|
|
|
|
|
Red Alert 3 Post-NDA Information |
|
This Page has been viewed 6,294 times
The Background and Influences of the Empire of the Rising Sun Faction
Matt's Presentation was about the Empire of the Rising Sun, and what had influenced that side. The concept came from various places, not just the Anime that you have doubtless seen. Firstly, there was a lot of looking at what historically Japanese had used in the two world wars. From there came the Battleship and Shinobi. The colors and theme were chosen from old things like Zero (fighter) paint jobs, the Japanese flag, and even earlier history with samurai and temples.
Samurai armor, traditional demon masks, ninjas were all taken into account. The special powers were also taken from WWII with balloon bombs and kamikazes. Then there is more of the futuristic Japanese feel that you see in the "left of center anime". Transforming units, schoolgirls, transforming units, lasers, and more transforming units. The Sea-Wing flips over and becomes the Sky-Wing; going from submerged to flying unit.
For the development process, some units were easy to make, others were hard. The Sea-Wing was finished successfully after the first try, but the Sudden Transport took many times to do. They had to create something that looked how it acted. Lightly armored, carrying units, looking like other units, etc. all had to be taken into effect. And of course, there are Ninjas ingame. Nuclear Night Ninjas perhaps.
The Mechanics of the Empire of the Rising Sun Faction
The Empire of the Rising Sun is a different side. They've led a life in the shadows while the Allies and Soviets battle each other, and then suddenly appear by attacking the Soviets for no apparent reason. They are honorable, fierce, self-sacrificing soldiers that do what it takes to win.
The Empire build method was one of the most interesting. The Construction Yard builds Cores. A Core is a unit which drives around and then unpacks into the building. So there is no build radius with the Empire, but it takes a bit of time for the building to unpack. So you've gotta be careful that you don't deploy it near enemy units. But on the other hand, you can deploy these cores ANYWHERE on the map. That's handy.
The First Public Multiplayer Battle of Red Alert 3
The battle between Sonic and I was rather sad. We were both Allies, which led to some interesting possibilities. I went ahead and built two refineries first, and then sent some Dogs out to scout. The fog of war isn't revealed on higher ground (up cliffs) unless you go up on top of the hill. Then you can see a very far distance. So I put two dogs on cliffs overlooking his base so I could see what was up there. There were some minor skirmishes between infantry and then some IFVs. I then decided to 'borrow' his Construction Yard with an engineer. Then I sold it as he was about to take it back only to find that there was another engineer who appeared when I sold it! So I then borrowed his War Factory and then it was game over.
I won so convincingly that Greg Black challenged me to a battle. He was Empire, and I was Allies. I didn't know, but he had Refineries on the Naval parts right away, so he was getting much more money than me. I teched up to Tier 2, and built quite a few tanks and javelin soldiers. Then would have worked nicely except I toggled the tanks to Laser Designator mode which make them not fire. So he managed to beat my non-firing tanks with a few of his. He used a few Mecha Tengus to fly around and destroy my harvesters, which I found out worked very well. I couldn't catch them with my IFVs, so then I was really low on cash and he had another wave coming in.
Then I clicked the Red Alert button not knowing what it was. I built quite a few javalin soldiers to take out his tanks, but they were killed by more Mecha Tengus. I was unsure why my buildings were slowly dying and why I couldn't build any more. It was the Red Alert button that they "forgot" to mention. So, watch out, Greg Black! Now that I know your cheap parlor tricks, I will defeat you next time!
The Multiplayer Tournament
After lunch that day, we had a multiplayer tournament. By another chance of "randomness" I was pitted against Hexetic. I had by this time schooled him in Kane's Wrath (which by the way, I'd never played multiplayer before), so he was itching for revenge. I was Random, which gave me the Empire, which I had never played multiplayer before, and he was Soviets. For someone who was (by what he said) "not a
multiplayer guy," he was surprisingly adept at rushing.
Tactical Error 1: Assuming he was mostly noob and wouldn't rush.
I was expecting a later attack, so I tried to boost my economy at the start. Then he visited me with five Sickles, which are terribly good against harvesters. They crushed my two harvesters on land and then went after my buildings. I was building Mecha Tengus to take out his Sickles. I had plenty of money to construct such vehicles, as I had two Refineries on the water which he had not touched. Unfortunately, I didn't use their secondary ability, which is to transform into flying units. That way, he could destroy them one by one as they emerged from the Mecha Bay.
Tactical Error 2: Not using the secondary ability and not grouping my Mechas for the attack.
Seeing I was losing, I retreated to the water with my Construction Yard blown up. I had a dock and a Generator and a few Refineries. I started building Minisubs in preparation for the assault that was coming. The Minisubs took out quite a few of his Stingrays, which only could hit the Minisubs when they were surfaced. And they didn't do too much damage. Then Hexetic started bringing Akula subs. That was the final blow that caused the end of the game. That and the Twinblade choppers.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have gone with 4 refineries before building a Mecha Bay. So, while the tournament was Single Elimination, I should have been out. However, Hexetic was content with his minor victory over me and chose to let me take his place in the tournament.
So the next player was somebody I don't even remember. I turned out to be the Empire again, and he was Soviets. Hex was the first person I had seen the Sickle rush from, so this time I was prepared for it. When the 4 Sickles came in, I was prepared with 5 Mecha Tengus and 6 or so Tankbusters AND a Defender VX. When they stopped the rush dead it its tracks then I went ahead and built up to 8 Tengus and 12 Tankbusters and walked over and leveled the enemy base. Not much problem. The match was over in a few minutes.
The third round, I had a bye in. Then came the semi-finals. I was against someone from Germany whose name I forgot. I was Soviet and he was Allied. He tried another interesting tactic against me. He built a bunch of Riptides and headed to my base. Luckily, I saw them before they attacked, so I moved my Construction Yard from the water on to the land. That way they couldn't use their torpedoes.
Now it seems that all the tech 1 units are very powerful. Not only the Sickles, but also the Riptides and the Mechas. I had 3 or 4 Sickles built at this point, so I sent them over to his base.
Tactical Error 1: Not defeating his forces before sending mine to attack his base.
I wasn't aware that the Riptides would do so much damage with their machine guns, so they quickly took out my Ore Collectors and started working on my buildings. I wasn't in too much trouble, as I had two Tech Derricks captured, so I was still getting some money.
Author's note: The computers were provided with bluetooth mouses, so when you have that many in a room, it doesn't work out. We switched the mouses for corded mouses, but I had one that was very laggy. It caused me to misplace some buildings and then to sell my War Factory.
Tactical Error 2: When you're low on cash and units, don't sell your War Factory.
That pretty much sealed my loss there. If I would have concentrated on his units (they would have died very quickly) and then headed to his base, I would have won. I could have even won if I would not have lost my War Factory. I didn't have enough cash to rebuild and build up my economy.
If I would have made it to the final match, then I would have faced a really good competitor. I am not sure if I would have been able to beat him. He was rather good at what he did, but if I would have used my powers and special abilities I might have had a chance.
Closing Statements
So what can I say about the gameplay? It's quite fun! There were a few times I was playing in fun games that the secondary abilities were so fun. I had a few Striker VXs against some Mecha Tengus. So I couldn't attack them when they were on the ground, so I transformed into Chopper VXs and then started hitting them. They couldn't hit back, so the enemy transformed them into Jet Tengus, which then could hit me, but I couldn't hit them. So I transformed back into Strikers and then took him out. That sort of mechanic is pretty fun I think.
I wasn't used to having the special powers available to me, but when you have those at your disposal too, they can really turn the tide of the battle. Properly use some abilities to tractor beam up your enemy's tanks and then drop them back down on him! Place a time bomb in your base, then chronoshift it in the middle of his units right before it blows up. And the new build mechanics are pretty cool.
There are some issues that we did run into, and they're working on most of them. One is that some of the unit special abilities are not the most useful. But for the most part, this is really a leap forward in C&C gameplay. The diverse sides and multitude of special abilities and powers will provide for many different ways to play the game. And the water? It not only looks good, but you have to control it if you want to win the game! This should be one C&C game that you're looking forward to play quite a bit.
|
|
|
| | | User Comments | | The following comments are owned by the user that posted them. Command & Conquer Files is not responsible for their content.
Total comments: 4 | Last comment: 07-23-2008 at 09:08
DarthAlexia
Joined: June 30th, 2008
Posts: 11 | no offence but your not to bright |
simon1812
Joined: March 14th, 2007
Posts: 582 | I cant believe they actually went for the Nuclear Night Ninjas perhaps idea  |
JohnWE (Staff)
From:  (Minneapolis, MN)
Joined: October 3rd, 2004
Posts: 1256 | I didn't do the greatest in the tournament, no. But, I do learn from my mistakes, yes. |
simon1812
Joined: March 14th, 2007
Posts: 582 | "There are some issues that we did run into, and they're working on most of them. One is that some of the unit special abilities are not the most useful."
- which special units abilities wasnt most useful? and what other issues do you mean? |
When posting comments, you must follow these rules:- No "Yay I got First Post!" posts, no exceptions and no matter what other content the post has!
- No Pornographic Material. Any sexually oriented imagery or links to such content will not be tolerated.
- No Warez or Illegal Software. This includes linking to software, posting about it, and suggesting to get it.
- No Cursing or Swear words. We encourage you to use our comment sections as a forum to debate files, news, etc., but please use proper adjectives to express yourself. We will not tolerate abuse upon another member or author.
- No Attacks / Retaliation of any kind against a member, or group of members.
- Please do not advertise for other sites or forums here.
- Maximum of 3 smileys per regular member.
The high interactivity of this site should be considered a luxury, not a right. If you cannot follow these simple rules, you can and will be warned or banned from the comments, site or the entire network for any period of time.
Now enjoy yourself and behave!
| |
|
|
Featured Content
