Thursday, March 29, 2007

Command & Conquer Patch 1.1

This patch for Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars fixes several
bugs and exploits:

Exploits
· Scrin Mastermind's Teleport Units ability maximum range reduced.
· GDI Engineers, Nod Saboteurs, and Scrin Assimilators can no
longer capture structures when under the effects of the Scrin's
Phase Field support power.

Optimizations
· Improved video playback on low-end system configurations.

Balance Changes
· Scrin Storm Column cost / build time increased to 3,000 credits
/ 30 seconds.
· Scrin Buzzer health reduced to 75 and weapon damage type
changed to SNIPER.

Bug Fixes
· Fixed an error that would occasionally result in a crash in Nod
vs. Nod matches on the multiplayer map Deadly Sertao.
· Fixed issues with automated map transfer feature in multiplayer.
· Fixed an error that would sometimes cause a Commentator's
telestrator drawings to not erase as intended while viewing
BattleCast replays.
· Fixed issues with replay file playback.
· Fixed placeholder text and chat log errors with the Comrade in-
game chat window.

Other Changes
· Fixed an error in README.txt file regarding location of saved
game files in Windows Vista; added references to EA Link
version of the game; added disclosure about in-game advertising
(Note: the EA Link version of the game ships with this updated
ReadMe file).
· References to Nod's "Avatar Warmech" unit have been changed to
"Avatar".

Thursday, March 22, 2007

C&C 3 - Gameplay Footage

Three minutes of all out mayhem & destruction! GDI, NOD & Scrin all represented here.

Click here for video

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Command & Conquer 3 - Xbox 360 Q&A

TVG speaks to Raj Joshi, Producer of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars on Xbox 360...

With the PC release of the long-awaited third instalment in the Command & Conquer's Tiberium series just a matter of days away, TVG decided to look further ahead - to the Xbox 360 version of the game, which is coming later in 2007. Speaking at a recent event in London's Covent Garden, we caught up with Raj Joshi, Producer of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars on Xbox 360 - Joshi has previously worked on a number of titles for EA, including the Xbox 360 version of 2006's Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth II.

Command & Conquer 3 is the second RTS to be developed for Xbox 360 by EA; what lessons have been learnt from the first title - Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth II?

There were a couple of things; intuitive controls - in Battle for Middle-Earth II it was a big struggle to think how you consolidate the controls down to a console interface. The [analogue] sticks are a no brainer; moving the camera around and zooming them in are things that people are used to, but how do you maximise the four buttons on top, and the four auxiliary buttons?

Click here for more

EA Releases 4 New C&C Xbox 360 Screenshots




EA promises serious Mod Support for C&C

Taken from the EA Official Forums....

It is our goal to match and exceed your modding capabilities which you've had with Generals, Zero Hour, and BFME based on the last MOD SDK release and simply that which the game allowed you to do. It would not be good to move backwards, right? Well, anyone who thinks we are because we now have XML instead of INI files and a new build pipeline is wrong.
The reason your load times are so incredibly fast in the game is because of the new build pipeline and the XML switch. We did a lot to the inner- workings of this game to increase performance from top to bottom. It was 100% necessary. Because of that, we have some understandable new challenges to keep C&C as the most heavily modded RTS period, and continue catering to you guys.

I've said this many times, modding is extremely important to me, to Mike Verdu, to Amer Ajami, and to the EALA studio. We've turned over a new leaf this past year with our first MOD SDK release and granted its not perfect, its certainly got a lot to offer.

We are absolutely committed to creating a new MOD SDK for Command & Conquer 3 and getting that in your hands in as efficient timeline as possible with our resources. Our development team is currently rotating on vacations now that the game is gold, we need some breathing room and a break after a long-hard project! But, work has already started on the SDK, and that simply means starting to analyze how we can open up the new build pipeline to you guys with something accessible and easy to understand.

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars: Feature Preview - Campaign Structure

he 38 missions in Tiberium Wars span the globe, but now you can find out which theaters of war you’ll fight in when the game ships.

Release of the Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars PC demo was huge news for fans of both the storied series and real-time strategy games. The first Command & Conquer game in years, Tiberium Wars represents a return to the series’ mix of fast-paced RTS gameplay and full-motion video cutscenes. You will command the forces of the noble Global Defense Initiative, the shadowy Brotherhood of Nod, or the new alien faction, the Scrin, in a battle for Earth, and in between, you’ll watch cutscenes starring such actors as Michael Ironside and Billy Dee Williams

The game will depict the Third Tiberium War, Tiberium being an alien element that is slowly contaminating the planet but that can also be used as a powerful resource for building war machines and structures. The single-player campaign will consist of 38 missions divided into 11 “theaters of war,” and each faction has its own unique story. We have the details of how the action in Tiberium Wars will unfold below so you can brace yourself for the battles to come when the game ships next month. Spoiler Warning: The following reveals plot details regarding the single-player campaign.

Click here for the full article

Monday, March 19, 2007

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Single Player Hands-on

Command & Conquer has become an iconic franchise on the PC. While a tad bit confusing to the uninitiated for its three separate universes, Tiberium, Red Alert, and Generals, it's generally looked upon as a worthy franchise in an overstuffed RTS market. The next in the Tiberium universe, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, will be hitting stores at the end of this month. We've had the chance to check out an early build of the game and play nearly through all of the GDI and Nod single player missions as well as give the alien Scrin a good look in skirmish and multiplayer.

Click here for the full article

Saturday, March 17, 2007

C&C3 Lead Designer Jason Bender Interview

With the long-awaited launch of C&C3 now almost upon us (March 30), gamers are finally beginning to salivate over the prospect of the big one's return. Sam and Duncan sat down with lead designer Jason Bender to get the low-down on this massive PC release.

It's back to the good old days of GDI vs. NOD. Can you tell us about the shadowy 3rd party alien force?

GDI and Nod came to power while battling over Tiberium, a mysterious green crystal of alien origin. In a way, they have always been destined to confront the mysteries of Tiberium. During the second Tiberium war Kane even went so far as to build a ship based on alien technology. Now we're finding out a bit more about where that technology came from.

The Scrin, a vicious and determined alien race, have come to Earth for its newly formed Tiberium. GDI and Nod each have different views of these aliens. After the initial violent assault GDI views them as the greatest threat the world has ever known, even beyond Nod. The Brotherhood of Nod, specifically Kane, sees the profundity of the situation and realizes that these aliens could prove incredibly useful. Only Kane knows exactly how to use them.

Click here for the full interview

Friday, March 16, 2007

TVG Takes a Look at Command & Conquer 3 for Xbox 360

Think of famous RTS franchises and Command & Conquer will undoubtedly come close to the top. The series, which first arrived back in 1995 along with Blizzard's debut of Warcraft, is an icon of the genre despite being left high and dry thanks to the 2003 release of C&C: Generals. Having focused on the likes of Generals and the Red Alert series, Electronic Arts' Los Angeles Studio will be returning to the Tiberium series of Command & Conquer games - the first time in eight years.

Following a behind closed-doors unveiling at E3 2006, EA has slowly revealed further details on the third part in the series, including news that a third faction (the long elusive alien species, the Scrin) would be added to the franchise for the first time. At the time, Tiberium Wars was only announced for PC, but it wasn't that long after that an Xbox 360 version was also confirmed.

Click here for the full article

C&C 3 Part of World Cyber Games 2007 Competition

LET THE GAMES BEGIN… continue and possibly allow a few gamers to profit from the experience. World Cyber Games has released an updated list of games to be included in this year’s World Cyber Games competitions.

Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (Xbox 360)
Carom3D (PC)
Starcraft: Brood War (PC)
WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne (PC)
Half-Life: Counter-Strike (PC)
Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars (PC)
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs (PC)
FIFA Soccer 07 (PC)
Need For Speed Carbon (PC)
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
Dead or Alive 4 (Xbox 360)
Project Gotham Racing 3 (Xbox 360)

The WCG is an international competition where gamers represent their home country in various online and offline world gaming competitions, earning points for each win weighted by participating countries, win ratio and medals.

COMMAND & CONQUER 3: TIBERIUM WARS COMPETITION

To correspond with the release of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, GamersNation and Electronic Artists (EA) are offering the chance for you to win a copy of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Kane Edition.

The Kane Edition is a special edition of the game and comes with these additionals:
- 3 additional unit skins (one for each side)
- Behind the scenes dvd with blooper reel and stratagy guides
- 5 Kane edition only multiplayer maps
- Game art
- Desktop wallpapers

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is the successor to Command & Conquer: Tiberium Sun. Therefore the competition is related to the previous versions.

To enter, click here

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Living on a Tiberium Planet

As we begin to delve into the fiction that underlies C&C 3 we wanted to give you some insight into the state of the world in 2047 and take a close look at Tiberium.

The future contemplated in C&C 3 is a difficult one. The Earth has been permanently transformed by Tiberium as the strange alien mineral slowly consumes the planet. This crystalline substance turns anything it touches into more Tiberium, a process that gives off powerful energy that can be harnessed by a resource-starved human civilization. Tiberium is both a gift and a curse: It is the ultimate resource – but it is also destroying the environment, it has been the focus of two world wars, and it will eventually obliterate all life on the planet.



What is it like to live in a world infested with Tiberium?

It’s a dramatically different place than the Earth we inhabit in 2006. To begin with, about 30% of the planet has been rendered totally uninhabitable. Large swaths of the Earth’s surface have been designated as “Red Zones” – areas that are desolate, swept by storms, and contaminated by vast amounts of Tiberium. Venturing into, over, or even near these wastelands can be extremely dangerous.

Click here for more...

Celebrity Appearances in Command & Conquer 3


Josh Holloway (Lost) will appear as a Nod Intelligence officer by the name of Ajay

Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) as Kilian Qatar

Michael Ironside (Top Gun, Starship Troopers, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell video game series) as the Global Defense Initiative's
Lieutenant General Jack Granger

Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) as GDI Director Redmond Boyle

Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica) as Lt. Sandra Telfair

Jennifer Morrison (House) as Kirce James

Shauntay Hinton (Criminal Minds) as the reporter Brittany Bhima

C&C 3 - The Plot

The story of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars begins in the year of 2047, roughly sixteen to seventeen years after the events of Firestorm. While the conflict between the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod appears to have subsided substantially ever since, Tiberium infestation has begun to reach critical levels and continues to destroy the Earth's ecosystems at an alarming rate, prompting GDI to divide the world into three different geographical zones based on the levels of local infestation.[3] 30% of the world's surface has been designated as "red zones", which have suffered the worst contamination and can no longer support human - or otherwise carbon-based - life. 50% of the regions in the world have been designated as "yellow zones", which are dangerously contaminated yet contain most of the world's population.



Decades of war and civil unrest have left these regions in a state of social collapse and have continued to provide the Brotherhood of Nod with opportunity for concealment as well as large-scale recruitment over the years. The remaining 20% of the Earth's surface is unscarred by Tiberium outbreak and is relatively untouched by war. These "blue zones" are considered the last refuge and hope of the human civilized world and have been placed under the direct protection of the Global Defense Initiative.

In March 2047 the Brotherhood of Nod suddenly fires a nuclear missile at GDI's orbiting command station "Philadelphia", destroying the fulcrum of GDI's senior command structure in a single major blow. Since the end of the Second Tiberium War, Nod has silently built up its influence and its military potential into the status of a true superpower, and is now supported by a majority of the world's population through medical aid, enforcement of stability and hate-mongering against GDI and the "blue zone" populations from within the "yellow zone" territories. Unprepared to handle the offensives led by Black Hand shock troops across the entire globe, the remainder of the Global Defense Initiative's top military and political officials on Earth take charge and begin rallying all of their standing forces, determined to achieve a new victory over Nod.


As the conflict ensues however, forces of alien origins, the Scrin, will suddenly enter the battle and alter the nature of the Third Tiberium War entirely. The precise connection between these alien creatures and the Tiberium substance, as well as the original conflict between the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod, still remains to be unveiled.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

The Art of Balancing

Lead Balance Designer Greg Black candidly discusses the challenges involved in balancing and optimizing three factions for the ultimate RTS gameplay experience in Command & Conquer 3! This is the first of a series of behind the game feature stories written exclusively by the developers.

Learn more about the 3 factions

A Little About Tiberium

Mike Verdu delves in to the mysteries and theories surrounding the alien crystal we known as Tiberium in his latest blog entry. My last blog was about the state of military technology in the year 2047. I wrote in detail about the underlying game fiction, but indirectly I was also addressing the design aesthetic for the units and structures in the game – the choices we are making when it comes to the look and feel of the tanks, aircraft, and other military hardware in Command & Conquer 3 (C&C 3).

The game fiction and design aesthetic should come together to create an internally consistent world for the C&C 3 player. The reaction from the community was interesting. Many of you understood and agreed with the choices we were making. Others were unconvinced. Intense debates and discussions erupted on the various forums that we monitor. Some of the arguments I read were emotional, the rest rooted in interpretations of the fiction. A number of opinions were expressed in very strong terms indeed.

More about Tiberium

Creating the Scrin Annihilator Tripod

All too often, we may take for granted the attention to detail and extremely polished visuals in Real-time-Strategy (RTS) games. We look at the battlefield above from a birds eye view and even when we zoom in, we get so immersed in the world around us and the frantic action and fiery explosions filling our screen, that this immersive visceral experience created by the visuals in the game becomes something we might forget to truly appreciate.

It’s a funny thing when you’re moving around in a RTS game with your mouse or hot keys, trying to complete mission objectives or obliterate your opponent, and suddenly it seems like there is a living and breathing battlefield right in front of you. The funny thing is, you barely have enough time to stop and breathe and look at everything around you!

Click here for the rest of the article

EA’s C&C 3 Tiberium Wars for PC has gone GOLD!

Los Angeles (EALA) is pleased to announce that the highly anticipated Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™ for the PC has officially gone gold and will be on stores shelves Nationwide March 28.

Fast and fluid gameplay, a breakthrough single player campaign, the ability to transform online battles into a spectator sport, next-generation graphics, and an epic story with full-motion video sequences featuring top Hollywood talent, mark the return of the genre-defining Command & Conquer™ series.

The recent demo release for Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars reached an amazing 1 million downloads in its first week. If you haven’t had a chance to play the demo, then be sure to click the promo image on our front page to download now!

The demo includes one tutorial mission, two single player missions featuring live action video sequences, one skirmish map with varying difficulty settings, and one live action trailer montage featuring Tricia Helfer, Josh Holloway, Joe Kucan, Michael Ironside, Jennifer Morrison, Billy Dee Williams, and Grace Park.

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars is rated “T” (Teen) by the ESRB and has a US MSRP of $49.99. A special, numbered collector’s edition will be available simultaneously and has a US MSRP of $59.99. Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars: Kane Edition is a definitive collectible for any Command & Conquer or Real-time Strategy fan and will feature an enormous amount of exclusive content including a bonus DVD with a behind the scenes documentary, deleted scenes, a blooper reel, a series of gameplay strategy videos, and more. The Kane Edition will also feature exclusive in-game content and wallpapers.

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars will also be available in the coming months for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system. For more information about Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars or the Command & Conquer series, please keep visiting our official site right here at