Command and Conquer Junkie

Over at Big Download they’ve posted a little retrospective gallery featuring plot summaries of the 7 RTS games so far in the C&ampC series….

(Thanks, Blbpaws!) The Forgotten, a Tiberium Wars modification that aims to reintroduce the ironicallynamed mutant faction, has released another batch…

Uhud Battlefield

By Azapci

We extend a very warm CnCLabs welcome to Azacpi, with this great 6 player Red Alert 3 map. It certainly looks like a lot of effort and time has been put into this map, with the addition of very high detail and terrain work. The map is on the large side, normal for a 6 player, but object content is very high. You may find the game runs a little slower, especially with all 6 player slots filled, but the quality and scope of the map only adds to the fun and pleasure during game-play.
Make a visit to our downloads section for your copy, but as usual, you can have a preview by using the thumbnails below.

Azapci’s first language is not English, so I have created this version of his Map Description, retaining the original Turkish version in the included Readme file.

Author’s Description: Uhud Battlefield is a map which has been designed as a 3v3 Ground war, but much fun can be had by playing various combinations, or against the AI. Each player will start the game with 2 main Ore Nodes with plenty of choice for expansion to the many isolated extra nodes positioned around the map. All the major areas on the map have expansion support.
Key areas of capture will be the Observation Stations in the Civilian region, at the centre of the map and the local Lookout stations, near the player starting positions. There are many choke points created by the hills and irregular terrain.
There is very little water in this map, so you will need to build and prepare your army for a land battle as Naval Yard production is disabled.
 

Click to Download: Uhud Battlefield

The time has come to delve deeper into the story of our mod at C&C Labs, The Forgotten. We believe our mod is unique because while so many attempt to merely add to the gameplay, we seek to add to the fiction of C&C as well. That’s why we’re telling our story with full HD videos–see our theatrical trailer–and that’s why we’re proud to show off one of the missions from our campaign with you. For those of you who want even more about the story, we have an artifact, the first in a series called "Forgotten Fiction," to show off.

 Mission 3’s aesthetics were designed by the talented Predatore, a wonderful addition to our staff, while the fiercesome Nod forces come to life through Drummin’s creative scripting. With a Red Zone this beautiful and intricate, pictures speak louder than words:

In the Forgotten base above, you can see the Training Grounds, created by Kane Nash. It will permit you to upgrade your infantry forces, the better to take the fight to the superpowers. You can see more images on our Media page.

Sometimes, missions, even missions with videos, aren’t enough to give all the depth we’d like to our story. So for those of you interested in learning more about the mysterious Forgotten, we’ve begun a new series called "Forgotten Fiction." It’s a series of artifacts from the time in which the mod takes place. The first one is the Morning Dawn Report, a short GDI Intelligence piece on an operation into the Red Zones and their encounters with the restless natives. Give it a look (PDF) if you want to learn more about our unique universe. 

And finally, a help wanted request. We’re looking for a talented artist to make cameo images for us (the pictures on the purchase icons), in a style similar to C&C 3’s. If you think you have the requisite skills, email me (previous experience is very helpful). Now’s a great time to join the team–we’re about to hit beta for the project!

General Kane Nash has sent in another great wallpaper for our collection. This one features the Avatar from C&ampC 4. Check it out

This post is in no way an attack on our friends at EALA but I feel its something that requires discussion, especially after a recent story I just read at Kotaku about Ubisoft’s new DRM system crashing and locking out paying customers in the process. Ok let face it, despite what EALA have said, Command & Conquer 4’s online requirement, where you need to be connected to the internet at all times to play the game is a form of DRM. You could call it DRM in disguise if you wanted to. Once you have your copy of Command & Conquer 4 installed, every time you start the game it will “dial home” to EA’s servers to check your allowed to play it. Ok this fine, hopefully it fights the pirates, but as the story on Kotaku mentions, servers go down and the game no longer works. But the real part that stings is the fact that Ubisoft’s new DRM system doesn’t work because it has already been cracked, and all it does is inconvenience the gamers who paid for the game, yet the pirates play on happily. When it should be the other way around.

Is this what we have to look forward to? Imagine this after the release of the game. All you want to do is fire up Command & Conquer 4 and play some single player. But sadly EA’s Command & Conquer 4 servers don’t appear to be responding, so sorry you don’t get to the play the game you paid for. I guess we can only hope that EA’s servers are much better than Ubisoft’s. And lets not forget about the public relations and reaction if this happens. It has been nothing but a nightmare for Ubisoft, are EA looking down the same barrel?

Command & Conquer 4’s release is only just over a week away but this whole online requirement/DRM debate is something that will never go away.

Here’s another new wallpaper from Kane Nash. This one features the new and improved Nod Avatar from Command & Conquer 4. Now I become death, the destroyer of worlds.

1280×1024 | 1600×1200 | 1920×1200

This wallpaper is available in range of screen sizes. Pick yours from the links above.

(Thanks SSWarBird, InfernoFlameZERO) The first episode of the longanticipated comic video is online. Episode 1 An Unexpected Hero tells the story of…

While speaking with Gamasutra as part of a larger interview to be released in the coming weeks, Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight designer, Sam Bass praises Blizzard’s long time in development RTS, StarCraft II. Despite it being a competitors product. He feels it will be a positive to Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight and hopefully educate gamers in modern RTS play, and get back online and start playing the games. These are certainly some interesting comments. Here’s more from the article.

Click here to read the full story. This is sure to provide some heated discussion.

The time has come! The Command & Conquer: The Motion Comic is now available for your viewing pleasure.