C&C Labs News Wire

— Tuesday, July 11, 2006 —

Posted By: Mike at 11:42:50 AM ET

Article: The Origins of Red Alert

Our Origins and History of Command and Conquer article series now continues as we delve into the Origins of Red Alert. Blbpaws investigates the game's numerous sources of inspiration that stemmed from real-life persons and events, ranging from Einstein, Nikola Tesla and the Philadelphia Experiment to theories of time travel. Here's a snippet from the article:
The premise of Red Alert hinges on Albert Einstein’s secret belief that World War II could be prevented, and many the many lives lost could be saved. While working with Nikola Tesla on a Navy Project to achieve invisibility in naval warfare an event known as the Philadelphia Experiment occurred. In Red Alert, this event is caused by an attempt gone horribly wrong to make the USS Eldridge utterly invisible to light and radar, by bending the space-time continuum around it. In the game, the ship vanishes for seven to ten minutes, and, when it reappears, the results are terrible; crew members suffer numerous ailments, and some are supposedly embedded in the hull. In actuality, this part of the backstory is almost certainly based off the real Philadelphia Experiment conspiracy. The conspiracy is based off a similar event that supposedly happened to the USS Eldridge, an actual ship, in 1943, where, in an attempt to induce invisibility, the ship disappeared, and, according to various versions of the story, crew members suffered severe injuries, including some regarding contact with or embedding in the hull...
You can read the article in its entirety here. It's a great read for those seeking insight into Westwood Studios' inspirations in creating the first Red Alert Command & Conquer title.
Last edited by Mike on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 3:43:38 PM.

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