FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.22.10

Things are really cooking here. At this point, we're trying to iron out the last few design wrinkles that have reared their heads in the last few weeks. Yesterday we got last bits of the voice over work done, and it has turned out very well. The experience was amazing - as were the actors. This was my first time working with actors like this, and I think I got extremely lucky to work with such an incredible group. These guys and gals just nailed it. I would continue gushing, but I already sound like some half-crazed fanboy, so I'll hold my tongue for now. Besides, all the proof you'll need will come when this thing is released.

- Tolwyn

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.02.09

One of the areas in which Wing Commander excels is in its ability to bring to personalize its epoch stuggle, which it accomplished in part by giving a face, a believable personality, and in many cases a name to the many pilots and crews of the ships that the player encounters throughout the series. One way in which this feeling was generated was through the usage of communication visuals which showed the man, or the Kat, behind the machine. In our effort to recreate the feeling of Wing Commander, Saga has created customised com animations. We've included one screenshot to give a preview of what communication visuals will be like in Saga.

- Tolwyn

In the heat of combat, knowledge can be the difference between life and death. Each pilot needs to know the capablities and limitations of all of his own equipment, as well as the those of his opponents. What better place to brush up on this vital information before a mission than in the tech room.

Wing Commander Saga features a tech room with information about all of the ships and weapons that the player will encounter, both friend and foe. In addition, the tech room will also serve as a location where new intelligence is shared with the player. Through the WC Saga campaign, new intelligence will become available as the player progresses. Keeping current on the hardware and intelligence in the combat theater will give players an edge in their desperate fight against the Kilrathi.

This week, we are happy to share some pictures of the WC Saga tech room with you.

-Tolwyn

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.10.08

Previously, we showed you the renders of our exciting new feature: cloaking. Now, we're able to show you the actual in-game footage of a cloaking Strakha. Now you see him . . . now you don't

- Tolwyn

FROM: Commodore Starman, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.01.08

In todays update we have some exciting news to report. Thanks to modifications done in the SCP-Engine (some older and some newer ones) we are now finally able to make a full-blown cloacking effect like in the original WC games. The technical side requires the usage of a few simple scripts for each cloaking ship, but those are easy to create and the effect for the player will be just like what we are used to in WC gameplay. Even better than that, the final animation will be very close to what we saw in the original CGI movie sequences of Wing Commander 4.

To celebrate this new development, we would like to share a few rendered pictures of our version of the infamous Strakha. Through centuries of conflict, the Kilrathi have gained an obsessive appreciation for strength. Many Kilrathi fighter designs, such as the Jalthi or Vaktoth, give expression to the Kat's sadistic infatuation with sheer brute force. However, the Kilrathi also have an appreciation for the more subtle forms of strength, such as stealth and cunning. The Strakha is the techological culmination of this facet of Kilrathi philosophy. Capitalizing on the element of surprise, the Strakha strikes from the shadows without warning. Although relatively lightly armed, its ability to move undetected provides it a tactical advantage that the Kat's capitalize on without mercy. As such, the Strakha is a veritable tactical nightmare for Confederation pilots.

While you sleep, they'll be waiting...

- Starman

The Kilrathi are a warrior race in every sense. Born on an inhospitable and harsh planet and decended from primative and ferocious predators, killing is second nature to the Kats. In their psychology and in their religion, battle is the way of life and the path to glory. The Bloodfang represents one of the the deadliest creations of Kilrathi science, a deadly weapon to be wielded by a noble warrior who has proven himself in combat against the enemy. It's presence spells doom to those who oppose it. Scooby Doo of the Wing Commander Saga team has recently completed his rendition of the Bloodfang, which will be featured in WC Saga and which we share with you today.

- Sphynx

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.27.06

Gamestar, the largest German Computer Games magazine, has published an article featuring Wing Commander Saga. The article can be found on the August 2006 issue (available June 28th) on page 153. We have included a scanned version of the article in PNG format here, and have also provided an English translation.

Some pilots get cool callsigns like "Maverick," Ace," or "Duke," but "Sandman?" "Sandman?!" While it may not be the greatest callsign, it really doesn't matter, because some people would gladly call themselves "Buttercup" just to be able to pilot a starfighter and fight the Kilrathi! Very soon they will get their wish, because Wing Commander will be back as a mod for Freespace 2. You will be David "Sandman" Markham, a young fighter pilot who has to prove himself against the Kilrathi. The story of Wing Commander Saga takes place during the Wing Commander 3 era. Through 35 missions you will encounter old friends and new enemies, all with updated graphics. In addition, a multiplayer mode for Wing Commander Saga is also in progress. Best of all, Wing Commander Saga will run without having to own a retail copy of Freespace 2. To that we say, "Enter Sandman!"

- Tolwyn

FROM: Captain Sphynx, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.09.06

Wing Commander Saga seeks to continue the WC tradition by recreating music from the original games and adding new compositions which remain true to the spirit of the originals.

For today’s update, we have included a conceptual sample of some of the new music that will be featured in WC Saga. Our composer, Ed, gives the following explanation:

“The ‘Unused Ideas’ track is essentially three different tracks stitched together. None of these will feature in either the Prologue or the full campaign. I made them to try and get a feel for how I wanted the music to go. I felt the first section started sounding more Freelancer than Wing Commander, the second section was too ‘happy’ sounding to me, and more like WC4 than WC3 which is what I wanted, and I thought the last section sounded too much like a Star Trek score!

The Prologue originally was going to have original in-flight music, but I decided it was best to wait for the main release as it’s not just a big job to write all those different cues but you also have to make sure they all fit together musically and make sense in the game. The "in-flight" track is another example of me experimenting to see how I would approach this. While the main campaign’s music will likely sound quite different than it, it’s probably the most Wing Commander sounding! Anyway, I thought some of you might find the ‘outtakes’ interesting. So, thanks for listening!"

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FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.20.05

Wing Commander Saga will feature pre-rendered cut scenes. Currently, the intro for the Prologue campaign is finished, and is just getting some final cosmetic touches such as lighting, animated maps, and so forth. This picture features a scene from the intro as a wing of Hellcat's escorts a small shuttle convoy. This particular scene is a test render, and does not yet feature all of the visual effects that will be included in the final.

Also, to insure fast and problem-free access to our upcoming release, we have moved to a new server. You will be able to access our website through our new domain www.wcsaga.com.

- Tolwyn

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.28.04

For today's update we would like to showcase our final version of the Confederation assault shuttle. This beautiful ship has been modelled and textured by our new team member, Scooby Doo, who joined us a few weeks ago and has been working at full speed ever since. You can expect to see more of his great work in future updates (and of course in-game, once Saga is released).

Regarding the model, WC Saga aims to provide a wide variety of mission types, and among the sorties that the player will fly will be escort and close support missions for Confederation Marines operating out of this sturdy combat transport spacecraft.

- Tolwyn

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.12.03

Here’s a brief summary of some of our major work over the last month. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but it touches on some of the major points of focus in our work:

• We’ve completed a simulator mission that will be released as part of the prologue release package, and a great deal of work has been done on another simulator mission.
• The full-campaign script has been undergoing some major fine-tuning, with work being done on issues of continuity and canonicity. This is time-intensive and detail-focused work, but it has been proceeding at a good pace.
• We have also been hard at work finishing up the video sequences that will be part of the prologue release.
• In addition, Lars has released another wallpaper featuring some of the ships from WC Saga. Check out the "New Wallpaper: They Strike from the Shadows" thread to pick it up!

- Tolwyn 

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.09.03

The Wing Commander Saga team is proud to present a new wallpaper by gevatter Lars! Kilrathi starships are designed to acheive both lethal functionality and demoralizing psychological impact. This new scene displays the intimidating might of the claw-like Kilrathi capital ships while it simultaneously evokes the pathos of the mysterious and deadly Strahka fighter, whose stealthy ferocity is laid out in stark contrast to the ethereal beauty of deep space.

-Tolwyn

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.01.02

The Wing Commander Saga team wishes to extend our thanks to all of you who voted for our website this year! There were some other very strong contenders for the award, but your enthusiasm and your faith in our project led us to be recognized as the Wing Commander Fan Site of the Year for 2005! We appreciate this recognition for all of the hard work that we are doing to bring you WC Saga, and we promise to keep burning the midnight oil to bring you the best game we can as soon as possible.

- Tolwyn

FROM: Captain Sphynx, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2005.07.12

The cold vacuum of space has erupted into absolute chaos. Klaxons echo stridently across the flight deck, announcing the unexpected arrival of a Kilrathi strike force. The FORCAP fighters have already engaged the Kats and are taking losses, and enemy bombers have broken through the defensive line and are nearly within strike range. Time is of the essence. Footsteps ring against the deck, mingled with the urgent shouts of technicians making desperate final checks of the fighters.

The canopy of your Hellcat V slides into position and seals itself shut. Your VDU crackles, and the image of the comm officer clears you for takeoff. You jam your throttle forward and feel the acceleration slam you hard against your headrest. Your Hellcat streaks out of the fighter bay and you peel off towards the oncoming attackers.

It comes in a moment, suddenly: the moment of contact. Friendly and enemy ships swarm around you in a deadly dance to the death. Space is pierced by thousands of bright energy pulses, eerily beautiful as they go about the business of dealing death.

Your pulse pounds as your radar screen shows a red blip in the 6 o’clock position. In an instant, you punch the afterburners and bank hard to starboard. Glancing over your shoulder, you catch the unmistakable acrid gleam of plasma bolts streaking out towards you from the Vaktoth that has taken advantage of the confusion and pounced on you from behind. Your VDU shield display flickers and fades as several of the plasma bolts find their mark, and sparks spray over you from shorting wires.

You slam into an Immelman, followed by an afterburner slide and find yourself coming up low and behind the enemy Vaktoth. Emerald meson bolts lance towards you from the Kat's tail guns, and you throw your Hellcat into a tight velocity roll to avoid the oncoming firestorm. Your guns rake the tail of the Vaktoth, and it hits its burners and begins to pull away, but not before you hear the tone of an IR locking on. You depress the missile trigger, and watch as the IR tracks right up the tail pipe of the Vaktoth, reducing it to flaming debris. This was one small victory, but the fight is far from over. Your carrier calls for more support, and you bank hard in pursuit of the Kilrathi bombers…

Moments like these are what draw fans into the Wing Commander series and make us feel at home inside the cockpits of our favorite WC fighters. It is from the memories of these adventures that WC Saga’s gevatter Lars has utilized his impressive 3D skills to bring us this compelling render of a battlefield view from a Hellcat V cockpit. Notice the artistic allusions to such familiar works as the End Run cover and the box art of Wing Commander I.

-Sphynx

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2005.10.10

It is a time of desperation and despair. Still reeling from the ghastly toll of the Battle of Terra, humanity finds itself pushed closer and closer to the brink of extinction at the hands and claws of the savage Kilrathi Empire. The Confederation is trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of defeats, and hope is slipping away. Already, the Kilrathi are making their final preparations to finish of humanity once and for all.

The end, it seems, is near.

In this setting, human drama is at its most extreme intensity. Hope, fear, desperation, courage, camaraderie, and loss are part of the daily struggle for the people who refuse to stop fighting, even in the face of seemingly inevitable defeat. This is humanity’s greatest struggle, its defining moment. This is the Wing Commander Saga.

About two month ago "gevatter Lars" of the WC Saga team had the chance to do a CGI trailer as a school project, and he decided to do a Wing Commander trailer.

Using what the Saga team already has and adding his own ideas and knowledge, he created a trailer that features both CGI and live actors. While the trailer does not depict an explicit moment in the WC Saga story, we believe that it captures its tone. So, without further ado, we present to you the latest Wing Commander Saga Trailer.

A word from the creator, gevatter Lars:

It was a great thing working on this trailer and I hope you like it. Maybe when time passes by and I got more experience, I will be able to do a bigger project of this kind and maybe some people who see this might be interested in helping with it. But that is just a dream for me at the moment since I leak the time, money and equipment.

I also have to make a little apology that the voices are a little hard to understand, but the studio where I made the recording had quite bad acoustics so this is the best I could do. Luckily, Edward from our Saga team lent me a helping hand and has made the best of the voices, and has also added the great sound effects.

Finally, I have to thank the entire Saga team for its help and the other persons that helped me...like my parents and the actors who acted even if they didn't want to.

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-Tolwyn

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2005.15.09

Our server went down, then back up and now we are moving our resources to a new server. We understand this is an inconvenience and are working hard to migrate and restore and be back online as soon as possible with a better overall solution to meet your needs.

-Tolwyn

FROM: Captain Sphynx, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2005.01.09

Greetings, faithful fans!

Thank you for your support. As the others have said, you can rest assured that there is a great deal of work going into this project, even with our busy lives and lack of new screenshots. We have been doing a lot of spit-and-polish work with the game engine, the in-game fiction, and so forth, and so a lot of it doesn't translate well into screen shots.

But, we realize that fans want to see progress. So, you can expect some updates and new things to look at very soon, and while I cannot give an exact date, we are really not far at all from releasing the Prologue (barring some major real life catastrophe... again! Real life has been tough on our team members lately with everything ranging from moving fiascos, job changes, and-- sadly enough-- personal losses, just to name a few. But we're hanging in there). Also, once we resolve the coding issues that are holding up the Prologue, that will allow us to release the main campaign much more quickly.

Thanks for your continued interest in WC Saga. We are building this mod to make it as enjoyable as possible for the fans. I have been a part of the play-testing team, and in my opinion you will think that the wait has been well worth it. We haven't forgotten you, our encouraging fans. Keep the faith, good things are coming soon!

-Sphynx