World on Fire

*"In a world where history has reset, the earth itself is at hazard as people fight over its resources. Mercenary is a common term and great air ships crowd the skies as fire keeps the world turning. That’s where* Project Wingman *finds itself. Lore-wise, this world has a history, a before, and even an after this game’s events. It is a stage that we may yet do many things in, but for now, this is our first foray into the World on Fire."*
― Matthew Nguyen
The **World on Fire** (or just **WoF**) is the name of the post-apocalyptic future Earth that *Project Wingman* takes place in. Its geography is grounded in our world, but radically altered due to the Calamity, with entirely new countries (at least 90) and other distinctions. It was first named by Matthew Nguyen on November 17, 2020.

## History

*Main article: Timeline*

This world was seemingly the same as ours (up to an industrial age of sorts) prior to the superdisaster called the Calamity. As a result, millions perished, entire continents were radically altered, and the world order was destroyed. However, after 150 years of survival, humanity flourished again and rebuilt civilization, and the Calamity faded into ancient history. Likewise, animals evolved to adapt to the new environmental situation. One of the ways the species thrived once more was harvesting the mineral that caused the Calamity, cordium. From then on, the world was segregated between two types of entities; those who possessed geothermal resources of such kind enjoy much prosperity and influence, and those lacking them are under the Periphery label, usually in need of energy and torn apart by war.

Centuries passed and new supranational entities formed, regulating the flow of geothermal resources across entire nations. The most prominent of these, though not the largest, is the Pacific Federation, which expanded imperially partly to integrate as many people as they can to their sphere of influence, and partly to sustain its energy-starved infrastructure. Although the Federation was diplomatic in its expansion most of the time, it was criticized for its monopoly on geothermal power, which in its later years would meet with crippling embargoes and military force.

Mercenary entities became a common sight throughout the world, most majorly the Mercenary Cabal, which existed as far back as before the After Calamity Era. In the years since their disappearance, mercenaries have been on the decline due to pressure from superpowers, but are still on high demand by the Periphery, whose nations tend to be underpowered in their militaries.

Now, in AC 432, one particular mass producer of geothermal resources, Cascadia, expressed discontent with the Federation's increasing military expansion and decided to secede. At the same time, a certain peculiar PMC named Sicario enters the fray.

## General information

Much of the world's geographic state is not yet known outside of North America, mainly due to Sicario's outdated briefing map. However, Nguyen teased an internal world map. In general, they evoke a sense of familiarity and alternate universe at the same time, though still meant to be our world in a far post-disaster future and not just another world with Earth's features. It also features slightly more advanced technology such as railguns and fleets of airships aside from some present-day technology such as space shuttles, television, and cellphones, but seems to be lacking in others such as firearms and stealth technology. Furthermore, and likely because of geothermal interference, most warfare takes place at direct engagements or close-range combat rather than at long range like in the present. Large gun turrets on naval ships, especially battleships, are still used in tandem with missiles.

Current international laws, languages, and even currencies (eg. the dollar) still exist to a degree, though languages are slightly distorted (eg. "Byzantiun" rather than "Byzantium," "Gladeus" instead of "gladius," "Dejanus," etc.) Buildings and infrastructure are still modern-day, and present-day brevity codes and codewords and tactics are still in use, such as "Winchester," "crossing the T," and "Tiger." According to Nguyen, character names were originally supposed to be distorted as well, but they "just forgot to do that." Some culturally based idioms such as "Catch-22" are still in use, further indicating an at least mid-late 20th-century occurrence for the Calamity.

So-called "fortress states" exist, presumably part of the increasingly more self-dependent Periphery and highly fortified, with some seemingly located in Europe.

## Canon

Currently, only the game itself is available, and the developers have established that any unofficial material (short stories, lore dumps, trivia, etc.), even from them, is non-canon; only the game itself, along with future added material into the game (as well as the *Project Wingman Artbook*) are part of the canon.

## Gallery

2017 non-canon concept map featuring Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and RussiaRandom image posted by Nguyen featuring Cascadian soldiers wielding rifles behind an M1 Abrams-like tank. This suggests an alien hybrid of modern and outdated military technology at a closer glance.
## Trivia

* The aforementioned world map is pending release as of writing, and Nguyen has stated he will speak to Abi Rahmani about releasing it.
* Evelyn London namedropped the name of the setting during the CIF Offensive Campaign. Similarly in cut dialogue, a random Cascadian Army soldier did the same in the midtown Endgame phase of the cut version of Mission 20.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 UPDATE 14: Release Date
2. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → World Entries: The Cascadian Conflict
3. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → World Entries: Cordium
4. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → World Entries: Long Cold
5. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → World Entries: The Calamity
6. ↑ Sector D2. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Mission 01: "Black Flag."
7. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → World Entries: Pacific Ocean
8. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → World Entries: The Periphery
9. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → World Entries: Federation Mainland
10. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → World Entries: Formation of Federation
11. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → Factions: Mercenary Cabal
12. ↑ Sector D2 Limited. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Files Archive → Factions: Mercenaries
13. ↑ A world map does exist internally so there are considerations we've made -Discord statement by Matthew Nguyen December 4, 2020 10:22AM
14. ↑ Nguyen, M. [FlyAwayNoVV]. (2021, 20 Mar). *I think one thing that's important to reckon with going forward if we continue* Project Wingman *is that this isn't* [Comment on the online forum post *An estimate of the period when the First Calamity happened (just for fun)*]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Project\_Wingman/comments/mbmbbc/comment/gs0ggqf
15. ↑ originally the names for the WoF were supposed to be like super weird but we just forgot to do that so you have riveting names like Peter and Joshua and Evelyn -Discord statement by Matthew Nguyen, February 2, 2021, 7:37AM
16. ↑ Sector D2. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Mission 01: "Black Flag."
17. ↑ >looking at the three spreadsheets designated: AMERICA / THE FEDERATION/ EU/AFRICA In big letters for one subsection: [FORTRESS STATES Those crazy Swiss man -Discord statement by Matthew Nguyen, May 22, 2022, 5:03AM]
18. ↑ Just FYI nothing is canon until its ingame. except for Lawyer. -Discord statement by Abi Rahmani, December 12, 2020, 3:22PM
19. ↑ this map is super not canon and unofficial but it was an idea that went back about 3 years -Discord statement by Matthew Nguyen December 7, 2020 8:55AM
20. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/311334325402599425/780569944571904010/948461460449787964
21. ↑ I had an old friend who may or may not have been responsible for Ace Combat's most famous map put one together for the World on Fire a long time ago Down the line I'll talk with Arby about releasing it, -Discord statement by Matthew Nguyen December 4, 2020 10:53AM
22. ↑ Sector D2. (2020). *Project Wingman* [Video game]. San Francisco, CA: Humble Games. Mission 14: "Open Season."