Project Aries Update Adds New Scoreboard

Project Aries 3D 64 (working title) is a 3D space combat simulation video game. A cross between arcade and realistic; more likely to be compared against Wing Commander than Star Citizen. This is an indie project, developed by a single individual. Work of PA started back in 2011 has has been developed in my spare time to this day. While development has not been consistent, it continues, and has been iterated since it's conception. The concept originally started off as a 2D top down space combat game, using Blitz Basic (2000); and progressed through various releases of the Blitz software family, in to XNA and has finally arrived at it's new home, Unity3D (2011). PA has gone through several game names, originally titled Hostile Conflict, and has now fallen on a codename until a suitable title can be revealed.

Town Hall Meeting With Origin Veteran Tony Zurovec

Every last Friday of the month, the Cloud Imperium Games community team holds a special "town hall" session where subscribers can fire off questions at members of the development and production crew. For the month of November, they sat down for an hour-long live chat with Star Citizen persistent universe director Tony Zurovec. Subscribers quizzed him about various game mechanics such as large distance travel, branching missions, interactions with non-playing characters and the medical system. Tony Zurovec was the lead designer on Origin's isometric shooter series Crusader. He left Origin to found Digital Anvil with Chris Roberts, and he joined Star Citizen's development team in 2014.

Watch Academy Live Stream Today!

How rad is this? The two transports following the 'Claw have WC-appropriate names! (Shire & Percheron) Who knows what else we'll learn?

Wing Commander Retires From Netflix & Amazon Prime Free Streaming

While it's disappointing to see it come to an end now, it was certainly a very productive run. The movie made the "popular on Netflix" trending circuit for some time, got lots of positive press on social media and spawned numerous fun viewing parties. Fans continue to have access to the film on a wide variety of platforms with digital prices around $6.99 and the Blu-ray hovering at $12 or less. Amazon is also offering a new promotion where WC is included in a subscription to STARZ.

Shroud Of The Avatar Nears Release; Star Citizen Making Progress

We haven't covered Shroud of the Avatar very much over the years, but Richard Garriott's spiritual successor to Ultima appears to be coalescing nicely as it drives towards a full fledged release. Last week the team conducted its last "wipe" of the pre-release servers, and the world that players are now exploring is the game's final persistent universe. Crowdfunding pledges will also sunset in a couple weeks as the various preorder bonuses expire. A new Star Citizen cross-promotion also caught our eye that offers up some nifty steampunk gear with the SC logo.

Speaking of Star Citizen, most exciting to us is that LOAF's recovery is going well and he's back on the job at Cloud Imperium LA. Their office move and subsequent futuristic remodel has been complete, and it's looking really cool. They've finished the shoot for the Squadron 42 story and audio elements, which is an important milestone for the campaign aspect of Star Citizen. The team is now focused on preparing a big status update at Gamescom in Germany later this month. There are still a variety of cool ships being turned out as well as some neat merchandise that have pushed them past an amazing $115 million.

RPS "Have You Played?" Feature Visits Wing Commander 3

Veteran retrospective writer Richard Cobbett is back with a new article at Rock Paper Shotgun. This time he writes about Wing Commander 3 and the greatness it should be remembered for. While there are a few obvious similarities to stories like Star Wars, the game has an overall tone that's grittier and more desperate than your typical action adventure. The premise works and hooked a generation of gamers. Richard also throws out a nod to WC4 and even Academy to highlight just how epic that 1994-1996 timeframe was for Wing Commander fans! Find the full article here.

Cutting edge games often age poorly. Past a certain point, it can be tough to see what all the excitement was about in the first place. With so much fuss about Star Citizen though, I think it’s worth remembering that Wing Commander III wasn’t simply one of the most advanced games/interactive movies when it came out, but remains one of the bravest stories ever told. I don’t necessarily mean in terms of raw content here, but look. Put yourself in Chris Roberts’ shoes back in the early 90s. You’re making the most expensive game ever. A whole $4 million dollars! And what do you make?

One of the most depressing action movies ever, that’s what.

LOAF Interviewed in Major Print Publication

The May issue of German PC gaming magazine GameStar contains a big Wing Commander retrospective, including an interview with Star Citizen community manager and CIC founder Ben Lesnick. Brian Chambers of Star Citizen's Frankfurt branch shared a teaser on Twitter. Pick up a copy if you can!

David Ladyman Livestream Tuesday Night!

Hey guys! I apologize for the late notice, but if anyone has any questions for David Ladyman (the man responsible for most of the Wing Commander documentation, as well as arranging deals like the Baen novels) then please post them here. We're going to do a live Q&A after work tomorrow to help promote his game Star Traders.

Star Traders Adds Wing Commander Cameos

The Star Traders project being run by Origin veteran David Ladyman has announced some neat easter eggs that will be featured in their aspiring board game relaunch. Cards that humorously reference both Wing Commander and Star Citizen elements will be added to the play deck. It's also been revealed that Chris Roberts and Sandi Gardiner will feature as embodiments of the "Maverick" personalities featured in the game's art and lore. With just a little bit more than a week to go, the campaign sits around 60% funded. They have a ways to go to make the project a reality, so if this looks like something you're into, you can lend your support here.

I have a long history with Chris, stretching back to my Origin days, and both Ryan and I have worked with him on Star Citizen for the past several years. So we are very honored to have his support for our project.

But we aren’t simply basking in the aura of Chris and his games — we are actively cross-promoting them, with a couple of Trader’s Luck cards referring to Wing Commander and Star Citizen.

Wide-Ranging Interview Covers Two Decades Of WC Fandom

If you missed last month's Big Box PC Game Collectors' livestream event, the recording is now available online. The group spends an hour interviewing Ben "Bandit" (LOAF) Lesnick about Wing Commander, working with Chris Roberts and making Star Citizen. There's a very helpful index in the YouTube description with quick jumps to subjects like the founding of the CIC, the least/most collectible WC artifacts and how the Academy show on DVD came to be. Joe Garrity from the Origin Museum is also there to add some color to subjects like the creation of Star*Soldier and the WC Movie Action Figures. It's a great discussion - check it out below!

Ben Lesnick is the world’s biggest Wing Commander fan. He founded WCNews, which is the premiere Wing Commander news site. Currently he is Director of Community Engagement and Content Strategy at Cloud Imperium Games, whose current project is the much anticipated Star Citizen.

Starship Tactics Is Upgrading Its Starships

Work in progress. Now I'm importing Klavs81's models to game. For example this is his Venture corvette. I hope soon I'll have working alpha build and start active testing. It is almost 2 years of development now. From this perspective it's like a Star Citizen but unfortunately I don't have $100kk like Chris Roberts has :)

John Rhys-Davies Behind the Scenes of SQ42

Last year, PC Gamer and GameStar magazines sat down with Mark Hamill and John Rhys-Davies on the motion capture set of Squadron 42, the single/co-op multiplayer campaign for Star Citizen. In those videos, the actors recalled their time working on Wing Commander, and they reflected on the practical differences between Wing Commander's green screen filming process and Star Citizen's state of the art motion capture technology. The YouTube channel for Roberts Space Industries also put up their own interview segment with Rhys-Davies, interspersed with even more behind the scenes footage. Chris Roberts makes an appearance as well, expressing his desire to bring back the people he worked with on Wing Commander 3 and 4, and that Mark Hamill and John Rhys-Davies were a great fit for two of the main characters.

Go Behind the Scenes of the making of Squadron 42 with a look at Randall Graves, played by John Rhys-Davies.

Origin Game Designer Rob Irving Interviewed

Star Citizen Fan Creates Wing Commanderific Squadron 42 Box

Star Citizen "Squadron 42" PC Big Box Design - Wing Commander 3 Style:

I recently got my copy of Wing Commander 3 "Heart of the Tiger" and thought: wouldn’t it be nice to recreate this cover for Star Citizen "Squadron 42"? I’m really happy with the end result.

Roberts Space Industries Amasses $100 Million!

Just in time for the release of the big Star Citizen 2.0 Alpha, Chris Roberts and the team at Cloud Imperium Games have officially crossed the unbelievable $100 million crowdfunding threshold. Just three years ago, we all considered the original campaign's unheard of $6.2 million haul eye-popping, so even if this post is short, the magnitude of this accomplishment can't be overstated. Here's to their continued success!

1990s Chris Roberts Talks Wing Commander, Star Citizen

YouTuber RetroMantic has dug up an old interview with Chris Roberts from 1996, sometime between the releases of Wing Commander IV and the Darkening. He talks briefly about getting into game development and his first commercial projects before moving on to Wing Commander and Privateer. The interview closes with Roberts stating his views on the future of videogames, which he sees moving in two distinct directions: scripted, solo games with a focus on story-telling, and massively online multiplayer, where players set out to achieve some goal of their choosing within a living universe. Twenty years later, the Darkening's Erin Roberts is overseeing development of Squadron 42, a story-driven solo game set in the Star Citizen universe.

Chris Roberts (born May 27, 1968) is an American video game designer, programmer, film producer and film director. He is best known for creating the popular Wing Commander series while employed at Origin Systems. Currently, he is working on the crowd-funded space simulator Star Citizen.

Wing Commander Stars Discuss Return To The Action

To celebrate the third anniversary of the initial livestream that concluded their first crowdfunding campaign, Roberts Space Industries has unleashed a media blitz for Squadron 42. Mark Hamill is front and center in several new videos talking about his return to video games. He's quizzed by both PC Gamer and GameStar magazines about the differences between Star Citizen's motion capture process and Wing Commander's green screen filming. It's great to hear him fondly recall working with Chris Roberts for the first time. GameStar also interviewed John Rhys-Davies, and he talks about his time acting as Paladin. Both actors come across as very kind and tons of fun. Check out the clips below!

Last month Squadron 42's sparkling cast was revealed. Gary Oldman, Gillian Anderson, John Rhys-Davies and Mark Hamill all take leading roles in Star Citizen's single player campaign. PC Gamer's Chris Thursten sat down with Hamill for a chat about Star Citizen, Wing Commander, Hamill's fear of getting the Joker part, the joy of sci-fi fandom and, of course, Star Wars.

Squadron 42 Cast Revealed; Hamill & Rhys-Davis Again Voicing Space Sim Characters

There's big news coming out of the UK today at Cloud Imperium Game's third annual Citizen Con. A stellar cast for Star Citizen's storyline campaign, Squadron 42, has been revealed. Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Rhona Mitra, Mark Strong and Gillian Anderson will all be voicing characters in the game next year. This certainly fulfills the team's 2012 commitment to add "Celebrity voice-acting for Squadron 42; we will bring back at least one favorite from Wing Commander!" for achieving their first $5 million stretch goal milestone. A storyline trailer that's reminiscent of Admiral Tolwyn's WC4 speech to the Confederation Senate has been released starring Gary Oldman. Additional behind-the-scenes videos have also been posted that shows most of the cast during their motion capture sessions. Chris Roberts describes it all as advancing the art of cinematic storytelling in games similar to what he did in the '90s with Wing Commander. Check out the action below!

"You will be counted as one of the greatest heroes of humanity..."

It's great to see some of our favorite WC actors back in action, but new Star Citizen videos are also an opportunity to scope out clever easter eggs. First up in the main trailer above is the appearance of a familiar medal on Admiral Ernest Bishop's chest. A Terran Confederation Medal of Honor, aka Pewter Planet, appears on the lower right of his awards. What else do you see in the clip?

Space Sims Central to Virtual Reality Launch Line-Ups

Virtual reality may finally take off in 2016, and the Oculus Rift, Sony's Morpheus and Samsung's Gear VR will all have one or more space combat sims available when they become available to consumers. Eve: Valkyrie, Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen have all been confirmed as "VR-ready", and CCP Games has recently announced Gunjack, a game in which players operate a gun turret on a mining ship to keep pirates at bay. While Gunjack is more of an arcade shooter than an actual combat simulation, it's encouraging to see space sims being included in the launch line-up of all virtual reality platforms. Ars has the details on Gunjack.