Annual Call For Award Nominations

It is somehow December already, so it'll be the end of the year in no time fast. This means it's time for our call for nominees for our annual contest to recognize top fan projects of the year. Now's your chance to suggest which community undertakings were your favorite. Everyone is welcome to email news@wcnews.com with your potential suggested nominees. Also check out some of our illustrious past winners below!

Happy New Year's Eve! (A Look Back at 2021)

Here we are again - another year down. It was yet another very rough year in many ways, but today we won't focus on that. Month after month, Wingnuts made the best of difficult circumstances to build another solid year in Wing Commander.

It wasn't a round number itself, but 2021 marked the 30th anniversary of Wing Commander 2 and the 25th birthday for quite a few 1996 releases: Wing Commander 4, the Customizable Card Game, Academy television show and Privateer 2, to name a few. To recognize the P2 milestone, Jayden Morris remade the Anhur landing scene, which was totally unexpected. There was also this intro audio remaster - P2 got a lot of love this year!

Annual Call For Award Nominations

If you can believe it, we have less than weeks to go until 2022! While it might seem like 2021 has lasted several years, December is a quick month and we'll be on to bigger and better things before you know it. That also means our annual contest tradition is nearly upon us. We're now taking nominations for the 'Fan Project of the Year'. Now's your chance to suggest which community undertakings were your favorite. Email news@wcnews.com with your nominees! Here's a quick recap of our wonderful previous winners:

Dork Here on the Table

The Empire of Kilrah, your one stop shop for those really aggressive looking transports. William Tell and associated Gilgameshians are ready to go. Working on the Ralatha.

First Capital Ship Tested in Tabletop WC Game

Here's a quick update to the TTS version of TACOPS. There is a version on Steam for playtesting though it is currently locked down for my Steam friends only. But I'm pretty close to being ready to release the starter pack to the public. Maybe next week or two. I need to finish a few additional figures for it. I added the Clydesdale and spent most of my time this week revising the rules (which will also be available in the game). I left the content largely unchanged from the original, and instead focused on organization of the material, fixing typos, and adding missing rules (like mine fields, pilot ejections, critical hits, etc.). Feel free to look them over and let me know what you think.

Enjoy fellow wingnuts!

Light Fighters Added to Tabletop WC Game

Today we have another look at DefianceIndustries' gorgeous digital interpretation of the tabletop fan game TacOps. It's got a more purpose-built table now, and a variety of amenities are being implemented to make the game function and flow better. There's also two exciting additions: the Sartha and Ferret. The picture of them below looks almost real. With more quality of life improvements in place, Defiance is planning to start some playtesting soon. Sounds like fun!

To quote Gold Leader: "Almost there...." I revamped the game using the Chimera table which made more ergonomic sense. Currently it's set up for 2 players (with an option for 4, though the table seats 6 so you could go nuts)

I added a bowl of pegs so you can track the status on the ship cards easier, added a copy of the rules for each side, as well as all the missile tiles (DF, HS, IMREC, FoF, Torp). It's about 90% there for some playtesting. I need to do some nifty graphics for a mod page header and a few other things but I'll post it up on Steam and let folks. During playtesting I'll limit it to my steam friends so if we're not, (and you're interested) hit me up.

Each seat at the table that is active also has bags in each of the containers with additional figurines, ship cards (for both confed and Kat) as well as bags with all the universal counters & missiles.

Tabletop Fan Projects on the Horizon, Part 1

There's been a lot of discussion on the various Wing Commander forums and Discord chat rooms about tabletop games recently, so today we'd like to share the first glimpse at some of the exciting progress that's been made in this area over the last month. DefianceIndustries is working on a digital recreation of the popular Tactical Operations fan game. It was a big hit about ten years ago, so a new iteration would be very welcome. The early work on this looks like a ton of fun, and we're eager to see how things come together! Check out some gorgeous sample shots below:

I figured I'd catch folks up on all the WC stuff I've been doing. Aside from working on the WC4 remake which is still plugging along, I recently started doing a version of the fan hex-game Wing Commander TacOps using table top simulator.

I'm making custom figurines and tiles, as well as fighter punch cards to help keep your stats organized. Phase 1 is a basic dogfight scenario, 2 Rapier II's vs. 3 Drakhri. That's for play testing purposes. I will then expand it to include figurines and cards for all the ships in the basic set of TacOps for your hex-based amusement. If I get time, I may well back port in the WC1 assets as well so you can get your Vega on should you so desire. I plan on refreshing the PDF rules as well as time permits. I'll update everyone when its up on the Steam workshop, but until then, here's a few screen shots to keep you tided over.

Annual Call For Award Nominations

Woah, it's December, and that means 2020 is quickly coming to an end. And while this year has been objectively dreadful is so many ways, dedicated Wingnuts have continued to create great things. It's a positive creative outlet for them, but it also helps spread Wing Commander cheer across the community. Each year we do a poll to help recognize a small handful of the fan projects that had some of the biggest impact. If you have some thoughts on which endeavors those might be, send them in to news@wcnews.com and let us know! And check out the list below for some of the fantastic projects that took top honors in years past.

Annual Call For Award Nominations

Annual Call For Award Nominations

Annual Call For Award Nominations

Another busy year is flying by, and before we know it, 2017 will be coming to a close. To start to get things in order, we're now thinking about nominees for our traditional Web Site & Fan Project of the Year Awards. There are so many fans doing great things out there, so this is our chance to acknowledge some of their fantastic efforts. Send your nominations in to news@wcnews.com, and while you mull your options over, here's a peek at some of the great winners from past years!

Annual Community Vote Begins!

Another year has quickly come to an end, but before 2016 slips away for good, we've got one more thing to do! As we all get bogged down in the day to day grind, it's sometimes hard to visualize all the tremendous things that Wing Commander fans do all year round. This is our chance to recap some of the projects that had the biggest impact over the past twelve months and help confer some much deserved recognition on the fans that work hard to keep the community engaged. It's not a complete list of everything that you all do, but based on your nominations and a couple of our own, here are the nominees for Fan Project of the Year for 2016!

• 
  Defiance's Eye Candy - Compared to some of the projects on this list, DefianceIndustries is a relative newcomer, but his models are absolutely superb. He's incorporating them into his own WC mod, but the ships also make their way into gorgeous wallpapers and other Wingnut's projects as well.
• Enhanced Soundtracks (WC2 / Privateer) - Jason Walton's remakes of the classic era's music really struck a chord with fans this year. They're a great blend of embellished notes that sound fantastic without straying too far from what made the originals great. His WC2 effort was just in time for its 25th anniversary and helped everyone ride quite a nostalgia wave for the game.
• Flat Universe - This top down fan game continued to impress players with new visuals, modes and more unveiled throughout the year. Multiple playable iterations have been available for some time, but Wingnuts eagerly await further upgrades in the future.
• Homeworld Remastered Mod - Flag Commander, the Homeworld mod, saw numerous substantial coding improvements over the past year. The project has significantly bounced back from structural changes to the core game and is taking advantage of engine enhancements to make the experience even better.
• Klavs' Fleet of Ships - The trove of models that Klavs released nearly two years ago continues to see wide usage across multiple fan projects. When time allows, Klavs himself still makes time to build a new ship or even create a fabulous wallpaper now and then!
• Ninja's Sketches - Ninja's epic drawings of Wing Commander scenes continue to be a fan favorite. He's known for cultivating a certain style in both his ships and Kilrathi warriors alike but still manages to find new ideas to inspire even more sketches.
• Prophecy Unlimited - gr1mre4per's exploits are a huge gift to fellow modders. If there's a limitation in the original Vision Engine, he's up to pushing it beyond what anyone at Origin even thought possible. The foundational research he does helps makes multiple other projects on this list possible!
• 
  Secret Ops Model Upgrade Pack - Most of the visual assets fell into place in 2016, so we have a pretty good idea of how awesome the upgrade will look. Now we're ready to play the game in all its graphical glory!
• Sins of a Solar Empire: Alliance - The Solar Empire mod is another project that's been in work for some time, but Nomada_Firefox chose 2016 to reveal it to the community. He's assembled quite a few different elements from the Confed, Kilrathi and Nephilim fleets that come together in an impressive fleet warfare package.
• WC Saga Deutsch Mod / Saga Plus Pack - The German version of WC Saga has continued to see a steady flow of updates to improve and enhance the core game. It was also recently revealed that English speakers will get to enjoy the same treatment when these enhancements are packaged up for the original release.
• WC Toolbox - We're still waiting for the next great WC1 mod to be made, and when it is, it'll probably have UnnamedCharacter's suite of tools to thank. He further improved fans' ability to manipulate data in the first WC game as well as improved potential modders' ability to visualize how the engine is handling everything in flight.
• WCDX for Kilrathi Saga - Most people play the original WC games via DOSBox or GOG these days, but there was a time when Kilrathi Saga was the much sought after option. It wasn't a perfect solution though, but Stinger has helped make it nearly so by fixing a number of bugs and hiccups that the conversion to Windows introduced. WC2 is a much tougher animal to tackle, but he started investigating how to go about fixing elements of the second WC game in 2016.
• Wing Blender - This is another program that's helping modders be more productive out there. It reached full version 2.0 release and helps fellow fans import and export Vision Engine files so that they can be more easily manipulated. In addition to helping with mod creation, it's also helped extract some neat things from the art assets included with Prophecy.

• 
  Daedalus Station - This is the flashy home of the Flat Universe mod. In addition to hosting downloads and media related to the game, it's the place to get the in-universe magazine Destiny's Way, which is a pretty darn cool project in its own right.
• Pix's Origin Adventures - Pix is dedicated to all things Origin, and that includes making time to explore the Wing Commander series in unique and exotic ways. One of his specialties is recreating authentic Wing Commander experiences on less popular platforms to appreciate the differences that these bring.
• Spaceships Universe - This is the home of Arraen's WC strategy game. It provides easy, concise and accessible information for what his fan game is about, and then leads the viewer to some really nice screenshots and videos. There are even three language options!
• WCSaga.org - In addition to being the home of WC Saga/Deutsch/Plus, this site brings two major things to the table. It serves as a vibrant German language hub to provide a place for a large population of European WC fans to congregate. There are also a set of message board forums maintained, which is no small feat in 2016. Between managing different personalities and keeping up with security threats, most people leave this level of interaction to social media these days, but not WCSaga.org!
• Wing Commander RPG Wiki - The home of capi's various role playing games gets a steady stream of updates - especially compared to the CIC's own Wiki! In addition to downloads of the existing modules, there are a couple hundred growing ever-pages of detailed material that's being developed for the Kilrathi Elegy of Sivar expansion.

WC RPG Expands Kilrathi Chapter & Looking At Board Game Too

My focus was still largely on completing the dialogue of the four scenes in the prologue of Chapter 2.3. I anticipate having some fun with Bloodeye's inner monologue when it comes time to work on the narrative of that scene, given that I wrote the Terran pirate with whom he has a conversation as a pretty reprehensible person.

My Plan for the coming weeks is to continue work on the narrative in Chapter 2.3. I do need to get started in earnest on the actual mission itself - I have my idea for what I want to do, but as yet I don't have a clear idea as to how I want to do it. I will probably be looking for some advice from some fellow roleplayers in the near future.

I've also been working lately on making a working board version of TacOps; that's taken up a couple of my days this past week. What I've got is working pretty well so far; at least it's letting me play the game with my eldest son, who has recently taken an interest in the game. I don't anticipate getting much work done these coming weeks given the upcoming holidays, but I'm sure I'll get something done during the period...

Well, that's all I've got for this update. Due to the upcoming Christmas and New Years Holiday, this will be the last update for 2016; the next scheduled update will post to the WCRPG site and CIC forums sometime between 11-14Z on Monday, January 9th, 2017. I wish all y'all a very Merry Chrismas, a Happy New Year and a pleasant holiday season. See y'all in three weeks.

Annual Call For Award Nominations

Somehow it's December already, and we're trying to be a bit more timely about our annual awards festivities this year. This is our chance to recognize many of the great things that the fan community constantly puts out. Our eighteenth annual Fan Project and Website of the Year Awards will kick off as the year comes to a close, so now's your chance to nominate. Send your nominations to news@wcnews.com. To help give you some ideas, here's a summary of all the prior winners. There's a lot of awesome stuff in the list below!

Annual Call For Award Nominations

Another year is drawing to a close, so that means there's a few annual holiday traditions that are upon us. The seventeenth annual Wing Commander Web Site & Fan Project of the Year awards will kick off soon, and it's time to start thinking about the undertakings that impressed you this year. The CIC doesn't rely on original content to fill our news page - it's the continued activity of thousands of fellow Wing Commander fans that keeps everything going. In order to bring attention to and help recognize some of these working fans, we vote on the people and places who've done a lot for Wing Commander over the past year. Send your nominations to news@wcnews.com. They'll be collected and voting will begin shortly. To help give you some ideas, here's a summary of all the prior winners.

Nomination Window Closing Soon

Voting will soon begin for the annual CIC Fan Project and Web Site of the Year contests. The staff is currently putting together a short list, but if there is a contribution from this year that you definitely want to see included in the poll, be sure to nominate them before the week is out! Below is a look at winners from recent years. Look here for the complete list of winners and runners up all the way back to 1999.

Call For Annual Award Nominees

Another year is quickly coming to a close, so that means there's a few annual holiday traditions that are upon us. The sixteenth annual Wing Commander Web Site & Fan Project of the Year awards will kick off soon, and it's time to start thinking about the undertakings that impressed you this year. The CIC doesn't rely on original content to keep the news page full - it's the daily activities of thousands of fellow Wingnuts that keeps everything going. In order to bring attention to and help recognize some of these working fans, we vote on the people and places who've done a lot for Wing Commander over the past year. Send your nominations to news@wcnews.com. They'll be collected and voting will begin shortly. To help give you some ideas, here's a summary of all the prior winners.

New WC Strategy Mod In Development

I am in the process of creating a Hex based Turn based WC Universe war game in the style of the venerable Panzer General. Imagine Panzer General in the WC world.

I am making good progress and hopefully will be able to show the first versions. Will need help testing, gameplay and WC universe know how. I am taking guidance from Panzer General's combat and movement dynamics but modifying them for space battles. But PG values such as experience, suppression, hard attack, soft attack all are part of the calculations. Panzer General is my absolute favorite game of all time and combining its idea with WC is really exciting for me. Do give it PG a shot if you get a chance, its too good.

Any other feedback suggestions welcome as I am new to this.

It's Nomination Time Again

Incredibly, this year is already winding down and a new one is nearly upon us! That means it's also time for our fifteenth annual Wing Commander Web Site/Fan Project of the Year awards. The CIC doesn't rely on original content to keep the news page full - it's the daily activities of thousands of Wingnuts, dozens of active projects and a network of other dedicated websites that keeps everything going. In order to help recognize the efforts of a few of these hard working fans, our tradition is to take nominations and then vote on the people and places who've done the most for Wing Commander over the past year. Now's the time to send your nominations to news@wcnews.com. They'll be collected and voting will begin shortly. To help give you some ideas, here's a summary of all the prior winners.

TacOps Game Manager Still In Development

I'm only days away from finishing my PhD finally IRL. My plan has secretly always been to spend some more time on TacOps development this summer.

I can't recall how much I mentioned last fall when I last worked on it, but I am about 1/4 of the way through the scenario editing abilities. I plan to finish that off this summer, so you guys can start running your own games.

I'll probably stay fairly quiet in the short term, but then announce when the next major Phase update happens.