Proper Widescreen Support

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2011.18.12

I think it's about time we brought you up to date with one of the changes that have been added to the engine recently: proper widescreen support. This means, that the game will no longer render HUD elements in the hard-coded 1024x768 resolution and then stretch the result to make the elements appear wider. Unlike its predecessor The Darkest Dawn does scale properly at screen resolutions that don't have a 4:3 aspect ratio. From now on HUD elements will be rearranged on the right and the left if you have a widescreen monitor, and look like the image below.

Another feature we are really excited about is the support for more cut scenes. Originally implemented two years ago, this allows the game to play movies before or in place of briefings, debriefings, etc. You all know that Saga does use this to some degree. Whether we were crazy enough to drop text based briefings completely and go for only cut scenes before each mission is another matter.

-Tolwyn

New Teaser available

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2011.24.11

Earlier this week, we announced on Twitter that a new teaser will be released very soon, which happens to be today. So, without further ado, we are happy to present to you the latest Wing Commander Saga Teaser.

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 off 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.

The teaser has been embedded for your viewing pleasure. While it does not depict an explicit moment in the Wing Commander Saga's story, we believe that it captures its tone. The teaser lasts for about thirty seconds and gives you a glimpse of our CGI animations. Click here, watch, and enjoy! There is more to come soon.

-Tolwyn

A Look Inside WC Saga’s Beta Testing (Part 1)

FROM: Colonel IceFire, TCN ONI
DATE: 2011.07.12

Tolywn is hard at work coordinating the next stages of the Wing Commander Saga development so I thought I would give him a break from writing the latest news update.

Some may recognize my old call sign. I've been around the Wing Commander fan world for far too many years (I mean that in a good way). I was introduced to the original game back in 1991. I had to fight to make it to work on that now ancient computer but the effort was well worth it and I have been a fan of the series ever since. I played an extremely small role in getting the Saga team started but I can take very little credit for the hard work has been done by the core team of developers for the last several years.

Beta testing

Most gamers are familiar with the concept of beta testing. Up front it sounds glamorous and exciting to test the latest game and see the latest features. The reality is that the interesting parts are offset by the need to be precise and to test over and over. When something is (or isn't) found, the need to be precise and report the problem in as much detail as possible is vital.

The WC Saga Project's beta test operates on the same principles. The beta test for Saga started out with the first couple of missions in a very early build and subsequent releases have given the testers a deeper look into the game and each of its missions as the testing progresses.

Bugs, bugs, bugs

It is inevitable that no matter how good the developers are, there will always be some sort of error, problem, issue or artistic consideration that has escaped scrutiny. I was recently quoted as saying "I can't recall a time where Wing Commander Saga has been anything but completely stable in these beta tests." That would be true. Since the beta test began I've had absolutely no problems that caused a crash to desktop, a freeze, or other significant game-ending problems.

The kinds of problems you tend to have more on this project are gameplay related. Here are a couple of examples:

• On one of the missions a Terran carrier arrives at a jump point along with its battle group. The carrier is last to arrive and unfortunately was following the same waypoints as an escorting destroyer. Due to game engine considerations the carrier arrives "through" the destroyer and proceeds to fly its waypoints unharmed. Fixed!
• In another mission a group of AI piloted Thunderbolts is supposed to attack a couple of Kilrathi destroyers. The AI instead attacked any enemy craft. Order priorities needed to be altered to make the Thunderbolts do what they were supposed to do. Fixed!

Other problems include issues with the 3D model data resulting in problems with the arcs of turrets such as laser turrets firing through the ship they are mounted on. Identifying the problems is a huge part of the battle. Corrections are made, tested and introduced in the next build of the project.

Testing sometimes borders on the more artistic side as well. In the early beta tests, the mainhall music might have been described as "dramatic". Personally I had developed a habit of turning down the volume when the menu screen was about to appear, however, with some feedback and some fabulous work from the music composer, the theme now builds up brilliantly from a confident but slightly more subdued introduction into that dramatic theme I was talking about earlier.

Ongoing efforts

Testing continues for the WC: Saga project. It really is a monumental effort and everything is considered with a great deal of thought. This is a true fan project and a labour of love. I think that it will show in the final release.

I will be back next week with a few more sumptuous screen shots and a couple more peeks behind the curtain at the beta testing process.

-IceFire

New Media available

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2011.20.11

With the game getting ready to launch soon, we are working hard on ironing out remaining issues, so that you will get the game that you want and deserve.

Regarding our current progress: I will say the entire team is really psyched right now about the way things are coming together. We think that the energy and synergy we are finding right now will really show in the final product. So while you wait for the next chapter in the unique Wing Commander franchise, we've got some brand new screenshots to share with you. More after the jump.

In these screenshots you'll see some glimpses of various star system as well as our upgraded lighting and shielding system. For anyone hungry for more, we've also added some additional video material to our YouTube channel. Fans of the Wing Commander III designs will not be disappointed. Take a look!

-Tolwyn