C&C Labs News Wire

Thanks largely to the efforts of our loyal fans whom continue to sustain and grow the Command & Conquer community, Command & Conquer has become a legendary franchise and it’s time to celebrate its birth once again.

In order to give back to the fans for over 12 years of devotion we are putting together a 12th Anniversary celebration during the month of September. However, as any Command & Conquer fan knows, the true party starts today, August 31st, which marks 12 years since Command & Conquer Gold launched way back in 1995.

To kick the celebration off, today we have a special surprise which we are certain new and old Command & Conquer fans will enjoy. We are providing the original Command & Conquer Gold as a free download, compatible for Windows XP! This is the same version included with the collectors pack Command & Conquer: The First Decade, and is now available for you to download for free!

Mod SDK

• The Mod SDK installer will only work with the 1.07 patch. The Mod SDK installer is for the user to create customizable maps, units, AI, UI, and much more. Visit commandandconquer.com for more information and to download the Mod SDK.
• A custom map launcher screen has been added to launch single player custom maps. This is found under the Skirmish button in the Main Menu.
  
• Replay browser has been converted into a general game browser. There is a tab for launching replays and a tab for launching Mods.

Cheats

• Fixes for various cheats have been put into place. Please be advised that players attempting to tamper with the game may cause online matches to automatically desync.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that wouldn't allow GDI projectile shells to track targets properly. 
• Fixed a bug that caused the Scrin Drone Platform to self-destruct when coming in contact with an enemy upgraded Scrin Annihilator Tripod.
• Fixed a bug with decoyed GDI Mammoth Tanks created by the Nod Decoy Army support power that allowed them to crush enemy units.
• Fixed a bug where support powers, Scrin Tiberium Vibration Scan and Nod Radar Jamming Missile, deducted twice the amount of credits indicated.
• Fixed errors that caused some players to experience unexpected problems due to copy protection.

Balance Changes

• Scrin Mothership will now take 8 seconds to deploy over the Scrin Signal Transmitter, where it will be unselectable by user but can be attacked by opponent. Scrin Mothership speed has been increased by 33%. Weapon chain reaction delay increased by 1 sec.
• GDI Pitbull health reduced by 20%. Mortar given a scatter radius of 50. Mortar upgrade cost increased to 2000 from 1000.
  
• Scrin Buzzer Hive now leaves 1 Scrin Buzzer instead of 3 when destroyed or sold.
  
• Cranes for all 3 factions can no longer build defensive structures or superweapons.
  
• Harvesters' rate of collecting Tiberium has been made equal across all factions. Harvesters will now unload at the refinery before moving to a new Tiberium field.
  

Other Changes

• John Freeman and James Geiger credited for Mastering Lab work.
• TransGaming Inc. credited for Macintosh conversion.

Also, Greg has mentioned in the official C&C 3 forums that there is a new area of the forums for discussion of the Mod SDK called "Maps, Mods, and more" which you can check out here.

Hey everyone,

So, you may or may not know but myself, and 4 of our producers and dev team members are here this week in Leipzig, Germany for the big Games Convention. its host to over 180,000 people during the entire show, its pretty insane.

Our primary purpose for being here is to show off Kanes Wrath and word has it that the crazy insane man himself will be here to spread the gospel of Nod and The Brotherhood amongst the thousands of Germans. Its GDI forever for me, you guys know that.

Its unlikely I will be on the boards this week due to my presence here. I will be spending lots of time wih the German community and even filming some cool segments for the next episode of Battlecast Primetime, so you guys can really get a feel for what its like to be here and more so, more info on Kane's Wrath! Our demo here is meant to show off some of the new GDI and Nod units like The Awakened, aka cyborg infantry and GDI Sonic Tanks, aka GDI hovercraft tanks, some cool Tiberian Sun throwbacks for all you TS fans.

Now, with regards to patch 1.07 and the MOD SDK, those are still both on track. Producer Greg Kasavin will be updating you guys on the release once we have it firmed out, but I am hearing late this week is a very strong possibility assuming the apocalypse doesnt happen, we hope. So stay tuned.

I will do my best to get some more updates from Leipzig this week and keep you guys posted on the patch and mod sdk should Greg not beat me to it, he is pretty darn quick. Keep your eyes peeled here. We are right on the cusp of it.

The Awakened: These are the cyborg remnants of CABAL's former army that have risen to assist Kane in the Third Tiberium War. These guys have a welded machinegun on their left arm that is excellent for taking down infantry. While mostly used as anti-infantry troopers, the Awakened also come with a welded EMP cannon on their right arm, which is very effective in knocking out vehicles for other units to wipe up such as the…

Specter: New stealth artillery that fits well into Nod's style of play. The Specter can tail other units around the battlefield or hide themselves in a corner just waiting for the perfect moment to strike. With the help of the EMP cannon from the Awakened, they can take out a group of enemy armor units easily. They also can fire over longer distances with the help of the new Shadow Infantry ability called Artillery Beacon that sets a target that the artillery can barrage the radius around that beacon from afar. Sneaky sneaky!

Reckoner: This armored personnel carrier is a heavily armored troop carrier used for transporting infantry into defended areas with smaller risk of death. While the Reckoner is moving, units inside can't shoot out of it, but if you use the one time ability to deploy it, it turns into a bunker (and gets an extra garrison slot) and any troops inside can begin attacking everything around them with impunity until that hefty bunker is taken down.

• Lots of C&C 3: Kane's Wrath coverage from this year's Games Convention in Zeipzig, Germany. The folks from EALA are once again attending this year.
• The release of C&C 3 patch 1.07 and the long-awaited Mod SDK by Friday (maybe).

So, I'll cut to the point here. We've discussed for a while about handing down bans and suspensions against cheaters and vehement disconnectors and also those spamming chat and forums and so forth. We've been keeping tabs on a lot of accounts and finally have a process to take strict action against those we catch.

I'm happy to announce that today we handed down over 60 bans and suspensions on C&C 3 player accounts. All of these accounts have their ladder stats reset, most of these accounts have their sub-accounts banned (which means they can still create a new name but not use one of their original), and a small segment of accounts were completely serial key banned.

We will not tolerate cheaters and disconnectors and we are keeping a very close eye. Between the forum moderators, some great volunteer help at GameReplays.org, and our back-end tools, we have plenty of firepower and evidence to take such action.

In most cases we will issue a warning to the user and reset stats, and if they are warned again, stricter action will be taken such as a sub-account ban and further serial key ban if necessary.

I strongly encourage you NOT to disconnect or cheat, such actions can get your account fully deactivated and a 1st warning will also mean an automatic DQ from our upcoming ladder season.

Its not worth it and we will be taking weekly action as we are starting with what I think is a big message today.

P.S. - I think its fairly obvious to know some of the players who have been warned or banned, but in respect of privacy, I will not post a full list. I can't promise to answer on everyone who is on our list today, but I'll do my best to share a few notables if asked.

That's right, we will look at the winning maps and work with the map creators to determine if they can be included as an official multiplayer map in Kane's Wrath! Imagine your map, forever immortalized in an official Command & Conquer game.

GS: Give us an overview of what we can expect to see from the expansion pack. New units for each faction? A new playable faction? What's the main focus of the expansion?

MV: Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath features a new single-player campaign with a fresh story, a new set of live-action sequences with a celebrity cast, a new way to play Command & Conquer, and a wealth of new units, structures, and powers.

I'm particularly excited about the story and the campaign, where we will bridge the gap between Tiberian Sun and Command & Conquer 3, expand on what actually happened during the Third Tiberium War, and then take players into the future--after the events of Command & Conquer 3's story. The arc of this story is epic in scope and the chapters set just after Tiberian Sun will give longtime fans of the series something special.

When it comes to gameplay, our new "global domination" mode is the big story. Imagine a strategic layer added to the classic RTS game play that lets you wage war across the entire planet. We're also introducing subfactions with new units and structures for each of the sides in Command & Conquer 3--the Global Defense Initiative, the Brotherhood of Nod, and the alien Scrin. Each subfaction favors unique strategies and styles of play. It's also worth noting that we've answered the call of many fans to bring back hover technology to GDI and cyborgs to Nod.

The campaign is said to go through Kane's rise back to power after the second Tiberium War and continues all the way through the third Tiberium War and beyond. Kane's Wrath will once again contain live-action cutscenes as the first one, with Joe Kucan reprising his role as Kane, and will have a few more characters introduced into the storyline. The game is said to have plenty of new content, such as two new subfactions for each team with their own special units and abilities, similar to how Zero Hour has different generals to choose from for unique playing styles, bringing a total of 9 teams.

There will also be a global domination meta-game, similar to Battle for Middle Earth 2's conquest mode, where players capture locations and battle each other for control of the world. As Jim Vessella said:

Imagine a game like Risk but on steroids, supporting the C&C fiction with Ion Cannons, Nukes, Mammoth Tanks, as you move your armies arould the entire world. And when armies collide, you'll jump down into that fast, fluid, C&C gameplay that you know and love. When you come out, those units and those armies will persist, allowing for a longer, more global campaign.

The expansion is set to be released in Early 2008, simultaneously with the Xbox 360 version.

Also be sure to look in Apoc's Community Corner for All-Stars, the recent Zero Hour mod released from CNC Generals World's own Blbpaws and team after more than 3 years of development. The mod was built by C&C fans, for C&C fans, bringing the best of all C&C universes together into 1 game.