News Collection: On This Day in WC News

2025.024 (January 24, 2025)

Reminder: #Wingnut Movie Night Tonight!

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 Star Wars (1977), a movie that needs no introduction. You can find details on that as well as how to watch along with us in the announcement post here.

After Action Report: Midway

Greetings WingNuts, Midway represents another decade forward in our exploration of war movies that influenced Wing Commander and while several of us remembered it fondly from our youths what we found was that it was very, very slow. The first hour plus is a lot of Dambusters-style maneuvering to get us to Midway and it just isn't something you'd see in a movie today. And then the battles themselves are nowhere near as spectacular, a mix of colorized stock footage and not-quite-believable airplane props. We haven't gotten to Tora!

2024.024 (January 24, 2024)

Super Wing Commander Shuttle Observed in Bioforge

Not only does Bioforge reuse the shuttle model from Super Wing Commander but the opening shot of their respective intro cutscenes is very similar! Bioforge's art director, Bruce Lemons, had worked on SWC. BioForge's Mondite dropship (left) vs. Super Wing Commander's shuttle to the Tiger's Claw (right)!

2023.024 (January 24, 2023)

Secret Missions Cheat Filed Under Classified Information

Here's a throwback to a classic issue of Nintendo Power magazine. It comes from Issue 60 in May of 1994. I used to absolutely love the Classified Information section with things like cheat codes and passwords. This one is specifically for The Secret Missions.

2022.024 (January 24, 2022)

The Price of Freedom... Varies

FrankyFiggs14 has posted another classic French mag scan, and this one has an interesting take on Wing Commander 4's tagline phrase. It comes from the December 1995 issue of Joystick. After translation, the big caption reads, "The Price of Freedom is Eternal Combat." As LOAF notes, "Eternal combat sounds a little less prestigious than eternal vigilance!

2021.024 (January 24, 2021)

And the Winner Is...

Last year had plenty of low points, but Wing Commander fans persevered throughout the dark times and still managed to do some amazing things. We were able to pick out ten of them for special recognition, and Wingnuts have spent the last several weeks voting on which should take the top honors. It's always slightly painful to deem one or two the winners, since all of the nominees and more do such great things for the community, but it's usually clear that a few bubble up to the top. This time around, our winner for Fan Project of the Year is AI/Neural Net Enhanced Wing Commander Videos!

2020.024 (January 24, 2020)

GOG Lunar New Year Sale Cuts WC Price 75%

Good Old Games is celebrating the lunar new year with a big sale on the WC series (and 1500 other games). We're happy to see the super low prices, since each discount means more people get a chance to try out Wing Commander. The entire series is just $11.92, or individual game packs are just $1.

2019.024 (January 24, 2019)

New Gemini Sector RPG Begins Preflight Checks

Iceblade is looking at setting up a new dynamic WC RPG and is now polling for interest. He's got extensive experience in past role playing games including both MUSH and Forums based adventures. This time, he's looking at using Discord, which has surged in popularity these past few years (the CIC's #Wingnut chat room is also on Discord!), so he's keeping up with the times.

2018.024 (January 24, 2018)

Homeworld Mod Gets Even Smarter

L.I.F. has been making great progress with AI recently, and this helps put the next release of the Homeworld Remastered Mod on track.

2017.024 (January 24, 2017)

Hip '90s WC3 Ad Entices Playstation Fans

This past weekend we posted a nifty German edition of WC4 that was new to us, and now there's a cool ad for WC3 Playstation that we hadn't seen before either. FMVStory found this play on "softwear" that features a funky outfit and a Dralthi IV. It compares this "breathtaking galactic ensemble" to the equally amazing new game from Origin. I have to say I'm partial to the second page of the ad!

2016.024 (January 24, 2016)

Classic Opponents Engage In Aerial Dogfight

NinjaLA has combined two of the most iconic Wing Commander ships into one pretty nifty sketch. He's gotten some practice making both Dralthi and Hornets look really good lately, so it's no surprise that they're finally pictured together here. The Confed fighter needs to lean even heavier on its afterburner if it's going to avoid a pancake/wing collision though! An artist friend of mine made a half-tone brush that also does duo-tone coloring for use in manga studio.

2015.024 (January 24, 2015)

Annual Contest Voting In Full Swing

This is a reminder that the polls are still open for the CIC's Website & Fan Project of the Year awards. For a full rundown of the nominees and what made them stand out in 2014, check the original post here. If you found you way to this update on a mobile device and aren't seeing the poll option, open www.wcnews.

2014.024 (January 24, 2014)

RPS Reviews WC2

James Reeve tipped us off about a new review of Wing Commander 2 by gaming site Rock, Paper, Shotgun. We've seen a few of these retro reviews pop up in the news over the last few months, but this one is fun because it's part of a series on finding old games in second hand stores. It also chronicles the experiences of an author who's playing classic games for the first time rather than going just for nostalgia. It's nice to read these types of reviews when the writer has an open mind, and it sounds like he had a blast!

2013.024 (January 24, 2013)

Excalibur Fix Gets Pilots Flying Again

Clever Wingnut Luke has fixed a tricky WC Saga bug that's previously been described as "almost impossible to reproduce and fix." The issue involved corruption of the player's profile that stripped the Excalibur of her guns at a certain point in the game, which made completing the campaign impossible. The "EPW Bug" can now be resolved by running Luke's new tool on damaged profiles. If this has slowed you down, grab the patch here (300 k zip) and read instructions on how to use it here.

2012.024 (January 24, 2012)

Contrasting Designs Added to Growing Fleet

CMDBob has completed two new ships: the Dorkir transport and Arrow light fighter. Bob is using some new rendering techniques here, and the result delivers a great cross between animated and metallic texturing. You can check out more angles of these ships at the CIC Forums here. Up next is the Tiger's Claw!

2011.024 (January 24, 2011)

WCTOO Wants You Too

There's a new test game of Wing Commander TacOps in the works, so now's your chance to get in on a preview of the action. The game will begin as soon as the new tailing feature is added, which could be just a few days away. Curious players can sign up at Crius.net and choose their fighters now (no capships in this battle!

Curious About Curiosity?

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has set up an awesome webcam to view the construction of their next Mars rover in real time. Check out the UStream feed to see work as it progresses. The Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, is scheduled to launch towards the end of this year. Talented Wingnut eddieb is involved with the robot's software development.

2010.024 (January 24, 2010)

Adventurous Wing Commander Review

Adventure4Life has a Youtube channel where he posts video game reviews, focusing mostly on classic titles from the adventuring genre. For his latest creation, he instead examines the original Wing Commander and also touches on Wing 2, 3 and 4. You can watch it online here. Downloadable versions are also available in standard and HD quality.

2009.024 (January 24, 2009)

WCPedia IRC Conference Reminder

Here's a reminder about the IRC conference this weekend concerning the encyclopedia project. The event begins online in #Wingnut at 2 pm Eastern US time on Sunday, January 25, 2009. Hopefully the earlier scheduling will allow some European fans to attend. After action reports of the first two conferences can be found here and here.

Prophecy Upgrade Packs A Punch

The CIC has too much bandwidth left over for January '09, and one of the best ways to help us get rid of it is to download the Prophecy DVD upgrade. With a few large files and some easy instructions, it's possible to upgrade your CD version of Prophecy to play high quality movies. The three packs linked below provide all the videos, and HCl's enhancement pack makes them work with the game. Specific instructions are available here.

2008.024 (January 24, 2008)

WC: Collateral Damage Enters The Arena

JasonRocz is working on a new fan project that aims to bridge the gap between Secret Ops and Arena. Wing Commander: Collateral Damage will feature a number of designs from the recent Xbox Live Arcade release as well as ships from the classic titles. The project is still in its early days, but Wingnuts should recognize the Rapier Vanguard fighter. The first couple of screenshots show the new Rapier design in the Vision engine.

The Art of Wing Commander Arena - Part Fifty-Nine

One of the most unfortunate 'time and budget' cuts from Arena was the game's avatar system. It would originally have had a character generator which made 3D avatars for individual players... which would then appear on comm screens, Wanted posters and in other places. A lot of concept art was done to create Terran, Kilrathi and even Firekkan characters!

2007.024 (January 24, 2007)

Eloquent Pilots Wanted

Big established projects aren't the only ones that could use Wingnut voice actors. If you've got a microphone handy from Saga or Standoff's recent rounds of audio sampling, WingFan could use your help. He's looking for someone with a Wing Commander-sounding voice to narrate the intro of his upcoming fan fiction project. The person who turns in the winning submission will have the opportunity to choose the main character's name and gender.

Ultima Online Town Halls Starting Up Again

Electronic Arts and EA Mythic are rededicating themselves to Origin's Ultima Online through a new series of Town Halls. Nine events have been announced so far for 2007, beginning with one in Atlanta this weekend. Check out the schedule for additional dates and times. These free conventions allow players to meet each other, interact with developers and get a look at what's coming in the future.

2006.024 (January 24, 2006)

Lego Fighters Raid The News

The Lego Dragon from last week has spawned two siblings. Staruss pointed out his second creation, a Razor Light Fighter. Pictures of it are a bit blurry, but you can find more here. He must have a lot of black and red parts.

Half Page Thrakhaths Ruled The Day

Cyberion found a neat old review of Wing Commander 2 in German scanned by Retropoly.de. It was written by PC Joker in the summer of 1991. WC2 received an 86% score and a great looking double page spread.

2005.024 (January 24, 2005)

Put Banshees On Your Background

Once again Cyberion has been busy in his workshop, and has produced this wallpaper depicting a wing of Banshees heading away from a planet. I assume there's a station or a carrier in the area since Banshees can't handle atmospheric flight.

WCU Project Gives Screenshot Overdose

Over on the forums in this thread, the WC Universe project team have been wearing out their screenshot keys with a huge amount of publicity screenshots. Taken at 1600x1200 resolution with pretty much all details on maximum, they are perhaps the best quality screenshots we've seen yet from the project. Here's a sample of the first four, but for over a dozen more visit the screenshot thread.

2004.024 (January 24, 2004)

Hey, It's A New Space Sim

It looks like there's another Privateer themed space sim on the horizon. Perhaps this is a sign that this particular subgenre is doing a little bit better since Freelancer. This one's called Project Freedom, and as you'd expect of a space sim in 2004, the graphics look rather impressive. The premise doesn't differ all that much from Freelancer or the recent X2 game from what I can see, and if you like those, this appears to be your game.

Dragon*Con Prices Jump Soon

Dragon*Con 2004 ticket prices are set to rise to $60 in about two weeks. Until February 13 you have the option to get a four-day pass for $50. If you're debating whether or not to attend, now's the time to start to make up your mind and try to save a little money. Each year our Wing Commander Fan Gathering gets bigger and even more fun.

2003.024 (January 24, 2003)

Wing Commander DVD on Sale at Fred Meyer

Did you know WingCommanderDVD.com was a valid domain? It redirects to the Fox Home Entertainment website. JustinS reports that the Fred Meyer/Kroger chain of department stores have recently gotten a stock of Wing Commander movie DVDs and is clearing them out for as low as $7.

Old Gaming-Age Reviews Back Online

One of my favorite general gaming websites, Gaming Age, has recently uncovered its old review archive and put a number of classic reviews back online. You can find Wing Commander 4, Prophecy, Prophecy Gold, and each one of the Secret Ops episodes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7. With scores ranging all the way up to 98%, they definitely give WC its fair shake. As you can probably tell, I can't heap enough praise on this game.

WCPolaroids: Extras (4/16)

From left to right: Confed Pilot #1, "Lisa", Confed Pilot #2 and the dispassionate guy from yesterday.

2002.024 (January 24, 2002)

Almost There!

Thursday got you down? Well, here's one worry of your mind: The Fatman's Wing Commander sountrack CD is still on its way! We were all a little worried when nothing was heard about it for a while... but our fears were unnecessary: Fatman reports that he's finished mastering the album and that it's "well...

Newsflash: No Flash

Here's one no one would have expected -- Origin has finally replaced their web site. What's good? No more Flash! What's not so good?

2001.024 (January 24, 2001)

Wing Commander Movie Tracks Could Be Rereleased

LeHah read in a recent BBC interview that David Arnold will be releasing a "Best of David Arnold" CD. Arnold was the main man behind the incredible Movie soundtrack theme. It's possible some of the hot movie tracks could make it onto this disc. There'll be more to come on this topic.

Starlancer Keyboard Cover in the Works

A quick look over at the Control Zone Interactive website shows that they'll be releasing a keyboard cover for Starlancer soon. They're those plastic sheets you put over a regular keyboard to label each key and add some cockpit element to the experience. I wonder how well those sell. The company is also selling covers for Freespace 2 and Wing Commander Prophecy, among others.

Happy Birthday - Part Three

One more time. Today Matthew Lillard, who played Maniac in the WC Movie turns thirty-one years old. This year he'll be starring as the one and only Shaggy in the upcoming live action Scooby Doo movie by the way.. And according to IMDB, Freddie Prinze Jr, Blair from the movie, is gonna be Fred.

2000.024 (January 24, 2000)

Alternate Versions Page Now Available

Shawn Furniss noticed that the IMDB entry for Wing Commander now has a link to an "Alternate Versions" page. There's no new info from our point of view, but the page does do a nice job of outlining some of the cut scenes from the movie. You can find the Wing Commander IMDB profile here and the new Alternate Versions page here.

Wing Commander to be Released in Switzerland Soon

I'm not exactly clear on whether this is video or theater, but it looks like theater to me. Cédric Wasser let us know about kino.ch. They report a February 25 release date for Wing Commander.

Gamasutra on Massively Multiplayer Games

There's an article at Gamasutra on the future of gaming. It primarily focuses on predicting where massively multiplayer games will go. You can find the article here. It goes on for quite a bit, but hits a few familiar points that include Ultima Online and a type of "Elite Online" kind of game.

Yummiechow Announces Third Quarter Losses

Industry analyst Derwin Bedloe reports. Food manufacturers Yummichow Inc. yesterday revealed record losses for the third fiscal quarter. Chairman Alson Olver blamed the shortfall on the failure of the company's much-vaunted Munchums in the marketplace, as well as the disasterous Janus Incident, in which a convoy of three of the company's Monoloth transporters was hijacked by pirates, resulting in large quantities of Yummichow products being sold cheaply on the black market.

1999.024 (January 24, 1999)

Double Digits

Another milestone for Trivia Game Two.. our tenth week. It's never too late to start in. You can find Week Ten Questions here.