[C&C3]Welcome Back, Commander

[Vympel]

The Australian Outback Nod mission is bullshit.

[Ritterin Sophia]

The Australian Outback Nod mission is bullshit.

How so? Also, has anyone played as the Scrin in skirmish yet?

[Vympel]

How so?

You're given a pack of Elite units (4 Scorpion tanks, 3 stealth tanks, 2 gunships) and two saboteurs with which to capture GDI nuclear weapons travelling through the area- at the same time it expects you to use the saboteurs to capture two objectives on the map that are extremely far apart, as well as destroy a Tiberium Tower (don't know why).

Then the Scrin arrive and fuck everything up, and you have to safeguard however many nukes you've captured until Nod Carry-alls (heh- Dune.) arrive. I completed it, but it's just a pain in the arse and I couldn't do all the bonus objectives.

[Lonestar]

I gotta say, I'm enjoying the campaign...but Company of Heroes has ruined me. I suspect I'll go right back to that after this.

[The Yosemite Bear]

The Australian Outback Nod mission is bullshit.

what, no drop bears?

[Shroom Man 777]

I gotta say, I'm enjoying the cmapaign...but Company of Heroes ahs ruined me. I suspect I'll go right back to that after this.

Same with me, except its DoW, not CoH.

[Lonestar]

Same with me, except its DoW, not CoH.

DoW as well...I suspect it has to do with the fact that C&C3 has fallen back on the old "turtle and build a buncha planes" standby, while Relic's RTS Games are set up in such a way to encourage skirmishing outside of bases.

[phongn]

You're given a pack of Elite units (4 Scorpion tanks, 3 stealth tanks, 2 gunships) and two saboteurs with which to capture GDI nuclear weapons travelling through the area- at the same time it expects you to use the saboteurs to capture two objectives on the map that are extremely far apart, as well as destroy a Tiberium Tower (don't know why).

Hah! That's not too different from a GDI mission.

[Shroom Man 777]

DoW as well...I suspect it has to do with the fact that C&C3 has fallen back on the old "turtle and build a buncha planes" standby, while Relic's RTS Games are set up in such a way to encourage skirmishing outside of bases.

And, well, in my rig C&C3 looks fugly when compared to DoW, which runs beautifully. And, well, the gameplay's just...average. Whereas, even in DoW I'm not so adventurous, when the fights start...well, they get really fucking hard core.


Guys, when you run the game, does it just show the EA logo with some Tiberium crystals sprouting out of it and then proceed to the menu? Or am I inexplicably missing out on some ungodly awesome cinematics?

[Lonestar]

And, well, in my rig C&C3 looks fugly when compared to DoW, which runs beautifully. And, well, the gameplay's just...average. Whereas, even in DoW I'm not so adventurous, when the fights start...well, they get really fucking hard core.

C&C3 uses the Generals engine, which, frankly, was dated as soon as the DoW engine came out. I mean, I know why they retained the low-unit detail engine(so they can have a bunch of units on the screen at once)...but come on. It's right back to the "gather and go" resource scheme.

Guys, when you run the game, does it just show the EA logo with some Tiberium crystals sprouting out of it and then proceed to the menu? Or am I inexplicably missing out on some ungodly awesome cinematics?

It's the same on mine.

[Shroom Man 777]

Jesus Christ. I paid this much for this steaming pile of crap? I'm gonna bring this game back to the store!

[PainRack]

I'm having to defend this GDI fire base against constant attacks.
But wait, there's more!

I don't have an MCV, so I can't rebuild destroyed structures.
But wait, there's more!

I don't have enough power to run the base defenses all at the same time, so I have to shut down certain sides of the base defenses with NOD attacking almost non stop, so I can power the other side.
But wait, there's more!

The defenses outside are not layered like they should be! You either have two AT guns or two AP guns, never both, so you have to micromanage your meagre forces to cover when NOD occasionally throws grunts at your AT towers or tanks at your AP towers. And of course aircraft occasionally drop in to blow shit up and you have to shut down your front line defenses to knock them down quick.
But wait, there's more!

So I finally get a roving patrol of APC's with rocket troopers inside who are doing a pretty decent job of patrolling and knocking back the attacks, supplementing the defenses which I have to constantly repair and remember to power down and up, while hoards of NOD Jhiadists try their damnedest to run at high speed past the defenses and blow my powerplants, leaving my base wide open, while NOD tanks and rocket buggies jump at the chance to blow up my poor harvester whenever its outside my base trying to bring in money to keep the cycle going.
But wait, there's more!

The convoy with the MCV arrives with an absolutely pathetic escort. I mean we are trying to setup a base in NOD's backyard, to stage an assault on the Sarajevo temple (AGAIN, Jesus GDI why don't you just Nuke the place already!) and the MCV arrives with a couple of pitbals and a couple of tanks. They of course promptly stop because NOD have a trio of laser guns sitting at the next corner and instead of having some balls and fighting their way through with their sufficient firepower, calling for reinforcements, an air strike, whatever, they tell me to go and escort them in!
But wait, there's more!

NOD of course are not nice people and don't halt their assaults on my poor base while go and escort the convoy into position. So I have to split my razor thin defensive force. I decide 5 APC's with solid rocket troops inside should have enough speed and firepower to blast across the bridge to the city, run through anything NOD has and blast the defences. Then with control of the guard force, I should be able to blast back the other way.

Of course, 3 out of the 5 APC's are destroyed forcing the bridge crossing. Another is lost running the gauntlet of buildings garrisoned with nod troops (and no ability to build grenadiers to counter them of course) and the final one dies when he gets close to the laser pack to the troops who of course were guarding it and lurking just inside the 'Fog' so I didn't know they were there.

In the meantime because I havn't been paying attention to my base, one side of my base has lost its defences and rocket buggies are happily shooting up my precious two power stations, with the two tanks I have there busy holding back a vehicle swarm and my rocket troops cut down in seconds by those thrice cursed NOD buggies.


If I ever get my hands on the person who designed this level.

You forgot to mention the wave of fanatics that charge your MCV:D

And thank you..... I was wondering whether my gaming skills had taken a huge plunge.

As it was, I took a huge shock at the tutorial mission when my assault force got slaughtered..... The AI actually had the intelligence to build multiple base structures and expand its reportoire of assets, and it knows how to reinforce units intelligently.

DoW as well...I suspect it has to do with the fact that C&C3 has fallen back on the old "turtle and build a buncha planes" standby, while Relic's RTS Games are set up in such a way to encourage skirmishing outside of bases.

I don't think so.... Maybe its because I just came off DoW and CoH, but I do feel that the campaign as well as skirmishes are more fluid than the normal C&C game .While C&C isn't territorial like the Relics game, it does reward you for attacking first and attacking hard. Barring the Obelisks, its more beneficial to rely on mobile forces for defence anyway.

[Covenant]

The Australian Outback Nod mission is bullshit.

How so? Also, has anyone played as the Scrin in skirmish yet?

I have. They're... unusual. Their basic infantry is cheap and it's basically a melee squad that murders any infantry. They swim around like schools of fish, and are called swarms. Super cheap. They also clear out buildings, which the Scrin generally have no use for, so those little buggers are the best way to get crap out of buildings.

Their tanks are pretty lackluster. They're way better against squads of light tanks than single huge big ones, but their aircraft are deliciously good at whacking all kinds of stuff. They also have the heaviest air units in the game, but they're not overly strong. Using the Scrin seems to involve a very slim tech tree, so you get to what you want pretty fast without too many frills, but it's also rather high mobility. Nod may be hit and fade, but I see the Scrin as more of a force projection team, especially when you combine their Battleships, Invasion Carriers, and Mothership into one squad. That's a pretty potent aerial bombardment cluster. AA rips them to shreds, but if you concentrate too much on AA, they'll stomp in there with other guys and hurt you.

Nod vs. Scrin should go Scrin's way. Nod's air superiority will hurt them extremely badly, but Scrin tripods are good versus mobs and their Buzzers massacre infantry, so they're well prepared against Nod armies and just need to hold out until they get some battleships. I could see Scrin beating GDI, but GDI's land tanks are going to massacre the Scrin.

Also, as far as I can see, they're pretty well balanced. They have some good units, but are overall no more powerful than GDI or Nod compared to the things those two sides get. I think the advantage of C&C3 over DoW or CoH is a combination of varied fluff versus CoH and balance versus DoW. The game is raw, aggressive gameplay, and I challenge anyone who thinks turtling is the supreme playstyle to honestly put that to the test.

[Siege]

It's what, two days after it came out? And I already feel I'm late on the scene. Well, just bought it and played the first three or four missions for GDI- and I have to say I'm loving it. Alright, so the gameplay is about as archaic and oldschool as you can get, but that's why I'm buying it. Frankly, C&C gets a major nostalgia bonus from me just for being C&C and even though admittedly 'it's good 'cause it's C&C' sucks for an argument, I think the game is actually remarkably fun to play so far. And the game runs insanely smoothly even at high resolutions with details to the max, so I'm a happy guy so far.

The APCs+riflemen/grenadiers+couple of Bulldogs completely and effortlessly shreds everything Nod has thrown at me so far- I hardly have need for even Predators thusfar. I'm betting that'll change though, going on what I'm hearing . Coming up is some mission in Egypt where there's truckloads of WMD production facilities to dismantle. The briefing made it sound like Nod is churning out nukes and chemicals as if they were hot dogs, which for some reason I found remarkably funny.

Oh, and I love the little tidbits of fluff they hand out in the 'intelligence' window: Cabal's last bunker getting ceremoniously blown up by GDI, stuff like that. Ah, C&C. Where have you been all this time when I needed my junkie tiberium fix?

[Covenant]

I think the game is actually remarkably fun to play so far. And the game runs insanely smoothly even at high resolutions with details to the max, so I'm a happy guy so far.

I agree. After playing SC for the past few days before getting C&C3, I was getting used to setting my settings from low to "ass" just to make it run well in a big map with lots of shit going on. C&C's as smooth as butter, even with all the fancy particle effects and such. I know some people say that DoW or CoH spoiled them, but I'm really liking the grapical goodies at the low system price this gives me, the glorious little cinematics, the short intro sequence, and the nice way it saves my settings between matches. SC makes playing lan an exercise in pain, as I need to reform the game from scratch each time, can't just go again from the setup window. Ah well.

If we could combine C&C's entire gameplay with SC's camerawork, we'd be golden!

[Chris OFarrell]

Infantry only come from the southwest(+ handfull of air), tanks only from the northeast. Build a bunch of infantry and build thier bunkers. Evict the infantry and put rocket guys inside instead.

Mass those in the north and you have a line which will slap down tanks. And you only need 4-5 on the bridges to annihilate the infantrywaves. Just make sure there is enough AA down there.

For the record I finished it on the third try. Just had to calm down a little and stop 'oohhhing' and 'aahhing' over the game I had finished it on easy first time, but it was TOO easy. On Hard it was too much too fast at first, but I got the hang of it.

Built a heap of Tanks and placed them on the East and North walls, rotating them with a backup force as necessary to repair them (they rapidly gained rank and became increasingly effective). A handful of infintry bunkers on the southern and western flanks were quite sufficient to hold off those attacks.

Then built two units of APC's. One with simple riflemen, one with missile guys. When the MCV arrived, sent them in with a unit of tanks. The tanks and infantry APC's held the area just above that base in the South West, then missile troops (all crack troops and APC's now) blew open the route.

Stopped the MCV just on the bad guys side of the bridge and went and blew the crap out of that base, before heading back home.

Then I took all my tanks (and I had a lot of them by now, all vets) and rolled through the Northern base without even slowing down.

Then I airlifted the entire force up and did the same to their airbase. My APC's shot down all their gunships in less then eight seconds, then my tanks just nuked the base.

Lost of fun

Though I still think the initial Scrin missions are the most fun I've had in an RTS in a while.

[Shroom Man 777]

I've found out my graphics card is a...ATI Radeon xpress 200 series

Is that a good thing?

[Master of Cards]

not good

[Shroom Man 777]

Well, it runs DoW just fine. If C&C3 uses the Generals engine, then I shouldn't be having problems with running it, right?

[Walsh]

Well, it runs DoW just fine. If C&C3 uses the Generals engine, then I shouldn't be having problems with running it, right?

C&C3's system requirements are quite a bit higher than DoW, so no, not really.

If your processor is dual core, then you probably have enough RAM, so at a glance, it looks like you have bottlenecking at your (integrated) video card. Hard to judge though, without full specs.

[Shroom Man 777]

Okay...so what do I do?

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Okay...so what do I do?

At best, a 7600GT or wait for one of the newer 8600GTS/GT.

However, you might like to try it first to see if it runs somewhat. The game does demand a lot of shaders at the max detail level but tone it down and just maybe it will run.

[Covenant]

Okay...so what do I do?

Get a low end of middle range graphics card and stick that sucker in there. Right now you physically can't render the shit on the screen fast enough to make it move worth a damn, so the whole thing slows down and gets ugly.

Have you tried running Supreme Commander yet? Now those are some fearsome system requirements! SupCom runs 'okay' on my comp, but C&C runs like greased lightning on high settings. No lag during Nukes or Ion Zaps either.

But what they mean by bottlenecking is that your processor and ram are fine, but you're getting your knees knocked out because the graphcis card isn't up to par. You don't need the new Supercard or anything, just something of middling level. I got a new one this Christmas, and it was what everyone recommended as a low middle-range card able to give me a sizable boost from the Dorito I was running before in there, but still well within a tight GFX card budget. Those things are expensive.

And it runs SC as well as C&C3. Granted, you are correct in being frustrated, the game looks nice and pretty and sharp, but it's not instantly apparent why it should require a system better than a DoW-runner. I'm not sure why Supreme Commander requires such a godlike machine either, it's not like it's particle effects are all that impressive. But us Dinosaurs gotta upgrade something, or just content ourselves with CoH.

[Lonestar]

At best, a 7600GT or wait for one of the newer 8600GTS/GT.

However, you might like to try it first to see if it runs somewhat. The game does demand a lot of shaders at the max detail level but tone it down and just maybe it will run.

I'm running a ATI mobility Radeon x600 (256MB) and it's just fine...

[Velthuijsen]

@Vympel:
If you dislike that NOD grab the nukes mission you are going to hate the second to last NOD mission.

What I miss in the game are the tiberium monsters. In red zones I really expected to have to wade through acres of grabweed, dodge herds of visceroids & those porcupines, lay siege to some mutant stronghold, etc but there is almost nothing of that in the game.

That said it is fun to read the intel files. Like why GDI stopped using mecha (and actually do that ingame) or the tongue in cheek reference to the developers (again) altering how tiberium works

Oh and has anyone got a favourite combo of weapons?
For GDI (if the computer gives me time) 2 APCs, 1 with zone troopers, 1 with rocket launchers put on follow behind a mammoth tank as basic building block of the army. Has good AA capabilities, stealth detection, can soak enormous amounts of damage (front side only). And a rig or 3 to provide in field repairs. The downside is that this is a very slow army.

For NOD (if the computer gives me time) 1 avatar with extra beam cannon with two 2 stealth tanks on follow, every 3rd avatar instead of an extra beam cannon a flamer. Random avatars with stealth detection (to prevent those pesky commandos from getting close) or a bunch of suiciders around the avatars.