Wing Commander editing wizard HCl has sent us more screenshots from his latest project! This time they are of the Arrow, everyone's favorite light fighter from WC3 and many other games. Click the thumbnails to get larger images.
September 24 was the anniversary of the destruction of Kilrah in 2669. Then Colonel Christopher Blair delivered the Temblor Bomb that shook the Kilrathi homeworld apart. This assault brought some forty years of fighting to a close. We have footage of Blair's attack here.
The popular Blue's News site provided a link to our Secret Ops Guide in their September 26 news area under the heading "etc." They called our Evan "Hadrian" Adnams "Evna," but it's still a nice mention.
The Wing Commander series has spawned a huge number of looky-likeys over the years and formed its own genre. The combination of compelling story line, cinematic cut scenes and space battles has been emulated - no, downright copied - in LucasArts' X-wing and TIE fighter, MircoProse's X-COM Interceptor and interplay's Conflict Freespace.
But Origin were there first, developing a continuing story throughout the various episodes and employing a number of well-known actors, including Mark Hamill, Malcom McDowell and John Ryhs-Davies.
The very latest episode, Wing Commander Secret Ops, breaks taboos and traditions by being freely downloadable from the Internet (http://www.secretops.com/main.html).
"Wing Commander Secret Ops is an entire Wing Commander game that is available as episodes over the Internet," explains Producer Rod Nakamoto. "Origin is giving away the game free of charge (except for standard Internet service fees) as a way of saying thanks to all our Wing Commander fans who've supported us since the series began in 1990.
"Wing Commander Prophecy Gold is a compilation of Secret Ops and the original Prophecy so it covers a much broader range of exciting missions than Prophecy did on its own - approximately twice as many missions in fact."
The events in Secret Ops take place directly after those in Prophecy, setting the scene in readiness for the next instalment, Wing Commander Strike Team. The Wing Commander Prophecy missions include all the stars and live video sequences that were in the original release of Prophecy, but because Secret Ops is also available on the Internet, it uses real-time films rendered by the game engine rather than live action video. However you still play the part of Casey, and many of Prophecy's characters return.
And what of all that competition?
"Wing Commander is the product that defined the space simulator market and has inspired many, many clones over the years," says Rod Nakamoto. "Wing Commander has always provided the most exciting missions weaved into the most compelling stories set in the richest sci-fi universe imaginable. Combine that with lightning-fast graphics performance and audio-visual effects and you have the best space combat experience on the PC.
"Ultimately, we let the fans speak for themselves and they have made it clear that Wing Commander Prophecy is their favourite of the recent crop of space sims."
The second of our interviews with Secret Ops team members, this time with senior graphic designer/technical art advisor Damon Waldrip... read on!
What type of art do you do?design, concept drawings, 3d modeling & texturing (both cinematic & game art), lighting, animation, pretty much everything. in the world of computer games, an artist has to be a kind of jack of trades. however, each of us has our specialties. mine are two: one is modeling, the other is more on the technical side, working closely with the programmers to ensure that the art is well and properly integrated into the game engine.
What exactly is involved in creating a new spacecraft?
at first, making many sketches to come up with a look that works. then, perhaps a 3d mockup. then a final drawing. then, generally, a cinematic model is built: a high-detail 3d spline model with high-detail textures. then the game art is built. this involves building some polygonal versions somewhat simpler than the heavily detailed cinematic version, using the cinematic model as a template. rendered images of the cinematic model are used for textures. there are usually several details levels which must be built. (these save processor time by swapping out as the camera moves closer to, or farther from the ship). then, damaged art must be made for when the ship or its component parts blow up. then, collision extents must be built. (these are simpler polygonal approximations of the ship, used for collision detection.)
Is there any particular inspiration for your WC art?
it varies. anything. everything. plants, animals, microscopic critters, all of nature, cars, buildings, and even other spacecraft. imagine that.
Have you ever designed things that don't quite make it into the final game?
oh yes. ouch. not even funny. but, thankfully, this happens far less often with experience.
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