Nodlied

Well then, I found some time to post this, so let's go! I hope that Jim will get to read this, and if he does, hi there Jim, best of luck on the ''new'' title! How much "updating" is acceptable? Balance changes, usability improvements, UI improvements...? Should the balance be changed or stay the same? Or should there be a "classic" mode and a "remastered" mode? The choice between a ''classic'' and a ''remastered'' mode is the best possible option. The classic balance already works in the original games and should be easy to port over to the ''new'' game. It will allow old time fans to enjoy what they know. That said, the remastered mode is something great as well. It will allow you lads to experiment with the game's balance and, in some cases, also allow you to fix some of the old balancing issues that plagued the older games. I mean, some of us would love to play Red Alert without having to spam Mediums and Heavies to stand a chance of winning. Meanwhile the classic mode will satisfy the players that just want to play a new-old game. A win-win situation if I'm honest. Best part is that you'll have a ''balanced'' game from the get go while still being able to update the remastered balance. Should UI elements from the new C&C games like sidebar tabs, multiple unit queuing etc. be part of a remaster? Definately. One of my bigger gripes with the older titels were the huge lists of units on buildings and the fact that there wasn't any queuing. Honestly, the best side-bar was included in Command and Conquer 3. It had all the necessary tabs, ease of use and the flexibility. Didn't want to see that much? No problem, simply deselect everything and you only have your minimap. Have a bunch of units or a big construction list? You can scroll through the list. RA3's sidebar was worse due to the fact that it had big edges. That said, if the sidebard simply covers a part of the screen and not the map, like in classic games, then having a less flexible (but still with the tabs and scroll features) sidebar would work fine. Overal, the UI was best in Command and Conquer 3. However, honourable mention goes to Generals, which bottom bar allowed for extensive use of abilities and production/upgrade lists. So yes, I'm in favour of modern UI elements. It is important to note that there should be a classic mode for this as well. This to prevent a classic game with multiple build queus. So the normal remastered mode and the classic mode quicker production when you have multiple factories of the same type. Should waypoints, attack move and other modern RTS elements be incorporated in a remaster? Definately yes. Waypoints, attack move and other things like reverse move are great quality of life improvements that also allow you to control your armies and inividual units with more precision. These things allow players to control engagements and give the players time to micro specific units to gain an edge in battle. So yes, great stuff. Beyond it being great and all, today's younger gamers expect options like these, so including this is a no-brainer if we want to raise interest in classic RTS with the younger gamers among us. is there anything "sacred" you would advise NOT to change in Remaster? Astetics and ambience. This is something that all classic games did very well. And what I mean with this is that the games should stay true to their original astetics and ambience. This doesn't mean that a Cnc95 remaster should stick with the old 2d engine, but the graphics should stay true to their models of the original game. The world and shaders should do the same. This basically means that the gritty and serious Red Alert 1 should stay that way with its own unit models while Red Alert 3 should stay cartoony in its own way. So no cartoony Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 1 and no gritty Red Alert 3. Additional thoughts The little details that provide additional gameplay There are quite a few things in the classic games that tend to get forgotten in newer games. One of these things are forest fires. This was present in quite a few games. A flame unit or an explosion would set a tree alight which would then spread the fire towards neighboaring trees until a trigger stopped the spread. The best part about this was that the fires, at least in Generals (try it!) could damage units and kill infantry. It has happened more than once that I've managed to burn an army of infantry by simply starting a forest fire. Next up I'd like to mention roads. In the older games, most non-walking units would gain a speedboost when moving across roads (especially wheeled ones) wile gaining a speed penalty when traversing difficult terrain (especially wheeled units). This mechanic was lost after Tiberian Sun. However, I do feel that it can have a tactical and strategic purpose. Roads functions as quick reinforcement lines among other things. Take a look at it, they can make map development a lot more interesting. Steel division 44 has a quite interesting road system in this regard. Another classic element is the spread of the map's resource. In the older games, Tiberium and Ore would spread across the map wherever it could if left alone. This excludes hard, well maintained, pavement, but it added an element to the game where you felt as if you were playing on an unregulated part of the world. Finally, I'd like to mention the death animations for units. Command and Conquer 3 lacked these. And I don't mean actual death animations, I'm talking about a variety of death animations. In Cnc3, an infantryman would just fall to the ground when it was killed by a flame tank. In Cnc95, the infantry would run around while on fire. Similiarly, seeing units melt from Radiation in RA2 was a lot of fun. Go take a look at the older games and find out if you can find more of these fun details. Maps Short one. Beyond re-creating the classic maps and introducing new ones, maybe would be a good idea to look at the most popular maps of all games and introduce them as well. To mind come Tournament Desert (Generals), Cabana Republic and Infinity Isle (RA3) and many others. Sounds and effects Something that was lacking in the newer games were great animations. Sure a lot of stuff looked and sounded great, but not all of it. Especially RA3 suffered from rather poor sound effects and a lack of ''oomph'' behind units and weapons. When we see a big rocket launcher we want to hear a ''Vwhooosh'' instead of a dinky ''Wush'' and when the rocket hits, we want to hear a big boom and see a big boom, not a dinky ''tick'' and a small explosion. Take a look at, for example, the Rise of the Reds mod for Generals and Mental Omega for RA2. And, beyond the Cnc series, then the two Company of Heroes games do an amazing job at effects and especially sounds. Physics The final point of today. Physics are a lot of fun when implemented well. For a bad example, look what happens to units and buildings when they get hit by a nuclear warhead in Cnc3. They simply play their death animation. Now look at Generals. If an army or base gets hit by a big blast, units and rubble will fly away from the impact crater and come back to the ground. Each unit, shell and piece of rubble had its own weight. This determined how far it would move if hit by a large blastwave, if it would be light enough at all. Battlemasters fly further than Overlords. Rubble flies all over the place. Beyond that, things like the destroyable towers in the tutorial mission in Generals gave you a sense of weight, physics and the idea that you were fighting in a real world. That's it for now. I'm running out of time. In any case, best of luck with the remaster, whichever game it might be. Hopefully we'll be able to do this again in the near future.

Well, considering that there's no Voe or Fraydo around.... ##Vote Jeod Get that hat of that food! Nope. The question is though, are you able to drive a train up a steep slope in cold and snowy conditions? And then, why (not)?

Nice! Once I have some time, I'll definately write some things down!

Man, do we have news for you.

Are you going to trick them all into playing map painting simulator?

They're somewhere on the plan. But not now (and while the MiG will likely be playable, the Cruiser is unlikely to be so). The things that are coming, however, are still really interesting!

Best we can do is to make it a cinematic to add to Seamist. And even then we don't have anyone that can model the cruiser. Until then, we won't have the cruiser ingame, let alone playable (especially considering that it doesn't fill any role that the destroyer doesn't already fill).

Eh, sign me up for now. I don't know how busy I'll be once the game starts though. So keep me at a maybe.

The game is over, but sure. Despite the fact that I suddenly had a ton of stuff going on during the game, yeah, I did have fun. That said, I do believe that most of my time was spent shitposting while somehow managing to vote for the right players. Also, don't worry too much about the balance of the game. Some tiny things could have been changed, but sometimes games just end the way they do due to how town and scum interact and how they manage to find one another. The death sentence of scum came through Jeod's flavour claim, not due to game mechanics. And, well, if you still think that it shouldn't have ended this way, look back at the Ausgleich game where it ended in a way which, by any means, should have been an almost impossible ending. Sometimes the dice just drop on the rarest road that only appears every once in a while. So yes, if you still don't feel confident, join in as a co-mod on the other games, then you'll see that you're capable. Another one joins the fray!

Thank you for your answers! However, I do feel that your answer to question five is worrying to say the least.

Well, I need consent as none of us are under arrest. Therefore, I don't have too many options other than simply asking people to join in. Magnificent! Well then, take good care and answer each question as detailed as you possibly can! 1. Are you scum? 2. Who do you think that scum might be and why? 3. Could it be possible that Jeod's lynch was co-organised by his own scum buddy to ensure that at least one of them could sail through this game as a town guy? 4. Are you involved in the embezzlement scandal that recently hit the Kingdom of Romania? 5. Are your shades actually there to protect your eyes from the sun? Or are you capable of hiding as well? 6. Imagine that you are a bus driver. You start your service at the local central station and you pick up thirty passengers. At your first stop, four more passengers enter your bus. Then, at the second stop, thirteen passengers get off while five get on. The next stop, three passengers get off. Then, at the following stop in a nice village, eight passengers get off while twelve get on. On the other side of the village, four more passengers get on. The next village over, six passengers get off. At the next stop three passengers get on while seven get off. The next stop is at a big mall where fifteen passengers get off while one man and his dog get on. After you've left the mall stop you get to the bus stop at the bank. Here two passengers get off and three very trustworthy ones get on. It is at this point where somebody asks you how many times the bus has stopped so far and what the name of the busdriver is.

Well shade, are you up for the chair?

Ah well, I didn't catch that, just like the perpetrator of the embezzlement scandal.

I did use my tracking on night 1.

Thank you for your answers. However, The fact that you describe yourself as drunk is troubling. However, even though you've admitted to going to Bucharest, no alcohol was found at the scene, so thank you for your co-operation. That said, however, do you remember anybody else being in Bucharest at the time? In any case, who's up next for the chair?

Excellent! 1. Are you scum? 2. Who do you think that scum might be and why? 3. Could it be possible that Jeod's lynch was co-organised by his own scum buddy to ensure that at least one of them could sail through this game as a town guy? 4. Are you involved in the embezzlement scandal that recently hit the Kingdom of Romania? 5. Are you actually a drunk photographer? 6. Why do you think that iLTS was killed? Did he owe any money? A trade? A deal with the mob? Doctor bills? Library club contribution?

You're already heading towards a chair, and it isn't mine.

Thank you for your answers. Time for somebody else. Who wants some fun time on the chair?

I'll take that as a yes then, as curiosity needs to be stimulated at all times! 1. Are you scum? 2. Who do you think that scum might be and why? 3. Could it be possible that Jeod's lynch was co-organised by his own scum buddy to ensure that at least one of them could sail through this game as a town guy? 4. Are you involved in the embezzlement scandal that recently hit the Kingdom of Romania? 5. Are you actually an Orange? 6. Could you tell me where the nearest vending machine is so that I can get a snack while you write down your answers?

Most excellent! Then you probably wouldn't mind to answer a few questions, do you?

There always is. Why don't you take a seat?

We can always RNG the vote and somehow have Fraydo die instead.

That seals the deal. ##Vote Shade

I do not. I merely get to hear who my target decided to pay a visit.

Don't think he did.