Community Patch Spotlight: Zero Hour v1.06

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PATCH v1.06
by the H2 Clan

Here at CNCNZ.com, we value community contributions, particularly those which improve existing games. Thus, we support unofficial patches by the community.

The Zero Hour 1.06 patch was made and tested by the H2 Clan (Yumi, Sparky, AngryHan, j4m3sb0nd, Tr][ky, lionheart, Star Ocean, ReLaX, bliNd-, ^spAmmAAjA^, spalding; with AngryHan credited for the INI coding and ReLaX for maps). This patch was made in order to fix bugs and resolve balance issues that remained in 1.04 (the last official version) and the 1.05x series of unofficial patches that preceded it. In CNCNZ.com game nights, this will be the selected patch for multiplayer (unless mods are used).

Below are the links to the latest build from 22 August 2008, mirrored at our website, as well as the full changelog (verbatim).

Mirroring of files and information done with explicit permission given by Sparky.

 

Download links:

Original thread

CNCNZ.com mirror - ZIP

CNCNZ.com mirror - installer

 

Installation procedure:

1. Extract the ZIP/RAR file (containing the Patch1.06.big file) to:

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\My Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data
Windows Vista and later: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data

2. Create a shortcut to your generals.exe (the one in the Zero Hour folder, not original Generals). If you do have a ZH shotcut already, copy/paste it and rename it. Locate this ZH folder somewhere inside the TFD folder or where you placed it along the "advanced user" installation (in the case of).
(Note: One can have as much patches one wants simultaneously, by making an analoge procedure. Just make sure you have the proper .big file and a correspondent shortcut. Each shortcut can point to each of your patches).

3. Open shortcut properties. Add this line to the Target box "-mod Patch1.06.big", without the quotes. The final result should be like "<path to ZH folder>\generals.exe -mod Patch1.06.big".

4. And voilá! Use the shortcut to play ZH 1.06. Make sure to go into options to see if the right version is properly loaded. Play fair and tough.

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Maps

ReLaX makes awesome maps, which can all be downloaded here.

Tournament Desert
Debugged: pathfinding issues when entering bunkers on the flanks are fixed.

Winter Wolf
Balanced: middle area has been made flatter to better allow for base building.

Flash Fire
Balanced: Supplies are repositioned.


Unofficial maps added to the official list:
Hard Winter (2)
Lagoon (2)
Melting Snow (2)
Tropical Warfare (2)
Sandstorm (4)
Team Tropical Warfare (4)
Venturous Lanes (4)

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Global changes

 

Burning trees particle effect fixed.

For a more involving playing atmosphere, trees can now be set on fire with flame weapons.
 

Laserlock particle effect fixed.

Red lock-ons are added while laser-locking an enemy unit, which looks awesome.
 

Anyone playing as Random has his army revealed on the loading screen for all players.

On previous patches in games where factions are chosen on random, only USA factions had the ability to identify their opponents before deciding on a strategy of play. The GLAs didn't, but then don't really need it thanks to their general excellence in adapting to any situation. The Chinese factions however, do need it. Their strategies of play are vastly different depending on the factions they are up against and even worse: China is horrible at adapting. Especially China Vanilla and Nuke, which were considered as the two worst factions of Zero Hour mostly for this reason. Tao thinking he plays safe with his first unit being a Battlemaster Tank, but then meeting up with an Infantry Helix is quite off-putting to say the least. But no more!

Additionally, where GLA and China factions previously had to use generic build orders to suit every type of opponent or be risky and guess, more specified strategies can now be used with much less risk because of the knowledge of the opponent's faction. This results in a huge increase in variety and depth of strategies, but also a variety of maps since more are suitable for high-leveled play.
 

Structure armour vulnerability to infantry missiles decreased from 50% to 40%.

Nigh all of the units that excelled too great at base raiding were missile-based, and all of them extremely fast. Most notably Rockvees and Battle Buses with Thrax's Gamma variant in particular, but in rarer occasions units like Bunker-Helixes were too good at this as well. They could move in circles around base structures and while being quite hard to catch, they would do massive damage to everything that got in their path. To add to that, this also made it much too hard for especially China factions to attack the opponent, because while they would do their offence, enemy USA or GLA forces would take little stabs at their base and they could do nothing about it. So, again mostly to benefit certain China factions, the resistance of all structures in the game against infantry missiles has been increased to narrow down the losses suffered while trying to cope with such tactics.

Tank armour vulnerability to...

Most RTS-games are a bit too much about tanks. Zero Hour on the other hand, a bit too little. You would expect tanks to be the meat of most battalion compositions, but in truth aren't and units like the USA Humvee, China Gattling Tank and GLA Quad Cannon had much more general prowess than their tank variants do: they were, and still are, much more versatile overall with being effective against nigh everything and have higher speed. Zero Hour is a lot about rocket infantry too, which are also present almost everywhere, against which tanks fare horrible because they get destroyed too fast. The actual point is: tanks had too little armour and needed a boost.
 

 

...infantry missiles decreased from 100% to 80%.

This change doesn't make tanks effective against infantry units in the slightest, but it ensures that they can actually retreat before getting destroyed. Overall this change benefits China Tank and Nuke the most, considering that they mostly use and are dependent on tanks. Kwai's elite Battlemaster Tanks and Emperor Tanks have received a much needed boost in survivability because they usually aren't fast enough to retreat, and Tao's nuclear tanks generally flee or kill infantry units with their radiation faster than they are getting killed by them.
 

 

...toxins decreased from 25% to 15%.

Dr. Thrax's Toxin Tunnel Networks have always been a bitch to kill. Whereas regular Tunnels could be killed with a few tanks, Toxin's could not, which was rather imbalanced.
On top of that, Thrax's Toxin Rebel Ambush was downright insane, leveling whole armies including even Overlords and Emperor Tanks with what seems like a few piss rays of toxin. Piss indeed; such imbalance. Again, this change is obviously mostly beneficial for the China Tank and Nuke generals.

 

Infantry armour vulnerability to toxins decreased from 100% to 60%.

This seems like a big change, but it actually doesn't change all that much. Previously, infantry units died within a milli-second after getting hit by a toxin weapon of sorts, as opposed to uranium, which was less lethal. They're far from immune after this change, but it ensures that they can actually do something back before they die, which evens out the playing field a bit.
This change does not count for the China Infantry general; go to his section for details.

Emergency Repair 1 moved from 3 to 1 star general rank.
Emergency Repair recharge timer decreased from 4min to 2min.

With almost all factions having access to Emergency Repair 1 straight off the bat, new strategies are born. Repairing that first Humvee, Gattling Tank or Technical for example can be a tide-turner. Do note that the use of this general point requires a Command Center, which actually ensures for even more variety since it was all too common to sell the Command Center after getting enough Dozers/Workers. This general point is more than worth keeping your Command Center for though.
Since Emergency Repair now has a charge-up time of only two minutes, it's much more useful overall, and it's quite beneficial to upgrade to Emergency Repair 2 or 3 later on. As a whole, catching opponents off-guard with this little tool can be extremely rewarding.

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General point system

By destroying opponent's units or structures, you gain experience. When you have gained enough, you as a general will rise in rank. In previous patches, you started out with one general point and gain one for each rank you rise, with an additional two for being promoted to 5 star general rank. In patch 1.06, this has been changed:
 

The amount of points you gain per general promotion has been tripled.

You start out with three general points and gain another three for each rank you rise. You gain nine for being promoted to 5 star general.

This change has obviously been made to balance out the general point system. There was a huge difference in general abilities in terms of effectiveness: some were borderline overpowered, while others were downright useless. And they all had the same cost of one general point, which made no sense and lowered the use of inferior abilities down to zero.

Thanks to this change, a myriad of options present itself. Since you start out with three points and most abilities available from start only cost one point, you can choose more than one general ability straight off the bat, making for interesting new combinations. Also, abilities that were too strong have been upped in cost, meaning you will have to forego other abilities to afford them. To add to that, devastating ability combinations such as the China Bomber / Artillery Barrage 2 combo for example - which usually levels entire bases, especially GLA bases where the supply gatherers are boxed in - aren't available at 3 star general rank anymore, because the Bomber is too expensive for that; you'd come one point short. Not only does this make Zero Hour less based on skillless point & click-destruction, it also warrants more use for the less popular general abilities around.

For the cost of each of them in specific, have a look below. Notice that all unit accessability-general points are lowered to the cost of only 1 point. They aren't too demanding to warrant use anymore, and going for both Marauder Tanks and SCUD Launchers or Paladin Tanks and Stealth Fighters is actually an option now. Other 1 point abilities such as Emergency Repair, Frenzy and even Artillery Training and the Vanilla GLA Hijacker have received an actual use; choosing between Frenzy and Artillery Barrage for example isn't that easy a choice to make anymore, since you can get Frenzy 3 for the same cost as only Artillery Barrage 1. It demands some more thought and makes the game much more interesting overall.

 

USA

Paladin Tank - 1 point

Stealth Fighter - 1 point

Spy Drone - 2 points

Emergency Repair 1 - 1 point

Emergency Repair 2 - 1 point

Emergency Repair 3 - 1 point

Pathfinder - 1 point

Leaflet Drop - 3 points

Carpet Bomb - 4 points

A10 Strike 1 - 3 points

A10 Strike 2 - 3 points

A10 Strike 3 - 3 points

Paradrop 1 - 2 points

Paradrop 2 - 2 points

Paradrop 3 - 2 points

Spectre Gunship 1 - 3 points

Spectre Gunship 2 - 3 points

Spectre Gunship 3 - 3 points

Spectre Gunship - 4 points

Fuel Air Bomb - 4 points


China
 

Red Guard Training - 1 point

Mini-Gunner Training - 1 point

Battlemaster Training - 1 point

Artillery Training - 1 point

Nuke Cannon - 1 point

Emergency Repair 1 - 1 point

Emergency Repair 2 - 1 point

Emergency Repair 3 - 1 point

Cluster Mines - 3 points

Carpet Bomb - 4 points

Nuke Bomber - 4 points

Artillery Barrage 1 - 3 points

Artillery Barrage 2 - 3 points

Artillery Barrage 3 - 3 points

Cash Hack 1 - 2 points

Cash Hack 2 - 2 points

Cash Hack 3 - 2 points

Tank Drop 1 - 2 points

Tank Drop 2 - 2 points

Tank Drop 3 - 2 points

Frenzy 1 - 1 point

Frenzy 2 - 1 point

Frenzy 3 - 1 point

Infantry Paradrop 1 - 2 points

Infantry Paradrop 2 - 2 points

Infantry Paradrop 3 - 2 points

EMP Pulse - 4 points


GLA

SCUD Launcher - 1 point

Marauder Tank - 1 point

Technical Training - 1 point

Emergency Repair 1 - 1 point

Emergency Repair 2 - 1 point

Emergency Repair 3 - 1 point

Hijacker - 1 point

GPS Scrambler - 3 points

Rebel Ambush 1 - 3 points

Rebel Ambush 2 - 3 points

Rebel Ambush 3 - 3 points

Cash Bounty 1 - 3 points

Cash Bounty 2 - 3 points

Cash Bounty 3 - 3 points

Anthrax Bomb - 4 points

Sneak Attack - 4 points

[Plok 323]

Global USA

In the past, the United States factions were considered the hardest to play, with several people wondering why they should bother learning a USA faction when Chinas were easier to get to grips with and to win with. However, the United States rewarded good play with some insanely effective units and the best late game options by far, making USA a very rewarding experience.

1.04 changed all this though. Upon the discovery of Humvees being able to counter everything in the game, USA factions threw unit mixing out of the window in favour of Humvee spam. Nothing has ever dominated Zero Hour to the extent that Humvees have; they actually ended up ruining 1.04 by making Chinas obsolete and forcing GLAs into a more defensive playstyle. Not to mention Malcolm Granger, who combined Humvee spam with some atrociously strong aircraft and a gigantic amount of airstrikes to dominate any matchup, from 1v1 to 4v4.

The first concern of 1.06 was to stamp out the domination of Humvees and airstrikes, but it must also be noted that the USAs have few effective options outside of these. Thus while Humvees grow weaker, many other aspects grow stronger, from tanks to defensive tenacity. USA now takes more skill to play, but ultimately much more interesting to play as, and against.

 

Chinook price decreased from $1200 to $1000.
Does not affect USA Air Force General's Chinook.

Part of the reason USA is hard to learn is a high initial setup cost, leaving you with little money to work with after you get your economy established. In addition to this, Chinooks were very expensive to replace if destroyed, and USAs usually didn't recover if they lost one. This change gives the USAs a bit more room for error, while not reducing the importance of protecting their Chinooks.

 

Avenger price decreased from $2000 to $1750.
Does not affect USA Laser General's Avenger.

Avengers are fantastic support units, and can effectively shut down units dependent on missiles and aircraft alike. However, the USA factions could rarely afford them due to cash limitations; making them cheaper gives them some much-needed accessibility.

 

TOW Missile ground-based damage output decreased from 30 to 15.

TOW Missiles are designed to give Humvees anti-air capabilities, yet they also boosted their damage output against ground units massively and served to be a potent anti-infantry weapon. This has been changed, meaning the USAs now need to place Rangers in their Humvees to efficiently kill enemy infantry units.

 

Composite Armor upgrade research time decreased from 60s to 45s.

Those USA factions that have access to tanks rely heavily on them. Needing them to soak up damage against a teched China in particular, the Composite Armor upgrade helps a lot, if only it didn't take so much time to research.

 

Flash-Bang Grenades upgrade build time decreased from 30s to 20s.

The USAs begged for faster research time for Flashbangs, since they are the most effective counter to massed infantry units early game. It was difficult to time when to get these, since too soon would result in you having not enough units to defend with, while too late leaves you vulnerable to infantry rushes.

 

Pathfinder damage output decreased from 100 to 25.

'Cost effective' doesn't even begin to describe these. A $600 unit that nullified enemy infantry completely, even killing hero units in one shot more often than not. Their power has been severely weakened, to a point where it takes 2-3 shots to kill most infantry units, and 4 shots to kill a hero. Fai appreciates this more than anyone else: Pathfinders made his life a misery since he relies on infantry units all game.

 

Ambulance vehicle healing ability removed.
Ambulance price decreased from $700/600 to $500.

This change had to be made to balance out Humvees: Ambulance healing made Humvees too dominant when attacking and was the main reason Humvees were considered uncounterable. Humvees are an integral part of USA's early game, so weakening them would cripple the USAs. However, Humvees function well without Ambulance healing for defensive purposes, and so Ambulances no longer heal vehicles.
To compensate for them losing their main purpose, Ambulance price has been decreased to $500 across the board. They can still be used as a makeshift rocket infantry counter due to their resistances, and can also be used as infantry transports; being $200-$300 less expensive than Humvees can be very useful early game.

 

Battle Drone healing priority increased from below 60% to below 80% health.

Battle Drones are now the main way to repair USA Vehicles, and unlike Ambulances they are more expensive and die more easily to anti-air units, which are common against USA early game. However, their behaviour was a bit erratic and they chose to attack instead of heal at times, which this change helps to amend by giving higher priority to healing.

 

Sentry Drone detection radius increased from 225 to 270.

The main purpose of the Sentry Drone is to detect stealth, which it didn't do effectively enough with that pathetic detection range. With this increase, it can now detect Camo-netted Tunnel Networks without getting in range of their weapon; this helps the USAs out a lot against Prince Kassad in particular, whose camouflaged Tunnel Networks and Hijackers can give USA major trouble. They're also nice for spotting Demo Traps.
 

Sentry Drone price changed to $800 for all USA factions.

This only affects Alexander and Granger, whose Sentry Drones were more expensive than those of the other USA factions. The Sentry Drone has been made useful, but was overpriced for the two factions mentioned and so its price has been normalised to $800 for every USA.

 

Sentry Drone Gun upgrade price decreased from $1000 to $500.

This upgrade isn't as terrible as it may seem at first; it can turn Sentry Drones into decent RPG Trooper killers. With this price decrease, this upgrade becomes cost-effective. Although it will still be underused, it has some niche uses now rather than its previous uselessness.

 

Raptor price decreased from $1400 to $1200.
Raptor build time decreased from 20s to 15s.
Raptor reload time decreased from 8s to 4s.

Outside of General Granger's air force and Aurora Alpha Bombers, the USA factions almost never used their aircraft. In theory Raptors are useful in a large variety of situations, but they required too much investment and, more importantly, took too long to build and reload. With these changes they can be built faster and the halved reload time makes them more reliable.

 

Stealth Fighter price decreased from $1600 to $1400.
Does not affect USA Air Force General's Stealth Fighter.

Even though the cost of the General Ability has been reduced to a more viable level, the price of the Stealth Fighter was still just a bit too high. These units are only effective against a select few units and structures and near useless against everything else, so a price decrease helps out a lot here.

 

vs
Stealth Fighter damage output versus ECM Tank increased from 100 to 185.
Stealth Fighter missile invulnerability to ECM countermeasures added.

This is probably the second biggest change to USA made in 1.06 after the removal of Ambulance healing. Previously, Stealth Fighers were only useful against static defences - which were uncommon apart from GLA Tunnel Networks, but now they have become a surefire ECM counter. These changes ensure a clean kill on even a veteran ECM with a Subliminal Messaging boost, meaning Stealth Fighters can destroy ECMs in any given situation.

The applications of this change are huge. Firstly, General Granger finally gets something to reliably kill ECM Tanks with, and he doesn't even need to spend a General's point to do this. Perhaps more importantly, this counter is an air unit, keeping in theme with his aerial domination.
General Townes also appreciates this change a lot, since not only can Stealth Fighters destroy ECMs, they can also target soft units that are protected by ECMs, such as Nuke Cannons. One Stealth Fighter can bring a Nuke Cannon into red health, scoring a kill if the Laser-Guided Missiles upgrade is researched. This is particularly useful when up against General Tao, who gives Laser a lot of trouble when he combines Overlords/ECMs with his long-range ground units. Of course, all USAs can use this against Chinas to differing extents, since they all need some way of dealing with ECMs later on.

However, this change does not obsolete ECMs in the slightest. First of all, unless your strategy implicitly involves an Airfield, you will have to build one to access Stealth Fighters, and the fact it costs $3800 for an Airfield with 2 Stealth Fighters as any USA bar Granger means you'll either be getting these late game, or delaying your Strategy Center to build them. Secondly, Stealth Fighters have minimal usefulness outside of ECM destruction, not even destroying Supply Trucks in one run without Laser-Guided Missiles. Finally, China can take a variety of countermeasures to kill them, such as adding in stealth detection to his army, researching Chain Guns, or simply bringing surplus ECM Tanks.

 

Comanche promotion criteria changed from 0/100/200/400 to 0/200/400/800.

This change is mainly to keep Granger's Comanche spam under control, but applies to other USAs as well. Comanches are quick and fairly durable once Countermeasures is researched, so the fact they could gain elite or heroic status quite quickly made them difficult to kill, and in the case of Malcolm's Stealth Comanches, near impossible. Doubling the required experience to gain veterancy makes it harder for Comanches to become overly powerful early game, but they can be brought back to 1.04 levels later on thanks to the Advanced Training upgrade.

 

Comanche vulnerability to...
Does not affect USA Air Force General's Comanche.

Comanches are another useful air unit, and unlike any other American aircraft, they never have to return to base to rearm. Add in the fact that they are effective against both infantry and vehicles, and Comanches look like an interesting option. Or they would be, if they weren't so vulnerable before being upgraded.
 

 
...small arms decreased from 120% to 90%.

Comanches are already used in certain situations such as a counter to massed Technicals or Rocket Buggies. However, they are fairly expensive and die quickly to anti-air units before Countermeasures is researched, especially painful against Gattling Tanks and Quad Cannons. This change gives them some much-needed survivability before being upgraded, especially useful when your air units are first being used.
 

...explosions decreased from 130% to 95%.

Mainly to help against Stinger Sites. Comanches still won't really be able to deal with them, but they can at least take some stray shots without being cripped. Even though these Comanches are really only used versus GLA, they still took too much damage from the likes of MiGs and TOW Missiles in the rare event of encountering these.
 

...infantry missiles decreased from 120% to 95%.

This change helps make early Comanches a possibility. Alexis Alexander in particular can use this due to her cheaper Comanches. This also helps to take stray damage from garrisoned buildings, and certain unit combinations such as Technical RPG.

 

Countermeasures upgraded Comanche vulnerability to...
Does not affect USA Air Force General's Comanche.

Due to the changes to initial Comanche armour, Countermeasures upgraded Comanche armour actually took more damage from certain weapon types, so these are fixes rather than balance changes.
 

...explosions decreased from 110% to 85%.

While this may seem like an insignificant change from the initial Comanche armour, remember that a lot of the power of Countermeasures comes from making enemy missiles miss completely at times. This change ensures that any missiles that do hit don't deal accelerated damage.
 

...infantry missiles decreased from 100% to 85%.

While Countermeasures upgraded Comanches will be taking less damage from rocket infantry in general, the fact that any rockets that hit would do increased damage makes no sense, and so this change remedies that.

 

Patriot Missile System power requirement decreased from 3 to 2.

Patriot Missile Systems can be useful, and they tend to fare better against Gattling Tanks and Quad Cannons alone than Firebases do. However, their power requirement was a little too high. With this change, USA Vanilla and USA Air Force General can build two Supply Centers, a War Factory or Airfield, and a single Patriot Missile System without needing to pay for any extra power (either through Control Rods or building a second Cold Fusion Reactor).

 

Supply Drop Zone bug removed.

For those who knew about this exploit, it doesn't work any more. For those who didn't, this change makes no difference.

 

Ranger Drop changed to Paradrop.
Paradrop 1 changed from 5 Rangers to 3 Rangers and 2 Missile Defenders.
Paradrop 2 changed from 10 Rangers to 6 Rangers and 4 Missile Defenders.
Paradrop 3 changed from 15 Rangers to 9 Rangers and 6 Missile Defenders.

Ranger Drop was just plain unappealing in 1.04; Rangers weren’t bad units, but accomplished very little on their own. Add in the other Generals Abilities available to the USAs, and there was no reason to select Ranger Drop over obviously superior choices such as A10 Strike and Pathfinder. Even with the new Generals points system, Ranger Drop would remain unused due to the limited power of Rangers alone.
For this reason, the composition of Ranger Drop was changed to include some Missile Defenders. This change makes the drop a lot easier to use effectively, as Missile Defenders can dispatch of several threats Rangers alone could never counter, such as aircraft and anti-infantry vehicles. Missile Defenders and rangers compliment each other nicely despite sharing common weaknesses; for example, Rangers can act as a meatshield for Missile Defenders while the Missile Defenders can take out enemy vehicles, and Rangers can kill off enemy infantry using a combination of their Machine Gun and Flashbangs.

 

Spectre Gunship 1 hit points decreased from 600 to 400.
Spectre Gunship 3 hit points increased from 600 to 800.
Does not affect USA Vanilla's and Laser General's Spectre Gunship.

The Spectre Gunship also fell victim to competition from other abilities; the level one Gunship could destroy key structures such as War Factories and Supplies on its own, making any further investment largely unnecessary. To offset this, the level one Gunship is now easier to destroy before it finishes its attack, making extra generals points investment much more useful against areas well defended by anti-air weapons.
In contrast, the level three Gunship has had its health increased, due to the fact you could usually kill it before it completed its attack, making the extra investment largely worthless in previous versions of Zero Hour.

[Plok 323]

Original USA
USA Vanilla

The three base factions are intended to be 'jack of all trades, master of none'; while having no weaknesses, they don't particularly excel in any area. USA Vanilla already fitted this description well and could use a variety of approaches to great effect, or at least it could when it wasn't mass producing Humvees. Most of USA Vanilla's shortcomings applied to the other USA factions as well, so very few changes that exclusively change USA Vanilla have been made.
The main difference from 1.04 is the much lower dependency on Humvees; apart from that USA Vanilla remains similar to its 1.04 counterpart outside of an improved air force.

 

Paladin Tank Point-Defense Laser delay between shots decreased from 1000 to 850.

A very minor boost to increase the Paladin Tank's survivability early game, quite important because USA Vanilla relies on them more than before. This change simply ensures that a single RPG Trooper or Tank Hunter will never be able to break through the Point-Defense Laser alone, and also helps the Paladin immensely when retreating from groups of rocket infantry.

[Plok 323]

Alexis Alexander
USA Super Weapon General

She is in control of probably the weirdest faction Zero Hour has on offer; it relies on defence. Because camping was widely frowned upon and she has always resided in the depths of mediocrity, many viewed her as just an inferior USA on 1.04 and preferred one of her counterparts instead. The Super Weapon faction has therefore remained rather unexplored.
Her issue has always been the early game, where she struggled to fend off enemy attacks and often didn't even make it to late game, where her strengths lie. This changed in 1.05e where Alexander's early game has been improved and she turned into a very competent general. This is actually an understatement, as it turned out that her late game was devastatingly overpowered. It then comes as no surprise that 1.06 aims to nerf her late game, while keeping her early game on level.

 

Cold Fusion Reactor power supplement increased from 5 to 6.

Alexis' defensive capabilities are enhanced with the increased power supplement, so she can meet the power requirement of two Supply Centers, a War Factory or Airfield and an EMP Patriot straight off the bat with an unupgraded Cold Fusion Reactor.
 

Cold Fusion Reactor price decreased from $900 to $800.

Alexis' faction was just too expensive altogether and since her style of play requires lots of power, the price of her Cold Fusion Reactor is decreased.

 

Particle Cannon price increased from $2500 to $4000.

The sheer ridiculousness of $2500 Particle Cannons only came to light when Alexander's early game had been improved and she solidly managed to tech up. And ridiculous it was. Especially in team games, where Alexis got the chance to spam these like there was no tomorrow. But not anymore.

 

Supply Drop Zone price decreased from $2500 to $1750.

Having camping as your faction strength seems good on paper, but it was pretty bad in practice. While Alexis was stuck on a few supplies, her opponent collected from every other resource on the map. This resulted in a huge money disadvantage and she just got overwhelmed. A massive price reduction of her secondary economy helps to counter this problem, while also compensating for the big price increase of her Particle Cannons.

 

Aurora Alpha Bomber Fuel Air Bomb weapon radius decreased from 70 to 20.

Ever since this unit came into play in patch 1.02 it has been nerfed and it never seemed enough. Who needed super weapons when you have access to Aurora Alphas? This unit shouldn't be anti-everything, but it was. It decimated entire armies in one strike and refused to die. In this patch, Aurora Alphas have been brought down to earth and turned into support units. Use them to support your other units and EMP Patriots; you will likely fail when you try to fully rely on them.

 

Comanche price decreased from $1800 to $1300.

$1800 for a Comanche was ridiculous. Alexander already has trouble affording everything she needs and paying this much for a unit that's not going to do all that much doesn't help. It almost seems like she never had access to Comanches. With this huge price decrease, armour increases and increased viability for other aircraft, Comanches are good support units and going for a fast Air Field can actually pay off.

 

Humvee price decreased from $850 to $800.

Alexander only has the Humvee as a vehicle to rely on, which is hard to do when they're too expensive. At $800 they are not exactly game-dominating units, but they do their job better as supporting units for her EMP Patriots.

 

Tomahawk Missile Launcher price decreased from $1400 to $1200.

With the big nerf on Aurora Alphas, Alexis has to rely on a variety of other units to fill the void that Alphas left. The Tomahawk is one of these. As stand-alone units they don't have a very long lifespan and won't do much, but when being protected by EMP Patriots they're a force to be reckoned with as they make breaching through Alexis' defences exponentially harder. Though, like with a lot of her units, they were too expensive to be worthwile.

 

Microwave Tank access requirement decreased from Strategy Center to War Factory.

With the removal of Ambulance healing the Superweapon General lost her reliable Tunnel Network counter early game, and so GLA could take map control against her with little effort. This is where the Microwave Tank comes in. Not only does it do a good job of disabling Tunnel Networks, it can also clear out enemy garrisons, making it a strong option against defensive GLAs.
Its utility is not limited to purely this though, as it performs incredibly well against the Gattling Tank/Troop Crawler combination early game, taking little damage from them and frying the Red Guard, leaving the Gattling Tanks to be destroyed by anti-vehicle weapons. It also makes a brilliant Patriot Drop counter against other USA factions.

[Plok 323]

'Pinpoint' Townes
USA Laser General

General 'Pinpoint' Townes' playstyle is probably the closest to USA Vanilla; while Alexander and Granger prefer to play in the air, Townes feels at home on the ground playing a tank-heavy style. His Laser Tanks are powerful, especially when supported by cheap Avengers, but he misses Tomahawks a lot at times.
Probably the most straightforward of the four USA factions, Townes has received few exclusive boosts, and plays very similarly to his 1.04 incarnation, although he has a new dimension in his improved airforce.

 

Laser Tank power dependency removed.

The Laser Tank requiring power to function was a glaring weakness that Townes struggled with in the past. Laser Tanks are pretty strong, but nowhere near strong enough to require such a weakness to be balanced out. Therefore, it has been removed.
Laser Tanks still consume power, so faction design has been kept intact.

 

Laser Defense Turret build time increased from 25s to 30s.

This change has been made with one purpose in mind: to slightly nerf Laser Turret drop. Laser Defense Turrets are stronger than regular Patriot Missile Systems and they proved to be too much for China to handle at times.

[Plok 323]

Malcolm 'Ace' Granger
USA Air Force General

Ace indeed. Throughout the entire history of Zero Hour, Granger has been the best, hands down. Every single aspect of his arsenal was extremely lethal, up to a point where Malcolm's weaknesses even overshadowed the strengths of his fellow USA generals. Everything they did, he did better.
1.06 put an end to this madness, and Malcolm had to give up his deity status. He is no longer as untouchable as he used to be and plays like he is supposed to play: aircraft-heavy.

 

Comanche price increased from $1200 to $1300.

Granger was a bit too successful at Comanche spamming, which needed to change. Comanches have been boosted in some places and nerfed in others, but overall they were still too cheap and too spammable. With increased armour, Comanches can hold their own in the early game even in smaller numbers, and are less overwhelming in the late game.

 

Comanche vulnerability to...

Balancing Comanches is hard to get right. They either die or they don't, and if they don't, they easily turn into unstoppable units. Nonetheless, with their price and promotion criteria increase, their armour was too thin. Increased armour values mean Comanches can hold their own in the early game, so that Granger can go for Air Fields straight off the bat.
 

...small arms decreased from 100% to 90%.

This change is mainly done to increase Malcolm's Comanche's survivability against Quad Cannons in the early game, and against Gattling Tanks as well in 2v2. Both of these units are easy to be built en masse, so Granger is likely to face a lot of them.
 

...explosions decreased from 100% to 95%.

This change has been made to decrease Malcolm's Comanche's vulnerability against TOW missiles in particular, which are one of the biggest threats to them in teamgames. These missiles can be fired from afar and track their targets across half the map, which did too huge a number on Comanches.
 

...infantry missiles decreased from 100% to 95%.

RPG Troopers are the main point of concern here, mainly because they represent the second half of GLA's lethal Quad/RPG combination, something Granger has to deal with a lot. Comanches will inevitably have to take some hits from them, which they do better with this change.

 

Countermeasures upgraded Comanche vulnerability to...

 

...small arms increased from 62% to 70%.

Malcolm's Comanches need a fair amount of resistance to anti-air fire after being upgraded if he is to rely heavily on his airforce, but previously they were a bit too tough. With this change they are still hard to destroy, but now they will take a bit more damage than before. Combine this with the global veterancy changes to Comanches making it harder to gain auto-healing, and Countermeasures-upgraded Comanches are now much more counterable than they were previously.
 

...explosions decreased from 90% to 85%.

This change is identical to that of the global Countermeasures upgraded Comanches. In practise, General Granger benefits most from this change as his heavy reliance on Comanches at times can result in having to deal with a lot of Stinger Sites and Tow Missiles in particular.
 

...infantry missiles decreased from 90% to 85%.

Again, this change is identical to the change applied to all non-Air Force General Comanches. This extra resistance ensures that stray infantry missiles won't cripple Comanches completely.
 

Aircraft Point-Defense Laser effectiveness...

As the Air Force general, having some extra defensive abilities for your aircraft makes sense, but these Point-Defense Lasers were ridiculous. Granger's fellow USA factions were helpless with all of their anti-air attributes nullified. It basically meant that the USAs couldn't do to Granger what he could do to them, which was unfair. The Combat Chinook in particular, which was the epitome of overpoweredness.
 

...against Laser-Lock missile decreased from 1 to 3 zaps.

This change is most important of all for the balance of Malcolm Granger versus the other USA factions. Previously, USAs had almost no hope for destroying Granger's Chinooks. Not to mention the Combat Chinook, which was simply unstoppable.
It has been changed to 3 zaps so that the Laser-Lock missile will get through the Point-Defense Lasers of two Chinooks, since there are never more than two gathering supplies at a supply dock.
 

...against TOW Missile decreased from 1 to 2 zaps.

USA's main and only effective anti-air weapon is the TOW missile, which did nothing whatsoever versus Granger's Point-Defense Lasers. With 2 zaps, the USA still needs a decent amount of TOW Missile upgraded Humvees to destroy Granger's aircraft, which is good.
 

...against EMP Patriot System missile decreased from 1 to 2 zaps.

The Super Weapon general was arguably the worst off versus Granger. The fact that she couldn't rely at all on her strengths and had to resort to measures inferior to those of Granger's made for a highly imbalanced matchup. With this Point-Defense Laser nerf, EMP Patriots hold their own against Granger's aircraft.
 

...against Patriot Missile System missile decreased from 1 to 2 zaps.

Patriot drops were a legitimate opening strategy against other USAs, but the Point-Defense Laser present on Chinooks made Vanilla USA's drop ineffective against Granger. This change provides Vanilla USA with the same diversity in drops that Laser and Superweapon enjoy, as well as making Patriot drops viable in Air mirrors.

 

Carpet Bomb moved from 1 to 3 Star General rank.

Malcolm has always been the general ability god, mainly thanks to his Carpet Bomb.
This B2-variant is a lot better than China's carpet bombers, for a multitude of reasons: the B2 is faster, has a Point-Defense Laser and the bombs are dropped closer together. Not only that, but the thing was available right from the start; Granger only required a Strategy Center. This not only was too powerful to stand up against, it also made for some highly abusive strategies.

 

Avenger access requirement decreased from Strategy Center to War Factory.

Every USA faction but Air Force had pre-tech access to Avengers, it didn't make a lot of sense. Malcolm can make great use of Avengers, such as fending off TOW/Laser-Lock missiles that are chasing his aircraft, or defending his Humvees against MiGs, which he can now do without requiring a Strategy Center.

[Plok 323]

Global China

On paper, the Chinas have always seemed to be the easiest faction to play; while GLA and USA have to rely more heavily on precise control, the Chinas relied on mass-producing units, resulting in complaints about ‘skillless’ tactics like Nuke Battlemaster spam and manspam tactics in the past. While it may be easy to get to grips with the Chinas, they’re incredibly difficult to master due to their general inefficiency compared to their USA and GLA counterparts, and making sure that their mass spam actually accomplishes something is more difficult than it seems.
In 1.04 the Chinas proved to be overall the worst factions in the game; they had less powerful units, they had an abysmally poor late game, and they were even arguably inferior at unit spamming than GLA and USA at times. If they weren’t being destroyed by the enemy early game, they were likely being outcamped instead. The Chinas ended up relying on a select number of units that could actually do some real damage and didn’t bother building much else, even resulting in factions like the Tank general spamming Helixes against GLAs since his ground units just couldn’t keep up.
1.06 looks to give the Chinas a lot of their mass-production tactics back while weakening some of their more effective units to ensure a variety of units must be used, and also gives them noticeable late-game boosts, in particular to their economy.

 

Dozer vulnerability to infantry missiles decreased from 100% to 70%.
Dozer no longer leaves behind Salvage Crate when destroyed.

Since most units in the Chinese arsenal are slow, Dozers were hard to defend against common threats such as Technical RPGs. The increased rocket resistance helps to decrease their vulnerability. Removing the salvage crate also helps prevent GLA from attaining 'free' upgrades for their units early game, in particular Technicals.

 

Supply Truck no longer leaves behind Salvage Crate when destroyed.

Dual-scrapped Technicals are an absolute pain to deal with as they can deal respectable damage to any ground unit early on as well as having incredible speed, and were too easy to obtain thanks to Supply Trucks leaving behind salvage crates when destroyed.

 

Dragon Tank vulnerability to toxins decreased from 25% to 10%.

This change is made purely to give Dragon Tanks the ability to counter Toxin Tunnel Networks. The fact that they could counter all other GLA Tunnels but died to Toxin Tunnels made no sense, and so the Toxin Tunnel can now be destroyed by a single Dragon Tank.

 

MiG reload time decreased from 8s to 4s.

Unupgraded MiGs had their uses before, but were hurt greatly by an incredibly long reload time. This change gives them increased utility against threats like infantry units and Technicals early game.

 

Black Napalm upgraded MiG reload time increased from 2s to 4s.

In a direct contrast to unupgraded MiGs, Black Napalm upgraded MiGs reload incredibly fast, making them a bit too powerful, especially in team games. This change slows them down slightly.

 

Helix Napalm Bomb upgrade instantly usable after being researched.

Good in some situations, the Napalm Bomb can now be accessed quicker to make it more user-friendly.

 

Inferno Cannon hit points increased from 120 to 240.

One of China's premiere anti-camp tools, the Inferno Cannon was hampered by being so fragile that it often died to stray rockets and missiles deflected by ECMs. Doubling its hit points gave it some much-needed survivability.

 

Nuke Cannon promotion criteria changed from 0/400/600/1000 to 0/500/600/1000.

The only time you will really notice this change is when you choose the Artillery Training general's ability, in which case it is far easier to gain a second chevron. More chevrons mean more power and, more importantly, a higher rate of fire, something that Nuke Cannons really appreciate.

 

Nationalism upgrade price decreased from $2000 to $1000.

This upgrade was just too expensive looking at what it does. It would play a big role for Battlemaster armies and Bunker upgraded Helixes, if only it was more affordable. Thanks to its price decrease and the price increase on the Subliminal Messaging upgrade, this upgrade is now a genuine alternative later on.

 

Subliminal Messaging upgrade price increased from $500 to $1500.

It was far too cheap, simple as that. Overlords have improved a lot in the transition to 1.06 and Helixes remain a threat, as does General Fai. The price increase slows Chinas down slightly upon teching up, and also helps make upgrades like Nationalism seem more appealing.

 

Uranium Shells upgrade price decreased from $2500 to $1500.
Nuclear Tanks upgrade price decreased from $2000 to $1500.

Both of these upgrades are very good, if only they weren't so extremely inaccessible. Even though they still require a $5000 Nuclear Missile to access, these price decreases help a lot.

 

Nuclear Tanks upgraded Battlemaster Tank speed increased from 34 to 45.
Nuclear Tanks upgraded Overlord/Emperor Tank speed increased from 30 to 40.

The Nuclear Tanks upgrade wasn't good enough. It also seemed a bit odd that even with this upgrade researched, General Tao's tanks remained faster. The Nuclear Tanks upgrade speed increase has been increased to match the speed of Tao's tanks.

 

Internet Center price decreased from $2500 to $2000.

China's secondary economy has been enjoying some big price decreases, and this is one of them. The Internet Center is very much needed to protect China's fragile Hackers, and this price decrease helps to make it more affordable.
 

Internet Center hit points increased from 2500 to 5000.

The Internet Center was originally intended to protect a group of Hackers from death, yet it failed to do so and died to a super weapon or level 3 A10 Strike along with all the Hackers inside. Doubling the hit points of it makes sure the Internet Center actually does what it is supposed to do, while the build limit still keeps China's economy from being untouchable.

 

Nuclear Missile timer decreased from 6min to 5min.

The Nuclear Missile was awful and meant China simply couldn’t compete with the other armies in a superweapon war. Trading its charge time with that of the GLA SCUD Storm balances out the Chinese disadvantage.

[Plok 323]

Original China
China Vanilla

China was the odd base faction in 1.04. While GLA/USA played as a mix of all their respective subfactions, China tended to abuse its aircraft a lot and barely touched its ground forces. 1.06 completely changes this however, not only making its air force less dominant, but also boosting the viability of their ground forces massively.

China can now heavily rely on easier to produce low-tier units that remain inferior to most others, while still keeping some units that are very effective when used well, such as their air units and Dragon Tanks. While not standing out in any particular area, China has gained a ton of unpredictability; it can now use infantry spam, tank-based armies and aircraft, or any combination of these. It’s a whole new experience.

 

Battlemaster Tank price decreased from $800 to $650.
Battlemaster Tank build time decreased from 10s to 8s.

These units were just a joke in 1.04, and easily claimed the title of China’s most awful unit. They were slow, couldn’t take a hit, and couldn’t deal any damage. However, both Nuke Battlemasters and Kwai’s veterancy-ready Battlemasters were already very useful units, and boosting the strength of China Vanilla's Battlemasters would result in their cousins becoming overpowered. Therefore, China Battlemasters were made far cheaper and quicker to produce.

Any fears that this would turn China into a tankspam faction were easily put to rest, since they are still inferior to units like the Scorpion Tank and Overlord Tank, which have never been truly dominant. Battlemasters are useful now, but nowhere near overwhelming, or even compulsory thanks to Listening Outposts providing a good alternative.

 

Gattling Tank price decreased from $800 to $700.
Gattling tank build time decreased from 10s to 8s.

Keeping in line with the theme of China being about overwhelming numbers, it can now produce Gattling Tanks faster and cheaper than before. Though while there may be more of them, they still maintain the same strength as in 1.04, which isn’t all that great. They combine well with both Listening Outposts and Tank Hunters early on too, giving China a few more useful ground options early game.

 

Listening Outpost price decreased from $800 to $700.
Listening Outpost build time decreased from 15s to 12s.

Again fitting in with the cheaper, less effective units of China, the Listening Outpost has been made easier to build and hence still fits in with China’s new style. While Listening Outposts were pretty decent in 1.04, the global rocket infantry changes have made them a bit less powerful, so they still remain about as good as they ever were, which is a good thing.

 

MiG price increased from $1200 to $1400.

These were very effective in 1.04, so much so that China almost always chose to concentrate on these and Helixes rather than ground units. Now China has an improved ground force, this change is needed to prevent them from delaying opponents with cheap ground units while they research Black Napalm, then going into full-blown Migspam. This change also helps to make China a bit more interesting in team games, rather than being limited to a pseudo-Air Force General style of play.

 

Helix price increased from $1500 to $1750.

These were far too destructive for their low cost, and I’m sure many GLA/China players in 1.04 have experienced full-blown Helix spam and felt how much it hurts. This price change helps deter Helix spam slightly while not making Helixes too expensive to be viable; they still work well but need to work in tandem with ground units to be really effective.

 

Hacker price decreased from $625 to $550.

All China factions have a weak late game in 1.04; the main reason for this is their Hackers being inferior to USA/GLA secondary economy. They took too long to pay for themselves, and they would die to just about anything that came near them. This change makes them more affordable late game.

[Plok 323]

Ta Hun Kwai
China Tank General

Supposedly a specialist in tanks, General Kwai was pretty underwhelming. His armour was outclassed by units such as Nuke Overlords and Scorpions, and due to Kwai's very linear nature this proved to be crippling. For this reason, Kwai's forces have received a few boosts, in particular the global resistance to missiles that every tank in the game received.
While he may now seem to be absurdly powerful with his straightforward playstyle, he is still limited by factors like expensive air units, expensive infantry and a lack of long-range weapons, as well as still having the weakest late game. His tanks may be strong, but they are not indestructible.

 

Emperor Tank now benefits from Subliminal Messaging upgrade.

For a signature unit, the Emperor was incredibly situational. Access to Subliminal Messaging has made it more useful overall. Emperors hit harder, take hits like nobody’s business and can overrun smaller armies with ease. Not only that, but the Subliminal boost can also be used to support your other units. Emperors have finally claimed their place as the strongest ground unit in the game.

 

Emperor Tank price increased from $1900 to $2000.
Emperor Tank promotion criteria changed from 0/400/600/1200 to 0/400/800/1400.

With the new Subliminal boost, Emperors became a little too powerful to handle. The price increase slows down Emperor spam a bit, and the veterancy change is simply to keep them from promoting to elite status too quickly.

 

ECM Tank price increased from $800 to $900.

This change was made mainly to compensate, again, for the Subliminal boost Emperors received, but also for the fact that Kwai has an easier time teching up, so ECM Tanks will be seen a lot more often in general.

 

Listening Outpost behaviour changed.

Previously, Listening Outposts refused to keep firing at structures when given the command to attack, so you had to keep clicking the building to maintain fire. This has now been fixed.

 

Helix price increased from $2000 to $2250.

Kwai no longer depends on Helixes anywhere near as much as he used to. Kwai's strong ground force forces the opponent to focus almost exclusively on anti-tank weaponry, which doesn't leave much for anti-air. Having to deal with both Helixes and powerful tanks at the same time is near impossible.

 

Hacker price decreased from $780 to $650.

All China factions have a weak late game in 1.04; the main reason for this is their Hackers being inferior to USA/GLA secondary economy. They took too long to pay for themselves, and they would die to just about anything that came near them. This change makes them more affordable late game.
The reason Kwai’s Hackers remain the most expensive is due to the fact that Kwai is meant to have a weak late game. They’re still far more affordable than in 1.04, where it was very rarely profitable to bother with them at all.

[Plok 323]

'Anvil' Shin Fai
China Infantry General

'Anvil' Shin Fai is the most unusual of the four Chinese factions. While the other three factions have some sturdiness about them, Fai trades all of this for obscene amounts of firepower, making him difficult to judge. In some situations he seems unstoppable, while in others he seems helpless. 1.06 makes him a bit more solid overall, while weakening his mass spams slightly where needed.

 

Infantry armour vulnerability to toxins decreased from 60% to 40%.

The Infantry General was helpless against Doctor Thrax; the combination of Fai's frailty and Thrax's abundant toxins meant infantry units struggled to attack from the ground, and so Fai focused mainly on air-based assaults instead. With this change, Infantry's ground forces are now a touch more durable against Toxins, which helps immensely against the GLA Toxin General.

 

Attack Outpost price increased from $1000 to $1100.

Fai has a very effective dual War Factory spam, which is strange for a faction that is supposed to be based around infantry units. The price increase weakens this considerably without having a major impact on build orders that use only one War Factory and also nerfs it vs Nuke/Tank early on.
 

Attack Outpost slots decreased from 8 to 6.

With starting veterancy and Nationalism, Fai’s units can deal obscene amounts of damage, and people could potentially ruin most things early game with a single Attack Outpost loaded with 5-6 Tank Hunters and 2 Minigunners. This change simply reduces the maximum potential damage a single Attack Outpost can do, while not really hampering Fai's ability to defend early game.

 

MiG price increased from $1200 to $1400.

For reasons identical to China Vanilla, MiGs have been made more expensive. Fai is arguably better at MiG camping than China Vanilla though thanks to his Fortified Bunkers, so this change helps to prevent this while keeping MiGs affordable.

 

Assault Helix price increased from $1500 to $1750.

Again, for similar reasons to China Vanilla, the Assault Helix price has been increased. Going for an Assault Helix straight off the bat is a bit riskier now.

 

Assault Helix Napalm Bomb upgrade instantly usable after being researched.

This change makes the upgrade a lot more usable. There are some situations where the Napalm Bomb is very handy, but the long setup time hindered this.

 

Inferno Cannon price decreased from $1100 to $900.

Fai's anti-camp abilities are mediocre, because none of his units can really take a hit. Neither can Infernos, but with their hit point increase and price decrease, they fill their role as anti-camping artillery units much better than before.

 

Super Hacker price decreased from $625 to $550.

All China factions have a weak late game in 1.04; the main reason for this is their Hackers being inferior to USA/GLA secondary economy. They took too long to pay for themselves, and they would die to just about anything that came near them. This change makes them more affordable late game.
With the Super Hacker's stealth and starting veterancy, Fai actually has a very solid late game economy, though this is balanced out by the fragile nature of his units.

[Plok 323]

Tsing Shi Tao
China Nuke General

As the general of the most popular Chinese faction in the past, Tsing Shi Tao is known for his nuclear tanks more than anything else. However, a large vulnerability to rocket infantry and aircraft made it hard to use Nuke effectively against most factions. So much that Nuke was among the worst factions of 1.04.
1.06 seeks to tone down these weaknesses and make the Nuclear faction more viable overall. While it may seem to be incredibly strong at first due to its easy-to-learn nature, it is never overwhelming against any faction. Although Tao can now hold his own perfectly fine, with a bit of work, any faction can compete with, and ultimately defeat, Shi Tao the Nuke.

 

Isotope Stability upgrade price decreased from $2000 to $1000.

As the signature upgrade of the Nuclear General, this was overpriced, especially when you consider how the explosion this upgrade removes can often be useful. The high cost of this and Nationalism resulted in Overlord/ECM being far more popular than Nuke Battlemasters later on, since the latter require Isotope Stability to be effective en masse. Now the upgrades themselves are a bit more balanced in cost, Nuke has more options later on.

 

Battlemaster/Overlord Tank radiation field radius increased from 12 to 25.

General Tao has always hated fighting against massed rocket infantry; he needed his tanks to be more effective at killing infantry units to give him a chance against the GLAs and General Fai. This boost helps him out a lot without making infantry units redundant against him.

 

Gattling Tank price decreased from $800 to $700.

From Helixes to Aurora Alphas, the Nuclear General has always been poor at countering air threats, and this is due to his strengths being limited to ground combat and Gattling Tanks being too weak against aircraft. Reducing the Gattling Tank price helps Tao out a lot against aircraft.

 

Listening Outpost behaviour changed.

Previously, Listening Outposts refused to keep firing at structures when given the command to attack, so you had to keep clicking the building to maintain fire. This has now been fixed.

 

Tactical Nuke MiG upgraded MiG reload time increased from 2s to 4s.

Tactical Nuke MiGs are immensely powerful units, and could actually prove to be near uncounterable at times. A longer reload time not only slows them down a bit, but also results in them spending more time grounded, where they can be killed while they reload.

 

Helix price increased from $1750 to $2000.

Tsing Shi Tao's strengths lie in his nuclear weaponry, so why he should be massing Helixes is anyone's guess. His Helixes work incredibly well with his ground forces; Battlemasters/Overlords easily destroy anti-air units such as Gattling tanks and Quad Cannons, making it difficult to counter Helixes and tanks at the same time.

 

Helix Nuke Bomb upgrade instantly usable after being researched.

This change makes the upgrade a lot more usable. There are some situations where the Nuke Bomb is very handy, but the long setup time hindered this.

 

Hacker price decreased from $625 to $550.

All China factions have a weak late game in 1.04; the main reason for this is their Hackers being inferior to USA/GLA secondary economy. They took too long to pay for themselves, and they would die to just about anything that came near them. This change makes them more affordable late game.

[Plok 323]

Global GLA

Compared to USA and China, GLA is the weaker army in terms of raw power and will therefore have to avoid taking them head on. Instead, it relies on hit & run attacks with a sneaky, stealthy approach. Or at least, that is how it is supposed to be.
Which it wasn't. GLA factions have never really been like they should be in Zero Hour, they just missed their point. Even though said approach was available, it was made obsolete, because GLA was much better at fighting with a linear style of play, going head to head or just by camping. It was downright overpowered.
1.06 changes all this. The Global Liberation Army has always had an almost unlimited amount of potential in terms of creativity, but this potential was widely unused and unexplored, until now. GLA factions will have to be highly creative and innovative to win their games, and will truly be GLA.

 

Tunnel Network damage output decreased from 15 to 12.

Tunnel Networks were just a tad too solid. GLA's camping abilities proved to be too much at times, especially for Humvees because they lost the healing support of Ambulances. Since Tunnel Networks play such a crucial role in the play of GLA, this nerf has quite a big impact. GLA can't lay back anymore after having secured certain parts of the map and has to play a more aggresive style to hold its own.

 

Car Bomb speed decreased from 90 to 25.

Car Bombs sound like a nice feature, but they're much too abusive; they screw over any match-up GLA is involved in. They gave GLA factions a huge edge early game, often times too much for the opponent to recover from. Since map modding is not done, the Car Bomb speed has been adjusted to match the walking speed of Terrorists.
A piece of advice: don't use Car Bombs.

 

Technical promotion criteria changed from 0/50/75/150 to 0/50/150/300.

One could say that the Technical is the backbone of every GLA. While this may be true, it is meant in the sense of transport units, not powerhouses. They can be very hard to kill thanks to their speed, and when they also pack a punch, they can be unstoppable. So, combined with the loss of salvage crates previously left behind by China Dozers and Supply Trucks, this change makes it much harder for Technicals to gain elite/heroic status and turn into a speedy auto-healing killing machine.

 

Marauder Tank build time decreased from 10s to 8s.
Dual-salvaged Marauder Tank delay between shots increased from 750 to 1000.

The Marauder Tank wasn't good enough by default, but too good when dual salvaged. Therefore, 1.06 gave it both a boost and a nerf. Their build time has been decreased to help counter early Dragon Tanks and Nuclear Battlemaster Tanks, while the delay between shots for dual-salvaged Marauders brings their sheer power down a notch.

 

Angry Mob price increased from $800 to $1000.

Angry Mobs were too cost-effective, especially in GLA mirrors. This matchup was entirely centered around this unit and was pretty generic. This price increase doesn't completely nullify this, but it helps keeping the Mob spam down to a more manageable level.

 

Arm The Mob upgrade research price increased from $1000 to $1500.
Arm The Mob upgrade research time increased from 30s to 60s.

Angry Mobs become a lot more powerful with AK-47's; so much that Arm The Mob upgrade is mandatorily researched when Mobs are being used. These nerfs put a dent in this; it requires a little more money, time and thought to use. Which mainly benefits GLA mirrors, where Angry Mobs played too big a role.

 

Radar Scan upgrade moved from Black Market to Palace.

The purpose of this change is one thing only: to help GLA counter cloaked Comanches. They pose a serious threat to GLA and are often times a bit too much to handle. A well-placed Radar Scan can catch them by surprise so that GLA anti-air can take them down, but was too far up the tech tree to be accessible.

 

Worker Shoes upgrade research time increased from 10s to 25s.

It's weird that the Worker Shoes upgrade isn't mandatorily used, because it's awesome. It speeds up GLA's resource collecting in two ways: it increases the speed of the Workers and the amount they gather. While this is only very useful in normal circumstances, it becomes blatantly overpowered when GLA manages to get a hold of four or more supply areas, which does occasionally happen. Its economy skyrockets and GLA becomes overwhelming. The research time increase doesn't completely compensate for this, but it's enough.

 

Anthrax Beta upgrade research price decreased from $2500 to $1000.
Anthrax Beta upgrade moved from Palace to Black Market.

The Anthrax Beta upgrade is rather circumstantial. It never does a lot, but can occasionally come in handy. Though not with a price tag of $2500, which is therefore decreased to a more manageable level.
It's moved to Black Market mainly to keep it in line with Thrax's Anthrax Gamma upgrade. It won't be making any difference anyway, because when there is the need for this upgrade, a Black Market has almost always been built already.

 

SCUD Storm timer increased from 5m to 6m.

The SCUD Storm is arguably the best super weapon of the three. It does an obscene amount of damage; doesn't require power; has a decent recharge timer; has better armour thanks to GLA Holes and belongs to the faction with the best camping abilities thanks to awesome defensive structures and secondary economy. Even though said camping abilities have been nerfed, the SCUD Storm was still too strong, so a timer increase was necessary.

 

SCUD Storm bug exploit fixed.

The SCUD Storm behaves like it should now, there is no further explanation needed.

[Plok 323]

Original GLA
GLA Vanilla

Since all GLA's are a lot alike, GLA Vanilla never saw a lot of daylight; it just lacked an exclusive skill. Having the ability to do almost everything just didn't compare to the specific GLA generals' signature strengths as much as desired. GLA Vanilla may have a ton of creative options, but previous patches offered no use for these and it was outmatched by its comrades.
However, this has changed with patch 1.06. From being inferior in nearly all places to having a great niche use with it's cheap and colourful arsenal, GLA Vanilla can do everything and found it's rightful place alongside Toxin, Demolition and Stealth.

 

Hijacker access requirement decreased from Palace to Arms Dealer.

The sheer inaccessibility of these Hijackers had put their use down to basically zero. With the new general point system, GLA Vanilla's Hijackers are actually worth their point cost. Combined with the price of $400 and a decent training time, they are very good at surprise attacking, if only they could be trained pre-tech. You still need to reach general rank 3 to get them though, which is a good thing because GLA Vanilla is not Kassad.

 

Booby Trap upgrade price decreased from $1000 to $500.

This upgrade is arguably the most useless one in the entire game. Although it is not exactly bad, it is extremely situational, up to a point where one wonders if such a situation ever occurs. It does though, but at $1000, Booby Traps weren't worth their price.

 

Camouflage upgrade price decreased from $2000 to $800.
Camouflage upgrade research time decreased from 60s to 30s.

This upgrade is pretty awesome. Unlike Kassad, who just asks for stealth detection all over the place, GLA Vanilla does not and so opponents don't see this one coming. At $2000 and 60s research time, Camouflage was a joke; though at the new values, it's very much worth it. Just be creative.

 

SCUD Launcher Anthrax Warhead damage output increased from 200 to 250.
SCUD Launcher Anthrax Warhead damage radius increased from 30 to 50.

The truth is that these changes are a side-effect of the changes applied to Dr. Thrax's SCUD Launcher, because they are linked. So this change doesn't serve much of a purpose, but it doesn't really get in the way of anything either. The High Explosive Warhead still does more damage, so don't worry about that.

[Plok 323]

Dr. Thrax
GLA Toxin General

Dr. Thrax's signature abilities involve around anthrax. Most of his units have toxin traits, which gives them natural anti-infantry capabilities. Another one of the main strengths Thrax possesses is a huge advantage in urban warfare; the fact that his Rebels and Toxin Tunnel Networks instantly clear garissoned structures makes him able to overcome and hold urban areas with great ease.
Though it is thanks to other aspects that the Toxin faction is seen as massively overpowered in any pre-1.05e patch. The sheer power Dr. Thrax possessed was unmatched by any other GLA faction, coming forth through the likes of Toxin Tunnels, Anthrax Gamma missiles, Toxin Rebel Ambush and even the Toxin SCUD Storm. They were unfairly powerful in a multitude of situations.
1.06 aims to tone down Thrax's peaks of overpoweredness and to focus more on his signature strengths. While still being very powerful, Toxin has been brought down to earth and is much more beatable on all fronts than it was before.

 

Anthrax Gamma upgrade moved from Palace to Black Market.

Thanks to this change, it requires a bit more than a Palace to be able to spam Gamma Battle Buses. Thrax actually has quite some more trouble teching up thanks to Toxin Tunnels being much less potent at holding their own, so Anthrax Gamma is even harder to reach than it seems at first. Even so, since the actual power of Anthrax Gamma missiles hasn't been touched, it's still as powerful as ever once Dr. Thrax gets his hands on it.

 

RPG Trooper Stinger-tracking ability removed.

If there ever was anything pathetic in C&C Zero Hour, it is this. The stinger tracking ability of Anthrax Gamma missiles brought a whole new definition to the word 'counter'. They could not be countered. Aircraft were sent on suicide missions just to take out Gamma Battle Buses, because they instantly died after doing so. It was blatantly overpowered.

 

Terrorist damage output decreased from 700 to 500.

It is the Demolition faction's strength to have enhanced power for Terrorists, not Thrax's. He does not even need them. It doesn't suit him at all, so they have been nerfed to the same power of regular Terrorists.

 

Toxin Tractor price decreased from $650 to $500.

Why exactly does a general who specialises in toxins have to pay more for these? Doctor Thrax certainly isn't shy of alternatives thanks to his Rebels and Tunnel Networks, so this change keeps Toxin Tractors from becoming obsolete. The Contaminate ability is useful against all GLA factions, especially Thrax himself, and also helps to differentiate Tractors from Rebels and Tunnels.

 

Demo Trap price decreased from $600 to $400.
Demo Trap build time decreased from 8s to 5s.

Being the first in a row of inferior counterparts of otherwise good attributes Dr. Thrax had to do with, the Toxin Demo Trap didn't have much going for it. It was too expensive and took too much time to build; they were a complete waste. Though they do have one advantage over the other Demo Traps, being the fact that they immediately explode when triggered. This, combined with these changes, makes them quite usable.

 

SCUD Launcher damage output increased from 200 to 250.
SCUD Launcher damage radius increased from 30 to 50.

The reason behind this change is mostly Thrax crying for an anti-China artillery unit, but it also benefits other situations. Since his SCUD Launchers can only use the Anthrax Warhead, they have always been rather mediocre. Even though they are still less powerful than the High Explosive Warhead, they deal a pretty decent damage and are very much worth their price and lowered general point cost.

 

Anthrax Gamma upgraded Bomb Truck Bio Bomb upgrade damage output increased...
...from 1000 to 2000.

In the same trend as Thrax's SCUD Launcher, his Bomb Truck also only has access to the anthrax based weapon, the Bio Bomb. Which is also mediocre. In several occasions Dr. Thrax wished he could build a Bomb Truck that actually dealt some acceptable damage, and now his wish has come true. When the Anthrax Gamma upgrade has been researched, the Bio Bomb upgrade gains an additional high explosive effect.

[Plok 323]

Rodall 'Demo' Juhziz
GLA Demolition General

Not only does Rodall have enhanced power on all of GLA's demolition attributes, he also has the ability to blow up every single unit in his arsenal at will and deal massive damage with them after having researched the Demolitions upgrade. All of this should prove he's more than worthy of his middle name; it's true that if his opponents saw one of his demolition attacks coming, they were already dead.
The bad part about this was that they could do little about it. Juhziz's signature ability, the Demolitions upgrade, enhanced his Combat Cycles and Rebel Ambush in such a way that they were downright impossible to stop. Therefore, Rodall's opponents often stopped building any groundforces because there was just no point, and switched to an airbourne approach. This obviously can't be the idea, so some changes had to be made.

 

Advanced Demo Trap price increased from $200 to $300.

Juhziz isn't going to love his Advanced Demo Traps any less with this price increase. At $200, they were a tad too spammable. Or rather, too cost-effective. Requiring strategic thought is always a good thing, which these Demo Traps didn't because $200 wasn't enough to consider not building one.

 

Terrorist detonation added when driven over.

One question: why didn't they explode when driven over? This weakness doesn't make any sense, especially since it's Juhziz's Terrorist, who is supposed to be better.

 

Combat Cycle no longer benefits from Demolitions upgrade.

The Demolitions upgraded Combat Cycle is a contender for most pathetic unit in the entire game. There was just no way to stop it. It didn't matter if it was destroyed before reaching its target or not; its suicide ability usually took its target with it. Thus Combat Cycles were overpowered and promoted mindless spam. With their Demolitions upgrade removed, they've been brought down to earth.

 

Technical price decreased from $600 to $500.
Technical build time decreased from 6s to 5s.

In previous patches, Juhziz's Technicals turned out to be too strong when upgraded with the Demolitions upgrade, because they promoted mindless rally-point spam. It did make sense at the time, but times have changed and so has Juhziz's Technical. Its price and build time is now the same as those of other GLA factions.

 

Amount of Rebels in Rebel Ambush 1/2/3 decreased...
...from 4/8/12 to 2/4/8 respectively.

Simply too strong. Demolitions upgraded Rebel Ambush levelled entire armies; even Overlords aren't safe. Even with this change they actually still do, but it at least forces Juhziz to spend some more general points to make his Rebel Ambush strong enough.

 

[Plok 323]

Prince Kassad
GLA Stealth General

Prince Kassad, the master of stealth. Or is he? Not much of this was shown in patch 1.04, where Kassad was as straight-forward as you can get, able to take on most armies head on with raw power. This was and could never be the intention, so a few game-altering changes needed to be made. Being the leader of the Stealth faction, it is implied Kassad should rely on sneaky and hit & run tactics; 1.06 forces Prince Kassad to be creative and to use the element of surprise. Expect to see everything in his arsenal used to the fullest.

 

Hijacker access requirement increased from Barracks to Arms Dealer.

Prince Kassad requiring an Arms Dealer to be able to train Hijackers should be obvious. Arms Dealer-less build orders involving massive Tunnel Network spam and some Hijackers were blatantly overpowered in some situations, especially thanks to the fact that capturing that first China Dragon Tank means a free win right there, and there's not a lot China could do about it besides not building that rather essential Dragon Tank.
Though there is only a thin line of balance here. Hijackers requiring an Arms Dealer does mean Kassad has some issues in stopping those early Dragon Tanks from destroying his Tunnels. He will have to be creative.
 

Hijacker training time decreased from 15s to 10s.

This is to compensate for the above change. At 15 seconds training time, Hijackers took much too long to train. They were hardly used because of this, it was just annoying. With the time reduced to 10 seconds, Hijackers prove to be even more useful than in 1.04. They find their way into many battles and play a main role in the stealth tactics of Prince Kassad.

 

Saboteur training time decreased from 15s to 10s.
Saboteur price decreased from $800 to $600.

The Saboteur is a perfect addition to Kassad's sneaky tactics. The only thing that kept him from being used is his training time. Like with the Hijacker it simply took too long, but those days are over. Though for what the Saboteur does, he was a little too expensive, especially considering the fact that Kassad should be relying on this unit quite a bit.

 

Quad Cannon price increased from $700 to $750.

Increasing the price of Kassad's only solid pre-tech vehicle seems a little awkward, but it actually isn't. At $700, Quads are a little too easy to spam. Combined with cloaked Tunnel Networks and cheap Buggies, They made Kassad possess a bit too much raw power, not to mention completely screwing over his faction design. With fewer Quads, he will have to rely more on his cloaked attributes instead.

[Plok 323]

Cameos

In this case, cameos are the small icons of upgrades that show up next to the display image of a selected unit or structure in the bottom right corner. Previous Zero Hour versions had a flawed display of cameos; some were wrongly added, while some were missing. While for some reason the USA cameos were already fixed in previous patches, the China and GLA ones were not. 1.06 fixed these as well. Below is a detailed outlet of this.


USA

Composite Armor icon removed from Super Weapon/Air Force Microwave Tank.

China


Radar upgrade icon added to Command Center.


Napalm Bomb upgrade icon added to China Vanilla/Tank Helix.


Speaker Tower upgrade icon changed to purchased for Emperor Tank.


Nationalism upgrade icon added to Mini-Gunner.


Nationalism upgrade icon added to Infantry Tank Hunter.


Patriotism upgrade icon added to Infantry Tank Hunter.


Uranium Shells icon added to Nuke Battlemaster Tank.


Uranium Shells icon added to Nuke Overlord Tank.


Nuclear Tanks icon added to Nuke Battlemaster Tank.


Nuclear Tanks icon added to Nuke Overlord Tank.


Nuke Bomb upgrade icon added to Nuke Helix.

GLA


Anthrax Beta upgrade icon added to GLA Marauder Tank.


Anthrax Gamma upgrade icon added to Toxin RPG Trooper.


Anthrax Gamma upgrade icon added to Toxin Marauder Tank.


Anthrax Gamma upgrade icon added to Toxin Stinger Site.


Anthrax Gamma upgrade icon added to Toxin SCUD Storm.


Camouflage upgrade icon removed from Toxin Rebel.


Booby Trap upgrade icon added to Demo Rebel.
 

Demolitions upgrade icon added to Demo Tunnel Network.


Demolitions upgrade icon added to Demo Stinger Site.


Camouflage upgrade icon added to Stealth Rebel.


Anthrax Beta upgrade icon added to Stealth Bomb Truck.


Anthrax Beta upgrade icon added to Stealth SCUD Storm.

[CONTRA 3]

Where are the servers? I clicked multiplayer then network and found nothing then I clicked on online and clicked on Create Account and it says Couldn't Connect to online Zero Hour.

[Plok 323]

11 hours ago, CONTRA said:

Where are the servers? I clicked multiplayer then network and found nothing then I clicked on online and clicked on Create Account and it says Couldn't Connect to online Zero Hour.

The official online servers have been inaccessible since 17 July 2014.

This is the replacement, and this is the guide to get on it.

 

Also, unrelated topic.