News Collection: On This Day in WC News

2018.266 (September 23, 2018)

GOG Briefly Slashes EA Prices

It's been a while since the GOG's last major sale, but they're holding an EA-specific this weekend. Wing Commander once again clocks in at about 70% off, but there are a few Origin games that come in even higher. The Crusader and Ultima games are 80% off, so it's a good time to round out your collection!

2017.266 (September 23, 2017)

Homeworld Mod Unveils Updated Capship Lineup

L.I.F. has been on a capship kick lately, and the results are evident in some of the latest screenshots for the Homeworld Remastered Mod.

2016.267 (September 23, 2016)

Behind The Blue Screens Of The Scimitar Schematic

Joe Garrity has uncovered another gem from his vast archives. This time he's managed to secure a copy of the original Scimitar master of the blueprints included with Wing Commander 1. You can see how each of the little elements is taped in place prior to mass production - that's how layout was done back in the day! It's neat how everything is all there, plus an extra "top view" floating near the logo.

2015.266 (September 23, 2015)

Goodbye, Pete Shelus

There’s a star system named after me in the Wing Commander universe. It’s the result of an overworked designer at Origin needing to fill a giant map with hundreds of names quickly, but it may still be the single thing in my life that I’m most proud of. But where there were hundreds of systems to fill in, there were only a handful of encompassing quadrants. They reserved the names for real legends: there’s a Roberts Quadrant, of course, and then each of the executive producers got one… Mark Day, Rod Nakamoto, David Downing, Adam Foshko.

2014.266 (September 23, 2014)

Fans Continue to Push 3D Printing Envelope

The Arrow kit build we showed off last week isn't the only new 3D printing project in the works. poopnoodle got these miniature Hellcats printed from Sculpteo based on Klavs' designs. Although the color models are really popular, artistic fans get a kick out of the blank canvas versions. Since this technology is still emerging, there's quite a few issues associated with most options - quality, size and price have a ways to go, but they are improving.

2013.266 (September 23, 2013)

Concordia's Ferrets Receive Slick Paint Job

Here's some more gorgeous shots of Howard Day's Concordia hangar. The Ferret got some nice upgrades that include proper landing gear and cockpit equipment. Even the seats look spot on! There's also two very well done paint schemes.

2012.267 (September 23, 2012)

Help Needed to Digitize Film Trailer

Way back in 2004, Matt D managed to win the auction for Origin vet Tony Marone's 35mm WC4 trailer. This clip was shown in theaters prior to the 1996 release of The Price of Freedom. Matt has long searched for some way to permanently preserve the reel, but a satisfactory option has never presented itself. Various WC4 trailers are available to download, but all cap out at quite a low resolution by today's standards.

RSInse And Repeat

The newest Time Capsule reminds us of WC3 briefings! Notice the wireframe Planet with the text boxes is very much like 'Heart of the Tiger.' The text of the fiction itself has Earth establishing a hub-world to help in the colonization of further systems: 2516: A Better Earth.

2011.266 (September 23, 2011)

Future of Wing Commander Conference Reminder

A reminder that tomorrow at 7 pm EST in #wingnut the Wing Commander Combat Information Center is holding the Future of Wing Commander Conference. We'll be talking about the latest news on the Wing Commander front: the GOG releases, WCA and the Movie DVDs, the latest rumors on Chris Roberts' project, the battle plan for reaching WCPedia's 2011-12 content goal, and many other exciting things in Wing Commander's future.If you're a wingnut, you owe it to yourself to be there. We're going to reunite you with your old friend, the thrill of battle.

WC vs History: Either Way They Aren't Surrendering...

As John Paul Jones said, I have not yet begun to dogfight!In the first episode of Wing Commander Academy, "Red and Blue", Maniac misquotes the first hero of the American Navy, but carries on the spirit of John Paul Jones' famous moment.On 23 September 1779, the converted merchant Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, engaged HMS Serapis, commanded by Captain Richard Pearson off Flamborough Head, England. Bonhomme Richard was a 42-gun rebuilt merchant ship.

Treasures of the Archangel Quadrant: Player Ships

Here's a very pretty update: renderings of the game's player ships, Nemesis and Aurora-class, in different colors and with different upgrade options. This would have been a beautiful game...

2010.266 (September 23, 2010)

Ralaxath Destroyer Incorporates Modern Armor

JasonRocZ has returned to the Kilrathi destroyer in Collateral Damage. The Ralaxath has gotten a texture overhaul with much nicer hull plating based on the Kilrathi capship from Arena. Colorful engine exhausted and intakes have also gotten a minor refresh. Now is it ready to fight the Nephilim?

Malcolm McDowell Appearing at ZomBCon

The first ever ZomBCon is being held in Seattle next month, and Malcolm McDowell is a headline guest. His closest connection to the genre seems to be the newer Halloween films. He'll be alongside other celebrities like George Romero and Bruce Campbell. I wonder what the schedule of activities at a Zombie convention looks like.

2009.266 (September 23, 2009)

Source Ships Supply Sexy SixViews

Red Baron took a cue from the updated CIC Ships Database and has started creating some fantastic 3D ship poses. Instead of using the in-game models, he's arranged the high quality Origin source files to create some beautiful shots. He's started with Privateer designs. Below are the Dralthi, Dralthi (with better textures), Gothri, Salthi, Kamekh, Tarsus, Orion, Galaxy and Centurion.

Congratulations FPJ!

Congratulations to Wing Commander film actor Freddie Prinze Jr! He and Sarah Michelle Prinze (recently formerly Gellar) had a baby girl on Saturday, September 19. They named the baby Charlotte Grace.

2008.267 (September 23, 2008)

Community Replay: WC4 Week 2

This is the second week of Crius.net's community replay of Wing Commander 4. Wingnuts who stick with the Lexington get to play just three missions in the Silenos system, while early defectors will also log some flight time in Orestes. Next week the two groups will link up again in Pasqual.

Star*Soldier Gloss: Page 49

This is the Star*Soldier gloss for the tenth timeline page: CONCEPT: See the previous post! "2680 and 2681" - Alternate version additions. These come from Origin's elaborate multi-generation timeline created for Privateer Online (second attempt). 2680 and 2681 were the only two years that overlapped with our pre-Nephilim history, but the rest exist online (and don't necessarily mesh with Arena, mind you).

2007.266 (September 23, 2007)

Get Ready To Stand Off

There's just three more days until the expected release of Standoff Episode 4. In order to get your system set up and some practice time in, there's a few things you can do right now.Install the Secret Ops Starter Pack (112 megs) first. Secret Ops doesn't have to be registered to play Standoff (just installed), but you can generate a reg code here.

Tap Your Brains And Choose

Our long-running Birthday poll has produced some pretty evenly divided results. While there's been a surge in new members this year due to things like EA Replay, WC Arena, Wing One and the GameTap releases, quite a few of our readers have been visiting since the mid '90s. Predictably, growth was the least during the slow periods in 2001, and this shows that most voters actually put some thought into figuring out how long they've been coming. The next poll asks which game you'd like to see released on the GameTap service next.

2006.266 (September 23, 2006)

Classic Articles Reveals 1995's Anticipation

Wedge has provided another set of magazine scans that feature classic previews of Wing Commander titles. The two pages come from 1995 editions of Hyper, Australia's longest running video game mag. Up first is an exciting preview of Wing Commander 4. It's from the "December" issue, but due to typical publication schedule, it was printed before the game's excruciating delay to February was announced.

WC4 Mod Goes On Audio Grabbing Binge

Here's a brief update on the latest work done on WC4 Homeworld 2 mod straight from Aaron Thomas.Playing each mission and ripping the audio is easy, but when you are looking for a specific dialog by a specific ship then it's quite difficult. I've had to practically play all missions 5 or more times to get every piece of audio out of every ship present and under all circumstances.Example: escort BW troop transports to frigates.

2005.266 (September 23, 2005)

Give The 3dfx Test A Shot

Last month we reported about Zeckensack's Glide Wrapper and its ability to allow modern video cards to run Prophecy and Secret Ops in 3dfx mode. At the time some people had difficulty running the 3dfx Test. Theo discovered a tip that has helped some people get the test running. After downloading and installing the wrapper, run its Configurator and try the 3dfx Test.

Don't Forget The Actual Prophecy Demo

Sure, you've played Prophecy... but did you ever play the demo? If not, you're missing out on a special little chunk of the game. Unlike most game previews, the Prophecy demo contains regular plot missions not available in the retail game.

2004.267 (September 23, 2004)

Wing Commander Auction!

Another Wing Commander veteran is auctioning rare collectables! Chris Todd, a programmer on Wing Commander III (the manual credits him with Gameflow System and Gameflow Design and Implementation), is selling a lot of Wing Commander memorabilia. It includes copies of The Kilrathi Saga, Wing Commander IV and Wing Commander Prophecy as well as a number of other exciting items:Making of Wing Commander III VHSWing Commander III Behind the Screens CDWing Commander 3 PosterVHS tape with three hours of raw WC3 footageWC3 Team ShirtWC3 Magazine DemoThe original WC3 release candidate CD-RsSounds pretty darned cool! Everything is being sold together, and you can find the auction here.

Ships of the Animated Series: Bengal

We started looking at Wing Commander Academy ships because I wanted to catalogue all the many turrets which appear on the Tiger's Claw in Wing Commander Academy. Now, at long last, the armament can be revealed -- and it's very heavy! Thirty five dual laser turrets, six triple laser turrets and a single single laser turret. The Bengal-class may be the most well defended ship in Wing Commander history.

Two New Ways To Play Console WC Games

This week both Sony and Nintendo announced new hardware. The Playstation 2 is getting a compact redesign, and the Game Boy line is evolving with the Nintendo DS. In the first few days of November, the model 70000 PS2 (or two) will go on sale for around $150. It reduces the original PS2 size by about 75%.

2003.266 (September 23, 2003)

New Vega Strike Released Today

Vega Strike, the original spaceflight engine project based on Wing Commander, has released its latest update today. Windows, Macintosh and Linux versions are available. I'll let Hellcat take it from here.Both Vega Strike and Vega Trek have released a new release today.

Old Chris Roberts Interview Resurfaced

TC dug up an old interview at Salon.com that talked with Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts at the time of the launch of the Wing Commander movie. I think it's one we originally missed. If not, it's been nearly five years since the article was published so most people should find it an interesting read.

2002.266 (September 23, 2002)

Prophecy GBA Preview Surfaces

InsideGamer.nl has posted their preview of Prophecy GBA. The article talks about the Wing Commander series in general, and some of the specifics of the GBA port. There's nothing in this preview that we haven't seen before, but it's great to see the press take notice.

Holding The Line: Chapter 143

Here is Raptor with the introduction to the latest release:Hey all, Raptor here.Just to prove that a bloody, prolonged and possible futile battle against massively powerful and total ruthless alien invaders doesn't have to be all doom and gloom, we're going to be doing something a little different for the next few weeks. It's now Feb 14th 2681, Valentine's Day. The combat fleets might not have had much time to celebrate romance, but it's a different story away from the frontlines.

2001.266 (September 23, 2001)

TyeDyeBoy.net WCA Mirror Online

It looks like Tye was able to put together some quickie site upgrades that will hopefully allow his weekly WCA mirror to stay up for the time being. GetRight, among others, should work, and now it should force you to use non-segmented downloading. We'll keep you posted on any further information regarding this. Don't forget there is also our Lord Nightwalker mirror here.

TyeDyeBoy.net WCA Mirror Offline

Due to continued segmenting, TyeDyeBoy's WCA mirror will be offline for an indefinite amount of time. He is currently looking into means of preventing it from happening again. This will likely make it impossible for you to download with any download utility such as GetRight, even if you're only using it for its resume feature.

WCA Episode 4

WC Academy Episode 04 - Word of Honor is this week's episode. You can grab the 69MB DivX ;) here, thanks to TyeDyeBoy who should receive all correspondence if it doesn't work.

Trivia Reminder

It's Sunday (in most of the world), and that means you only have until midnight tonight to send your Week 47 trivia answers to Chris. Week 48 starts tomorrow.

What's Your Favorite?

Our new poll for the coming indefinite time period asks "What is your favorite type of missile". The results of our previous poll, and all polls before it can be found here.

1999.266 (September 23, 1999)

Meaningless Poll Seeks Votes

Everybody's favorite Kris reports that 'some guy' has set up a '20th Century's Most Popular PC Game' poll over at FreeVote. Kris added Wing Commander and recommends that we all go vote... here. You may vote up to five times.

WC -- Australian for Movie

Ghostman sends in a new Wing Commander movie review... with an Aussie's take on Hunter's accent. Check it out...Hey Guys.

Wider Australian Release Today

A number of theaters in Australia should premiere Wing Commander today. Last Thursday more populated areas ("Eastern Australia") received the movie early. You can find more information here. Be sure to let us know if anything weird happens with this one.

Nether say Never

The latest on the developing situation in the Netherlands: Michiel reports that the Wing Commander trailer was attached to The Waterboy (starring Adam Sandler in the role that should have made him unemployed) about three months ago -- but that nothing has been heard since.

1998.266 (September 23, 1998)

Get The Disc

Attention UKians... the November issue of PC Zone's cover disk (on sale now!) contains the large Secret Ops episode one download. If you've been wary of downloading the large starter pack, you should grab a copy of PC Zone and start playing now...

The Plot Thickens

I laughed, I cried, I read today's fiction... check out today's cool fiction update at the Secret Ops site.

Where's That Site?

Wondering when the official Wing Commander Movie Site is going to be done? Well, you've got too much time on your hands... but here's what Dan from Dan's Wing Commander Movie Site had to say about it at his chat board the other day...Anyway, I've been working on the official WC page ALOT (when not doing homework), and hopefully you should see *something* up at wcmovie.