C&C Labs News

Planet CNC has a new installment of their Technology Troopers feature, explaining the experience of getting Zero Hour running on a TabletPC and playing it. Here's a snip:

But when I was actually playing the game, the biggest burden was the awkward right-click system. On TabletPCs, when using the pen ("stylus" is the correct terminology) you cannot move the pointer towards the screen's edge which means you need to scroll exclusively using the right-click'n'drag method.

Full article here.

Aaron has passed along the following about a new feature he's setting up:

The countdown to Command & Conquer The First Decade has officially begun! We are just over one week from our February 7th ship date to strike the Command & Conquer community with a decade compilation of some of the most renowned RTS games of all time. Command & Conquer The First Decade would not be possible without the living, breathing, and gargantuan C&C community that is still salivating for anything C&C and excited about the future.

With over 100 modifications active in the C&C community and thousands of games being played every day throughout every game included in The First Decade compilation, we expect there have been some amazing scenes of destruction, chaos, humor, and rare C&C moments that exemplify what this historic RTS series is all about. It is time to capitalize on those scenes and induct them in to the official, “Command & Conquer Hall of Fame.”

Command & Conquer Hall of Fame
We are launching the Command & Conquer Hall of Fame to seek out the best screenshots ever taken for any Command & Conquer game or modification. Dig up those incredible shots, replay the games, and capture your most breath-taking moments, and send them our way for a chance to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

With this opportunity comes an exciting contest that will progress through the launch of Command & Conquer The First Decade.

Beginning Monday, January 30th and continuing each week, community members and gamers of all nature can submit a screenshot from any previous Command & Conquer game or modification from the past 10 years. From there, our EA RTS development team will pick the Top 5 screenshots based on ANY of the following criteria:

• explosive action
  
• humor and creativity
  
• nostalgic effect (capturing historic moments)
  
• modding creativity
  
• cinematic flare

Each week, 5 screenshots will be inducted in to the Command & Conquer Hall of Fame on our official site. After a set period of time (to be determined), the community will narrow down the selection from each week through a series of voting polls to determine the top Command & Conquer screenshot of all time. The winner will receive a rare exclusive NVIDIA 7800 GT 256MB graphic card skinned with Command & Conquer. Runner-up prizes will also be given in the form of some valuable Logitech goodies. See the image below:



Rules for screenshot submission are as follows:

• You may submit a maximum of 3 screenshots per week
  
• Screenshots must be submitted as a JPG format
  
• Resolution must be 1024x768 or 800x600
  
• Photoshop or any graphic program are prohibited from altercations
  
• Screenshots from modifications based on copyrighted licenses are prohibited
  
• Screenshots from a modification can be from a project currently in production
  
• Profanity and crude imaging are prohibited

Please submit all screenshots to rtscommunityleaders@ea.com. For each submission, please include your first and last name, a short caption for your screenshot, C&C game or modification your screenshot was taken from, and your e-mail address.
Once again, please submit to rtscommunityleaders@ea.com
We are very excited to launch the official Command & Conquer Hall of Fame and see what you got!
Long live C&C!

APOC
“Every day is community day”

Feel free to post any thoughts in the comments thread.

News has been rather slow in the community, and we're all waiting for The First Decade, the collection of almost all of the C&C games, to come out in February. Here's what's been happening:

• Tesla7zap has created two new The First Decade-themed wallpapers. Lion also has made one. You can get them all at CNC DEN.
  
• Vietnam: Glory Obscured has posted a media update, complete with some nice screens.
  
• The Open Map Competition results are posted over at CNCCommunity.net. Here they are:

  
  1st: Oredragon :: Sillyanas Deep == 87.33%
  2nd: Piscinex :: Yin Yang == 80.66%
  3rd: Aurora196 :: Icy Encounter == 80.33%
  4th: BrutalAl :: Vicious Standings == 80.00%
  5th: ArissDJ :: Ascension == 79.33%
  6th: Nucl34r14 :: Hot Battlezone == 77.66%
  7th: Bob Markey :: Spider Town == 69.33%
  8th: Hk_31 :: Invasion Confirmed [TX] == 57.50%
  9th: Mayhew1 :: President Holiday == 41.66%
  10th: WRC2 :: Islands of Opportunity == 36.66%
  11th: the50 :: Warzone == 24.66%
  12th: AhsanKhalid111 :: War In America == 22.33%
  13th: Raptor :: ATOL == 21.00%
  14th: Amak :: Desert War == 18.00%

The 7th place results have been posted over at the Third Open Map Competition.
Map Name: Spider Town
Author: Bob Markey
Site: RADEN (cncgames.com)
Game: Yuri's Revenge
Best Rating On OMCs: <none>
Best Position On OMCs: <none>
Players: 4

Ratings:

• Original Concept: 13.2%/20%
• Ballance: 14.0/15%
• Eye Candy: 18.6%/30%
• Fun Factor: 13.6%/20%
• Triggers: 9.2%/15%

Overall Score: 68.60%
Valid Score: 69.33%

Further details can be found on the CNC Community website.

I added a new poll today. The results of the last one are below:

What are your thoughts on BFME2?
Can't wait!	23
Involves LOTR? Sign me up!	3
Won't be bad, won't be great	10
I'll wait and see	20
I don't trust EA to be able to make a good RTS anymore	29
Total Votes: 85

Thanks to all 85 of you who voted!

There's a new article over at CNCNZ entitled 'The Skaggs Conspiracy':

This article, although long overdue, is dedicated to whom I (and many others) see as the Unsung Hero of the Command and Conquer Community: Mark Skaggs.

The Red Alert 3 Project may as well been a Government Military Project. It was all hush-hush and "If you tell anyone outside these doors we will hunt you down". It was controversial as it was exciting. I mean, hell, a new Command and Conquer game? Set in arguably the most popular universe, the Red Alert series? Who the hell wouldn't be excited? The fans have been expecting something from EA since the disappointment that was Generals, although admittedly, that game was a change, something fresh and new. But, the point is, someone at EALA was getting frustrated with this secrecy. That someone was Mark Skaggs....

I say, cut the bullshit. He was fired because he wanted to keep the Community alive. It's pretty damn obvious that he was taken to court over the whole matter. Although, thanks to his efforts, Red Alert 3 is now probably shelved indefinably, we must admire him for the fact that he wanted to do something for us: the Community.

Although, at the moment, the future of Command and Conquer is in doubt, we still have another year of possibilities. We should not give up hope until we are absolutely sure Command and Conquer has died. Which is why we should remember the actions of Mark Skaggs. In my opinion, the Unsung Hero of Command and Conquer.

It's an interesting article, but it doesn't really have the factual support it needs to come across well. There seems to be quite a bit of evidence that the Skaggs/EA split was a mutual one, and one determined by a number of factors, not just the RA3 announcement, and not just Skaggs community outlook, which may be inaccurately characterized in the article. In any event, it's a good point for discussion, and you can read the whole thing here.

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all the loyal C&C Fans out there a happy new year. If this last year was the best year of your life so far, I hope you're next can top it. If you're last year has been one of hardship (we're C&C fans and tend to know this well), then I hope the coming year will be full of pleasant surprises and fun to make for a much better year.

Of course, Generals World will be around and we'll keep bringing you what you need for C&C plus a few added bonuses. Quite honestly, this next year is going to be an interesting one for Command and Conquer. It may not be revolutionary in game design but the franchise is still alive (to many people's surprise after EA bought Westwood) but 2006 may be remembered as the year of C&C past. This year will be a good time to look back at the games that the franchise was built on and the mods that made it a community.

Command and Conquer may have a bit of a different direction than when it started but Semisonic put it best in the song Closing Time: "Every new beginning is from some other beginning's end".