C&C 4 Developer QA Session #4

[Sonic 296]

The fourth round of Command & Conquer 4 developer questions and answers have been posted on the Official C&C Site. These are always good, because we are guaranteed to find a little bit more about Command & Conquer 4.

 

Can infantry units be crushed in CC4?

In the future of war, both GDI and Nod have adopted more stringent requirements for infantry deployment, with casualty minimization being top priority amongst all of the involved nations. GDI has invested significant resources into a series of heavy infantry armorsets based on the original Zone Trooper designs used in the Third Tiberium War. Meanwhile, Kane has continued to evolve the cybernetic research first bestowed upon the chosen Marked of Kane. These powerful forces are physically more fragile than their vehicular counterparts, though no less dangerous to collide with. With Tiberium-Core powered armor and larger physical size and heft, a head-on collision with any of these infantry forces would be just as dangerous to the driver as to the infantry itself.

 

Will the Commando return in C&C4?

Both GDI and Nod Offense players will have access to a unique Commando unit. Infantry assigned to the GDI Commando section are the most elite of the GDI combat infantry divisions, capable of dual-wielding weaponry with astounding accuracy, and trained to pilot any GDI ground vehicle with expert precision. In parallel, years of advanced cybernetics research has produced the powerful Nod Cybernetic Commando, a hulking, laser-armed monstrosity that will continue to do battle even after loss of life and limb.

 

How can units be repaired?

The Tacitus opened a gateway to the world of Scrin technology, which has been utilized significantly in the years following the Third War. Both sides make liberal use of nanotech repair mechanisms, allowing engineers, repair craft, mobile repair stations, and even the Crawler itself to repair friendly units.

 

Is there directional armor in the game?

Given the 5v5 nature of the gameplay of C&C4, we found during testing that battles in any one given area could get very large and complex. With unit abilities and powers going off fairly regularly, and solidly affecting gameplay when they did, we found that some more nuanced elements, such as directional armor, became very difficult to distinguish for the player. This becomes even more difficult with omnidirectional and very long-range units, of which we have several. Ultimately, we decided to remove this gameplay element in favor of more significant focus on the more visual elements of gameplay, such as ability casting and overall unit positioning. This does not mean that directional gameplay is completely out, though! For example, the Nod Centurion, when stationary, has a shield that reflects attacks from the front only, and can be flanked for maximum damage. This kind of inherent special ability is highly visual and we have found that it works well in 5v5 combat.

 

Is there any method to free up CP if you are at your population cap?

Oh my yes. In fact, we have just implemented two complimentary systems that involve this feature. At any time, units can be "dismantled," immediately freeing up the command points for the unit and allowing you to quickly change tactics. When a unit is marked for dismantle, the unit is disabled for some amount of time and at the end of the time is removed from gameplay. Note that the unit can still be attacked by enemies during this disable time, and destroying enemy forces gains points for your team. It is thus pivotal to disable your units when they are not in immediate danger, and retreat damaged units to disable them, effectively denying the enemy the points that would have been gained from killing the units.

[PurpleGaga27 40]

The first question seems redundant. We already know that infantry units can be crushed at any size since C&C1. Infantry with high-end armor will not be crushed except by epic units.

[Gben 20]

Actually I think he forgot to start the sentence with "NO". I think if you re-read it, he is trying to say, all infantry is in a zone trooper suit.

Remember the screenshots of the engineer...

 

A C&C game with no squishing???

Say it isn't so!

[Nmenth 291]

A C&C game with no squishing???

Say it isn't so!

With everything else taken out, what makes you think squishing would be safe?

[Gben 20]

 

"Is nothing sacred..."

 

[Malevolence 6]

The gameplay is so damn different from the past C&Cs. With all GDI infantries becoming various kinds of Zone Trooper spinoffs, I thought its kinda lazy.

[Luk3us 63]

Its taken you this long to realise that?

 

 

I imagine the reasoning behind not being able to squish infantry would be that they are more "expensive" than in previous C&C games. Especially in a game where pop caps rule and every unit counts, being able to run over an entire army would be slightly over powered.

[Malevolence 6]

It took me this long because I was giving EALA chance to improve on whatever mess has been created, well...

[Johnnyxp64 20]

about the crushing,

 

think a little smarter, on the other hand its good not been there i spend time and money to make my units and because i am not a micro freak i have to see them dying hilariously from a crush? without even fired once!?? wtf?

 

no other RTS game had crushing and it work prety nice i can say.

 

i just like the idea that i am gona have a chance to use the damn units i payed for!

[Nmenth 291]

no other RTS game had crushing and it work prety nice i can say.

So C&C should conform to every other RTS out there?

 

i just like the idea that i am gona have a chance to use the damn units i payed for!

Why should someone too lazy to move their soldiers out of the way of an oncoming tank deserve to keep them?

[Gben 20]

I imagine the reasoning behind not being able to squish infantry would be that they are more "expensive" than in previous C&C games. Especially in a game where pop caps rule and every unit counts, being able to run over an entire army would be slightly over powered.

 

I imagine you are right.

But I don't imagine I'll be any happier about it.

Couldn't they have worked on an alternative game mechanic to counter it?

 

What about major damage suffered by the crusher... 20-40% health lost by tank... sorta like a last-ditch effort?

Like in chess where you sacrifice one piece for another...

[Luk3us 63]

If they want to, I'm sure they could implement a crushing system. To balance it out they could have hte units take damage, I'd also suggest decreasing the speed of the units down when they are crushing, so that, yes even the slow and lazy, would have ample time to move their units out of the way.

 

 

[recover 2]

I find that the answers in many of these QA sessions to be very vague, like in the first question here. I would rather just be told upfront: No.

I also find the "reasons" (the background information why the canon has forced this change) to be unnecessary. These issues are clearly matters of gameplay and it's obvious that the background information is made up after the testers have managed to figure out what is fun. Additionally, I find it unlikely that this background information will be referenced in the actual storyline.

[Johnnyxp64 20]

So C&C should conform to every other RTS out there?

 

 

Why should someone too lazy to move their soldiers out of the way of an oncoming tank deserve to keep them?

 

1)i said that to see that crashing isnt the end of the world for RTS! if other games are even better without it why not move forward with cnc too?

no shame in removing something so annoying like infantry crashing.

 

2)it has nothing to do with lazy people, you just cant be in 2 places at the same time, and for one second a stupid tank crashes your expensive infatry is just stupid!

stupid has nothing to do with tactics.

 

and if so important to you or other people, well then talk to EA to make the AI smart enough to avoide crashing be default and still be possible by micromanagment,

something like the starcraft hit run away AI ability, it keeps your uits alive for more time untill you get your attention to that point of the map,

the units doesnt just stays still and waits to die, nor trys to attach in normal mode.

in a real battle have you ever seen a live soldier stays infront of a tank and wait to be crashed??? wth? why should i command him to move? isnt he smart enought to try and avoid it?

so not having Smart A.I is the reason we have tacticts like infantry crashing in the end.

thinking that way we should also command every single Jetfighter to avoid crashing on an other one during flight! imagine trying to play a game where you have to control its aircraft to avoid been crashed by an other one!!! totally pathetic. so why keep this annoying "ability" for infatry?

 

2 words people:

PATH FINDING!

 

also the point is that we should not try and make a game for Pros, you have seen the results your self, the same 10 people all over again and again and again are playing Multiplayer / Tournaments,(the last one was won in CnC and RA from the same guy) this is getting boring, new blood should be able to join and has equal opportunities like the old ones.

 

let the smarter player win not the luckiest.

it should be like "easy to learn hard to master"

not "hard to learn easy to master when you have a static building formula"

everything should be unexpected.-

Edited October 10, 2009 by Johnnyxp64

[hagren 0]

I guess they implemented this to ensure that the defense classes' infantry is useful. But it makes me wonder how much difference there is left between a vehicle and a beefed-up infantry unit.

[Johnnyxp64 20]

I guess they implemented this to ensure that the defense classes' infantry is useful. But it makes me wonder how much difference there is left between a vehicle and a beefed-up infantry unit.

 

one and most important imho.

 

infantry should remain small and agile, harder to target, able to go to terrains like walking between buildings etc and narrows, where a vehicle cant follow, or at least not fast enough.

 

so the answer is size.

Edited October 11, 2009 by Johnnyxp64