News Collection: On This Day in WC News

2025.036 (February 5, 2025)

VGHF Collection: The Borst Around

This is the second in a series of updates that will highlight five fascinating items from our first search through the Video Game History Foundation's new Digital Library. We're sure there are countless treasures to uncover, so be sure to dive into their collection and post what you discover to the forums! For our second VGHF update we're looking at another artifact from behind the scenes of game development: the Computer Game Developers' Conference 1997 Conference Proceedings. This is an academic-style publication that prints articles based on the presentations given at GDC, an industry convention that focuses on the hows and whys of game development.

2024.036 (February 5, 2024)

Originator Bug Fix Update Also Improves Key Features

Development on Originator has continued at a frenzied pace, and we are here for it! AllTinker has an update to the program, which greatly simplifies the hacking and extraction process from a multitude of Origin games. Although he describes this as mostly a bug fix update, there are some nice improves such as a new camera movement options in the viewer and support for more file types. Also, check out that gorgeous MCPH Prototype!

2023.036 (February 5, 2023)

Casey's Console Spotted in Die Hard

StarvingPilot shared this nice catch from a recent watch of Die Hard 2. A techie console from the film appears to be a perfect match to a console aboard the TCS Midway. It's the one that Lance Casey taps on after his missions. There's probably a ton of things like this out there!

2022.036 (February 5, 2022)

Comments Needed on KSP Morningstar Design

capi is participating in a Kerbal Space Program competition, and his entry is the Morningstar from Special Operations 2. He's limited by elements within the KSP engine, but the results so far look pretty good. He's very much looking for feedback on how to improve or tweak the model any further. If you'd like to help him and get more representation for Wing Commander, hit the comment link below!

2021.036 (February 5, 2021)

Get Into the Game Zone

Here's a super retro mag shot from Super Retro Gamers. It dates back to the February 1993 issue of Nintendo Game Zone in the UK. Some of the edges are cut off, but you can get the gist of it. What I really like about these old timey Nintendo previews is just how unabashedly bold and colorful they are - just like the original Wing Commander itself!

2020.036 (February 5, 2020)

Confed Fighters on the Prowl

We've got an exciting triple pack from Klavs to share today. First up is the new Hornet that Klavs has been perfecting recently. It looks nicely battle worn without being dirty, which is a slick effect. There are also two wallpaper-style images.

2019.036 (February 5, 2019)

Wing Commander Meme of the Day: Nerves of Peele

2018.036 (February 5, 2018)

End Run Ebook Still In The Works

There's been a steady stream of Wing Commander ebooks since publisher Baen took the series digital starting in mid 2016. Everything from Freedom Flight to False Colors has been released, with one key omission - End Run! The published did confirm last year that it was still pending, but some time has passed since. We pinged them again this weekend, and they answered with this prompt reply.

2017.036 (February 5, 2017)

Potential Premiere Project Proves Promising

FekLeyrTarg put together this brief clip to flex his video editing muscles while taking advantage of a variety of WC2 assets. He's looking for feedback at the CIC Forums and hopefully chooses to take on some longer and more elaborate scenes in the future. We definitely encourage people to take on new kinds of creative projects like this and especially with lesser used elements of the series! Hi there, in order to improve my skills in After Effects and Premiere, I've decided to produce this short video based on Wing Commander II.

2016.036 (February 5, 2016)

WC Toolbox Adds Ship Editing Feature

UnnamedCharacter has released a new version of his programming library for interfacing with Wing Commander 1's game data files. This newest beta release (3.3.0) lets you edit ships, hardpoints and flight formations, and there are some general fixes and improvements to existing program features.

2015.036 (February 5, 2015)

Flat Universe Weapon Usage Explained

Maslas is back with more information about the recently released 0.65 update to Wing Commander Flat Universe. There have been some questions about missile usages, so that's been explained. It's really interesting and closely mirrors the weapon loadout options available to players in WC3&4.

2014.036 (February 5, 2014)

WC Saga Enhancement Project Contines to Make Strides

Luke has provided an update on the ongoing effort to take the Wing Commander Saga source code and upgrade the game's usability and features. A list of the new additions and fixes incorporated into their latest internal build - dubbed WC Saga Plus - is below. There are also some neat tweaks for any other people out there interested in modding Saga. Current version: 1.

2013.036 (February 5, 2013)

Famous Flight Suit Resurfaces in England

Remember that UK contest to win Christopher Blair's screenworn flightsuit? recurring dropped by to let us know that he indeed was the winner of that contest and has the pictures to prove it! A handful of shots are included below, but head over to Pix's website for more images in higher resolution. You can also thank recurring for stopping in to share his awesome collectible at the CIC Forums.

2012.036 (February 5, 2012)

Amazon's Academy Price Increased

Amazon.com has slightly raised the presale price of the upcoming Wing Commander Academy series on DVD. It's now going for $22.49.

Wing Commander Airing in Brazil

The Wing Commander Movie will be showing twice in the next few days in Brazil via the Telecine network. In Portuguese, the film's title is A Batalha Final, which translate into "The Final Battle." Check it out on the TC Action channel on Feb 6 at 8:05 pm or Feb 8 at 12:20 pm. Wing Commander (1999) 1:55:00 The Earth is in an interstellar war with the Kilrathi race.

2011.036 (February 5, 2011)

Coolest Way to Protect a Kilrathi Head Modeled

Michelle D is working on a new unit for her Firekkan themed scene. It's a Kilrathi shock troop based off the losing ending of The Secret Missions 2. Right now just the helmet has been modeled, but this is a great opportunity to show the screenshot that this is based off of. That's some pretty badass Kilrathi armor there.

Home Sweet Kilrah

Some might be wondering where all these Kilrathi are supposed to live. Michele D is addressing that as well by starting to model a Kilrathi city. It appears to be inspired by some of the scenes on Kilrah show in Wing Commander 3. I can't really say if it's Kilrathi enough, especially the building with the most progress done on it.

2010.036 (February 5, 2010)

Ascii Casino Patch

Chris Knudsen has released a new version of Privateer: Ascii Sector. This newest version fixes some minor gameplay issues, including a few problems with the recently added casino ship. You can download 0.6.

2009.036 (February 5, 2009)

IGN Has Our Back

Gaming megasite IGN has surprised everyone over the weekend by publishing a major article about Wing Commander. Wing Commander Redux focuses on how three of their writers would relaunch the series - something that I think we can all agree is absolutely necessary. Suggestions included: As far as the gameplay goes, I think, again, we should get back to the basics that made the original series so appealing. Make the space battles cinematic, with lots of energy and action.

Making the Game: AI Plus Maneuvers

Making the Game is back! Starting today we will be looking at a large number of documents and other types of material relating to Wing Commander Prophecy. We hope that future game designers - as well as historians - can someday use this material to understand exactly how one of the greatest games of all time was created. Today's update is a nine page plan for the artificial intelligence system in 'Wing Commander Armageddon' (Prophecy's original title).

2008.036 (February 5, 2008)

Das Erwachen Book Three Teaser Released

Deacan is still working on the print run of his second German fan novel: Das Erwachen Stille (orders are still available). While he reviews final workprints, battles the flu and waits for a printshop window, he has released a preview of book three: Trauma. A general outline is done so far. The story picks up eight years after Deacan's first two adventures.

The Art of Wing Commander Arena - Part Sixty-Five

This 'Terran Commander' image was drawn as part of a single player campaign concept. Wing Commander fans everywhere will know his name - Admiral Vance Richards. This is part of a series of beautiful Wing Commander Arena concept images graciously provided by Gaia Industries. You can find the original article here.

2007.036 (February 5, 2007)

Repeat, Clear Flight Deck...

The response to Klavs' Flight Ops fan art was very positive, so he took some time and bumped up the size to make some high resolution wallpapers for everybody. This is a fantastic scene that we can't get enough of. The larger images are still based off the original 1024x render, but a few finishing touches were reapplied at the higher res. Wing Commander fans who aren't caught up on their novels should check out End Run, Fleet Action and False Colors to learn more about Escort Carriers like the TCS Tarawa below.

K'rakh Drish'kai rai H'ra!

A few fans were wondering about the Kilrathi quote included with yesterday's fan art. "Ek'rah skabak erg Thrak'Kilrah maks Rag'nith" translates into "For the glory of Kilrah, the Emperor and the Empire" in spoken Kilrathi. If that sounds completely alien to you, check out our classic Kilrathi Lexicon article. LOAF has collected an extensive list of word translations and known phrases to study up on.

2006.036 (February 5, 2006)

WCA Art 21: Volcano Island

Four years ago LOAF managed to acquire twenty backgrounds from the WCA animated series, which we posted here for your enjoyment. There are still a lot of backgrounds out there somewhere, and fortunately Chris came across one on ebay. According to the seller it was shipped off to Korea for artists to do their thing before being returned to the US. The background shows a scene of water with the sun just appearing over the horizon, and an island with a volcano in the distance.

Staruss Plays With Virtual Lego

Since posting build plans for a Lego Dralthi last week, Staruss has been playing around with a program called MLCAD. The program is a kind of virual Lego environment allowing you to plan how to construct your various designs. By using it, Staruss has been able to reconstruct his Dralthi and is now working on a Lego Dragon. Unfortunately his camera is currently broken so there aren't any photos of the actual model just yet.

2005.036 (February 5, 2005)

German Magazine Celebrates WC3's, Roberts' Achievements

Tolwyn sent us this article from the January edition of german magazine PC Games. There are two columns of interest to WC fans. The first notes that Wing Commander III was the first game reviewed by the magazine to receive a score of 96%, a score only recently matched by Half Life 2. The second column details what Chris Roberts has been up to since leaving Origin.

Holding The Line Chapter 199

Just over a week ago on January 28, HTL celebrated its 6th anniversary. In the absense of a slice of birthday cake, Raptor has sent us a new chapter instead. Hey all, Raptor here HTL continues with Part Thirteen of my Into The Inferno series, which follows Battlegroup Valkyrie during the final clash in the Nifelheim system. As you've seen in past chapters written by myself and Dan "Death" Poore, the corvettes and fighters from Taskforce Abbey had taken out the escorts of a Nephilim carrier group.

2004.036 (February 5, 2004)

A Squadron Of Rapiers For You

Delance recently went searching for Rapier fighters and came up with several interesting shots. I think we've reported previously about one in a different context, but I bet these are new to most people. The first is a French movie promo poster. This design was relatively common outside the US, and it's a lot more exciting than the one we got most often.

2003.036 (February 5, 2003)

Forums Logo Contest Voting Now Open

The entries are in and now it's time for you to choose your favorite! You must be registered on the forums to vote, but you're already registered, right? If not, do it now! You could be our 2,000th member!

Freelancer Lowdown at Game.uk

Privater_Maestro let us know that the store Game.uk.com has compiled a decent preview for Freelancer. At some point we'll have to draw the line because there are sure to be dozens of reviews in the next month or two and we're not a Freelancer site, but we understand a lot of WC fans have a lot of interest in this title.

WCPolaroids: Extras (9/16)

A selected shot from the Confed Fashion Catalogue - 2682 edition.

2002.036 (February 5, 2002)

Being Drakj'khai nar Ghorah Khar

Kalralahr Darkhath has sent us some information on the Kilrathi Empire Online Rollenspiel Deutschland, a German Kilrathi-based RPG. I've included his e-mail below, as it gives a great introduction to their game... (The RPG site, www.kilrathi-rpg.

WCSaga's New Clothes

Anton "Tolwyn" Romanyuk has sent in a status update for the WC Saga mod for Conquest: Frontier Wars. Almost every Confederation ship from Wing Commander 3 and 4 has been finished... and the WCSaga homepage has a nifty new look! Check it out.

2001.036 (February 5, 2001)

End Run Novel Available For Download

Nope, it's no joke, Jetlag has pulled it off. Ever since August 1998, we've been trying to find a way to get this very rare novel to the fans. We still highly recommend you try to hunt down an original copy, but we understand that may not always be possible. You'll need Adobe Acrobat to view the one meg file.

What Has Chris Roberts Been Up To Since Digital Anvil?

Eric Cook noticed that Gamespot *guest writer* Chris Roberts helps to answer this week's Question of the Week. They're asking which games made you upgrade your computer. You can find this feature here. It actually seems as though the Gamespot editors have a very extensive history with Wing Commander and Origin games.

Go And Vote for Wing Commander!

This should be a fun one, and we know Chris Roberts is watching. Secondary to the article above, there is a large poll asking you which games made you upgrade. We all know the answer to this one. Out of more than a dozen famous choices, Wing Commander is currently in third place behind the hugely popular Quake and Unreal.

Trivia 3-15 Released

We've reached another nice round number. Here's the Week 15 Trivia information. It's another relatively easy loadout.Welcome to Game Three, Week Fifteen Trivia.

2000.036 (February 5, 2000)

First Chance to Vote for Privateer Online

Yeah, it's still unannounced and we unsure as to exactly what type of game it'll be, but A Talent For War's latest poll asks "Which upcoming multiplayer-only space-sim are you looking most forward to?" I didn't know there were so many in the works. Privateer Online is among the choices, and even if the final product doesn't exactly fit the question criteria in the end, this will definitely be a fun poll. You can vote here.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Hopefully that's a correct salutation for this holiday.. or at least not an offensive one. This is the first weekend of the lunar new year. It is also the beginning of the Year of the Dragon..

Highly Anticipated Games of the Decade Poll Concludes

While everyone was trying to do their fancy "Games of the Millennium" Polls, A Talent For War conducted a "Games of the Decade" Poll. If you think about it, that's far more appropriate in a way. The results are now in, and Wing Commander took a number of slots, including number one. Wing Commander games got about half of the votes overall.

Video Rental Coming to Denmark Next Month

Alvin Ljoså did a bit of research in Denmark and informed us that local Blockbuster Videos and the Blockbuster monthly magazine both say that the Wing Commander movie on video should appear in stores on March 22. They have yet to confirm if there will be a DVD release in the country.

Wing Commander on HBO Next Friday

AtomM56 kindly let us know that next Friday, February 11, the premium cable television channel HBO should be showing Wing Commander. They have a neato advertisement showing currently to let people know about it. I don't see it on the HBO scheduler, so if anyone else has more info be sure to let us know.

Settling in on the New Machine

We've pumped more than a gig of data through the new server since we began switching over early this week (no small feat considering blacklance.org and wcspacecommand.com carry the bulk of our files:) and things appear to be nice and sharp on the new system. If people notice any oddities that may be related to us being on a new server, now's the time that we can slowly begin picking at smaller problems.

Third Time's A Charm

This isn't priority news of any sort, but Wildfire- noticed that for a third day in a row a routine news update at AVault makes passing references to Wing Commander. What will we find today? You can find their heads-up on Echelon here.

Pack of Black Yaks attack Zak!

Belinda Keel is there to offer comfort. Zak Skintight, lead singer of rock funsters The Buttock Men, was in hospital on Janus IV last night, suffering from blood poisoning. It seems that Zak, giddy on Sunflowers, managed to fall into the pen of the ferocious Hadeian Devil Yak at the Janus IV Zoo. Five metres high at the shoulder, black as midnight and covered in highly poisonous bristles, eight of these fearsome beasts savaged Zak for a good twenty minutes before the star made his escape.

1999.036 (February 5, 1999)

That's Just Classic...

Those nutty Europeans have released a classic version of Wing Commander: Prophecy. The game has been spotted in England, retailing for £14.99.

Instant Hit

Wow, FOX has decided to use the immense popularity of the Wing Commander Movie to advertise that other space movie they're releasing soon. Yep, you guessed it, the second Phantom Menace Trailer will be attached to the Wing Commander Movie on March 12th. I can hear the cash registers now... (As always, Dan's Wing Commander Movie Site reported this).

Movie Site On the Horizon

Dan reports that the official WC Movie Site will be up very, very soon. I think we can all expect to see the trailer any day/hour/minute now...

New Mini-Review: The Wing Commander Confederation Handbook

Well, it's only fair to judge the handbook as what it is - a new continuity, so here's my new review. The Good: It's colorful, it's full of information and it's layed out in a cool manner. This book establishes an incredible new background for the Wing Commander Universe, which is all very well done. The format, various WC-era documents viewed via some sort of web browser, is great.