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The original Wing Commander famously starts with an animated orchestra which starts playing as the camera pans up to show a giant planet. If you aren't familiar with other Origin games of the era you may not know that that isn't specific to Wing Commander; in fact, it's intended to be the vanity card for the Origin FX graphics system. Origin FX is the engine behind Wing Commander I's "talking heads" and it was used in a number of projects from 1990 to 1995.

A total of five releases use the planet intro: the Wing Commander I demo, Wing Commander, Ultima: The Savage Empire, the Wing Commander II demo, Ultima: Martian Dreams and Wing Commander II! There are four versions in total. The Wing Commander I demo has the planet slightly off center, MArtian Dreams replaces it with Mars and Wing Commander II trades things out for a new starfield.

Do we know what planet it's supposed to be? It isn't labeled in Wing

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Kagemusha was beautifully made and an interesting story… but boy was it ever long. For our next screening, the movie selection went to Chris Reid in honor of his birthday… and his choice was The Dark Crystal (1982). That's right, folks: next week we're going full puppet. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

Children of the 80s will remember The Dark Crystal as being a serious fantasy from Jim Henson, creator of the muppets. But what's the Wing Commander connection? It's another ship name! The Dark Crystal's antagonist is the sinister Skeksis, a race of sort of lizard bird monsters. Privateer 2: The Darkening pays tribute to them with a pair of player-flyable ships: the PL03 Skecis and the PL3A Skecis Mk II!

Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?

The Dark Crystal is available for rent or purchase on all of the standard streaming services. It is currently streaming on

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Caspian Explorer has received the green light for full distribution, having previously been available via limited release only.
As shipments of Zorgon Peterson's latest design arrive at markets, an accompanying press states the Caspian Explorer has been developed as a highly capable, dedicated exploration ship.
A Zorgon Peterson spokesperson remarked:
"The Caspian was intended to explore the furthest reaches of the galaxy with its extended jump range, optimised orbital glides, and a remarkable FSD supercharge capacity."
"With plenty of room for internal outfitting and integration with newer Mk II modules, there really is no other exploration vessel like it."
The Caspian Explorer is now available for purchase at shipyards throughout the core systems.

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An uncatalogued Wing Commander II SNES screenshot has been discovered! This screenshot was hidden on the review index page of the April 1995 issue of Electronic Games. It shows the game's double-VDU'd Ferret and a never-before-seen look at its newly created VDU art for the Kilrathi Sartha fighter. Wing Commander II SNES is a tragic story, the game was completed but never released… and no prototype has surfaced in the decades since that poor decision was made!

The issue also included a short hands-on review. It doesn't tell us much but it's a reminder that FCI DID send copies of the game to news outlets… and they may still exist out there, somewhere.

Wing Commander Il: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (FCI/SNES) Wing Commander II reproduces all of the major features of the popular space combat game. SNES players will find the cinematics and fast action they expect, as well as the multiple plot lines and variety

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Spring is here! And since that's a season that exists, GOG has a sale. GOG's Spring Sale offers great discounts on the Wing Commander and Privateer games. Everything else Origin-related seems to be on sale, too, with prices ranging from $3 for the main packages to just $1.20 for the modern update of Space Rogue! Here's the big GOG matrix for your perusing pleasure:

Ultima Games:

Other Origin Games:

Free Games:

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The Wing Commander movie club agrees that Hard Target is a joyful and wonderful thing. It wasn't anything like I, a person largely unfamiliar with this kind of action movie, expected. I expected something stylish and clinical, a proto-Matrix perhaps… and instead it was a joyous, though stylistically distinct, celebration of over-the-top garbage. The kind of movie that makes you remember how wonderful it is that such unusual kinds of movies can exist. From the opening with a violent bow and arrow attack to Wilford Brimley immolating one of Lance Henrickson's goons with an exploding moonshine still it's exactly the movie you need it to be. Excelsior!

The name of the place… is Ba… Hard Target.

The big connection to Wing Commander is a tough one to quantify. The Wing Commander III team repeatedly expressed their love of "two-fisted John Woo" films, so watching it helped us get into their shoes while they