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CnCSaga

CommandCOM 13

Day 1: Wednesday

Press day – we were given priority access to the CnC stand without having to queue for hours.

On arriving at the CnC stand (the staff’s first port of call, of course!), we were already impressed by the APA’s Medium Tank display, as well as EA’s cosplay portrayals of various generals – two from each faction:
• Deadalus and Lupa for the EU;
• Blackjack and Red Arrow for the APA;
• Dr Thrax and Nitro for the ALM… er, the GLA, sorry!

A giant screen is showing gameplay footage from this CnC, as well as a video of the tank’s creation, presented by our favourite Community Manager: Eric Krause.

Once inside the stand, we were treated to a twenty-minute presentation on the game, the factions and the Generals, as well as the announcement of the 2014 single-player campaign – which bears some resemblance to the ‘Zero Hour Generals’ challenges – and a mission to complete.

We were briefed on our mission by General Krause: we had 20 minutes to set up our base, gather resources, build our army and crush the enemy.

Once the briefing was over, we moved to another room: time to play!
We managed to complete our mission within the allotted time: a 20-minute skirmish against an AI opponent. All the generals were available, even the newcomers to this year’s GamesCom, such as ‘1000 Suns’, the Atomic General of the APA.

Day 2: Thursday

Today marks the start of the festivities! GamesCom is open to the public and, as soon as it opened at 10 am, people were rushing about everywhere!

For us, the day began at 9.00 am at GamesCom; everyone headed to the stand of their choice before the queues got too long.

Once most of the staff had left their stands, some carried on whilst others headed straight up to the Community Lounge to collect their ‘EA Community Lounge’ passes and gain access to EA games without having to queue in the public area – notably Battlefield 4, Need for Speed Rivals, The Sims 4, FIFA and Command & Conquer, of course.

We had no time limit per game, which allowed us to test the new version and all the generals at our leisure, whilst taking note of and observing the many changes that had taken place compared to the version we had at home.

As evening fell, the whole Community Network gathered at around 8.30 pm at Cologne Cathedral to go for a meal together at the tavern, accompanied by a nice beer!

Day 3: Friday

The first day of CommandCom 2013 began with a presentation by the developers on the various stages of the game’s development and upcoming events.

The approach: From this projected diagram, we could see the three main stages of the game’s development:

  • Firstly, the current phase, comprising the alpha, followed by the closed beta with feedback via the official forum;

  • Then the second phase of development with the open beta. Feedback will be gathered via the official forum and game data collected. The content will then be more extensive;

  • The third expansion phase, involving the introduction of ranking systems, tournaments and clans, as well as the addition of a storyline and new game modes.The various pieces of feedback that caught their attention: This concerns the various issues examined – and in some cases rectified – that arose during the early stages of the alpha:

  • The maps will be revised to give players greater freedom of movement;

  • A number of bugs and elements that caused confusion have been fixed, whilst the technology tree is still being simplified;

  • The camera has already been improved and an option will be added to allow for finer adjustment;

  • Battles are less brief;

  • Finally, whilst oil was previously a resource in its own right, in order to preserve the franchise’s identity, oil derricks have resumed their role as a source of additional income.Details of the changes made:

The current changes fall into three main categories:

  • Removing similarities with StarCraft 2: a number of elements were too reminiscent of SC2, such as the tunnels resembling Nydus tubes, the Pylons, and oil/Vespene gas, etc...
  • Recapturing the CnC spirit: the name of the main resource (whether or not to keep ‘Gold’), adding campaigns, starting buildings and resources (currently the Supply Center), the pace of the game, the clarity of ‘counter-strategies’ (which unit is effective against another), etc...
  • Returning to the Generals universe: total freedom to rotate buildings, Capture Building, the late-game economy, neutral buildings. These points are all under consideration.
    The roadmap:The final item on the agenda: the schedule for the next 5–6 months. Here are the details:

- August / GamesCom: Differentiation between generals, customisation of army or general abilities in addition to their special units, premium mode, custom game, changes to energy and oil, German language support;

  • End of September: Addition of 2 generals, return of ‘Onslaught’ mode, rebalancing, incorporation of player feedback, French and Russian languages;
  • End of October: Addition of 2 generals, balancing and differentiation of generals, incorporation of feedback, changes to the terms of use and player support;
  • End of November: Addition of 2 generals, incorporation of feedback, changes to the terms of use and player support;
  • Early January: New map, dynamic textures, revamped tutorial, dynamic in-game help, feedback incorporated, changes to the terms of use and player support.

We’ll therefore reach 22 Generals by the end of 2013!

Feedback is really important to the dev team; it’s the foundation for creating a balanced game that meets players’ expectations.

Following this CommandCom, we went on a boat trip along the Rhine with all the representatives from the CnC websites, as well as the developers, including Jon Van Caneghem, Director of dtudio; Tim Morten, Senior Director of Development; David Erhard, Community Manager for Tiberium Alliances, Eric Krause, Global Community Manager for Command & Conquer, and Mélonie Mac (I just had to mention that!).

Our very own Tchutch’ took the opportunity to have a chat with Tim Morten to get some informal information, which has allowed us to answer a few of our questions. Here’s what he had to say:

- The Generals’ units that are requested may be added for the new generals. Everyone has their favourite unit, so if you want the SCUD launcher back, just say so!

  • All the game’s maps will be free. It’s essential that all players can join a game with their friends without having to worry about this;
  • Don’t worry about the translation – the GLA will definitely remain “GLA” and not ALM, as was shown in a video. Certain elements have been specifically marked not to be translated;
  • Within about a year, they’ll be working on providing a map editor. It will likely be a (free) online tool that automatically saves work to a server and provides a link for players to share so that their game client can download the map. Creating maps for an RTS is much simpler than for an FPS, and they are confident they will be able to offer this service;
  • The Frostbite engine is currently at version 2 or 3. The game team receives updates from the Frostbite team every 4–6 months and also commits its modifications to a specific branch, just like all the other teams at EA working with this engine. Tim Morten is confident that future updates will not break older game modes or content, although they will occasionally need to check the assets (the new features in Frostbite 3 mainly concern water, so this isn’t necessarily something that will be used extensively in Generals, but it will be in Red Alert);
  • Tim Morten had never heard of the FPS project set in the Generals universe, and the campaign storyline will not be the one planned for Generals 2, though certain elements will be retained. Furthermore, there will certainly be some familiar locations in the campaign. Missions can be played with all the generals or just those from a single faction, in single-player or co-op mode;
  • The next setting will most likely be Red Alert (simpler) followed by Tiberium, but nothing has been finalised yet, so he has no idea where this will fit into the overall history of these universes. He’s looking forward to seeing what they’ll come up with.

This evening, packed with information and laughter, ended with a photo session featuring the various staff members from the CnC fan sites, as well as ‘Happy birthday!’ wishes from most of those present on this outing to celebrate the 17th anniversary of http://CnCSaga.com.

Day 4: Saturday

On Saturdays, it’s generally not recommended to go to GamesCom as it gets extremely busy… That’s exactly why we went anyway!

The morning was free time for everyone – whether to stay in the Community Lounge to play EA games, have a wander around GamesCom, go on the hunt for babes, or admire the Wargaming show… the choice was yours!

After lunch, we headed to the EA Community Lounge for the second part of CommandCom, where we had a one-hour Q&A session with Eric Krause:

  • The issue of directional armour (stronger at the front than at the back) is under consideration, although it isn’t really something the developers are keen on;
  • The community has been calling for asymmetrical maps like in Tiberium Sun, and this has been taken on board;
  • Weather effects (as seen in BF4) are not yet on the agenda; the Frostbite engine is difficult to master and these graphical elements are not yet a priority;
  • A CommandLog will be launched shortly; it will serve as a support and social platform, as seen in Battlefield;
  • Regarding the premium service, the benefits will include: XP Boost, CP Boost, match selection (mode selection remains free) and customisation. Further options are under consideration;
  • The beta is potentially due to be released this year, but there is no specific date; they are keen to release something of high quality;
  • Access to the beta is being rolled out gradually to assess the system’s capacity and avoid a launch like that of SimCity;
  • Veteran units receive attack or speed bonuses. However, their armament will remain the same (no elite Kirov Tesla units like in Red Alert 2).

In addition, we’ve conducted an interview with John Van Caneghem:

After that, most people stayed in the Community Lounge to play, given how crowded GamesCom was.

In the evening, around 8 pm, there was the EA Party where, just like the day before, we could chat with the developers and Community Managers – and there was plenty of food and drink on offer!

Later that evening, to celebrate the end of this fantastic week, we headed back to GamesCom (mostly the CnCSaga staff) for the Sony party in Hall 7, with a nightclub atmosphere at GamesCom until 2 am, where we bumped into some people from EA, such as David Erhard!

Day 5: Sunday

Already the end of this mad week – it’s time to pack up and head back to our respective countries.

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