C&C Labs News Wire

— Friday, January 31, 2003 —

Posted By: Luckie at 1:03:32 PM ET

Tribute Article

"In more Westwood related news, the well known company has been seperated from EA and will now continue to operate as they did during the good old days of the orginal CNC..." Well, we can dream can't we? It seems the westwood team is no longer and that has been the news of late, and so without further delay I present to you, a Loaded INC tribute to Westwood: "Westwood: Gone but not Forgotten".

— Friday, January 31, 2003 —

Posted By: JuvScorpion at 9:23:36 AM ET

Generals Single Player

Federal over at C&C Universe took has got a peek at a couple of single player missions from Generals. Here's a little bit of the article:

The mission itself consisted of two parts. The first part was destroying a Chinese outpost with a limited number of units given to you right off the start. Once that was accomplished (most of the job was done by sending all the bomb trucks against concentrated targets) the second part involved the destruction of the dam. So being a low-tech mission, I had to do my job with Scorpion tanks and supporting technicals that mowed down the masses of Chinese infantry that were unlucky enough to block my path. As I said, destroying all the Chinese bases in the area was not a primary goal and I later realized that there is a route your forces can take that leads directly to the dam and you encounter only minimal resistance. You are also told in your initial briefing that there is a hidden Arms Dealer building somewhere close to your starting area, so if you want to sacrifice some time looking around for it, you will save some money in the long run.


Click here to keep on reading. There is some brand new info in this article, so be sure to check it out!

— Thursday, January 30, 2003 —

Posted By: JuvScorpion at 2:42:30 PM ET

Westwood Update

Hey, JuvScorpion here. Haven't posted or done much in a long time, as was pointed out to me, but here is a post about the current Westwood situation. This was posted over at Cnc Den

EA has definite plans to continue supporting and creating new content for Earth & Beyond, despite the closure of the Westwood studio. The game's support staff will now be concentrated in Redwood Shores. While the fact that Westwood didn't have any new development projects was a major factor in the decision to close the studio, Brown confirmed that EA has "an active plan for more games in the Command & Conquer franchise." Westwood founder Louis Castle is the only member of the studio who was confirmed to be moving to Los Angeles, but other senior team members who have been deeply involved with the series are also expected to continue working on it in the new location. The last day for many Westwood employees will be this Friday, but a transitional staff will stay on until the studio's final closure on March 31.

Contrary to early reports, virtually the entire EA Pacific team, currently located in Irvine, California, will be continuing on and moving to the new Los Angeles campus. Earlier today, before the consolidation announcement, EA Pacific's Mark Skaggs told GameSpot that the studio has strong growth plans and has a couple projects lined up, including an expansion pack for Generals.


For the rest of the article go HERE

— Wednesday, January 29, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 3:12:16 PM ET

Westwood Consolidation Update

Here's an update on EA's Westwood consolidation.  HomeLAN Fed has received the following information from Jeff Brown, EA's VP of Corporate Communications:

HomeLAN has more information on the closings of both Westwood Studios and EA Pacific as announced by Electronic Arts earlier today. EA's Vice-President of Corporate Communications Jeff Brown told HomeLAN this evening in a phone interview that the new consolidated Los Angeles EA studio (which currently handles the Medal of Honor series) will be the new development home for the Command and Conquer franchise. Most of the C&C: Generals team will be moved to the new LA studio and Brown said there are still plans for new C&C titles in the future.

For players of Westwood's massively multiplayer RPG Earth and Beyond, Brown told HomeLAN that the game's servers and support will be moved to EA's Redwood Shores, CA studios (where Motor City Online is based) in about a month after the closing of Westwood's Las Vegas offices. The transition should be seemless for players, according to Brown. Brown stated that Earth and Beyond's subscriber base is growing and that EA still plans to support the game.


The new LA studio will be moved into a new building this summer, according to Brown, and will have 200 employees at first but Brown told HomeLAN that EA plans to hire as many as 300 more people for the new EALA studio within the next year after the move.

I figured it was best to give you the post in it's entirety. Interresting name... EALA.  Well, it is good to know that CNC will not die because of this merger, and the exisiting and soon to be released titles won't be affected.

Update: I also just want to take a brief moment to quote transnote of Renegade Generals:

It looks like the end of a good run for Westwood Studios. They are going the route of Maxis, creator of the Sim games. SimCity 4 is almost associated more with EA then it is Maxis. Sigh. At least CNC will live on.....

That basically sums up how I feel.  It is sad to see Westwood go, but I am sure that there will be plenty of great CNC games in the future.


— Wednesday, January 29, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 3:02:32 PM ET

EA to Merge WW, EAP, LA studios

I could have started this post off with the title "The End of Westwood," but after thought, I've released it's about perspective.  Anyway, now that I've got your attention, I might as well start from the beginning.

Today Electronic Arts posted its earnings report, a good one I might add.  Here's a clip from a Smartmoney.com article:

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the videogame maker late Wednesday reported net income of $250.2 million, or $1.69 a share, compared with $132.3 million, or 92 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue soared 48% to $1.23 billion from $832.9 million.

When releasing fiscal second-quarter results in October, Electronic Arts projected third-quarter earnings of $1.52 to $1.60 a share on revenue of $1.08 to $1.18 billion.

That's the good news.  The rest of the article is fine as well, until you reach the abrupt and unexpected final paragraph:

The company's earnings target doesn't include studio restructuring charges, which are still being determined. Electronic Arts said that in the current quarter it will begin consolidating its Los Angeles, Irvine, Calif., and Las Vegas studios into one major game-development studio in Los Angeles.

What does all this mean?  It means that EA has decided to merge (combine, consolidate if you will) its Los Angeles, EA Pacific (Irvine, CA), and Westwood (Las Vegas) studios into one single LA studio.  (Note that I've also seen more likely reports that EA's WW consolidation will begin in the 4th quarter, not this quarter.) But wait, that's not all.  A Reuters article quotes EA CFO Warren Jenson as saying 50 jobs will be cut in this line:

On Wednesday the company also said it planned to consolidate studios in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Irvine, California into a central Los Angeles studio. Jenson said about 50 jobs would be cut as a result.

It means the end of Westwood Studios and the short-lived EA-Pacific as we know it.  What isn't certain is exactly what jobs will be cut and whether games will continue to be published under the name Westwood Studios.  Who knows, at worse-case it could even mean a near-approaching end to CNC.  But remember everyone, it's all about the money.  That's why there's still a good chance that games will continue to be published under the name Westwood Studios, one of the most recognizable and respected in the gaming industry across the globe.  Change isn't always a bad thing though.  In any case, it's a sad day, and things will certainly be changing, for better or for worse.

If you want to join in on the discussion, Maniac has started a thread about this merger on the Official Generals Forums.  Here is the link to the thread. (At least right now it can still be considered a thread... in a few minutes, who knows.)

I'll be keeping you updated as more information arrives.


— Wednesday, January 29, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:36:22 AM ET

Downloads Updated

After receiving reports that some people were having trouble downloading and playing a few of our videos, I've re-uploaded a couple of them.  The 4th US Mission video has been uploaded along with the Operation Blue Eagle video.  I also compressed the Operation Blue Eagle video -- I was able to crunch off 30 MB without losing much quality at all.


— Tuesday, January 28, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:25:18 PM ET

Partner Site Screenshot

Our German partner site, Generals-World has posted an exclusive Generals retail-version screenshot.  Here's the thumbail of it:

Click on the thumbail to go to our German partner site and see the full-sized version.

Also, a foreign website called GameStar has posted 40 new Generals screenshots! Click here to see them!


— Tuesday, January 28, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:06:44 PM ET

No editor before launch?

A source tells Transnote from RenegadeGenerals that the World Editor won't be released before Generals.  "One of the biggest reasons was that the editor requires the models/textures that are part of the game files to operate correctly."  The editor will be shipping with the retail version of the game however.

Then again, Amer has made the following forum post about the editor:

We're still waiting on approval to release the World Builder editor online. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I can't give out a firm release date because I don't have one. Once we get any new info, we'll update you. I know you've been waiting a long time for it, but it won't be long now.

Nothing too much new there.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.


— Tuesday, January 28, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 11:58:37 AM ET

Singleplayer Screenshots and More

They're being released by all sorts of sites around the community, German fansites in particular.  Here's a list of all of the sites that have new Generals screenshots up, and a thumbnail or two from most of them:

CNCDEN

Community Team (German)

Community News (German)
 

Planet Generals

CNCHQ


— Tuesday, January 28, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 11:38:32 AM ET

Community Update

It's that time again!  Here are all the latest updates from around the CNC Community:

  • CNCSeries has an article about communication in Command & Conquer games written by Ash.  It's titled Communication in C&C.  Here's a snip of that:

How important is communication? It does, after all, require effort, and that is something many people just can’t be bothered to put in. Well, it does unlock an entirely new set of strategies, for a start, and in team games will almost guarantee you a victory. Five tanks are potent enough, but when the drivers of those five tanks have arranged their targets and priorities beforehand and don’t waste a second of their time, it’s even more of a danger. Case scenario – two snipers cover an entrance, two enemies enter. The pair who have their sides well organized take out a target each, threat negated. The pair who don’t talk at all target the same person; one enemy breaks through. That’s a pretty simple example, but you get the idea. Obviously it’s harder with multiple enemies.

  • Renegade Generals has received some information about the ladder kit, and how ladder games will work in Generals (certainly different than before).  They've also posted up pictures of all of the different parts of the Officer's Club package, since it will be only available within North America.  These images include tech trees, gameplay strategies, a picture of the Officer's Club orientation letter and a picture of the Officer's Club CD.  Anyway, here's the details about the ladder:

- Players who win a ranked game will recieve 3 points.
- Players who lose/surrender/disconnect will not recieve or lose any points.
- Ladder admins will be able to password the ladders for a closed ladder if they wish. They will also be able to choose if the players can choose maps and factions manually or if they will be choosen randomly.

  • The European Generals Website has posted an online Generals "card game."  Head here to check it out.
  • CNC Matrix has posted the Chinese Nuke Cannon as their "unit of the day!"  Pay them a visit to have a look at this weapon's capabilities.
  • Morphious of GenEdit2k reports that they've been sent information about a new singleplayer infantry unit that cleans up hazardous materials.  Head over there to see a screenshot of the unit.

So there's the latest news.  Get surfin'!


— Monday, January 27, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 10:22:31 AM ET

Layout Updates

As you can see, I updated our frontpage layout a bit yesterday.

I'll be tweaking it some today, so if you have any comments about it or suggestions then please post a message in our forums.


— Saturday, January 25, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:53:53 PM ET

Forum Update

I've just completed a small update to our forumsI've removed most of our old avatars (about 200 of them) that had absolutely nothing to do with Generals.  However, I did my best to not delete any that were in use at the time.  I've also added a bunch of new avatars.  They're the build icons for most of the USA and China units.  You can click here to visit our forums and check it out.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend you join and become an active member in our forums.  It's a great place to ask questions, get all sorts of information about Generals, and just plain old chat with people.  Our dedicated forum members will be able to answer most of your questions, whether they're Generals-related, CNC-related, and even tech questions.  If we're not able to answer them, we'll be sure to suggest where you can look to get the answer.

So what are you waiting for?  Join today (it's free of course) and become a part of this ever-growning community of Generals fans!


— Friday, January 24, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 2:57:31 PM ET

Official Site Updates

The Official CNC Generals website has been updated.  The site now shows a release date countdown in the bottom right corner.  There are also a few other minor updates.  To see it for yourself, click here.

— Friday, January 24, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 2:54:53 PM ET

New Poll

I've completed the upgrades to the poll system early, and now we have a new poll!  This time the poll is Will you use the World Editor when it is released?  Be sure to vote on the right side of the page.


— Friday, January 24, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:02:23 PM ET

Poll Results

Here are the results from our latest poll:

Does your computer meet the new system requirements?
Yep, my computer is a gaming supermachine! 81
48%
Yeah, but just bearly. 33
19%
Not Sure 19
11%
No =( 21
12%
Not now, but I will be getting a new one. 13
7%

Total Votes: 167

I've closed the poll early this week because I'm going to be doing some work on the poll script.  I am hoping to have a poll back online in a few days.


— Thursday, January 23, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 1:10:31 AM ET

Expansion Pack Confirmed!

Thanks to CNCDEN for the following information.  A new interview video with Mark Skaggs has been released on GameSpot Complete.  Lion from CNCDEN said that the following important information was contained in the video:

-Mark Skaggs said as soon as C&C Generals hits retails shelves, the EA Pacific team will get to work on an Add-On for the game. Yes, that means an expansion pack IS in the future for Generals.

-Mark stated that fans can expect "more and fuller support" than with past games.

Sounds like great news to me.  However, I should also note that it is now unknown if the map editor will be released before Februrary 11th.  It has been confirmed though that it will ship on the Generals CDs.


— Wednesday, January 22, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 10:01:38 AM ET

Gone Gold

Generals has officially gone gold. What does this mean? Mark Skaggs, Generals Executive Producer, posted the following on the Official Generals Message Boards about the "gone gold" process:
Just a bit of insight for everyone on what happens after a game goes gold and the "gold discs" are sent to the disc manufacturer.

When you send a product to manufacturing it usually takes 24-48 hours before you get a "silvers" back for verification. A "silver" is a disc produced from the "glass master" that is used to mass produce the discs for the game.

After the silvers are verified, then duplication can begin according to the manufacturing schedule of the disc duplicator.

Once the discs are duplicated, they have to have their labels painted onto them and the be put into the jewel cases. Jewel cases are put into retail boxes along with various other paper goods, including the manual.

After the boxes are put together then, they are put into bigger boxes that hold sets of something like 24.

Once all the big boxes are ready, they are shipped to EA's distribution warehouse in preparation to be sent to distribution centers across the country or directly to retail stores.

Add up all the time involved there, including sending the discs to the warehouse, and you can see that it's about a 3-4 week process Generals is ready to be shipped to retail stores.

Another factor that adds time between gold and retail is the fact that we're doing a simultaneous world-wide ship in 8 different languages. Not an easy task, but EA's a pro at doing this sort of thing.

Have fun everyone,
Mark

In other news, GameSpot has a new preview of Generals up here. Here's some info from their first paragraph:
Perhaps no other PC game has spawned as many spin-off series as Command & Conquer, and interestingly, it's not the setting, but the gameplay style and mechanics, that successfully carries over from one C&C series to another. Renegade, Westwood's first shooter, was the last game set in the Tiberian universe, and it likely won't be the last to pit you against the forces of NOD. But EA's hopes for Command & Conquer's renewed success are riding on Generals, which not only adopts a new, near-future setting, but one with eerie echoes of the international conflicts filling today's newspapers. Generals is now nearing release, and as much as the 3D engine has impressed us from the game's unveiling, we've finally seen enough of it to say that, beneath all the flashy effects, there's plenty of depth to make it an outstanding game.

— Wednesday, January 22, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 9:56:40 AM ET

GLA Units Page

Just wanted to make note that, since I am going to be quite busy with my personal life for the remainder of the week, I won't have time to update the GLA Units page.  The multiplayer test has ended and because of many differences between the MPT version of Generals and it's final version, it has become difficult to write any more accurate information.  Therefore, I've decided to restore the old version of the GLA Units page for the time being, with some bits of updated information.  It isn't anything too impressive, so don't get your hopes up.  I probably won't be updating the page until after Generals is released on February 11th.


— Monday, January 20, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:55:21 PM ET

New Poll & Last Poll's Results

We've got a new poll again! The question is: Does you computer meet the new system requirements? Here's the last poll's results:
What is the best part about Generals?
Graphics
69
20%
Storyline
4
1%
Tactics
22
6%
Gameplay Features
22
6%
Everything is so good, I can not decide!
228
66%

Total Votes: 345

— Thursday, January 16, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:07:03 PM ET

Community Wrap Up

Hey everybody... Generals sites have been real busy lately, posting all sorts of new things, from the usual wallpapers and articles to hidden and old Generals units.  So without further ado, I present to you the latest community news:

  • Lion from CNCDEN has done a bit of a background check on Amer Ajami, associate producer of Generals and new Official Generals Forums moderator.  Here's a bit of info (head to CNCDEN for the rest):

Amer Ajami has been writing about games since 1995. He started doing simple reviews of user-created maps for Duke Nukem 3D and eventually cofounded a pair of gaming and hardware-related Web sites.

  • Amer, when asked on the Official Message Boards about the World Builder's release date, replied:

Hey guys,

No word on the World Builder yet. We should know more by next week.

Amer Ajami
Associate Producer

  • The EA Store is now offering the Officer's Club Kit as a purchasable item for $4.95.  Click here to see what's included in the kit.
  • Computer and Video Games has interviewed Generals producer Mark Skaggs.  You can read the interview here
  • CNC Universe has posted scanned pages from the PC Powerplay Magazine's February 2003 preview of Generals.  The preview doesn't contain much new info, but you can head here to check it out nonetheless.
  • CNCNZ has posted a new article on Westwood Online and bad behavior.  You can head here to read the whole thing, but first, here's a snip:

Back Stabbing: In Custom games for some insane reason some players just turn on their allies and destroy them before they can react. Another version of this is too build 10 Nuke Reactors in the allies base and just leave the game, completley destroying said base. This is completley uncalled for, almost always makes you lose the game and makes you unlikely to forgive this person.

  • Planet CNC's Beta Center has been updated with a bunch of new screenshots and an interresting battle story.
  • CNC Sector has a new Generals wallpaper up.  Click here to check it out and download it.
  • Screenshots of hidden, old, and no longer used units!  Renegade Generals has gotten a screenshot of a battle ship.  You can find that along with a few other neat singleplayer screenshots at the top of their Screenshots page.  Also, GenEdit2k has been posting screenshots and W3D images of hidden and scrapped units for the past five days.  They've got several images posted, so definitely head here to check out unit that you've probably never seen before.
  • CNC World is currently down for updates, and they're looking for people people to help out with the site.  Visit CNC World for details.
  • CNC Uprising is looking for staff!  They're looking for staff to do content for Renegade, RA2, YR, and Tiberian Sun, along with other positions.  Contact them for details.
  • Community Team has two brand-new singleplayer screenshots, featuring a more classy command bar and more.  The screenshots can be found here and here.
  • And last but not least, CNCGenerals.info (German) has found two other singleplayer screenshots from IceBird.net.  Click here to check em out.

If you've actually read all of this through, then I must say I'm impressed.  I'm going to try to stay on top of the news more from now on, so that I don't have to do huge roundup posts like this as often. 


— Wednesday, January 15, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 3:13:38 PM ET

Delphi Leaves Generals Duties

This message was sent along by Delphi:
Hello Community,

As of today I will no longer be handling the community management aspect for RA2, Renegade, and Generals.

What does that mean? Simple, the guys over at Electronic Arts Pacific will be taking over all the community activities based around C&C Generals. Here at Westwood, the team will be looking to bring on a new community manager ASAP to handle both the RA2 and Tiberian series. Until the new community manager, here at Westwood, is on board and up to speed, webmasters are more than welcomed to send me an e-mail with questions or concerns. Those sites looking for Generals related info please contact Amer Ajami (associate producer) over at EA Pacific (details below).

Now many of you may be asking yourselves "What's next for Delphi?" Well, I have been given the opportunity to work for the development team on a next generation title being created by Westwood Studios. Sadly, I cannot talk about the project at this time, but I can guarantee you will be "VERY" surprised when it's announced.

I want to thank all the modders, webmasters, news updaters, and everyone who has help to shape the C&C community into the large network of sites it is today. Your hard work and dedication has always meant a great deal to us.

Regards
Delphi
Westwood Studios
I'm sure we'll all be missing Delphi. He did a great job as community manager for Westwood. I'm also glad to hear that he's still working at Westwood. And to think they're already working on another "project" ... makes ya wonder.

— Wednesday, January 15, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 2:43:47 PM ET

Generals Collector Boxes Officially Announced

EA has officially announced that Generals will ship in three colector's boxes.  They've also released some information about that Officer's Club for pre-orderers.  Here's a thumbnail of the box arts (click on it to see the full-sized version):

And here's the official press release:

EA ANNOUNCES SET OF THREE COLLECTABLE BOXES FOR COMMAND & CONQUER GENERALS

Series of boxes will be available for a short time at retail

IRVINE, CA (Jan. 13, 2003) - Electronic Arts announced today that, for a limited time, it will offer a series of three collectable boxes for the retail version of Command & Conquer Generals(tm). This highly-anticipated 3D real-time strategy game will be published by EA (NASDAQ:ERTS) under the EA GAMES(tm) brand Feb. 11, 2003.

The series of collectable boxes for Command & Conquer Generals will feature three images, representing each faction in the game: the United States, China, and an underground political terror organization, the Global Liberation Army. Each box front is a complete image, but when placed side-by-side, the three images form a continuous modern warfare scene.

EA will distribute all three boxes in the initial printing of Command & Conquer Generals. Once those have been purchased at retail, EA will only manufacture the U.S. version of the box. Players who wish to purchase either the GLA or Chinese versions need to do so as soon as the game is released February 11 to ensure they receive a copy.

Command & Conquer Generals puts players' trigger fingers on the pulse of modern warfare as they become a powerful general and control massive armies of bleeding-edge military weaponry across a globe teetering on the brink of Armageddon. Three unique sides will be available, each with customizable high-tech arsenals ready to deliver unprecedented firepower on land or in the skies. Players can annihilate the opposition in the 23-mission single-player campaign or dish out the damage in global multiplayer mayhem.

Players who pre-order Command & Conquer Generals from participating retailers will receive an Officers Club pack that contains exclusive in-game elements and information. Included in the pack is an interactive CD-ROM and unique medal icons that will appear by the player's name during multiplay matches. Retailers currently participating in this program include www.EA.com, Electronics Boutique, www.EBWorld.com, GameStop, www.GameStop.com, CompUSA and MediaPlay.

Players who wish to play Command & Conquer Generals weeks before it hits stores can visit www.FilePlanet.com. Beginning January 20, the first twenty thousand FilePlanet subscribers who sign up at the site will be given the opportunity to play in a limited version of the public multiplay test at no charge.

More information on Command & Conquer Generals can be found at http://generals.ea.com.

Also notice that the press release states that on January 20th, the first 20,000 FilePlanet subscribers who sign up at FilePlanet will be able to play a limited version of the Generals multiplayer test.  I'm sure all you anxious people that aren't testers won't forget that date.


— Tuesday, January 14, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:41:09 AM ET

End of the Line for the MPT

This message was posted on this thread by Shanahan:

The question has been asked if we will get out another patch out before we ship. As I posted before, everyone on the team has been putting in 14-18 hour days for the last two months to finalize Generals, so the answer would be no.

Do we want a patch so you guys can see all the sweet enhancements we have put in?
Heck yeah!

Do we risk the ship date for the above?
Heck no

Can we put in 24 hours days for this to happen?
Would be nice, but we are only human.

What does this mean?
Well, when we go to manufacturing on 1/20 it will be the time we close down the GMTP and get ready for the retail version.

We put out the MP test to give people a chance to play the game and send us feedback on features, balance, and problems that they found. Some of you think that nothing you posted here was read by the dev team or given second thought. Reading over these boards daily since the GMTP started, I have learned a few things:

1. No matter what you do, not everybody will be happy.

2. When you try to make the remaining people happy, it's still not good enough.

3. Those who understand the process support the Dev Team here at EAP even if they agree or disagree with what we have done. These people are going to experience a great game.

4. Those who don't get their way tend to assume, second guess, and give up. Unfortunatly, they are going to miss out on a great game.

Bottom line for the individual GMTP testers is:

Those who understand the process didn't need a acknowledgement from Ol' Shan saying "Hey Jimbob, great idea! thank's for the suggestion" for validation. Instead when they play the game and see something they submitted they will say "Sweet!, I sent a suggestion for that!"...that will be worth more than any message I could have posted.

Once again thank you to all who are participating and still posting, we will be making small changes until they pry the final code from our exhausted little hands

-Shanahan

There ya have it folks.  All you testers best keep on playing while ya can. 
As for the status of the World Builder?

"Still working on getting it out, as soon as I know something I will let you know."


— Saturday, January 11, 2003 —

Posted By: Luckie at 4:39:24 PM ET

One Month

One month until CNC Generals is released: WAHOO! And also in the news: there is not relevant news! WAH--oh. Sorry, no new videos have come out, and news is slow. Look on the bright side, Generals World has almost reached a quarter of a million hits!

— Thursday, January 9, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:48:14 AM ET

It is Coming: Beta Milestone!

This news release just in from EA-Pacific:

COMMAND & CONQUER GENERALS HITS BETA MILESTONE

First 3D C&C RTS ships to stores February 11

IRVINE, CA (Jan. 8, 2002) - Forget CNN! Take control of the war in the Middle East for yourself. Electronic Arts announced today that the highly-anticipated 3D real-time strategy game, Command & Conquer Generals(tm) has hit its beta milestone, and will ship to stores Feb. 11, 2003. Command & Conquer Generals will be published by EA (NASDAQ:ERTS) under the EA GAMES(tm) brand.

Achieving the beta milestone indicates that Command & Conquer Generals is now feature-complete and the development team is now finalizing the game to be sent to the manufacturing plant.

"The beta milestone is a tremendous achievement for the development team," said Mark Skaggs, general manager of EA Pacific and executive in charge of production for Command & Conquer Generals. "More than 50 of our industry's top talent have been working non-stop for the past several months to ensure that we have a solid, highly-polished, immensely-enjoyable game.

EA is currently conducting a public multiplay test of Command & Conquer Generals, involving more than 3,000 people around the world. The public test is giving participants a chance to play the game's multiplay mode via the Internet, includes five maps, and allows gamers to play as each of the three unique sides in the game.

"The community's feedback from the multiplay test was instrumental in helping us achieve this beta milestone," continued Mark Skaggs. "I do want to stress that we will continue to solicit their feedback to further balance and enhance the multiplay experience before shipping to stores."

Command & Conquer Generals puts players' trigger fingers on the pulse of modern warfare as they become a powerful general and control massive armies of bleeding-edge military weaponry across a globe teetering on the brink of Armageddon. Three unique sides will be available, each with customizable high-tech arsenals ready to deliver unprecedented firepower on land or in the skies. Players can annihilate the opposition in the 23-mission single-player campaign or dish out the damage in global multiplayer mayhem.


— Wednesday, January 8, 2003 —

Posted By: Luckie at 12:58:22 PM ET

New wallpapers

Hey! We have two new wallpapers. One made by Talal and the other by myself. Their decent and work well on any old computer. They come in all three standard sizes: 800x600, 1024x768, and 1280x1024. Thumbnails are below. Click here to go to the wallpapers page. Enjoy!

— Wednesday, January 8, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:32:32 PM ET

Frank Klepacki Press Release

This just in! It's a press release from Frank Klepacki, music artist for many CNC games.
PRESS RELEASE - Tuesday Jan. 7th 2003

Frank Klepacki has officially released his debut electronica CD entitled “Morphscape” via his website http://www.frankklepacki.com.

Known over the entire globe for his industrial heavy driving soundtracks for the “Command & Conquer” games, Frank has finally taken an opportunity to express himself in the same style with “Morphscape.”

“It’s a bit more diverse,” says Frank, “with some different types of songs mixed in that I’ve not been able to do in games before. But it still retains all that my fans have come to expect from me. Bad-ass break beats, heavy guitars, progressive techno, and some funky stuff thrown in for good measure. This is not your stereotypical repetitive non-creative loop-based jargon that any DJ can throw together, this is real composition, done with most of my own sounds and hand picked instrumentation, and live playing all mixed together.”

After 11 years in the industry, Frank is at the top of his game (no pun
intended) having recently composed the music for the on-line sci-fi game “Earth & Beyond,” as well as producing and recording the highly acclaimed CD for local Las Vegas band “Bent Valve,” complete with an electronica remix. Frank is currently also producing and recording his own eclectic funk outfit “Mo’ Friction,” comprised of the rhythm section from the Las Vegas legend “Home Cookin’.”

But for now, “Morphscape” will serve as his healthy new synth based offering to the masses. Listen to the music clips and order one today at www.frankklepacki.com!

— Wednesday, January 8, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 12:09:41 PM ET

Classic Community News Post

Since we've been lacking community news recently, I'm doing a monster community news post.  Some of this news is going to be a few days old, so bear with me.

  • Shanahan has posted the latest balance changes in CNC Generals over at the Official Generals Message Boards.  You can read the post here.  He's also posted a second post, with more changes here.
  • Remember the Westwood vs the World tournaments?  Well Delphi has announced that he's already slated EAP vs the World to begin on Feb 21st at 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM PST.  More information is sure to be released later.
  • Active Reviews has posted a revew of CNC Generals with a few screenshots.  They gave Generals a 4 out of 5.  You can read the review here.
  • CNC Sector has new forums up.
  • Community Team (German) have posted two old high resolution Generals screenshots.  One shows an old China unit that was going to be in the game.
  • CNC Elite is holding a contest!  Here's the contest details:

1) If you submit your renegade skins to us or ra2 or yuri maps, we will review them and out the lot of files we get subbmitted we will pick the two creater's who made the best one and give them a following prize! By the way, this is a promise!

Prize 1: A copy of Generals when it comes out.
Prize 2: A copy of Ra2 or Renegade or £10 in cash.

  • Metal Gaming has a three-question Q&A with Dustin Browder, a CNC designer.  Head over there to check it out.
  • Shinano from CNC Universe has posted up a cool Generals screensaver!  It's 3.6 MB.  Head on over there to download it. CNC Universe also has that Beta Tester Chat log up.  You can read that here.
  • RA2 Warehouse has a new Generals article written by Billy.
  • Time of War (French) has posted up the requirements released by EA France for Generals.  They're a bit different than I had expected.
  • The EAP Generals Dev Website has been updated with the following post.  It mentions the World Builder for Generals, and a Voodoo Extreme poll!

Wow talk about being busy...it's been total crunch time here at EAP trying to finish Generals. We should have some files up soon for World Builder, but in the meantime Voodoo Extreme is conducting a readers’ poll – hit the site and give a vote for Generals!

  • CNCDEN has a few well Generals wallpapers up!
  • Transnote from Renegade Generals has posted a new wallpaper, sent in by one of their fans.  They've got a bunch of other great wallpapers too, so check out their wallpapers page.
  • And last but not least, less than 34 days until Generals is released!

Well that was one long community post!  As for Generals World news, a new wallpaper will be coming later tonight, and the GLA unit page will be online in a few days!  In the meantime, as Lion from RADEN says, give them sites some browser lovin'.  =)


— Monday, January 6, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 11:36:11 AM ET

Site Updates

I've got another site update for y'all today.  I've completed the China: Structures page.  Click here to check it out.


We've also got a new poll this week!  This week's question is: What is the best part about Generals? Vote now on the right side of the page!  Here's the last poll's results:


What do you download the most from us?
Winamp Skins
10
6%
Wallpapers
17
11%
Screensavers
6
4%
Generals Videos
112
77%

Total Votes: 145

I'm planning on finishing the GLA pages for this weekend, so check back often!


— Wednesday, January 1, 2003 —

Posted By: Mike at 9:23:22 AM ET

News from the Bunker

This is being posted a couple days late, but it's worthy to note nonetheless.  Generals Bunker and CNC Bunker have merged!  They've combined together to form the returning CNC Sector!  I must say that everything over there is looking great!  They've also joined up with their new GameAnnex network.  Be sure to visit their site -- great work Jamie & staff!

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