Design Updates - Click Here for Hot New Info! [Updated 7/27]

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 9/9/09 5:30:32 PM

Hey everyone!

Your friendly gameplay designer JFeasel here with another design update. Scroll down to the bottom of the list to see all of the latest and greatest information about C&C4!

Don't forget to pick up a copy of PC Gamer UK, Gamestar, and a number of other publications featuring C&C4 this month, and head over to commandandconquer.com to check out the latest Battlecast Primetime (starring none other than Kane himself) and the awesome trailer video!

Q: If I'm facing a higher-level player, will their units be more powerful than mine?

A: Absolutely not. As players progress in levels, they will unlock units, structures, and upgrades that allow them to affect the game world in different ways. New units change the counter scheme or how the opposing player must use their units. Higher-tier units are not simply lower-level units with increased attack power. Consequently, a low-level player will have everything necessary to counter any unit in the game.

Q: Will C&C4 include upgrades?

A: Yes! All classes in C&C4 have a wide array of upgrades available to them. This includes global upgrades and upgrades achieved through other means.

Q: Will C&C4 use the SAGE engine?

A: C&C4 is built upon the same engine as Red Alert 3, with many additional improvements. More information on the advancements made to the engine will be forthcoming.

Q: Has the pathfinding been improved in C&C4?

A: A significant amount of additional code work has been undertaken to ensure that pathfinding in the presence of ten large Crawlers will not fail under extremely stressful circumstances. The pathfinding team continues to refine the pathfinder on a week-by-week basis.

Q: Will there be any base building in C&C4?

A: The defense class can indeed lay out a full base, which includes a wide array of different assault and support structures.

Q: Will there be epic units, similar to Kane's Wrath? Are the Crawlers epic units?

A: While there are many powerful and earth-shattering units in C&C4, all units ascribe to the counter scheme and can be defeated quite handily by even a low-level player's arsenal. While all Crawlers gain weaponry, the power of the Crawler is in its ability to produce units and structures, and you will find that they should not be left unprotected for long.

Q: A recent article noted that the units being used missed against moving targets, is this interaction going to play a major role in the game?

A: There are a large number of interesting unit interactions in C&C4, nearly every unit is different! In this particular case, the units being used had a chance to miss while moving themselves. This interaction strongly rewards the player for stop-micromanagement (stopping the units right before they fire), while enemy units can make use of the interaction to kite the assaulting player, forcing them to miss.

Q: Will there be any penalty to losing the Crawler? Can the Crawler instantly respawn?

A: There are several penalties to losing your Crawler during a match, which are currently in flux as we continue to fine-tune our gameplay. Currently, there is a 20-second respawn delay when the Crawler is lost, and any upgrades in progress must be restarted. This allows players to harass player tech and map control by specifically targetting the Crawler.

Q: Is the Mammoth Tank going to be in C&C4? Is the large walker the Mammoth Tank?

A: The large walker seen in the released screenshots is the Mastodon. The treaded Mammoth Tank will indeed be making a comeback but has not yet been shown. Stay tuned!

Q: Is the large, crashed ship seen in recent screenshots the Support Crawler?

A: Nope! The Support Crawler is similar in size to the already-seen Offense Crawler and has not been seen yet.

Q: Is there a population cap? What are the numbers (X/100) seen above the units on the UI?

A: The numbers shown above the units tab indeed represent a population cap. In C&C4, players are limited in the number of units they can make by Command Points, which allows the player to make smart decisions about which units they want to produce depending on the current state of the battlefield and limits single-unit spam and snowballing of attack power.

Q: Does the Crawler gain experience and level up during a match, like a hero?

A: While the Crawler can gain veterancy, just like a unit, all of the experience gained on the battlefield is gained directly by the player, allowing the player to unlock additional units, structures, powers, and upgrades, once the battle is complete.

And that's a matter of Feasel! If you don't know, Jeremy Feasel is one of our top designers on C&C 4, and he is passionate about hearing your feedback and concerns. We can't reveal much further info yet, but hopefully this clears up a few questions and/or concerns.

-APOC

wat about the online forever answer it is like the most important and most ask question now

How will the harvester system work?
Will there be ion storms?
Are there going to be Tiberium Nodes?

EA_JFeasel wrote:Hey everyone!

It's great to see all of the enthusiasm for C&C4! It's been in development for a while now, and we've asked ourselves many of the questions that you are posting on the forums. You'll see a lot more info coming up at the end of the month in PC Gamer UK, Gamestar, and other magazines, so be sure to check them out to get some exclusive info!

For now, let me tide you over with some quick responses to the hottest forum issues:

Q: If I'm facing a higher-level player, will their units be more powerful than mine?

A: Absolutely not. As players progress in levels, they will unlock units, structures, and upgrades that allow them to affect the game world in different ways. New units change the counter scheme or how the opposing player must use their units. Higher-tier units are not simply lower-level units with increased attack power. Consequently, a low-level player will have everything necessary to counter any unit in the game.

Q: Will C&C4 include upgrades?

A: Yes! All classes in C&C4 have a wide array of upgrades available to them. This includes global upgrades and upgrades achieved through other means.

Q: Will C&C4 use the SAGE engine?

A: C&C4 is built upon the same engine as Red Alert 3, with many additional improvements. More information on the advancements made to the engine will be forthcoming.

Q: Has the pathfinding been improved in C&C4?

A: A significant amount of additional code work has been undertaken to ensure that pathfinding in the presence of ten large Crawlers will not fail under extremely stressful circumstances. The pathfinding team continues to refine the pathfinder on a week-by-week basis.

Q: Will there be any base building in C&C4?

A: The defense class can indeed lay out a full base, which includes a wide array of different assault and support structures.

Q: Will there be epic units, similar to Kane's Wrath? Are the Crawlers epic units?

A: While there are many powerful and earth-shattering units in C&C4, all units ascribe to the counter scheme and can be defeated quite handily by even a low-level player's arsenal. While all Crawlers gain weaponry, the power of the Crawler is in its ability to produce units and structures, and you will find that they should not be left unprotected for long.

wow thx so atleast now we know that there is only besbuilding for 1 class

EA_JFeasel wrote:
Q: Has the pathfinding been improved in C&C4?

A: A significant amount of additional code work has been undertaken to ensure that pathfinding in the presence of ten large Crawlers will not fail under extremely stressful circumstances. The pathfinding team continues to refine the pathfinder on a week-by-week basis.

win!!!!!!! epic WIN

Nice Q&A, however I was really hoping you would shed some light on the economy / income methods in C&C4.

From what I understand C&C4 seems to be more of a team focused game, rather then traditional 1v1 multiplayer, is this correct?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 7/13/09 7:54:42 AM

finally, the whining can stop.

Bases are in For Defence class, happy now?

I just hope this Unlock system works...

As long as i can get everything In Singleplayer, Im happy.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 7/13/09 7:56:25 AM

I'm somewhat sceptical about lower-level players being able to defeat higher-level players, even though they have less units at their disposal. If it doesn't get done right, then we'll be seeing a helluva lot of n00b-bashers in C&C4.

EA_JFeasel wrote:Q: Has the pathfinding been improved in C&C4?

A: A significant amount of additional code work has been undertaken to ensure that pathfinding in the presence of ten large Crawlers will not fail under extremely stressful circumstances. The pathfinding team continues to refine the pathfinder on a week-by-week basis.

Wow, the pathfinding was so bad in Ra3 that they've had to devote an entire team fix it for C&C4

Commander32 wrote:finally, the whining can stop.

Bases are in For Defence class, happy now?

I just hope this Unlock system works...

As long as i can get everything In Singleplayer, Im happy.

I think what they'll do is make it hard for you to get those locked items. This is to encourage you to keep playing until the next arrival game by EA.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 7/13/09 8:00:58 AM

As long as they get that done.

U can still unlocky everything via Singleplayer right? 0-o

make it like the commanders challege then...

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 7/13/09 8:34:05 AM

This is kind of surprising. I was expecting that only War Factories, Barracks, and Airfields are removed. It appears that all structures for the support and offensive classes are removed? I can't say that's a bad move with so little information, but it sounds incredibly risky to mess with the formula that much. I think it'd be better to take the Crawler game mechanics step by step, and perhaps remove all structures in whatever C&C follows C&C 4.

I'm also kind of depressed that trademark structures like the Hand of Nod, and the Temple of Nod won't be included as a result of this.

We dont no that yet.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 7/13/09 8:38:01 AM

Commander32 wrote:We dont no that yet.

Not to get on the "OMG NO BASES!" bandwagon, but yeah, it kind of seems like we do know that now unless I misunderstood. Granted support structures can include the Temple of Nod, but it won't include the Hand of Nod, and only the defensive Nod class would be able to use it. I refuse to really comment on how this is going to turn out right now, but as I sad in the previous post, this is very risky. This can easily turn out to be awful if EALA isn't careful.

Gobias wrote:

Commander32 wrote:We dont no that yet.

Not to get on the "OMG NO BASES!" bandwagon, but yeah, it kind of seems like we do know that now unless I misunderstood. Granted support structures can include the Temple of Nod, but it won't include the Hand of Nod, and only the defensive Nod class would be able to use it. I refuse to really comment on how this is going to turn out right now, but as I sad in the previous post, this is very risky. This can easily turn out to be awful if EALA isn't careful.

maybe they make it so hand of nod gives upgrades for inf of the deff class so this nice and classic building can come back

Even with theses questions answered, i find it much better if they show us more pictures and videos of the game.

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