C&C Labs News

Aight folks, here we go.

Apparently some "cheaters" have been exploiting a peice of generals that was not supposed to be included in the game. Known as "Burning Barracade", it can block in your tanks and everything. It gives an extremely unfair advantage to the other person. Col. Burton calls the problem "a burning pile of trash" as it has halted the testing of patch 1.6 and forced EA to work a fix in to this next patch.

Dear C&C Generals Community, We are aware of this cheat and how it works. We are currently taking steps to fix the problem. We are also aware that there are other cheats appearing that are based on this cheat. We have stopped test on patch 1.6 to include this fix and hopefully it will not delay the patch appreciably. I’m sure that everyone will want to see this issue addressed ASAP so thanks for your patience. Col. Burt Production Support Technician Command & Conquer Generals Electronic Arts

You can go here to read and see a screenshot. Unfortunately, this won't be the last of this "code exploiting". After 1.6 players will still be able to attempt to find this type thing in Generals, leaving EA with a bit of an ongoing effort to stop this kind of "cheating".

There's recently been some more changes in the community management at EA.  Glenn Burtis' email explains it best:

Dear C&C Community,

As you may or may not know Electronic Arts has under gone some changes recently, one of them being the consolidation of the Las Vegas and Irvine offices into the EA Los Angeles facility.

As it turns out all of Electronic Arts community management is being consolidated into a single location as well.  Mike Murphy is the community manager for EA Games in Redwood Shores and will be assuming all community related responsibilities for the Command & Conquer franchise including Generals. Mike has an extensive background in community management and you can learn more about him in his official post here: http://messagebrd.westwood.ea.com/cgi-bin/boards/gen/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=032106

You can contact Mike in the future for any community related questions that you may have. Thank you for your understanding during this transitional period.

The CnC Generals World Forums have just about finished undergoing an upgrade!  There's all sorts of exciting new features!  More will be added and others improved on in the upcoming weeks.  To see a full list of features, please visit this forum announcement.  Now is a great time to become more active in the forums!

In other news, we are once again looking for a News Updater.  Manatee did a great job while he was here, but he has since become too busy with schoolwork and, understandably, hasn't had time to continue posting news.  If you are interested in becoming a Generals World News Updater, please contact me at MicScoTho@cncgeneralsworld.com.  For those of you who aren't aware, news updaters post news updates, such as this one, to the Generals World home page for visitors to read.  These news updates focus mainly on important community and Command & Conquer news, as well as what's going on at other CnC fansites.

Besides a News Updater, we're also looking for a "Map Tester."  This job description should be fairly straightforward.  A map tester would be responsible for testing Generals maps submitted to Generals World for quality, and accepting or denying them based on our standard.  If you play Generals often and have fairly high expectations in the maps you download off the internet, then this job is for you!  Once again, if you're interested please contact me at MicScoTho@cncgeneralsworld.com.

Well, now that I am out of school for the summer, I thought I would update the page as well... I added another tutorial to the tutorials section, this time on how to make a dam (crazy EA, they think we don't have their 'advanced/special coding skills'). Also, there is now a German version of my adding AI to a multiplayer map tutorial, available here. Also, you can be expecting a tutorial on INI editing shortly. Please send any tutorials you wish to submit to MicScoTho@cncgeneralsworld.com.

In unrelated news, I just got 4 of my teeth pulled out... ow...

Now that I am out of school for the summer, I was finally able to get some site updates done.  As you may have noticed, the links on the top navigation bar have been modified.  The USA, China, and GLA information sections have been combined along with the Civilians page under the category "Factions."  The Other Info category has been renamed to "Game Info," and the Chat Logs page has been moved to the Interact category.  Now there's a mouthful.

I've done more than just moving things around though.  You'll notice a new Features section as well.  This section contains information about Generals Maps as well as our Images Gallery.  It also contains a new feature here at Generals World: Tutorials.  Currently, we only have one tutorial listed in the tutorials section, but over the upcoming weeks we'll be compiling more, mainly related to the Generals World Builder and creating Generals mods.

The tutorial that we currently have was written by gamemastax, and is titled: Adding AI to a Multiplayer Map.  I'm sure it will interest many map creators out there, especially those of you who are just starting to experiment with the more advanced features of the World Builder.  In any case, you can check out the tutorial here.

If you are interested in writing a tutorial of your own, please contact me at MicScoTho@cncgeneralsworld.com .  Also, be sure to check out the Maps and Mods section of the Generals World Forums, where you can find some more tutorials that are currently being completed.

I am planning to release my MOD, Breaking Twilight, sometime during the summer. However, I need your input on what I should have in it! As it is, these are the features I am including in my MOD:

• USA
  Raptors and Stealth Bombers are visible to eyes, but invisible to the radar. Which means that MiGs can't fire on them with missiles.
  Raptors now have vulcan cannons on the front, which isn't radar-dependant and is quite inaccurate. Is only effective against air targets and infantry.
  The Commanche can now fire upon air targets, as it should.
  Ranger's Flash-Bang grendades temporarily disable the enemy, instead of killing them.
  I will be including an F-18ACTIVE as a new plane, which is much more maneuverable and slightly faster than the F-22, but has a smaller payload and is not stealthed to radar.
• China
  Hackers will make more money when they are at... um... n00b status (no chevron sybmols).
  I will be increasing the cost of MiGs and MiG Armor.
  MiGs will now have a vulcan cannon the the front, which is effective against air and infantry targets.
• GLA
  For GLA, I will be adding some other cool stuff (actually I have no idea since I've never had any encounters with suicidal terrorists).

If you have any suggestions, either post a comment to this news article, or post here. Anything you would like to see in Command and Conquer: Generals that you don't think will off-balance the game, post! Also, I need:

• 1 More modeller
• 1 More Skinner
• 1 INI Modder

But your input is the most important thing. Thank you, Goodbye.

Harvard Bonin from EA Pacific has spoken about Patch 1.6 which is due to be released in a couple of weeks. Here's what he had to say:

Dear C&C Generals players,

As promised, here are more specifics on the planned 1.6 patch which should be out in the next 2-3 weeks. We are not rushing it through testing to ensure that it is a big plus, not a big minus for the community.

Here is the run down...

1. FIREWALLPORTOVERRIDE INI ENTRY - repaired this entry so it functions correctly.

2. ALT-F4 MULTIPLAYER EXPLOIT - Quitting the game during a multiplayer match using Alt-F4 will now correctly give the offending user a disconnect stat.

3. CHINESE AND KOREAN IME WINDOW ORDER - Re-prioritized the Korean and Chinese IME windows on the Save/Load screen so they now sort on top of all other windows.

4. SCUD STORM ANTHRAX BETA BUG - GLA’s Scud Storm now has the correct damage radius when upgraded with Anthrax Beta.

5. CHINA GATTLING TANK BUG - China’s Gattling Tank now correctly moves slower when it is damaged.

6. MULTIPLAYER LOBBIES – The lobbies have been renamed to allow people to congregate based on the type of game they want to play, not just their region.

1 vs 1
2 vs 2
3 vs 3
4 vs 4
Newbie
Asia
Europe
N America
S America
No Rush
No Supers
Mod Maps

7. GENERAL BALANCING ISSUES:
• China’s Gattling weapons now require Line of Sight to fire.
• China’s MiG cost increased from 1000 to 1200.
• China’s MiG Armor cost increased from 500 to 1000.
• US’s Cold Fusion Reactor Control Rod upgrade cost decreased from 800 to 500.

8. QUICKMATCH RESOLUTION – the resolution for QuickMatch games is no longer limited to 800x600. All resolutions allowed.

9. INVISIBLE UNITS - Fixing the problem where “behind the buildings” graphic was causing people with some old video cards to see invisible units.

10. NVIDIA GeForce FX fix - Fixed graphics glitch with certain drivers for GeForce FX.

Hope that helps. We're at your service.

--------------------
Harvard Bonin
Producer
Command & Conquer Generals
Electronic Arts

I can't wait to see the patch finally released!

Hey folks, I do appologise for my recent absence (exams) but I'm back, and to celebrate, I'm going to round-up the major community news from the last week. Unfortunately, the community's gone a little quiet lately, but I'll give you what I can. :p

Blitzkrieg 2 isn't dead! To our greatest surprise, they posted an update on Sunday for the first time in almost a month! Never fear though, the mod is coming along, and within the next few days we should expect to see a full ingame screenie of their mod! You can read their little news snippet here

CNC Den have shouted us a bunch of new multiplayer and online maps this week, which you can find here. They look pretty darn good as usual! I'll definately be grabbing myself some of those when I finish with this update :D

The CNC Forums are back up and working after a complete remake and version upgrade.



There's been a bit of action over at Nova, with new screenies for you to gawk at. Unfortunately things are running a bit slow for them, but we'll keep our eyes peeled for another update sometime this week.

Here's a big one: CNC Sector is BACK! Here's what Moe had to say:

Hey guys! As you can see.. we're finally back online. At the moment, downloads aren't online, neither are news comments.. and there will probably be a few dead links around the site also. We'll be getting the poll and news comments online soon I hope.. hopefully within a day or so. As for downloads, we will slowly be bringing them back. Thanks to everyone who have sent in files and have shown their support. Also.. thanks to the staff for sticking with us. :)

It's good to have them back :)

Now here's something you don't want to miss: The Generals Top Ten over at PlanetCNC's Command & Comedy section - it's an absolute cracker. Click here now! You won't regret it. :D

Well that's it from me for today - I'll be back soon with more community news (provided something actually happens) hehe.

Hey folks,

Here's a quickie on news:

Malc of CNC Matrix has posted up a couple new screens of a new Generals Mod called: Second Wave. You can see more here.

By the way, CNC Sector is back online. Yay! Give em' some hits and check out the latest news. Their server was hacked and need a bit of help. Lend yourself!

CNC Series has posted a chat log of when Delphi recently visited the #CNC Chat Room. Check it out here. Let me summarize: he couldn't comment.

German fans who saw CNC Generals stripped off shelves may soon see it again. German Magasine, Gamestar, reported on this. They said that changes to the game may include the possible "cutting of the GLA". No decision has been made but if you speak German, then keep me informed on how this pans out, Luckie@cncgeneralsworld.com . I'll try to cover this one as best I can.

Harvard Bonin has answered many questions about patch 1.6 with a posting. It gives some details about the patch. Visit the Official CNC Generals Boards to get to the story or simply click here.

That's what I've got now, game on all gamerz.

Today is the first day that Blbpaws and I are on the 'senior staff', so I decided to write something in the news section to see what it is like.

Regarding updates, you can expect some before next week, I hope. Check out the Forums for some information, and stuff... I really can't think of one interesting thing to write here... Oh well.

In the past week, my fellow staff at CnC: Unleashed have made major updates to the site. In addition to the obvious new layout, we have finally finished our Generals content, and have released 2 new articles: Justin's 'The Rise and Fall of the Renegade deathmatch', aimed to point out the problems of many of the Rengeade deathmatch maps, and a sequel to my 'Quest for Excellence' essay. Moddingwise, we have decided to accept another round of ideas for our LOTR mod. All you have to do is fill out the 'LOTR Tech Tree Form'. Below is an excerpt from my article:

1, Kreative News (Knews): Developed by our very own Kussie, this news script features anything that
you can think of, including BBCode, Categories, Comments, Custom News Fields, News Search, Profiles, Usergroups,
News Authorisation, Printer Friendly News, Read More, a Template System, Healines, a WYSIWYG Editor, Smilies, and a lot
more. The install process is all automated and all you need to have is PHP and MYSQL support

• Current version: Knews Public Beta 2.1
  
• Link: Kreative Studios

Visit CnC: Unleashed to see for yourself.

The results of our last poll are in! Here they are:

What is the best way that MiGs can be better balanced?
Reduce Firestorm Damage	269
Reduce Hit Points	74
Reduce Speed	83
Reduce Speed when Danaged	79
Increase Build Time	100
Increase Cost	162
Increase Price of MiG Armor	111
Total Votes: 878

We've also got a new poll. This time around the question is: What kind of war do you run? Be sure to cast your vote!

Hey Everyone,

I was trying to wait to do this becuase I was hoping that there would be more. Unfourtunatly there has been a drought of news lately. So here's the bone pickin' roundup.

Fans of CNCHQ will be left homeless. The site has had a great year but due to the lack of everything lately, it's just too much nothing. I'd like to say good luck to Webmaster Beanyhead in his future ventures and hello to any of his loyal fans. You can read his farewell here.

In the case that you have any interest, CNCDen has posted that you can find Generals Textures from the MP test here.

There will be a new mod for Generals with a new way to build a base with new dozers and such. There will also be new units and upgrades. w00t! Over 40 new features in all. You can see more information here.

Happy Bday PlanetCNC! An incredible four years old! They've done some changes to their CNC Encyclopedia to celebrate so go check it out! On top of that, they have released their annual State of The Community Article so check it out.

A new Generals Mod called "ColdStrike" is on it's way to game, more here.

Lastly, I have been collaborating with gamemastax, one of our great forum moderators in coming up with a fresh and new way for you to check the news on CNCGeneralsworld.com so come around again sometime soon and maybe you'll find out what it is!

Well, thats it, See you sometime soon!

I have been playing games online have heard many people asking me if I have gotten patch version 1.6 because they heard it was out. These people have exit in and out of online play to attempt to get this patch. The truth is that patch 1.6 is not out and you should not try to get it. This will save you time and energy.

Wargamer has posted the lastest CnC Generals review.  Yep, it's better late than never.  Here's a snip from the article:

What hasn't changed is the relentlessly straight-on Command and Conquer gameplay. Generals, like all the previous Command and Conquer games, offers a multitude of gameplay options but not much gameplay subtlety. It's not Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns, for sure. Though there are some potentially crafty strategies open to players, most will still find themselves frantically collecting resources, hammering up buildings, and more or less indiscriminately throwing groups of units at enemy hordes. While other venerable RTS's, like the Warcraft series, have moved away from the frantic clickfest mentality of the early RTS days-remember games like Total Annihilation?-Command and Conquer: Generals unashamedly embraces a slightly refined version of good old-fashioned tank rushes and zerging. Combat moves so fast it can be difficult to tell who's winning or why until the smoke clears. And don't even think of going on the defensive. Frankly, for all the game's flashy new surfaces, it won't take the experienced Command and Conquer player long to detect that the game's heart beats to the same adrenaline-rush rhythm as Red Alert's.

The article is 4 pages and provides some nice insight into the game for visitors who still have not purchased it.  You can read the whole article here.