News Collection: On This Day in WC News

2017.321 (November 17, 2017)

I Like This A Hole Lot

LOAF was poking around in Wing Commander 2's background files and discovered a hilarious easter egg that would ordinarily never be seen by the player. The game frequently uses a red and green communications interface for dialogue sequences between a fighter and larger carrier or base. A small rectangle on the right features a graph intended to depict signal strength or something like that. However in the base art file, the talking head is blank and the graph spot has a button labeled "DONUT TOUCH.

2016.322 (November 17, 2016)

Prototype Pieces Preview Prophecy Production

Adm_maverick has started work on a new project to record the video and gameplay of Wing Commander Prophecy, but unlike Beckmen's fan movie, the goal isn't purely to pull together one or two feature length segments with existing material. He's envisioning 10-20 minute segments of a mission or two with embellishments that add visual flair and stylistic edits. For example, he's created a mockup that shows new HUD elements popping up during the Nephilim's first appearance. There's also potential for strategically inserting some of the comm chatter.

2015.321 (November 17, 2015)

RPG & CCG Development Steadily Forges Ahead

capi has continued to make great dual path progress on both his Wing Commander RPG and the digital WC CCG. He's expanded the Elegy of Sivar campaign and is now more than half way done translating Kilrathi phrases to help with immersion. Additional WC Aces designs have also been incorporated as capi works to add lots of fan background material to further boost the project's atmosphere. There's also a "plot points" concept that he's playing around with that will allow players to have a greater influence over the story as their play.

2014.321 (November 17, 2014)

GOG Sale Cuts Wing Commander Prices In Half (80% Off Tuesday!)

Good Old Games has a sale for every season these days, and that's a good thing for Wing Commander fans! Our favorite franchise has gone 50% off, which means each package is marked down to $3. All of the DOS and Windows WC games and expansions are included across eight different packages, so the series is available for $24. If you're reading this, there's a good chance you already own these games digitally by now, but you can still gift the set to a friend.

2013.321 (November 17, 2013)

Call The Time Police

HCl is up to his usual tricks again. This time he's managed to extract ship models from Wing Commander Prophecy and convert them to Wing Commander 2/Academy format! See what the Prophecy Dralthi and the Nephilim Manta both look like in the Academy game engine in the exciting screenshots below. You can also test fly a Hellcat V in WCA with a small patch here.

2012.322 (November 17, 2012)

RSI Campaign Down to Last Two Days

Money continues to pour into Chris Roberts' crowdfunding campaign as it enters its final 48 hour run. More than $250,000 has been raised in just the last 18 hours, which has pushed the project into unprecedented territory. The Star Citizen Kickstarter will reach $1.5 million shortly, and the combined total at Roberts Space Industries will soon pass $4.

2011.321 (November 17, 2011)

Wing Commander Movie Rereleased on DVD

Fox's rerelease of the Wing Commander movie is here! Unfortunately, the disc is virtually identical to the original release with the same cut of the film and included features present. It has a very slick new box cover though, and the retail price in the US is just $5.99 (about $11.

2010.321 (November 17, 2010)

Gratha Geometry Goes Gray

Michelle D has started a new iteration of the fearsome Gratha. It's more like the classic WC1 Gratha as opposed to the recently completed Super Famicon version. The aft fuselage has been redesigned and there are some engine differences this time around. If past designs are any indication, it'll look pretty slick with some textures added.

Wing Commander IV Storyboards - Scene 120

Scene 120 is the end of Captain Paulson! I wonder if there was a separate storyboard to show the 'disabled' version of the initial CGI or of that was something clever that was developed at Origin.These storyboard images were recovered from a backup CD containing materials belonging to Origin's web development team. They were dated November 17, 1995 and were likely planned for a never-completed web feature.

2009.321 (November 17, 2009)

Standoff Mod Brings in the Big Guns

-danr- has released a cool tweak to Wing Commander Standoff. He's modified the guns on the Hornet and Raptor to fire more centrally clustered rounds. The base configuration in Standoff positions the gun blasts far apart due to the physically wide space between gun mounts on these craft. dan's patch adjusts physics a little bit, but makes the weapons perform a little more similarly to how they did in Wing Commander 1.

Spector Explains Recent Development History

Develop has posted another interview with Warren Spector. The primary topic is his involvement with Disney's Epic, but there's also some back story on how he got into computer gaming at Origin and how he eventually sold Junction Point to work with Mickey Mouse. Check out the full article here.You’ve mentioned to us previously that you quite wanted to be an Imagineer [the division of Disney that designs rides for its theme parks].

2008.322 (November 17, 2008)

Blaster Hones His Script Skills

It's really great to see all the hard work being done by fans to make 3D models and and other kinds of Wing Commander inspired projects. But it's an even greater treat when a fan puts their talents to work creating something physical beyond the confines of their PC! Crius.net user Blaster did just that with his latest creations.

Making the Games: Hercules LC Artwork

Check out one early version of the Hercules LC -- with treads, like a tank! Actually, it makes a lot of sense... but it still looks like a dustbuster.Thanks to Captain Johnny for both archiving and providing this material!

2007.321 (November 17, 2007)

Do Some Academic Research

The CIC is getting another big boost of bandwidth, so now's a great time to download big files that you've been putting off. One of the larger items we host is the complete Wing Commander Academy television series. All thirteen episodes come in at just under three gigabytes. No matter how often we mention it, there's always tons of fans who are just learning about it for the first time.

The Art of Wing Commander Arena - Part Twenty-Six

This is our last Wing Commander Arena art update... that shows off ships! There's plenty more to come, including characters and locations. We're ending this first part of the series with a bank: these are four new ship designs created for the initial top-down concept.

2006.321 (November 17, 2006)

Just Like Old Detroit

Marc is back with another impressive work of Wing Commander art. He began building New Detroit over a year ago and went through several iterations after receiving feedback from fans. The first revision looks more like a planet that's simply made out of metal. Marc has improved on this in his new images by creating a a more organic world that appears to have been consumed by industry.

Command & Conquer 3 Announced For XBox 360

Electronic Arts announced yesterday that an XBox 360 version of Command & Conquer 3 is in the works. This should help to significantly broaden the audience for the game and give more people a chance to see EA's latest attempt at FMV with live sets. The company will be reconfiguring C&C's controls to work better with a console controller, similar to what they did for the well-received Lord of the Rings RTS released earlier this year. Electronic Arts also continues to have great success with XBox Live Marketplace, and numerous additions to the game will be available to download.

2005.321 (November 17, 2005)

Tour The Waterloo With Marc

Last month we reported on seperate efforts from Marc and Bob McDob to model the Waterloo class cruiser inside and out. Marc has released an animated 360 degree view of the outer hangar and elevator area. Don't stare at it for too long or you'll need a Spacesick Sack.The first two renders give you an idea of where you are on the ship, the third thumbnail links to the 750 kB animation.

Madden Curse Strikes Again

There's been a buzz for the last few years as people have noticed the cover athletes featured on the annual Madden NFL releases have suffered unusual bad luck. Electronic Arts' cover announcement is highly anticipated each year, and the selected athlete typically considers it quite an honor. Donovan McNabb, pictured on the front of Madden 2006, is the latest to suffer from the supposed curse. On Monday night McNabb sustained a serious "groin injury" that will likely need surgery before long.

2004.322 (November 17, 2004)

WC Saga Compares Their Transports

Following on from their demonstration of how their Tallahassee model has changed and how it compares with the originals, here is the next in WC Saga's series of comparison pictures. This time it's the Kilrathi Transport as originally seen in WC3, and WC Saga's two versions.

Lost Files Brought Back

When Jetlag's site died a little while ago, a few files which were linked from there were suddenly lost from the internet. Fortunately LOAF keeps all kind of stuff on his hard drive, and has uploaded the missing files to the CIC's own server.Transcript of 1990/1991 chat session With Origin staffEnd Run novelEnd Run cover graphic minus logoEnd Run cover paintingWCIV ShipStats.

2003.321 (November 17, 2003)

Staring So Long At These Pictures of Frosty

I'm back from visiting ace and company in Boston! And here's the photographic proof...Frosty meets his match... which is, unsurprisingly, a 2D plastic picture of an eel.

Last Chance to See

Nominate, people! Nominate! Nominate like your lives depended on it! Contact vote@wcnews.

2001.321 (November 17, 2001)

Holding The Line Chapter 109

You know the drill. Here's Raptor:Hey all, Raptor here. HTL continues with Part Three of the "Toeing The Line" series, which follows on from "The Road to Hell", and runs parallel to "Scraps of Honour". This chapter looks at the Confed reserve pilots who will be fighting alongside the Scrappers, both on duty as they prepare for the coming battles, and off duty as they try to unwind and forget about what's headed towards them.

Miscellaneous Links

First a correction: the site with the WC Zone poll is sfss.org, not what was previously posted. Sorry about that.Let us take you back to a greater time!

2000.322 (November 17, 2000)

Fan Projects Archived

Our ever-usefull Fan Project Directory has been updated with two new entries, and with more information and screenshots added to most of the others... thumbing through it, our future certainly looks bright. Got a fan project to report or any changes you'd like to see made? Contact us!

Second Look

The Wing Commander: Attack Fleet page has been updated with a new screenshot. RTS-tastic...

Space: Out

Some sad news to relay today -- HLSpace, a space-sim mod for Half-Life that would have included the ability to fly Wing Commander IV's Lance class heavy fighter, has been cancelled. The other Wing Commander Half-Life mod, WCMC, is still going strong.

Trophy Case

Markee Dragon's Ultima Online Worlds Faire Pictures Database has been updated with pictures from a trip to Origin. Check out this page and this page for some cool pictures of some of the various awards Wing Commander games have won!

Desperately Seeking...

The Wing Commander Development Center is looking to add more news reporters to their staff -- if you're up for a glamorous lifestyle, you should definitely go for it. Interested parties should contact WildCat.

A Third Faire Picture

Here's a third picture I took at the faire -- Origin Director of Communications David Swofford. You all may remember him as the guy who has answered most of our important questions over the last few years.

1999.321 (November 17, 1999)

Shoulda Been A Contender

Intelligamer (home of the much-loved ATFW) is running an article on the 5 Games I Wish They'd Make. Wing Commander Armada II makes the list! Looks like Armada wasn't completely misunderstood...Wing Commander Armada was the first space combat game that allowed players to fight one another, rather than just the computer AI.

Another Drink, Shotglass

For no apparent reason, here's LOAF's List of Wing Commander Drinks. Be sure to add anything else you know of!

Correction

TAFKAW reports that the correct URL for the WCMC site is http://members.xoom.com/PaulKNed/wcmc/home.htm, not what was listed in a previous update.

Tiberian Sun is no Wing Commander

Dundradal sent in below paragraph from CGW's Tiberian Sun review. The article can be found on page 120 of the December issue.The in-game movies, as in the previous games, combine high-class computer graphics with video schlock. TIBERIAN SUN may not represent the low point of Michael Biehn's 15-year post-Terminator career slump, but his jaw-flexing performance as the Commander McNeil isn't going to move him to Hollywood's A-list anytime soon.

Wing Commander Movie Poll

Danny Rough reports that Blank Gaming is holding a WC Movie poll on their frontpage. A little late perhaps, but everyone should go vote nonetheless.

I'm Just Going to Implant my Brain!

A savage indictment by Sarah Blurp. CIS officials on Karatikus were distraught last night as they prepared for the beginning of the annual VidVert conference, an event which attracts thousands of Vid-stars, AdvertXecs and other scum to the unfortunate host planet. Chief among the worries is the huge increase in the Brain Implant trade that notoriously accompanies the event. Extra patrols are being posted all around the planet's atmosphere, in an attempt to restrict the huge influx of smugglers that will undoubtedly be arriving.

1998.321 (November 17, 1998)

Bootprint?

Following up on a News Update we posted several weeks ago, Rod Nakamoto's new company is moving forward with some new announcements. The group of sixteen expects to double their numbers within the next few months. They are currently focusing on two upcoming projects. Other companies started by former Wing Commander producers include Digital Anvil founded by Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts (WC1-WC4) and Daylight Productions founded by Mark Day (WC3-WCP).