Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is the third game in the Tiberian series of Command & Conquer series of real-time strategy games. It is developed by Electronic Arts Los Angeles and is the sequel to Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Firestorm. It takes place 17 years after Firestorm where the Brotherhood of Nod gains support of a majority of the worlds population and launches an attack on GDI forces world-wide. A third faction, the Scrin, is also introduced into the series and can be played after the player has completed both the GDI and Nod campaigns. Along with the game, EA released a novel on April 26, 2007 titled Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars.

On August 14, 2007 EA announced that they will be releasing an expansion titled Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath in 2008.

Cinematics
Richard Taylor, the cinematic director of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars reported that filming Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars was similar to making a feature film. The script is over 120 pages and there will be well over an hour of live action and CG scenes. The FMVs uses green screen technology to make various scenes look realistic.

Command & Conquer 3 features a cast from various television series and blockbuster films.

Josh Holloway from Lost portrays Nod's Intelligence Agent Ajay. Tricia Helfer from Ronald D. Moore's re-imagined Battlestar Galactica plays General Kilian Qatar. Nod's leader Kane is again played by Joseph D. Kucan. Lieutenant General Jack Granger GDI's commanding officer is portrayed by Michael Ironside who voices Sam Fisher in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Redmond Boyle, GDI's Director is portrayed by Billy Dee Williams from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Grace Park from Ronald D. Moore's re-imagined Battlestar Galactica plays Lt. Sandra Telfair. Kirce James is played by Jennifer Morrison. Shauntay Hinton winner of Miss USA 2002 is plays reporter Brittany Bhima.

In addition EA has also hired individuals in the reporting field; Shanon Cook (a reporter for CNN) and John Huck (a FOX News anchor from Las Vegas).

Gameplay
The game features the return of FMVs with second person perspective. Unlike other RTS the game features directional armor, in which a unit is more armored in the front than the back side. The game adds an intel database for in-depth coverage of units and conflicts. It runs on EA's SAGE engine which was updated from The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth and Command & Conquer: Generals. The gameplay is similar to Command & Conquer: Generals, but without as much upgrades and the self-sustaining economy aspect, and with more balance and a dependency on a renewable harvesting resource. For details on units and structures see see Infantry, Units, Aircraft, and Structures

There are three modes of play Campaign, Multi-player, and Skirmish. In campaign the player plays through the storyline of one of the factions. In multiplayer the player is able to play on a 1v1, 2v2 or on a clan ladder. Multiplayer mode can be played against a specific person on LAN or on the GameSpy servers. Skirmish allows the player to play against a computer AI with a skill and personality the player can modify.

EA also released BattleCast on their site for spectators and comentators. "BattleCast" is designed to allow for players to schedule upcoming games with others, to spectate in games that are currently being played, and to serve as a centralized replay archive of previous games. "BattleCast" additionally allows for players to function as commentators in a game, providing a running description of the match as it unfolds. Commentators can talk to other observers of a game through "BattleCast", and use a "paint"-style brush to draw onto the screen. Players can check off BattleCast on the multiplayer mode so the match may be commented on.

New Features

 * VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) will allow users to communicate with each other verbally in multi-player games
 * Modifiable aggression levels for individual units, and of directional armor, flanking, and reverse movements is added to C&C3 gameplay.
 * Support for wide screen monitors
 * Multiple AI personalities in multi-player

Game Balancing
Nod: The Brotherhood of Nod use stealth tactics and guerrilla warfare.

GDI: The Global Defense Initiative is a constant, steady armored powerhouse.

Scrin: The Scrin will start out weak, but will have the strongest units overall after technology improves.

Glitches
There are several glitches in C&C3. There is a glitch where the Scrin mastermind capture multiple units. To do this you must first capture one unit with the mind control then save the game. When you reload the game, you should be able to capture another unit.

Decoy armies of tripods still attains a working short range EMP blast. Engineers can not capture structures when under the effects of the Scrin's Phase Field support power, but this was fixed in the 1.01 Patch, also there was a glitch, when a buzzer hive was told to force fire, and then if you told a corrupter to attack on the same spot, the buzzers sent from the hive would turn into viceroids.

Kane Edition
C&C 3: Kane Edition will include an exclusive bonus DVD featuring a behind the scenes documentary, deleted scenes and a blooper reel from the live action video shoots, a series of gameplay strategy videos from the game designers themselves, and more. C&C 3: Kane Edition will also feature exclusive in-game content including five new multiplayer maps and three unique unit skins—one for each of the three factions in the game and wallpapers. Only 100,000 copies of the Kane Edition were printed.

Pre-Order Bonus
Those who pre-order will get an DVD that includes gameplay trailers, preview strategies, and behind the scenes. Also Command & Conquer Gold, the full game will be included. There is exclusive maps and five exclusive wall papers for individuals who pre-order at EB Games & GameStop. The bonus maps are Death Valley and Black Bigger Battle. The maps must be redeemed by April 10, 2008. Individuals who pre-order at Best Buy will get an exclusive best buy only map. Target and Walmart will not be offering Command & Conquer Gold with the bonus pack.

EA suggested the retail prices of C&C3 to be $49.99 and the Kane edition which will only be available at selected retailers to be $59.99.

Storyline

 * For detailed storyline see The Third Tiberium War

By the year 2047, the world has becomes heavily infested by Tiberium, which has led the Global Defense Initiative to categorise areas of the Earth's landmasses into three zones based on Tiberium infestation. Red zones, which comprises 30% of the Earth's surface, are completely contaminated with Tiberium, and cannot support human life. Yellow zones comprise roughly 50% of the Earth's surface; they contain a dangerous amount of Tiberium, and roughly 80% of the Earth's population. Yellow zones have suffered severe social and economical impacts due to wars between fought between Nod and GDI forces. Yellow zones have enabled the Brotherhood of Nod to conceal their forces from GDI. Blue zones comprise 20% of the Earth's surface; blue zones are not infested by Tiberium, and are under direct GDI protection. Nod forces raided the Goddard Space Center in Maryland and disabled GDI's anti-ballistic missile capabilities. In March 2047, the Brotherhood of Nod launches a nuclear missile at GDI's orbital station Philadelphia while GDI's directors were participating in a resource summit meeting there. This marked the start of the Third Tiberium War. On the ground, GDI Treasury Commissioner Redmond Boyle was put in charge of GDI command as acting director.

Nod seized the GDI Hampton roads naval base and Andrews Airforce base to the south preventing GDI reinforcements. Nod then took GDI Central Commmand in Washington D.C. and the White House. In response, GDI rallied their troops and attacked Nod forces all around the globe.

Nod defends their Tiberium research base in the Amazon and then moved their Liquid Tiberium material out of Brazil to Sarajevo, where they built Temple Prime over their old temple from 1995. General Quatar was not informed of the Tiberium weapon in the amazon and she was sent to Australia. GDI InOps discovered that Nod was developing a liquid Tiberium bomb but General Granger did not inform GDI director Boyle of the Weapon.

GDI destroys a liquid Tiberium lab in Egypt and destroyed the Nuclear missile facility in Cairo where the launch site of the nuke that took out the Philadelphia was located. Director Boyle ordered an assault on Temple Prime. As GDI assaults temple prime, General Quatar request reinforcements in Ayers Rock, Australia but Kane refuses and continues developing a Liquid Tiberium bomb under Temple Prime. While defending Temple Prime, a small Nod force questioned Kane's leadership and went against him. GDI destroyed three signal transmitters making the Temple vulnerable to an ion cannon strike. GDI receives intel that Kane and his inner circle is under the Temple Prime. Kane evacuates the temple taking only what is essential and heads to Australia leaving a Tiberium deposit for GDI to hit with their Ion Cannon 72 hours later. Director Boyle orders to use an ion cannon strike on temple prime, even though General Granger tells him it is highly inadvisable because of a disaster. Director Boyle's reason for using the ion cannon was for avenging the attack on the Philadelphia.

The Ion Cannon strike on Temple Prime left millions dead in Europe. The press covered it as a desperate act of terrorism. The blast attracted the Scrin who heads towards earth with six craft. In Australia, Kane is no where to be found and General Quatar takes charge of the brotherhood. She plans to steal GDI's nuclear missiles and conquer continents taken by GDI one at a time. Lt. Telfair reports that there are alien crafts headed towards earth. Director Boyle fires all the ion cannons at the scout ships causing the Scrin to drop 39 Dropships around the globe. The Scrin Overlord was advised by his EVA unit to abort the mission but he refused. He decides to deploy units to explore the indigenous populations and stop harvesting operations of Ichor (Tiberium). The Scrin started attacking the city to divert forces on earth from their tower construction. When Killian sees the Scrin she views them as a greater threat than GDI and allies with a GDI commander to defend the city against the Scrin invasion and she also planed to take the launch codes from GDI at the same time. Ajay views the alliance as treason to Nod. The InOps decryption of the Tacitus in 2028 shows that a Scrin invasion was linked to liquid Tiberium. When the Scrin started invading Earth Director Boyle moved into a protected bunker in Reykjavik, Iceland. GDI recovers research from the New Eaden Research facility in Munich, Germany which was a yellow zone that was converted into a blue zone. GDI discovers that the Scrin are weakened by their sonic technology developed from the second Tiberium War and drives the Scrin out of Germany. Then GDI destroys their base in Switzerland.

Kane is alive and sends Nod forces to seize Ayers Rock where Killian's base of command is located. He also mentions that the Scrin are part of his plan for ascension. Kane halts Killian's attack on the Scrin and orders Nod to stand down. When Killian was captured, she was question on her loyalty to the brotherhood. Kane was informed by Ajay of Killan's betrayal and was questioned her about the events in Sarajevo of the Nod forces turning against him. Killian described it to be a renegade squad led by a GDI Mole and Kane allowed Ajay to decide the verdict. Then he ordered Killian to be killed for treason. Kane reveals that he had no intent of winning the war against GDI and that the liquid Tiberium explosion would attract the scrin. The reason why Kane engages in combat with GDI was to provoke them to use their ion cannon to create a large enough blast to disperse the liquid Tiberium and to also thin out GDI forces against the Scrin. The scrin are building 19 towers which are threshold assemblers around the globe and they are coated with a forcefield which is impenetrable unless codes are obtained from their relay stations. Kane plans to steal theses codes so members of the brotherhood can enter the tower and ascend. The Scrin Overlord suspects that they were lured in by the blast and tells the Forman 371 to investigate the sites in two information facilities.

GDI discovers that the towers are being constructed in the red zones and the Scrin have stopped attacking the cities and started defending their red zones. They discover that knocking out phase generator that protect the tower from attacks and decides to target them and then use the Ion cannon to destroy the towers. GDI starts destroying towers across the globe. Kane creates a Tiberium Catalyst Missile to counter the Scrin units and structures. The Overlord uploaded the central data core and discovers Kane and wants more information on him. The overlord noticed that Kane is registered in their database but they don't have any data on him.

The Brotherhood of Nod captures relay nodes from the Scrin in an assault staging ground to acquire codes to access the tower. As GDI and the Scrin engage in battle at ground zero, where Tiberium first landed on earth in Italy, Nod sends a tactical team to capture the Scrin and GDI construction yards and use them to eliminate both the Scrin and GDI because the battling interferes with the completion of the tower.

Foreman 371 is ordered to finish construction of a threshold assembler tower and he then sends the mother ship into the tower. The Foreman saves the Scrin units and enables planetary escape in the threshold assembler tower. The Overlord then informs Forman 371 that they will reactivate the tower if more information is needed on Kane and prepare an invasion force, earth will fall. With only four towers left the brotherhood discovers that to the towers become impervious to attack after they are completed. Kane sends a force to secure the tower in southern Italy and protect it from GDI. Once the tower is complete it is invulnerable to human attacks. Kane explains that the secrets of Tiberium awaits Nod, and with them the control of the universe. The Nod commander enters the gateway with Kane and the screen turns white.

There is one tower left in southern Italy which is only left standing because of protection from heavy forces of the brotherhood and the Scrin. North of that position is a control node which regulates Tiberium radiation to Scrin units. GDI discovers that if the node is destroy the Scrin will stop functioning. Director Boyle that he confiscated Nod's Liquid Tiberium technology and ordered GDI weapons tech to develop a Liquid Tiberium bomb. General Granger is opposed to using the Liquid Tiberium bomb because it will cause massive casualties and it will make GDI dependant on Tiberium weapons. Boyle claims that GDI is entrusted to protect the public and should use everything in their power to end the war no matter the casualties. With the node destroyed the Scrin units stop functioning fall over. GDI does not take down the last tower which later turned invulnerable to humans and was discovered to be inert and harmless.

GDI Ending GDI stops the Scrin by destroying a Tiberium radiation device. One tower was built. If the Tiberium bomb was not used Granger congratulates the commander on an honorable victory. Boyle resigns as director for authorizing the use of the liquid Tiberium bomb or he would have had to face war crime charges. The commander is deemed a hero.

If the Tiberium bomb was used the death toll of dropping a the bomb is 25 million because the liquid Tiberium bomb set off an chain reaction in the red zone sending shockwaves throughout the globe. More tragic fallouts are predicted to happen afterwards. General Granger scorns the victory and then resigns from GDI and at the press conference Boyle puts the commander in charge of GDI's military.

Nod Ending Kane sends a force to secure the tower in southern Italy and protect it from GDI. Once the tower is complete it is invulnerable to human attacks. Kane explains that the secrets of Tiberium awaits Nod, and with them the control of the universe. The Nod commander enters the gateway with Kane and the screen turns white.

Scrin Ending The Scrin Foreman saves the Scrin units and enables planetary escape in the threshold assembler tower. The Overlord then informs Foreman 371 that they will reactivate the tower if more information is needed on Kane and prepare an invasion force, earth will fall.

Demo
On February 26, 2007 EA released a demo which consist of one tutorial mission, two single player missions featuring live action video sequences, and one skirmish map with four difficulty levels. In its first week the Command & Conquer 3 website reported that there were 1 million downloads

It is also possible to play using the Nod forces under skirmish by clicking Nod in the drop-down list and pressing 'n', though all of the development for the team has not yet been completed - most of the user interface sound effects are missing for Nod. The same can be done for the AI: by pressing 'g' and clicking on GDI, it can play that side. The AI's playing style can be adjusted by pressing the first letter of the appropriate playing style while clicking on it. Although you can select the Scrin by using the same method (Pressing "s" while trying to select it) the demo does not include any structures, so the Scrin player (or AI) starts without a construction yard and immediately loses.

The player can also choose between different AI personalities. Balance is the default personality, but the player can choose from other personalities by holding down the specific key that the personality starts with and choosing it from the list. The other AI personalities are rusher, guerrilla, steamroller, and turtle.

Development History
Right after the release of Tiberian Sun in 1999, Westwood Studios started on production of Command & Conquer 3 which was initially going to be called Command & Conquer: Tiberian Twilight. The sequel was known to the Command & Conquer community when EA copyrighted the name Tiberian Twilight and registered. Westwood studios was working on the sequel in 2001, but the ideas were changed to accommodate ;;Command & Conquer: Generals;;. After the closure of Westwood Studios, the conceptual art for C&C Tiberian Twilight was revealed. The conceptual art also revealed that a third faction would be added to the storyline and it would possibly be CABAL or the Scrin. Shortly after the closure Mark Skaggs the leading producer of Command & Conquer was replaced by Mike Verdu. It showed that Westwood was using the 3D SAGE engine with user interface similar to ;;Red Alert 2;;. When the Command & Conquer community heard that EA was developing Command & Conquer 3, they created an petition to urge Electronic Arts to re-hire Joseph D. Kucan to play the role of Kane.

Development Timeline

 * April 18, 2006
 * Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars was prematurely announced
 * June issue of PC Gamer magazine shows Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars on the cover
 * April 20, 2006
 * Official press release made
 * May 10, 2006
 * Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars previews at E3
 * May 12, 2006
 * EA releases first trailer
 * June 20, 2006
 * Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars announced for Xbox 360
 * August 21, 2006
 * GDI Orca and Mammoth tank are shown by developers.
 * Mike Verdu post first blog on Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars overviewing Nod and GDI
 * Second trailer is released
 * August 23, 2006
 * Third trailer is released
 * Joseph D. Kucan announced to play Kane
 * September 29, 2006
 * Kane Dossier was shown on EA's website.
 * Mike Verdu reveals what happened to the technology between The Second and Third Tiberium Wars.
 * October 18, 2006
 * Cast for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars revealed
 * November 17, 2006
 * Mike Verdu executive producer for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars posted a blog about Tiberium
 * November 20, 2006
 * Podcast confirms that Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars will be available for Xbox 360
 * November 24, 2006
 * Xbox version is explained by Mike Glosecki
 * December 5, 2006
 * New music composer Steve Jablonsky announced.
 * December 15, 2006
 * Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Official Trailer 4 available at GameSpot
 * December 19, 2006
 * Scrin revealed to be third faction
 * December 21, 2006
 * Official box art revealed
 * December 22, 2006
 * Kane Edition announced
 * December 28, 2006
 * Pre-order available online
 * January 2, 2007
 * German PC Games Magazine previews Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
 * January 6, 2007
 * UK PC Zone magazine previewed Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
 * January 10, 2007
 * EA released a video featuring Ajay (Josh Holloway) at GameStop
 * January 21, 2007
 * EA released a video featuring Kirce James (Ivana Bozilovic) at GameStop
 * January 26, 2007
 * EA announced a Wallpaper Contest for development of wallpapers for Command & Conquer 3: Kane Edition
 * February 2, 2007
 * EA podcast confirms third faction to be the Scrin. Hear it here
 * February 6, 2007
 * EA released a video featuring the Scrin faction.
 * February 9, 2007
 * EA wall paper contest ends
 * February 25, 2007
 * EA releases fifth trailer for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
 * February 26, 2007
 * EA changes official site skin
 * Demo available for download
 * March 12, 2007
 * EA announces that Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars has gone gold
 * March 26, 2007
 * EA released Character trailers for GDI and Nod
 * April 11, 2007
 * EA announces Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Xbox version will be in stores on May 10 and Demo will be available on Xbox Live shortly
 * April 20, 2007
 * Worldbuilder for Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars is available for download.
 * Xbox 360 Demo released

Criticism
Most players argue that the music can use improvements. It is not similar to music from Frank Klepacki, who wrote all the music for the past Command & Conquer Tiberium and Red Alert series games. Wall barriers are also unable to be built in the game. Slow Long ranged Siege units with weak armor such as the Artillery, Rocket launchers, and SSM launchers are absent from the game. GDI rail guns are unable to shoot through multiple units and structures like in the past. There is also no explanation for the absence of subterranean and firestorm technology. Stealth Technology seems degraded since the emitter was previously cloaked. Tiberium flora and fauna is also absent from the game. The species of mutated Tiberium trees, vein holes, the slime from the Second Tiberium War, and the creatures are missing. Playable amphibious units are absent from the battlefield. Despite EA's claims that walkers were too expensive for GDI to mass-produce their MBT the Predator tank cost $1100, which is more expensive than the titan which costs $800. Mammoth tanks don't self heal to half health, like in the past games. EA also did not put in an option for super weapons which were added in Red Alert 2. This makes it easier to break the no SW rule during online play. The Scrin characters were not well developed.

Praise
The artistic details on the buildings were well polished and done. The gameplay is easy to pick up but hard to master. There are additional features that made gameplay more enjoyable. Players can tech up very quick. There are also few lag problems with the massive amounts of unit that are on the screen at a time. There are good visual effects and graphics on objects such as laser beams and building demolition.

Modifications Tools
On April 20, 2007 EA released the Worldbuilder fo Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars which allows players to create and modify their own maps.

On August 27, 2007 EA released MOD SDK (Software Development Kit) which allows individuals to modify and add units, structures, and the Tiberium in the game. MOD SDK allows the addition of new 3DS Max model and textures into the games files. MOD SDK requires Patch 1.08 to run.

C&CTV
In August 2007 EA broadcasted C&CTV BattleCast Prime a six episode news show which updates individuals on Command & Conquer Modifications, Patch updates, Kane's Wrath, a Primetime match, and an interview with Joe Kucan(Kane). C&CTV is hosted by David Silverman and Raj Joshi. C&CTV BattleCast can be downloaded on the Command & Conquer website.

Demo

 * Official EA Demo Download Link

Patches

 * English patch 1.03 Released March 27, 2007
 * Patch 1.04 Released on April 5, 2007

Wallpapers

 * Pre-release Nod Saboteurs
 * Pre-release Nod Flame Tank
 * Pre-release Kane
 * Pre-release GDI Ox
 * Normal site wallpapers

Previews

 * Behind the scenes
 * Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars FMV trailer
 * Kane Transmission
 * Video of Kane
 * Trailer #1
 * Trailer #2
 * Trailer #3
 * Trailer #4
 * Trailer#5
 * Scrin Trailer
 * Character Trailers