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GeneralJist

Why C&C4 was a bad game?

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Hey,

It's been so long now, (since 2010) I can't remember all the critical reasons why TT was so terrible.

 

I could dig in my archives. and find my thoughts, but they would be incomplete with out the current community's input.

 

Campaign?

 

Game play?

 

Mechanics?

 

I really don't remember now...

 

I know it was really bad, but what about it was so bad escapes me these days. (Aside from the obvious divergence from base building and Tiberium harvesting.)

Edited by GeneralJist

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Pretty sure it was gameplay mechanics. The removal of base building and resource gathering etc. Not a traditional C&C.

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The game sucked even without comparing it to the C&C standard.

 

Campaign: the story was abysmal

Game play: the units uninspiring, the maps were boring, multiplayer required competent teammates (due to the pop cap, one good player could not hold up a bad team)

Mechanics: the pop cap was microscopic, the weapon strong/weak cycle was confusing and stupid

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As a C&C game, C&C4 is a disaster. As a game in general, it's not the worst out there, but it's not great.

 

The story is disappointing. All units have too much health and/or deal too little damage. Destroying anything takes half an hour, and rebuilding a unit takes five seconds. The rock-paper-scissors system is a mess.

 

There are too many units, and the majority are just better versions of other units instead of having unique features and applications. All mission are the same: 1) Build an initial force, half of which are engineers. 2) Take over as many husks as possible to go over your pop cap, essentially derailing the game's limits. 3) Slooooooowly make your way to whatever Important Landmark you are supposed to make your way to.

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Pretty much what Nmenth and TaxOwlBear had said. C&C4 didn't really had such a purpose in almost every category. If this was C&C Arena, this would have set the tone, but the gameplay and mechanics just don't work for a typical RTS.

 

Besides I am attempting to use some C&C4 civilian assets into C&C3 which is going to be tough, seeing that the lack of xml sources which have yet to be decrypted in WrathEd.

 

Oh, by the way...

starting this discussion once more is gonna make Sonic aggravated all over again.

Edited by PurpleGaga27

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Guest Stevie_K

@PurpleGaga27 As long as it is not simply a hate train I don't see what the problem is to discuss why C&C4 was negatively received by many.

 

To me it was the fact that I didn't find it worthy. It did not improve upon the things that I found to be good qualities in the earlier titles. Frankly, it threw most of those things straight out of the window.

I found that the game took a lot of unnecessary risks trying to fix a problem that didn't need fixing by replacing mechanics that were closely attached to the series with entirely new ones.

 

Sure, the format in C&C4 might have been fun as a separate game mode, but it was ultimately disappointing I feel that this was all that the game had to offer, and that some of the most critical signature concepts of Command & Conquer were just gone.

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The gameplay and pacing was horrible, the story wasn't better or worse then the RA3 one, but due to expecting a more serious story from the tiberium franchise, the story was considered horrible to previous standards. Also every actor basically phoned in their performance.

The always online thing was crap as well, but not a deal breaker tbh.

 

But i do like the music, some of the best music i heard in c&c because i personally prefer the orchestral and atmospheric music over the hard rock/metal stuff. But those are my preferences.

From a modder's standpoint i would've loved to see what you could do in TT, some of the things showcased in it through the game had interesting possibilities. It is a shame the game itself didn't really use them to their fullest.

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Imo it wasn't a bad game in itself. It just wasn't a C&C.

 

@Ravendark: yes looking through some files C&C4 really is quite interesting for modding.

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How much of those files are accessible for use by past C&Cs?

 

I know back in the day, a few really dedicated guys got a lot of cool stuff working in TT. Too bad there wasn't an SDK.

 

Ya, it seems the issue wasn't just the game itself, but it's forced branding as 'The epic conclusion..."

 

Maybe subconsciously they all just kinda "phoned it in" once EA management came down hard.

 

Seem to remember an old thread, where someone re-framed the entire story as expeditionary forces through the tower, which went over so much better.

 

Seems to be an EA trend with C&C.

Tiberium FPS> C&C Arena> TT> C&C F2P...

 

They're meant to be all about trend analysis, I wounder if they can do it for themselves.

 

It's also strange how every single thing only seemed to have 1 specific purpose, and how most things were the same thing, just higher tier...which makes for bad and redundant design.

 

I remember Icame to the above conclusion, and did a full unit cross comparison, on how they're all just basically reskins.... Think some people like Incia hounded me so much, I had to let the issue go.

 

Sigh,

 

The old days...

Edited by GeneralJist

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It was first planned to be a F2P game for asian market as an alternative of C&C3. Then EA completely changed their plan and turned it into C&C4, forced EALA to hurry etc etc.

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It was first planned to be a F2P game

 

I don't think the F2P bit was ever mentioned.

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I don't think the F2P bit was ever mentioned.

It actually was, the Asian, esp Korean market is vastly different to other markets. Most people there play in internet cafes and usually don't even own games themselves. F2P is usually the best solution there.

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It was first planned to be a F2P game for asian market as an alternative of C&C3. Then EA completely changed their plan and turned it into C&C4, forced EALA to hurry etc etc.

 

Where did you get that info?

 

The actually F2P game of C&C right now actually goes to the German/European market.

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It actually was, the Asian, esp Korean market is vastly different to other markets. Most people there play in internet cafes and usually don't even own games themselves. F2P is usually the best solution there.

 

Just because Internet cafés are popular doesn't mean the games they feature are always free (Counter-Strike, Overwatch, WarCraft III...), nor that an Asia-oriented game would necessarily have to be F2P, particularly when such games were not as represented among AAA publishers in 2008 as they are today.

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Just because Internet cafés are popular doesn't mean the games they feature are always free (Counter-Strike, Overwatch, WarCraft III...), nor that an Asia-oriented game would necessarily have to be F2P, particularly when such games were not as represented among AAA publishers in 2008 as they are today.

The internet cafe buys the games there, so it means a lot less sales in that region. Just look into the issues games and banning cheaters have over there.

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On 2/18/2017 at 1:02 AM, PurpleGaga27 said:

 

Where did you get that info?

 

The actually F2P game of C&C right now actually goes to the German/European market.

I didn't remember the exact source I got that information since it has been quite a time passed since the C&C 4 came out. However I searched it on the web after you asked me that and found this interview where Greg Black stated that '' C&C4 was never meant to be a true Tiberium universe canonical game, but rather an experiment in online play. It originally started as out an Asian market online-only version of C&C 3. ''

 

https://www.gamereplays.org/redalert3/portals.php?show=news&news_id=633194

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