Command & Conquer 3 Interview February 09, 2007 John JCal Callaham

Introduction

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FiringSquad: First, why did EALA decide to return to the classic C&C universe for its next game, rather than a new Red Alert game as was previously announced?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: Even though it’s been years since the release of Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun, we’ve never really left the Tiberium universe – we’ve been working on the next chapter in the Tiberium series in one form or another for a very long time. We’re very excited to revisit this popular Command & Conquer universe and it is my personal favorite. A great many people on the team are passionate about Command & Conquer – we have three generations of Command & Conquer fans working on this next game.

For those who aren’t familiar with Command & Conquer, I thought it might be helpful to provide a little background on the story in Command & Conquer 3. The game takes place in a dark future where Tiberium – a toxic self-replicating crystal of alien origin - is slowing taking over the Earth. Tiberium is both a gift and a curse. It is the ultimate resource, solving all of humanity’s energy problems. But it is also the worst ecological catastrophe in history. Tiberium has been the catalyst for a series of devastating world wars that split the human race into two powerful factions: The Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod (Nod). GDI is an alliance of advanced nations similar to the UN of today, while Nod is a virulent new form of superpower – a stateless hybrid of terrorist organization, religion, and corporation.

The game opens with the start of the Third Tiberium War, the most violent and nasty conflict in the long twilight struggle between GDI and Nod over Tiberium and the fate of the human race. During this global firestorm the stakes will get even higher: Humanity will learn that it is not alone in the universe and that it is not the only race fighting for Tiberium.

New to Command & Conquer 3 is a third faction - an alien race called the Scrin introduced in the middle of our single player campaign. The arrival of the Scrin opens up the C&C universe and provides a tremendous third act reversal in the game story.

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FiringSquad: What's the toughest thing about bringing back the classic C&C setting after several years and making it fresh for both fans of the series and new players?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: You’ve put the finger on the most difficult challenge we’ve faced: Making a game that is fresh but familiar, that has the innovation and new features you’d expect from a state-of-the-art 2007 RTS game but is also a Command & Conquer game at heart. I think we’ve found the right balance. Command & Conquer 3 is built on fast, fluid, and fun RTS game play, a terrific single player experience with 38 missions and a rich story told through the FMV cutscenes (will be familiar to fans of the series), and innovative new multiplayer modes that turn RTS into a spectator sport. People who have never played a Command & Conquer game will get a chance to experience the fast and furious gameplay and the deep story that have inspired millions of fans throughout the years. Those who love Command & Conquer will feel like they are coming home.

For the Xbox 360 specifically, we also found ways to make the game more accessible. We’ve introduced a streamlined interface that allows you to control the various parts of your army in the heat of battle even while your units or structures are not on the screen. For example, as the GDI player you can select and control your base’s War Factory from any part of the map, tell it to build some Predator tanks, and then send those tanks to your current location all from within the same interface.

FiringSquad: The GDI and Nod conflict is of course the centerpoint of the C&C universe but you are also bringing in a new alien threat as a third playable faction. Why was this decision made?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: The foundation for the alien presence was put into place during Tiberian Sun – we got a definite clue in that game that the universe was bigger than just GDI and Nod. And it feels good to be finally opening up the fiction and taking the storyline to the next level. There are also game reasons to introduce a new faction.

GDI and Nod have very well-defined identities and associated gameplay styles. At a basic level, the GDI player will rely on massive firepower to win games, building tanks and aircraft that are heavily armed and armored and engaging opponents directly with a frontal assault. Nod players rely on speed and stealth, controlling maneuverable and somewhat exotic units that tend to be smaller and faster - and are better suited to guerrilla tactics. Both of these are the classic strategies in the Command & Conquer universe.

The Scrin faction introduces a new play style. The alien player will use both finesse and brute force at different times during a game. Alien early game units are weaker than their GDI and Nod counterparts and the Scrin player must be fast on his feet to stay alive, but if you let the Scrin player climb the tech tree, you’ll face the most powerful units in the game: Huge tripod walkers with three independently targeted beam weapons, vast flying artillery platforms, carriers with swarms of fighters, and the ultimate mobile superweapon: A Scrin mothership that flies majestically across the battlefield until it reaches an enemy base. Then watch out.

Command and Conquer 3 Interview (con't)

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Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: Engineers can actually capture the hulks of destroyed mega-units like the 40 foot tall Nod Avatar walker, the hulking GDI Juggernaut artillery platform, or the Scrin Annihilator Tripod. This introduces a cool dynamic: You assume a degree of risk when you deploy these massively powerful units. If you lose the battle, your enemy might capture the hulks, repair them, and you may well face your own units in combat.
Another cool new game mechanic is information warfare. Nod can deploy decoy armies, jam radar, and create fake radar returns. The Scrin have an interesting relationship with Tiberium that allows some of their units to draw on the crystal directly, powering up certain weapons.

Also, we have a degree of customization that is quite powerful but doesn’t get in the way of our fast gameplay. For example, you can customize your Avatar walker by cannibalizing weapons and systems from other Nod units. Add a flame thrower, stealth generator, particle beam weapon, and stealth detector, and you have a very high end, highly customized battle robot. Also, some Scrin units can combine together to give you a “Best of Both Worlds” unit. GDI has the APC which takes on the abilities of the units it carries.

Finally, the sheer variety of superweapons and powers is a joy on the battlefield. You have classic superweapons like nukes and the Ion Cannon, but there are also cool new toys like the Rift Generator (which creates a black hole over your enemy’s base), a Catalyst missile you can use to detonate any Tiberium field, a summonable Ion Storm, orbital artillery, a force field that shifts your units partly into another dimension, and many other powers – not to mention wormholes, mind control, and teleportation.

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FiringSquad: What are some of the team's favorite new units to use in C&C 3?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: A few of the team favorites: GDI’s Juggernaut is a large walking artillery platform that can bombard structures from a distance. Alone it’s powerful, but combine it with the spotter in a sniper team and you can call in artillery strikes anywhere on the map. Nod’s Avatar Warmech is awesome with its ability to pick up weapons from other units and use them as its own. And the Scrin Annihilator Tripod is cool – it’s great to watch it engage three targets at the same time with three different beam weapons.

FiringSquad: The game returns to using live actors for the title's cut scenes and boasts an impressive cast list. How hard was it to film these scenes and then make them seem fairly seemless when incorporated into the game?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: The cast in Command & Conquer is amazing – featuring Josh Holloway, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Ironside, the return of Joe Kucan as Kane, and more. The actors truly add a depth and dimension to the story.

The mix of live action and CG to tell the story in the game is a hallmark of the Command & Conquer franchise. I’m a Command & Conquer fan at heart and I know that I really wanted to see the FMV sequences make a return appearance in Command & Conquer 3. We knew we had to do the movies… and we had to do them right. I believe these video sequences seamlessly tie the epic story together and offer a way for players to become immersed in the game.

FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the game's graphical features and are there any plans to release a DirectX10 patch for the game at some point?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: We’re very excited about the improvements we’ve made in the graphics for Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. In particular, our graphics engine has specularity for terrain and units, a new shadow system, new water, upgraded lighting, a real-time post FX system that allows us to create a mood and sense of place for each environment, and other major graphics features. We recently implemented a new terrain system that makes the game environments look incredible. We also have a new particle system that lets us create amazing pyrotechnics, smoke and haze on the battlefield, and weather effects. Finally, over the course of the project we have made several efforts in optimization to ensure that the game looks awesome while staying at a high frame rate. All of these improvements apply to both the Xbox 360 version and the PC version. As for DX10, we’ve thought about releasing a patch but in order to give players some incremental benefit but we really feel developers have to build for DX10 from the ground up.

Command and Conquer 3 Interview (con't)

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Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: We start with a game that is balanced well, has enough depth in each of the sides to allow robust early, mid, and late game dynamics, and plays fast with no hitches or lags. You need a great foundation in place before you can even entertain the idea of appealing to competitive gamers.

On top of the sound foundation for Command & Conquer 3, we’re adding new spectator modes with VOIP commentary and telestrator support, player and match rating systems, robust clan support, and a program guide that allows you to schedule matches, watch games in progress, and view replays of the most exciting matches played in the past (all stored on the central servers).

The match broadcast feature – which we’re calling “BattleCast” – will allow you to make your game available to literally thousands of spectators at a time (and if your game is rated high enough, the replay will be available for future viewing for an indefinite period).

We want to build the entire infrastructure to take competitive gaming to the next level. Ultimately the best players will be the ones who decide if we’ve succeeded and honor us by playing our game competitively.

FiringSquad: With all these pro gaming features is EA planning on a major C&C 3 tournament at some point?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: We haven’t made any announcements about a specific tournament, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted. You can always visit the game’s official site for more information www.commandandconquer.ea.com.

FiringSquad: How does the Xbox 360 version differ from the PC version and will the console port be released around the same time as the PC release?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: For the Xbox 360 specifically, we have made some significant upgrades to the control and game UI system that we introduced in The Lord of the Rings, Battle for Middle-earth II. Based on user feedback and our own observations we’ve not only found ways to improve the controls, like our short-cut systems, but have also found ways to improve the responsiveness of the controls. We’ve also introduced a new feature called cursor magnetism which acts as a sort of aim-assist, making it easier for you to select and control your units while in the thick of the action.

We’ll be featuring new multiplayer game modes including Conquer, Siege, and Capture the Flag. In Conquer mode, you build your armies up to a set point limit before the game starts and then defeat your opponent in a “no reinforcements” fight to the death. Siege is a “turtling” mode where a wall of energy is put up between the players that keeps them from attacking each other for the first 5 minutes of gameplay. Capture the Flag features a flag hidden in the middle of the map and each team that returns the flag to their base gets a point with the winner being the first player to 5 points.

The Xbox 360 version also features Capture & Hold and King of the Hill. Capture & Hold is a battlefield style of play in which there are 5 points in the map and the team that controls those points for the longest period of time is the winner. King of the Hill features one point to hold in the middle of the map, this makes for some very intense fighting and was one of our most popular modes from The Battle for Middle-earth II.

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FiringSquad: Will there be any mission editors and mod tools released for the game at some point?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: We’ll be releasing the world builder (editor) with the game and we’ll be working on a Mod SDK after release.

FiringSquad: Are there any plans for a beta test or demo for the PC version before its ship date and if so what will they contain?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: We haven’t announced anything, but we’ll keep you updated with any news.

FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Command and Conquer 3 at this time?

Mike Verdu and Michael Glosecki: Our team is extremely excited to be working with the Command & Conquer series, - many of us have been fans of the game series since the original Command & Conquer. The PC version is in stores March 28 and the Xbox 360 version will follow in the coming months. We hope you enjoy playing this game as much as we enjoyed making it – it’s been a real privilege to bring the next chapter of Command & Conquer to life.