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New Command & Conquer - Free to Play Details from Canard PC

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Thanks to CnC Saga, you've had the sneak peak, now here's the run down of new Command & Conquer - Free to Play information from the French gaming magazine, Canard PC. There are some scans of the pages from the magazine that you can see, in French of course. But a good summary has been posted as well. The 3rd faction has been named, we know lots of fans want to know who it is.


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Resources:

  • Money: same as in C&C Generals
  • Oil: building oil derricks

Factions:

  • Asian-Pacific Alliance (APA)
  • Global Liberation Army (GLA)
  • European Union (EU)

Graphic design & technical information

  • Destructible buildings with dynamically modelled interiors (if buildings take damage, you can see the inside).
  • Dynamic unit dialogues
  • Camera is, unfortunately, still low to the ground

Game modes

  • Skirmish
  • Multiplayer deathmatch
  • Co-Op missions

Monetization

  • Trying to avoid pay to win
  • The game is not an MMO, but has a system of progression
  • Unlockable generals by levelling up or paying
  • Possibility to purchase cosmetics objects

Future plans

  • More content.
  • Development towards the Tiberium, Red Alert, or even an unreleased universe.

A lot of this was covered by the dev team during the C&C Community Summit trip in early December. You can check out the magazine scans and some extra stuff at CnC Saga. There's also a rough translation of the full article, which you can find here.

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My thouhts questions,

 

1) I guess APA is more like China, strength in numbers.

2) I'm not sure whether this dynamically modeled interior thing would bring any gameplay changes. Would it mean that if you don't have any windows or access to a side of the building the garrisosned troops cannot fire in that direction? It would be cool if 2 competing infantry units can fight it out inside the building to capture it. If it is just eye candy, then its just for marketing.

3) Dynamic unit dialogues, can anyone explain this in detail is possible? Any ideas? I guess it means units making dialogues depending on the situation like when getting attacked or if it kills an enemy (Which is nothing new) or something I am missing.

4) No campaign (dissapointing and I made my anger known about this somewhere else on this forum)

5) "Trying to avoid P2W" thats not very confident of them are they. Its like they can't make GOOD money from this without P2W. At least trying to be honest about it ;)

6) I think this is one place where the P2W thing comes in. If these additional generals are OP, and need grinding to unlock them without paying I'd say thats bad.

7) "Possibility to purchase cosmetics objects" absolutely no problem about it and if there are some cool camos and heck even cool voice overs it might be cool.

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My thouhts questions,

 

1) I guess APA is more like China, strength in numbers.

Right, it's pretty much China of CnC:Generals. I just want to highlight the fact that apparently the tier technologies will be developped in the command center. And if you lose your Comcenter, you'll not be able to recruit your top tier units.

2) I'm not sure whether this dynamically modeled interior thing would bring any gameplay changes. Would it mean that if you don't have any windows or access to a side of the building the garrisosned troops cannot fire in that direction? It would be cool if 2 competing infantry units can fight it out inside the building to capture it. If it is just eye candy, then its just for marketing.

As far as it was described in the article, it's purely cosmetic. For exemple: if your weapon factory take a hit, the wall may collapse and you would be able to see inside the building.

3) Dynamic unit dialogues, can anyone explain this in detail is possible? Any ideas? I guess it means units making dialogues depending on the situation like when getting attacked or if it kills an enemy (Which is nothing new) or something I am missing.

In the article, they gave some exemples like: if a unit is badly hurt, it will shout something or if the unit spots an enemy, they'll describe the situation (for exemple "Enemy spotted, no problem" or "Enemy spotted, we're in trouble"). Edited by Tehnloss
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Right, it's pretty much China of CnC:Generals. I just want to highlight the fact that apparently the tier technologies will be developped in the command center. And if you lose your Comcenter, you'll not be able to recruit your top tier units.As far as it was described in the article, it's purely cosmetic. For exemple: if your weapon factory take a hit, the wall may collapse and you would be able to see inside the building.In the article, they gave some exemples like: if a unit is badly hurt, it will shout something or if the unit spots an enemy, they'll describe the situation (for exemple "Enemy spotted, no problem" or "Enemy spotted, we're in trouble").

 

I see thanks for the explanation. In that sense the building interiors would be nothing more than eye candy. Well nothing to complain about but I dunno whether its something that should be marketed. The dynamic dialogue thing described has been in RTS for a long time. DoW II had this implemented pretty well IMO. I don't know what they have to brag about it.

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Well, the article isn't an official marketing piece from EA, it's the impressions of the journalist, he just spoke about what's appealed to him, apprently the voice acting of the units was cool enough to be mentioned.

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Dynamic voiceovers have been in the series since Tiberium Wars, don't know why he stressed that :P

 

I'm also happy to see some APA tanks, the Overlord just freakin' rocks! ^_^

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"Trying to avoid pay to win"

 

hahahahahaah so lol, from "we promise you it will not be a pay2win" to this! hahahaaha.....

 

i dont care if i can pay to upgrade my general or give me the option to upgrade it by playing few hours!

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"Trying to avoid pay to win"

 

hahahahahaah so lol, from "we promise you it will not be a pay2win" to this! hahahaaha.....

 

i dont care if i can pay to upgrade my general or give me the option to upgrade it by playing few hours!

 

At some point they do have to make money though lol. Tiberium Alliances isn't pay to win and I've never payed a cent dont see how this is good for them.

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So far it sounds like all is well :D. The only problem I have with it so far is the level up to be able to play other Generals. Unless it was misinterpreted and it will actually work like League of Legends where you can buy new heroes/generals with in game currency that you earn by playing, and your level has nothing to do with it.

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So far it sounds like all is well :D. The only problem I have with it so far is the level up to be able to play other Generals. Unless it was misinterpreted and it will actually work like League of Legends where you can buy new heroes/generals with in game currency that you earn by playing, and your level has nothing to do with it.

It can be like in Heart of the Swarm or Dawn of War 2, where leveling just gives new decals, unit animations, skins, portraits, etc

Edited by Existor

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Just a comment on the single player campaign, or lack there of at launch. All I can tell you guys is what they told us at the studio in LA back in early December. The great thing about being free to play and a live service is they can tailor the game and build it around what the fans want. Something that can't be done with a boxed product, well at least not easily. Firstly they want you see it. So when it officially launches you will download the client and start playing, making sure you tell them what's good, what's bad and what you want to see. So if you keep telling them you want a single player campaign that's direction they will go in.

 

No single player campaign at launch is not a bad thing. Think of it in stages. This is not an official timetable or anything, its all based on the 1 on 1 discussion I had with some of the devs, and what we were told. So its kind of how things could play out....

  • Right now they are building the base game, getting multiplayer up and running
  • Next up is the closed beta
    -Selected people by invitation only (can you guess who?)
  • Then they will have private beta,
    -TUC buyers get priority access
    -People who registered on the official site will then been added
  • Finally I would assume the beta will then move to a public/open stage, anyone can download and play
  • After all of this, the game will officially launch. At this time it will up to you guys, the fans, to influence what direction they take next

All of this will take time, remember the beta is going to be long, probably the longest ever for any C&C game.

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Just a comment on the single player campaign, or lack there of at launch. All I can tell you guys is what they told us at the studio in LA back in early December. The great thing about being free to play and a live service is they can tailor the game and build it around what the fans want. Something that can't be done with a boxed product, well at least not easily. Firstly they want you see it. So when it officially launches you will download the client and start playing, making sure you tell them what's good, what's bad and what you want to see. So if you keep telling them you want a single player campaign that's direction they will go in.

 

No single player campaign at launch is not a bad thing. Think of it in stages. This is not an official timetable or anything, its all based on the 1 on 1 discussion I had with some of the devs, and what we were told. So its kind of how things could play out....

  • Right now they are building the base game, getting multiplayer up and running
  • Next up is the closed beta

    -Selected people by invitation only (can you guess who?)

  • Then they will have private beta,

    -TUC buyers get priority access

    -People who registered on the official site will then been added

  • Finally I would assume the beta will then move to a public/open stage, anyone can download and play
  • After all of this, the game will officially launch. At this time it will up to you guys, the fans, to influence what direction they take next

All of this will take time, remember the beta is going to be long, probably the longest ever for any C&C game.

 

I think the biggest gripe/noise the community made after the announcement of this F2P thing and still (along with P2W) is the lack of a campaign. If they say they want to wait till ppl actually play the game and then tell them to make a campaign, its just a marketing gimmick or there are some people who don't know how to understand the community. I think its beyond what EA_Cire or Victory games, it the management at EA who just want to milk money. They are thinking that FB2 engine on a C&C game would suddenly make it appealing. People would be more than happy to pay for a well made campaign at launch.

 

Again EA says that they listen to the community but they seem to conveniently ignore what the community wants and do whatever they want. Even if they start making a campaign after launch it would again be a rush job under a tight schedule to achieve some internal targets and I don't think it would hit the quality bar we are expecting.

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The problem with the "they will add SP later if you want it" is that there is no reason for SP fans to stick around until EA eventually possibly perhaps with some luck decides to add an SP of whatever kind they feel makes an SP. It requires incredible naivety to expect it to both a) happen and B) be of quality. Good SP is something that takes an incredible amount of time for planning and revision (not necessarily resources), you can't just slap it in a regular DLC development cycle of about 6 months.

Yes, no SP at "launch" is not a bad thing - but no reliable guarantee of SP later on is. If there is one thing EA cannot expect to get through with, it's asking people to have faith that they will deliver something later.

Edited by Golan

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Thing is, the whole "Oh just wait! It will get better!!" pattern that EA keeps doing to C&C fans is getting old, hell IT IS old. I am still not sold on this being done well at all. I love how they keep saying they "want" or "try" to keep it from pay 2 win but let's face it, this is EA and they'll dictate whatever they wish and Victory Games will agree to it because they have no choice. They are banking on the desperation of the fans that they'll take anything C&C at this point and be blindly hopeful for it, having the mentality that "Well at least we are still getting C&C!" Well I'm sorry but to put it bluntly, I'd rather see C&C dead and buried than making it go into a Free 2 Play cashcow series if this is the future direction of the franchise.

 

Oh and the fool that says single player is just for the "minority" you are so ****ing wrong it is not even funny.

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i also dont like the "wait will get better in time...yeah maybe...later...ok wait a bit longer.... just a bit more...."

 

but besides this more important to me is skirmish, and i am glad we don't have to beg for this obvious feature as well.

Edited by Johnnyxp64

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(mutters to self about the concept of a "long beta" for a "free-to-play" game)

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What about system requirements? I am guessing the size of the beta could be as big as a C&C4 game, and I am certain because of the Frostbite 2 engine, Windows XP cannot be compatible for this F2P game, leaving Vista and above versions with a persistent Internet connection and a beefier video card needed for a great gameplay experience.

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Maybe it'll be a paid singleplayer and / or co-op campaign(s).. Sounds reasonably to me especially if sold for a fair price..

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Maybe it'll be a paid singleplayer and / or co-op campaign(s).. Sounds reasonably to me especially if sold for a fair price..

See that is where I feel the problem is, they most likely won't. It will pretty much end up costing as much as paying for a full retail product....which again begs the question, why did they go to the F2P route in the first place.

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See that is where I feel the problem is, they most likely won't. It will pretty much end up costing as much as paying for a full retail product....which again begs the question, why did they go to the F2P route in the first place.

A steady stream of monetary gain and more control over their product/game along with trying to continuously appeal to the community *caugh*?

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A steady stream of monetary gain and more control over their product/game along with trying to continuously appeal to the community *caugh*?

Yeah when you put it like that it makes their plan even worse...but whatever, they sadly got the series by the balls :(

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Yeah when you put it like that it makes their plan even worse...but whatever, they sadly got the series by the balls :(

 

Well mate, either they make money from the franchise or it goes along with THQ, Gamespy, MoH, etc, etc, etc, you see, their main priority is with the investors, they are not going to live from just some fans approval.

Edited by General Kane Nash

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their main priority is with the investors, they are not going to live from just some fans approval.

That is the problem with today's companies, the investors matter more than the customers.

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That is the problem with today's companies, the investors matter more than the customers.

YES! It is a huge problem. I understand Kane's statement but again, if this is going to be the future of Command & Conquer it will be a sad existence that in the long run will not work out and I'd rather have the franchise just end.

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