14 replies to this topic

[Banshee]

Hey everyone! I'm going to fly to Germany tomorrow to get myself into Gamescom 2013 and the CommandCOM 2013 event. While Gamescom is the biggest gaming expo in the world, CommandCOM is an event inside Gamescom that will gather a couple of C&C community members to check the latest Command & Conquer and interact with the developpers. And I'll be there representing both Project Perfect Mod and CnC Guild (Revora).

 

The star of the show is the new Command & Conquer live service, which should be free to play, although you may optionally pay to progress faster. This Command & Conquer service should host several Command & Conquer modules inside and the first one is set 10 years after the events of Generals: Zero Hour. I'll let this video explain it to you:

 

 

 

 

According to data collected from many websites, we can say that the new Command & Conquer game will start with:

 

- 3 Factions: European Union (EU), Asian Pacific Alliance (APA) and Global Liberation Army (GLA).

- Dr. Thrax is back and there will be many Generals, where most of them will be unlocked by using command points (or by paying for some kind of special points).

- EU will inherit USA (Generals: Zero Hour) build style, except that buildings should be built around power plants and power is unmettered.

- APA inherits China (Generals: Zero Hour) build style.

- GLA will have two different types of war factories that will affect build order.

- There is a second resource called Oil, which is extracted from Oil Derricks (which you'll have to build). This resource should be used in advanced units.

- There will be no campaign at the start, but it should become available later.

- EA will not charge for additional maps. They want everyone to have the same maps.

- There will be no map editor and the game engine won't be moddable, at least for the next years to come.

- There is a new version of the alpha version of the game coming in the next days.

 

Unfortunately, as I have access to the beta version, I cannot reveal anything else of the game yet, but I believe that NDA should be lifted very soon, since there will be no NDA for CommandCOM, so, technically, they'd allow us to create a video from the game and reveal absolutely everything that we see there, although I am not completely sure about it. I'll ask them before doing that,

 

By the way, there is a video that show the game in action:

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have questions, suggestions for the game, wanna be heard by the devs? Post it here. Discuss it with us. While this game is not moddable, it will be undoubtfully a source of inspiration for many upcoming C&C mods. So, we are certainly covering it here and at PPM. I'll post more information as soon as I can.

 

[Gen.Kenobi]

This is really sad. I'm not sure if I'm saddened by the lack of modability or if by the overall look of the game.

It really resembles that piece of crap that was Empire Earth 3... Jeez... C&C is dead.

[Graion Dilach]

As long as we still mod what can be modded, it's alive, Jim.

[Pasidon]

Great news with our Gamescom rep, but the news with modding is an expected bummer.  EA has officially stated that they believe the modding community is undesirable to the game industry and are more-so hackers than supportive fans.  It's a large reason why I am currently boycotting EA games, and as much as we may be anticipating this upcoming C&C title, I really must implore you guys to consider doing the same.  EA's attitude toward our work is so aggressive, our support for this title is not earned.  Us taking a stand there is a huge help to clear that horrendous view of theirs.  

 

Other than that, good luck, Ban.  Bring me back a bratwurst.  

[Martinoz]

It won't be moddable for sure.

[Banshee]

EA has officially stated that they believe the modding community is undesirable to the game industry and are more-so hackers than supportive fans.

 

Where did they state that?

[Pasidon]

Boooo... I said official.  Woops.  Although, we had an article in the Shout-Box a long-long time ago that was just a sour read from EA's response from modders getting into SimCIty (5)'s code... so I might not entirely inaccurate der.

 

But to be fair, it's obvious of their stance with modding. It makes sense why EA does not want Command & Conquer (2) having modding or mapping support, or any other game they develop.  Uhh... well... why the heck would they want people making better / more content than them?  EA is the king of DLC, and marketing DLC with map packs and extra content is much harder if people are doing the same thing.... for free.  Is it right to limit your fan's tools because of that?  No.  If early C&C games held the same business model as this upcoming title, Revora wouldn't be here today.  I find that... spooky.  But protecting achievements and preventing cheating are their primary excuses, which is honestly asinine since it shouldn't matter how people play their own games.  Buhuh... I could rant for days about how frustrating EA has become.  Buckets of hatred.  

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

Wasn't the reason the new CnC game is not moddable because of the weird and complex structure of the game code?

[Pasidon]

That sounds more like an excuse to me... claiming modders won't be able to understand the game enough to modify it.  It's an RTS... this game is not a leap forward in the genera beyond what fans can fathom.  The same excuse was used for the Battlefeild 3 decision (also an EA game...) when Dice claimed the Frostbyte engine was so complex, modders would never be able to understand it.  Days later, hundreds of modders understand the Frostbyte engine.  

 

ALSO... EA also claimed SimCity (5) created simulations so complex, no standard computer could run them.  So the game needed to get calculations from teh EA servers.  Days later... modders crack the game open and find the calculations to actually be almost primitive in design.  Just as an extra, EA also claimed the game needed to remain online to play since these calculations needed to run through their servers.  With that proven to be horrendously not necessary, why would EA need this game to remain online?  Well, we can only speculate there, but probably very accurately get the reasoning right.

 

ALSO... Just as a bonus round for EA false information giving, EA forces Bioware to release 1st day DLC for Mass Effect 3.  After it being revealed that it was a concept designed after the game was finished, a modder found sound, model and mechanical designs in the beta game of content exclusive to the DLC.  Meaning EA covered up the fact Bioware removed the content originally and just made it DLC.

 

They're a detriment to modding and compulsive liars.  Origin isn't designed to be modder friendly either, so you can really tell their direction.  And I can't tell you how many people have been banned from Xbox Live and Origin for simple modding attempts.  I know you guys want to shoot all this garbage down as paranoid conspiracy so you can enjoy the game, but I 100% stand by the fact they treat consumers like criminals and that purchasing or playing this game is a statement to EA, that what they are doing is ok.  Making a C&C game without mod support... it's almost blasphemous, and they're going to get away with it.  That is unbelievable to me.

[OmegaBolt]

EA hasn't ever shut down modding, to my knowledge, which is the only reason we're here. Westwood never supported it either, it was only by virtue of modders working out how to edit the original files that C&C modding was possible. There never used to be this SDK nonsense.

[Pasidon]

EA hasn't ever shut down modding

Well, just reading down that list Ban put, and reading a few more articles on the game's development... it's kind of going there.  Having easily accessible skeletons in their previous titles, creating official mod support forum pages, and even separate limbs like World Builder for BFME... EA used to really support fans.  But I'm just seeing excused to lock down everything, and all I can do is sigh.  Very loudly.  

[Graion Dilach]

I can agree where Pas is going, even if his explanations of the past are wrong.

 

I don't like this SDK nonsense neither. I know that time brings in further and further levels of complexity but still, the open communities usually can figure out stuff relatively ease. with it's hometrained experts among them (Heroes 3 modding, C&C modding and god knows how many other games went modded without any developer word, just via by reverse-engineering and homemade tools).

 

Even modern games can be modded via this... so modding DOES competing DLCs.

 

I don't plan to boycott this C&C. I need moar assets for my own mods and one more sound library would always come handy.

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

I don't think it was so much that modders wouldn't understand it, It was more like it was too much work for them make mod tools or SDK.

But this isn't a normal RTS from what I've read, isn't it supposed to be a F2P MMORTS like Age of Empires Online which in that case modding wouldn't be supported unless there were ways to organise alternate servers.

[Martinoz]

This, and don't forget to run this game you need to be online all the time. Of course it's possible to make it running offline, but EA won't add it (protip: Simcity and server overload)

[Gen.Kenobi]

DLCs killed modding. DLCs and MMOs. F2P games and that kind of stuff. Unless EA can come up with something like Planetside 2 or Steam where players can design stuff for the game and add it in it, the new C&C and modding is pretty much dead for me.