C&C Labs News Wire

— Friday, September 29, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 6:08:17 PM ET

C&C 3 Newsletter

The latest C&C 3 newsletter has been mailed out. Here are the highlights:
  • The publication of a supposed GDI dossier on Kane. While some parts are blacked out, it contains a basic overview of some of the Kane myth. Of course, during all the interesting parts, it seems every key noun or adjective is blacked out, making it of slightly less value.
  • A short video transmission from Kane, as he repeats a key point of his, and Nod's, message.
  • A new Black Hand wallpaper, available in four different sizes.
  •  
     
  • The next podcast will be October 6th, by Predator. Maybe we'll get an update on Apoc then.  We're sure to hear about some gameplay issues, including a rationalization for why EA is including infantry squads in Command & Conquer 3.
  • A new post by Mike Verdu on the official C&C 3 blog, with details on why GDI technology in 2047 is closer to the Tiberian Dawn units than the Tiberian Sun ones, and with an overview of some Nod technology. Here's a snip:
    GDI walkers from the Second Tiberium War (TW2) were hugely expensive to build and maintain. They were also quite temperamental on the battlefield. The advantages conferred by their all-terrain capabilities were offset by cost, poor reliability, and easily exploited vulnerabilities. The only mech left in GDI service in 2047 is the huge Mk III Juggernaut mobile artillery system – a direct descendant of the Mk I Juggernaut in TW2. The Mk III is based on a Mk II Titan chassis with a new turret and crew pod, upgraded cannons, and a next generation fire control system. Because these vehicles are intended for indirect fire support and are not expected to be on the front lines, the advantages conferred by all-terrain navigation were deemed worthy of the risks.
  • Also, here's an in-game look at the Nod Avatar:
Last edited by Mike on Saturday, October 7, 2006 at 12:44:41 PM.

— Friday, September 29, 2006 —

Posted By: AuroraAlphaHL2 at 5:46:02 AM ET

Generals: Condition Red Release 1

Zero Hour Mod Generals: Condition Red has released info about their first release on their Mod Database Profile. In part of the announcement, Slye_Fox says this: 

If you look at our compleation in the profile, you'll see it's 80% (The acutrate % is 81%).

The First release will include:

Factions;
Allies - America, Korea, France, Germany, Great Britan
Soviets - Libya, Iraq, Cuba, Russia
Maps;
Downtown

Their news post can be found here.

Last edited by Mike on Friday, September 29, 2006 at 5:25:10 PM.

— Thursday, September 28, 2006 —

Posted By: AuroraAlphaHL2 at 4:06:34 PM ET

Tiberian Sun Rising Screenshots

Zero Hour mod Tiberian Sun Rising has released 2 new screenshots. 1 is a deployed Juggernaut, and another a group of Titans.

 

More info as well as the full size screenshots can be found Here.

Last edited by Blbpaws on Thursday, September 28, 2006 at 9:12:53 PM.

— Wednesday, September 27, 2006 —

Posted By: AuroraAlphaHL2 at 12:06:43 PM ET

Halogen's Possible Return?

The Halogen Team has a plan to revive their mod and make it legal, even after Microsoft told them to shut it down due to infringing on Bungie's intellectual property, indicated by their homepage. When the bottom area of their website is highlighted, it reveals this text:

We'll be Back and legal, soon!

Everyone who has a first breath
Has a last breath

Every civilization that lays a first brick
Has a final, darkest hour...

For the humans of Tau1 Gruis...

That time is now.

Their homepage can be found Here.
Last edited by AuroraAlphaHL2 on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 5:29:17 PM.

— Saturday, September 23, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 4:03:49 PM ET

Verdu Comments on C&C 3

At C&C Infilitration, responses from Mike Verdu have been posted to two questions asked of him during the Leipzig Show. First, faction specific technologies, such as burrowing and hover technologies, will be seen in C&C 3 (it's not clear if those are examples of such technologies in past games, or specific features that will be brought back). This question, it seems, will be answered next week on the official C&C 3 blog. Second:
I can absolutely say that both GDI and Nod have extensive base defenses. GDI can build walls, machine gun towers ("Watchtowers"), anti-vehicle turrets with cannons, anti-aircraft missile batteries, and an advanced base defense that shoots out an area of effect weapon. Nod has really cool shredder turrets for killing infantry, missile launchers for aircraft, and a laser battery for taking out vehicles. They also have the Obelisk of Light as their advanced base defense.
So that's a few more things cleared up, but those few drops aren't going to quench the thirst of the drought of news.
Last edited by Blbpaws on Saturday, September 23, 2006 at 8:06:53 PM.

— Saturday, September 23, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 6:51:46 AM ET

New Version of the Mod SDK Released

There's a new version, 1.01, of the BFME II/C&C Mod Software Development Kit. It now also works with C&C Renegade. Here are the new features:
  • Added the option to export terrains for Command & Conquer: Renegade
  • Added the AABox option to W3D Tools dialog
  • Added example Dazzle.ini file into the 3dsmax7/plugins directory, which enables the Dazzle option in the W3D Tools dialog. Renegade modders will probably want to replace that file with the Dazzle.ini file that came with their original version of Renegade.
More details and the download are available here.
Last edited by Mike on Saturday, September 23, 2006 at 12:25:31 PM.

— Thursday, September 21, 2006 —

Posted By: Luckie at 6:50:44 PM ET

Halogen Mod Team Hired By Microsoft?

I was listening to my podcasts when I heard something this community may be very interested in. At this time, it's only a rumor but it provides hope to fans of that amazing mod.

Last week on 1up.com's 1Up Yours Podcast, the hosts said that they heard the team was hired to create a Halo RTS. Props to Blbpaws for his prediction that the team wasn't truly done making Halo RTS's. Since the show is so long, I've uploaded a clip to the Misc. Downloads section for folks to hear (96kbps mp3).

You can find that here.
Last edited by Luckie on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 10:54:45 PM.

— Thursday, September 21, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 2:02:39 PM ET

News Roundup

Some recent happenings:
  • Quite a long shot, but there's a petition out there pressuring Microsoft to allow Halogen to continue work on their mod. You can sign it here.
  • CNC Den has two new Zero Hour maps, and a new poll.
  • The Shockwave mod has a few new renders.
  • Planet CNC has a new mailbag topic, and is asking for resubmission of their design contest entries.

— Thursday, September 21, 2006 —

Posted By: CommieDog at 12:48:32 AM ET

All-Stars Pages Updated

Mammoth MKII Kirov Airship Overlord
Several people have recently expressed their concerns about the lack of (visible, at least) progress on the CnC: All-Stars mod.  Well, using top-secret insider knowledge obtained from blackmailing Blbpaws with some precious INI code (), I can confidently tell you that there is some actual progress on the mod.  And to celebrate that fact, I have gone through each of the moribund planning pages and updated them with a year's worth of balancing changes.  Not only that, I also slapped some cameo images straight from the All-Stars mod to make it look all pretty (except for the Gens cameos--I had to swipe those from MicScoTho ).  There are still a few cameo images missing (especially for infantry), but it's still worth a look whether you've never heard of All-Stars before or followed us from the beginning.
Mech Armor Upgrade Black Flack Upgrade Obelisk of Light Tesla Coil Nuclear Reactor
Last edited by Mike on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 4:10:30 PM.

— Saturday, September 16, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 6:07:09 PM ET

New (OK, Old) Poll and Poll Results

I updated our poll question the other day, but forgot to mention that I did so and post the results. So, just a little bit late, here are the results from the last poll:
Should there be infantry squads in C&C 3?
71
Sure, micromanaging all those infantry units can be a pain!
 
93
Hell no! This is Command & Conquer, not BFME!
 
Total Votes: 164
You can vote in the current one, asking about EA's focus in creating C&C 3, in the right sidebar, as usual.

— Thursday, September 14, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 3:51:25 PM ET

Predator Speaks About Multiplayer

Many folks over at our affiliate Game Replays have been very critical of EA recently, fearing the alleged focus on singleplayer will reduce the quality of multiplayer. Some of their criticisms, in my view, have been valid enough, while some have been quite off-base. Predator, the current community manager, responded:
Let me be blunt in saying, you guys are being near ridiculous in your assumptions, and no offense or disrespect to anyone and their opinions, but let me say again, just because the single player experience is being treated as our #1 focal point of the game, does not mean for a single mili-second that multiplayer is going to get any less focus.

It simply means, we recognize the single player in Generals and BFME 1&2 was not up to par with expectations, and especially for a C&C game where story is paramount, we realize that we need to make a kick-ass single player campaign with a very compelling story. Ladies and gentlemen, I know you guys are hardcore multiplayer, but Starcraft, Wacraft, Age of Empires, C&C - classics of the genre, would not have been nearly as successful at their release if not for a good single player experience to capture the hearts of many gamers. Sure you can argue that the multiplayer kept the life of the game going...and good post support, but single player (proven by research) is what drives a huge chunk of the RTS audience initially. You don't tell your friends to see a movie because the visual effects were cool and your seat was comfortable, you tell them because it had an awesome story and kept you entertained. Unless we're talking about an MMO or game that is built specifically for multiplayer (like Counterstrike, Team Fortress, etc), then single player must be considered as a paramount feature for the game to appeal across all audiences.
It goes on much longer, so if you're interested, read on. Predator makes some good points; singleplayer is critical for success as a C&C game, if not for an RTS game in general. But there comes a point when the singleplayer campaign has been beaten (many times), and it's time to play online--a total different, yet very engaging when done correctly--experience. EA has to address both. It is simply part of creating a game that's compelling and has good replay value, two things that should be primary goals for C&C 3. For now, EA has responded to those critics. However, the criticisms will be much louder, and the wallets closed, should they not make good where it counts.

— Monday, September 11, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 1:28:27 PM ET

Five Years After

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. On this day five years ago, the lives of all Americans and the direction of our country was changed forever. For all of us here, let me express our grief and remembrance for those affected by the horrible tragedy. We realize that words cannot bring back what was lost, and that words are far from enough.

Let us not forget that day, the towers, and those lost in them, because some will never be able to forget.

"He who controls the present controls the past. He who controls the past controls the future."
Last edited by Blbpaws on Monday, September 11, 2006 at 6:29:26 PM.

— Monday, September 11, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 1:22:42 PM ET

Halogen Clarification

Yesterday we reported that the Halogen mod had been shut down, and I speculated that this was a signal Microsoft was working on a Halo RTS. That was speculation--based on evidence, but speculation--on my part and shouldn't be taken as anything else. However, for those thinking along these lines, there's a post at Slashdot by a Halogen team member, Adam Saltsman, regarding the shutdown.
Its not like no one knew about this mod; we were slashdotted a year ago, were on the front page of RvB, Bungie definitely had their eye on us, we got mentioned in a couple print mags...we were not shut down because we got "too big" or "just got noticed". I think I know why MS Games canned us, just need to wait a couple of weeks to make sure, so I'm not really comfortable writing about it yet. But I'm 95% sure it had nothing to do with "spontaneous noticement"
Well, this is mostly unrelated to C&C, but it's a good follow up to yesterday's post, and perhaps a sign of new competition for EA in the RTS space.

— Sunday, September 10, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 5:24:55 AM ET

Modding News

  • Red Twilight has a some renders and screens up.
  • Tiberian Sun Rising also has some new renders up, including one of the famed Mammoth MKII.
  • Continuing the render theme, Cold War Crisis has a bunch of their reworked Su-27 flanker.
  • Halogen has been shut down by Microsoft (looks like someone's planning a Halo RTS sooner or later). Here's a note from the Halogen team:
    Hours ago, we finally recieved the words we've been dreading since the mod started to get noticed. Microsoft has decided that we are infringing on the intellectual property of Bungie Studios and has asked us to stop development on Halogen.

    I was going to write a big sappy letter here, but what's the point. So..that's it then, I guess. The forums, site, and Moddb profile will all be shut down within the week. I can't say it hasn't been fun. It's a shame it has to end like this, but I suppose that's how it goes. Thanks, guys, for all the time you've spent supporting us. It's been a pleasure. We hate this as much as you do.
  • Well, that certainly is a shame, but you can see where it makes a bit of sense from M$'s standpoint. These guys were modifying the game of a competitor with Microsoft's intellectual property. Where the roles reversed, I'm sure EA would have done the same, and probably early on in the process.

— Thursday, September 7, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 3:24:55 AM ET

TFD 1.03 update

Predator has passed along the following note about the next patch (1.03) for C&C: The First Decade:
This patch was not cancelled, it is on hold for the moment while we finish up patch 1.05 for BFME2 and 1.01 for BFME2 360. It is also on hold due to the development of C&C 3, but with that said, this patch we know is critical to the C&C community, and in APOC's absence, I will acquire his strategic plans and figure out what can be done. I'm fully aware of this patch and will provide you guys an update as soon as possible.

— Tuesday, September 5, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 5:58:00 AM ET

Commercial Advertising in C&C 3?

(Thanks Lion) According to Yahoo, EA has agreed to "Offer Dynamic In-Game Advertising on Xbox 360 and PC Titles." That is, place advertising in game based on the current action or other factors. Could this affect C&C 3? Predator answers:
Hey guys,

Ingame advertising is nothing new these days, its all over the place in games now. With respect to this development team, currently we don't have any intention of placing in-game ads in the Tiberium universe. No, Tiberium Coke will not be in the game, and the first person to mod one, should have to drink a can of it themselves first :o)

If any type of advertising were to appear in our game, it would not be during the actual gameplay experience, and it would be subtle in a sense that it wouldn't affect your play experience at all, thats the last thing we want to do. You won't be seeing TV ads after the EA logo, hehe.

Do not worry, we're not about to put Sprite and Coke cans littered around the world of a Tiberium infected Earth, no thank you sir.
Since we're going to be paying $50 or more for a game that EA knows will sell well, I think keeping it advertising free should be the basic minimum. Instead of focusing on ways to sneak ads in that won't distract us from the gameplay, maybe a greater concern should be making sure the game is good enough so that when playing it, we don't want to be distracted.

— Sunday, September 3, 2006 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 6:20:36 AM ET

Predator Responds

Over at the offical forums, EA Apoc Predator posted a response to some recent points of criticism about C&C 3:
-Concerning Absence of Mobile Bases
Predator: This is a far cry of falsehood. Mobile Bases are NOT taken out, you still have your MCV which can move anywhere on the map. You can build a base, pack up your MCV and move it somewhere else. The original mobile base design had something on a similar plane to the Terran in Starcraft, but we've scoped away from that for more than just balance reasons, I cannot discuss all the reasons in length. The MCV is plenty mobile. I think you will find some nice surprises. Not having a huge fortress to move around the map isn't the end of the world either.

-No Buildable Navy?
Predator: When was it a crime for a development team to make a design decision that fits the style of game they are building? Once you get the game in hand, and see the intense action, I think you'll transpire past Navy. I personally like Navy in RTS games and am not disagreeing persay, but I go with whats best for the design of the game. There is a compromise to a degree, you have the Aircraft Carrier.

-Head Spinning Fast...Fluid Gameplay
Predator: Fast fluid fun, you guys are misinterpreting as an RTS game that will be over in a few clicks. Please do not misinterpret this saying. Fast fluid and fun means when you click the button, the action happens, your units move instantly, means also, we want you to get into the action quickly and have a fluid explosive experience. This is an RTS game, so expect a high level of strategy. Don't undermine before you don't know anything about what the game will offer strategically. We have plenty of strategic options planned that we haven't discussed at all yet. Remember, the gameplay video was just a demonstration, not the final end result. We'll be tuning balance and speed until the last second thru thousands of hours of playtesting as APOC always liked to say.

— Friday, September 1, 2006 —

Posted By: Mike at 7:45:17 PM ET

"We Have APOC"

We Have APOCIt seems that APOC's recent disappearance has caused quite the stir.  A Nod zealot just posted a message on the Generals World Forums, including an image that would seem to prove APOC has indeed been taken hostage.  This zealot has been spreading this message of hate throughout the community, including the Official Forums.

However, conflicting reports have come in to view.  As Blbpaws keenly observed in our News Wire, it seems likely that APOC was a Nod supporter all along, despite dismissals of this by APOC's replacement, Predator:
He is also unbreakable (you all saw what he took on the forums), so don't think for a second that Nod and Kane will break him. He is strong and I'm fully confident that he is alive.
And yet, this image has appeared.

Perhaps the only thing that is clear is that Nod is still fully capable of manipulating the media at large.  To what ends, time will tell.
Last edited by Mike on Friday, September 1, 2006 at 11:48:53 PM.

— Friday, September 1, 2006 —

Posted By: Mike at 7:31:56 AM ET

APOC Kidnapped?

Those of you who listened to the August podcast are no doubt already aware of the situation. I received this urgent message in my email last night:
Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have some very unfortunate and disturbing news concerning our noble and dedicated Community Manager, APOC. In his latest world-wide podcast, APOC’s cover was blown and his top secret base was infiltrated by Nod forces who were using stealth technology to break into the Blue Zone where he was stationed. The self- proclaimed Messiah, the man we know only as Kane, seized the opportunity to deliver a treacherous and threatening message to the world, which many of you have heard by now.

When rescue forces arrived at the scene, the base was decimated, with a noticeable blood trail snaking towards the damaged entrance. Unfortunately, this surprise attack completely under-minded APOC’s strategic plans for the community and now we must do everything we can to rescue our noble Community Manager. We are uncertain of his whereabouts, or for that matter, the state of his well being.

Thankfully, we have a team ready to deploy on an immediate search and rescue mission. In the meantime, I have been hired as your intermittent Community Manager until APOC returns. You will know me as EA Predator, or just Predator if you prefer. I understand you may have questions and fears to express, rest assured, I will make certain they are answered. I have been speaking to Executive Producer Mike Verdu and am already caught up to speed on everything concerning Command & Conquer 3 and The Rise of the Witch-king, and not to mention, The Battle for Middle-earth 2 for Xbox 360. You should also know I’m an extremely avid reader on the message boards, so I’m fully aware of the hottest issues.

I’ll be assuming APOC’s exact role which means you will not miss a beat in his absence. I’ve been told a search and rescue team has already been deployed to bring your Community Manager back home to safety. For now, Predator is at your command.

- Predator

We will find APOC

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