Metaridley

We had a few talks in Discord again over the missing things in APB and i brainstormed some of them for a fitting gameplay experience in APB. Allies = Heli Carrier: I know it's a cut unit from aftermath but i still enjoying it when i use it with my custom rules.ini or mod in C&C RA Remastered. The Heli Carrier is a pure support unit like LSTs and the RJ and need protection from boats and longbows and delivers ammunation for Helis. In RA1 it can carry 5 Longbows/Hinds but in APB it should be just a mobile refill pad on water. It would be a great addition for HostileWaters since Sub Rushes on this map are nearly unblockable imo. One question for implementation is: should the Heli Carrier be stationary (with Q deploying on water) when Aircraft refills ammunation or can it still move to dodge incoming attacks? Camo Pillbox: The Camo Pillbox is another good problematic example (like dogs, tech centres and Advaned Power Plants) "how to implement this into the game) One Problem of the Camo Pillbox is, when player notice the position of the CPB, in all future gamesrounds it's a easy target because the camouflage/hiding aspect is obsolete. Points to implement it into the game: First, it has more armor than the standart Pillbox. Second, it should be not targetable until a enemy unit is really close to it. Third, it should be really flat, really really flat. Maps like Zama and siege would be fitting. What i notice by playing RA Remaster is allies can clearly see the CPB but for Soviets/Eneimes it's not colored in the enemies color and its really hard to spot in the terrain. Fourth and most important idea of my brainstorming. Remember the Coop Map for APB? The allies have terminals where they can invest into defense structures.. Obviously that didn't work for the CPB but here comes my idea. At the start of the Match, players have a timeframe of 60-90 seconds to run out the base and place a beacon or some sort of placeholder on a spot where the CPB should took place and deploying it. Not more than 2 or 3 should be possible, depending on the map. Shouldn't be re-buildable/re-deployable if it gets destroyed and can't shoot up/down to/from hills (thats the job for normal Pillboxes and Turrets) because it's so flat. But also it shouldn't cost anything but you have to deploy it at the start pretty fast. The second deploy idea would be multiple RNG areas on maps around/in the allied base where CPBs could be automatically set at the start of the round. But that would take the "strategic" element away from the defense. In combination with the Gap Generator it would be a pretty strong defense. (Spy Infiltrating) Sonar Pulse & Badger Bomber: We had a discussion how to make the Spy stronger. One of my ideas is the obvious power use. If a Spy got into a Sub Pen, the allies got the Power in their RD/NY/Tech Centre (depending on the map) for single use . Re-infiltrate make the power again usable. It shows subs pretty clear in the water. (It just my opinion or my eyesight isn't the best but it's really hard to see subs in the water) for 5-10 seconds. For Badger Bombers it's the same. If a spy infiltrate the Air Field, Allies can use one single Airstrike. Also used in their RD/NY/Tech Centre, map depending. GPS Satellite: Tbh it's really hard to come up with a use of the GPS Power in the game. First it's basically automatic and second we have no fog of war in APB. My only idea would be to detect the position of all enemy units after a amount of time (i guess it was 12 minutes in RA1?) until the game is over or the Tech Centre is destroyed. Maybe you have some ideas here. Soviets= Dogs, Chitzkoi & Kennel: The Attack Dog is the most important counter against allied spies and infantry in general and we need them in game (because we have some really good spy players in APB). They are faster than all other infantry and kill a soldier in one hit, even Tanya. "But Meta, what if the soviets destroy the allied vehicle production and the enemy comes with a lot of dogs? it's unbalanced" - People driving with Anti Inf Minelayers into the enemy base if allied Vehicle Production is dead, also allies rushing in the same case with APCs and Rangers into the Soviet base so this argument is invalid. Dogs have no Armor and can killed pretty easy by one player with good aim or 2-3 casual rifle soldiers. To give a spy a small counter against dogs, he can carry a "dog spray" (Anti Shark Bat Spray flashbacks) that paralyze or slow down the dog for 1-2 seconds so the spy can counter the dog. Because of Dogs the Kennel would be a new target for allied players to get rid of to make room for their spies and infantry. If Chitzkoi makes also hold in APB he would be a very pimped version of the Dog, also he would need oil to not make weird mechanical rusty sounds when he moves. If a Dog Player sees a Spy, he should see not the soldier facette, instead see a british black suited man that run for his life. Forward Command Post: Just thinking about a counterpart for the Map Seamist. Soviets have to defend their Command Post as important Building until they get reinforcements or nuke the attacking allied base out of existence. Spy Plane: Basically the same function as the GPS Satellite. It shows the position of all allied units for a few seconds but instead it is available after 3-5 Minutes and hold for 30 seconds. Doesn't work against units that below a Gap-generated Field. Badger, Parabombs, Paratroopers & Parachutes: Another Badger related Power. Soviets can call reinforcements in form of Bots, maybe for a decoy, maybe for help, maybe for attacking the enemy base. It works pretty well in the Coop Map tbh. Also Parabombs are basically a airstrike but instead of allied version of spy infiltration, soviets can use it multiple times until the round is over or the tech centre/air field is destroyed. Also WE - NEED - PARACHUTES - IN - THIS -GAME. Its so annoying if you lose your Hind/LB/Mig/Yak and fall into death. Every infantry unit that fall out of a weaponized aircraft should automatically have a parachute. But why not purchase a parachute? Because it would make a full chinhook extremly op. If all player have purchase a parachute, flying as team with a Chinhook and the Chinhook get destroyed over the enemy base, the enemy base is in pure chaos. The whole point of the Chinhook is sneaking into the base with the team and if it gets destroyed the whole heli team is fucked. Both Factions= Sandbags (Allies) and Barbed Wire (Soviets) (and Chain Link Fence): Already in the game but just a pure map asset. I was thinking about (remodeling the sandbags and) animate a destruction for them so it has a purpose in the game as "defense" Blocks Infantry and Light Vehicles with Machine Guns (they can't harm them) but no chance against tank and rocket weapons. Tech Centers: People already discussion the use of TCs in the game here but here are my thoughts. In later C&C Games, Tech Center-like buildings give the player upgrades or powers besides multiple high tier units. Thats why the Tech Centers should be purely based on powers (except for the Super Weapons). Player can use the Spy Planes, Sonar Pulse and Badger-based Powers from here. If the TC is destroyed soviets lose the powers and allied spies can't get the powers again (and the GPS Satellite is deactivated). Chronosphere & Iron Curtain: I know not possible atm because we don't have a iron curtain model. But you all know the mechanics of these both devices. Like in Apocalypse Rising you go to the device, enter the terminal and the map shows up, you choose one unit and make it invincible/teleport that to another location. Since both are secondary super weapons and aren't so strong like their RA2/3 Versions, and they are not that strong as a Nuke both could be used on smaller maps (demolition trucks don't work with them!) Advanced Power Plant: I know, i know but just hear me out. Yes the APP is just a bigger PP with the same use. It just have no real point in the game. But it's really unRAlistic if you have a big base and everything is powered by a small PP. I would use the APP on maps with big bases like siege and it should be at the corner of the base so it doesn't take too much space. Also the APP could be tweaked a bit toe be a bit smaller. So we can bring every major unit and building into the game again. Bonus: Larva & Queen Ant: I just have to do this because we need more ant maps in the game. My idea would be a ant-based map where one team is Allied or Soviet and the other players spawning as Scout/Warrior/Fire Ants and have to defend the larvas and the Queen. The Larvas are destructable objects and the Queen a animated Building (in RA1 it was also classified as building). It can shoot electro attacks like a tesla coil.

Tech Centres should disable all powers. (Except Superweapon powers, they bound on their respective builidings) Soviets should lose the parabombs, spyplane and paratroopers - allies the sonar pulse, gps satelite and the parabombs that they get through spy inflitration

nope it happends in the 3 years of the war, near at the end of TD and most of the time the missions are on other continents besides africa and europe. kane still "lives" and isn't hit by the ion cannon yet

thats why i would use player-controlled placement of these boxes. because it's a tactical team shooter, you also should use a bit of tactic with the camo PBs

Going to bed brings alot of ideas for everything, so i brainstormed in the night (when my brain decides not to sleep) how we bring back the Camo Pillbox in a good way. So first of all, the CPB is a tactical - optional- defensive structure for the allies obviously. But first we have to flatten it from his previous versions. The old version from Renalert has good textures but it was way too big. The texture is perfectly fitting with the enviroment, thats a big plus, you can't notice it from far away. The I.Apex Version has a bit better size but is also too high, i would flatten it by half and the turret should be set a bit down into the ground. Also the Turret should also get a camo texture (maybe) The Green Version is ofcourse too high in this example. For Balancing this "extra" base defense, i have a few pro's and contra arguments. Pro's: - CPB has more range, more health/armor and higher damage/ higher shot rate than the normal PB (not extraordinary much but more like a "advanced" PB) ---- for a range extra, attacked units can't see the shot angle until they come closer to 30 meters (or so, just a example) - Camo is freely deployable on certain points of the map with a special terminal (found in the CY/PP maybe or whatever building) with the preview-map system from the Chrono Tank - in combination with the previous argument, the CPB is perfectly adjusted on the terrain textures, so the CPB need 3-4 texture versions (snow, rock, desert, grass?) ---- maybe the CPB also gets a invisible bonus without the gap generator (but i'm not sure if that makes the CPB too strong) Contra's: - The CPB isn't available on every map obv. - The CPB should cost a decent amount of money (1000-2000 credits) - The CPB amount on the map is restricted to 1-4 (depending on the map) - Allies can't rebuild the CPB if it's destroyed - The biggest flaw/weakness = because it's very flat, you can't use the CPB on top or in front of hills, it can't look up/down on units that are not in a horizontal angle a few examples where the CPB can't shoot so... yeah i hope we can start to re-implementing the CPB again with that ideas, feel free to adjust my idea!

building design question will be both power plants in the game? (normal and advanced) - in my mind for a artistic touch, a normal power plant in a little base would make sense for only power up barracks, vehicle production and a few smaller buildings like SD or ore silo. so for big bases with extra buildings like CY, radar, super weapon and lot more defenses a advanced PP would make sense. in addition to these arguments, the A.PP don't take more space as the A.PP from APB/RA1 (but APB, give me the A.PP back, i miss it!)

oh i have another bunch of questions! will there be advanced gameplay improvements like shift button to fast run in APB? Will there be a minimap for the player like the chrono tanks teleportation map? (still hope that this get standart in APB/TSR and other W3D mods because my orientation on maps is fucking bad) will therer be a sniper extra-class like in APB or will the commando the only unit with a sniper rifle? will there be cutscene exclusive units also in this game like various aircrafts from gdi and Nod? how could i and others join to a test member staff?

you should also look into the virtual westwood museum and sole survivor mods for renegade, there are also a plenty of models for references! will be the commando available for both factions? will be mission-like maps? (like in APB where allies have to defend the radar dome and getting reinforcements over LSTs)

which old mods are you using for early start references and resources? will be the sam site of Nod have a standby to drive-out animation like in TD or will it be always out like in APB/RA1? i think it's clear that we won't see the little naval part of TD in the first release, but maybe in later patches? hoping for gunboat and hovercrafts also sure not in the first release but will we see big buildings like temple of Nod, tech centre (like in APB on NorthbyNorthWest Map) and Hospitals later in the game? Obelisk and GDI Advanced Tower still have doors or second-tier buildings like silos, service depots and Tesla Coils from APB?

Are new modeled visceroids in the game (renegades model is pretty ugly)? Airstrike Power for GDI? Nods Nuke could be a base destroyer and ion canon a One-Building Finisher so it would be logical to balance it with a second power for GDI. Dinosaurs for the Game? (APB gets Ants so Dinos for GZ!) will be game exclusive new units in this game? (like APBs Captain and Shotgunners) Will you use some assets from APB and TSR (as example, the walls in TD are exactly the same as in RA1 so it would be logical to use them for the bases)?

- Dogs should only for Soviets - Spy detecting should be only work on 10-25m to the spy - barking is a must-have - i would consider a one-hit or two-hit kill with the dog attack against hoomans - they shouldn't enter buildings, that would make dogs in smaller rooms pretty op and make building inf rushes pretty hard for the opposite side - no vehicles for doggies - overall they main focus of dogs is base defense against infantry, and sub focus for the big battlefield in combo with tank destroyers, with that dogs can kill the infantry that came out of tanks - not much life because doggies have no armor, but they should a bit faster than normal infantry -chitzkoi plsssssssssssss

i forgot something to say - this mod could be have a fucking dinosaur map like antillion in APB - but the rigging would be a pain in the ass. but i would love a funmap where you can get a dinosaur unit per random box

First of all, that just my thoughs about a mod, not that i plan something in that way. And forgive me, when my grammar or english skills overall sucks as hell. Maybe somebody know at a few times a tiberium dawn mod was in the discussion and never became reality. "BUT YOU HAVE RENEGADE AS A FPS GAME THAT TRANSFERS TD INTO 3D!!!" - thats true but not in that way what i imagine. Renegades placement in the timeline is first more like at the end of the first tiberium war and have more developed units, weapons and structures and seems like more a futuristic skin for tiberium dawn. and also most of the time its happen in america so thats why maybe many things looks so different in the game (maybe for european and african missions, the battalions of gdi and Nod use slight other versions of their tech) so imagine a westwood Tiberium dawn like 1995 in 3D. we have serveral things we could use it for. first the ground would be "A Path Beyond and renegade. these games (or more called that one "game") have everything to use all units and mechanics from TD. Nothing complex like chronosphere tech or mind control our sub-terrain units. most of the units are quite similiar in apb = light tanks allies = LT Nod, Mid Tank Allies = MT GDI, Mammoth Soviets = Mam GDI, APC is quite the same too from the model perspective and destroyer boats also like the gdi gunboat. also we have serveral inspirations what we can use. ages ago in the early renegade mod era, sole survivor released and was a mod to capture the "sole survivor" feeling into renegade. if you want a short look https://www.nexusmods.com/commandandconquerrenegade/mods/43 every unit and structure in that game looks way more TD like. also the Virtual Westwood Museum had a few units that looks way more like TD http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-virtual-westwood-museum-mod also a guy that try to make another TD mod has a few nice models https://web.archive.org/web/20150205011258/http://3dholmes.com/images/project/ccnz/ and nyerguds had a sweet collection of renders from TD http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/cncimg/img_archive/ we could even have a special map where you must defend the prototype of the gdi powersuit, since in TSR walkers are a thing. so the problem right here is not that much the coding, it's more the artist stuff and mapping. we know W3D Hub lacks of 3D Modelers, Mappers and Texture Artists. Thats why we don't have cruisers and migs in APB or a faster progress on the models in RA2AR :/ for the maps you "could" use a lot of Renegade, APB and TSR Maps but first i don't know if the groups of W3D share stuff and second the game wouldn't have unique maps to play. Also we would need alot of free people since all teams have enough to do with their own projects. i'm not a proffessional 3D artist, i've just started with a little bit 3D modding in dragonball xenoverse 2 and can't even make textures :/ i only dream about if would be nice to have a real TD Mod for renegade. it's sad that many mods like scud storm for generals or the 2-3 tiberium wars mods are just fast builded mods with the 3D models of the rts games and are mostly dead in development (despite it also exists tiberium twilight maps, i think a real mod about that would be interesting to play) and RA3 got only one or two Renegade mods that died realy quickly so only W3D hub had fucking great renegade mods and even a Dune Mod!. You guys are just awesome.