've swapped that kind of stuff with stranger types than him," Bondarevsky said with a smile. "In fact, I'm looking at one now."
Tolwyn's expression was one of mock horror. "I'm wounded! To be insulted so, and by my own dear mentor! Maybe I'll just call off this whole Christmas thing right here and now."
"Christmas thing?" Bondarevsky frowned. "Please tell me you didn't . . ."
"Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to give you anything." Tolwyn grinned at him. Bondarevsky had never been much for celebrating Christmas, beyond putting in the expected appearances at the festivities held by the people in his command. Born and raised on Razin, a distant frontier world settled by Russians of mostly Eastern Orthodox religion, Bondarevsky had been brought up to celebrate Epiphany, the baptism rather than the Nativity of Christ, and even yet he still was apt to keep the Twelfth-Night holiday rather than the more traditional Christmas Day. He and Kevin had a long-standing tradition of not exchanging presents until Epiphany. "No, I brought over a gift from all of the Liberators to all of you . . . whatever it is you're going to call yourselves. Lieutenant, if you please . . ."
His assistant stepped forward and set the box down on the table. "Open it up, Jason," Tolwyn said.
He looked at the box for a long moment, half-expecting some kind of prank. Then he noticed that the lid of the box was pierced by half a dozen small holes, and that piqued his curiosity. Just what was Tolwyn up to, anyway?
Bondarevsky lifted the lid and looked inside. There, almost invisible in the shadows, a pair of green eyes regarded him curiously.
"Thrakhath!" he said. He reached in and lifted out the black cat, who responded by rubbing on his chin and purring loudly. That set off laughter from the officers clustered nearby. "Kevin, are you sure about this? I had the idea Thrakhath was kind of a favorite of yours. This one, at least."
Tolwyn grinned. "Yeah, I like him a lot better than I ever liked the one from Kilrah, but there's a dozen cats on Independence to keep our rodent population under control. And we thought you guys could use a mascot over here. Given your new home and all, it just seemed like a good idea."
Bondarevsky put the cat down on the table, but kept petting him. "Just as long as he doesn't cause as much trouble as his namesake . . ."
"Oh, he'll cause a lot more than that." Tolwyn grinned again. "And he'll bring bad luck to anybody who crosses his path. Like Ragark and his Kilrathi . . ."
"Or the confees!" one of the pilots called from the back of the watching crowd. "Or anybody else who gets in our way!"
Tolwyn looked embarrassed. "Anyway, Merry Christmas from the Liberators to . . ." He trailed off. Bondarevsky's command had been officially designated as FW-137, but it didn't have a name as yet. The carrier hadn't even received a formal Landreich Navy name yet.
"The Black Cats!" a voice from the crowd declared loudly. Commander Alexandra Travis came forward and stretched out a hand to scratch Thrakhath behind the ears. The animal looked satisfied with himself and redoubled his contented purring. "What do you say, Captain? What better name for a Flight Wing operating off a Cat carrier, with Cat fighters, and probably in Cat space, sooner or later?"
There were plenty of comments from the others, and they all sounded favorable. Bondarevsky nodded. "All right, the Black Cats it is." He paused. "Mr. Harper, I am hereby appointing you as Chief Cat-tender, with all the duties and responsibilities that traditionally go with that post. And somebody else is going to have to explain all this to Murragh. I sure as hell don't want to tell him we've got a house pet named after his cousin."
"To hear him talk," Travis said, "house pet would be a step up from what Murragh's people think of their ex-Prince." She grinned. "But you know we'll be bad luck to anybody who crosses our path!"
Tolwyn and his aid stayed on for a drink, then left to catch the tail end of the Christmas party aboard their own ship. Soon after they had taken their leave Bondarevsky stopped at a side table to refill his drink, and encountered Travis once again.
"So . . . you lost your simulator duel, huh?" she said. "The legend has feet of clay after all. I lost ten credits on you, Captain."
"Sorry, Commander," he said with a faint smile. "If I'd've known you were betting on me I would have worked harder."
She returned the smile. "Or bet against me and thrown the fight deliberately," she said, arching one eyebrow. "Seriously, though, how did it feel? Do you think it's an accurate simulation of a Strakha?"
Her interest was understandable. Alexandra Travis had been designated as squadron commander for VF-401, one of the new fighter squadrons being organized aboard the supercarrier. Once she and her pilots finished training, they'd be flying the squadron of Strakha fighters salvaged from the Kilrathi planes on board. Her previous experience had been confined to the Raptor heavy fighter, and they had little in common in terms of handling with the Cat Strakhas.
Bondarevsky was impressed by her record and by the skill she'd displayed getting her squadron in shape these last few days. Of all his new squadron commanders she was the one who seemed most in tune with him, her mind often following the same leaps of imagination that his own did as they discussed the ways and means of making the Flight Wing work.
"I don't know how accurate it is," he said, "but Sparks and Jorkad seem to think it isn't too far from the real thing. If it's anything like the simulator, the Strakha's going to be heavy going. Big and mean, but not exactly subtle . . . except for the stealth technology. I guess the Cats figured they had a cloak, so why bother making the thing nimble too? Takes some getting used to when you've come out of the high-maneuverability school."
"Sort of like trying to fly a shuttle after a stretch of duty with Hornets," she said, nodding.
"Well, not quite that bad, maybe," he said, remembering his landing on Independence and how clumsy the shuttle controls had seemed. "I figure with enough sim time it won't be too much of a problem getting these Cat planes down cold. I have to admit, though, that it's pretty strange thinking of how to use them in combat, and not just how to beat them."
She laughed. "You could say the same thing about this whole operation," she said. "A year ago a Cat was just something to shoot at. Now I'm starting to understand how they think . . . and it's starting to scare me. Sometimes I wonder how we managed to hold them off so long. They sure as hell know how to build a carrier."
Bondarevsky nodded. "I know what you mean. And working with the Cats from Murragh's bunch . . . they're not exactly what we always thought they were, are they?"
Before she could reply they were interrupted by a chord from Aengus Harper's guitar. The young lieutenant had found himself a perch on one of the tables and taken the battered-looking instrument out of its case. For a moment he contented himself with strumming chords, apparently at random.
"Well, the Bard of the Spaceways is at it again," Bondarevsky commented with a smile. "What's it going to be tonight, Lieutenant? More of your old Irish rabble-rousing songs?"
"Ah, now, sir, should I be playin' such things and ignoring the spirit of the season?" Harper replied with his easy, charming grin. "No, tonight I'll not be speakin' of the Gaels and their long struggle for freedom, more's the pity. Instead I thought I'd give you a Christmas song me auld mither taught me when I was just a lad."
He started picking the strings with practiced skill, closing his eyes and starting to sing in a soft, pleasant voice. It was a song Bondarevsky hadn't heard for years. The crowd was rapt as the young Taran sang the story of the child Jesus and his scornful playmates in Egypt, and the miracles that alarmed their mothers.
Thinking of the work they'd done on Karga, Bondarevsky couldn't help but think the lieutenant's choice was deliberate . . . and apt. They'd all worked their share of miracles out here on the edge of the frontier, and after this holiday was past they'd be right back in the miracle-working business once more.
Day Seven: Christmas Cards!
Here are a pair of Wing Commander Christmas cards from recent years. The first one is from original Wing Commander artist Denis Loubet and was created for his Patreon members. The second one was sent out by the now defunct publisher Prima to celebrate a major anniversary. Can you locate five Wing Commander game books in their grid?
Day Eight: A Very Old Audio File
Here's another blast from the past: a 1998 vintage Christmas wav file recorded by Origin Systems' John "Captain Johnny" Guentzel, who at the time had just finished work as a designer on Wing Commander Secret Ops. Johnny was always so kind to the community and we used to run this file every year. It's a silly thing from a smaller era of fandom but it's pretty neat to look back on today! Plus, the idea of a developer wishing fans a 'wingcommanderific holiday' was pretty ahead of its time back then.
Day Nine: Moose Bull
And here's a Christmas-themed magazine ad from Origin! This ran in December 1996 and you will be forgiven for thinking the crazy person looks familiar: that's none other than Patrick Bradshaw, Wing Commander IV product manager and the face of Moose in the Intrepid's pilot database! Can you spot the Wing Commander III cameo?
Day Ten: Don't Forget the Ornaments!
We still need to trim the tree… and what better choice than the closest thing the Wing Commander universe has to an ornament? That's right, it's the mysterious Super Wing Commander version of the Kilrathi Dorkir. It's a retexture of the Wing Commander II supply depot model but it's not at all clear why they went with red and green balls or a giant label that rads NC-4. Adding to the mystery: the source file for the ship is labeled OLDDORK and the Lumbari is labeled NEWDORK. What was going on with those dorks?! Bonus picture: a REAL Origin ornament, an employee gift from years past!
Day Eleven: The Assault Begins
The most famous Origin Christmas story is at least Wing Commander adjacent: Chris Roberts famously promised that Strike Commander would ship for Christmas 1991… and he was so certain of this that they advertised that in the marketing material. Of course, the game slipped to early 1993 instead, quite a delay at the time. They poked fun at themselves in the manual with a parody 'coming 2012' advertisement… but it's safe to say it's a lesson Chris didn't quite learn at the time!
Day Twelve: Merry Christmas from Ginger!
Here's an exciting new gift courtesy of LeHah: a cameo from Ginger Lynn, aka Chief Tech Rachel Coriolis, wishing us all a merry Christmas!
BONUS DAY: WC:CIC Traditions
We have a few traditions here at the CIC, too! You may have noticed that we put up Christmas lights in the logo every year… usually they go up pretty late and then they stay up well into the spring, just like at home. Here are both of the versions we've used over the years… crazy how much more resolution web images need today!
There used to be a second Christmas decoration who would appear in the top corner of the old version of the site. Our jolly snowman would be added leading up to Christmas and then he would slowly melt over the next month!
Finally, back in the early days we used to do some Christmas filk with… terrible… parodies of Christmas songs. We're including these for posterity and not because anyone should ever sing them. Or read them!
The Twelve Days of CIC
(to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas)
On the first day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. rumors of Privateer three..
On the second day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the third day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the fourth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the fifth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the sixth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the seventh day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the eighth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the nineth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. a brand new poll, eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the tenth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. ten thousand hits, a brand new poll, eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the eleventh day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. the Wing Commander card game, ten thousand hits, a brand new poll, eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Johnny gave to me.. Thrakhath's severed head, the Wing Commander card game, ten thousand hits, a brand new poll, eight amazing updates, seven new episodes, movie merchandise, five.. Prophecies.., four new books, the price freedom, two Dralthi IV's.. and rumors of Privateer three..
Super the Macintosh Wing Commander
(To the tune of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer)
You know Heart of the Tiger
and The Price of Freedom
Prophecy and Academy
and Privateer and Armada
But do you recall
The most famous Wing Commander of all?
Super the Macintosh Wing Commander
Had a very full speech pack,
and if you ever heard it,
You might even call it great.
All of the other Wing Commanders
Used to laugh and steal its graphics
They never let poor Super
Play on any normal platforms.
Then one foggy release deadline
Roberts came to say,
"Super with your speech so full
Won't you make the Armada intro?"
Then all the Wing Commanders loved it
And they shouted out with glee
Super the Macintosh Wing Commander
You'll go down in history!
Multi Player
(To the tune of Jingle Bells)
Dashing through space
In a one-manned light fighter
Through asteroid fields we go
Dogfighting all the way.
Taunts from furballs ring
Making Spirit bright
What fun it is to play a Wing
Commander game tonight.
Multiplayer, Multiplayer,
Why can't we have you?
Oh what fun it would be to play
This great game that way.
Wing Commander The Movie
(To the tune of Frosty the Snowman)
Wing Commander the Movie
Was a jolly happy film
With Freddie Prinze and Matt Lillard
and no S on Tiger's Claw.
Wing Commander the Movie
Was an awful film 'they' say
Reviews were crap
But the true fans clap
When they see that intro scene.
There must have been some confusion
On that old movie set
For when they filmed a traitor plot
It had to be cut out.
Wing Commander the Movie
Was as good as it could be
And the true fans say
It was better most ways
Then Star Wars TPM.
Away is the Manager
(To the tune of Away in the Manger)
Away is the manager, who cancelled Wing 6,
The little Lord Sivar will have his revenge.
The stars in the sky look down where he lay,
The little Lord Sivar will taste blood today.
The Strakha are cloaking, the target awaits.
But little Lord Khasra no sight does he make.
I love thee, Lord Khasra, come down from the sky
And fire your missiles so as he might deep-fry.
Be near me, Lord Melek, I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever, and make them all pay
Bless all the dear furballs in thy tender care,
And take them to Pasqual, to live with thee there.
Hull the Decks
(To the tune of Deck the Halls)
Hull the decks with balls of neutron,
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
'Tis the season to fire tachyon,
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Don we now our Rapier II's
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Against a Salthi we can't lose
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
See the blazing hull before us.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Strike with torps and join the chorus.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Follow me in merry measure.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
While I target shield generators.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Fast away the old ship passes.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Hail the kill ye lads and lasses
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Scratch one flat-top all together
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
heedless of the wind and weather.
Fa-la-la-la-la.. la-la-la-la
Merry Christmas, everyone, from the whole Wing Commander Combat Information Center team! Hope yours is Wingcommanderific.
Here's a welcome holiday surprise: George "The Fatman" Sanger has released a new 45-track album covering his work on Wing Commander II and Wing Commander Academy! It's a stunningly curated collection with an excellent introduction from Sanger and extensive notes on individual tracks. It includes not just properly formatted and recorded versions of the final music but also longer versions of tracks that were cut to save disk space at the time. Amazing stuff… and it's just the start! While this release from The Fatman represents his work on the game, curator Xeenmusic has a complete release in the works that covers all of the game's composers. You can learn more and purchase a digital copy on Bandcamp.
ABOUT THIS SOUNDTRACK
My memory of Wing Commander II is foggy and complex, and I am ready to be proven wrong on any of what I recall and say here.
Dave Govett, Team Fat's wizard of and lead composer behind Wing I, was busy on other projects when the call came in to do Wing II. And besides, I wanted to see what would happen if I took the lead on an orchestral soundtrack myself. I was ready to shift from the Govett-lead John Williams/Star Wars feeling to a galloping, hybrid of a Danny Elfman/Batman-esque theme (which I came maybe a little too close to—as have SO many composers since that score came out!) with something adventurous and triumphant, elements recalling old Western and WWII movies I grew up with. I had a Grand Vision of a main theme in that vein, a romantic theme, a blues theme, and Dave's Wing Commander I themes, all teased in an opening overture and all integrated into each other in unexpected ways throughout the game.
What I didn't realize was that other composers were writing for the game as well!
For a number of years, Team Fat and I had been the golden boys of PC music in the USA, especially where Origin and the MT-32 were concerned. But around the time of WCII, musical responsibility and control for Origin's audio was shifting to their very capable in-house team. As the listener will hear, Martin Galway as producer and the other composers did a beautiful job, and the project no doubt came out to be the thing you love because of their efforts and talents. That said, when a CD was released without my knowledge, revealing that the released product contained music that I wasn't aware existed, it was a bit of a shock. I confess I suffered the prima donna’s disappointment at not having the entire stage to myself, but more significantly the creative result was, if wonderful, not so fully integrated as what I thought I had been working on.
So it’s with delight that I come back to this so many years later, all that behind me, and realize with an open and happy ear and heart that I was part of a bigger team than I knew. As so often happens, what you thought you were going for is not necessarily what's supposed to be. The best way, they say, to make God laugh is to make plans. Time has passed and here we are, all, I hope, smiling to be able to listen to and enjoy this fine body of work from more composers, more talented than I'd realized, and so, so lovingly and painstakingly assembled by Andrew Harrington.
They say that when a drop falls into the ocean it isn't lost—it opens up and lets the entire ocean in. So it’s about time I put this message out: Hey Martin, Dana, Herman, John, Nenad and Kirk— Fantastic work. and... Welcome to Team Fat!!!!
-The Fat Man—George Alistair Sanger
5/1/2024
ABOUT THIS RELEASE
The “Just the FAT” edition of the Wing Commander II soundtrack included only the compositions done by George A. Sanger and his team, all recorded with an authentic Roland MT-32 unit. The MT-32’s limited polyphony has a tendency to cause notes to be dropped/lost when a composition more advanced than the device can handle is played. This is especially noticeable on instruments with many rapid successive notes, such as a harp glissando.
To prevent this limitation from being part of the recordings, the process for any tracks that this polyphony has been exceeded is this: Break the theme into the least number of sections necessary until there is no longer any notation lost. Then, after recording each of these sections separately, to mix them together. Therefore, the pieces may be heard without this defect being present.
While designing Wing Commander II, the programming team had a responsibility to balance and reduce memory usage, both in terms of harddrive space and RAM. As a result, many of the longer themes had their lengths reduced toward the end of development with the note “big memory spender”. Thankfully the longer versions of all of George Sanger’s tracks were able to be recovered for this release (unlike that of the other composers).
A majority of themes from Wing Commander I were reused in Wing Commander II. Wing Commander: Academy later used a selection of themes from both games, plus had additional themes composed by John Tipton and Kirk Winterrowd.
- Andrew Harrington
--------------------
Most music has been newly recorded with a real Roland MT-32 from a combination of the original MIDI files converted from George A. Sanger’s archived Digital Performer project files, as well as extracted MIDI data from the game where these do not exist.
Andrew Harrington's detailed track-by-track by track commentary, also available as a .doc file as a bonus item when the album is purchased, is combination of observable technical notes, as well as extracts from various internal correspondences between the designers. All track titles are based on the original filenames and/or titles found in these papers. For any reused tracks initially composed for Wing Commander I, commentary is lacking unless there is a notable difference between its Wing Commander II/Academy counterpart. For those tracks, the listener is advised to consult the commentary included with the “Wing Commander I – MT-32 Archival Edition”.
Go to www.patreon.com/xeenmusic to watch for the complete version of WC II music and other great rare and retro soundtracks.
credits
released December 24, 2024
MUSIC COMPOSED AND ARRANGED BY
Floyd Domino
David Govett
Herman Miller
David Sanger
George A. Sanger
Archival Edition Production Xeen Music
Recording and Editing Andrew Harrington
Linear Notes and Research Andrew Harrington
Album Cover Andrew Harrington
| Web Sites of the Year | Runners Up | |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | WCSaga.org | Daedalus Station |
| 2015 | Daedalus Station | WCSaga.org |
| 2014 | Daedalus Station | Wing Commander RPG Wiki |
| 2013 | Concordia Hangar | Daedalus Station |
| 2012 | Pix's Origin Adventures | Wing Commander RPG Wiki |
| 2011 | Shotglass' | WC Saga |
| 2010 | Paper Commander | Prelude to Darkness |
| 2009 | WC Saga | Standoff & Paper Commander |
| 2008 | Paper Commander | Standoff & WC Saga |
| 2007 | HCl's Wing Commander Editing Site | Pericles' Paper Inside |
| 2006 | HCl's Wing Commander Editing Site | Wedge's Wing Commander |
| 2005 | WC Saga | Fleet Tactics |
| 2004 | Fleet Tactics | Wedge's Wing Commander |
| 2003 | Wing Commander in Russia | WC3D & Wedge's Wing Commander |
| 2002 | Wing Commander in Russia | BlackLance HQ & WingCenter |
| 2001 | Wing Commander in Russia | Acenet Central |
| 2000 | Acenet Central | Wing Commander in Russia |
| 1999 | Wing Commander in Russia | Acenet Central & HCl's WC Editing Site |
The Wing Commander movie club gave our collective heart to a Starship Troopers! With all due deference to the one guy that was still mad that the movie didn't have the power suits from the novel, it's a heck of a movie! Now we're going to end the year by running silent and also deep with a movie you've absolutely heard of spoken in the same sentence as Wing Commander: Das Boot. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
Das Boot is a 1981 film which follows the crew of a German U-boat fighting in the Atlantic in 1941. It is known for its realistic depiction of submarine life and for telling a story that isn't about heroes winning glory but ordinary men living through a terrible time. The film's success introduced director Wolfgang Petersen to the world; he would later go on to direct films like Outbreak and Air Force One.
Das Boot was one of Chris Roberts' key influences when making the 1999 Wing Commander movie. He routinely mentioned that Das Boot was a key inspiration during press for Wing Commander. Here's a selection of quotes:
"I wanted to have something that felt like Das Boot in space," says Roberts. "There were some scenes I wanted in the movie that were the equivalent of Das Boot's depth-charging scene. I was trying very much to make a classic World War II movie, but update it and set it in space, so things that you see will register with you on a subconscious level, but instead of destroyers at sea or a submarine stuck at the bottom of the ocean, it's all in space." - It's Wing Commander, Starlog #260 (March 1999)“For me, it's sort of like a classic, nautical World War II movie, taking elements of Das Boot, or Tora! Tora! Tora! and sort of updating it and putting it in a science-fiction universe.” - 3 Questions With Chris Roberts, Cinescape Insider Vol. 4, No. 17 (15 March 1999)
“‘Das Boot’ heavily influenced the film in terms of its look. Films like ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ [and] ‘Midway’ -- I tried to make my film in a sort of old-fashioned World War II sense.” - 'Wing Commander' Creator Takes the Director’s Chair, Salon (12 March 1999)
"The director likened the tone of the Wing Commander plot to Das Boot and other World War II movies." - Roberts Talks 'Wing Commander', Austin American Statesman (15 November 1998)
The connection wasn't lost on the actors, either. Here's Saffron Burrows (Angel):
"There is a whole World War II element to the movie which I really like," she continues. "It's a feeling of things being beaten up and lived in, and I love that. Wing Commander was inspired by Das Boot, and has that feeling - and in fact Jürgen Prochnow, the captain in Das Boot is in Wing Commander." - When Dreams Take Wing, Sci-Fi Teen #5 (March 1999)
And it sure wasn't lost on the professional reviewers, who noted it ad nauseam. Here's the late Roger Ebert making the comparison at the start of his Wing Commander review:
Jurgen Prochnow, who played the submarine captain in "Das Boot," is one of the stars of "Wing Commander," and no wonder: This is a sub movie exported to deep space, complete with the obligatory warning about the onboard oxygen running low. "Torpedoes incoming!" a watch officer shouts. "Brace yourself!" It's 500 years in the future. If the weapons developed by the race of evil Kilrathi only inspire you to "brace yourself," we might reasonably ask what the Kilrathi have been doing with their time.
What should we look for? As Chris Roberts mentioned above, the depth charge scene in Wing Commander was a specific inspiration.
But beyond that, you're going to see similarities everywhere down to the look of the sets…
… and the ship's captain! Chris Roberts would go so far as to cast Das Boot's star, Jürgen Prochnow, as the captain of the Tiger's Claw. Prochnow was already in the Wing Commander family; he had appeared in 1996's Privateer 2: The Darkening as mutant rights activist Xavier Shondi.
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
Notably, there have been several cuts of Das Boot over the years. These include the 1981 theatrical cut (149 minutes), the 1985 miniseries version (308 minutes) and a 1997 director's cut (209 minutes). We will be watching the 1997 cut which is the one Chris Roberts would've most readily had access to when making Wing Commander the next year. We are also splitting the movie into two nights because of its length. We will be watching roughly the first two hours this week and the rest of the film the following week.
Das Boot is currently available for rental or sale digitally at all storefronts. A copy is available as a free download from the Internet Archive. If you're interested in tracking down a physical copy, a BluRay version was released in 2012 and remains in print today. In Germany, there is a "Complete Edition" which includes every extant cut. If you are unable to track down a copy please ping a member of the WCCIC staff on the Discord in advance of the watch.
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!
Last week, we took a look at some Civil War-related Wing Commander references… and we forgot a pretty big one: Special Operations 1's TCS Gettysburg, named after the dramatic Pennsylvania battle that marked a turning point in the war. To cover our mistake, we've decided to took a very close look at some of the confusion surrounding the TCS Gettysburg and the confusingly separate Gettysburg-class cruiser referenced in Freedom Flight. And in order to tell that story, we're going to have to start by taking a look at the TCS Austin.
Gone to Texas
The Secret Missions 2: Crusade (1991) introduces us to the Austin, another Confederation capital ship which is working alongside the Tiger's Claw during the treaty signing at Firekka. The Austin transfers Jazz and Doomsday who serve as new wingmen during the game and it is mentioned throughout the story. The Austin is named after the city of Austin, Texas, home to Origin Systems and where the Wing Commander series began. The city was, in turn, named after Stephen F. Austin a 19th Century politician who played a major role in Texas' secession from Mexico.
To begin this journey we must first answer this question: what class of ship is the TCS Austin? The ship appears in only one mission, Firekka 6, where it is attempting to retreat from Firekka under fire from a group of Gratha. The game uses the Exeter destroyer to represent the Austin but the mission layout is intentionally designed so that you can never get close enough to see or target it; it jumps out while it's still a tiny line of pixels in the distance.
You can, however, use the object camera to see that the ship in the distance is an Exeter destroyer.
A revised version of The Secret Missions 2 included with Wing Commander Deluxe Edition (1991) seems to echo this. New introductory dialogue is added in place of the first Iceman bar conversation. Instead of challenging anyone to a game of pool, he instead explains what's going on in Firekka and introduces the other ship: "A good ship, the Austin...an Exeter-class destroyer." This seems pretty decisive, although it's worth noting that the SNES port of The Secret Missions did exactly the same thing to the Gwenhyvar, changing it into a Venture-class corvette (for storage reasons).
Wing Commander Freedom Flight (1992) throws a wrench in a mix and instead establishes what has become the popular continuity: the TCS Austin is a Gettysburg-class cruiser. This is appealing for a number of reasons: the Austin's role in the story does imply that it's something larger than a destroyer… as does the fact that the Secret Missions 2 developers went to some lengths to try and keep players from seeing the actual ship.
Freedom Flight further notes that the Ras Nik'hra is "nearly the size of" the Austin and that its hull is "silvery". Note that these references are clear that the Austin (and the Gettysburg-class) are smaller than the Tiger's Claw! Super Wing Commander (1994) contradicts this directly by adding a conversation with Jazz in the Tartarus series where he claims the Austin is actually LARGER than the Tiger's Claw:
Jazz: Hi there, Maverick. Getting used to life aboard the Tiger's Claw has been easy. It's a smaller ship than the Austin. You know, a man could get used to this.
Maverick: We like it, Colson.
Jazz: Yes, well, I wasn't used to it. The Austin is so formal, and everyone here is so laid-back. And Colonel Halcyon is much more easy-going than Admiral Tolwyn. I don't see why the Admiral doesn't like him. He seems fine to me.
Finally, the update to Claw Marks done for Super Wing Commander and Wing Commander Sega CD (1994) adds an article about Jazz and Doomsday visiting the Tiger's Claw, All Aboard, Austinites, which refers to the ship as not a cruiser but "our sister carrier assigned to a first-response patrol in Enigma sector." The phrase 'sister carrier' seems to suggest that the thought here is that the Austin is another Bengal-class carrier. That said, Freedom Flight also refers to the Austin as the Tiger's Claw's sister ship, so it may be that the phrase has another meaning in the 27th Century navy.
So what is the Austin? While all three interpretations are valid, Wing Commander fans have overwhelmingly adopted the idea that it is a Gettysburg-class cruiser which is an otherwise unseen Exeter-looking cruiser that is roughly the same size as the Bengal-class. This is also a great example of the 'fan lensing' you can see with this kind of lore; because the reference to the Gettysburg-class is so esoteric it becomes especially celebrated by fans resulting in something barely ever seen or considered by the series' creators to show up frequently in fan works!
Having decided this, the next question to address is the authorial intent in the Freedom Flight. Did Ellen Guon and Mercedes Lackey intend for the Austin to be something called a Gettysburg-class ship or did they intend for it to be the same class of cruiser, Waterloo, as the TCS Gettysburg from the recently-published Wing Commander II Special Operations 1 (1991)? We think the answer is that they did indeed intend for the two to be distinct because, as mentioned above, the Gettysburg-class is identified three times in the book and because a Waterloo-class ship, the TCS Leningrad, also appears in the story:
He remembered that conflict with a small warmth of pride, pride he cherished against the anger that sought to consume him. He concentrated on his memories of the hours of maneuvering against the Terran ship, waves of fighter assaults, culminating in the glorious explosion of the Waterloo-class ship, the blossoming fireball and drifting debris. The ship had been named the Leningrad, he had learned later, and over five hundred humans had died when it had been destroyed. Five hundred enemies. Five hundred gifts to Sivar, the War God.
That brings us to the second part of our investigation: Wing Commander II's Waterloo-class cruiser.
Carrying Waterloo
The Waterloo-class cruiser was introduced in Wing Commander II as the Terran Confederation's cruiser in the game. The design is stunning and well displayed in-game, a sort of smaller carrier with two landing bays and a submarine-inspired forward hull. Thanks to Freedom Flight and a similar reference in the Wing Commander movie novelization we know that the Waterloo-class has been around since at least the time of the original game (2654).
Historians will tell you that the Waterloo-class is named after the famous 19th Century battle that saw the defeat of Napoleon and it's likely that, internal to the Wing Commander universe, they are correct. But there's a bit of an extra layer here that actually ties the design even closer to our earlier subject: Waterloo is the original name for the city of Austin. And much like how New York is sometimes still called "New Amsterdam" in a hip sense, Austinites still shop at "Waterloo Records" and play frolf in "Waterloo Park".
Before the appearance of the Gettysburg, the Waterloo is most notable for its role as the TCS Agincourt in Wing Commander II. The Agincourt is a Confederation cruiser that is fighting in the same areas as the Concordia. You fly a mission to transport an ordnance freighter being protected by the Agincourt at one point and Blair communicates with the ship. Later, Jazz's treason is revealed when he accidentally mentions that he knows the classified fact that the Agincourt will be joining the Concordia to attack K'tithrak Mang. In one of the game's losing endgames, the Agincourt returns to Caernarvon after Novaya Kiev is captured and the Concordia is destroyed!
The TCS Agincourt is referenced again in the Wing Commander TCTG; this time, it's a Tallahassee-class cruiser! Must have been destroyed between Wing Commander II and III…
If you feel that the Agincourt seems pretty important for how little we see it in Wing Commander II, you're not wrong! In the original design for the game the Agincourt was the TCS Robert Peel, a patrol carrier that Blair spends the first half of the game aboard. That's why the flight decks are so prominent and why there was so much leftover art of the cruiser which was then used for the Agincourt encounter and the TCS Gettysburg in the first mission disk. Unused footage of the landing scenes created for the Peel also appears in early Wing Commander II marketing.
Which brings us back to the TCS Gettysburg, a Waterloo-class cruiser from Wing Commander II Special Operations 1 (1991). The Gettysburg is a Confederation cruiser whose crew mutinies when given an illegal order. Blair must reach the Gettysburg and convince its crew to surrender in the first half of the game. It's there that he meets Bear Bondarevsky, who will go on to be the hero of several Wing Commander novels. Special Operations 2's dialogue repeatedly confirms that the Gettysburg is a cruiser although you alone encounter and destroy over forty fighters supposedly based on the ship during the course of the game. You are initially told that the Gettysburg has a complement of Ferrets and Epees but later discover it is also testing new Crossbow bombers.
It's this last fact that leads to some confusion about the Gettysburg and her class. In the second Wing Commander novel, End Run (1992), the Gettysburg makes a cameo appearance and it is routinely referred to as being a carrier rather than a cruiser. Not only is it directly called a carrier but it is also considered in all of the book's talk of how many carriers the Confederation has ready for battle.
“Don’t give me that bull,” Banbridge snapped. He stood up and came around from behind his desk, coming up to Tolwyn and putting a finger into his face. “We won Vukar by the skin of our teeth. We lost the Trafalgar and Gettysburg will be in dry dock for a year. That just leaves Wolfhound and Concordia for this entire sector and you take half of our assets and go gallivanting off. Damn it, man, you almost took our victory and turned it into a disaster.”
Here's the missing link: unbeknownst to anyone in the fandom, the 1992 Wing Commander licensing bible that Dr. Forstchen was referencing attempted to explain the Gettysburg's fighter complement by establishing that Waterloos can be configured as "Jutland-class carriers" instead of cruisers by removing antimatter guns to support a greater fighter complement. This follows the precedent established for the Fralthi light carrier in Claw Marks and makes all around sense… except that their explanation for the names of the ships still leaves the Gettysburg as a cruiser!
But then the final two Waterloo-class ships, which we see in Special Operations 2 (1992), don't seem to fit the bible's naming schemes at all, either. Jazz's court martial is held aboard the TCS Centurion and then you are ordered to escort him to the prison ship TCS Alcatraz. The Alcatraz herself is something of an Easter egg; you have to manually select its nav point and if you fly there you'll discover it under attack by (completely ineffective) Sartha!
Next time on Ship Confusion: Meet the Concordias!
Appendix I: Fighter Complements
Secret Missions 2 and Freedom Flight both refer to the TCS Austin as carrying a fighter squadron rather than a fighter wing, suggesting that the complement of a Gettysburg-class cruiser is somewhere in the ten to twenty area.
The original Joan's update lists the Waterloo as having a light fighter complement which the Kilrathi Saga manual specifies to be 40. You fight forces from the Gettysburg (and the captured supply depot) in six missions in Special Operations 1. You encounter a total of 16 enemy Ferrets and 28 enemy Epees in those missions (breakdown below) as well as six friendly Epees (Bear and Bodybag in Rigel B and then the Gettysburg CAP in Rigel C). There are also at least ten Crossbow bombers: one that Colonel Ransom used to escape, three that are flown by Blair and his wingmen in Rigel D and then six that defend the supply depot in Rigel E, the optional losing scenario. Unless some of these fighters were recovered from the supply depot and flown by recovered pilots, that's at least 60 fighters aboard the Gettysburg! Which seems to agree with End Run that she must be configured as a Jutland-class carrier rather than a Waterloo-class cruiser.
Appendix II: Fighter Compliments
Those are some really nice fighters!
I recently bought an addon called Glared from the Blender Market. I've been so in love with it recently that like they say in commercials for Franks Red Hot Sauce: "I put that s*** on everything.
This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that inspired Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is Starship Troopers, a project which both inspired and haunted the Wing Commander movie's production. You can find details on that as well as how to watch along with us in the announcement post here. The movie will start about 7 PM PST/10 PM EST, but feel free to drop by and hang any time!
Greetings WingNuts,
The Wing Commander movie club is marching on! We greatly enjoyed last week's screening of Glory, a movie most of us hadn't seen in many years (or at all). We found it was still very solid, a great example of that just-before-the-blockbusters era that produced movies like Memphis Belle. It's a timeless true story without too much exaggeration, one that it would be good for more people to know today. Matthew Broderick does kind of stick out today as you do not associate him with a heroic soldier today but the rest of the cast, with Denzel Washington in particular, is spectacular. The story of African American soldiers proving themselves in the face of racism remains powerful, though we couldn't help but notice that a great deal of the northern racism is treated as something that happens off screen. SOMEONE doesn't want the regiment to be paid or to fight on the front line… but not any of the characters we actually see. It was also interesting to me thinking about the movie in terms of how it every-so-slightly predated Ken Burns' The Civil War; as such, its Civil War shorthand (visual, audio, etc.) feels slightly different. We wouldn't associate the war with endless violins and sepia-toned photographs for another year!
Our big reason for picking Glory was to follow up the note from the Wing Commander II team that Denzel Washington's character, Silas Trip, was the basis for Downtown. We put together a dossier on Downtown during the leadup to the movie and now we can pretty definitively say we understand the connection. Like Downtown, Trip escaped slavery as a young man and then took up arms against his oppressors (and ultimately dies a hero fighting against impossible odds). Downtown's original character description says that he was "fiery and impulsive" just like Trip. We don't actually see this in the final game where he's actually something of a peacemaker, so it seems he learned the same lesson between his escape from Ghorah Khar and the events of Wing Commander II.
Our other big Wing Commander surprise while watching the movie was an appearance by none other than Pliers himself, character actor Richard Riehle, playing a corrupt quartermaster. There's a special joy to seeing particular actors show up in places, especially unexpectedly. Here's hoping it happens again!
There's also an appearance of Raymond St. Jacques as abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Admiral Tolwyn actually quotes Douglass in Fleet Action when he's confronting Baron Jukaga before the final battle: "Better to die as free men then live as slaves."
Beyond those notes, I thought it would be fun to collect some notes on other Civil War-related Wing Commander connections that don't necessarily tie back to Glory directly. It's not often we have an excuse to watch a movie set in the era! The most notable of these connections is a pretty simple one: the decision to name the new faction the Union of Border Worlds in Wing Commander IV. By having the enemy of the CONFEDERATION (itself established as such simply to be slightly different from Star Trek) be the UNION the writers were signaling American players a big clue as to what was going on in the story. Not every Civil War is based on the American Civil War (for instance, the five-way Kilrathi Civil War going on during Wing Commander IV) but the Wing Commander IV setup did take a fair amount from history. Similarly, the Border Worlds militia and its path to independence is based on real history, where the Confederacy was able to build an army from its states' lawful pre-war militias.
When I did the Star Soldier manual for Wing Commander Arena, I decided to give the Union of Border Worlds a little taste of their own medicine by having Hellespont secede in a news story based on South Carolina's attempt to exit the United States:
Rebellion in the Hellespont System
The Hellespont government has announced that it will withdraw from the Union of Border Worlds immediately, following highly charged elections which ended with a secession convention. Local lawmakers cite rising tariffs and increased government centralization in their official announcement, though many observers believe that the decision has more to with the increased political representation allowed less industrialized UBW planets, which suffered less during the Nephilim invasion. In a bloodless handover, Hellespont Militia units moved quickly to take control of the system’s shipyards and fortifications.
The situation is by no means isolated, with similar unrest evident in other founding Border Worlds including Orestes and Peleus. Spokesmen for Governor Hodge insist that these actions will not be treated lightly and that the Outerworlds Fleet Reserve will be activated if it becomes necessary to hold the star nation together by force. Hellespont is responsible for 5% of the Union’s gross exports and is home to the Second Fleet’s drydock facilities.
Wing Commander Academy has several Civil War references and one of them is quite strange: Chain of Command has the TCS Trafalgar escorted by "a Manassas-class light cruiser". Manassas was the Confederate name for the battles at what the Union referred to as Bull Run. So it's a bit weird that the show chose the losing side's name for the battle! The Manassas-class itself is something of a fun oddity: it's the rare ship we've seen but also have no idea what it looks like! There was no model sheet available for the ship when it was referenced in Chain of Command and so the storyboard artists pulled a cool trick: only showing the ship at extreme distance (the tiny triangle in the distance) or incredibly close so it's just a hull filling the entire screen!
It was actually scripted and boarded to appear in act three of the episode but in the final version the sequence is shortened and reordered… and the shots of the Manassas are seemingly replaced with the Trafalgar! Compare the original eight shots planned in the boards to the five final shots in order:
There's also a scene in Expendable where Maverick tells Payback that one of his ancestors was a Blair who served as a general in the Civil War. A little research suggests that this would have to be Union General Francis Preston Blair. Blair was a congressman who resigned to serve as a Colonel (what else!) when the war began and he was part of a notable political family that were steadfast supporters of President Lincoln; his older brother, Montgomery Blair, was Lincoln's Postmaster General. Here's a neat article on their connection to the president.
The Civil War also had an interesting repeated impact on Wing Commander's ship prefixes. The developers had initially chosen CSS (Confederation Space Ship) but changed to TCS (Terran Confederation Ship) during development to avoid matching the Confederate States of America's CSS (Confederate States Ship). Wing Commander has generally (but not alway) been careful to use 'Confederation' instead of 'Confederate' to avoid the connection and this was an extension of that idea. One was missed during the editing, though: the Kurasawa series has a Shotglass conversation where he talks about the CSS Suffolk!
Then, it happened again! On the Wing Commander movie, the mostly European art department on set in Luxembourg again decided on CSS for the Confederation capital ships in the movie and used the designation on props like the shoulder patches. During post production the team in Austin decided instead on CS (used in licensed material) and finally went back to TCS for the supertitles in the final cut.
Department crew gifts still used CSS, though (along with the equally confusing CNV-2654)!
The movie also gives us another unusual Civil War-named ship. As we sweep into Pegasus in the opening, we hear on the comm: "TCS McClellan requesting flyby." General George McClellan is an odd namesake for a starship: President Lincoln put him in charge of the Army of the Potomac but eventually dismissed him after he repeatedly failed to take the offensive… and it's not common to name a warship after someone that served in the army!
And we'll note just one more unusual Civil War-adjacent namesake came even earlier: Custer's Carnival in the original Claw Marks is named after George Armstrong Custer, a dashing Union officer in the Civil War who would later meet his fate battling Native Americans after the conflict. Here, though, the name makes more sense as it's being used to refer to the Confederation's disastrous failed invasion of the G'wriss System.
And don't forget the novels! The second Wing Commander novel, End Run, features a pretty ridiculous Civil War reference. Early on, the Tarawa's up-and-coming pilots are introduced thusly: "A young pilot named Chamberlain, with the call sign of Round Top, and another sporting the call sign Mongol seemed to have a natural flair." This is a very silly joke: the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg is often credited to Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's 20th Maine Infantry Regiment's holding a hill called Little Round Top. Round Top is killed flying a Broadsword in Fleet Action.
Where did this dad joke come from? The answer is that Wing Commander novelist Dr. William Forstchen is himself both a Maine man and a historian whose professional work has focused on the Civil War. His 1994 dissertation even covered very similar territory to the movie Glory: "The Twenty-Eighth United States Colored Troops: Indiana's African Americans go to war, 1863-1865". He has also written the nine-book Lost Regiment series, a science fiction saga about a Civil War regiment transported to fight in an alien war, the Gettysburg trilogy with Newt Gingrich, an alternate history that imagines what would have happened if the Union lost the Battle of Gettysburg, and We Look Like Men of War, a "factually based narrative" (historical fiction) baked on his doctoral work. If you're looking to make the transition from pulpy science fiction to Civil War history, the works of Dr. Forstchen are a reasonable path! (Incidentally, the other pilot, Mongol, is a reference to the author's time spent doing archaeological work in Mongolia.)
Drones have been in the news lately so we thought we'd offer a public service by creating a short inventory that will allow you to properly identify any kind of drone you might spot in the night sky! For our purpose, a ship must have been specifically referred to as a drone rather than just acting by a specific definition.
The Steltek Drone
The Wing Commander universe's most famous drone is also its most deadly: the Steltek drone was abandoned in an asteroid field in the Troy System when the Steltek left the galaxy over two billion years ago. In 2669, Grayson Burrows accidentally activated it with an errant missile strike and sometime later his acquisition of a Steltek gun caused the drone to lock on to his ship and begin destroying everything in its path to reach him. Burrows would ultimately assist the Terran Confederation Navy in ambushing and destroying the drone (a feat only made possible thanks to a boost to Burrows' gun from a present-day Steltek scout).
TOBY Drone
Wing Commander Prophecy opens with several TOBY drones scanning the remains of Kilrah for minerals. It's not completely clear why TOBYs are even considered drones since they carry at least one crew; perhaps their actual flight was automated or handled remotely from the Devereaux!
Decoy Drones & Long-Range Communications Drones
The Wing Commander movie introduces two types of Terran Confederation drones frequently carried by capital ships and bases: long-range communications and decoy drones. We see both during the movie: Pegasus launches a communications drone to inform Admiral Tolwyn that they're under attack and then the Tiger Claw launches a decoy drone to distract the destroyers hunting it in the asteroid field using electromagnetic signatures. The 'Claw later attempts to launch a communications drone but finds the drone launching system is offline. Peter Telep developed this two-drone system significantly, using them throughout Pilgrim Stars and Pilgrim Truth. The Kilrathi also use both types of drones. Kilrathi decoy drones are cone-shaped; a Snakeir is capable of launching eight at once during a battle.
Nephilim Remoras
The Nephilim Ray Node cluster is surrounded by a cloud of seven Remora interceptor drones. While orbiting the Ray, the mother ship generates power for the Remoras. In the event of their Ray's destruction, the Remoras will swarm its attacker with their single light burst maser weapons.
Simulated Kilrathi
Put this one in the maybe-qualifies category: in Wing Commander Prophecy's first simulator mission, the flight instructor refers to the Dralthi you are using to learn to target as a drone. But of course in reality it's completely simulated!
Dynamite Productions' Ecantona
One of Privateer 2's BBS missions features a request from a television producer named Buddy Carlson who wants to hire you to re-enact a historical space battle with the Papogod cruiser Rarmus One for a show called Space Jox. The Rarmus One is defended by five drone-piloted Papogod Ecantona fighters.
Sex Robots & CosmoDrone & Custard Pies
Privateer 2 also uses the term done in several news stories to define… uh, well, sex robots, tiny robots that do your makeup and machines that create… pies. Check them out:
The Tarawa's Makeshift Drones
In End Run, the Tarawa crew use a landing craft and a Ferret to create a pair of drone ships. These ships carry a pair of atomic mines that would be detected by the Kilrathi. The hope was to divide the enemy force by making them think the drones were trying to launch a suicide run against Kilrah.
Other Drone Types
The Baen Wing Commander novels, especially End Run and Fleet Action, establish a number of drone types that are used by different navies for different specific roles. We've collected them below:
Super XS was a UK gaming magazine that covered Nintendo systems for six issues between March 1993 and January 1995. It billed itself as "Britain's only Nintendo players' guide" and luckily for us, it existed at exactly the right period of time to have covered Wing Commander and The Secret Missions for the SNES! In fact, the magazine opens with a pretty neat Wing Commander guide… and then replicates it again for Secret Missions! It's full of made up information (Angel is from Paris? Salthi have four lasers?), weird commentary (Iceman and Bossman have stupid names) and great SNES-specific bits like the correctly described 'green Salthi' in the ship guide. It's not a great resource but it is utterly charming, a perfect example of how some obnoxious graphic layout and jaunty prose can create something very special. Special challenge: try to identify three ships from the movie Alien used as background art… and count how many times they reuse the Dralthi from the game's box painting! We found seventeen. Here's the article in all three incarnations:
Issue 1 (Preview)
Issue 1
Issue 6
Issue 5 also included a review of The Secret Missions, which the magazine alternately calls Wing Commander 2 and Special Missions:
Starting with Issue 3, the magazine published debug and Datel Pro Action Replay codes for Wing Commander in every edition. The cheat codes are the same in all four isues but the Pro Action Replay codes are updated as more are discovered!
I guess you could say we really earned our… wings of Glory… this time! The Wing Commander movie club had an exciting Friday night enjoying the 1989 Civil War epic and now we're ready to go back to the future. So this week we'll be sharing a familiar favorite: Starship Troopers. We've all seen it, we all love it… and we can't wait to talk about it again! You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
Starship Troopers is Paul Verhoeven's 1997 adaptation of Robert Heinlein's classic novel of galactic warfare and political science lectures. Initially derided as pop culture trash that was distinctly unfaithful to its source material, Starship Troopers has since attained cult status for both its spectacular filmmaking and its unique, cutting satire and anti-war message.
But Starship Troopers came out in 1997, after almost every Wing Commander game was finished. What, exactly, is its connection to the series beyond that it's a movie that just about every Wing Commander fan seems to particularly love? Well, there might be more connections than you know! The most obvious is that the Wing Commander movie was famously sold to audiences as 'Top Gun meets Starship Troopers', with that specific phrase included heavily in its home video marketing:
But the connection wasn't just something FOX came up with after the fact. Starship Troopers, which released to a smaller than expected box office during Wing Commander's development, was treated as both the gorilla in the room during production interviews and as a huge point of comparison by reviewers on release. Sony's plans for Starship Troopers figured heavily into Wing Commander's financing and the subject of whether the failure of one predicted the failure of the other was on movie folks' minds in 1998. The March 1999 Starlog asks Chris Roberts to explain the situation:
According to Roberts, the disappointing box-office performance fo Starship Troopers is unlikely to have a negative effect on Wing Commander. "We're not a huge, high-profile $100 million movie," says Roberts. "This movie doesn't have to do $200 million at the box office to be a hit. There's a strong audience of SF fans that go to see space warfare films, and if it's decent science fiction, then you're going to do quite well. And it's not like it's a huge risk or gamble - if Wing Commander does $50 million at the box office, it will probably be considered a success. Obviously, I would have liked Starship Troopers to have done more business because I could have said, 'Hey, people go and see science fiction no matter what!'"
The actors were particularly happy with how Wing Commander's script compared to Starship Troopers, too. They both discuss this in an August 1999 SFX article, with Matthew Lillard sticking up for it in particular:
Hair colour aside, the actor's enthusiasm for Wing Commander is infectious, and, like Prinze, he clearly sees parallels with the current trend for war movies. "I think this is a really interesting take (on SF), a Second World War movie in space - its like the classic war movies of the '50s and '60s, based on relationships during wartime. With a film like this, an actor is supported by the special effects without having to depend on them, which seemed to happen with Starship Troopers. We've a lot smaller budget, and we're hopefully a lot more personally driven."
Looking back in 2012 Chris Roberts still believed he had a stronger script than Verhoeven:
As for the script quality – it's a better script than the film ended up being and by Hollywood standards (and I know as I've been making films for a while) especially for this genre it didn't suck. It wasn't Oscar material delving into the inner struggles of pilots in a futuristic war, but next to Starship Troopers or other genre work, I think script wise it stands up. I've certainly read worse scripts that have gone on to earn hundreds of millions at the box office with the right stars, over the top action, lots of VFX and a big marketing budget. But I think the producer of "Barbed Wire" really shouldn't be relied on for good script feedback.
Was he correct? We'll discuss this during the screening… no of course he wasn't. But it's an interesting comparison! There WAS a more literal link between Starship Troopers and Wing Commander, too: the latter's SFX supervisor Chris Brown had worked on the former. An August 1998 SFX article highlighted this: "Brown, or 'CB' as he's known, is no stranger to flying, having worked on Starship Troopers, and put the jets and 747s through their paces in Turbulence and Air Force One."
Chris Roberts WOULD end up borrowing a little bit of magic from Starship Troopers: legendary movie artist Jim Martin, who designed everything from the Morita rifles to the Federation corvettes for Starship Troopers, was one of the first converts to Chris' Star Citizen… when it was still a Wing Commander reboot! Martin would go on to design countless ships but he got his start with the Dralthi which eventually became the Vanduul Scythe.
Martin also designed the famous 'Death from Above' tattoo… which I have myself! Here I am showing it to him after a meeting about Star Citizen's Endeavour:
And when my brother Silas, a film reporter, mentioned this story to Casper Van Dien he insisted on recording this video for us:
Speaking of Johnny Rico, there's the curious case of Freddie Prinze Jr. as Johnny Rico. Wing Commander's production notes include a discussion with Chris Roberts about why he thought the movie's script was so strong. At one point he claims: "Freddie had even turned down work on STARSHIP TROOPERS because he thought the script was too weak." That would've been an interesting connection between the projects and it was, indeed, repeated throughout the press in 1998… but Freddie Prinze Jr. sets the record straight in a May 1999 Starlog interview.
Prinze's comments recall the rumor that he had been offered a part in Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers but turned it down. Not so, he insists. "I've heard that before, but it's not true. The thing is, I did read that script, and I wasn't crazy about it. I've always felt, even when I wasn't working, that I never wanted to be part of a film that I wouldn't be particularly proud of. I'm not trying to rag on anybody, this is my own personal thing. I wasn't nuts about the Troopers script, so I didn't even want to go in and read. Everybody was like, 'What, are you stupid? You're not getting offered a ton of parts.' And you know what? I'm still not getting offered a lot of parts. But I will not do a movie that I can't be proud of. That's just my thing. Everybody else can do their thing, and that's all fine with me. But somehow over the last year, this has been misconstrued into, 'Freddie was offered the lead in Starship Troopers and he turned it down.' That's not cool.
I wonder if he ever figured out who started the rumor! There is a roundabout connection in the other direction, though: even before his star turn, Casper Van Dien was a family friend of Mark Hamill which led to his appearing as Confed Redshirt #3 in Wing Commander IV's introduction. Here's a podcast in which he discusses the story.
And here's a weird final connection: you can actually spot Mag Force 7 "Star of the Guardians" cards used as set decorations in Starship Troopers! This was their first game which introduced the LANE-to-LANE system which would go on to form the basis for, you guessed it, the Wing Commander TCTG. We unraveled the whole story earlier this year.
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
Starship Troopers is currently available for rental or sale digitally at all storefronts. Copies are available from the Internet Archive of the DVD and the BluRay... or for the truely brave, the VHS! If you're interested in tracking down a physical copy, a UHD version was released in 2017 and remains in print today. If you are unable to track down a copy please ping a member of the WCCIC staff on the Discord in advance of the watch.
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!
Origin Systems was closely tied to tabletop gaming from the day Richard Garriott founded the company with some of his fellow roleplaying companions; the company even had a partnership with Steve Jackson Games, another Austin legend, in the 1980s which produced adaptations like Autoduel (1985) and Ogre (1986). In a world before dedicated game development jobs like 3D artist had developed, the crossover in jobs between the two industries was significant. Many of the luminaries responsible for the Wing Commander universe, including Warren Spector and David Ladyman, arrived at Origin with bibliographies that included companies like TSR and FASA. Similarly, most of the programmers and designers were pen-and-paper gaming enthusiasts. Chris Roberts famously connected to the company after meeting Denis Loubet at Austin's Dragon's Lair.
Between that shared work and that shared admiration, role playing games and their intricate supplements often served as inspiration for Wing Commander's makers, especially the first two games. RPGs and wargames were ascendant in the late 1980s, developing endless amounts of material to help game masters create fictional worlds… exactly what Origin was trying to do in the electronic realm! Today we've researched four different books that heavily influenced very specific elements of the Wing Commander series and we're going to introduce you to them below.
Renegade Legion Interceptor
System: Renegade Legion
Year: 1987
ISBN: 1555600530
BGG: LINK
Status: Not in Print
Renegade Legion Interceptor was the first board game published in FASA's Renegade Legion world. It is a game of starfighter combat that outlines incredibly detailed and granular systems for things like how the individual systems of a space fighter work and how they suffer and inflict damage. Much of this was studied closely for Wing Commander, as was the game's setting: a distant future war between an oppressive human empire and an alliance of aliens (if this doesn't sound exactly like Wing Commander, check out the original pitch). Finally, the Terran Overlord Government's Roman-influenced milieu seems to be something that continues to influence Chris Roberts on Star Citizen today and there's little question that it was the source of several of Wing Commander's missile and ship names! FASA would later launch a video game adaptation after Wing Commander's success… but it remains only a cult classic at best. (Another coincidence: Wing Commander editor David Ladyman worked in that same capacity on Renegade Legion Interceptor.)
Azhanti High Lightning
System: Traveller
Year: 1980
BGG: LINK
Status: Available Digitally
What would you do if you had the biggest gun in the universe? Azhanti High Lightning may help you answer that question. It's a Game Designers Workshop board game set aboard a capital ship in the Traveller universe and was supposedly a favorite of the Wing Commander II team. The game pits players against each other to capture the ship (whether as mutineers or boarders or several other scenarios). And the ship was the reference for none other than the TCS Concordia's phase transit cannon! Wing Commander II director Siobahn Beeman has explained:
The other inspiration for WC2's capital ships were the capital ships from Traveller, especially the Azhanti High Lightning. The concept of a "spinal mount" weapon (like the Concordia's phase transit cannon) is a direct lift from Traveller's ship construction rules.
Ninja Hero
System: HERO (4th Edition)
Year: 1990
ISBN: 1558060952
RPGG: LINK
Status: Available Digitally
I was working on an article about Shotglass' name (look forward to that!) when I noticed something interesting in the surviving Wing Commander I dev materials: Bossman was still missing a first name when the character bios were written. In its place was a note to choose a Chinese name from Ninja Hero. What was Ninja Hero, some kind of action movie? It turns out Ninja Hero was a sourcebook of martial arts-inspired reference material for the HERO roleplaying system. This is the sort of reference book published endlessly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, trying to create as detailed possibilities as possible for various roleplaying systems. Even more interesting, Ninja Hero was authored by none other than Origin's Aaron Allston, who may have been the person now referencing it!
And reference it was: after thumbing through the book it was immediately obvious what the note meant: there was an entire section that was simply listing Asian names and surnames for players to put together to create characters! Bossman wasn't home, though: Kien is not included in the selection of Chinese names… but it's immediately obvious that this is also how Spirit became Tanaka Mariko (and likely why Wing Commander I's lore had such care for presenting the names in the correct order). It's also extremely funny that they had trouble settling on a final first name for Bossman given what happens to his lore in the movie… but that is also an article for another day!
Aysle: The Sourcebook of Magical Reality
System: TORG
Year: 1990
ISBN: 0874313066
RPGG: LINK
Status: Available Digitally
Torg, no relation to the professor, is a roleplaying game based around the potential of crossing over different themed realities. Different supplements would detail how these realities worked: for instance one might be a high tech science fiction utopia and another a medieval fantasy Earth.
In spite of the vast possibilities implied there, the connection to Wing Commander is incredibly specific: it's the source of the name of Admiral Tolwyn! The Admiral's family name comes not from British history but from Torg's Aysle sourcebook which details its imagined fantasy world (orcs and goblins and such). And perhaps the most notable fictional character it brings to life is "Tolwyn of House Tancred", a noblewoman who has a Jesus-like death and resurrection followed by a role in the epic battle for… whatever all this is. The book would've been published in 1990 just as the Wing Commander II team was developing the character (Tolwyn would first appear mentioned with Secret Missions 2 but he was created for Wing Commander II).
And Beyond…
I quoted above a Twitter reply from Siobhan Beeman that was part of an absolutely invaluable thread about the inspirations behind the original Wing Commanders. I'm going to reproduce the whole thing here for posterity and to give everyone some other routes to follow to learn more about how the people that made the games were thinking:
Hah! No... or rather, sort of! The Confed starbases in WC2 were inspired by two things: the Cylon basestars from the original BSG, and Starfleet Headquarters from the old "Starfleet Technical Manual" from Franz Joseph Designs.
LINK
The latter were the inspiration for the design of starbases in the Starfleet Battles board game from Task Force Games. I played a *lot* of SFB :D, which was essentially WW2 naval combat in space, and the game was a major inspiration for how capital ships in general worked in WC2.
The other inspiration for WC2's capital ships were the capital ships from Traveller, especially the Azhanti High Lightning. The concept of a "spinal mount" weapon (like the Concordia's phase transit cannon) is a direct lift from Traveller's ship construction rules.
But all that having been said, Stanford torus space stations were themselves an inspiration for Franz Joseph's Starfleet HQ, so that DNA is definitely in WC2.
Broadly speaking, you can trace everything in the early Wing Commander games back to a handful of sources:
* Star Wars (duh!)
* TOS, TMP and WoK Trek
* The Starfleet Technical Manual, which is kind of parallel evolution off the TOS root stock
/1
* WW2 dogfighter gun camera footage
* Traveller
* Larry Niven's Known Space books
* Top Gun
* The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy
2/2
CountVonSchnaps has posted some cool new art showcasing his adaptation of the Kamrani-class corvette from Wing Commander III and Prophecy! It's a great rework of the design and the little Dralthi silhouette thrown in there for scale is a thing of beauty. Like what you see? You can find CountVonSchnaps's takes on several Wing Commander III fighters here.
As per the latest winner of the poll I am posting my re imagined version of the Kamrani Corvette as seen in Wing Commander III the Heart of the Tiger.
The smallest capital ship the Kilrathi Empire has in use it is often found in pairs, or more, where its potent weapon systems can even pose a threat to large capital ships if ignored.
Armed with 5 dual turrets and a anti ship missile launchers it is a ideal platform for escort, defense and anti fighter duties while its cap ship missile launcher can be very effective during assaults.
Hope everyone like it I will post one final poll soon as a closer for the year :D
This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that inspired Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is Glory, a then-recent movie that inspired the character of Downtown in Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi. You can find details on that as well as how to watch along with us in the announcement post here. The movie will start about 7 PM PST/10 PM EST, but feel free to drop by and hang any time!
Greetings WingNuts,
The Wing Commander movie club has slipped the surly bonds of Earth with Squadron 633! The movie was a very pleasant surprise: it represents a new kind of World War II movie that began to become popular in the early 1960s that was more focused on action than realism. The result is something less dour than The Dam Busters with plenty of thrills and dynamic characters… but not one so meaningless that its final note didn't bring home an important message about the nature of war! It also features absolutely stunning color aircraft photography showcasing extremely cool Mosquito fighter-bombers.
633 Squadron's score, by British composer Ron Goodwin, was the big item we were looking at in terms of it connection to Wing Commander and we're happy to report that the relationship seems a lot more clear here than it did in The Dam Busters. 633 Squadron's theme sounds much more like Wing Commander's Overture than The Dam Busters' March did and the rest of the film has a rich, quality score as well. And like the other two films, 633 Squadron's theme has become synonymous with aviation in British popular culture.
We did pick up on some other possible Wing Commander connections during the screening, many of them similar to those in The Dam Busters. A big one of those was the squadron briefing, which again used shots very close to those in the Wing Commander series… but maybe even moreso since unlike The Dam Busters, Squadron 633 features a unique and eclectic cast of diverse (for 1943) pilot characters (including a sikh, an American, an Australian and a short guy… just like the Tiger's Claw!).
So it's no wonder that Chris Roberts' original name for Wing Commander was…
Squadron 633's fictional weapon is called the "Earthquake bomb" and it's extremely close to the T-Bomb from Wing Commander III, intending to cause tremors which amplify damage to a target.
Like the final attack in The Dam Busters, Squadron 633's epic climax with fighter-bombers flying through a narrow fjord also inspired Star Wars' Death Star run… and Wing Commander III's Temblor strikes!
Shots from this sequence seem in particular to be referenced by one of the Wing Commander III console planetary attack sequences.
And would it be an aviation movie without a fiery crash that kills a wingman while the survivors helplessly look on?
The landing debriefings felt a bit like the finale to Wing Commander II where all the pilots gather on the Concordia's flight deck.
And the beautiful Mosquito fighters have plenty of takeoff and landing shots like those in Wing Commander. Parked they look particularly like this shot from Super Wing Commander!
And the dogfight choreography we learned about in Top Gun is in full effect here, with plenty of head on shots of the pilots interspersed with real plane footage and model work. The cockpit shots this time look a lot like those introduced in Wing Commander 2 and especially the ones used in Super Wing Commander's introduction!
Here's something I'm working on... Wing Commander for DOS has always had ISSUES on anything much past mid-tier 386 machines. I've made an EXE patch which fixes this and other issues - it also adds some new features, including configurable difficulty. On real DOS hardware or DOSBox. Coming soon(TM)!
Later this week the Wing Commander movie club will be watching Glory, the movie that served as the inspiration for the character of Downtown in Wing Commander II. In preparation, I thought it would be good to collect everything we know about Downtown into an update.. and in the process I learned that I didn't actually understand his intended backstory at all! We've written up as canonical a biography as possible, pontificated on the issues surrounding what is known about the character, detailed his development and collected a healthy archive of behind the scenes material and in-game conversations for your reference.
Character Biography
This writeup is done in the style of a wiki entry and takes into account all existing sources in an attempt to construct a singular story. It does not represent the specific intent of any one author; details on the development of Downtown's character and a discussion of the various changes to the story that have occurred over the years are discussed in further sections below the history.
Ross "Downtown" Baldwin (2630-2666) was a Terran Confederation Space Force Captain and fighter pilot in the Terran-Kilrathi War. He was a human of American descent. As a young child, Baldwin and his family were enslaved by the Kilrathi while attempting to flee their home planet in the face of an invasion. The Baldwins were sent to Ghorah Khar as laborers and were eventually separated with Ross being assigned to work in an Illudium mine; the fate of the rest of the family remains unknown.
Years later, in 2656, the long-simmering rebellion on Ghorah Khar erupted into a full scale revolution thanks to a newfound alliance with the Terran Confederation made possible by Ralgha nar Hhallas' defection. Ralgha and James Taggart returned to the planet undercover to coordinate the effort, which culminated in the system's independence from the Empire several weeks after Capt. Blair's trial. During the action, Ralgha encountered a Kilra'hra overseer attempting to kill Baldwin and intervened. Baldwin killed the kil and Ralgha helped Baldwin escape. Soon after his abolition, Baldwin was commissioned as a Terran Confederation Space Force Lieutenant and assigned to the Concordia-class supercruiser TCS Concordia's fighter squadron.
Ralgha's rescue began an unusual relationship that lasted the rest of Baldwin's life. Unable to locate or reconnect with his biological family, Baldwin would come to become emotionally dependent on Ralgha, viewing him as something of a father figure and a best friend. After Baldwin's death Ralgha would confide to Blair that he also loved Baldwin as a son, an unprecedented example of a kil expressing what seemed to be specifically human emotions. In a more properly Kilrathi sense, Ralgha also considered himself honorbound to be responsible for Baldwin. Ralgha credited developing a disgust with the practice of Kilrathi slavery to Baldwin's treatment. This in turn led to his decision to continue fighting the Empire after Ghorah Khar's liberation, taking a Terran Confederation Space Force commission. Baldwin was responsible for giving Ralgha his famous callsign "Hobbes", jokingly convincing Ralgha that it was because he had the wisdom of 17th century human philosopher Thomas Hobbes.
In 2665, Capt. Baldwin served aboard the Confederation-class TCS Concordia (CVS-65) alongside his rescuer.
In 2666, Baldwin's experience with Ghorah Khar prompted Col. Devereaux to assign him to escort a food transport from Niven to the system and back. While Baldwin's fighter was refueling on Niven he introduced himself to Capt. Blair, whom he had previously seen in briefings. As Blair and Baldwin were both on the planet during Comm Specialist McGuffin's murder they were not considered suspects. Baldwin would go on to become friends with Blair, often playing poker with him and conversing about his concerns over the war.
Baldwin was killed in action in 2666 in the Tesla System when his fighter was ambushed by ten Drakhri. He fought back but was ultimately shot down.
Personality
While young Baldwin's personality was seen as fiery and impulsive, by the time he served aboard the Concordia (CVS-65) he was often cool headed in dramatic interpersonal situations. An exception to this was his quickness to defend Ralgha when anyone questioned his loyalty, including Blair. Baldwin was well liked among his fellow Concordia crew. In addition to Ralgha, he maintained close friendships with Blair and Maj. Montclair and played poker with others, including Capt. Wright and occasional visitor James Taggart. He also tolerated Maj. Colson, although he did not share his aggressive bluster about flying and fighting the war. He, like Blair, confided in CPO McCullough, telling her of his rescue from slavery by Ralgha. Baldwin was notably well informed; he was the first to explain the Society of Mandarins to Blair and the first to know that Admiral Tolwyn had decided recapturing the Heaven's Gate starbase would be nearly impossible.
Unlike many whose lives were wrecked by war, Baldwin never became jaded even in spite of the loss of his family. He would wonder about their fates for the rest of his life, hoping that they might someday be reunited. As a result of this, he was not an aggressive warrior, expressing his hope that the war would end and often his own fears. He was very concerned about the traitor aboard the Concordia, surviving the situation at Heaven's Gate and later the Concordia's prospects facing two Kilrathi carriers and heavy fighter squadrons at Tesla. He was also an inveterate peacemaker interpersonally, attempting in the same Observation Deck conversation to settle the anger between Ralgha and Blair and Colson.
Hobbies
Baldwin was a poker enthusiast who frequently played with other Concordia pilots in the barracks. During the Heaven's Gate battle, he played a game with Blair, Colson and Wright, losing with a pair of kings to Colson's three aces. At Tesla, he won a game of five card draw with Ralgha, Blair and Taggart with a jack-high straight.
Baldwin had an interest in collecting human folk art. Blair later discovered a 20th century comic strip in Baldwin's collection that was the real origin of Ralgha's callsign Hobbes and informed Ralgha of the joke.
Legacy
Baldwin's death had an immediate impact on the Concordia's operations: he had been scheduled to fly a Broadsword bomber with Blair during the Concordia's stay in the Enigma System. His loss prompted Colonel Devereaux to assign herself to fly the missions instead.
The loss seemed to significantly affect Lt. Col. Ralgha nar Hhallas. After learning of the ambush, Ralgha spent an hour on the Concordia's Flight Deck staring into space and then confided in Captain Blair that he regretted having never told Baldwin that he had loved him as a son. The pair toasted Baldwin's memory with the remains of a bottle of Sukhar May'ya that James Taggart had left with Blair. The substantiality of Ralgha understanding human emotions over Baldwin's death remains undetermined given the later revelation that "Hobbes" was an artificial personality overlay.
In his post-war memoirs, Lt. Col. Carl LaFong would recall thinking of Baldwin specifically and other fallen comrades during the dogfighting around K'Tithrak Mang.
Behind the Screens
The key to understanding the development of the Wing Commander II script is knowing that the game originally had a much more complex narrative. Up until early summer 1991, Wing Commander II included an entire additional act set aboard a patrol carrier, the TCS Robert Peel, and quite a few additional characters and ships. Chris Roberts felt the game was unwieldy in this form and asked the team to streamline everything; this would also be necessary for shipping the whole thing on floppy disks! The game's introduction, which originally allowed you to fly the final patrol around the Tiger's Claw, was dropped and other aspects of the story were compressed: the Robert Peel segments became the opening at Caernaven. A lot of the original subplots (like Maniac visiting on a TCSO tour or a reporter feuding with Admiral Tolwyn) were removed. Many of the leftover assets were later reworked for the Special Operations mission disks.
Since the original outlines and character descriptions from different versions of the game have survived we can look back and get a good look at how individual characters and storylines developed. Downtown's overall arc actually remains pretty similar although some interesting details are lost as the game develops (and his name changes; he started life as 1st Lt. Gabriel Jefferson)… including some that might be important to our viewing of Glory. The biggest change to Downtown's story is the removal of some reflection. He was originally planned as a contrast to Iceman who was cut entirely. While Iceman has become angry and withdrawn because of the loss of his family, Downtown's experiences haven't left him with a hatred of the Kilrathi at all.
One element that seems especially important going into Glory is Downtown's enslavement. This is touched on only briefly in Wing Commander II but in his initial conception we had much more details inspired by the reality of slavery. We get the specific note that Tomcat (later Hobbes) helped him escape after he (Downtown) killed an "overseer" while in the final game Ralgha simply says that he saved Downtown's life from a Kilra'hra, or commoner. We also get the detail that he was enslaved in a Kharran Illudium mine and that in present day he wonders about the fate of his family and hopes to be reunited with them after the war. He comes across very much like an 19th century slave who escapes to freedom and returns to fight his oppressors ("I appear before you this evening as a thief and a robber. I stole this head, these limbs, this body from my master and ran off with them." - Frederick Douglass). Another related dropped element is the idea that Downtown would have a marking on his face from his Kilrathi enslavers. That doesn't make it to Wing Commander II but it must've stuck with Chris Roberts: the idea comes back in the movie with Paladin's Kilrathi POW tattoo!
One final aspect of Downtown is the continual slight implication that he might be a traitor. He talks about living on Ghorah Khar, he is the first to explain the Society of Mandarins to Blair and he continually says he is worried about fighting the Kilrathi when Jazz is eager. Even his pointing out to Blair that neither of them is a suspect in McGuffin's murder serves to make him seem more suspicious! It's actually kind of a surprise in the Enigma series where he suddenly dies offscreen.
Finally, the early versions and character notes go farther in defining the father/son relationship between Ralgha and Downtown. Both characters touch on this in the game ("I have lost a true friend. My honor is lost as well. I treated him as a comrade, but I loved him as my son. I never told him. And now...I cannot.") but the final version doesn't quite get across the strength of the familial relationship. Dropping the Iceman storyline loses our chance to more directly gauge how far Downtown will go to defend Hobbes.
Issue: Why isn't Downtown in Freedom Flight?
This is my mea culpa! For many, many years I have read Wing Commander II to say that Ralgha rescued Downtown and that this was the reason he defected. I (and others) have considered it odd that Freedom Flight, written by the same woman as Wing Commander II, does not mention Downtown at all as we see Ralgha's defection (and hear the reasons for it). He doesn't mention a hatred of slavery at all and we follow his entire flight from Ghorah Khar. In fact, at one point he meets a young slave girl named Esther and seems to have no reaction other than that that's how Kilrathi society works. It turns out there's a reason for this: the game's writers do not say or intend for Downtown to have been the reason Ralgha defected. He is the reason Ralgha, whose previous interest was freeing Ghorah Khar at Hassa's behest, chose to join the Confederation military and continue fighting against the Kilrathi. It's even right there in the character description published in the Wing Commander I & II guide: "Years later, when Hobbes was working undercover on that planet for the Confederation, he helped the young man escape." Ralgha had no concerns in about slavery in Freedom Flight and would not have yet met Downtown… and Ellen Guon knew this!
The reason this is not at all clear is because of the reworking of the Wing Commander II story mentioned above which drops some of the background references originally spread throughout conversations with Hobbes and Downtown. The confusing point is that Wing Commander II tells the story very broadly in its final form: "The existence of human slaves is a shame to the Empire. That is why I joined the Confederation to fight against my own kind. But enough of that." The idea is not that Ralgha defected over Downtown; rather, when he returned to free Ghorah Khar (an event that occurs 'a few weeks' after Blair's trial in the intro) that he encountered the situation where Downtown was to be killed by a Kilra'hra and this is what caused him to turn against the Empire's practice of slavery. This is touched on throughout Wing Commander II but never in context; rather, Paladin and Hobbes make specific mention of their adventures freeing Ghorah Khar but don't tie it to Downtown. ("Hobbes: I was on Ghorah Khar when the local Kilrathi rebelled against the Empire and joined the Confederation. I had some small part in the action." - Ghorah Khar C) So Freedom Flight (set in 2655) didn't include Downtown because the incident hadn't happened yet! (In fact, armed with knowledge of Freedom Flight and its details about Ghorah Khar, there's a non-zero chance that the commoner in the story was intended to be Jakhai, Ralgha's rival and a kil the book makes a point of introducing as a Kilra'hra.)
Issue: How Old is Downtown?
Hobbes refers to Downtown as having been "a human child" when they met, although his judgement in the matter may be questionable as he also refers to him as "a human cub" when he dies ten years later. The series licensing bible refers to Downtown at the time of his rescue as a young boy but this was changed to young man when the material was published in the Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide. Both versions, however, agree that he is in his "mid twenties" in Wing Commander II which suggests the intent was that he was a teenager when he was rescued from slavery. For further confirmation of this, the original, pre-rework outline for Wing Commander II notes that he "spent most of his childhood as a Kilrathi slave on Ghorah Khar." However, this is thrown into question by the Kilrathi Saga manual, which includes a document introducing four of the new pilots for Wing Commander II. While it contains some pretty important never-before-published information (like Downtown's full name!) it also has some issues.
Here we are told that Downtown is 26 in 2656, the year Ghorah Khar was freed. This would mean he was 35-37 in Wing Commander II and not a particularly young cub. The document is dated 2656.120 which is roughly three months after the destruction of the Tiger's Claw (though the same Kilrathi Saga manual incorrectly lists this as much later in the year in another article). The issue here seems to be that they have taken Shadow, Stingray and Downtown's ages from their internal character descriptions for Wing Commander II without remembering that Wing Commander II takes place ten years later. None of these pilots should have been transferred to the Concordia in 2656 (and in fact Shadow was never transferred to the Concordia; she flew a single mission aboard her before returning to Caernarvon). In fact, the earliest reference to the Concordia being in service is otherwise 2661 (from Tolwyn having commanded her for seven years as of Fleet Action). 2656 seems very unlikely given the published established fact that it takes five years to construct a new carrier and the Concordia's keel-mounted Phase Transit Cannon was developed from the wreckage of the Sivar recovered only the previous year.
If this document is correct prima facie then it is most likely referring to an earlier Concordia, either the movie's Concordia-class supercruiser or another otherwise uncited ship bearing the name. The rest could, for the most part, also technically be true. Shadow's original internal character description even allows that she could have served a tour on the front lines years earlier: "Capt. Bethany Norwood served a tour of duty in the navy when she was younger, and after retirement joined the Reserves." Could Downtown be a newly minted lieutenant on 2656.120, perhaps weeks or days after his rescue from slavery? Only if he had some unknown backstory along the lines of Wing Commander Academy's Grunt. That's not impossible but it's certainly not the intent of the original Wing Commander II authors. The other possibility is that only the date is wrong and it should refer to pilots transferred to the Concordia in 2665. That eases some issues but does nothing for Shadow (who was certainly never transferred to the Concordia as an InSys pilot) and means that Jazz's age is wildly incorrect somewhere. Jazz's age is problematic in either take though far more slightly in the first. The 32 is taken from the Super Wing Commander/Sega CD Claw Marks which means that it's two years off; if he was 32 in April 2654 then he should be 34 in May 2656. But if he is 32 in Wing Commander II then he's only 22 in Secret Missions II and can't have had his established nine year career (though Freedom Flight doesn't acknowledge this either; at one point he tells Hunter he has flown two combat missions… though that could just be at Firekka!). One element that does argue in favor of intentionality from this document is the fact that Downtown is listed as a lieutenant rather than the captain he appears as in Wing Commander II though the other three characters do have their final ranks.
So in the end it's entirely possible to make this document fit but it also is also clearly not the intent of the authors of either Wing Commander II or the Kilrathi Saga manual. It's most valuable because it likely tells us exactly the ages (and names!) intended by the Wing Commander II team in 1991 for all four characters and we can work with that in many directions. And of course continuity is like that sometimes, sometimes what no one wanted ends up being the story going forward! In this case, three separate authors with only the ability to reference some of their predecessors' work have created a story none of them had planned. It's fascinating to see, through this material, that Ellen Guon had intended Jazz to be a brand new pilot in Secret Missions 2 (and Freedom Flight). The authors who updated Claw Marks for Super Wing Commander didn't have that background and decided he was 32 and established he'd been flying for nine years. And then the people compiling the Kilrathi Saga manual had access to all of this information and tried to manage it as best they could! (Or, did they? One thing to consider when trying to decode this history is that because of the rapid increase in hardware and operating systems people in the mid 1990s actually had a much harder time playing the original games than we do today; they also lacked the tools we have to access most Wing Commander information quickly!). And that's all fascinating. (Or: perhaps all the issues with ages in every manual are just tied to the characters regularly traveling faster than light… that's one to think about another day!)
Issue: Who Named Hobbes?
This is an odd one. Wing Commander II is very clear that Hobbes was named by Downtown. He tells you so himself: "The original Hobbes was a human philosopher. Downtown suggested the callsign, as he considers me to be very wise." The (pretty good) joke here is that of course Hobbes was so named because he looks like the stuffed tiger from the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip rather than because he has the wisdom of 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. (Interestingly, this was also the source of Hobbes the tiger's name. Bill Watterson says that he was "named after a seventeenth-century philosopher with a dim view of human nature [and] Hobbes has the patient dignity and common sense of most animals I’ve met.") BUT the Wing Commander III novelization, written three years after Wing Commander II, gives this story to Blair instead… and it makes the joke a little more subtle:
Many officers were reluctant to fly with a Kilrathi wingman, but Blair always found Ralgha cheerful, competent, and capable: a fine pilot and an excellent comrade. He was the one to bestow the nickname "Hobbes" on the renegade Kilrathi after encountering the name in an ancient piece of Terran folk art in a fellow pilot's collection.
This is just a case of Andrew Keith not being familiar with deep lore buried in Wing Commander II. Working from the bible, he would be completely unaware that Hobbes' name already had an origin story. Perhaps Blair is just a jerk who has stolen his dead comrade's story! Or maybe he just figured out Downtown's joke and told Hobbes. (That said, his memory is being pretty gentle with himself: Blair also certainly didn't always find Ralgha cheerful, competent and capable, he hated the thought of flying with a Kilrathi when they met!). The Wing Commander III novelization has a pretty broad sense of Ralgha's backstory and references it shortly before, too: "Blair could hardly believe that more than ten years had passed since Lord Ralgha, a ship-captain of the Imperial Kilrathi fleet, defected to the Terran Confederation. TCS Tiger's Claw was in the squadron which helped him carry out his defection, and Blair (a junior lieutenant) had worn polish still fresh on his flight wings. Ralgha moved from supplying information to Terran Intelligence to serving in the Space Force, and he had remained in Blair's squadron for a time before new assignments took them down separate paths." This is all technically true (though odd that Blair is still a junior lieutenant at Firekka) but it's worded very oddly since it's describing a story that takes place not over a few months but thirteen years (that is, the "remained in Blair's squadron" refers to Wing Commander II and not something that happened on the Tiger's Claw).
Appendix: Behind the Screens References
The Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide
Downtown
Purpose in story: Presents new outlook on human-Kilrathi relationships (son figure and special emotional dependency on Hobbes), emotional impact (his death).
Downtown is a young black man, roughly mid twenties. His family, when fleeing from their home planet during a Kilrathi invasion, was captured and sent as slave labor to the Kilrathi planet of Ghorah Khar. Years later, when Hobbes was working undercover on that planet for the Confederation, he helped the young man escape. The relationship between Downtown and Hobbes is unique... Hobbes is all the family that Downtown has. In personality, Downtown is fiery and impulsive, and very vocal in defending Hobbes against anyone who badmouths him. He has an emotional dependency on Hobbes, viewing him as a father figure.
Conversations: Standard American
Think Denzel Washington in “Glory”
Series Bible (source)
DOWNTOWN
LIEUTENANT ROSS BALDWIN
(WC2) Downtown is a young black man, roughly mid twenties. His family, when fleeing from their home planet during a Kilrathi invasion, was captured and sent as slave labour to the Kilrathi planet of Ghorah Khar. Years later, when Hobbes was working undercover on that planet for the Confederation, he helped the young boy escape. The relationship between Downtown and Hobbes is unique…Hobbes is all the family that Downtown has. In personality, Downtown is fiery and impulsive, and very vocal in defending Hobbes against anyone who badmouths him.
Conversation: Standard American
Think Denzel Washington in “Glory”
Died, WC2.
Wing Commander II Characters document (source)
DOWNTOWN
Carrier: Concordia
Series: 6
1st. Lt. Gabriel Jefferson is very young, black and spent most of his childhood as a Kilrathi slave on Ghorah Khar. His best friend is Hobbes, the Kilrathi renegade who risked his own life to rescue Downtown from slavery. His face may have been disfigured or marked with a slave symbol by the Kilrathi, akin to the tattoo of a German concentration camp prisoner.
Main point: show the differences between Iceman and Downtown...both of them lost their families in the war, but Downtown hasn't been turned into the "nothing left but hatred" character of Iceman.
1. Introduction to Downtown. (Other person in conversation should be the Kilrathi renegade!) He introduces Kilrathi, warns Bluehair against giving the cat any grief.
2. Downtown's history. He was captured as a kid by the cats, became a slave labourer in the Illudium mines on Ghorah Khar. After he killed an overseer, Tomcat helped him escape. (Place this in Series 7 or before!)
3. Talks about his family, not knowing what happened to them. No way to find out. Are they slaves? Maybe when the wars ends, he'll learn the truth. Wishes the war would end soon, he's trying to do all that he can towards that.
4. Confrontation between Downtown and Iceman on subject of Tomcat.
5. He dies several missions later.
Wing Commander II Script Outline (source)
MISSION 5-B (with Downtown)
[OPTION SCENE]
O-Deck: Downtown and Hobbes. Downtown introduces you to Hobbes. Bluehair shows that he's more than a little of a racist (species-ist?) where the Kilrathi are concerned...he doesn't want anything to do with the cat. In response, Downtown talks briefly about his own history, how Hobbes rescued him from slavery on Ghorah Khaur. Hobbes tells a little of his own background as a renegade Kilrahti as well.
MISSION 8-D
[OPTION SCENE]
Concordia Rec Room: Hobbes, Downtown, and Jazz are talking about the futility of this war, and wondering if it'll ever end. Bluehair learns that Cirocco, his friend on the Sir Robert Peel, was recently killed in a dogfight with pirates.
Hobbes's belief that the Kilrathi will eventually win is based on his experience in Ghorah Khar...Downtown wonders what happened to his family, and if he'll ever see them again.
Bluehair talks about Goddard, how so many people died. Jazz talks about his kid brother dying on Goddard (the boy was stationed there with the Marines), mostly because the fleet didn't get there in time. (This is Jazz' personal motivation for destroying the Tiger's Claw, as well as killing any remaining crew of the ship, such as Bluehair, Angel, Iceman, and Maniac.) Jazz is NOT a native of Goddard.
MISSION 10-A
[OPTION SCENE]
Concordia O-Deck: Iceman, Hobbes, after hearing the news that Downtown was killed in his last mission, flying with another wing. Hobbes is more than broken up about this...reversal on the earlier conversation when Iceman was grieving for Dallas and Hobbes didn't give a damn. Downtown was someone that the cat cared about, someone he considered his own personal responsibility ever since he rescued Downtown as a kid off Ghorah Khar. He's been changed by his time among the humans, lost the Kilrathi ability to ignore the deaths of friends and comrades.
Wing Commander II Conversations with Downtown
Niven C
Two hours later...
Pilots Ready Room, Niven HQ
Downtown: Maverick! I didn't realize you were on Niven. I'm Downtown. I fly off the Concordia. I've seen you in briefings, but never had a chance to introduce myself. So, what brings you here? A special mission?
Maverick: Just an ordinary courier assignment. Yourself?
Downtown: Flying escort for a food transport to Ghorah Khar. I used to live there, so they let me have the run.
Maverick: But isn't Ghorah Khar a Kilrathi system?
Downtown: Used to be. The local Kilrathi rebelled and joined the Confederation. Now the Empire may try to retake the system. It's a bad situation. Well, I'd better see if my bird's fueled up yet. Got a schedule to keep. Later, Maverick.
Ghorah Khar (Losing) C
Two hours later...
Temporary Duty Office, Ghorah Khar Field HQ.
Downtown: Maverick! I didn't realize you were here. I'm Downtown. I fly off the Concordia. I've seen you in briefings, but never had a chance to introduce myself. So, what brings you here? A special mission?
Maverick: Just an ordinary courier assignment. Yourself?
Downtown: Flying escort for a food transport from Ghorah Khar to Niven. I used to live here on Ghorah Khar, a long time ago, so they let me have the run.
Maverick: But wasn't this a Kilrathi planet then?
Downtown: It was. The local Kilrathi rebelled and joined the Confederation. Now the Empire may try to retake this system. It's a bad situation. Well, I'd better see if my bird's fueled up yet. Got a schedule to keep. Later, Maverick.
Ghorah Khar B
Pilots' Barracks, TCS Concordia.
Doomsday: Maverick. How are you doing? I was just trying to explain to Downtown how these spies will bring down the Confederation. We're surrounded by traitors--- hundreds of them---
Maverick: Get real, Doomsday.
Doomsday: You're right, Maverick. There can't be more than a dozen spies on the Concordia...
Downtown: I'm just glad you and I weren't here when McGuffin died, Maverick...
Maverick: It's a relief to be in the clear... for a change.
Downtown: I'm still worried, though... What if the traitor really IS one of the pilots?
Doomsday: Anyone of us could be a Mandarin, Downtown.
Downtown: Have you heard much about the Society of the Mandarins, Maverick?
Maverick: Only a few stories... like that trial aboard the TCS Winterrowd.
Downtown: The Society of Mandarins takes their name from ancient Terran history. The original Mandarins were continuously invaded by the Mongols... ...but conquered the invaders by converting them to the Mandarin way of life. Our current Mandarins are human spies working for the Kilrathi. The cats offered the Mandarins high positions in the Empire for their help.
Maverick: How could someone betray his own people? Like Hobbes...
Downtown: Back off, Blair! Hobbes left the Empire, but he's no traitor!
Heaven's Gate C
Barracks, TCS Concordia
Jazz: How're you doing, Maverick?
Maverick: I'm fine, Jazz.
Jazz: I'm in for five. Downtown?
Downtown: Raise you ten. Have you heard? The Admiral says re-takin' the Heaven's Gate starbase would be next to impossible.
Stingray: It would be a bloodbath, that's for sure.
Jazz: Oh, I don't know. It might be a challenge, but I'm up for it. Your bet, Maverick.
Maverick: I'll raise another five.
Downtown: Going after that starbase, Jazz... man, those cats will have your tail!
Jazz: You know something, Ross, you sound more like Doomsday everyday. Next time you're on shore leave, maybe you should get your face tattooed.
Downtown: Very funny, Colson.
Maverick: Listen, Jazz, thanks for the assist out there yesterday.
Jazz: Hey, no problem! Always glad to help out the second-best pilot on the ship.
Maverick: Second-best? Last I checked, I had quite a few more kills than you, Colson.
Jazz: Oh, sorry, $C. I forgot to add in the Tiger's Claw... Besides, I'd just finished off a fuzzball carrier and its usual escort of Sartha... ...so I wasn't too busy to help out a pal.
Downtown: Call. Anyone beat a pair of kings?
Jazz: Three aces! Guess I'm just lucky tonight.
Tesla B & Tesla (Losing) B
Barracks, TCS Concordia
Paladin: ...and so, without thrusters, I used my momentum to skirt the event horizon...
Ralgha: "...swinging around behind the Dorkir just as it fired on you." You've told that tale a thousand times... ...and each time it gets a little taller, as you humans say.
Paladin: Is that so? Why, ye scruffy, flea-bitten...
Downtown: Don't mind them, $C. They always go on like this.
Maverick: I had no idea they got along so well.
Downtown: Your deal, Christopher.
Maverick: Five card draw, gentlemen.
Paladin: Let me tell you, lad, Ralgha and I have been friends for years. This sorry excuse for a dustmop saved my life, back at Ghorah Khar.
Hobbes: I had nothing better to do, at the time.
Downtown: Hobbes, wake up and get your cards.
Hobbes: Sorry. I open for fifteen.
Downtown: See that and raise ten.
Maverick: And ten more.
Paladin: My hand's a wee bit lackin'. I'm out.
Downtown: Anyone beat a jack-high straight? Didn't think so...
Paladin: Maverick, you look a bit troubled.
Maverick: It's Angel...she seems a little distracted.
Paladin: Maverick, dinna worry about that lass. Her head's on straight for sure.
Maverick: Some people say I'm using her...
Paladin: Hush, lad! Anyone who knows you, knows better. Angel's a fine pilot and a bonny lass. And any lad who'd let her get away is as fur-brained as Ralgha!
Hobbes: Again, I wonder why I bothered to save this scoundrel's life...
Paladin: Because ye're an impeccable judge of character, Ralgha. And you are too, lad. Follow ye're heart and talk be damned.
Tesla D & Tesla (Losing) D
Observation Deck, TCS Concordia.
Jazz: With those enemy carriers moving into this system... ...it's getting so you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Jalkehi. No offense, Hobbes.
Hobbes: Do not apologize, Major. I rarely listen to what you have to say.
Downtown: It's a rotten analogy, but Jazz's right. We're seriously outnumbered and outgunned in this system.
Maverick: Hell, I've been in worse spots. Like back in the Firekka System...
Jazz: I haven't thought about that operation in years... That was back before the Tiger's Claw was blown up...wasn't it, Christopher?
Maverick: Yes, it was.
Downtown: With all due respect, guys... that's ancient history to me. I'm worried about the here and now. We're up against two Kilrathi carriers... ...both of which are defended by heavy fighters.
Jazz: You'd better be on your toes, Captain... ...or you won't be flying home from this one.
Wing Commander II Conversations About Downtown
Ghorah Khar A
Repair Deck, TCS Concordia.
Sparks: I heard you had a rough patrol, Captain.
Maverick: It could've been worse. That furball is good...damn good.
Sparks: Where is Colonel Ralgha?
Maverick:
{IF Hobbes survived} He's giving the official mission report to Colonel Devereaux.
{IF Hobbes ejected} He ejected. The retrieval team picked him up. Right now, he's giving the official mission report to Colonel Devereaux.
{IF Hobbes scored kills} Hobbes toasted X of his litter-mates...
{IF Hobbes scored no kills} Hobbes didn't kill any of his fellow kitties, but he kept them away from me.
{If Blair scored more than one kill not not Kur} I only managed to take down X enemy ships myself.
{if Blair scored more than one kill including Kur} I only managed to take down X enemy ships myself. And I iced Kur Human-Killer as well.
Sparks: Very impressive, Maverick!
{If Blair scored one kill not not Kur}: I only managed to take down one enemy ship myself.
{if Blair scored more than one kill including Kur}: I only managed to take down one enemy ship myself. But that one was the Kilrathi ace, Kur Human-Killer.
{if Blair scored any kills}: Sparks: Very impressive, Maverick!
{if Blair scored no kills}: I couldn't nail any of them. It was a tough patrol.
Maverick: I don't understand this, Sparks. The Kilrathi kill dozens of my friends, and enslave hundreds of worlds... ...and then there's Hobbes. He's one of them, but...
Sparks: I know what you mean. When he first came on the ship, I was a bit uncomfortable myself. But Hobbes has proven himself over and over again.
Maverick: What's his story? Why did he leave Kilrah?
Sparks: Talk to Downtown when he gets back from escorting that convoy.
Maverick: Downtown? Why?
Sparks: It's not my business to tell you...just go ask him. If he wants you to know, he'll tell you.
Ghorah Khar B
Bridge, TCS Concordia.
Hobbes: You wanted to speak with me, Captain?
Maverick: I want to know why you wanted to fly missions with me.
Hobbes: You are a good pilot, too skilled to leave on the carrier, Blair... ...and I have sufficient influence to get you onto the flight roster. No matter what others say, I do not believe you are the "Coward of K'Tithrak Mang."
Maverick: All right. I have another question...why the callsign?
Hobbes: The original Hobbes was a human philosopher. Downtown suggested the callsign, as he considers me to be very wise.
Maverick: Downtown. I can't believe that you and he are friends--
Hobbes: Maverick, I do not care what you think. Your friend, Major Colson, told me of your feelings about my kind.
Maverick: Jazz? He's hardly a good friend of mine...
Hobbes: Be that as it may... As long as your prejudice does not interfere with our objectives... ...it is irrelevant.
Ghorah Khar D
Temporary Duty Office, Olympus Station Ghorah Khar System
Hobbes: The Admiral's attitude toward you offends me, Maverick. Perhaps if he flew a mission with you, his opinion would change.
Maverick: It's hard for some people to change their opinions...like me.
Hobbes: I was the same way, Christopher. I hated all humans, until I saw the truth... ...and abandoned everything I had believed in, to rescue a human child.
Maverick: Downtown.
Hobbes: I could not stand by and watch a Kilra'hra kill him.
Maverick: What you must have done for him--
Hobbes: --was nothing! To do less would be a stain upon my honor! The existence of human slaves is a shame to the Empire. That is why I joined the Confederation to fight against my own kind. But enough of that. We must prepare for our return to the Concordia. Since we are covering the main jump line in this system, we must be on our toes.
Enigma A
Observation Deck, TCS Concordia.
Stingray: Maverick, did you hear? Downtown is dead.
Hobbes: Ambushed by ten Drakhri. He fought bravely, to no avail. Why do I feel this way? He was just a human cub...
Jazz: That's how I felt when my brother died. He was with the Marines at the Goddard Colony. All dead, because the reinforcements were late.
Mavrick: I didn't know that, Jazz. I understand why you're bitter.
Jazz: You don't understand crap, Christopher.
Maverick: We've all lost loved ones, Jazz.
Hobbes: I must go. If I am needed, look on the Flight Deck.
Maverick: If there's anything I can do...
Hobbes: Thank you, but I wish to be alone.
Two hours later...
Maverick: Hobbes, you all right? Sparks said you spent an hour on the Flight Deck, just staring...
Hobbes: I have lost a true friend. My honor is lost as well. I treated him as a comrade, but I loved him as my son. I never told him. And now...I cannot.
Maverick: I still have some of Paladin's Sukhar May'ya... ...this might be a good time to finish the bottle.
Hobbes: Thank you, Maverick.
Ultimate Strategy Guide References
With the exception of the character description above which is used as an example in the Making Of section, Downtown is almost never mentioned in the Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide. This is, in and of itself, an interesting character note! For posterity, here are the two times he is referenced:
"We needed to clear a path for the Concordia and, after the loss of Downtown, Angel would fly the patrol route with me in Broadswords." - Enigma A
"I think Spirit, Downtown, Bossman, and all the other pilots who had lost their lives were in the cockpit with me." - K'Tithrak Mang D
Thirty years ago I was living in Austin, TX scratching out a living playing piano gigs, teaching some piano lessons and teaching the jazz band PT at Southwestern University. I happened to bump into sax player/arranger-composer and great guy Paul Baker who told me he'd been hired to score video games for EA/Origin. I was intrigued and thought to myself, "I could do that", having never done it before and barely knowing how to use a computer. Paul graciously accepted a demo cassette tape that I threw together and submitted it to Chris Roberts' development team at Origin who just happened to be looking for a composer for Wing Commander 3. A week later I got a call and was hired to score this huge title, not knowing that it also required hours of music for movies (cutscenes), which I also hadn't done before. Baptism by fire! They hired me in February of '94 and the game shipped right after Thanksgiving with about 4 hours of music!
That opportunity basically created a brand new career for me as a game, and ultimately film composer and orchestrator. I can't say enough about how blessed I feel that after 30 years of working in games and film and utltimately joining the faculty at Berklee College of Music I can now look back at that time so fondly, working with such incredible people, and realize we created something truly special.
Ten years ago I got to finally record much of that music with an orchestra and choir in Bratislava (see the video) the way I'd originally imagined it. I just wrapped a similar process in Budapest (orchestra) and Salt Lake City (choir) for volume 2, which will be mixed by the lengendary Bruce Botnick.
Life is good!!
That's beautiful, George! One way or another, everything works out, doesn't it? Keep on thriving my man– – you've earned it!
That's five sorties down: the Wing Commander movie club has polished off 633 Squadron and lived to tell the tale! Unlike -- spoiler warning -- 633 Squadron itself. This week we're going to try a movie that doesn't have a single airplane... or even a spaceship! Join us Friday for a screening of the Oscar-winning civil war epic Glory (1989). You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
Glory is a 1989 movie about the American Civil War, following the exploits of one of the first African American regiments, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. The soldiers face racism from their own side with many insisting that black troops are incapable of fighting. But they but prove themselves under fire, ultimately suffering heavy casualties in an attempt to capture Fort Wagner in South Carolina. It is notable for marking a period of increased popular interest in the Civil War (on that coincided with the release of Wing Commander I!) and for cementing Denzel Washington, who earned an Academy Award for his performance, as a movie star.
What's the Wing Commander connection? For once, this one isn't about the Wing Commander movie! We're watching Glory because Denzel Washington's character, the fictional Private Silas Trip, was the basis for Downtown in Wing Commander II. Downtown is the Concordia pilot that we learn was rescued from slavery by Hobbes and who later dies tragically. Downtown is such a strange part of the Hobbes story, one that's oddly never referenced beyond the game… could going back to his inspiration give us a clue as to why that is? We'll find out! Here's his original character description which was reprinted in the Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide:
DOWNTOWN
LIEUTENANT ROSS BALDWIN
Purpose in story: Presents new outlook on human-Kilrathi relationships (son figure and special emotional dependency on Hobbes), emotional impact (his death).
Downtown is a young black man, roughly mid twenties. His family, when fleeing from their home planet during a Kilrathi invasion, was captured and sent as slave labour to the Kilrathi planet of Ghorah Khar. Years later, when Hobbes was working undercover on that planet for the Confederation, he helped the young boy escape. The relationship between Downtown and Hobbes is unique… Hobbes is all the family that Downtown has. In personality, Downtown is fiery and impulsive, and very vocal in defending Hobbes against anyone who badmouths him. He has an emotional dependency on Hobbes, viewing him as a father figure.
Conversation: Standard American
Think Denzel Washington in “Glory”
We will also take the opportunity that comes with such a different movie to talk about Wing Commander's connections to the Civil War. Wing Commander Academy, for instance, tells us that one of Colonel Blair's ancestors was a Civil War general! Wing Commander novelist Dr. William Forstchen is also a closely tied to the Civil War; his doctorate was a study of another African American unit, Indiana's 28th United States Colored Troops. Dr Forstchen would go on to write a series of sci-fi novels called The Lost Regiment, developed contemporaneously with his Wing Commander work, which follows Civil War soldiers transported to an alien conflict.
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
Glory is currently on PlutoTV in the United States and is available for rental or sale digitally at all storefronts. A copy is also available for download on the Internet Archive. If you're interested in tracking down a physical copy, a UHD version was released in 2014 and remains in print today (with the most recent edition published earlier this year). If you are unable to track down a copy please ping a member of the WCCIC staff on the Discord in advance of the watch.
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!
Who needs a centurion? Now go and perform the list of bizarre tasks I have set for you. Bwahahaha!
Tarsus Grind (10/10):
I am speed - Equip an afterburner Optimism - Have Merchant's guild membership but no jump drive Shields to maximum! - Equip level 2 shields It gets easier - Kill another person, forever destroying everything they are or could be "I am become death, destroyer of Talons" - Have 2 missile launchers Now witness the firepower - Equip a Tachyon Cannon They fix Everything - Have a repair-bot "Red" rhymes with "Dead" - Equip a colour scanner Crackle crackle - Forget to repair your scanner Interstellar Rubicon - Leave the Troy system
Plot (8/8):
Cargo parasite - Start the plot I'm not a pirate, I just work for them - Complete Tayla's missions Can't you see that I am a privateer? - Complete Roman Lynch's Missions Unlocking the greatest mysteries - Complete Masterson's missions I travel the galaxy - Complete the Palan missions ...and far beyond - Complete Taryn Cross's missions Strategically Transfer Equipment to Alternative Location - Acquire the Steltek gun That'll be 30000 credits - Win the game (and get paid for it)
Ships (4/4):
Pew Pew Pew - Mount 4 front guns and 20 warheads (on a Centurion) Star Truck - Carry more than 200T of cargo in a Galaxy Expensive Paperweight - Have Level 5 engines and level 5 shields (on an Orion) Tarsus gonna Tarsus - Take damage to all four armour facings on a Tarsus
Random (13/13):
I know what you did - Equip multiple tractor beams in front mounts I trade it for the articles - Carry at least one ton of PlayThing(tm) Questionable morality - Become friendly with Pirates and Kilrathi Insane morality - Become friendly with everyone except retros Dr. Evil Pinky Finger - Possess One Million Credits Just glue it to the outside - Carry more cargo than will fit in your ship No kill stealing - Personally kill the Steltek Drone Cat Lover - Win the game without killing any Kilrathi Good Guy - Win the game without killing any Militia, Merchants or Confeds Tagon would be proud - Accept three delivery missions to the same location Wing Commander nostalgia - Fail a Drayman escort mission The Bitcores maneuver - Put the Steltek gun on a central mount Space-Hobo - Do 100 non-plot missions
Mostly Peaceful (6/6):
Defender of toasters - Kill 20 Retros We are not the same - Kill 20 Pirates Avril Lavigne mode - Kill 30 Hunters Also Try Wing Commander - Kill 10 Kilrathi Criminal - Kill 6 Militia Traitor - Kill 6 Confeds
Mass-murder? I hardly... (6/6):
Guardian angel of toasters - Kill 100 Retros Your Letter of Marque is in the post - Kill 100 Pirates Joan Jett mode - Kill 100 Hunters Also Try Wing Commander 3 - Kill 50 Kilrathi Menesch's apprentice - Kill 30 Militia Arch-traitor - Kill 30 Confeds
Feats of Insanity (5/5):
Get that trophy screenshot - Get to the derelict in a Tarsus) Almost ready to start Righteous Fire - Possess twenty million credits Grinder - Recover hunter reputation to non-hostile before winning How much glue do you have? - Carry more than twice as much cargo as will fit in your ship No-one, you see, is smarter than he - Become friendly with every real faction
Last week we posted about the lore surrounding the Kilrathi characters in the Wing Commander movie. Since that post we've thought of a few more interesting things to point out… so they're collected here!
Eye See You
The first point concerns Bokoth, the "Kilrathi Admiral". Astute readers noted something in the script when he's first described: he's very explicitly said to have only one eye.
ADMIRAL turns. Its face is scarred, distorted, one eye missing. His plumes, indicative of rank, clan, and battles fought and won, flow over massive shoulders. Small smile creeps over his visage, exposes yellowed canines.
The novelization expands the description, noting that he lost his eye at McAuliffe.
Kalralahr Bokoth turned his long, pale head toward Thiraka. Bokoth's face bore the ravages of the battle at McAuliffe. He had lost an eye in that ambush, and deep scars radiated from the gloomy socket like an improbable form of black anti-lightning.
… but he certainly has two eyes in the movie! Obviously, the intent to reference the Emperor from Wing Commander II and Wing Commander III was there from the very start, well before the Kilrathi costumes were constructed… so what happened here?
The answer is that the costume actually was made with one dead eye… but the digital effects work added it back when they gave the Kilrathi glowing eyes! Here you can compare a picture of Bokoth as she was filmed to one as he appeared in the final film. If you look carefully, you CAN see the scarring around his bad eye in the final film around the digital eye.
More Toy Confusion
Last time we talked about how X-Toys made an action figure of Bokoth, the Kilrathi Admiral that was confusingly titled Kilrathi General… and that his trading card was actually a picture of the Kilrathi Marines (seen in the Pegasus attack and on the ConCom). Well, there's an additional layer of confusion here because the KILRATHI PILOT action figure (who features a card showing the Admiral) is in fact an action figure of the marine.
But… is there a Kilrathi pilot or did they just need someone to fly the (cancelled) Dralthi vehicle toy? There WAS! A Kilrathi cockpit was constructed and a Kilrathi pilot shot. The intent was to have them appear during the attack on the ConCom; we would've seen the scene from the Kilrathi perspective as the pilot dove to attack Maniac and the Diligent.
AD has used that footage to reconstruct what the scene might've looked like. In the final version, we would've seen the reflection of the battle in the Kilrathi 'eye mask'.
This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that inspired Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is 633 Squadron, a movie Chris Roberts credits with inspiring Wing Commander's score... and a thematic followup to The Dam Busters, our first movie night selection. You can find details on that as well as how to watch along with us in the announcement post here. The movie will start about 7 PM PST/10 PM EST, but feel free to drop by and hang any time!
Greetings WingNuts,
The Wing Commander Movie Club has conquered the final frontier! It's safe to say that everyone present already loved Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and our opinions certainly didn't change with this screening. It's a little jarring to notice years later that every set is repurposed from Star Trek: The Next Generation and there are plenty of odd moments that earned our gentle ribbing (like the name!)… but none of them detracted from the whole for us.
The big Wing Commander connection was the shockwave effect which appears in Star Trek VI's opening, destroying Praxis and then shaking Sulu's Excelsior. Wing Commander special effects supervisor Chris Brown credited the effect with influencing the explosion effects seen throughout the movie, particularly in the third act 'broadside' battle between the Tiger Claw and a Fralthi. While some shockwaves are visible in that scene, it's probably fewer than the rest of the movie!
...but the shockwave effect is certainly a big deal during the Skipper sequence! In fact, it's pretty clear the sequence directly influenced similar ones in Wing Commander III and IV. In Wing Commander III, we see such a shockwave during the incredible finale that destroys Kilrah and in Wing Commander IV it's Seether's 'mine trick'. In all three of these cases, the scene follows the same pattern as the Star Trek VI with a wide shot to show the scale of the explosion and then closer ones of the hero ship crashing through the wave (or in Seether's case, sailing along it).
Another scene in Wing Commander that heavily borrows Star Trek VI's shockwave is Paladin's attack on the Kilrathi dreadnaught. The Sivar blasts out a similar shockwave after it's hit... with another cool Wing Commander easter egg especially visible, the o-ring debris from the original game (visible several times in the movie, a result of using Origin veterans to do the SFX shots)! The initial article noted that the effect for Wing Commander was created digitally using the popular Pyromania stock library rather than filmed in a pyro shoot. If you're interested in experimenting with the same resource, there's a copy of the same one that would've been used by the Wing Commander SFX team available for download on the Internet Archive.
These aren't the only shockwaves in Wing Commander, of course! Another favorite is the in-flight effect when a Mace is detonated in Wing Commander IV:
Beyond this specific influence, though, the Star Trek of the early 90s was ever present during the making of the Wing Commander games. Wing Commander I writer Jeff George, the architect of much of the universe we love, remembers the original team breaking from crunch only to watch new episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It's not hard to imagine the Wing Commander 2 group stopping work for a few hours to catch an opening show of Star Trek VI! And the film's deeper discussions on the fear of change and the need for peace are easily detectable any time Wing Commander attempted a discussion of the conflict… from Damon Karnes' war weariness to Admiral Tolwyn's madness at the thought of peace to Fleet Action's somewhat differently stilted view on the role of the military in such times.
And then there's one bit of trivia to end on: Star Trek VI shares THREE actors with Wing Commander! Before he was space marine Decker in Wing Commander IV and Prophecy, Jeremy Roberts was an Excelsior bridge officer. He would later reprise the role, then named Lt. Cmdr. Dimitri Valtane, on an episode of Star Trek Voyager:
David Warner, who played both the mysterious Rhineheart in Privateer 2: The Darkening and Admiral Tolwyn in the Wing Commander movie, plays the ill-fated Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI:
And finally, John Schuck is the Klingon ambassador, a role he had originated in Star Trek IV. He would go on to voice Ralgha nar Hhallas, Hobbes himself, in Wing Commander III!
Sully thinks the movie needed more Kzinti.
A scene from the computer game “Wing Commander”. Quick Wing Commander render using models by the legendary Adam “Klavs” Burch. Two Hornet fighters fly away from the explosion of a Kilrathi Dralthi on an asteroid, as a second Dralthi flees. As Hunter used to advise, if you get jumped by Kilrathi close to asteroids, try to lure them onto the rocks.
March 1996: Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. Ported from the PC original by Electronic Arts. A solid adaptation but the fantastic 3DO version puts it to shame! Had a fancy localization and big push in Japan but couldn't find an audience.
December 1996: Crusader: No Remorse. Ported from the PC by Realtime Associates. Sorely lacking the SVGA graphics of the PC version. Plans to follow it with a port of No Regret were dropped but an early build exists!
March 1997: Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. Ported by Infinity Entertainment from the PC original. Only released in Japan, this version started life as a Sega CD project. The 3D is significantly updated here!
May 1997: Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom. Ported from the PC original in-house with help from Lion Entertainment. Really slick port that features support for the massive PlayStation Analog Joystick! Sadly cuts a fair amount of footage.
March 1998: Zero Pilot: Fighter Of Silver Wing. REAL weird one: this is a licensed rework of Origin's Pacific Strike developed by Soliton and published by Sony. Spawned a series of sequels for the PS2 and PSP!
Finally, Wing Commander fans might also be interested in looking at Electronic Arts' Darklight Conflict (June 1997). This one came VERY close to being reworked into a Wing Commander Academy (TV show) tie-in game!
The F-104 Bearcat from Wing Commander IV, descending onto a planet below it from the depths of Space. Model by Hangar B Productions/Adam Burch. Rendering by Mac's Lore.
The TCS Concordia in orbit of Earth with a flight of Rapier-Gs flying in escort. Rapier Models & Textures by Adam Burch.You can find other various Wing Commander luminaries on Bluesky here.
Last week's meeting of the Wing Commander movie club was a great success! Star Trek VI's connection to Wing Commander may have been slighter than other films we've watched (watch for the after action report on Friday) but it was also a lot of fun watching a film we all love together with friends. And isn't that the point of this whole endeavor in the first place? Next week, however, we're returning to music and to World War II with 633 Squadron (1964)! And as always you are welcome to join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
It's time for more high flying action with the Royal Air Force! 633 Squadron is a fictionalized air combat adventure which pits a squadron of elite Mosquito fighter pilots against a Nazi rocket base. Made in 1964, it's the first air combat movie to be shot in color and represents a new kind of World War II movie that starts to glamorize rather than memorialize the conflict. As such, we thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and watch 633 Squadron while Dam Busters is fresh in our mind. Even without the Wing Commander connection, the difference in these two films that tackle a similar subject matter just a few years apart should be fascinating. Will the dour realism of one give way to something that feels a little more fun? How many math lectures will it include? Fewer than five, we hope.
Also like Dam Busters, the major connection to Wing Commander is the music. 633 Squadron is the other film that Chris Roberts asked David Arnold and Keivn Kiner to study when scoring Wing Commander. Here are the Wing Commander liner notes in which Chris Roberts references both movies:
When I set out to make "Wing Commander," I envisioned a classic World War II film as its model. Except that it was set in space, 500 years from now. This motif played strongly in the design and look of the picture. I also wanted it to play strongly in the score. I wanted the music to evoke some of the glorious old war film scores; full of heart, melody and heroic acts. "633 Squadron," "The Dam Busters" and other such classics came to my mind. When I first talked to David and Kevin about the score, they were in tune from step one.
In fact, my first conversation with David had him citing classic war film scores as a jumping- off point - and that was before I'd even pitched him on my 'WWII' in space concept! From that point on, I am happy to say I was in good hands. From hearing the first temps to being blown away by the orchestra on the scoring stage at Air Lyndhurst, I was constantly surprised and impressed. The sound they've managed to capture evokes epic movies from the fifties and sixties. It's some of the best space music I've heard, right up there with the classics we've all grown up with. The film required many things of the score, bravery, guts, youthfulness, mystery, danger, loss and redemption. David and Kevin delivered all that and hummable melodies into the bargain! (I guarantee you'll be whistling the title cue as you leave the cinema.) The film grows as a result. Bravo! Here's to working together again.
Chris Roberts
Director
Of course, there's another little connection that seems to indicate that this is a movie that's (still) not far from Chris Roberts' mind…
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
633 Squadron is currently available as a free download from the Internet Archive. In the United States it is available for rental or sale digitally at all storefronts. If you're interested in tracking down a physical copy, Kino Lorber publiished a Blu-ray release in 2021 which is readily available; it is a combo pack with Mosquito Squadron (1969)... but that one is NOT currently known to have been an influence on Wing Commander!
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!
Digital archaeology strikes again: we've discovered something we didn't know was missing… and we've had it in our collection all along! The true story behind the Wing Commander Academy Speech Accessory Pack, long thought to be a fan made addon, has been discovered. What we didn't know was that it was an official addon created and released by Origin in 1993.
Backing up: Wing Commander Academy shipped in August 1993 and it included partial speech. If you have a speech-capable sound card (not a given in 1993!) the game will play the taunts of the (five different) Kilrathi AI pilots you can battle. But the responses from your wingmen do not play; they display as text. This always felt a little odd to players familiar with Wing Commander II… after all, four of the five Confederation comm sets, Angel, Hobbes, Maniac and the male space station, were already recorded. However, the reason the wingmen voices weren't included was actually pretty sensible: there wasn't room on the game's three 3.5" HD diskettes to include the larger wingmen files. Cutting them, we have always reasoned, made sense because the single most expensive part of an Origin game at the time was the physical diskettes. Three disks instead of four would mean a tremendous savings and it would help keep Academy's costs historically low for a new Origin title (a mere $49.95 instead of $70 or $80!).
… except it turns out that's not quite what really happened! The team had actually intended to ship the base game on 3 diskettes and then a second speech pack SKU which would include all ten audio sets on one additional diskette. This would be sold for a low cost as it essentially already existed; it just needed an installer to drop the files in Academy's GAMEDAT directory and set the game's CFG file to play speech. Stingray's voice would be used for Lightspeed so no new recording or quality assurance was necessary; the only cost of the effort would be the (not insubstantial) packaging. In the end, Origin decided that selling an Academy speech pack wasn't a good value proposition and they dropped the physical release. It was at this time that they opted to add back the Kilrath taunts to the base game as there was room on the third disk to store them… but not the larger wingman voices (wingmen have more things they can say, resulting in files that were two to four larger than the Kilrathi ones).
Fans have known since at least the late 90s that renaming the sound files from Wing Commander II and dropping them in the right place in Academy's installation adds them to the game; they even figured out that Stingray was the best choice to replace Lightspeed. But we haven't known why. It turns out that since Wing Commander Academy had /partial/ speech, no changes to the installer were needed. It was believed this was all a happy accident, just something that happened to work because it logically might. HCl's website has a download of the renamed audio files; Wedge009 lists instructions for doing it yourself. It's a common "hack" to perfect your Academy installation. And file sites commonly included another identical set of the audio files with what at first glance looked like the usual Warez crud included as an installer. We even noted it as odd at the time but couldn't draw any conclusions. The files in this download were dated 1996 and so there was no clear tie to the actual Academy era.
What we didn't know was that this was the actual Origin version complete with an installer the modifies the game's setup! After researching the file further, investigating its internals and then confirming with developers working at the time we have established that Origin released it as a free download from their BBS on October 30, 1993. From there it spread around the pre-internet but its source was quickly forgotten! There's even evidence in there that it was being developed for sale with only the wingman audio: it reads "Thank you for purchasing WCA Wingman Voice Addition!" on quit after a successful installation! Also note that this version is even a little different from the fan created one; it uses the male Concordia pack instead of the starbase one for the space station. So the next time someone asks you how many Wing Commander games have speech accessory packs… you tell 'em THREE!
You can downloaded the 'correct' audio files with their installer here.
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