Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn

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FYI: This game is a free Total Conversion (TC) based on the FreeSpace 2: Source Code Project game engine.  This means it does not require you to own FreeSpace 2. For more info, search around The Hard Light Productions Forums.  There are other TCs available there, including The Babylon Project, as well as several other TCs in progress.  (Complete list of TCs available on the HLP FS Wiki, here.)

Click here to go to the screenshots page on WCSaga.com (some shots also located at the end of this description).

Patch to 1.1 available here.

1) If you have stuttering issues whilst head animations (messages) are playing, disabling vsync should fix this
2) If you don't like how sluggish the mouse is, try adjusting the joystick deadzone in the settings (F2) - the mouse is tied to the joystick, so adjusting those settings should fix your problems (although you can of course use a real joystick!)

Linux users: install guide using Wine here

Mac OS and Linux versions are reportedly on the way.

RockPaperShotgun review

the escapist article

Slashdot

WCS section of HLP Forums

WCS website

From the release thread on HLP Forums:

At long last, the day has finally arrived! It has been ten years to the day that the Wing Commander Saga project was officially founded. Through this time, Saga has evolved through a host of iterations, with sometimes frustrating twists and turns and several brick walls. However, we believe that Wing Commander Saga would not be what it is today without the lessons we have learned from each one of those experiences, and we are very excited to finally share the results with you.

On many occasions, we have referred to Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn as a labor of love. That is truly what it has been for us. Many years ago, Chris Roberts and his team at Origin ignited our imaginations with their innovative, blockbuster Wing Commander series. Our hope has always been that with Wing Commander Saga, we could recapture that excitement and magic to some degree and share it with all of you. Our ten year development process has certainly taught us even more respect for just how innovative and brilliant Chris Roberts and his team are. Our development of Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn is meant as an homage to them and what they achieved, and we would like to thank them and EA, who holds the intellectual property for Wing Commander. We would also like to thank all the sites who have generously offered to provide mirrors for Saga.

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. Several of the original Wing Commander games are available at gog.com, 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. Especially make sure to pick up a copy of Wing Commander III, since the story of Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn was written to coincide with the events of that game.

Today we are only launching the PC vesion. The Linux and Mac versions will be available soon. We just need to port the launcher to OSX and Linux and run some tests.

For help troubleshooting known issues click here to visit our forums. We'd also love to here your thoughts about the game, so feel free to join us there!

So, without further ado, we are pleased to present you with Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn. It's humanity's most desperate hour, a desperate struggle for survival against impossible odds, and you've got a front row seat.

Launch Trailer

Watch on Youtube

DVD Cover

Included in this torrent.

Screenshot previews (the below in-game shots and many more are available in full quality in this post)