Detonato: I’m DetoNato, the creator of “The Power of High-tech Warfare” mod and the leader of this team. The first member was Hellfire_Fox (Betatester, Translater). He started out as a beta tester and now helps to translate the TPoHW encyclopaedia, wherein you can read about some details of the game world. After I announced the demo, xDevilerancex joined. He has made the first multiplayer maps for the mod. And recently Helge129 (Modeller, Consultant, Skinner), ReFlex (Modeller, Skinner) and CaptainIraq (Mapper, Coder) joined the team. So the team is just 6 people still.

New building effects are shown.

Mr.Funsocks: The models and particles in this mod look very impressive, are there any plans to move the mod to Command and Conquer 3 when it comes out? And if so, how does your team plan to accomplish this?

Detonato: Indeed, we plan to finish the first chapter, called Apocalypse, for C&C3. Moving the mod to C&C3 will require a lot of coding changes and improvements, of course, but I’m pretty confident that we’ll be able to accomplish this.

The particles in this mod are the best around!

Mr.Funsocks: Can you tell us a little bit more about "fortress mode" and the new ability "lance strike"?

Detonato: TPoHW has 4 base modes. Each of them significantly changes the game play. “Fortress mode” is great if you would like to play long games. It is also great for beginners ‘cause the wall avoids all rushes for the first minutes in the game. Just upgrade a wall segment to a sentry gun or bunker and the enemy has to retreat. This doesn’t mean that you can’t destroy the wall, however – strong units like “renegades” or “boss renegades” can create large gaps in your defences. “Boss renegade” is the point where I transition to the lance strike. If you saw the trailer, the unit in the animated render is the Boss Core defender. The Boss Core defender can throw his lances. If the lances hit the ground, the green glowing energy cores change the weather. Enemies must then destroy the lances as fast as they can, in order to quickly force them back into outer space.

Mr.Funsocks: Have you filled in the positions for Mapper and Model Animator yet?

Detonato: No, I haven’t filled these positions yet. I’m still looking for experienced people who would like to help us for C&C3 conversion as well. We plan to use the units and structures from Generals for the human factions, but to add more details. We could also use a Mapper who would make some single-player or multiplayer maps for our upcoming demo.

Mr.Funsocks: You've announced that there will be new game types like co-op, headhunter, and space fights. Can you explain more about these new styles of game play?

Dazzling new infantry unit.

DetoNato:

• Co-op: Co-op will look like generals challenge, except you will fight with friends against the TPoHW Generals or play some other special missions as a team. It will be a feature released for the C&C3 conversion.
• Space fights: One of my biggest innovations yet was the space fights I made for the first alpha of TPoHW. You can regard this game type as being similar to Homeworld’s skirmish mode, except each faction will have a different style used to build up their space base. It will be a feature for the C&C3 conversion, as well.
• Headhunter: In Headhunter mode, you have to destroy the enemy’s commander unit. For this, you capture control points, to increase your power level, and factories to build units. Since this game type allows no kind of base building, you have to rush to get a lot of the control point and factories before your enemy beats you to it. So, this game type is a really fast one, and will be included in the demo.

Detonato: I reduced the number of factions to 3, though each one will have about 5 generals. The human faction is an alliance between USA, Europe, Asia Pact, Russia and the United Arab Kingdom. The next two factions are the Witches and the cybernetic creature, which I call DetoNato. DetoNato Generals include himself, Sattania, Battle Suite and CISS. In the Demo you will only be able to play as the USA and Sattania. Additionally, a special feature is planned to increase the variations of each General, but its details are still a secret.

New units gathering from the old supply pile.

Mr.Funsocks: What makes The Power of High-Tech Warfare different from other mods?

Detonato: The biggest difference between this mod and others is its mass of ideas. I made an improved construction yard building system which is almost like that of the classic C&C’s, but with a bit more speed. Another example is the fortress mode: I guess nobody really thought that it would be possible to place walls resembling those in “Battle for Middle Earth 1”. Also, the graphics in TPoHW are something special because I use a lot of shaded objects and particle effects. Lastly, the all of the dark units and the Witches are kind of mysterious: there probably isn’t any other mod with this kind of story – TPoHW is a new C&C universe.

The explosions and the particles are a beauty for the eyes.

Mr.Funsocks: Is there any release date as of now? If not, is there any idea of when the mod will come out?

Detonato: I can’t say when the release for C&C3 is, but we plan to release the Zero Hour Demo in February or March 2007.

Mr.Funsocks: Where did you get the idea for the mod?

Detonato: I don’t know. I just got them, but it took some years to create the story for the 6 planned chapters, the whole game world, the units and structures.

Mr.Funsocks: Was there any limitations that the game engine has brought to you? If so, how did you manage to fix these problems.

Detonato: The hardest problems were in making the construction yard system. My first 3 versions were still buggy. Now, it works almost perfectly and is based on fast game play. For example, you can build 3 power plants at the same time.

Yet more building effects, but this time on water.

Mr.Funsocks: Is there any "extra special" units you wouldn't mind sharing with us?

Detonato: Well, in the first alpha of TPoHW the USA was weak and DetoNato was overpowered. Now the USA will have units which have the same power as the DetoNato ones. Which new units the USA will get is still a secret, but they will have powerful units, too. Just wait for the next news updates to learn more about them.

At last I want to thank CnCGeneralsWorld and its founder MicScoTho for his support. And I want to thank my great team members for their job. And thanks to you, Mr.Funsocks, for this interview.

Mr.Funsocks: No, thank you Detonato for your time.