Three Weeks Down, Two To Go in Album Campaign Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We're rounding out the third week of Origin composer George Oldziey's campaign to create a new album of Wing Commander music. The current tally is very nearly at $17,000. That's enough to ensure the project moves forward, which is great! As we previously reported, George has already scheduled time with the orchestra in Europe to record in August. However, it would be amazing if the live choral addition were added in as well. For that, we would need about $5,000 additional over what's been contributed so far. I still think it's very doable with all of your help! You can learn more about the project and pledge for a copy of the music when it's released here.

Here's a sample of reorchestrated WC4 track that George has already recreated on paper. The sound you hear is a digital recreation below, so the final result with live musicians will be even better!

The Many Ship Selection Screens of Wing Commander 3 Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Let's compare the Wing Commander 3 ship selection screen across ports! Here's the PC/Mac, 3DO (two screens instead of one) and PlayStation versions of the Arrow...

Three Hellcats V, primed, prepped, etc.
Thunderbolt!
The Longbow is largely cut from the 3DO version; it only appears as an option very rarely! (I found it in Delius 3, will have to chart it all out someday soon.)
And the mighty Excalibur:
There's an Easter egg in the PC version: if you hit ALT-S at this screen then it'll display specifications over the ships. None of the lore mentioned here matches anything else!
One discovery from the 3DO version is that the Hellcat, Thunderbolt and the Excalibur get six mines per hardpoint! But the mostly absent Longbow doesn't. The Thunderbolt mine loadout is the default for the Torgo 2 minelaying mission even though you don't actually use them.
The PC version assigns you a custom Longbow loadout for Torgo 2 and you DO need the mines. (It oddly also gives you the option of using a Thunderbolt that can't carry enough mines to win the mission.)
And custom Excalibur loadouts for the T-bomb runs at Hyperion and Kilrah, respectively! I need to play through the PSX version with an emulator to grab those versions, but they're very similar to the PC.
All the weapons options, minus the cloak and t-bomb on the PSX (they're not visible in the 3DO). Interesting that the 3DO changes the Leech into the Dumb Fire and the Dumb Fire into the Vampire.
And we can't forget the card game! Weapons from the CTCG as adapted by artist and swordfighter Nicole Harsch! The Friend or Foe missile here is the Heat Seeker in the games (insert the 'hope someone got fired for that one' screenshot here).
More systems from the card game.
It's interesting that each version uses the weapons selection to sneak in little bits of lore (and a Star Trek joke in one of the cards).
author avatar
LOAF

Confederation Mod Previews Reorchestrated WC1 Intro Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

AllTinker has a new bit of Wing Commander joy to share today. He's remastered the iconic Wing Commander opening track. It's a beautiful tune to listen to on its own, but this also supports his Confederation enhancement of WC1. Give it a listen below!
Hi folks, I've been battling against real life a little but work continues on the code & art. I have something slightly different to preview today - another side-project to the side-project; can't help myself - I've mentioned before that I'm interested in having General MIDI versions of the earlier game soundtracks, which would allow rendering with soundfonts or GM modules like the Sound Canvas (ala Privateer, WC3 etc.). In working towards that, rather than going directly from MT-32 to GM, I've been pulling apart the music and reorchestrating it in a more traditional sense first. Here's the first track I feel is ready enough to demonstrate:
I've made a start on most of the WC1 music, and about half of what I've started is close to being "finished" (first full pass anyway). I'll eventually use these as the basis for a General MIDI version, but I'm enjoying working on this "rendered" version in the meantime. The intent is that both this rendered version and the eventual GM version will both be available as mods for Confederation.

New Bomber Sketch Ready to Smash Some Kilrathi Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

CountvonSchnaps has a brand new Wing Commander sketch, and this one is a bomber! He's created a Longbow named "Sledge Hammer" for the war effort. It's a chunky beast with lots of gorgeous details to look over. There's also an extra turret up top to fend off the Kilrathi. It was just published to DeviantArt yesterday and already has 80 Favorites, which seems like a lot. It's really nice to see the Wing Commander love out there! You can find his previous destroyer and cruiser takes here.
As per the results of the previous poll a Wing Commander design was in order. As such I picked the Longbow torpedo bomber. I played Wing Commander a lot and I did like the designs of the fighter and other ships in there. Kilrathi ships felt really alien and the story in which you could interact also appealed to me.

I did make a few alteration as to its design. It now has a turret and 3, instead of a 2 man crew. A pilot, reargunner and a weapons officer. The turret gives it a better defensive capability since it is not highly maneuverable, albeit well protected, the turret can fend of enemy fighters and missiles coming in from other directions then its current heading.

Thanks to Rattler for the tip!

Orchestra Booked for Upcoming Wing Commander Album Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

There's a new update for the Wing Commander album campaign! If you didn't know, live orchestras can be difficult to book. Top talent often requires deposits and schedule commitment months in advance. Thanks to your early and generous support, composer George Oldziey was already able to secure a date in August, so the effort remains right on track. You can get in on the project yourself here!
Greetings all. As a result of your amazing generosity in pledging to this campaign we have more than passed the initial goal of recording with the full orchestra. Just to update you, I've booked August 19th of this year to travel to Budapest to record all the music! Because of this I will easily be able to meet my original projection of getting the final products to you by October. There will of course be editing and mixing involved, followed soon thereafter by creating the physical rewards.

The Budapest Scoring Orchestra has become very busy recording many film scores in recent years. I'm also familiar with them through my work at Berklee College of Music in which they perform music composed by our online school's graduate students as part of their orchestration requirements. I guarantee that the orchestra's work will be stellar, and I will be there in person instead of remotely so as to add a personal connection to the process!

I still am hoping to meet the stretch goal of recording a choir. We still have some time left!

Musically yours,

George

Here's another archival conversation with Mr. Oldziey to whet your Wing Commander music appetite!
It's an hourlong conversation, and most of the first twenty minutes or so are on his history with Wing Commander. They talk about how he got hired into Origin and into detail on how he orchestrated the games' music. There's even footage of the live WC orchestra recording that he crowdfunded several years back. It's a fun and informative watch!

Emblem Addendum Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Last month LOAF put together an exhaustive writeup about the many Kilrathi emblems and symbols depicted over the years. In the spirit of completeness, here's a couple more than have surfaced since then! If you see any more we missed, let us know!
@kingmakeress had me looking through the 3DO version of Victory Streak where I found this forgotten oddity included alongside the Kiranka claw symbol!
These Kilrathi medals from the TCTG are worth considering as well!
Find the original post here if you want to learn all about Kilrathi iconography!

Come for the Kilrathi Truck, Stay for the Academy Killboard Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

I FOUND A TRUCK! In the Wing Commander Academy finale when Maniac is flying through the Agon'Ra'Sivar he hits a Kilrathi fuel truck. You can barely see it under the explosion! It's a similar shape to the Kilrathi tanks in WC3!
I also made a quick graphic of the layout of the Agon'Ra'Sivar's flight deck as Maniac strafes it! You can see he hits a Sartha on the catapult followed by several loaded strike planes and then the truck to set off the secondary explosions that cripple the ship.
This was all in the service of another fun project: I went through the show and divided into missions like the games… and then I used that to do a kill board for the show! Here’s the episode-by-episode breakdown. I hope there’s somebody that counts HISS tanks like this.
You can read more about vehicles in Wing Commander below!
author avatar
LOAF

Two Week Check-In: Album Campaign Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

We're now two weeks in to the five-week adventure to crowdsource a new Wing Commander album performed by a live orchestra. With minimum funding now secured, Origin composer George Oldziey is starting to take the next steps to formally book time with the musicians and get other prerequisites taken care of. It's common for unforeseen obstacles to occasionally pop up and slow things down, but if things continue to proceed at a steady clip, recording could start as early as late summer.

Now that the hard push towards $16,000 has been accomplished, pledges have slowed down a bit. This is very common in the middle of a campaign, although I expect a decent bump towards the end. In order to avoid distractions that might keep you away at the last minute, it's still a good idea to contribute now if you haven't yet but are planning to. Note that no actual funds are due until the Kickstarter's conclusion on May 11. It's also painless to adjust your amount up or down or cancel entirely if needed.

We took a look at the Kicktraq projection, and their algorithm suggests an ending range between $20-$25K. There's a ton of factors that weigh into this, so it's interesting but not definitive. Still, it provides a good data point to suggest we are well on track towards hitting the $22,000 stretch goal to add a live choir to the mix! [Not $24K as previous typo depicted!]

Watch WC Evolution in Phil's Lab Update ID Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

PhilsComputerLab has another novel video that looks at the WC series from a new angle. The focus of this episode is to emphasize the evolutionary leaps that each iteration in the series made. It's a great topic to discuss, because it's probably harder for later generations to appreciate. It's easy to look at the four year gap between WC1 and WC3 and say, "Wow," but there was a lot of technological advancement happening that drove all that. The expected conventions of game design were ever-changing as well. Check it out below, and thanks to thp for the tip!
The Wing Commander games are a great example to showcase how the PC has evolved in the short span of just 7 years from 1990 to 1997.
One correction: WC3 was 1994 (on PC), not 1995, and I definitely would not have called its reception "mixed." At the time of its release, WC3 was tied for PC Gamer's highest rated game of all time, among many other similar accolades. 24 fps was also really good for an SVGA game in 1994.

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