BlogLearn historical details about development

In this section of the Wing Commander Saga webpage, you can find historical details about development of Wing Commander Saga.

Prologue Released!

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, Commodore Starman, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.31.12

Greetings, fellow Wing Commander fans!

You are about to download a true labor of love. Our team has poured countless hours of sweat into creating Wing Commander Saga, and we are all extremely pleased to share the first fruits of our labor with you.. After all, without the support you have provided us, none of this would have been possible. For that, you have our deepest thanks.

Following in the footsteps of a game like Wing Commander 3 is an amazing challenge. We hope you will find a familar sense of space combat as you experience our vision of the Wing Commander universe and play your part in the incredible story that will unfold in the months and years to come.

The team is very proud of this game, and we look forward to hearing your reaction. And once again, on behalf of the entire team, let us thank you for standing by us. It means a lot.

Tolwyn & Starman
Producers Wing Commander Saga

Download
(Windows Installer, 282 MB / Macintosh Installer, 275 MB)

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Merry Christmas

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.24.12

The Wing Commander Saga team wishes all of you a merry Christmas.

As a little present, we would like to give you a sneak peak "behind the scenes" of what makes Saga tick. Saga utilizes Theora for its cuscenes. We've provided some information about Theora for those of you unfamiliar with it. 

Theora is a video codec being developed by the Xiph.org Foundation as part of their Ogg project. Based upon On2 Technologies' VP3 codec, and christened by On2 as the successor in VP3's lineage, Theora is targeted at competing with MPEG-4 video (e.g., H.264, Xvid and DivX), RealVideo, Windows Media Video, and similar lower-bitrate video compression schemes.

While VP3 is patented technology, On2 has irrevocably given royalty-free license of the VP3 patents to everyone, letting anyone use Theora and other VP3-derived codecs for any purpose.

In the Ogg multimedia framework, Theora provides a video layer, while Vorbis usually acts as the audio layer.

Theora is named for Theora Jones, Edison Carter's Controller on the Max Headroom television program.


One of our goals in creating Wing Commander Saga is to help players feel like a tiny part of a much larger fleet. Combat will take place on both a small- and large-scale basis. Capital ship battles and torpedo strikes will make prominent appearances throughout the game. We've included two small video clips to give a feeling of what they will be like.

01 | 02

- Tolwyn

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Exploring the uncharted...

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.15.12

In this update, the Wing Commander Saga team would like to showcase one of our new starfields. In keeping with the tradition of Wing Commander, we have tried to make space look like more than an empty void with background stars merely for reference. Rather, we portray it as being filled with beautiful starscapes, planets, and astronomical phenomena with unique features for each starsystem. We invite you to take a look at our astral vistas...

 

- Tolwyn

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New Wallpaper

FROM: Captain Sphynx, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.13.12

The Wing Commander Saga team has released a new wallpaper available which features Saga's new logo.

You can download it here.

- Sphynx

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We're Beta!

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.27.11

It've been two hectic weeks: we've shifted entirely to bug fixing and preparing to launch this thing. We had a team-wide play through of the entire game. Everyone was looking for problems and places we could add that last little bit of polish. I was ecstatic at the amount of feedback I received and have been spending the past two days sorting through it all, prioritizing issues, and slamming stuff into our Bugtracker. As I've said before (ad nauseum by this point) the game we have right now is already good. All the feedback was just minor little things that we can do to really make it great.

- Tolwyn

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The Sign Up for the WC Saga Beta Test is over!

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.12.11

We would like to thank everyone who submitted an application to help us beta test the Wing Commander Saga Prologue. If you have been selected as a beta tester, we will contact you as soon as possible at the e-mail address that you have provided for us. If you have not been selected, please don't feel bad or take it personally. We received a very large number of very well-qualified applications, putting us in the difficult position of trying to decide how to narrow things down and choose a more focused number of beta testers. Thank your all for your interest and support, it has been nice to see your enthusiasm. We look forward to this beta test and hope that it will allow us to provide you with a very polished game experience when the Prologue is released. Whether or not you were chosen as a beta tester, you will be able to get your chance to try Saga soon enough.

- Tolwyn
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Apply for the Closed Beta Test!

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.30.10

Our team is seriously considering starting a beta test at the beginning of November. There is a caveat, though; the number of beta teaters will be limited. However, we are now accepting applications for the upcoming beta test of Wing Commander Saga, our remake of the famous spacesimulator universe. To participate in this exciting adventure, fill out the beta tester sign up form.

Beta testers need to meet the minimum computer specifications – detailed on the "About" page – and have internet access.

Interest in games-- especially space sims-- is an advantage, as is any testing experience you might have. Applicants have to be aware that beta testing is not just about playing and having fun with the game, and that there is work involved. Testers will be asked to devote several hours per week to testing and will be asked to test certain missions, weapons, or ships. Testers will also be required to send in bug reports and answer the occational test survey to be able to continue their participation in the beta test.

We are looking for people that can communicate their ideas clearly and have an eye for detail. During the testing process, you will have to explain to us how you found potential bugs and problems in the game and how to reproduce them. We will also ask for your views on game design and playability in order to improve the game. This gives participants several opportunities to contribute to the creation of Wing Commander Saga.

We can't overestimate the value of fresh playtester eyes on the product. As developers, we look at the thing all day, everyday, and to be honest, we lose perspective. When we're able to watch a new "fresh to the game" player run through the game, we get to see the game play out in a whole new way. We get to see when things are good, but more importantly, with the aide of our new set of eyes we can't hide from something that's just not working. We're forced to face it and fix it -  which leads to a stronger product.

- Tolwyn

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The voice recording is done

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

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The Man Behind the Machine

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.

Comm Window

- Tolwyn

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Intel Update

FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2006.02.09 

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

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