News Collection: On This Day in WC News

2017.264 (September 21, 2017)

Secrets of the WCU Goes Dutch

It's another new, old discovery! Check out (or should we say Sabre?) the beautiful cover art for this previously unseen Dutch translation of Mark Minasi's Secrets of the Wing Commander Universe. We're trying to archive Wing Commander books from around the world and we need your help tracking them down!

2016.265 (September 21, 2016)

Happy Birthday Wing Commander Academy!

Today marks 20 years since the premiere of the Academy television show on the USA Network! The animated series came at a prime time in Wing Commander history. It arrived just a few months after Wing Commander 4 & the CCG premiered and a couple months ahead of Kilrathi Saga & Privateer 2. Fans were treated to delightfully well researched story arcs as well as the familiar voices of Mark Hamill, Tom Wilson and Malcolm McDowell.

2015.264 (September 21, 2015)

Littlest Nephilim Ship Gets Its Day

The Remora is a serious contender for most insignificant enemy ever faced by Confed pilots. These remote turret craft were the original WC drone ship before drones were cool, but they were just too weak to take as a real threat. The Ray/Remora Node Cluster is a clever idea though. Conceptually the Skate cluster was probably implemented better, but it's nice to see Dark Sentinel adding this underappreciated pip squeak to his growing collection of Nephilim models.

2014.264 (September 21, 2014)

GameStar Wades Into Piranha Controversy

Whistler tipped us off about another new development related to Piranha Games. GameStar.de was able to get a response from EA Germany that disputes PGI's recent claim to have the license to make a Wing Commander game. This is where things still seem a bit murky.

Gorgeous Image Caps Big Week For Space Exploration

In case other headlines got in the way, it's been a fun week for people looking up. To start with, here's a gorgeous shot of the SpaceX Dragon launch this morning. It's the craft's fourth unmanned supply mission to the International Space Station, and it comes on the heels of some exciting milestones for commercial spaceflight. Both SpaceX and Boeing were selected to proceed with development of capsules that will take people into orbit.

2013.264 (September 21, 2013)

Look Inside Some Wing Commander Ships

Tyrranus tipped us off about a couple of neat YouTube animations posted by none other than dczanik. Mr. Czanik made the news last month with his set of very high quality 'reimagined' Wing Commander art. Both clips are interesting because they actually focus more on the interior of the ship.

2012.265 (September 21, 2012)

Move Wing Commander Weaved into Today's RSI Updates

Roberts Space Industries has posted a new commlink article that corresponds with a poll asking what kind of game fans would prefer. While our current poll asks about specific franchises, the new RSI survey is more focused on the different subgenres of space combat sims. Here are the options (and don't forget to go vote!):What setting would you prefer?

2011.264 (September 21, 2011)

Reminder: GOG Webcast Tomorrow

We can expect news from GOG tomorrow afternoon. The CD Projekt Fall 2011 Conference will be streamed at 12:00 EDT and it wlll include updates on GOG's performance and the first hint at their plans for 2011-12. More information is available here. We'll report here if any further information about their EA Classics program is revealed!

Crusader Doesn't Live Here

GOG has posted a nice extra for Crusader fans--a Q&A session with series creator Tony Zurovec. It's a great window into what game development at Origin was like in the mid-1990s... and he does touch on Crusader's (lack of) connection to Wing Commander connection at one point. You can read the complete interview here.

Treasures of the Archangel Quadrant: Maxor

The last 'planet' picture in our series is the port screen for Maxor. Maxor doesn't appear in the promotional literature, but it's clearly a commodity-heavy world. Privateer 3 would have featured over fifty unique ports!

2010.264 (September 21, 2010)

Hostile Frontier's Bigger Birds Get Remapped

Here's a preview of the Wake escort carriers and Exeter destroyers that are set to appear in the Hostile Frontiers mod. The latest texture maps help to give the ships a cool metallic shine. Previous updates show off some of the Ferrets and Rapiers that will be flying off their decks.

2009.264 (September 21, 2009)

Banshee Body Comes Together

The pieces are all falling into place on elend's fantastic Banshee model. The major components have been attached and the ship finally looks whole. He is thinking about adding battle damage. It'd kill me to mark up such a beautiful fighter, but I'm confident the results will be impressive nonetheless.

"Commander's Challenge" Would Make a Great WC Title

Electronic Arts has released their biggest downloadable console game yet. The highly rated Commander's Challenge portion of Red Alert 3 Uprising is now available for XBox Live Arcade and comes to the Playstation Store this Thursday for about $10 US. At 2 gigabytes, the package includes 50 different challenge missions and a healthy dose of live action video. The missions can be played both single player and cooperative with a friend online.

2008.265 (September 21, 2008)

Spore Customizability Spawns Familiar Ships

Eddieb has moved beyond simple Kilrathi in the Spore Creature Creator, and his latest results are some impressive Wing Commander ships. He's built the Tiger's Claw, a Broadsword and a Dragon fighter so far. They look fairly accurate while retaining the unique look and feel of the Spore game.

Star*Soldier Gloss: Page 40

This is the Star*Soldier gloss for the first timeline page: CONCEPT: The timeline is my favorite part of the manual and it is the single thing I am most proud of including and working on. It's an surprising mix of self restraint and over-the-top qualities that it's hard to quantify. I set myself a huge number of ground rules for this section... and found myself begging and pleading with myself for just one more page to add more material.

2007.264 (September 21, 2007)

WC2 SNES Revisited

Remember Wing Commander 2 SNES, the most exciting lost Wing Commander project? Lead Designer Billy Cain (who went on to fill the same role on Wing Commander Prophecy) was kind enough to answer some questions about the game! Check out the interview below -- it really does sound like it was a very unique project rather than a simple port. If you're part of the SNES community then be sure to keep spreading the word - this game exists...

Taste Righteous Fire!

Veteran Origin composer Barry Leitch (RF, WC2 SNES, WC3) was kind enough to send us several MIDI tracks - including the three he wrote for Privateer: Righteous Fire. He composed the music for the introduction and the two tracks which play on the Retro planet, Gaea. The first, Temple, is my favorite - really beautiful work. Check them out!

2006.264 (September 21, 2006)

Kilrathi Prophecy MP3 Up For Grabs

Today we have the Wing Commander Prophecy 'Tome of Sivar' intro encoded as an mp3 by TomGaines. A lot of people ask for these sorts of things, so hopefully the file will be useful to some people. This could be an extra long system startup sound, or maybe it'll just psych you up for some bug-hunting. You can download the 720 kilobyte mp3 here.

EA Games On A Plane

The Sims and a variety of casual games will soon be available in the air thanks to a new deal inked between Electronic Arts and DTI Software. No details have been released about specific airlines and flights that might take advantage of the partnership, but DTI serves dozens of different carriers such as British Airways, American Airlines, Delta, Japan Airlines and more. In-flight entertainment is a fast growing industry that has taken off with the proliferation of personal LCD screens on airplanes. The image to the right shows the first 737 that was delivered with IFE displays in every seat.

2005.264 (September 21, 2005)

DragonCon From The Hotel Room

The CIC Webcam has quickly become a popular tradition during our annual fan gathering at DragonCon. Along with a few submissions from sharp viewers, we've collected a brief look at the convention from the camera's point of view. Just one corner of one of our hotel rooms is visible, but it's kind of neat to see what goes on at just one location during a busy event like this. You can find the Webcam Gallery here.

The Last Crusader (Or: Silencer of the Lambs)

Origin and Wing Commander veteran Mark Vittek (namesake of the TCS Vittek) is selling something on eBay that may be of interest to Wing Commander fans: a 60" standup advertising Crusader: No Remorse. Origin produced a similar standup of Col. Blair to promote Wing Commander IV, which was advertised around the same time. Blair shows up for auction every once in a while...

2004.265 (September 21, 2004)

Ships of the Animated Series: Dorkir

The Kilrathi Dorkir-class Transport makes a brief appearance in Episode 2, "The Last One Left". The Dorkir is defended by three dual-mount laser cannons. According to the original Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide, the name "Dorkir" comes from a shortening of the phrase "Dorky Name Here"! You can more about the Dorkir's history here.

Tonight's TV Pick

Attention Americans: can't afford a $4.99? Just love pan and scan versions of things? Find the word 'balls' offensive?

2003.264 (September 21, 2003)

Wing Commander Surf Theme Washes Ashore

Two years ago we reported on a live recording of the Wing Commander theme. Fat Man and Team Fat's surf version of the original theme song was performed at the CES Show. Over the years the track has become difficult to find, so we've put a copy on our FTP. You can download the 2.

Holding The Line Chapter 166

It has been an unusually busy Sunday for the CIC staff so far today. Fortunately Raptor is never too busy to send us a HTL chapter.Hey all, Raptor here.HTL continues with part one of "Into The Inferno", a series about the finalbattle in Nifelheim written by yours truly.

2001.264 (September 21, 2001)

Fun Props - Part One

I recently bought myself a Combat Suit used in the WC movie. A combat suit is the marine armor seen towards the end of the movie, only without the actual plastic "armor" bits. Put simply, it is a modified set of overalls with vast amounts of rubber attached. There are various clips on the suit where which would hold the plastic in place, but unfortunately I don't have the plastic.

Not a Chance, Pal

TyeDyeBoy reports that Gamespy's I-War 2 review has a nice Privateer mention. Here's the quote :Piracy games have always been a mixed bag. Not since Wing Commander: Privateer have I seen a good space shooter where you played a pirate on fairly open-ended missions, stealing whatever you like and selling it to the highest bidder, or putting it to use.You can read the whole article here.

1999.264 (September 21, 1999)

Wing Commander 3 Script Extracted

Justin Bielawa took the time a little while back to extract the Wing Commander 3 script from the Behind the Screens CD included with various promotional and official products. A lot of people have been asking about it recently, you can download it here. The WC4 script has long been available in the files area here.

Back and Forth on The Netherlands

Marcel Boom reports that the Pathe theatre in Scheveningen, The Netherlands was showing the Wing Commander trailer as of last Saturday, September 18. We'll see what happens.

Venezuelan Movie Review

This time our review comes from Locoman, who saw the Movie in Venezuela.First the story. I didn't play WC1 the first time around (still looking for KS here in Venezuela), so I didn't mind any story contradictions with the game. Basically, as Darcrider said, it's a movie based on the games, not a movie of the games.