Release Candidate 3 has been released. Please read the posts in the thread in order to help us nail down a few annoying sound issues.

That's right, it's time to run the 3.6.14 codebase through its paces and find any remaining showstopping bugs we aren't already aware of.  This new release includes overhauled sound code, integrated shaders, massive speed improvements in various areas of the code, and many other enhancements.  So let's see what we can break (and then fix) before we settle on a final build.

3.6.14 RC1 release thread

SCP newcomer Valathil has already made a few notable additions to FS2_Open, but his current project may overshadow the rest of them...literally.  Having objects cast shadows on themselves, and maybe even other objects, has long been one of the "holy grails" of engine improvement, but now Valathil's hard at work hard at work making it a reality.  Take a look at this thread to see the progression of his work and ogle the provided screenshots and videos.  This is still very much a work-in-progress feature, one that will most likely require a good deal of refinement and some time before it makes its way to a nightly build near you.  However, if you'd like to take a look at the current implementation, Valathil is providing updated test builds in the thread; just note that no support will be provided, since it's still at an alpha stage of development.

And while this may be one of the most visible recent SCP projects, it's far from the only one.  Swifty has drawn up a list of features that he has planned or in the works, including HUD improvements and collision/rendering optimizations.  Keep up the great work, guys!

For those who've not been paying attention, it's coming up on one year since the release of Spoon's Wings of Dawn campaign, but in that time, very little of WoD has made it onto the wiki. As part of the Featured Article improvement drive, I'd like to try to change that. If you've enjoyed Wings of Dawn this year, and have a few spare minutes to contribute to the FSWiki, check out this thread to see what need's doing.

GOG.com is running a 50% off promotion on all their Interplay titles until July 4th, including FreeSpace 1 + Silent Threat and FreeSpace 2. Here's what they have to say (with some grammatical corrections... I couldn't help myself):

...Space tourism is an awesome and burgeoning industry, but the costs are brutally high, and you'll find the safety precautions aren't all that they're cracked up to be. If you're wealthy enough, you can arrange a trip to outer space for roughly $10,000,000, but with no guarantee you'll meet aliens or shoot someone with a laser gun. As a counter-offer we're proposing FreeSpace and FreeSpace 2 for $2.99 each! That's one of the best s-f flight simulator series of all time, and for that price it's a steal. Join your colleagues and fight the evil alien Shivans in the Great War, the biggest conflict known to mankind. The series features not only intense s-f action, epic space battles and many customizable spaceships, but also a gripping story with many plot twists. And if you beat the game you can load plenty of mods for hundreds hours of additional gameplay. Also read the retrospective by Ed Zitron to know more about the series.

In short, if you don't yet (legally... ) own either of these games, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy from GOG.com now!