C&C 4 Developer Q&A Session #9 Options

[Sonic]

Lets get up to date with some fresh Command & Conquer 4 information direct from the development team in the form of Developer Q&A #9, which has been posted on the Official C&C Site. Check them out below.

1. Will there be any weather effects such as snowing or ion storms?
Yes, we will have a variety of weather effects, including Ion Storms.

2. Have any new hotkeys been implemented to improve a player's ability to manage his forces?
Several new hotkeys, and several behaviours on existing hotkeys have been added to help players with managing their army in C&C 4. The Q key, which selects all combat units also has a second mode. If the player double taps Q, it will not only select all of their combat units, but all of their units on the entire map. The E key has been changed to select all healer and engineer units on the map. The G key has been added and allows players to set a unit to guard another unit or area. Healing units are especially useful as guard units as they will prefer to heal the unit they are guarding. The R key now selects the player crawler, and if double tapped centers the camera on the player crawler. Additionally, the special ability hotkeys have been changed to use the Z, X, and C keys, to allow players immediate access to the unit abilities.

3. Are there any unit specific upgrades?
There are two different types of unit specific upgrades. Each player class has a set of upgrades at Tier 2 and Tier 3 that affect a single type of unit on that class. If you like using Flame Tanks, Nod Offense has an upgrade for them which provides an additional special ability which provides increased speed, and causes the flame tank to leave a burning trail of flame behind it. In addition to these upgrades which are purchased using your upgrade points, there are upgrades on individual defense structures unlocked at Tier 2 that provide additional weapons, armor, and special ability to the structures. The Nod Tier 1 defenses can be upgraded to burrow under the ground, allowing you to hide a base underground, and then unburrow and surprise your enemy when they come near.

4. Will there be faction specific audio tracks?
There won't just be faction specific audio tracks...There will be a completely different music score depending on who you are playing as. GDI are orchestral. NOD are electronic and vocal. I'm hoping the music will put you in a completely different mood depending on which faction you are playing!

5. What decisions affect unit scaling? Is this still being tuned?
When we look at unit scaling, the first thing we ask is: will this unit/structure/object be readable and readily distinguishable at game height? Cues given by the shape of the unit and its weapons are key to creating an understandable gameplay experience, especially in the heat of battle, and we want to make sure that these cues are easily visible to the user. This is generally when we establish when a unit is "too small" or "too large." After some balance work is done and most of the art is in, we go back and take another look at the units. This time, we're looking to ensure that the size of the unit is appropriate to its attack power or defense, and that the unit sizes amongst different size categories can be differentiated. We're just finishing up our second major resizing pass on units, and will continue to make slight adjustments as we polish everything up.

Have a question of your own that you would like answered in the future. Then post in the Ask A Developer thread on the Official C&C Forums.

[Johnnyxp64]

1. Will there be any weather effects such as snowing or ion storms?
Yes, we will have a variety of weather effects, including Ion Storms.

my question was answered and i couldn't be more happy with the answer!

[Malevolence]

Meh, I bet the ion storms won't be as epic as seen in CGI or TS massive global phenomenon. It'll probably be the same as the Scrin Storm columns.

[sith_wampa]

I'm liking this more and more it seems.

[D14810]

Ion storms!. Epic news!

[Mighty BOB!]

Until I see otherwise, I suspect that the ion storms will be as Malevolence said; just weak localized events.

[Nmenth]

Until I see otherwise, I suspect that the ion storms will be as Malevolence said; just weak localized events.

Same here, and although it would be nice to have full-theater storms again, they couldn't be the same as TS/FS, at least as far as knocking down aircraft... since that would be a huge handicap to the support class.

[Inferno]

They can do that in the campaign though.