Simple answer: It was high time…
There are quite a few WC sites around, but most aren't regularly maintained, and often lack in depth, breadth or quality. Only one other WC fan site is rich in information and organization (the one often referred to as “the CIC”, comprising wcnews, solsector and crius domains), but the way it conducts its daily business leaves much to be desired1).
Wing Commander fans should not be condemned to depend on a monopoly to fulfill their needs for WC information, inspiration and discussion.
Furthermore, that site abysmally fails to feel or to take the pulse of WC fandom: Of all WC fans we meet, there aren't very many who feel that the Wing Commander movie (WCM), for example, was much too good, as movies go; and I've only met one fan so far who appears to honestly think it should be considered part of the WC universe continuum. Yet the policy of that site is to consider the WCM, and the books by Peter Telep that go with it, as “canonical”. This is a position that in our experience is not supported by WC fandom in general, and yet...
None of that is really what WCpedia is about. What it is about is serving the needs of enterprising and constructive WC fans, meaning, a place where there's information, materials, references, tools, code, ideas and inspiration for amateur modellers and serious developers who just want to mod or make new games (or produce art, or write fiction) in the WC universe, without having to put up with politics, oppression and dictators.
Furthermore, in matters of “canonicity”, that site is “the Cathedral”, whereas this site is “the Bazaar”: Fans working on their projects often feel the need to know what other fan projects are up to. Not to steal their ideas (hopefully!) but to make sure their facts, characters and events don't contradict one another's. Thus, there is a pressing need for a central repository of evolving new ideas, stories and plotlines, including such things as a timeline that is constantly updated and enriched by all participating fan projects. A sort of “cooperative timeline”. Same idea for maps and characters and backgrounds. But at a website whose controllers are die-hard fanatics about a (sacred) “canon” that is theirs only to define, there is no room for even a single “fact” that isn't already there. Thus, the needs of the most creative and constructive members of our community are not served. This website, on the other hand, is for You, the hard-working modder trying to get your job done, and wishing to show your latest achievements, at the end of each day, to other hard-working modders like You. And a place where Your ideas have a place.
And besides this young but evolving WCpedia, we further serve your needs by providing a forum for WC discussion and chat, and hosting for open source (in name AND spirit), WC-related fan projects. WCpedia's forum is at
and if you need hosting for your project, that's at
where you can post to tell us about your hosting needs. We not only have a development forum, at wcjunction.com, but can also set you up with a private wiki and a secure (SSL) SVN repository. So far, wcjunction hosts a single project:
but we'd be glad to have new company. And be assured we won't try to control your project or tyrannize you in any way.
It is our hope that this be your go-to destination for information regarding Wing Commander and its worthier spin-offs, fan projects, etceteras.
– Sincerely, Monkhouse
MOST OF THE IMAGES IN THIS WEBSITE, WCPEDIA.COM, ARE PROCESSED, SCALED AND ENHANCED VERSIONS OF ORIGINAL IMAGES THAT ARE COPYRIGHT BY ORIGIN SYSTEMS INCORPORATED. THAT INCLUDES ALL IMAGES UNDER THE “REFERENCE IMAGES” RUBRICS. HOWEVER, WCPEDIA.COM RESERVES AN ADDITIONAL COPYRIGHT OVER THE SCALING ENHANCEMENTS, WHICH WERE ACHIEVED BY USE OF EDGE AND LINE DETECTION SOFTWARE DEVELOPED BY OURSELVES (AND WHICH SOFTWARE WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE OPEN-SOURCE WHEN IT IS READY FOR PUBLIC RELEASE, –IT ISN'T YET). THE SCALED AND ENHANCED IMAGES ARE PROVIDED FOR PERSONAL, NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY, –TYPICALLY FOR USE BY MODELLERS AND ARTISTS THAT WANT TO SEE MORE CLEARLY WHAT THE ORIGINAL SHIPS OR CHARACTERS LOOKED LIKE IN THE ORIGINAL GAMES, IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THEIR OWN MODELS AND TEXTURES. IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT MOST OF THE IMAGES HAVE BEEN OVER-SHARPENED: TO EMPHASIZE DETAILS. THEY MAY NOT BE SHOWN IN OTHER WEBSITES EXCEPT AS URL LINKS TO THIS WEBSITE, WCPEDIA.COM, ACCOMPANIED BY LINKS TO THIS VERY LEGAL NOTICE. AND THEY MAY NOT BE USED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY IN A GAME OR OTHER KINDS OF WORKS AS SUBSTITUTES FOR PRODUCING YOUR VERY OWN TEXTURES. YOU MAY ONLY LOOK AT, OR USE THEM AS FOR VISUAL REFERENCES TO HELP YOU IN YOUR MODELLING OR TEXTURING WORK; AND FOR NOTHING MORE THAN THAT. AND THESE RESTRICTIONS APPLY TO IMAGES DERIVED FROM IMAGES IN THIS WEBSITE; SO, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU MAY NOT APPLY A BLUR PASS ON SOME OF THE IMAGES AND THEN USE THE RESULTS IN WAYS NOT PERMITTED ABOVE. BUT IF YOU HAVE A GENUINE REQUIREMENT TO USE ONE OR MORE OF OUR IMAGES IN WAYS NOT COVERED ABOVE, BUT WHICH YOU BELIEVE RESPECTS THE SPIRIT OF THIS NOTICE, YOU MAY EMAIL OR PM US AND WE MAY ISSUE AN EXCEPTIONAL, WRITTEN PERMISSION; OR EVEN UPDATE THIS LEGAL NOTICE AS TO RELAX SOME RESTRICTION THAT MAY HAVE BEEN INADVERTENTLY SET TOO TIGHT.
IF YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO THE ABOVE STATEMENT, you may proceed to WCpedia's main index page.
That's all explained at …
welcome.txt · Last modified: 2007/10/09 11:57 by monkhouse
