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Nice to see the official site actually has some content now. A few random observations on the screnies: First, I'm pleased that GDI no longer seems to be using Mechs as their primary AFVs (though they obviously havn't abandoned them entirely, judging by the presence of Juggernauts). Second, I love the way Tiberium looks in the new game, and I'm also intrigued by the massive Tiberium formations seen in some screenshots, which bear a striking resemblence to Superman's Fortress of Solitude from the films.

GDI's arsenal seems like it's pretty static, and any changes are more from going back to stuff from the orginal C&C rather than new units. The only really new addition I've been able to spot so far is that it seems GDI will again be fielding a wet navy, though every ship I've seen of theirs looks exactly the same, so they may have one. I wonder if Nod will also field a navy.

I've seen screenshots of Nod units and bases, and so far it doesn't look like there's any huge changes there, either. Some new aircraft, and by concept art and news it looks like Nod is going to be behaving more like an actual terrorist organization, recruiting people from the Yellow Zones and sending them off on suicidal missions. They're also getting some retro looks, as the Hand of Nod looks decidedly like it did in C&C. I've heard Joe Kucan will be back, and that's good. But I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want Frank Zagarino back as Salvik more than I want Kucan as Kane back.

I'm a little disappointed to see the Juggernaughts back. I didn't like the damned things.

I also like the way that Tiberium looks in the screen shots, really alien and malignant. Those huge formations are unprecedented in any of the previous games, but the process of Tiberium growth is supposed to be a changing one, so no complaints here.

Anybody else been reading Designer Diary things Mike Verdu has been putting out? I find the various discontinuities somewhat alarming but rather like how they're apparently trying to keep the political stuff more or less realistic.

They reused original music in that trailer. I wonder if they are going to use the original music for this game.

Anybody else been reading Designer Diary things Mike Verdu has been putting out? I find the various discontinuities somewhat alarming but rather like how they're apparently trying to keep the political stuff more or less realistic.

In an interview with IGN, Verdu also mentioned that the classic side-bar interface would return (but with some added features), which is a good sign.

Linky (go to the 3rd page)

Ah, good. Having the bars on the bottom of the screen in Generals was annoying.

It irks me how Verdu keeps talking about how greatly he's going to incorporate story into the game. Fleshing out the backstories for Nod and GDI is well and good, but little cutscenes and the like during a mission rather than between them is not something new to the C&C series.

How diverse it seems like the mission tree is going to be is cool. I'm not sure I like the idea of taking your army with you to new locations, presumably Battle for Middle Earth style. It's fine for BfME, but C&C is usually more about starting with a handful of units and an MCV and taking out an entrenched foe.

I'm a fan of heavily story-based games, especially RTSs, and it does look like they're focusing on the aspect, at least to some exent. The gameplay looks to be coming along quite well, and I applaud the decision to bring back the Mammoth tanks, even if I never really minded GDI mecha that much.

I still think that Tiberian Twilight would have been a far better name, though.

looks like we're getting the Mammoth rampage back, but I expect they will be nerfed to hell The original music was great to hear after the poodoo that was the Generals soundtrack.

No C&C is truly complete without the Mammoth Tank. Tiberian Sun always felt so empty in that way.

Anyways, looks nice enough. I'll probably pick it up because I'm a C&C nerd, but Supreme Commander is going to make this other stuff look like shit by comparison no matter what EA does.

Darth Garden Gnome wrote:No C&C is truly complete without the Mammoth Tank. Tiberian Sun always felt so empty in that way.

Anyways, looks nice enough. I'll probably pick it up because I'm a C&C nerd, but Supreme Commander is going to make this other stuff look like shit by comparison no matter what EA does.

Bah, I'll probably prefer this, as its going back to the resource-whore combat that everyone loves.

You mean '... everyone has hated and derided since 1998', I assume.

There must have been some definite inroads made against the Tiberium infestation if the GDI is fielding a wet navy again. As of 2030, Tiberium algae made travel by sea all but impossible. One screenshot seems to be a suburban Green Zone in a tropical region. Maybe Earth is recovering. They haven't dispensed with the mecha, either. They've just brought back the tracked AFVs as well (I actually prefer both more than one or the other).

Stark wrote:You mean '... everyone has hated and derided since 1998', I assume.

Pfft, if done right it can still be half decent

Darth Raptor wrote:There must have been some definite inroads made against the Tiberium infestation if the GDI is fielding a wet navy again. As of 2030, Tiberium algae made travel by sea all but impossible. One screenshot seems to be a suburban Green Zone in a tropical region. Maybe Earth is recovering. They haven't dispensed with the mecha, either. They've just brought back the tracked AFVs as well (I actually prefer both more than one or the other).

The plot/background has been somewhat revealed- GDI has had some success in shielding portions of the Earth from Tiberium infestation by the use of some kind of sonar technology. This equipment protects the pristine Blue Zones, and they plan to use it to push back the Yellow and Red Zones, eventually reclaiming as much of the Earth as they like, harnassing Tiberium as an unlimited power supply they can control fully.

I've always wondered how the infestation of tiberium got so bad when it is such a valuable commodity. You'd think Exxon would be out there stripping places clear of the stuff

@Vympel: Awesome!

InnocentBystander wrote:I've always wondered how the infestation of tiberium got so bad when it is such a valuable commodity. You'd think Exxon would be out there stripping places clear of the stuff

By the turn of the century Nod and countries/organizations sympathetic to it had a virtual monopoly on the global Tiberium economy. Although the G8 nations were researching applications, the approach adopted by the West was one of cautious optimism. On the other hand (hah!), Nod threw caution to the wind and was making everything from Tiberium-tipped warheads to Tiberium-flavored artificial sweetner. Meanwhile, they were doing everything they could to facilitate the spread of the stuff.

In the first part of the 21st Century, new forms and growth mechanisms emerged. Tiberium began corrupting the native flora and fauna. All forms are toxic and mutagenic anyway. Combine this with new hazards like visceroids and fiends (and useless strains like weeds and algae) and Tiberium goes from the world's most promising new resource to humanity's greatest threat. All the while, Nod is deliberately exacerbating the problem.

Also, I hate how Space Marine-y the GDI infantry look now.

Everyone, including the likes of Mike Verdu, keeps forgetting that at the time of C&C it was the G7, not the G8. I'm nitpicking, I realize, but it still bugs me.

I also hate how much like space marines the GDI troops look now. At least the TS GDI troops wore enclosed helmets to give them some protection against Tiberium.

I'm going to buck the trend here and say I'm not terribly pleased to see the Mammoth back. I was never in love with the Titan, but I wasn't terrifically fond of the Mammoth either. Not to mention how old the basic design would be by 2047. It's been around since the First Tiberian War, longer if you accept Red Alert as a prequel to C&C, and I don't see why you wouldn't. I know, if it ain't broke don't fix it, but that would put the Mammoth at about a hundred years old.

I think they've gone through a fair number of re-designs whilst keeping the big doule-barrel thing going, so whilst the name remains the same , it's not the actual same mammoth from TS/RA etc.

And thank the hells they got rid of the wolverines

I was quite young when the first C&C came out- 14 years old, IIRC. Nevertheless, the BoN equipment still annoyed me. M2 Bradleys with 70mm cannons as their tank equivalent- I mean ... what?

Hey, I liked the Wolverines!

Although I think they would have been better as mid- to Late-tier heavy infantry rather than early-tier light vehicles.

Vympel wrote:I was quite young when the first C&C came out- 14 years old, IIRC. Nevertheless, the BoN equipment still annoyed me. M2 Bradleys with 70mm cannons as their tank equivalent- I mean ... what?

They didn't call them light tanks for nothing.

Oh wow, thats my favourite track from C&C that alone has me giddy like 5 year old in a candy shop.

Add to that the fact I like games that require resource collection etc etc (sod realism i couldn't give two shits) i can't wait.

SAMAS wrote:
They didn't call them light tanks for nothing.

Yeah, but of all the real-life light tanks they could've chosen, they instead made shit up. With a really unlikely vehicle, to boot. GDI used M1A1s, for god's sake, where's Nod going to get M2s? If they were desperate to have them be light tanks, they could've just made them PT-76s. It would've been just as realistic (read: not at all).

Trogdor wrote:I also hate how much like space marines the GDI troops look now. At least the TS GDI troops wore enclosed helmets to give them some protection against Tiberium.

It makes sense to me, Tiberium is nasty, dangerous, stuff. In TS they were wearing heavier suits that protected them from tiberium, but I don't think it was complete protection (or at least getting a tear in your suit means bad things, I suspect). There was also that crazy viney Tiberium stuff, that was bad too.

Vympel wrote:Yeah, but of all the real-life light tanks they could've chosen, they instead made shit up. With a really unlikely vehicle, to boot. GDI used M1A1s, for god's sake, where's Nod going to get M2s? If they were desperate to have them be light tanks, they could've just made them PT-76s. It would've been just as realistic (read: not at all).

We shouldn't try to draw too many parallels between real world military hardware and the stuff in C&C. Unless we're to believe that M1s, M2s, M113s and AH-64s have been around since the late 1950s. Renegade revealed that the resemblances were superficial in a lot of those cases. The heavily modified M2 "light tank" has been retconned anyway.

InnocentBystander wrote:

Trogdor wrote:I also hate how much like space marines the GDI troops look now. At least the TS GDI troops wore enclosed helmets to give them some protection against Tiberium.

It makes sense to me, Tiberium is nasty, dangerous, stuff. In TS they were wearing heavier suits that protected them from tiberium, but I don't think it was complete protection (or at least getting a tear in your suit means bad things, I suspect). There was also that crazy viney Tiberium stuff, that was bad too.

The viney stuff was no threat to infantry, just vehicles. And it's entirely possible to breathe in Tiberian spores, after which serious bad things happen. GDI ditching protection from that is just stupid. You do have a point that the heavier armor would probably offer more protection, but there's no need for shoulders that wide.