C&C Labs News Wire

— Wednesday, March 31, 2004 —

Posted By: Mike at 5:02:34 PM ET

Tribute to Westwood

It's been a long time since I've done a news post, but this item is definitely newsworthy.

Today is the one year anniversary of the official closure of Westwood Studios.  Cabal, webmaster of CnC World, has posted a nice tribute to what was arguably one of the greatest gaming companies of all time.  Here's a clip from the post, which I believe says it best:

The consolodation brought sadness for many people both inside and outside the C&C Community, from all around the world. Westwood Studios brought us the C&C series, which became one of the most popular games series ever. It also brought us great titles such as Earth and Beyond, Lands of Lore, Kyrandia and Nox. It found a special place in the hearts and minds of millions.

Westwood Studios was my personal inspiration to enter the C&C Community, which I've been a part of since the opening days of RA2, one of my favorite games of all time, and one among many great hits in the Command & Conquer series of games.  To read the rest of the post, head on over to CnC World, where you'll also be able to see a number of CnCWorld-exclusive photos from the closing of Westwood Studios, as well as profiles of several former prominent Westwood staff members.


— Tuesday, March 30, 2004 —

Posted By: Luckie at 5:14:57 PM ET

Generals, Spam, and Boxter's

Hey Everyone. Just doing a giant wrap-up of everything news because I feel like it.
First off, a reminder that The Official C&C Generals Message Boards has a contest every week where you can win a Generals T-shirt. w00t! Head the message boards (Community -> Message Boards, from the main page) for more info.
Next, MacCentral is reporting that C&C Generals for the Mac has aparently gone gold. You can preorder it here.
Aspyr Media Inc. has announced that its Mac conversion of Command & Conquer Generals has gone Gold Master, the final step before the game goes into duplication. Aspyr expects Command & Conquer Generals to hit stores by April 16, 2004. Command & Conquer Generals requires Mac OS X v10.2.6 or later, a G4/1GHz or faster, 256MB RAM, 1.6GB free disk space, ATI Radeon 7500 or Nvidia GeForce2 MX or better 3D graphics with 32MB of VRAM, and a DVD drive in order to install and play. Rated T for Teen by the ESRB, Command & Conquer Generals costs about US$50. It's still available for pre-order from Aspyr's Web site.

CNCDEN is reporting that the oringal C&C is frequently mentioned in the 10th aniversary edition of PC Gamer. The SE describes it as the 5th most influential game on the list. It's in very good company and will most likely be worth the read no matter how you get hands on it. Buy it from a bookstore, buy it from a newstand, or read it in a Barnes and Noble.
Planet CNC is hosting a new in-site mod called Enduring Freedom.
Enduring Freedom Mod (EF) is a highly realistic (and I mean HIGHLY realistic) modification to the game Command & Conquer: Generals. It also takes advantage of the benefits provided by the refined Sage Engine in Zero Hour. It takes place in Afghanistan and centers around the current war against the terrorist group called Al Qaeda. We are working on a historically accurate campaign that will cover the war down to every detail. We are using actual satellite information to reproduce locations such as Kandahar and Kabul. We are also including every U.S. Military Division and group that was actually deployed to Afghanistan in 2001. These groups include: The 10th Mountain Division, 15th & 26th Marine Expeditionary Units, Navy Seals, Delta Force, & Soldiers from the U.S.S. Enterprise Carrier Battle Group (ENTBATGRU CVN-65).

Fans of CNC Series know that the site has been down for a little while but "no worries!" it's back online.
The Blitzkrieg2 Mod keeps chugging along. They have released some news shots of the action. Check 'em out.
The screenshots for today show the Go229 in action, bombing a group of Soviet tanks. Right now they each carry 2 bombs, but we plan on adding machine guns to it as well to take on fighters as well. This may seem like a bit much, but the plane will only be available to those who decide to use the Aircraft tech tree for the Germans (meaning they won't be able to get some of the other goodies like the Maus, Sturmtiger or V2 as well). Flyby did the model and skin for the Go229.

CNC Unleashed is following a familiar trend in the community as it is looking for staff members. They need News Updaters, File Managers, and Interviewers/Reviewers. Interested? Check them out. Not interested in them? Check us out.
It seems that EA and Gas Powered Games have teamed up.
The two companies have partnered to create a Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game for the PC. The new title is slated for release in 2006. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
This agreement reinforces EA's commitment to nurturing independent game development studios and providing them with the tools, expertise, and distribution power needed to succeed in the global marketplace.

Now for some non-Generals related news... or is it?
Bill Gates says that in 10 years, we won't be spending money on hardware... it's the software that will cost us. He say's that hardware will be almost free. Gee, not that I think that it's all part of his elaborate scheme for him to be the only person in the tech world making money.... the entire article is here.
"Ten years out, in terms of actual hardware costs you can almost think of hardware as being free - I'm not saying it will be absolutely free - but in terms of the power of the servers, the power of the network will not be a limiting factor," he said in an interview at the Gartner Symposium in San Diego yesterday.

Listen to music while you play Generals? Do you actually own it? Does it really matter? The Harvard Business School reports that the RIAA is full of themselves... well, almost. The story can be found here.
According to the worst-case scenario of the researchers' findings, it takes 5,000 downloads to reduce sales of an album by one copy. Using those estimates, CD sales would have decreased by 2 million copies from 2000 to 2002, when actually they dipped by 139 million copies. Meanwhile, for the top 25 percent of best-selling albums (with more than 600,000 copies sold), downloading went hand-in-hand with increased album sales.

AOL took down a spammer. The world is a better place. Infact, they are giving away the Porche Boxter that they got from him "at the successful conclusion of a legal action taken against the spammer". More details are here. You know, often, criminals are put in jail in legal action have to pay for things they have done. As a result, their possesions are put on auction to raise money. Now, atleast there is some dignity in having your belongings auctioned, but given away? Oh yes, AOL has finally put spammers where they belong... below criminals.
AOL said it seized the 2002 Porsche Boxster convertible "at the successful conclusion of a legal action taken against the spammer" and would launch a sweepstakes to give it away "as a gesture of support and thanks to its members for their cooperation in the fight against spam and spammers".

Well, that's my news. Phew. Long enough? I'd say so. It kind of reminds of a site I once read where halfway through there was a line that said: If you are still reading, you could have... *insert a large list of activities here*. Peace-out!

— Friday, March 26, 2004 —

Posted By: Spectre at 8:20:42 AM ET

Overclock on Cards

On NVidia Cards, it is possible to clock the graphics card to 325mhz for the VPU and 600 mhz for th memory without having it crash. I have tried this for the mX4000+ and it works perfectly. However, it does get hot and in the beginning will have some smoke. I would not recommend clocking it higher than my recommendation for it might get unstable.
With this clocking Generals runs real smooth with three teamss, just three, i haven't tried more. But each team takes a lot of memory since their base is huge. I am not sure if it will work for other people but i just want you to be aware of how much you can clock with out overheating it or crashing it. (325nhz-VPU;600mhz-memory->NVIDIA MX4000+)

Edit By Luckie: There is a program called "Powerstrip" that can be useful in overclocking graphics cards. I highly recommend having more than one case fan and possibly water cooling when overclocking to higher speeds. Although overclocking can seem fun, it is possible to shorten the life of your pc with it. Generals World does not take responsibility for broken computers caused by overclocking.
Last edited by Luckie on Friday, March 26, 2004 at 3:50:28 PM.

— Wednesday, March 24, 2004 —

Posted By: DEATHsyphon at 1:20:00 PM ET

Polls lack People

Now hey everyone I know that many people come and check out this site everyday, and everyday there is always that box that says Poll and has some question for you guys to ansewer. It doesnt take long just make your selection click on submit and BAM! you have participated in the polls. So everyone Show your CnC Generls World Spirt and cast your Vote for the Polls!

— Tuesday, March 23, 2004 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 1:02:02 PM ET

New Poll and Poll Results

Here's the results from last week's poll question. Thanks to all who voted. I'm sure we can do better then 33 votes this week!

What is the best aspect of Generals World?
Forums
14
42%
News Posting
4
12%
Content Pages
3
9%
Not many ads
6
18%
These polls ;)
6
18%

Total Votes: 33
Last edited by Luckie on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 at 7:09:39 AM.

— Saturday, March 20, 2004 —

Posted By: Mike at 11:10:03 AM ET

Email Virus Warning

I would like to warn all C&C Generals World visitors to immediately delete any emails from any of the following email addresses, as they may contain viruses:

  • staff@cncgeneralsworld.com
  • admin@cncgeneralsworld.com
  • youraccount@cncgeneralsworld.com
  • news@cncgeneralsworld.com

Please disregard any and all emails from the email addresses above, even if the subject claims that it contains "important information for your account," or the like.  However, please be aware that Generals World has not been infected with a virus, as none of the above email addresses are actually real.  These emails are fake email addresses that are being "spoofed" in an attempt to infect unsuspecting visitors with viruses.  Any emails you may receive from these email addresses were not sent by Generals World staff. 

Generals World and the Generals World staff team will contact you only from the email addresses listed on the Generals World Staff page.


— Thursday, March 18, 2004 —

Posted By: Spectre at 8:19:38 AM ET

Generals Powers

When playing Zero:Hour, i've noticed that China's Generals Powers are not only 'cheaper' but much more easier to earn than the US or China. In a few minutes you can be a 5-star General where it took an hour for US and GLA; and you do the same amount of things. Check it out! It might not be for others but it sure was for me.

— Wednesday, March 17, 2004 —

Posted By: Luckie at 4:33:23 PM ET

What does your site rank?

Hey everyone, First of all, I'd like to thank our two news posters for really getting off strong. Next, I'd like to take a mention to notice that CNCGeneralsWorld.com's traffic rank is 408,510. What's this mean? Well, google alone searches of 4 billion web pages. You do the math. So I pose this question: What is your Alexa Rank? Hey, if you want to see the Generals World Stats, feel free! Just Click Here!

— Wednesday, March 17, 2004 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 2:51:28 PM ET

New Poll and Poll Results

This week we have a new poll question. Here are the results of the last one. Be sure to vote! We can do better then 11 votes! Show your site spirit!

Which Side Do You Like?
USA
3
27%
China
3
27%
GLA
5
45%

Total Votes: 11

Last edited by Blbpaws on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 at 7:56:56 PM.

— Tuesday, March 16, 2004 —

Posted By: Spectre at 9:09:49 AM ET

Graphics Cards

So far the best graphics card I've tried that is the MX 4000 Plus with 128 mb memory with a overcolock VPU of 325mhz. It can handled Generals with ease compare with Radeon 9600 SE (SE for slower edition as i found out) so try the NVIDIA Chips, they can be overclocked without crashing. Radeons, only the expensive Radeons like 9600 XT, etc. can be better, but for a good price, check out the MX4000 PLus.

— Sunday, March 14, 2004 —

Posted By: DEATHsyphon at 9:26:28 AM ET

Living up to the Name

As I was going through some forums i came across the one about Time Zones, Its a poll that simply asks " What time zone do you live in" all of the U.S. timezones are listed then also there is the "other" which is for those of you that dont live in the U.S. (the american timezones not just U.S.). As of now its split 50/50. Compared to other websites we have a high amount of our members not living in the U.S. which just goes to show we are a true "Generals World" I incourage you all to go to this poll and vote and write what you want Click Here for Poll

— Sunday, March 14, 2004 —

Posted By: DEATHsyphon at 8:21:56 AM ET

Blizzard first of many

Well here's somehting for you all that hopefully won't effect you. For most of you it will be good news because personely I dont like cheaters and with Blizzard taking a big stand agaist cheaters other companys such as EA will follow and that means CnC generals folks. here is the story
Blizzard declares war on Battle.net cheats
The Warcraft III developer shutters nearly 300,000 accounts tied to illicit programs. In what might be one of the biggest cheat purges ever, Blizzard today closed 282,000 Battle.net accounts associated with game hacks and illicit programs. "In keeping with our aggressive stance against cheating," said a post on Battle.net, "we have permanently closed 263,000 StarCraft accounts and 19,000 Warcraft III accounts." In addition, Blizzard permanently banned 1,100 Warcraft III CD keys used with the shuttered accounts and forbade another 8,000 from ladder play for one month. "Repeat offenders risk having their CD keys disabled, which will result in the permanent removal of their copies of StarCraft or Warcraft III from Battle.net," said Blizzard, which also issued a stark warning to would-be cheats: "We will continue to monitor Battle.net for cheating and take action as needed." Blizzard's actions are the latest in an ongoing anticheat offensive by developers of online games. At the end of January, DICE included Punkbuster anticheating software in the v1.6.19 patch for its ultrapopular online WWII shooter Battlefield 1942. By Tor Thorsen -- GameSpot

— Friday, March 12, 2004 —

Posted By: DEATHsyphon at 5:52:05 PM ET

Keyboard=Incubator

Well Hi to everyone, I'm a new News admin. I figured that I would start off with something that is kind of intersting doesnt have to much to do with CnC Generals, but again its something intersting and might make you start using those toilet seat covers on your keyboard. This news article was cited off of-http://australianit.news.com.au-
Toilet seats cleaner than keyboards
Correspondents in New York MARCH 12, 2004 KEYBOARDS, computer mice and telephone dials are more infested with microbes than toilet seats, according to a new study. The University of Arizona study study recommends that office work stations be regularly disinfected since they can on average contain 400 times as many germs as a toilet seat, said Charles Gerba, a University of Arizona microbiologist. According to the study, telephones harboured up to 25,127 germs per square inch, keyboards 3,295 and computer mice 1,676. The average office contains 20,961 germs per square inch. "Desks are really bacteria cafeterias," Mr Gerba said. "They are breakfast bars, lunch tables and everything else, as we spend more hours at the office. "When someone is infected with a cold or flu bug, the surfaces they touch during the day become germ transfer points because some cold and flu viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours," he added. "An office can become an incubator." US health officials last month warned about the dissemination of germs during the flu season.
Last edited by DEATHsyphon on Saturday, March 13, 2004 at 1:36:16 PM.

— Wednesday, March 10, 2004 —

Posted By: Mike at 11:14:05 AM ET

New Affiliation

Generals World is now affiliated with another German Command & Conquer fansite, called CNCPlanet.  Its a great site in the German community, so be sure to check it out.

. -= CnCPlanet.de =-.

 


— Monday, March 8, 2004 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 4:07:48 PM ET

New Poll and Poll Results

Hi all, I'm now in charge of running the poll. It should be updated weekly on Tuesdays. Our poll question this week is "How often do you play Zero Hour Online?" Our results from last week were:
How does our site's loading time compare with that of other sites?
Lightning speed
39
13%
Fast
73
24%
Average
86
28%
Slow
66
22%
Excruciatingly Slow
19
6%
It barely loads!
16
5%

Total Votes: 299
Thanks to all 299 of you who voted!

— Monday, March 8, 2004 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 2:03:05 PM ET

Real Threat Zero Hour Available

While you all have been hard at work posting in the forums we have updated our Real Threat Mod for Zero Hour. With some new upgrades since the previous one the Zero Hour Mod can be had at http://www.cncgeneralsworld.com/downloads/RTMZHv1.0.zip

We are always open to your comments on the RT mod on our forums.

Blbpaws

Last edited by Mike on Monday, March 8, 2004 at 9:07:35 PM.

— Wednesday, March 3, 2004 —

Posted By: Mike at 10:39:37 AM ET

Migration Complete

The server migration is now complete.  Everything should be fully functional at this time.

 

Thanks for visiting CnC Generals World.


— Monday, March 1, 2004 —

Posted By: Mike at 11:14:52 AM ET

Migration Status

As you may have noticed, many of the pages at http://www.cncgeneralsworld.com/ have been updated so that they redirect to a new, temporary web address (cncgeneralsworldcom.winstemp.com).  The forums are now back online at this new address and everything seems to be functioning correctly.  Generals World will be back to its regular address within a few days, once the new domain name server changes fully resolve throughout the internet.

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