84 replies to this topic

[thudo]

Good to have ya SS.. Just wish we could proceed ahead as I am beyond ready to start Advanced Skirmish AI investigations into C&C3. Have the computer system and the means to test.

[JEV3]

Well I am a bit out of my territory here... I don't plan to get CnC3, and I really haven't ever liked the CnC series much anyways... at least story-wise...

*See's Stealthsnake's Post*

*faints*

I thought you said you didn't like the CnC series... or maybe it is because you don't like the series you want to mod it... hmmm... Anyways, I find excitement about the new format here, which heartens me a bit, because when I heard about it, the format was recieved with disappointment... Article at Deezire I was afraid that if they had already dropped support for modding CnC3, then there would be no chance of continued support for modding the BFME series...

Hmm... though it is probably still unlikely that they will continue to support BFME modding... Oh well...

BTW, nice forums skin

Edited by JEV3, 13 April 2007 - 07:02 PM.

[Stealthsnake]

Urm no, ive been playing them all since the orginal came out on pc.

you may of heard me say i hate generals? all the other games were pwnage, i did not get my hopes up for C&C3 after how generals turned out, but ive been playing it this week, and its returned to more like how it use to be (without dozers), so ive returned to the C&C series.

[JEV3]

That explains things...

[Hogo]

Advanced Ai making should be fun

[CodeCat]

So as I see it, there's no way to extract the files and edit them?

[thudo]

We can extract xmls, inis, and txt files and edit them, sometimes directly, using FinalBig, but the actual Skirmish AI files, for example, are encrypted somewhere as cdata files in the GlobalStream.big in some darn compressed format. It might also be in the bin files in the apt.big. Arrghhhh!

[CodeCat]

I haven't been able to find XML files either. I'm guessing those are in GlobalStream.big too.

[Phil]

I think only the "old" scriptevents.xml is extractable without the Mod SDK at this moment...

[thudo]

Yep.. and its means jack to potential C&C3 modders. Only files I found useful are both the gamedata.ini and skimishaidata.ini file . We wait..

[CodeCat]

Well I can say one thing about C&C3... if they don't release that SDK within reasonable time, they're going to lose out on quite a substantial portion of the fanbase far quicker than with any other C&C game. It would be a record in community 'brain drain', hehe.

[thudo]

Well what we REALLY need is a balance patch as C&C3 is soooooooooooooo bloody generic in terms of gameplay its now boring me to death. Its just spam spam spam SPAM! Its awfully boring trying to win in limited ways.

[Hogo]

Well I can say one thing about C&C3... if they don't release that SDK within reasonable time, they're going to lose out on quite a substantial portion of the fanbase far quicker than with any other C&C game. It would be a record in community 'brain drain', hehe.

You are 100% correct and you Thudo but for now i don't play CNC3 it keeps crashing for me and i am tired of it

[thudo]

I've heard of these crashes but I don't get em as much as I once did. Before it would drop to desktop when the first C&C3 Kane Edition Splash Panel comes up after running c&c3.exe but then I would play another unrelated 3d game then go back and try C&C3 and it would work fine. Wierd.

Since the game works and works as I mod it, since I cannot mod anything except simple inis, it becomes beyond apparent how utterly hollow C&C3 is. Replayability is pretty much meh. This is ONE RTS that simply doesn't value every single unit throughout all the tiers. I do hope the Nod Avatar gets more respect as its sinfully awful compared to the ease of using the GDI Mammoth. Nod Avatar costs waayyyyyyyy too much and is waaaaaayyyy x50 too cumbersome to upgrade its araments using existing Nod vehicles. Bad implementation and absolutely no incentive to waste time doing the upgrades as you see the enemies 5-10 Mammoths inbound and just making a joke out of all. Sad...

[CodeCat]

I haven't had the game crash on me once, so I guess I can count myself lucky then.

But yes, Mammoths are way overpowered. I noticed that right from the demo. I can't fathom why they cost so much less than an Avatar or Annihilator even while being far more powerful than either of them. They're nice as a tank, yes, but the railgun upgrade is just far too much. And the rockets are a bit too powerful as well. Compare it to RA1's Mammoth, those were easy as hell to take out with air units.

[thudo]

Oh don't get me wrong.. Mammoths in a group are also VERY susceptible to Veritgo bomber attacks, sneeky Suicide infantry, and rear scorpion assaults. Vertigos, by far, have been responsible for many destroyed Mammies but the problem is: Nod players need to work ALOT MORE for their win whereas GDI can spam Predators or Mammies and its a joke. There simply is not enough gameplay variety to turn the tide of the battle. Spam ultimately wins.

I would certainly slow the Mammoth tank down ALOT and perhaps a slightly longer cooldown between shots. The balance police will have alot of fun in this game.

[Phil]

You guys make me want to do my oldschool mod so badly...

Something I personally dislike is how generic and equal stuff is... what I mean is that each side gets its superweapon, equal to the others, each side gets their super defense turret, each side gets their basic tank unit, each side gets their basic air unit and so on...
What about one side having two superweapons? Or having them reload quicker than the others, but with less power?
Or what about one side only having medium defense systems? Only basic aircraft? Only medium tanks with other special features *cough Nod cough*? Only advanced infantry?

I'd have liked more variety and less equivalent units on the three sides. I'm sure this would have made the game much more interesting and also less spam-tanks-based because you'd actually need to adapt to the strength of each faction in order to use them effectively...

[thudo]

Yeaaa that was pretty damn lame on EA's part to make each faction's superweapon charge up PRECISELY the same time, do the exact damage, and cost the same $5000. Bahhhhhhhh! What is this, SupremeCommander for pete's sake? It should have been like the original C&C serious.. the IonCannon was cheaper, charged up half the time as the nuke, and it could ONLY be used for surgical strikes (ie. could destroy an Obelisk in one hit but thats it). The personality of the C&C3's factions is just drab to a point. No real diversity. Just rock-papre-scissors.

[Phil]

Yeah, that's what I was saying... but also the Sonic Turret/Obelisk/Storm Column triple annoys me... of course the Sonic Turret and Storm Columns are kinda cool too, but the exclusive role of Nod's fearsome-badass-defense got lost...

[thudo]

Yep.. all sides have the EXACT same defensive structures. LAME! Nod has ALWAYS specializied in the best base defenses in order to counter GDI's Medium And SuperHeavy Mammoth tanks. The first C&C was brilliant in this matter. Now C&C3 is just a console game catering to kiddies and tries to be useful to all without reflecting personality and diverse tactics needed per side.

I do like that the Nod Obelisk can be "reinforced" with Beam Cannons but thats old now: we had that with in RA2's Russion Telsas which was the first to do that. Damn I miss RA2 + Yuri. So much innovative RTS elements in all that!