C&C 3: Tiberium Wars discussion thread

[Caid Ivik]

Does anyone know what machine you have to have in order to play the game on relative high standard? I've got my Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz with 1028 mb ram, Geforce PCX something and some soundcard. I can basically only play it with all video options on low... :(

I had the demo running on my PIII 733 MHz with GeForce 5700 and 384MB RAM, played it on lowest details, and it went smoothly. Of course, movement and actions were slowered like in Emperor, but it was playable, even better than Generals.

Worse is the game itself. It is comically stylicized as RA2 was, instead of preserving the dark, postapocalyptic atmosphere of Tiberian Sun. Also the interface looks like that of Warcraft, with all those 'unit special abilities' and 'upgrades'. I didn't even saw if the units could be promoted. Too many superweapons, also between GDI and Nod very unbalanced. Buildings are also too large, one cannot maneuver there, not talking about the ugly design (especially of the Nod ones - if something SHOULD be large, then Temple, which is rather small...). Design itself is something I would expect to be better, if it wasn't EA. But all those units...it's nearly the same as in first C&C, just with Scrins added.

Boring tanks, ugly tiberium, one helicopter per side, no cyborgs, firestorm defence, banshees, subterranean units, mutants, terrain deformation...good graphics and C&C mark will sell it, but it'll be forgotten, even if the campaign would be good.

[veK]

I played the demo a bit more often now and I have to agree with caid on some of his comments.

most of all the camera now annoys me more than I at first thought. it's just not far enough and I just hate it if I don't get a good overview of large parts of the map and enemy units eventually just pop out of nowhere in front of my base (okay you got radar and some newbiehelp telling you that enemies are approaching, but to see them fpr yourself on the screen before they are in firing range (theirs and yours) is much more comfortable.

the buildings (the public ones) are annoying and if I have some larger groups I always go straith forward and just destroy every damn tree and building in front of me. the developers of rts games (not just ea) tend to make everything so realistic with trees, cars, cities, water and so on...  but I guess a lot of the people who wanna play multiplayer don't give a damn and just want maps like "sandy pass" and "fishers plain" if you know what I mean...

about the interface and all the special stuff I have to agree with caid... it's not really necessary and I prefer to keep it simple. he's also right about the ugly design of the nod buildings (and gdi doesn't look that good as well). I also hate that I can't add some extra pads to the refinery or have some advanced carryalls to pick up my tiberium harvesters.

I just played a quick emperor skirmish with ordos after having played the c&c3 demo for another 2 hours this morning. emp is so much more fun and so much faster and although it's that old it would just need a slight gfx rebrush but not like adding tall buildings, more height differences in the landscape and all that stuff which slows down all those "new-age-rts" as I like to call them :)

At first I thought it was a nice game... but now after analyzing the demo more exactly I think I won't buy it as there are other games coming the next few weeks I'm really looking forward to (stalker, parabellum, crysis, quake wars...) - unfortunately no rts. but to be honest: every rts that I tested during the last few years didn't fill up to my expectations and I had real hope that c&c3 maybe could become emperor's "new-age-rts-brother". but it won't and even if I decide to buy it after the prices have dropped, I guess it will never get the same "love" from me like emperor. unfortunately I guess the game will be bought by a lot of people because c&c is that big name everybody knows and many also follow without asking questions (meaning: buying it without testing just to have the new c&c part at home)

[Ford]

Yeah, the ground troopers looked just like the marines from StarCraft. At least we know it is possible to create sequels after a decade.

[Danuary]

I tried to like this game, I really did, but no matter how much you gush over the good bits, the fact remains that this game is just like the original red alert with 3D graphics instead set in the tiberium universe.

There is little if any innovation whatsoever, and as veK said, the camera control is horrible, you cannot even see your entire base at once; and even if this is CnC, you need a ridiculous amount of low level units to even think about taking on even a few vehicles, usually more than can fit on the screen, and they die so fast its pointless and sometimes impossible to maintain squads, the backbone of any strike force.

Of course none of it would matter if the game was fun and interesting, but the units and mechanics are neither. There is a simple power scale for the GDI forces, one gun, two gun, three gun, guess which is more powerful? mechanics wise, EA has decided to put more of an emphasis on micromanaging combat with garrisonable buildings, flankable armour, and confined maps, however the game still uses the old CnC method of base construction, click on sidebar to build then place, but chances are you will never have time for that and end up getting extremely frustrated as you switch back to your battle and find the enemy has outflanked you and wiped out your forces, there have been plenty of times where my base has been out of power, yet there was a completed power plant just waiting to be placed.

If you really feel like buying this game, just go reinstall your old copy of RA2 instead.

[veK]

there have been plenty of times where my base has been out of power, yet there was a completed power plant just waiting to be placed.

another big problem is that you seem to look forever for a good spot to place you building because it happens very often that you can't place a building where you want and have to look around - as your base gets larger this really is a problem then. I often wonder why buildings can't be placed where I'd like them to be because there seems to be no obvious reason why they shouldn't fit on the spot I picked and which is within range of my other buildings. on the other hand the building then often can be placed on spots which I wouldn't think of (like there are some trees and other stuff and you might think "okay no buildings here because of the ground is already kinda blocked with silly stuff"

what I want to say: in emperor you are also in battle very often but it's easier jumping back to the base and placing a building really quick. I see it's exact size, turning the building is much better and I don't need to look a while before I can place the building somewhere.

[GUNWOUNDS]

What a colossal disappointment.  I wish EA would re-make emperor, but the problem is that there is no point in them doing that.... becuz the teenies with ADHD *love* EA's games.

*sigh*

Until gaming companies start making their games geared towards the 20-30 something crowd we will always have sh!tty games to play  :(

Its getting to the point where i wont buy games until they are  Rated [M] for Mature  ... becuz those usually dont let me down.

[Danuary]

If only there was some precedent for suspecting EA made sequels only to milk a franchise, then this all could have been avoided.

[GhostHunter]

Who said the graphics were good? They look God-awful, I mean honestly it looks horribly pixalated and disgusting; Generals rapes this. In fact, I tried the 1680x1050 resolution (native on my 22'') and it looked so bad that 1200x900 was an improvement.

[Ford]

It really is all over for Command & Conquer. Expect seeing Red Alert 3 in the fall with Yuri returning as an alien who cloned himself.

[Caid Ivik]

What a colossal disappointment.  I wish EA would re-make emperor, but the problem is that there is no point in them doing that.... becuz the teenies with ADHD *love* EA's games.

*sigh*

Until gaming companies start making their games geared towards the 20-30 something crowd we will always have sh!tty games to play  :(

Its getting to the point where i wont buy games until they are  Rated [M] for Mature  ... becuz those usually dont let me down.

jj, I've just thought about that I've played no new good game since Vampire: Bloodlines...

[veK]

I wish EA would re-make emperor

I don't know if I really want that. Emperor 2 would be great, yeah... but I doubt that EA would do a good job and after weeks and months of anticipation, we'd all be very disappointed when the demo is available. I can pass on that...

[DukeLeto]

I'm actually not all that disappointed with the demo.  It's true that the contextual interface is a change from classic C&C, but it is useful, and I like being able to purchase upgrades/use special abilities.  But I also like being able to macromanage my construction with a sidebar.  Neither formula is perfect by itself, but I think EA stumbled on a really good compromise.  The way they handled multiple construction facilities is exactly as I'd always thought would be best.  And the graphics, when cranked all the way up, are some of the best I've ever seen in an RTS game, especially the heat/smoke effects.  And the Tiberium handling returns to the way it was handled in the original Command & Conquer - as an alien crystalline form of flora.  It was way to plant-like in Tiberian Sun.  And a lot of the things are going back to Tiberian Dawn's way of doing things, I know, but let's face it - C&C was generally better-received than Tiberian Sun.  And mechs are an impractical idea for real use, really, so who can fault them for going back to the old Mammoth Tank?  Plus it was just so cool.

That aside, it's not Supreme Commander, Call of Heroes, or Dawn of War.  But it is C&C, for better or for worse.

[Caid Ivik]

I'm actually not all that disappointed with the demo.  It's true that the contextual interface is a change from classic C&C, but it is useful, and I like being able to purchase upgrades/use special abilities.  But I also like being able to macromanage my construction with a sidebar.  Neither formula is perfect by itself, but I think EA stumbled on a really good compromise.  The way they handled multiple construction facilities is exactly as I'd always thought would be best.  And the graphics, when cranked all the way up, are some of the best I've ever seen in an RTS game, especially the heat/smoke effects.  And the Tiberium handling returns to the way it was handled in the original Command & Conquer - as an alien crystalline form of flora.  It was way to plant-like in Tiberian Sun.  And a lot of the things are going back to Tiberian Dawn's way of doing things, I know, but let's face it - C&C was generally better-received than Tiberian Sun.  And mechs are an impractical idea for real use, really, so who can fault them for going back to the old Mammoth Tank?  Plus it was just so cool.

That aside, it's not Supreme Commander, Call of Heroes, or Dawn of War.  But it is C&C, for better or for worse.

hello, Mr Verdu  ;)  yes, the mark will sell it, you can be for sure

[MrFlibble]

I haven't tried out the demo (1 Gb by dial-up? Insane! and it probably won't run on my machine anyway :(), but judging from what I have read and seen, there's nothing for me to specifically dislike. The story and background seem quite elaborated, the graphics are fine to me. When (and if) I get a PC upgrade, I think I'll try the game.

BTW, does anyone know whether there is some kind of official canon that was used as a base for the first two games? E.g. the truth behind Kane, Tiberium etc. Judging by the Tiberian Dawn concept art and the C&C2 teaser back in 1995, Westwood had a quite a far-fetched view of the game universe, allowing for several sequels and story development.

[Ford]

BTW, does anyone know whether there is some kind of official canon that was used as a base for the first two games? E.g. the truth behind Kane, Tiberium etc.

Well, who knows what Kane really is? I doubt even Joe Kucan knows, lol. I also hope TW will be the last game in the Tiberian universe because frankly, one will want to know about how it all ties up. But you know EA...

[Khan]

It should have been called twilight anyway...

[Shiroko]

Hate to disappoint you but it looks really good.

I really enjoy the demo, it's fast paced as RA2 and like the o-so-boring TS multiplayer.

The controls could be better but are sufficient and most things are nice.

It's a good mix of C&C style and more modern styles in RTS.

And it's exactly the kind of game that builds on taking your attention away and allowing your enemy to use all the sneaky stuff. The FMVs are fun, I forgot how nice those were.

[Caid Ivik]

only disappointment would be if you won't help us mod it ;)

[veK]

fist thing we need: patch to fix the camera and make it emperor-like. zooming out more would be great and not auto-zoom-in when you scroll over the map. then the game might maybe even be playable  :-[

[stefanhendriks]

you can play as Nod in the demo btw, makes it more fun. Also works on AI types:

Click on dropdown-box. Click on "Nod" , then press N.

WOrks for the Scrin, etc etc.

When you try the Scrin it will load the game and give you a "defeated" message, probably because there is no data for the Scrin. Also the NOD works okay, but no GUI sounds.

Overall, i like it. Back to basic with a touch of future hardware. I do wonder how big the maps will be. The demo gives such a small map...

Also, it performs well on my PC. As long as you have a nice gfx card en enough ram (i got 2GB ram, and a Geforce 7600 GTT)

[lord vernius of ix]

Sigh, i have to get it for Xbox 360 because my Computer isnt powerful enough :/

[gunner154]

You can play Nod? How do you do that?

[Khan]

He explains in his post.

I got the demo but it somehow seemed too clinical, it lacked a lot of the heart I liked about the westwood C&C series, I might buy it but only when it drops in price.

[exatreide]

Downloaded it on my 360 on wednesday. Was prety impressed in how they made it work for the 360, Graphics and everything were pretty outstanding. Brings me back to the days of C&C on sega saturn and Red alert on me playstation. Ah those were the days.

[veK]

rts on a console...  ::)