C&C Labs News

EA ANNOUNCES PUBLIC TEST
FOR COMMAND & CONQUER GENERALS
3,000 people worldwide to be selected for test

IRVINE, CA (Sep. 30, 2002) - Beginning this fall, 3,000 lucky gamers from around the world will get an early look at Command & Conquer Generals(tm). Electronic Arts announced today that it will hold a public test for the multiplay mode of the game beginning Oct. 25. Command & Conquer Generals will be published by EA (NASDAQ:ERTS) under the EA GAMES(tm) brand this winter.

The public test will give participants a chance to play Command & Conquer Generals multiplay mode via the Internet. The test will include five missions, and allow gamers to play as each of the three unique sides in the game: the superpowers of the United States and China, and an underground political terror organization, the Global Liberation Army, that is bent on liberating the world through anarchy and terror.

Each of the three sides represents a distinct war philosophy and will fight with vastly different tactics and weaponry. All of the units and buildings for each of the sides will be available in the test.

The test will begin Oct. 25 and sign ups will be held through http://generals.ea.com, beginning Oct. 10 at 12:01 a.m. Signups will be open for only 24 hours, and EA will randomly select 3,000 participants from those who sign up.

"Multiplay is a critical part of any RTS game and we're really looking forward to hearing from our fans on how to make the experience in Command & Conquer Generals even better," said Mark Skaggs, general manger of EA Pacific and executive in charge of production for the game. "The team has been working hard, and we're all excited for players to see the innovative multiplay features we've kept under wraps for the past six months."

Anyone who signs up for the public test must meet the minimum system requirements to be eligible for selection. Those requirements will be posted on the public test sign up page of the official Command & Conquer Generals website.

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.

For more information on the title, visit the official Command & Conquer Generals website at www.generals.ea.com.

Malc: You've said that a few of the best mappers around have the new editor, so
is there any chance of some new screens of it in action?

Delphi-WS: Not yet, a few more tweaks need to be made before more shots if the interface can be released.

Malc: Any ETA on the Generals chat yet?

Delphi-WS: Yep, the first ever Generals chat with Harvard is scheduled for next Thursday 5:00 PM PST on Game Spy. So go download Arcade now!

Delphi-EA: Looks cool, maybe I can swing a few multiplayer test slots. Hmm...

Transnote: Delphi when do we find out the signup details?

Delphi-EA: Marketing guys are telling me tomorrow.

I am sure u r still waiting for this. :-) Here is the second piece of the "shred selection". Harvard showed us the possibilities of the graphics engine on a special "Test Map". These test maps are prepared to check special features of the game. I have already seen a lot of these test maps during the presentation in Cologne, however I was not allowed to tape this material. But now, I was able to take this snippet :-) enjoy!

We have decided on how we will choose people and when it will be released....we just haven't posted that yet.

Better to phrase this would be "community speculation." All the plans, dates, registration process is setup up. We are just waiting on the marketing folks to announce the test.

Back by popular demand is the logo chooser! This fun little feature is brought to you by the webmaster himself, MicScoTho. Just click on the logo chooser graphic at the far right of the top bar. We have brought back our old default logo in blue as well as keeping the new logo. What's your preference? Head over to our forums and tell us!

Delphi: Yes, I'm working on a GameSpy chat date right now. I'm guessing it will be the first week of October with Harvard.

According to a rumor, the chinese "kirov" of propaganda has been cancelled. Is this unit still of the game ?

The Blimp is no longer in the game. =( BTW it was not like the Kirov, the Proganda Blimp did not have any major offensive capabilities.

Delphi-EA: I just wanted to give everyone a quick Generals update:

The multiplayer beta for Generals is no longer referred to as "BETA." We are now calling it a "Multiplayer Test." The reason being it was causing some confusion and clarification was needed.

So now, expect to see some new information on the Generals "multiplayer test" in the next week.

Delphi-EA: The multiplayer test will be limited in number of participants. If you are not lucky enough to be chosen from our fansite community or randomly picked from the boards, you will have to sign-up on the designated dates.

More info to follow in the next week or so.

Bandit: Will we be testing the anonymous match making system in the multiplayer test or are we limited to custom games?
Delphi: Both!

Any of you guys download the new map hack for War III? Hah!

The problem is in the code and our coders have learned a thing or two from Yuri's. Won't it be nice to have a message in Generals pop up on your screen notifying you when a player is trying to use a trainer? Now that's a good start. Heck won't it be even better when it's directly reflected on their record? Ladder admins and players can then "blacklist" these players from matching. Woot!

Blacklist? Oh yeah, Generals has a complete filtering system that will allow you to customize your matching options.

quote:

---

dont be so sure.. look at the official generals website. how "supported" is that!

---

LOL! It's a preview site, our full site is going live in just a few short weeks. LOL!

If cheats do happen to appear in Generals, the team is committed to fixing them. It will be nice though to see the message when someone is caught. I only wish Generals could take a picture of their face when it happens.

This short snippet is one of three pices of material I dont want to show, because it was made from a verry bad position and realy unprepared. - But, now I will provide this stuff, to make the time between now and the start of the Multiplayer Test short as possible... So dont be scared about the quality... the content is counting :-)

After a long wait, and painstaking hours of Flash MX, my screensaver is finished. It features countless screenshots from everyones favorite upcoming title: Command And Conquer Generals. It's available in two forms. One for the slower computers, with slightly decreased graphics and no music, and one for the faster folks with full graphics quality and music. I hope you enjoy.

Download the High Quality Version

Download the Low Quality Version

What we've been waiting for has finally happened. We've heard EAP sources, that C&C Generals went alpha yesterday. Alpha means the engine and the planned features are already in, and must only be tested. Nothing more seems to stand in the way of the planned release in January. The developers are confident in this assertion.

There's been several interviews with Chris Rubyor (Delphi) recently.
On this Official Generals Message Boards thread, Rolan asked Chris this question about the beta:

Rolan: Now any news on the official Generals Beta?

Delphi-EA: Actually from what the marketing peeps are telling me, an annc is going to be very soon.

More about the beta... Paradox from CNC Generals.com asked these questions:

Paradox: In a recent Generals video, Harvard can be heard mentioning the beta will take place "next month," if at all. Next month referring to October. Could you shed some light on how accurate this is?*
Delphi: Sounds accurate to me, but of course I can not pin a date to anything.

Paradox: What sort of audience do you expect the beta to reach out to?
Delphi: It will be limited in number, more details to be released soon.

Paradox: As of yet, what do you expect the rig specifications for the beta testers will be, taking the potential --even if minimal-- optimization the game will undergo in due time?
Delphi: Your machine will need to be 1 GZ or better for the beta.

From this thread, also on the Official Generals Message Boards, TsNod has asked these questions:

TsNod: Will there be an insider program/tourney, pre-order features like RA2 and Renegade?
Delphi: Sorry too early We'll know for sure by October.

TsNod: Is there any chance of an official ladder being made?
Delphi: Good question, the team is toying with the idea.

TsNod: Will we ever get to get an autographed copy of the game for a bit more money?
Delphi: It's really up to the marketing guys, so I won't know for sure until October or November. Top secret

TsNod: Will upgrades be used individually, or will an upgrade research upgrade all units of its kind?
Delphi: Units have different types of upgrades, some are specific to the unit type where as others are researched for all units.

TsNod: What kind of music do you all plan on using for CnC Generals?
Delphi: We will be using a new musician and new music types this time around.

TsNod: What types of terrains are there? Is there any Tundra like Terrains?
Delphi: Players will have access to snow, temperate, urban and desert. Now there are variations on these tiles so you'll get more than just one type of snow tile.

TsNod: If Rangers can rappel down the sides of buildings...How about cliffs?
Delphi: No rangers can't, but some special units can.

TsNod: Besides the map editor, what else is available for modding? Or is it all included in the editor? (Unit editing, etc.)
Delphi: With Map Editor, from a General perspective, map makers can create their own multiplayer, skirmish, and mission maps. They will also have access to scripting features and can edit the ini files of the units and structtures.
Map makers can put their own music and sound to the game which is done with scripting.

TsNod: What can the civilians do in multiplay games?
Delphi: Run and Scream. [Is being his usual self and keeping some info away]

TsNod: What are the specs that the demonstrations for Generals was used? Like what type of cpus were used?
Delphi: They used a 2.5 Gigs with 512 MB RDRAM and a GeForce TI 4600 128 MB. Most companies use machines like this to demo games.

TsNod: Will there be a World Domination ? And will it be like RA2's and Firestorms?
Delphi: At this time there is no information on game play of that type, there will be other multiplayer forms anyway.

TsNod: Will soldiers have programmed dodging manuevers for when under heavy fire. example: will they run for cover behind a rock or tree.
Delphi: Heh, how does that help against drones who can fire over the rocks.

TsNod: Will there be a female in the game
Delphi: Yeah the Hacker.

TsNod: Do you start off only building infantry and as your get further into the campaign you gain access to construct tanks and weapons of mass destruction?
Delphi: As the game progresses more units are unlocked.

Shady from CNC Uprising asked Chris these questions:

Shady: Will there be a chance of the System Req's for Generals being reduced in the future??
Delphi: Possibly, we won't know for sure until the game is fully optimized.
Shady: Renegade Patch and Nux server... When??
Delphi: No eta.

The community is keeping Chris busy as usual. 

• CNC Generals Nation is in need of staff!! They are looking for news updaters and feature writers. Click here to see the requirements.
• CNC Universe has a ton of new screenshots from a DVD from a German gaming magazine.
• Game Revolution has a new Generals preview. Two videos are included with it as well, but they are nothing special.
• CNC Den has some new Generals wallpapers.
• Generals Bunker has a picture of what might be the initial box art for Generals.
• Over on this thread at the Official Generals Message Boards, a member of the EAP staff has leaked some beta details. Here's what was said:

  Shanahan-EAP: There will be a beta that everyone can register for. It will be limited though, not sure yet on the total number.
  
  A few things that make a good beta tester:
  1. Ability to communicate well
  2. Attention to detail
  3. Knowing the difference between "playing" the game and "testing" the game

• In another recent post on the Official Generals Messageboards, Chris Rubyor (Delphi) posted the current system requirements for Generals:

  The bare minimum right now is:
  
  PIII 800
  128 MB RAM
  Geforce 2
  
  Presently running below this is not recommended.

  I just bearly make those... hopefully I'll get a new computer before Generals comes out