CNCNZ.com Roundtable #21 - Looking into the C&C Future

[Sonic 296]

Edition number 21 of the CNCNZ.com Roundtable has arrived, and we are doing some crystal ball fortune telling by looking at the future of the C&C franchise. In this month's Roundtable we discuss Command & Conquer 4, the hybrid RTS idea, an ending for C&C, the new EALA GM and Red Alert for the iPhone. We also have two new additions joining our regular panellists.

 

Here is the panel for this month.

• Sonic - CNCNZ.com Webmaster
• Luk3us - CNCNZ.com Forums Moderator
• Lion - Red Alert Den
• Banshee - Project Perfect Mod
• Chickendippers - CNC World
• Ryan - Planet CNC
• Blbpaws - CNC Generals World
• JohnWE - CNC-Files
• Echo - Red3.org
• Mighty BOB! - CNC Source

Click here to read Roundtable Discussion #21.

[chickendippers 1]

Ha, no one has an iPhone

[Malevolence 6]

Great Roundtable discussion in regards to the future of C&C, and very interesting questions.

 

Personally, I am looking forward to see a great new C&C sequel to the franchise, in fact, pretty excited about it. RPG, RTS whatever hybrid, sounds excellent, no idea how it'll work out though, I've dreamed of seeing a C&C RTS and you could ultra zoom in to a specific unit and control him in FPS mode since the day of Renegade. However I definitely would stay away from the concept of MMO based concept, too time consuming, and I am not gonna pay monthly subscription, which on the long run, it'll be wasting a lot of money.

 

Just hoping to see improved storyline, non-contradictory from the other prequels, better FMVs and directing, more action and less "talk talk and more talk". If any EA guy is reading this its highly advisable and highly recommended to refer to the criticisms of C&C3 TW discussion a few months back.

 

Not too sure about the idea of "conclusion of Tiberian series". If they are concluding it really wish that they tie up hopefully all loose ends and a few expansion packs with extended story plots would be of great help. If not maybe EA should team up with some good TV studios to produce a good sci-fi miniseries, spanning 5 seasons or so.

 

Ha, no one has an iPhone

 

That is so not true. There is an iPhone lying around my house collecting dust. It'll be good to play that C&C iPhone game. lol. I'm interested, so is my sibling. :lol:

[Gben 20]

Q#1... News about C&C4

I guess we're all hoping that the franchise can bring some innovation to the table, but we seem a little down on concepts already. As Blbpaws said, the reason so few get paid to make games is because it's hard to do it well... to balance fun with depth, innovation with tried and true, features with gimmicks. I would rather an epic story with little innovation for C&C4.

 

Q#2...To RPG or not to RPG that is the question

Persistent RPG is probably going to be hard to balance/manage. I think there is merit in persistent rankings or level ups... because that's real life. But in games, especially asymmetrical maps we generally start every game on equal footing and win by the decisions we make in the progress of the game. But in life we often win/loss based on the decisions in the past that led to the confrontation. Again, a question of balance...

 

Random thoughts: Persistent online gameplay needs a viable surrender/retreat option. If we just stuck to the basic ranking system of C&C, veteran, elite, heroic with ridiculous win/loss ration stats required I wouldn't mind that. Games with players in higher ranks could result in an auto AI spawn to make 1v2..

 

Q#3... You can't kill the messiah!!!

An epic conclusion in the next game would be bad. Full stop. Period. Nuff said.

 

But if you insist... there are too many threads that deserve decent resolutions. If they attempt to finish it one game, we'll be reading the resolutions in intel databases! And who wants that. In the very least one more game should be dedicated purely to fighting on the Scrin homeworld, or on the original source of Tiberium. Then a whole other game should be dedicated to the mystery of Kane. And we deserve at least one more attempt at a FPS! But in particular Kane simply reappears for every game with no real explanation as how or why... therefore the series should never be 'concluded'... just rested like a good steak!

 

Q#4.... Same Same but different

Well I assume the business side will continue, but I hope C&C FPS will be resurrected in some fashion at some point!

 

Q#5... Got a minute?

Does this thing even have mp? Again this is a niche market that will continue to grow and evolve. PC's, Consoles, Phones... where next for EALA?

[Wildshield 0]

Will they try to create a spin off from C+C 4... Like Renegade as a future release.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

imo about whether or not to end it...

 

since EA is running things yes...

 

but its sad because ive craved more and more westwood C&C since day one...and would still be highly interested in their version of the whole story...

[Malevolence 6]

Here's mai suggestion to EA for their future sequel and possibly last game in the Tiberian storyline:

 

Just create Command & Conquer: Tiberian Twilight, an original twisted sequel and conclusion to the true Tiberian series...

 

Prolouge

And and and... just argue to the fans that C&C3 TW was in a parallel universe from another parallel reality and the effects of the activation of Scrin Tower by CABALLEGION caused some parallel reality mumbo jumbo effect (because Kane activated it at the right moment in the presence of some predicted solar flare) that will affect the true TD TS timeline... (this should cause the hardcore fans to cheer and the neutral gamers to glue their eyes on the game for more to come...)

 

The Chapters

And and and... meanwhile back in TD TS timeline, onboard a distant Scrin ship picks up a weak subspace signal in LEGION code from C&C TW reality. After picking up the codes the Scrin becomes infected by LEGION and formed the the LEGION Scrin army to conquer Earth...

 

And and and... we will have GDI VS Nod VS LEGION Scrin and probably the neutral uncontrollable random Forgotten folks with pet dogs called Fiends that pops up in the map whenever they like. And oh yea I did not forget TRUE tiberium with PODS still exist in this original TD TS timeline and the TRUE third Tiberian war begins...

 

Oh yea GDI have mechs and newer Kodiak class battlecruisers, Nod have noddish cool stuff, and CABAL Scrin look more like a hybrid of C&C3 Scrin and Westwood's Scrin Primal concept, and the random Forgotten folks are people with green zits in their faces and stuff. And oh the environment is so dead, so alien, and things like that.

 

Epilogue

And and and.. after the mumbo jumbo war, at the end Kane recreate a time machine and altered the timeline and eventually it was reseted to the era of Red Alert 2. So there you go.

 

The End.

 

Every fan should jump for joy and more money for EA, Cheers and cheers horray.

Edited June 30, 2009 by Malevolence

[Guest Stevie_K]

Gotta love the roundtables.

 

I think Sean Decker is going to bring alot fresh air into C&C. Thinking that he is probably the man behind the survey he must be looking for change himself.

I just think he is going to be very gentle about the changes so he doesn't scare fans off.

 

Malevolence, do you seriously think that would improve anything in the storyline other than having Cabal back?

Don't worry, the new story-writer team will probably make up something even more twisted.

[Silverthorn 0]

Well, it's my turn to comment.

 

1. Not sure, but all I can guess is with GDI saw Nod wants the Scrin to be around, I sure hope they know what Kane was up to. Or even better when I prefer to see a traitor in the midst much like Hassan was in Tiberian Sun & Petrova in Renegade.

 

2. I'm no huge RPG fan, but as long as they're not too 1st person like those in the Medieval games, then I'm ok, Diablo or Baldur's Gate style looks fine, but pure 3D like WoW really gives me a headache, especially 3rd person do give me a headache when I had those old fan games when a character turns left, the camera delays a little bit and then turns. I prefer if the head turns, the camera must also follow (Similar to Renegade in 3rd person view). But all I can say is, as long as there's a single player version for offline players, then I'm interested.

 

3. It is sad to see that universe finally going to come to an end, after all, no game universe or a franchise can last forever. Movies or TV series can last for many seasons, but games run in a different way. So, no further comment.

 

4. I am not sure if he will change anything even if he is an original Westwood staff (not counting Louis Castle). But for now, I really wish he could help to expand the business by creating a CGI room so that C&C may have more CGI scenes without in need of the forced expensive outsourcing. With that CGI room created, it not only creates jobs, it also make things better just like Westwood did in their old days. We can all see their many outdoor CGIs back from Tiberian Dawn (including RA1) all the way to Tiberian Sun. If Westwood can do all that, so can EA as long as they want to put their huge amount of cash into this suggestion. I hope Apoc is reading this to reconsider.

 

5. I don't have an Iphone, it's too expensive to buy one, even if I found an emulator for the PC to play that game, it won't suit much interest to me just like I saw the C&C3 on mobile. PC will be a lot better because you got a mouse & a keyboard for your hands to play with, but mobile phones all the people can play with actively which is their fingers, restricting 50% of movement. But oh well, as long as that game doesn't run too fast like C&C3, then slow-going players will not have a problem.

Edited June 30, 2009 by Silverthorn

[Malevolence 6]

I don't have an Iphone, it's too expensive to buy one

 

The new iPhone 3G S is pretty affordable, and no longer as expensive as the previous models.

[hagren 0]

imo about whether or not to end it...

 

since EA is running things yes...

 

but its sad because ive craved more and more westwood C&C since day one...and would still be highly interested in their version of the whole story...

But we already knew their version of their story- Kane is the biblical Cain and tries to escape his earthy prison, Cabal is still alive in a remote jungle, benevolent Scrin rebels arrive and mutants are the key to fight Tiberium. Well, that's the outline anyways, pretty meh if you ask me.

 

What I did dig from their version though was the TD-RA connection (Tesla inadvertently calling the Scrin).

 

Imho EALA is more than capable in creating kick-ass RTS (Kane's KW/TW plans were brilliant), easily my favourite RTS studio, next to Ensemble and Blizz (Props for Massive's WiC, too).

Edited July 1, 2009 by hagren

[rEdaSbLood 1]

i need to know where you found out this info!!!

[Mighty BOB! 5]

My answers are so loong compared to everyone else's. <___>

 

i need to know where you found out this info!!!

Petroglyph.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

link it

[Wildshield 0]

A long time ago, I read ideas from the tiberium series that six chapters were part of the story line. hence six games and Tiberian Twilight was going to be the last stage for earth, since it will die of life from the tiberium and then blown apart. the next 3 chapters were based on the scrin's home planet. in the end the scrin planet became new earth, and everyone went home happy.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

i need the source of this story stuff you guys keep mentioning

[Malevolence 6]

Was that Westwood's C&C or EA's C&C you are talking about?

[Guest Stevie_K]

i need the source of this story stuff you guys keep mentioning

 

It would actually be nice to have these somewhere on CNCNZ. The whole story as it is, and the story Westwood would have had.

[Malevolence 6]

Westwood's C&C was a trilogy, Dawn, Sun and Twilight.

 

Westwood's TT featured 3 factions, GDI, Nod, Scrin, the first expansion set featured a fourth faction (The Forgotten) and ended with the second expansion with a 5th faction (CABAL). The ending ends to link to the start of RA2, making the C&C franchise inter-related RA C&C Ren TS TT RA2.

 

I have no idea what hagren and §tìngèr said were refering to this or EA's version (which I have no idea how will it be), or a fan-fiction.

[Guest Stevie_K]

Westwood's TT featured 3 factions, GDI, Nod, Scrin, the first expansion set featured a fourth faction (The Forgotten) and ended with the second expansion with a 5th faction (CABAL).

 

w00t!. CABAL and The Forgotten as factions would be so damn awesome!

I love those missions in Firestorm where the Forgotten has Mammoth Tanks and stuff.

Edited July 2, 2009 by Stevie_K

[Malevolence 6]

That Westwood's C&C3 story version was taken from some interesting post from some former westwood guys in Petroglyph forums. I have absolutely no clue where §tìngèr got his version i.e. six chapters and involvement in Scrin homeworld.

[Guest Stevie_K]

Sounds a bit wierd too

[Wildshield 0]

Sorry if there's any confusion about what I recall. I read it back in 2000 with no link it back it up. how they described each chapter and how vivid it was written was very interesting. tiberium twilight was the third... tiberium dawn/age, tiberium eclipse, and tiberium night were the names of the future games. they expanded with new sides as mentioned before. but that was ages ago... and could have been in my head.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

OH, how i crave westwood fiction. so sad that it is lost.

[Sonic 296]

Who said it was lost