Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn Launches

[Andy Chalk]

Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn Launches

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The fan-made, Freespace-powered Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn is in the air.

After ten years of work, Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn, the fan-made addition to the most famed space combat franchise of all time, is finally ready to go. The project is powered by the mighty Freespace 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Freespace-2-Pc/dp/B00002EPYV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332442847&sr=8-1] engine but is a fully stand-alone game with two campaigns, 55 missions, new voice actors, cutscenes, ship types and more. Best of all, it's [as far as I can tell] free!

The launch trailer is a lot like the one we saw last week [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116371-Wing-Commander-Saga-Arrives-Next-Week] and admittedly drags on a bit, but the gameplay bits between the overlong and overdramatic exposition look pretty fantastic. And it's more Wing Commander! The new game is set immediately prior to and during the events of Wing Commander 3 but this time around players will slip into the flight suit of a rookie pilot called "Sandman," struggling to stave off defeat at the hands of the Kilrathi.

"If Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn is your introduction to the Wing Commander universe, you owe it to yourself to try the source material that inspired us," project leader Anton "Tolwyn" Romanyuk wrote. "Several of the original Wing Commander games are available at GOG.com [http://www.gog.com/en/catalogue#all_genres/search/wing%20commander/], so make sure to show your support for the actual creators of Wing Commander by going and purchasing some copies! You won't regret it."

I haven't had the opportunity to take this beast for a ride yet but you better believe I'm looking forward to it. The bad news is that The Darkest Dawn is a 3.32GB download and the site at wcnews.com [http://www.wcsaga.com].

Permalink

 

[Nooners]

Free? Woot, I'll grab it soon.

Did I just use woot?

EDIT: Oh, it'll be Mac-compatible soon...nice...but I'm needing all the disk space I can on my Mac.

 

[Tanis]

Woohoo!

Now if only there was an OFFICIAL HD update to the whole dang series!

 

[teh_v]

Dude Mechwarrior online and now Wing Commander, I thought I'd never see these two series be revived.... I I promised myself I wouldn't cry.

 

[Callate]

Hmm. Ten years of work that hinges on Electronic Arts not being bastards and enforcing a long dormant trademark... Not shoes I'd want to be in.

 

[octafish]

That's funny I saw Heart of the Tiger in an op shop just yesterday. Does this mod have FMVs? Ha!

 

[Fasckira]

Hmm. Ten years of work that hinges on Electronic Arts not being bastards and enforcing a long dormant trademark... Not shoes I'd want to be in.

Aye, thats why Im grabbing it asap, just in case they get asked politely to shut down the site. Hopefully not though, be a shame to have all that hard work punched in the face!

 

[Tanis]

Is EA even ALLOWED to do that, seeing as how this is a MOD.

It's like LucasArts threatening a lawsuit against some modder for Skyrim because they tossed lightsabers into the game.

 

[Antari]

So far its a great game. I'm only about 10 missions in and it's running a close second to Skyrim as my best game at the moment. Its extremely sad that we have to wait for fans to take matters into their own hands and make the game they want. Between indies being stuck in 2d scroller world and AAA publishers churning out variations on doom. I'm happy to see a group of fans show them all up. So it took them 10 years, with the budget they had, I'm suprised it was done that quickly.

 

[Zeckt]

Holy crap, I better get it NOW before its too late!

 

[Meight08]

Hmm. Ten years of work that hinges on Electronic Arts not being bastards and enforcing a long dormant trademark... Not shoes I'd want to be in.

Aye, thats why Im grabbing it asap, just in case they get asked politely to shut down the site. Hopefully not though, be a shame to have all that hard work punched in the face!

Ea actually gave the makers a non commercial fan license and green lit the launch.
Business speak for:No cease and desist.

 

[Fasckira]

Ea actually gave the makers a non commercial fan license and green lit the launch.
Business speak for:No cease and desist.

Really? Thats pretty cool then, just got home from work so going to be trying the game out shortly.

 

[thiosk]

My god I'm terrible at this. I used to pop drathi like they were nothing. Ran into some pirates in the prologue, and my whole arm hurts from the intensive dogfighting with my joystick. I think I have some settings wrong, because I can't hit the broad side of a barn.