C&C Labs News Wire

— Saturday, September 29, 2007 —

Posted By: Mike at 7:15:32 PM ET

C&C 95 in Higher Resolutions

PlanetCNC has posted a number of patches for Command & Conquer 95 (Gold Edition) that allow the game to be played in resolutions higher than the default one. So instead of playing the original C&C in 640x480, you can now play it in up to 1280x768. For more details see the news post on PlanetCNC, or grab the patch files here.
Last edited by Mike on Saturday, September 29, 2007 at 11:16:23 PM.

— Saturday, September 29, 2007 —

Posted By: Mike at 9:44:32 AM ET

All C&C Movies Released, Retracted

Community manager Aaron "APOC" Kaufman's "special project" for C&C's 12 anniversary, announced in the second episode of BattleCast Primetime, is the release of nearly all the Command & Conquer full motion videos.  They're now all available at CNCMovies.com! Or at least they were, for a brief period yesterday.

Right now, CNCMovies.com redirects to the official Command & Conquer website.  Here's the explanation from Aaron:
The unfortunate reason for this is we are currently having some legal ramifications with the site that we are trying to quickly sort out. As you can imagine, a site which plays host to some 50+ actors who have been apart of the Command & Conquer series in its 12 year run thus far, can of course have some legal issues attached to it.

We had thought we were in the clear but were then asked to bring the site down temporarily. We will not have further info on getting the site back up until at least Monday. This of course is heart-breaking news to me as this special project was my personal community manager gift back to the community to celebrate the 12th anniversary.

So, lets all cross our fingers that we can get this legally sorted and this "historic" site back up and running.
Kudos to Aaron for the initiative, in any case. It's really a nice show of support. Hopefully the legal issues can be resolved.

— Saturday, September 29, 2007 —

Posted By: Mike at 9:27:39 AM ET

BattleCast Primetime Episode 2

Episode 2 of BattleCast Primetime is now live at CommandAndConquerTV.com!  C&C community manager APOC had the following to say about the new episode:
The team is back with brand-new exclusives on the new fiction surrounding Kanes Wrath as well as new gameplay footage, designer insights on the upcoming Patch 1.09, a behind-the-scenes look at the recent Leipzig Games Convention, another epic multiplayer battle between two top competitors, breaking C&C news, and plenty more!
Be sure to check it out!

Also, if you haven't seen the "Aftermath" of the first episode of BattleCast Primetime, be sure to check that out as well.  It includes some fun behind the scenes clips and some cool info about new units in Kane's Wrath.

— Saturday, September 29, 2007 —

Posted By: Mike at 9:14:06 AM ET

Generals World RSS News Feed

I've made public a Generals World RSS news feed.  Now you can subscribe to Generals World news updates using your favorite feed reader (Google Reader, My Yahoo!, Windows Live - take your pick).

Just click the RSS Feed image on the right side of the page!
Last edited by Mike on Saturday, September 29, 2007 at 1:20:01 PM.

— Wednesday, September 26, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 3:17:55 PM ET

Patch 1.09 Notes, Modding News

EA released a few updates today:
  • Episode 2 of Battlecast Primetime should be arriving sometime this evening (PST) or tomorrow. Check the C&C TV site for it. It will have new details on Kane's Wrath, the upcoming expansion pack for C&C 3.
  • Patch 1.09 is being worked on by EA. They will put the readme notes online for those of you who are interested, along with an article, tomorrow. If you want to look at them now, CNC Den has them up.
  • Modders: EA has released the second Art Pack, with a bunch of new models, including some of infantry, mechs, and civilians. In addition, they've released templates that make UI editing easier. You can learn more at the official C&C 3 Modding section.

— Sunday, September 23, 2007 —

Posted By: Mike at 6:01:29 AM ET

New C&C FPS Unofficially Confirmed

A few days ago, the C&C community broke the news about a certain EA job posting that seemed to indicate a C&C first person shooter is under development.

This news garnered the attention of the major gaming websites, and GameSpot has now joined in on the rumor mill.  "GameSpot received direct confirmation from a source with knowledge of EALA's development resource allocation that work on a multiplatform C&C FPS is well under way."
Though the source, who spoke under condition of anonymity, wouldn't go into much detail, the project is indeed a "Renegade/Battlefield-style FPS." No information on a title, release date, or specific platforms was provided, but games from EALA's World War II FPS series Medal of Honor have been released for the PC, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The most recent C&C game, Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars, was a best-seller on both the 360 and PC.
For GameSpot's full posting, please click here. While still unofficial of course, this news would seem to reflect EA's resurgent dedication to the C&C franchise. It would seem that EALA is developing Kane's Wrath and a C&C FPS simultaneously.
Last edited by Phe0n1x on Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 2:02:55 PM.

— Saturday, September 22, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 11:53:16 AM ET

C&C TV, Patch 1.09 Updates

Community Manager Aaron 'Apoc' Kaufman passed along a few notes. Concerning Patch 1.09 and the Battlecast Viewer, he made the following post:
Patch 1.09 is currently in our QA department being tested. We are finally going to release the "free" Battlecast Viewer client alongside Patch 1.09 as a separate download. You may have been wondering about Battlecast, well, we have spent considerable time doing a huge facelift on the Battlecast system on our website and when Patch 1.09 releases, you will see a lot of those changes. The changes are intended to make the Battlecast system work MUCH quAicker and be more user friendly. They will be very impactful significant changes, and i'm sure you'll be more inspired to broadcast your matches, watch them live, and even give yourself a shot at being on BattleCast Primetime. More on these changes as we get closer.

The full balance changes for Patch 1.09 will be revealed next week around when BattleCast Primetime Episode 2 debuts. The show will feature an in-depth interview with lead patch designer Gavin Simon, where he will explain the changes that are coming. This alongside the read-me will give you a very good understanding of the changes.
Concerning C&C TV:
This Friday we will premiere a brand new C&C TV website at www.commandandconquertv.com. We will also premiere a new show called "Aftermath".

"Aftermath" is meant to be a "directors cut" look back at what you didn't see in BattleCast PrimeTime, along with extended scenes and new information. In this first episode, you'll get more Kanes, more Kanes Wrath, a sneak peak at BattleCast Primetime Episode 2, and lots more. Check it out this Friday on the new C&C TV website, www. commandandconquertv.com.

And, your surprise new favorite online TV show hit, BattleCast PrimeTime will be firing back up on your computer screens next week. In Episode 2 we will have:

- An exclusive interview with Kanes Wrath designer Sam Bass on some of the hot fiction topics you've been burning to hear more about
- A Patch 1.09 interview with designer and top team player, Gavin Simon, as well as a full reveal of the 1.09 ReadMe here on the boards
- An inside look at our experience at the Leipzig Games Convention including the only place you'll see the behind closed doors demo of Kanes Wrath, expect a lot of new gameplay footage!
- APOC's Corner, hopefully you guys enjoy my attempt yet again at entertaining you, my eyes are not that evil!
- tons of news from Dave and Raj
- and of course, another new epic multiplayer battle between two top competitors, and even some surprise highlight reel segments
And about the C&C Ladder:
I am proud to finally announce that our first official 1v1 ladder season for Command & Conquer 3 will begin this Monday, Sept 24th, beginning with a big ladder reset. We have decided to only reset your ladder stats for the time being. We did not want to impact your experience levels gained and such and for the ladder season, it is your ladder record which of course matters the most.

The top commander who wins the grand end of season tournament of the ladder season will win a cash- check for $5000 U.S dollars! That's right, 5000 big ones to go do whatever you want with. We are also partnering with Logitech for some sweet audio and hardware prizes as well as other cash prizes for runner-ups. There will also be prizes to be won during the regular season as well!

— Saturday, September 22, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 10:31:01 AM ET

XFire C&C Chat

The guys from XFire asked us to pass this along:
Wednesday September 26th at 19:00 CEST, Xfire invites all RTS fans in Europe to meet and chat with the Command & Conquer masters in an exclusive live chat.

On the occasion of the 5th Xfire Trophy and for the greatest pleasure of all RTS fans, Xfire is gathering the cream of the crop of Command and Conquer: Tiberium Wars players. For one hour, get to meet the sharpest specialists in this game and ask them all your questions. Discover how casual, anonymous gamers, become community figureheads, how they manage the money and traveling aside from their normal life at school and what their best tricks are.

The following guests will attend:

- dignitas/Apollo (UK) WCGG Norway 2007 Champion
- a-L|Dackel (GER) - WCG Germany 2007 Champion
- GT|knolz (FRA)
- Metalon (NO) WCG Norway 2007 Champion
If you're interested, head to XFire for details.

— Thursday, September 20, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 3:48:30 PM ET

C&C FPS Rumors Persist

(Thanks PCNC) You'll recall that last year, we reported that there were high-level discussions at EA regarding the creation of a new FPS using EA's Crysis engine. We, and others, speculated that this FPS would likely use C&C intellectual property, because of EA's willingness to develop the franchise and expand their usage of very valuable intellectual property rights. Also, we know that at one point, a sequel to Renegade was planned by Westwood Studios, though the project was canceled about 20% of the way through. It appears such speculation is being borne out. Community member smurfbizkit notes a posting on the EA Jobs website for something that does indeed sound like a C&C: First Person Shooter (you will need to click the posting link twice--for some reason, the first time goes to a generic page, but the second time goes to the actual listing. If EA removes the listing, I will post the full text of it):
Does the idea of contributing your specialized knowledge in sound design to the next generation gaming platform for EAs widely recognized leading Sci Fi franchise get you pumped? EA has an exciting opportunity for a Sound Designer who will work closely with the Audio Director on creating sound effects, dialog and music for a next-generation first person shooter game. You will be instrumental in designing audio elements for a high profile new intellectual property. [...] Responsible for designing and implementing sound effects for C&CX including sound effects design and editing, music integration, field recording, technology development and documentation.
Personally, I have little doubt that EA is talking about doing a C&C FPS, possibly based on C&C 3, and it would not surprise me at all if one was already in development or in planning. First Person Shooters generally sell well, and offering fans to a chance to emerge themselves in the C&C universe on one of the best engines of today is something that would likely sell very well and be successful. I'd note that when the Apoc, the C&C Community Manager, was asked about the possibility of such a game being made at the March C&C 3 summit Generals World attended, he denied all knowledge of it. We'll need to keep our eyes open, but I know what I'm betting on.
Last edited by Blbpaws on Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 7:53:14 PM.

— Tuesday, September 18, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 6:24:59 PM ET

MidEast Crisis 2

Many of you have probably heard of or played the popular Zero Hour mod, Mid East Crisis. Recently, the team behind that project announced that they were starting work on a sequel, MidEast Crisis 2, for the C&C 3 engine. The mod features three factions: the Israeli Defense Forces, UN peacekeepers, and the Guardians of Islam (a collection of Islamic countries). From the looks of it, the mod will feature some innovative use of resources and resource gathering, just like the last version did. Definitely something to keep an eye on.
Last edited by Blbpaws on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 7:14:51 AM.

— Thursday, September 13, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 3:07:26 PM ET

C&C Modding News

A bunch of mods around the community have posted updates recently:

— Saturday, September 8, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 12:25:45 PM ET

Version 2.0 of the Mod SDK

EA has released a new version of the mod SDK with some new fixes and with 1.08 compatibility. Here are some mentioned features:
Changes for version 2.0:

-Updated the generated BuildMod.bat file to include the building of Low LOD.
-Updated XML, and XSD files to match Patch 1.08.
-Updated Manifest files to Patch 1.08
-Scipts.lua now installed into the LUA folder for modders to update.
-Inteldb.xml now installed into the ArtIntelDB folder.
You can download the full thing here.

— Friday, September 7, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 4:58:53 PM ET

Updates From EA

Two items of note from EA:
  • First, Apoc's done a podcast with Joe Kucan, the actor who plays Kane in C&C 3. It's fifteen minutes long. Get more info at EA's site.
  • Second, Apoc has an update regarding the C&C 3 tournament ladder:
    Hey everyone,

    Well needless to say, this aspect of launching the C&C 3 League Ladder Season 1 is currently out of my hands and am just awaiting a final legal approval. Here is the skinny...

    We, meaning the C&C team have never been able to do a world-wide contest or tournament officially, most of you guys know when we do contests they are North-American centric because of different country legal restrictions. That is why we work close with our world-wide partners to ensure they do contests as well when they can.

    With the C&C 3 League, our goal is to make it open world-wide in as many top C&C countries as possible, this is quite a legal process. I've been working on it since early Summer and I keep hearing any day now for final approved rules and such.

    So that said, I apologize for insinuating this week was looking optimal, suffice to say, this situation is unexpected and I'll keep pressing hard to get the final rules and approval so we can reset the ladder and launch this amazing season once and for all.

    I will try and update you beginning of next week, lets cross our fingers the final legal rules come in so we can get it going sooner than later this month.

    Thanks again,
    APOC

— Tuesday, September 4, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 7:57:55 PM ET

TPoHW v0.8.0

Another one of Generals World's in-house modding projects is The Power of High-Tech Warfare, a sci-fi mod by our own DetoNato. He sends word that the mod has reached version 0.8 of its open beta demo for Zero Hour, and that this will be the last version for that platform, as the mod is transitioning to C&C 3. If you're unfamiliar with the mod, or on the fence about downloading it, check out some of DetoNato's eye candy. All in all, the new version has quite a few new things added, in beta form:
  • Old-School build system
  • Sidebar interface
  • 11 Soundtracks each of TD, RA1, TS and RA2
  • Many different game types (Skirmish, AOD, Navy War, Headhunter)
  • Sub-game types for Skirmish (Skirmish-Classic, Skirmish-TPoHW, Infantry War, World Power)
  • 4 base modes (Fortress, normal base, Outpost, "No base")
  • 1 new faction (Pandora Forces)
  • Improved US Army
  • German and English language support (most of the text and voices)
  • Sound and Particle effects in Zero Hour like you've never seen before
You can download the beta demo here.
Last edited by Mike on Wednesday, September 5, 2007 at 6:44:15 PM.

— Tuesday, September 4, 2007 —

Posted By: Blbpaws at 7:51:51 PM ET

New Poll and Poll Results

I updated the poll today. The new poll asks for your opinions on C&C 3 modding. You can vote in the right sidebar. Here are the results from the last one:
Have you played the CnC: All Stars mod yet?
249
Of course!
 
139
Nope
 
160
No, but I will
 
Total Votes: 548
As you can see, the vast majority played All Stars or expressed an intent to do so. All told, more than 43,000 people have downloaded the mod, a figure the team is very happy with. All Stars was created as a tribute to Command and Conquer, and we're glad so many fans have enjoyed it.

Thanks to all 548 of you who voted!

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