Leaderboard

And Red Alert 2 again. I released new remake. More powerful than Motorized! It took from me almost one week to remake it and to change some things a bit. http://download.ccassault.com/museum/music/solomusic/Burn.mp3 INSANELY HARD WORK...

Hello, and welcome to another Tiberian Dawn: Ground Zero development update! Like last time, this is more like an outline for the gameplay. However, this should be the last one before we get into the real meat of the updates. As in, some of the stuff we've been cooking up under the hood. To start us off, huge shout out to @CCHyper! He made us a new logo, featured above, and it's super awesome! OverviewAs mentioned, vehicles won't have quite the same amount of focus as they have in the past. Don't expect to see, for example, large battalions of Medium Tanks rushing the enemy base with the same amount of regularity as in APB, TSR, or IA. Rather, they will be designed to play a supplementary role. Furthermore, expect them to have a few more weaknesses than in the past, namely closer cameras, slower turret turning rates, and a more advanced weak point system. The compensation, however, is the sheer amount of power they will pack. They'll be able to both take and dish out a significant amount of punishment, and in the right hands, can turn the tide of battle. In short, while you probably won't see Mammoth rushes, just one Mammoth can do a lot of damage in the right hands, but a skilled and coordinated team can take it down. Shared VehiclesSUPPLY TRUCK Standard affair here. Supply Trucks, much like in APB, are low-tier, cheap transports that will allow players to refill their armor and ammunition after being inside for a short period of time. HARVESTER You gotta get money somehow. The Tiberium Harvester is the most important vehicle in your arsenal, being the source of your income and all. TRANSPORT HELICOPTER Flying buses. Take yourself and up to 5 friends around the battlefield. I'd love to say something more interesting, but you guys already know what's up, so I dunno what to add. GDI Vehicles HUMVEE Your basic scout vehicle, this low cost option is the perfect choice for getting the lay of the land early in the game. Lightly armored and armed with an FN MAG, this is also a good choice for chasing down enemy infantry... provided they have no Rocket Soldiers or vehicles. ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER Similar in visuals and function to APB, this is a squad's best friend. It's armored shell can protect up to 5 passengers, and it's deadly M2HB machine gun can ward off infantry and lightly armored targets. MEDIUM TANK If you want to go hunting enemy vehicles, the Medium Tank is your best friend. While a slower turret rotation means it won't be able to hit infantry as well as past W3D games, it's range and firepower more than makes up for it. Any GDI team would do well to have a few of these escorting the team. MULTIPLE LAUNCH ROCKET SYSTEM GDI's artillery unit subscribes to a single philosophy: "Paint an area with death until it dies." While it may not be the best choice for destroying vehicles, it is good for taking out bases from afar, as well as devastating dug-in infantry. MAMMOTH TANK The vehicle that has become the face of C&C. Armed to the teeth and heavily armored, this is GDI's go-to siege unit. While it's slow speed and slow turret rotation might not make it ideal for taking out enemy vehicles, it's more than capable of taking on Nod defenses. And let's not forget the TUSK missiles, which will help give it an edge against pesky infantry and aircraft. ORCA As the First Tiberium War raged on, GDI quickly realized that it needed a fast attack unit to counter Nod's hit and run tactics. Enter: the ORCA. Chase down enemy vehicles, drop a bunch of Hellfire rockets on their faces, return to base to re-arm, rinse and repeat. Nod VehiclesBUGGY Lighter, faster, and squishier than the Humvee, Nod's classic buggy makes for a good early game scout unit. It's machine gun makes it ideal for taking out squads of infantry. Against vehicles, though... Nod has a solution. RECON BIKE Now for the other half of Nod's early game Dynamic Duo, the Recon Bike. The fastest unit on the battlefield, and armed with missile launchers, this is the perfect hit-and-run vehicle, as well as the best choice for chasing down enemy ORCAs. Be careful, however, because with it's fast speed comes the lowest health of the vehicle roster. LIGHT TANK Since the announcement of GZ, some of you have raised concern about our decision to stick with an upgunned Bradley as opposed to looking for a different tank. Well, the decision wasn't made purely on visual merits. Nod's Light Tank will pull double duty as an APC, able to carry 3 passengers. This, combined with the 76mm gun, will help secure Nod's footing in a war against superior firepower. ARTILLERY Nod's preliminary field support/siege weapon, this mobile howitzer is ideal for shelling the enemy base or taking out dug-in infantry. Not that it won't do considerable damage to vehicles as well; there's just more optimal choices for it. Oh, and don't worry about trying to line your hull up with your target; Ground Zero will be using the Raad-2, which means you will have some limited access to a turret. Said turret will have a traverse limit, so you'll need friends to watch your back. Literally. FLAME TANK Heavily armored, short ranged, and packing a ton of literal firepower, this is Nod's battering ram. If you can get them into the GDI base, they will happily burn it to the ground for you. It's a risk/reward unit, especially since it won't have a turret and will be outranged by most other units, but it will have a high DPS and could be crucial for destroying the base. STEALTH TANK A natural evolution of the Phase Tank, this is perhaps the perfect ambush unit. It waits in silence on the highway's edge, waits for it's prey to pass, quickly launches it's anti-tank missiles... and then disappears as quickly as it arrived. Bear in mind that the Lazarus stealth shield will be your only defense against the enemy. If you're caught, your low health will drop fast. SSM LAUNCHER A lot of thought went into making sure the SSM didn't overshadow the Artillery. Ultimately, in my mind, it came down to comparing them to Age of Empires 2. Hear me out; the Artillery is the Scorpion, the MRLS is the Onager, the Flame Tank is the Battering Ram... and the SSM Launcher is the Trebuchet. Slow and steady, somewhat squishy, packing serious firepower (as in, two napalm-tipped Honest John missiles), and sporting incredible range. Be mindful of your surroundings, though, as the SSM will not be able to fire at close targets. APACHE Nod's air support unit is focused less on hit-and-run tactics and more on staying power. Armed with an autocannon and frag rockets, this will serve as an excellent support unit for Nod, and will be able to reasonably engage GDI infantry and light armor. Skilled pilots may even be able to soften enemy defenses and do some serious damage to ORCAs. ConclusionYeah, this took longer than usual, but I've been busy in my real life. Plus, development has kind of slowed to help focus on Reborn (2.0 HYPE!!!). Next time, we've got some cool stuff to show off, so stay tuned!

<<<Incoming Transmission>>> Concerning news, brothers. We have recently lost contact with one of our strike teams -- their status: unknown. We have only this piece of footage from the field before communications went dark. We do not yet know what to make of this, though soon intel will discover more. Be advised. [blurb]Concerning news, brothers. We have recently lost contact with one of our strike teams -- their status: unknown.[/blurb] <<<Transmission Offline>>>

I'm of the camp that, in spite of all the real life difficulties (which I recognize), still tries to consider how and why such designs would be implemented. It's just more fun to think of how to get around the obstacles and come up with reasons for why this design would be chosen, instead of just dismissing everything outright. So that would be our starting point: why do it? There are a number of considerations. 1) It is intended to be a "mobile fortress" instead of a "tank". This is already sort of implied by the armaments and other features it has, such as the self-healing. If we look past video game logic, these features could in real life be more sophisticated functions, e.g carrying emergency supplies, extra fuel, extra parts, etc. Same goes for the weapons systems: it's not literally firing two cannons and the missile launchers, but is instead equipped to deliver different types of firepower, depending on what the current target is. Air units would be dealt with using missiles, and the cannons can bombard enemy positions. I think it's fair to assume the Mammoth is expected to attack at long ranges instead of fighting up close in tight quarters (e.g urban warfare). So if one imagines it as a "battleship turret on land", it's not quite as ridiculous anymore. Yeah, artillery could take it out, but a moving target is already a big step up in difficulty. AA rockets may pose a greater threat, but to have a safe bet, you'd need to be close and at an angle where the Mammoth can't easily fire back. Engage on an open field, and you're likely to die well before you could get a shot off. 2) With the above in mind, a Mammoth would probably suit defensive action much better. You have this beast presenting a big and dangerous target, and it can take a beating, so it will both attract enemy attention and keep them occupied. This can be quite valuable if you've got friendlies nearby, especially if they're setting up an ambush. Fighting all on your own is bad in any vehicle, so it's not really worth considering scenarios where Nod has 30 troops flanking one Mammoth from all around. It's more interesting to consider how it cooperates with other units. That said, offense could work as well, albeit not in the long term. The Mammoth would have a hard time keeping up with advancing units, and no doubt a lot of heavy-duty logistics would need to follow it as well. As a breakthrough tank (much like the Pz VI, i.e Tiger), however, it could work, again by delivering lots of firepower and forcing the enemy to focus on it. If only limited ranges are required in the first place, then this can be an effective tool. Really, you have to consider it this way: it's a bulldozer, not a truck. One is expected to be at the construction site, driving back and forth to bulldoze things. The other (i.e a smaller tank) is expected to make long distance trips reliably. 3) Crew safety. Obviously you're in a bigger target, so there is an increase in risk, but you are also effectively carrying your shelter with you. And no equipment is more valuable than its crew. The former can always be replaced, the latter is much harder to replace (the experience gained is lost forever). Not to mention that, since the Mammoth can draw fire to itself, it can increase the safety of other units nearby. Given the resources GDI has at its disposal, this seems like an acceptable tradeoff. 4) Fear factor. Just imagine seeing that giant beast rolling toward you, its engine rumbling and its massive cannons going off, destroying entire buildings around you. No doubt part of the Mammoth's mission would just be to scare off the enemy and remind everyone who's boss. And if you're the only one who can build a Mammoth, you will be a lot more scary than the other powers, who can only afford "lesser vehicles".

That's great to hear. I am still thinking about to compose music for Tiberian Sun, did not choose an idea yet.

The game has gotten an entire over haul. Every unit now feels useful in their own way, gameplay mechanics have changed along with many maps, and there are a few surprises. Best of all this is just the beginning to the Endgame.

It was really hard to combine different instruments inside one track, something could be better if I had better instruments. It is still very hard for me to make industrial parts of a song, to be honest. But somehow I did a remake of Burn, maybe because that melody itself wanted to be in a sequencer, lol Yes, I agree, you can include any of my C&C-songs, they are all free for download. I will continue to make something for Command & Conquer series, since Red Alert 1 & 2, Tiberian Sun, and of course Renegade - these are my favourite games.

Great work man! Dibs and I liked Motorized too. Can we include the tracks in RA2:AR, credits to you? If you keep making these tracks we might want to hire you as a music composer >:D