[Multiplatform] The Command & Conquer 3!! OMG! OMG! thread!

Cautious optimisim is probably the best way to describe what I feel. I love the C&C series (it was one of the first computer games I ever played) for all its worth. But like Stealth said most (pretty much ALL) of the folks who made C&C into what it is have long left EALA, only Mr. Castle is left. So we'll have to see how the new team handles C&C3 (Tiberian Wars?). From the screens the game looks, well, really good as far as eye candy goes, but in terms of C&C flavor, something has been lost, those Mammoth Tanks just don't look really like the Mammoth tanks I grew up with, and those new soldiers suits, blah. Finally, WTF happened to all those hovertanks and the Titans? Did GDI recess back into tank tracks again? At least Kane is back (again!).

A Tiberian Science Bible? Backed by MIT? interesting. I can finally give my friends a plausible, scientific answer as to why I'm harvesting "lawn grass" to build my armies.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

From what I understand the graphics engine of the game is the same as the one that powered BFME I&II as well as Generals. Just a little more beefed up.

Hopefully the understanding that C&C is probably one of the most valuable frachises EA (EALA) holds right now will motivate them to do the best they can, although whoever came up with the whole infantry battlesuit concept needs to be blindfolded and shot for his/her shitty design. They look out of proportion and awkward, not to mention not very original, add a few more skulls and other macabre symbols and you have an Adeptus Astartes SM. Give him a gun any larger and you get a SC Marine like others have astutely pointed out. Stim-paks FTW.

Heres hoping at least BNOD will be able to maintain their style.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by evilboris

Oh, and what about Red Alert 3. That one was announced as being developed too, or something.

Mark Skaggs, the guy who made the announcement, mysteriously left EALA rather shortly after he made the announcement. We can only speculate that perhaps the whole RA3 idea left the company along with him.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I think i might get the Kane edition just on the basis of its box art. Higgins? Conrad? Is there supposed to be some kind of tie in with the story? And I agree with Indigo-1 about its design, what in hell happened to the nameless soldier with the reflective goggles? Is this change in style indicative of a possible change in gameplay from awesome to undeniably EA-shittastic gameplay?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

This game is awesome, it is made of win and god. That is all.

But no, seriously its an awesome game, its been a long time since I've heard "We require more silos" or "low power" and having my mini-map blank out on me, its good to be hearing those things again, even if in-game they are bad news. But its 4am where I am (up playing the game, duh) so I gtg. I'll come back to this later though.

I was speaking idiomatically.

So after having toyed around with the game for quite a bit I think EALA has done something right for once and has successfully revived the old C&C games (despite them being a different crew than from Westwood). The gameplay is fast-paced just like previous titles, it really feels like C&C again.

Unlike most other EA titles C&C 3 has an amazing amount of polish to it. For example units when selected visibly are at ease, grenadiers do jumping jacks, riflemen and snipers do sit-ups, and zone troopers apparently take part in some shows of strength their suits lend them. And most interestingly enough, Juggernaut's, when not selected act very bird like. I've caught a few of my Juggernauts scratching themselves (really just raising a leg and scratching a place underneath their pilot cockpit) or using their cannons like a beak and pecking at the ground. I don't know if the pilots are delusional or if these are just them showing off their piloting prowess.

In anycase if you select these units while they're slacking you'll see them immediately snap up to attention and ready to move. And while Company of Heroes is best known for its context sensitive unit speech I've seen a few instances where my units have said something rather related to what I want them to do, for example when I order my mammoths to pull back during an attack they smartly acknowledged saying "pull back to base" I was rather surprised. And their replies sound a lot more frantic and rushed in battle. Although I have to admit their new way to deciding when the play the music (faster paced music during battle, bit slower paced during base build-up) irked me a little since I've always like its fast paced music regardless of what I was doing. Who knows maybe they'll change it for final release.

I don't think anything needs to be said about its live-action sequences, whatever there is to be said has been said, its good to see them follow tradition than buck to the trend like they did in Generals with in-game sequences.

As for game balance, I think they did a fair job here. GDI really has no need to field infantry late game, NOD simply has too many answers to infantry later on (Black hand, flame tanks, confessors w/hallucination grenades, the work of the devil) GDI infantry simply can't do much later on, only units of remote use are the sniper, grenadiers and zone troopers, but ultimately they're all still rather useless, either burned down or killing themselves. Then you factor in the fact that GDI's panzers can pretty much do what they do but without the vulnerabilities seals their fate beneath GDI's tank treads.

NOD meanwhile really has to rely on the stealthy tricky tactics most people don't seem to grasp (although the AI does). Just a few mammoth tanks can totally blast through any NOD defense that doesn't sport Obelisks of Light. Even NOD's avatar warmech, their much talked about walker unit, cannot go toe to toe with the mammoth (even when I had the avatar pick up a laser beam from one of those beam trucks). But I have to admit, many of NOD's powers can really help make sure the GDI player is pretty damned confused.

It also appears in C&C3 NOD has the upper hand in aircraft as well. While GDI is limited to 4 air slots per airfield, NOD's Venom doesn't take up an airfield slot, meaning they can have as many venoms as they can buy. Which in my opinion really shifts things to NOD's favor in the air. NOD's lighter units now are also able to call in Carryalls which for me has always really been an exclusive part of GDI's arsenal. Previously since NOD units were so fast the only way GDI could even come close to matching such mobility was using a transport or their orcas, but now that NOD has both their own carryall and Venoms (which hit both ground and air) things are now different.

Some of my whinings aside its still a great game. Just a shame it takes the form of a wall of text.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Anyone here have any luck whatsoever with Brutal AI? There are a few people on EA's C&C forums who have claimed to have beaten brutal AI. However for the most part it seems for the average player Brutal AI is just too much. Anyone here above the curve and has been able to take down brutal yet?

How ya doing, buddy?

I just managed to beat the living shit out of fucking Brutal AI, took me a whole day of gameplay + theorycrafting but I pulled it off. It is only now that I type this that I realized I didn't take screens shots. Now I just have to say this:

Brutal AI can be beat.

In anycase while I cannot produce any verifiable evidence of my great feat there has been a slew of videos at http://forums.ea.com/mboards/forum.j...0&forumID=2381 with people with videos showing them showing brutal AI who's boss.

Originally Posted by evilboris

Man, whats with the Ion Cannon anyway? It's pretty, but its not the instant death sniping from the heavens like in the previous games. Just a regular base nuker.

I for one am glad the Ion cannon can effectively kill things now. In the game I managed to beat brutal AI with it was instrumental in clearing the path for my mammoths the start the steamrolling.

Originally Posted by evilboris

Mammoths are way overpowered by the way, and NOD doesnt seem to have ANY units which are interesting AND effective.

While this isn't totally direct at you, but it seems Nod players have this wierd idea in their heads that tells them Nod is supposed to be able to go toe-to-toe with GDI in terms of tank treads. Unfortunately for them they quickly find that is not the case at all. Instead try harassing GDI's expansionary and tiberium harvesting efforts (nailing surveyors, harvesters and refineries) and seeing to it that GDI doesn't get mammoths or doesn't get enough of them to smash you in the face.

Originally Posted by Slayer X

But yeah, has the curve been flushed out in this one?

Compared to Generals I think the AI's curve is much smoother, although in all honesty each level merely dictates how often the AI attacks, how fast it techs, how long it will really try to bring you down, and as always, how great of a money hack it has. From my gameplay I'd break it down like this:

Easy= relatively few pathetic attacks, techs rather slowly, economy on par with the player. Turns into a veggie after you cripple it.

Medium= throws a few fairly decent attacks, techs faster than easy, economy effectively on par with the player. Turns into a semi-veggie after you cripple it.

Hard= throws far more attacks towards the player, techs fairly nicely, still slower than the average player (especially a GDI player reaching for GGtanks) Economy better than player's. Basically turns into Easy AI after you cripple it.

Brutal = This is where the AI gets interesting , Brutal throws nearly endless attacks of low tech units at you (imagine trying to hold back a swarm of locust with a MG) money hacks economy is jumped up on crack, techs according to the player. What do I mean by this? Early on (read: pre-tech-center units/defenses) the AI will throw hordes of militiamen, rockets and scorpions with a few raider buggies thrown in the mix. This will indefinitely continue until you start pulling out sonic emitters (imagine having your fly swatter being replaced with a flamethrower) and the mammoth (imagine dual wielding flame throwers against the locust swarm). At that point the AI techs up a bit to flame tanks, black hand infantry, a few avatars and the occasional beam truck. All this with still a few low tech attacks thrown in. Give it more time and it goes up to stealth tanks, more avatars, more black hand and eventually it will plop down a temple of Nod. Still puts up a fight after you cripple it.

So while easy-medium-hard this a rather nice curve Brutal AI seems to be a slightly different animal. It should also be noted that a few people on EA's forums have reported Brutal AI "learning" or adapting and I myself have seen a few incidents that could be passed of as "learning."

All in all brutal AI has been for me at least one of the better AI's I've faced. Even if it can really be boiled down to a Hard AI with a fat bank with a "Kill player" command line constantly running through it.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Its been a while since the game has come out, I'm overall I'm pretty glad I got it. However I fear for this game's staying power, especially when it comes to its online play. I've played a few games online and all my fears are pretty much confirmed, its just tanks everywhere. And if not a sea of tanks then its just spamming of one particular unit, predators or mammoths for GDI, scorp tanks for NOD or devastators/PAC for Scrin. Its pointless to try anything less. But lets be honest, all past C&C games have basically devolved into tank spams online, unconditionally, so why lie, its really no surprise, I'm just glad I didn't hold my breath over what might happen online.

Originally Posted by Xellos

My biggest problem with the game probably, is the fact the AI cheats so obviously. It has unlimited money, gets reinforcements out of nowhere, and stealth towers are pointless, since he appearently can see right through it. I'm pretty sure his build times are a lot lower then you as well.

I agree, its pointless to build engineers early game to cap towers because the AI immediately knows where they are and sends a buggy or APC to deal with it, its easier to just let the AI have the damned structure or capture it later into the game. However the AI's maphack isn't exactly just the fog of war being lifted, the AI simply knows that there are units at that particular location and what type they are (infantry, armor, air) but not the exact unit. But its not like it really matters, the damned AI still has a map hack.

Jam it back in, in the dark.