C&C Labs News

I updated the poll today. Here are the results from last time:
I'm surprised at how many of you gave EA such high marks. Certainly there are those who think that if it's not made by Westwood, it's not a C&C. Of course, the question then is: What's a C&C? Command and Conquer is not a game company; it's a game. In that respect, it shouldn't matter who makes it, as most of you seem to agree. Judging the game on its merits, it certainly seems like a lot of the C&C elements are coming back in C&C 3. Thanks to all 312 of you who voted.

This next poll, and you can vote on the right sidebar, asks about the demo. What's the biggest flaw? The long lines or huge file size keeping many from getting it? The right click based system? Something else? Tell us!

Updating the newspost from earlier, the official site has relaunched--you can now sign up for your C&C 3 account. Sign up for an EA.com account, and when you go to view the C&C 3 forums, it will ask you for a screenname, which will be your name for all C&C 3 related things, including online play.

The Demo is also available from FilePlanet and from the official site. Check it out!

This hefty message was sent in from EA Community Manager Predator last night:

FORUM RELAUNCH = MULTIPLAYER ONLINE REGISTRATION BEGINS!

As I mentioned last week, we are re-launching our message boards with a completely new skin to match our new site, as well as some new functionality to support Command & Conquer 3. The most important aspect of this re-launch of the forums is that once the new boards go live tomorrow, everyone in the community will be able to create their Multiplayer Online Nickname that they plan to use when playing Command & Conquer 3. This is because the name you use on our official message boards is the same exact name that you will use as your online handle when logging in to the Multiplayer lobby to play Command & Conquer 3. What this means is the following:

• Everyone on our current message boards who has 50 or more posts will have their current message board name automatically brought over to the new message boards as soon as they go live. This also means that your multiplayer name for Command & Conquer 3 has already been automatically reserved if you had 50 or more posts on our current message boards. Again, your message board name is the same name you will use online to login and play the game. If you did not want this name to be your official multiplayer name for Command & Conquer 3, please send an e-mail to rtscommunityleaders@ea.com with the name you'd like to use. We felt that those who have been dedicated to our community and forums in the past year should have the privilege of having their current names automatically reserved.
• If you did not have 50 or more posts or did not reserve your name with me, then when you go to our new forums tomorrow, if you are logged in to your EA.com account, you will be automatically prompted to create a new screen name. Please note again, this screen name you create is going to be your online nick-name for the actual game and it is also your official name on the Command & Conquer forums.

For all users whose name is being automatically brought over, we anticipate there may be some temporary errors with your posting-count history. Do not worry, if this occurs, will be fixing it as soon as possible. We will also try to answer all the questions for anyone who is confused on the message boards.

Our goal in all of this was to keep a cohesive and consistent atmosphere between the game and your online experience on our website, primarily because our new "RTS AS A SPORT" feature is very dependent on our official site, in terms of tracking your stats, managing and scheduling your matches, and a whole list of amazing features that you will learn about soon. In a nutshell, it will be awesome to know that you can talk on the forums, check your stats on our website, AND play multiplayer in Command & Conquer 3, all while using the same exact nick-name.

I will be posting a sticky message on the boards tonight to make sure everyone understands. Please let your community know that when the new forums go live tomorrow, you will be able to start reserving your online nick-name for Command & Conquer 3! Don't be left out! 

WEBSITE RE-LAUNCH [TODAY]

Tomorrow [Monday] we will also be re-launching our official site at www.commandandconquer.com to something much more robust and quite cool I might add. It's going to be a very different Command & Conquer site than you are used to seeing. One thing to note about the official site relaunch is that this is our Phase 1 pre-release launch. You'll notice a lot of the same sections are still on the site and even some added ones, like the Community section. I'll be adding more links and banners to this section, so not to worry. Drop me a line if you are not on the list, I'm just starting to populate it, it's a work in progress.

When the game launches on March 26^th, we will be moving to the Phase 2 re-launch of our official site and adding in all of the multiplayer "RTS AS A SPORT" functionality which you've heard about and will hear quite a bit more about in the coming days and weeks leading to launch. Our official site is going to become your haven for all the latest official happenings on Command & Conquer 3 and it will also be where you schedule and track your multiplayer matches, stats, the list goes on. But this is more of a just a heads up that when the game launches the site will be expanding even further!

O YEAH, THE DEMO!!!!!

I'll leave you with this, the official demo for Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, that you've waited many years for, the gripping feeling knowing that C&C is back, Kane is back, Tiberium is back, ok, well lets say it right now:
 

C&C is officially back as the demo for Command & Conquer 3 will be going live on our official site at www.commandandconquer.com, as well as FilePlanet.com whom we know many of you have already pre-loaded with. Keep your eyes peeled on both sites for the moment the file is live, [today] is the day!

Got all that? Feel free to join us in the forums to discuss the demo once you have it.

The C&C demo is confirmed for release "sometime early next week" according to this email posted on FilePlanet. That's for FP subscribers only, but it'll make its way to other places, I'm sure, though there may be long lines for it. I expect it to weigh in at about one gigabyte in size, so those of you with dialup may want to skip this round.

IGN got a copy of the demo early, and has posted a review of it. Of note in the review is the fact that the demo contains one skirmish map that supports both GDI and Nod at four difficulty levels, as well as three missions (one tutorial and two for GDI), and a video intro to the game.

It won't be long now before we actually get to play it.

The US magazine PC Gamer is the first to review C&C 3. It will be featured in the upcoming version of the magazine. They gave it an overall score of 90%, which isn't bad. It's equal to the score that EA's Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 earned, and much improved over Generals' 78%. Also of importance, the interview notes the system specs for C&C 3 which are:

Minimum: P4 1.8 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 8 GB HD space, DX9.0c 64 MB graphic card with 8X DVD ROM.
Recommended: P4 2.4 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 128 MB video card.

I'd add to that info some advice: if you're going to upgrade your computer to play C&C 3, or if you're going to exceed the specs in one area, the best area to do that in is the graphics card. The best bang-for-your-buck upgrade to improve game performance is definitely in the graphics processing unit, as many Generals players can attest.

A new contest at C&C Files challenges you to make your own C&C unit. From the guidelines:

Make a single unit for Zero Hour. It can be an infantry, a ground unit or even an aircraft. You may make your own model and skin or just use one from the game and alter its stats. You may make your own weapon and particle effects for the unit too.

The contest is being sponsored by EA, and there are three copies of C&C at stake for the best three entrants.

Joe "Kane" Kucan has been interviewed again, this time over at GamersNation. It's done in his usual style. For starters:

Stun - Can you tell me about yourself and what other work you have done apart from Command and Conquer?

Kane - Yes, of course I can. It would be a simple matter of maybe just spelling out my name, adding a little bit of trivia and then listing a few of the projects from my resume. I mean seriously: how hard could that be, really? I’ll bet that maybe 85, maybe 90 percent of the world’s population could do the very same thing. So, to summarize: yes. Yes I can. (Which coincidentally was the name of Sammy Davis, Jr.’s autobiography; look it up.)

You can read the full piece here.

EA Community Manager Predator commands you to vote in this poll at Voodoo Extreme:

Joe Kucan, who plays Kane in all C&Cs, has been interviewed by Gamespot. He's the one actor returning to reprise his role in C&C 3 (hey, it helps to play a character who never dies). As is usual for him, Joe gives a mix of humorous and serious answers. Here's a snip:

Gamespot: Why do you think EA brought you back to appear in the new game? What do you think you bring to the role of Kane that a look-alike or sound-alike might not be able to capture?

Joe Kucan: The real reason they brought me back was because I'm cheap and easily persuaded to help move heavy pieces of scenery in between shots. In all seriousness, Mike Verdu, the game's executive producer, has made his enthusiasm for the original C&C series and the methodology behind his vision for the game very obvious from the start. He had an early love of the game even before he started working at EA, and when he flew out to my house to pitch the project, I could tell right away that he was a big C&C fan because he had my face tattooed on his chest. I thought that was sweet.

Read the full piece here.

The first theatrical trailer for Command & Conquer 3 is live on Yahoo! Watch it here. Right now. Or, go ahead and download the HD 720p version from this link. It's a must see.

Streaming Version: View from Generals World

I know that it's been forever without an update to C&C All Stars, our in-house mod here at Generals World. I'm sorry that you guys had to wait for so long. However, I can finally say that I'm convinced we're getting there. We've been working on this mod for almost three years now, and it's the best it's ever been. Almost all the art is done. Almost all the coding is done. Almost all the AI is done. Over the next few weeks, you'll get to see and watch a lot of it. Then you'll get to play it finally. I can't speak for the experiences of others, but I know I've had more fun playing All Stars then I ever had playing any videogame, mod or not, before.

First, we have three new screenshots for you (click for full size):

Next we have a teaser video for the mod. It's one of a few videos we hope to release before the mod is ready. We have it available in three formats: a low quality Quicktime download (3MB); a medium quality streaming version in Flash Video; and a high quality Quicktime download (35MB). I recommend one of the latter two.

You are always free to comment on the mod in our forums.


It's coming. Stay tuned.

It has been confirmed that there is a demo due out at the end of February for C&C 3. If you're a FilePlanet subscriber, you can reserve it in advance here. If not, you can still check out the C&C 3 demo page and check back when the demo's ready. Once the date is announced, I'll be sure to post it on our front page.

Note: Other sites have been reporting February 20th as the date it's due out; this date is unconfirmed, as Predator recently said:

The date is not official. We will be releasing this demo in conjunction with FilePlanet as we did with BFME2, but they put the cart before the horse.

We will announce the date when ready and that is hopeful for later this week.

There's a new interview over at FiringSquad with Mike Verdu and Mike Glosecki. It's a nice (and pretty long) piece, covering a lot of ground, ranging from DirectX 10 support to the new gameplay innovations. Here's a snippet:

FiringSquad: What sort of new RTS gameplay wrinkles can fans expect from C&C3 that differ from the normal RTS title?
Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: Engineers can actually capture the hulks of destroyed mega-units like the 40 foot tall Nod Avatar walker, the hulking GDI Juggernaut artillery platform, or the Scrin Annihilator Tripod. This introduces a cool dynamic: You assume a degree of risk when you deploy these massively powerful units. If you lose the battle, your enemy might capture the hulks, repair them, and you may well face your own units in combat. Another cool new game mechanic is information warfare. Nod can deploy decoy armies, jam radar, and create fake radar returns. The Scrin have an interesting relationship with Tiberium that allows some of their units to draw on the crystal directly, powering up certain weapons.

You can read the full piece here.

Predator has just released a 50 minute podcast with a ton of new info. First, Art Director Matt Britton talks about creating and designing the Scrin units. The podcast then features Lead Balance Designer Greg Black speaking about balance. He's later joined by Jason Bender to discuss gameplay strategies as and against the Scrin. They also answer fan questions from the forums. All in all, there's a wealth of information in the download.

Gamespot has a new article about the Scrin that comes complete with a new trailer. Here's a piece from the article:

The real-time strategy genre as we know it today--gathering resources, building bases, and massing huge armies to sweep your opponent from the map--owes a lot to Command & Conquer. The original Command & Conquer was one of the first true real-time strategy games, as well as one of the best games ever made. So it's little wonder why strategy fans are looking forward to Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, which is due out in March. Set in a war-torn future, Tiberium Wars will once again pit the forces of the noble Global Defense Initiative against the evil Brotherhood of Nod. However, developer EA Los Angeles is introducing a new alien faction to really shake things up. The existence of this faction was only recently revealed, but even then, details such as the faction's name and background were kept a secret. That is, until now. In this edition of our designer diaries, executive producer Mike Verdu gives us an introduction. So let's meet the aliens.

It also has a lot of new details. Read the full piece here.