GeneralJist

In the game, GDI & Nod players can ally with each other right? and GDI can VS. GDI, and Nod can VS. Not? or is it just strict faction lines? I haven't played it enough to know.

The plugin for 3DS max9.dds is to be no longer available on the invidia website. Does anyone know where it can be downloaded? Thanks

So, We're trying to compile our animation list for our new faction's Alpha, and we want to make sure we cover all the necessary animations we need. Ex: run, walk, etc. Need all of them and the types: Infantry Vehicles Aircraft sturectues Thanks, -Jist

Perception is reality. If enough people treat something as "Cannon", or close enough, than it could be, I see it like this, you can either have community made cannon, maybe dubious "fan fiction", or nothing. Sure, if that happens, it will most likely be overwritten, the minute Official Cannon materializes, but in the mean time, it's better to have something than nothing. moding, and unofficial patches are a testament to that, some of us are not content to wait for something that may or may not come, even if it does, who would you rather have faith in to write suitable story arcs? The dedicated community, which has been around since the beginnings, or some "Green" EA employees, who likely never heard of C&C until they were put on the project? Follow whatever you like, but EA had how many times to make the Cannon shine? Meh...they did the best with their situations.... And by "sell" i meant in the terms of representing something/ getting behind something, and pushing it, not financially competing without official sanction.

After all EA has done to C&C, do we really need their "authority" to write our own lore, and sell it to the community? TT already was an "official" cannon story line, and most of us didn't accept it well either. And sure, FMVs are nice, and a hallmark of C&C, and yes, they are expensive and time consuming. We have the former Lead coder of the Forgotten mod on our team, and I asked him if they had any regrets about their project, and he said they underestimated how much work the FMVs would be. @CyberFaction, You learn to mod and see how well you do, like some of us, check my sig, if you are curious. @here here

Double post

Actually listening to the community isn't something they can just have, and claim they turned over a new leaf, and now see the light. There's a big difference between listening to the community and doing what the vocal community says they want. The art of Community management/ brand management and caring for your customers' feedback is a long road that can be derailed by simple misunderstanding & miscommunications. . Not to mention, the official forums are gone, so all the back log of original community feedback back when it counted is no longer available for analysis. I talked to a former C&C3 QA tester, and from a rumor he heard, the databases that housed the official C&C Forums, was MISTAKENLY removed from their server rooms, when they were cleaning out, and upgrading their systems. EA would need to restore or make new forums in their place, that would be the 1st public sign EA might be trying for another C&C. (Regardless of if the rumor is true or not) They also can't just make new forums since that might signify an expectation, which they might not want to perpetuate until they actually are ready to announce action. Despite the earlier statement of them not intending/ wanting to have a CM for C&C, they will need one, if they pull the trigger, a hell of a good one, one that can be trusted and one that knows the community well. One that can unite or at least calm the community, and show the company does actually want to make reparations for their past malfeasance with C&C in particular. It would be a tough position to fill, and it can't be any run of the mill good CM/ PR person. Even if they found a qualified candidate, PR can only sell what they have. If they don't have a high enough quality game the CM/PR can represent, then it will be doomed to fail. EA needs to get it's **** together if they want to milk this cash cow, and rest assured, they know it’s a cash cow golden goose hybrid. That would likely require drastic changes in corporate culture, or at least, have the C&C studio have a good buffer from it. Mountains of money thrown at this issue will go nowhere, they need the right people, and the right management to allow those people to reach C&Cs potential. IDK if EA has that or is willing to make the sacrifices necessary to make it happen. It takes at least one good and powerful person to halt old and entrenched dysfunctionalism, and they need the authority and support to restructure things. If EA doesn't do a good job in time, we, The Community will do it for them. All we’re asking is for people to do their job, apparently that’s hard for some... @ Raven Dark Here here @Stygs, Well of course, any decent PR person who wants to keep his job knows how to deflect questions that might lead to an information leak, which could potentially lead to losing their job. Even if he was a huge C&C fan and if he was secretly running PR for the a hypothetical C&C, he can't let that on. (if that was true, which I doubt.) Actually, now that I think of it, telling me to apply to Blizzard might have been the perfect redirection. I get the feeling there's a tinge of disrespect from your tone, IDK, you said random fan, not fellow moder, you think if you were their, you'd be able to get more information? "the game attorney" he told me I should ask Castle to ask that Cris (the guy, head of EA PR), what's up. But meh... It's not worth the social capitol, likelly lead nowhere anywyas.(if I was in his position, I'd deflect as well) @Egozi44, That wold be nationalistic favoritism. If they are indeed working on a C&C and if they were to have the sense to hire any C&C moders, then they should evaluate what the moders have accomplished and if/ how that fits into their plans. I seriously doubt they will handle it like the case of Xcom 2 & Long war, that was dream come true for them, and I was there at their panel, it was quite something to witness. It made me feel so happy for them, yet so sad that EA would likely never be that good to their community.

Well, the things the issue is that C&C is a very big beast with a lot of potential, and EA would love to cash in on it, the issue is, most of the original developers who worked on the games are no longer at EA, either through better opportunities elsewhere or due to EA's own dysfunctional corporate culture. Meaning, they don't really have too many qualified people to work on the game in the 1st place EA sees little reason for investing in a big risk, like C&C, than just making some copy of what has come before. They are not the bold and adventurous types to try new things, and make progress for progress sake, . They claim progress when it comes to making economical decisions that are based off of predictive forecasting. I was at PAX South last month, and I met with one of the PR guys at EA, he had said they;re looking for people driven by passion, and that they were looking for new PR people at the time. I told him about the project I've been doing since Summer 2011, and displayed my clear interest and passion, and you know what he told me? He told me ya, C&C is why I'm not getting into EA, and as far as he knows all the C&C stuff is under the purview of a branch in Germany.M Maybe try to apply at Blizzard. I was like huh? Really? And a few years ago, while I was at my schools career fair, Blizzard was there, and I told them about my experience, and she said great passion, great attitude, great experience, but it's not for our community. So.... WTF... Makes some sense, but it's almost as if no one knows what to do with C&C anymore, so no one will touch it. Well see, maybe those Germans will unshelve C&C....

ummmm, huh? @Jvm, You've strayed a bit too far, too fast, and got a bit too personal, sorry, but from what I can tell, most of us are here to support C&C in whatever kind of way we can. Personal conversations involving life should only be mentioned if they fit into that. Anything else just should be taken up in a PM. I know I'm talking like a moderator, tho I never was, but this is my thread, and I need it to stay on topic to help solve this issue. I trust you understand that. @Lauren, Thanks for the important detail, Glad it was caught before any more work was put into it. Might be back to square 1.... err

So, For animating for C&C3, it requires 3DS max 9 due to a custom plugin Westwood developed, which does weight paining for you. There's been some concern in my team recently on how old the plugin is, and if there has been any efforts in trying to adapt the plugin for newer versions of Max? Max 9 doesn't work on some newer computers, citing driver incompatibilities, and the like. Since this plugin seems to be required for animating in sage, we're wondering if there have been any efforts around trying to make the plugin compatable with newer technologies. Thanks, -Jist

hmmmm, I c, Well, thanks, If anyone here has the skill and the time to rewrite the plugin, let me know, if not, I'll find someone on our team to look into it. This is a critical part of getting things done, and we're already limited when we force our animators to use max 9, instead of any newer versions of max. (it decreases efficiency, and more) Think I'd be a great service to moding C&C if someone looked into it, lowering the barrier to entry into moding for artists. I'l also dig around in the Autodesk community, see if they have any resources. Would the folks @ W3D hub or Renegade X have insight into this? They'd be similarly limited with their engines and tools right? 1. ya user error is like usually 60-70% of the issue xd 2. Well, no, our artists have newer versions of programs because that is what they had when they signed on. We provide max 9 for animators since it's required, but beyond that, we as a team don't have pooled finances to do such. I'd love to one day, but if we did need to pay anyone, it would most likely come out of my pocket, since we're not a company yet. Ya, maybe I'll need to, with something as important and impactful as this, because if I don't hire someone, and just do volunteer, the support & trouble shooting, which is bound to happen, needs to be done professionally. (but then, if I pay for it done, I'd be harder for us to make it available to the C&C moding community at large) hmm, I'll do some more digging..... Guess this illustrates the classic designer mindset, if a tool doesn't exist to get the job done, he/ she will create a tool to get it done. PS. One of our members volunteered, so we'll se how it goes.

Well, the ambiguity of file sharing the assets aside, If your serious about what you want, my advice is to go join the existing Gen 2 mod. Why work alone when you could work with a team? Sure, it may nean you'll need to compromise a bit on your vision, but that is worth the time and effort you'd save by trying to do it all yourself. Idealism is great, I'm all about idealism, but when it comes to putting those plans into action, and acting twords your dreams, going it alone isn't the way to go. Good luck, whatever you decide, and are able to accomplish. Who knows, maybe years from now you'll get a salute from some of the original devs, as we did. Follow your passion, no matter the cost.

Hey, think I cam across it a while back, but can't find the End User License Agreement. Need to read the legalese to check a few things regarding IP ownership It's not in the SDK manual I don't think. Thanks, -Jist

Well I couldn't find the EULA in there...

Do you know where I can find the legalese to support that? As much as I do trust you ad your experience in these matters, I'll need documentation to back that up, so we can proceed properly. The only specific lines I found regarding the issue in the "tools and materials" EULA for the world builder said we can't use anything created with the WB for commercial ends, which makes sense. If anyone is able to paste the SDK EULA here, that may also work. Meanwhile, I'll keep trying to fiddle with installing the SDK (to try and read teh full EULA)

Found the EULA for the World builder, is it the same for the SDK? For some reason whenever I try and install the SDK now, it says it can't find a copy of C&C3 on my comp. Oh, I didn't mean making the mod into a standalone project. (The mod is going to stay as is, as a C&C3 mod.) I meant, a different project, that retained our 3 new factions, in it of themselves, in a modern engine, and make our own IP from there, potentially with commercial intentions. I'm trying to figure out if the EULA allows for something like that, where we remake all our art assets, and do entirely new foundation source code, with no direct relation to C&C. We've had significant amount of contacts we've had throughout the years tell us they'd be on board, if we could pay them, and just let them know when/if it happens. Most of us are in our mid to late 20s or older, and financial concerns are ever creeping. (for those who don't have fulfilling stable day jobs) I'm looking into starting an LLC, for our purposes, and I'll need to know how our assets relate. Are some of the other mod teams already registered companies of some kind, or are they just registered websites? Any advice on how to look into and navigate these issues would be very appreciated.

So, I was on a gamedev forum talking about our project, and a lot of people got on my case for not having any kind of contracts for the project. They strongly recommended I get at minimum collaboration agreements in place, for transferring the IP rights of any original work from former or current team members. Stuff like this might be governed in the C&C3 mod SDK EULA, but I'm having a hard time tracking that down again. Then again, most of these people are not modders, mainly indies or Games Industry folks, so they may have more of a hard line view on this stuff, since they deal with NDAs and other contracts all the time. It all goes around removal of work from a former member if requested, and all that jazz. Does anyone have any experience in such things, and or, know what the EULA says specifically on these issues? or have dome kind of contracts up yourself? I’ve been looking into this issue off and on for the past month…. Thanks, -Jist

oh no, Since our project is introducing 3 entirely new factions to the game, we're looking at the option to one day to go stand alone, and clip all reference to C&C, to potentially start our own IP. Nothing will happen anytime soon, nor is this any disrespect to C&C, those who know me, know I have the utmost dedication and regard for C&C, it's just exploring options.

Our current update: http://www.moddb.com/mods/tiberium-secrets/features/tiberium-secrets-model-renders-screen-shots-part-2-of-2 Also, in recognition of all the efforts of staff here, I'd like to offer closed testing to all former, current and potentially future Staff of CNCNZ for the duration of our project. All I require is: 1. send an email to [email protected], and I'll provide the details (include your full name, screen name, links/ portfolios/ profiles/ sites of yours, and quote/ link of confirmation of staff status for our records) 2. create or use a moddb account to track our developments If your not staff, you can still earn closed testing by tracking us, and getting active on our page and forums. or If you've been of service to the C&C community in some way, please email, and link and or describe what you've done. (Being an active player of the games, even if you're a top ranked person, doesn't count) (if you've served on the now gone official C&C EA forums, and don't have any coppies of your contribution, then get in contact, and describe what you've done, and when, and we'll try and confirm it with others of the C&C community.) If no one remembers you, then you don't exist..... Thanks for your time & consideration, -Jist (project Coordinator, PR manager, Lead writer)

Greetings everyone, It's been a while, But we're Back! http://www.moddb.com/mods/tiberium-secrets/news/tiberium-secrets-news-update-10-18-2015 Thanks CNCNZ for doing their part in helping keeping the C&C commnity alive, we salute you. -Jist (Project Coordinator, PR manager, Lead writer Tib Sec Dev)

^ SOURCE? Anyway, Well decent enough article. Selling the franchise or "giving it away" is indeed, unlikely, but the next best thing is licensing. Who's to say that's not a viable option, in fact, if someone told you, I'll do all the work, and you get most of the money and can dictate the terms, all we ask is to be able to make the game for you, that's right up EA's Alley, Obviously it's more complex, but ya. As for not having a CM. just because it would cost allot, well imagine the cost of having a developer/ business admin, etc. take time out of their normal duties for the game and company to run public relations, and read community feedback? No, that's not a good option at all. CM. marketing &PR exist for reasons, prime among them, to handle issues that come up, so the people focused on internal development don't have to worry about it. Often some people's job is to make another person, or group of people's job easier. As for the viability of a "3 year plan", a 3 year plan usually means something like, you keep the option on the table, in the back of your mind/ in the shadows for that time, examining the potential, doing research, and considering the possibility for that period. And at the end of that duration you'll crunch all your data, into a full report, and go, this is what we have. A 3 year plan, is Not, sticking something on a shelf for 3 years, "planning" to take it out in 3 years, then figure what to do with it. That's a 3 year postponement. And Indeed, supporting community projects is the way to go, but that should always be true, sure, it's easier to support a community project, when you have a nice healthy official alternative sitting next to you, but supporting them when there is no such product known at this time? That's survival support. The question isn't really, "When / if C&C will return?" and what universe will it be? It's more, "where will you be, and what will you be doing to make sure C&C still lives on, until when/ if that day comes?" Will you be Passive? Aggressive or Active? Ps. RTS is fundamentally a different genre than most other types of games, for many reasons, prime among them being strategic development. So, asking a team that traditionally skilled in FPS or RPG, to take on an RTS, requires a fundamental shift in what to expect from both the members and the community. I could go on an on about the details, but regardless, my overall point is, RTS takes the longest to design and balance, not to mention support. So, expecting green devs. of any calibre to just bang out an RTS, even if they had all the resources and tools at their disposal is not really realistic, let alone of C&C quality. RTS is the hardest to get a minimum viable product.

Hey Lauren, Thanks for your initial insights. Do you think you, or another person who knows this topic could spare some time to sit down on skype to help teach fir a little bit? Forgive me if it's out of place, but Fandore says he's willing to financially compensate you for your time, not sure if that is an appropriate thing in this instance. It's just, that this is the last part of the puzzle, according to him, and he's really eager to get this down, so we can continue our consistent level of content. I tried pming you, and adding you on skype, but no response yet. Thanks in advance. -Jist

Well, I've been told by former EA employees, that EA works based on market viability, by that, I mean, they look at the market at a point in time, see what's popular, and then tries to make that. Unfortunatelly that's a very reactive way of conducting business, a good strategy, but not somehting that will typically bring innovation. So, the best thing that could happen to have a chance for EA to bring C&C back? In m oppinion, Grey Goo & the few other non Blizard RTS's needs to go off the charts. SC2 was head up by Dustin Browder, one of the lead C&C developers. So he's applied his experience to the "competition", as most of us see it. So, you'd either need to get him back, or find someone that can rival that. Thie issue isn't about what we want really, nor how much we want it. It's about where are the RTS/ strategy game devs, and what are they doing now. RTS is a very different animal than any other genre. You can;t just paint a faction with different colors, and a few different technologies, and have it work (as in FPS, MMO, RPG, etc.) Strategy is an ongoing intellectual puzzle, an investment of mind, soul and techology. But sure, Although, my 15 points o the other page should be clear. B. All of them, and or the most successful ones, it's weird, the C&C community has always been conflicted, modders are usually so cought up in their own projects, they don't want to help others, this trend isn't unique to C&C moders, but it's very prolific, especially in hte old days, still now tho. C. In all my time moding, the only potential leader I've ever seen the C&C community rally around former EA/ weatwood employees. There was a project atempted by Mark Skags, the modidng community rallied to him and the projeect, but but omce they were all gathered, they would only listen to him, and no one else, dispite things being disorganized and vague. People would say, "lets do X" and it'd get shot down by everone else, but as soon as Mark said somethng, everyine hushed up. But then they realized that the project wasn't going to be a "classic RTS" so things fell apart quickly. Seems they only respect legitimate/ position authority. Lesson of the story? The C&C community, including moders are incredibly disrespectful toward each other. Find a proper leader is going to be a challenge. Prob, find the most successful moders, and go ask them to ban together. (they don't respect experience as much as they should) D. Yes. as many former EA employees as posible, see where they are, and ask for them to help in whaever way they are able. E. It's been like almost 2 years since VG closed, how long are you willing to wait in false hope?, pining away, waiitng for something to get better on it's own? F. IDK, I don't, but who knows, this is a PR thing though, and you need something to recruit to before you call the media. In other words, solidify hte plans 1st. G. Your wording is off, you said "did it work" how to avid mistakes, should be didn't. IDK, depends what your talking about, Do you mean if there has been an attempted rally of C&C fans to lobby EA? or do you mean has there been a successful or faild campaign for franchises to be handed over?, Etc. Right then.

Well, to start, nothign personal, but I'm heavilly biased tward the Tiberium universe, so TBH, not so interested in all of it, had a skim though. Maybe you should look up some RA moders/ mods and ask for thier oppiinions. As for how to set costs. You can either do a mathmatical relationship or, just don't at this time. Setting costs at this staage would be irelevent, we have no idea how the ecomomy will function, in relation to balancing the factions, and relative power. You can do a basic to represent the power value of each unit/ structure, but it's not going to make a difference unless this goes into production, and gets to alpha, (for RTS, that takes years) So, best advice, I don't hink you should worry about costs right now, focus more on developing creative solutions to the roles needed. if you want to represent the power level increase of thikngs, you can set T1 unit as X value, and day a T3 unit is at least 2-3X more effectove at it's role. The key is to deeply think about your faction theses & the technologies they have as a result, and figure out how they do things is different than the others, if it's more or less efective, and how that might be strategically balanced. Well, to start, nothign personal, but I'm heavily biased toward the Tiberium universe, so TBH, not so interested in all of it, had a skim though. Maybe you should look up some RA moders/ mods and ask for their opinions. As for how to set costs. You can either do a mathematical relationship or, just don't at this time. Setting costs at this stage would be irrelevant, we have no idea how the economy will function, in relation to balancing the factions, and relative power. You can do a basic to represent the power value of each unit/ structure, but it's not going to make a difference unless this goes into production, and gets to alpha, (for RTS, that takes years) So, best advice, I don't think you should worry about costs right now, focus more on developing creative solutions to the roles needed. if you want to represent the power level increase of things, you can set T1 unit as X value, and day a T3 unit is at least 2-3X more effective at its role. The key is to deeply think about your faction theses & the technologies they have as a result, and figure out how they do things is different than the others, if it's more or less effective, and how that might be strategically balanced. For example, for my project, I went across all 6 factions and went role by role definition, and then tweaked the roles effectiveness. By filling out the unit/ structure, I went it needs to be better in this way, and worse in others. If a unit is better in an attribute than another faction, you must balance another area. ( it might not be in the same role) Getting diversity and balance is the hardest thing, but think creatively, and stay consistent with your themes, and you might be surprised as to what you come up with. For example, for my project, I went across all 6 factions and went role by role definition, and then tweeked the roles effectiveness. If a unit is bretter in an atribute than another faction, you must balnce another area. Getting diversity and balance is the hardest thing, but think creativelly, and stay consistant with your themes, and you might be surprised as to what you come up with.