Annual Community Vote Begins!

We've left 2015 in the past, but there's one more thing to do as we move further into 2016. You've sent nominations in over the past month, and now we're kicking off our annual awards to recognize the fan projects and websites that had some of the most impact over the past year. We had an even larger number of worthy projects this year than normal, and we definitely wanted to get this out before the end of January, so excuse the brief listings of each choice. Although we'll end up with just a few winners, we appreciate what everyone here - plus all of the others keeping things going daily basis - have done for the community. On to the voting!

Fan Project of the Year

• Dark Sentinel’s Models - Some of the best Nephilim art you've ever seen
• Digital CCG - Now play the awesome tabletop CCG online
• Flat Universe - Exciting top down shooter action
• Homeworld Remastered Mod - A significantly expanded take on the WC RTS mod
• Klavs’ Ships - Fantastic 3D models for fan projects, 3D prints and more
• Maverick’s Model Ships - Physical models with a high degree of accuracy to WC designs
• Ninja’s Sketches - Inspiring hand drawn art from around the WC universe
• Prophecy Frame Rate Boost Patch/Prophecy Unlimited - Removing limits on the Vision Engine to unleash the community's modding potential of WCP/SO
• Saga Plus/German Mod - Years of incremental Saga improvements have culminated in the long awaited German version of this mod
• Secret Missions 1.5 Backported to DOS/KS - Very clever hack of the original WC engine now allows exclusive missions and story from Super Wing Commander to be playable in DOS or Windows
• Secret Ops Model Upgrade Project - A massive visual upgrade of Secret Ops in the making
• Secret Ops Pilot Voice Pack/Casey Patch - Taking advantage of the Prophecy audio assets to give Secret Ops a big boost in the communications department
• Starship Tactics - A nifty WC strategy game with a heavy emphasize on capship battles
• WCDX Kilrathi Saga Patch - Revitalizes KS as a method of playing the classic games (over DOSBox/GOG) by fixing numerous bugs, correcting the aspect ratio and improving compatibility
• WC Games Library/Toolbox Digging into the guts of the original WC game to bring new life and possibilities for future mods

Website of the Year

• Daedalus Station - Flat Universe's engaging virtual home on the web (and in the game)
• Pix’s Origin Adventures - The continuing adventures of exploring Origin's rich history in all forms
• WCGenerals.net - Pretty cool turn-based WC strategy in a web browser
• WCSaga.org - The new launching point for Saga Plus and the German version of WC Saga
• Wing Commander RPG Wiki - The ever growing WC RPG comes all together right here
• Wing Commander Vega Film Project - A little creativity and direction can really take you places!

Tactical WC Mod Implementing Enhanced Gamification Ideas

The ongoing beta test of the WC Generals fan-made strategy game has helped refine the mechanics and fix a handful of bugs, but creator Ron B thinks there's some untapped potential out there. He's going back to basics and looking at how to make the experience more competitive and engaging. Other players are coming up with good ideas, and a tentative list of improvements has been started below. If you'd like to add to the feedback, stop by the CIC Forums. There's some bonus screenshots below as well, or new players can also poke around the testbed themselves here.

I was taking a long hard look at the game playability factor. The game dynamics are working fine, but there is no fun factor or punch to it. After all a game must have a gamification element.

So I went back to the drawing board and have started on the following update:
- Players start with a nice back story and unique profiles such as raider, merchant, fleet, militia etc.
- Players start with a very small fleet which they need to grow.
- Multiple sources of credit and freebies when capturing installations.
- Game wide comm between players and in game updates and announcements.
- More failure points like engine malfunctions and crew mutinies.

Would love your views on the above.

Make Or Break A Strategic Shakedown Cruise

The WC Generals beta continues to wage battle across the galaxy and root out issues to be fixed. New features described below add some meaningful depth to the latest iteration of this fan game. There have also been good discussions on how to address time/turns and how some mechanics could be refined to enhance the strategy aspect. If you're curious and would like to give the playtest a shot, head over to wcgenerals.net and sign in. Be sure to post your feedback to the CIC Forums!

Two Major Updates and many minor fixes:

1. The planets, refineries, mining etc. have to be fought for. No more sweeping through a system picking up installations. You need to bring the heavy guns to bear on each installation. Asteroids are easier than planets but still need to be fought for.

2. Ship Repairing now available. Just park your ship next to your ship yard, click on the repair button on the right ship details window and get it fixed. Only strength below 8 will be fixed and only up to 8. Credits will be deducted from your overall credits total for each point of strength renewal (1 strength point = 10% of ship cost/value).

Coming up:

Merchants will be harvesting goods from your planets and installations to keep your credit score ticking and will also keep your merchants busy.

Please keep playing testing and post your ideas and recommendations.

WC Generals Beta Kicks Off

The formerly hex-based strategy game WC Generals has released its first playable test. Interested commanders can sign up at wcgenerals.net and help square off in grid combat. The existing squadron of testers has been pretty actively running the fan game through its paces lately, and that's produced some good actionable intel for Ron B to follow up on. You can find instructions on how to play and get the latest on how the beta is unfolding at the CIC Forums here.

After almost a year of work we are ready to beta test the new 'WC Generals' game. Feedback is always welcome! Please try it out and get back to me. Thanks.