A Whole SLEW of Questions

[Doc Lithius]

So listen...

I am absolutely and undoubtedly flattened by what I'm seeing (and hearing) right now! Even this early on, I can't help but be very, very impressed! (Not an easy task, mind you.) However, I do have a veritible volley of questions for the designers of this modification that I'd like answered. Obviously, some may or may not be answered due to some degrees of secrecy and not wanting to get ahead of yourselves, but I feel that at least a few of these questions can be answered without messing anything up.

Gameplay Questions

- In the original Command & Conquer: Renegade plans, there were other game mods. A number of these have been implemented as modificaitons for present-day Renegade. What sort of multiplayer game modes do you folks plan to implement? Co-Op? Capture the Flag? Capture the Mobius?

- Will the entire GDI Campaign be playable with enhanced graphics, sounds, music, and gameplay? Will you still be playing as Havoc?

- Will there be a Brotherhood of Nod Campaign?

- Going back to my first question, will there be an RTS (real-time strategy)-styled Command & Conquer mode variant similar to that of Savage: The Battle for Newurth or Natural Selection? Data in the original game data indicate this was one of many scrapped game modes. (I believe this is what "C&C Mode" was supposed to have been.)

- If yes, will there be Tech Trees? (For example, I think you need a Communications Center before you can build a Helipad.)

- If no, will there be Tech Trees in standard multiplayer? (For example, if the Advanced Communications Center gets whacked, no one can buy Ion Cannon Beacons.)

Units and Structures Questions

- There were a number of vehicles which were unplayable in the original game (but have been placed into custom maps and modifications by users). Will this modification have all of these vehicles, such as the SSM Launcher or the Recon Bike?

- Will EXTRAS be available?

- Will the Chameleon crowd control robot (EXTRAS vehicle for Nod) be available on both sides? According to the game data, Nod swiped the unit from GDI for some reason or another. (Though ignoring the story, it was probably just a goofy Westwood extra.)

- Will Visceroids be playable under the right conditions?

- Will there be more than GDI and Nod teams? No, I don't mean "Scrin" necessarily, as this game takes place at the time of Tiberian Dawn. I'm more curious about "neutral" teams, which would be good for things like a "Survivor" game mode or the aforementioned Visceroids. (Remember now, Visceroids are just survival creatures. They have no affiliation.)

- Will "Reformed Mutants" be available for GDI?

- Will Tiberium Harvesters be drivable, automatic, or both? Will it depend on the map?

- Will spare Tiberium Harvesters be available for purchase?

- Will players be able to replace and buy structures and base defenses in multiplayer modes?

- Yes or no, will Engineers or Technicians be able to capture enemy buildings?

- If "yes" to the Engineer question,

- Will Engineers/Technicians be able to sacrafice themselves to fix, or be equipped with a one-shot Super Repair for buildings?

- Will buildings have "seriously damaged" animations like in the RTS games?

- Will buildings be able to be destroyed entirely instead of just "ruined"?

- If yes, will anyone and everyone inside of a building be killed when it's destroyed, or will they simply take damage?

- Also if yes, will we see computer-controlled survivors run from the wreckage like in the RTS?

- Will the vehicle limit be raised from 8 vehicles per side?

- Will "Laser Orcas" be available under the right conditions? (See Command & Conquer for the PS-X.)

- Will base defenses be useable either through a remote console (Tribes 2) or through jumping in first-hand? (Renegade, many other games...) "Base defenses" include tank turrets, ceiling guns, Guard Towers, the Obelisk of Light (mwa ha ha ha!!), and the Advanced Guard Tower (with up to five different positions, given it has four ceiling guns and a Surface-to-Target missile system. Again, I'm thinking like with Tribes 2 with all this.)

That's all the questions I can think of. In any case, please keep up the good work! I sincerely hope everything works accordingly with the Unreal Engine 3 and things continue to progress as they are... I am very looking forward to this! If you have any questions about any of my questions -- because, yes...I have thought some of this stuff through -- then I'd be happy to answer your questions!

Take care!

[[NE]Fobby[GEN]]

Firstly thanks a lot for your interest! We appreciate everything.

That's a lot of questions! I'll have a go at what I can answer from them:

- In the original Command & Conquer: Renegade plans, there were other game mods. A number of these have been implemented as modificaitons for present-day Renegade. What sort of multiplayer game modes do you folks plan to implement? Co-Op? Capture the Flag? Capture the Mobius?

In the first release we'll just be implementing the C&C mode as well as some of the other modes found in UT3 (like Assault). Then we'll be working on more modes that are based on C&C mode. For example: a scenario mode.

- Will the entire GDI Campaign be playable with enhanced graphics, sounds, music, and gameplay? Will you still be playing as Havoc?

- Will there be a Brotherhood of Nod Campaign?

We will not be remaking single player in this project. That actually takes way to long to perfect and organize, which is time we'd rather spend on enhancing multi-player. However, we might look into remaking a couple missions (namely "Deadly Reunion" and "Obelisk of Opression" since it's the same map, and the best missions in Renegade) if we ever get some extra time and staff.

- Going back to my first question, will there be an RTS (real-time strategy)-styled Command & Conquer mode variant similar to that of Savage: The Battle for Newurth or Natural Selection? Data in the original game data indicate this was one of many scrapped game modes. (I believe this is what "C&C Mode" was supposed to have been.)

- If yes, will there be Tech Trees? (For example, I think you need a Communications Center before you can build a Helipad.)

- If no, will there be Tech Trees in standard multiplayer? (For example, if the Advanced Communications Center gets whacked, no one can buy Ion Cannon Beacons.)

I'm afraid that I can't disclose this information yet. Think of it like this: once we complete the project at hand, which is remaking Renegade in a new format, further add-ons to C&C mode is entirely possible. I will not talk too much about this, because:

#1. It is too early

#2. RTS-style still in concept stages (team members know what I'm talking about)

- There were a number of vehicles which were unplayable in the original game (but have been placed into custom maps and modifications by users). Will this modification have all of these vehicles, such as the SSM Launcher or the Recon Bike?

Certain custom maps will get those extra units. The map "Bunkers", for example, will be replacing Nod's APC with a Recon Bike. Other maps will have other vehicle assets that weren't in Renegade's standard maps.

- Will EXTRAS be available?

- Will the Chameleon crowd control robot (EXTRAS vehicle for Nod) be available on both sides? According to the game data, Nod swiped the unit from GDI for some reason or another. (Though ignoring the story, it was probably just a goofy Westwood extra.)

The extras that were in Renegade won't be in Ren2007. A lot of them were just different character models with the same weapons, as well as some mutants. We'll be sure to create some new and original ideas for Extras.

Extras in general will only be in servers with that option available.

- Will Visceroids be playable under the right conditions?

- Will there be more than GDI and Nod teams? No, I don't mean "Scrin" necessarily, as this game takes place at the time of Tiberian Dawn. I'm more curious about "neutral" teams, which would be good for things like a "Survivor" game mode or the aforementioned Visceroids. (Remember now, Visceroids are just survival creatures. They have no affiliation.)

- Will "Reformed Mutants" be available for GDI?

Visceroids will be more of a custom mode feature. I think you said it right in your second point, it'd be part of the natural environment. But the visceroids won't make an appearance in the standard maps' C&C mode.

- Will Tiberium Harvesters be drivable, automatic, or both? Will it depend on the map?

AI controlled, purchasable, and drivable.

- Will players be able to replace and buy structures and base defenses in multiplayer modes?

Not for this project. I kind of see that as a problem for the current Renegade mods as well, some project want all buildings to be totally rebuildable with a construction yard. However that'd actually punch the gameplay in the face, because the only structure worth defending in that case would be the Construction yard. Certain base entrances would be completely ignored, and the defenders would completely rely on just defending the construction yard. On the contrary, we want teamplay to be rewarded. If you're team loses a building, you deserve to lose it ( :roll: ) and the opponents deserve to have an advantage over you. This is what pushes teamplay in Renegade, and without it, we wouldn't see much.

- If "yes" to the Engineer question,

- Will Engineers/Technicians be able to sacrafice themselves to fix, or be equipped with a one-shot Super Repair for buildings?

Not in the default mode... after the first release, we'll decide what to do on that.

- Will buildings have "seriously damaged" animations like in the RTS games?

We'll see what we can do. Things like smoke, holes, fire, etc. are easy to do.

- Will buildings be able to be destroyed entirely instead of just "ruined"?

Well having the buildings come tumbling down creates quite a few problems.

Firstly, respawn points. Im pretty sure its hard to respawn under the rubble of a destroyed building. Even if somehow the respawn points are taken away (which would require some unnecessary scripting), the buildings a player can spawn in is less. Imagine if you only had one building left, a couple good guys from the other team can do A LOT of killing if they know exactly where players will be coming from.

Secondly is the purchase terminals... these are scripted windows, and again would take a chunk of work to make these disapear.

Thirdly, destroyed buildings are still used as a strategic outpost for the defending team. Many times I've been on City Flying, where we'd only has a barracks left. I'd ask the players to get good anti-vehicle units and perch themselves in high, strategic locations, including destroyed buildings.

Fourthly, they are a strategic outpost for the apposing team. Again, on City Flying, stealth tanks can reach a destroyed Weapons Factory without being hit by the AGT. Since they use it as a "barrier", they can make their way to the refinery, or even the powerplant, without being hit much. If the buildings collapsed, you wouldn't be able to do reach certain places in the enemy base when defenses are up.

Not to mention, destroyed buildings are the perfect places to hide in/by if you're alone in an enemy base with a sniper, or a nuke.

- Will the vehicle limit be raised from 8 vehicles per side?

Vehicle limits will be completely up to the host of the server. It'll be an option you get to set up.

- Will "Laser Orcas" be available under the right conditions? (See Command & Conquer for the PS-X.)

Probably not... remember that this is Renegade with a few TD aspects, not TD on PS.

- Will base defenses be useable either through a remote console (Tribes 2) or through jumping in first-hand? (Renegade, many other games...) "Base defenses" include tank turrets, ceiling guns, Guard Towers, the Obelisk of Light (mwa ha ha ha!!), and the Advanced Guard Tower (with up to five different positions, given it has four ceiling guns and a Surface-to-Target missile system. Again, I'm thinking like with Tribes 2 with all this.)

You'll be able to jump into the turret, guard tower, tank turrets, and any other emplacement equipment. We're making the main defense (Obelisk and AGT) controlled only by the AI, because we don't want noobs running around and getting into these defenses, missing their targets, etc. Remember that the AGT and Obelisk play important roles in spotting and firing at enemies sneaking around, where normal people wouldn't catch all the time.

[Tsumetai]

I have a question related to one of these: When I think of destroyed buildings in Renegade, I don't think of total rubble, I was thinking more along the lines of having parts of the building collapse, for example the hand on the HoN could crumble, the sphere come crashing to the ground, and maybe a corner crumbling off. In other words, not total destruction, just enough to let you know it's dead, but leave the inside areas free to roam.

Do you think you'll do something like that?

On a side note, from what I know about Unreal Scripting and mapping, disabling spawn points and purchase terminals when a building was destroyed would in fact be very easy. Though I totally agree with your reasons for not deleting them, I just wanted to throw that out there.

[[NE]Fobby[GEN]]

I have a question related to one of these: When I think of destroyed buildings in Renegade, I don't think of total rubble, I was thinking more along the lines of having parts of the building collapse, for example the hand on the HoN could crumble, the sphere come crashing to the ground, and maybe a corner crumbling off. In other words, not total destruction, just enough to let you know it's dead, but leave the inside areas free to roam.

Do you think you'll do something like that? [/b]

Of course

On a side note, from what I know about Unreal Scripting and mapping, disabling spawn points and purchase terminals when a building was destroyed would in fact be very easy. Though I totally agree with your reasons for not deleting them, I just wanted to throw that out there[/b]

Yeah I know it's easy, but it'd kind of suck if all you have left is 1 building, and everyone respawns from that building. Just have a couple snipers to annoy them, because they know exactly where everyone will come from.

[Tsumetai]

I was talking from a coding angle. In your first post you made it sound like the coding for that would be difficult and tedious, but it's not. I already agreed with you on why it shouldn't do that, however.