Command and Conquer Junkie

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!

The French C&C fansite, Time of War, sends word that they have posted a few charts of all the units in Tiberian Twilight.  Included in the charts is information on which units counter which, by type and by combat class.  For example, Nod Offensive units vs. GDI Defensive units.

They also have a bunch of pages describing all the units in detail, including statistics about their construction time, etc.

Alors si vous parlez français, voyez le site de Time of War.

As the C&C 4 release (March 16th in the US) gets closer, EA has begun releasing a lot more information about the game. Here’s a quick roundup:

• The Ascension Trailer, the official C&C 4 theatrical trailer is released and shows off the new C&C 4 story very well.
• A new video interview with Lead Designer Sam Bass is up, focusing on the telling of the C&C 4 story. It’s probably the most encouraging piece yet about the game.
• Developer Q&A #18 and #19 are up. #18 contains the worrying news that the game will only ship with 12 skirmish and multiplayer maps.
• IGN has a new Dev Diary video.
• The February edition of Battlecast Primetime is up, with a sneak peek at C&C 4, as well as the new C&C motion comic.
• Raj Joshi, producer of C&C 4, has a long interview with VideoGamesDaily about the new style EA is pursuing for the project. Worth a read if you want to understand his perspective on games some more.

Neon Glory

By TiberianFiend

Here’s a great 6 player Red Alert 3 map from TiberianFiend. A highly detailed and busy night-scene cityscape, crammed full of opportunities for garrison, defence and attack.
The map contains little water, which means that the naval aspect of building your army really has no value, so Naval Yards are disabled. You will need to build a strong wing of armour and infantry, keep your wits about you and concentrate as you put your battle plans into action. Head over to the downloads section for your copy, but first, have a closer look by using the thumbnails below.
 

Author’s Description: A normal 6 player skirkmish map. The limited water area means that you cannot build a naval force - however, the urban landscape provides a large advantage to players who use infantry.

Click to Download: Neon Glory

It’s a time of major progress over at our in house mod, C&C 3: The Forgotten. We’re officially ready to move into beta stage, we’re making great progress on missions (you’ll see some more in our next update, thanks to our new mapper Predatore), and the art team is doing great work as usual while coder extraordinaire CommieDog gets it all in game. It’s time for some of you to see the results. If you want to contribute to the mod by playtesting and providing careful, insightful feedback, visit our Beta Application page to explain why we should bring you on board.

Second, our Head Artist Tsumetai has finished up the MCV and Conyard, both of which you can see below. As always, there’s more art on our Media page.

Lastly, Kane Nash has completed another impressive piece of promotional art, depicting an intense battle between the superpowers and The Forgotten.

Over at our in-house mod, C&C 3: The Forgotten, we’re back only a few weeks after releasing the first theatrical trailer in modding–which garnered almost 20,000 views in that short time. Shortly after we announced that we would be the first mod ever to feature a full campaign accompanied by high definition videos, we were named one of the top 100 mods for any game by Moddb. The second round of voting has begun in the Mod of the Year contest, and we would greatly appreciate your vote.

Today, we’re here to show off some more of our gameplay, revealing three new units from The Forgotten’s air force. Below you can see in-game screenshots of the Logistics Blimp (by Nielsen), and check out a promotional piece of concept art of the Sidewinder, Logistics Blimp, and Transport Plane (by Kane Nash).

The Logistics Blimp is a tactical support unit that caters to commanders who love finesse. Gliding high above the battlefield, it offers Forgotten commanders excellent tactical views–permitting friendly units to fire farther. It also can jam nearby enemy missiles. The Sidewinder is a basic attack aircraft. It has one accurate nose cannon that excels at picking off infantry, and six wing guns which spray the battlefield with bullets. The Transport plane is used in a Forgotten special ability, permitting them to quickly airdrop units and spread out over the map. The final unit in The Forgotten’s air force is the already-announced Impact Drone. You can read about all of these units on our Units page, and see pictures and videos of them on our Media page.

Remember, if you haven’t already voted, the team would love your support in the Mod of the Year awards. We think The Forgotten’s story deserves to be told, and we appreciate your effort in spreading the word. Like our group of rebels, true C&C stories won’t be forgotten.

An official Mapping Competition is under way over at ProWB’s site, who are putting up 3 beta keys as prizes for the following entry categories:

C&C Tiberium Wars/Kane’s Wrath maps

C&C Generals/Zero Hour maps

C&C Red Alert 3 Maps

Winners will not only receive a beta key, but the winning entries will be highlighted on the main EA forum under 2POC’s Weekly Map Madness Feature.

Map judging will be based on the following areas:
Visual – If your map is considered to be the best visual in the contest you will win.
Scripting – If your map contains some of the most fun-inducing/dynamic scripts in the contest you will win.
Design/Shape – If your map features a structure which is even and fair - whilst providing an interesting battlefield that is appealing; you will win.
Beta keys will be awarded to the winners of each C&C universe, therefore you need to produce a map that covers one of the features to be judged; in order to win the Beta key for Command and Conquer 4 - Tiberium Twilight!

Deadline for map submissions is 23rd January 2010

Further competition details from Here.

The second round of voting has begun at Mod DB for their 2009 Mod of the Year Awards. During this round, the top 100 released and upcoming mods nominated in the first round are being voted on, to narrow the field down to a handful of winners.

Nearly 20 C&C mods have been nominated, including our in-house C&C 3 mod, The Forgotten.  Here are some of the other nominees, from around the community:

Best Upcoming

Red Alert 3

Tiberium Wars

Best Released

Tiberium Wars

Generals: Zero Hour

Just in time for Christmas (and Mod of the Year voting) comes what we consider one of the biggest C&C modding announcements ever, and one we’ve kept under wraps for months now: in true C&C fashion, we will be telling The Forgotten’s story through immersive 1080p full motion video, the first mod to include such a feature. It’s something we knew we wanted to try to do, because there’s simply something innately C&C about hearing and seeing the characters central to your mission. As a Forgotten commander, you will interact directly with former Nod spy and current Forgotten political leader Salvadore Trogan (played by Rick Desilets) as you lead a rebellion no one else thought possible.

The full motion videos are written by Blbpaws, directed by Alex Laferriere, and produced by Nick Allain and Steven DiTullio. You can see all our other work on our Media page on the mod’s site. Think you’d be an asset to the team? Let us know! We’re always looking for talented people, mappers, voice artists, and 2D artists in particular.