Hello everyone,
Insert some sort of Christmas sentiment here.
I know I'm a bit late to the recent outpouring of C&C news, however EA decided to release all of its announcements right in the middle of my uni exam season, when I was spending most evenings huddled in a human-free corner of the weather-beaten library building.
So I have not one, but two, new C&C games to talk about...
Firstly, Generals 2. It's a game that I know many were hoping wouldn't come along... but yet knew at the back of their minds that EA was inevitably going to crank it out at some point.
Thankfully, EA's dalliance with mobile crawler bases looks to have been a C&C4-only endeavour, and Generals 2 will return to the classic base building gameplay we all know and love. However, as of yet, no-one's said whether Generals 2 will continue to use the Starcraft-esque Dozer system like its prequel, or the Construction Yard system of the core C&C games. My money's on the former. While a Conyard system would appease the more "seasoned" members of the playerbase like myself, they're unlikely to deviate from the standard laid down in Generals, and even if they did, the complaints they'd get from the Generals-centric community would be unreal.
In terms of storyline, we've got three factions dancing about the battlefield - the GLA (which we were unlikely to see the back of, really), the European Union (which judging by the current Eurozone economy, I find slightly amusing), and an unknown third faction (which I would guess to be either China or some other Communist-centric amalgamation). The campaign kicks off with some sort of global summit aimed at ending world conflict... which the GLA subsequently blow up, killing just about all the of major world leadership. This apparently leaves just the military generals (name drop) of each country left to sort things out.
Looking at the trailer, I see Hum-vees, a GLA Quad Cannon, some equivalents of the Crusader and Scorpion Tanks, a GLA Supply Truck, and some Orca-like helijets, so not too much deviance in there from the Generals standard.
It also might interest you to know that this game is being developed by BioWare, the same company behind Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect, two of my favourite RPG games. How they'll compare in the RTS business, I can't say, but I know they like to go into detail in their games' backstories.
However, we are a modding community, and I have to say that as of yet, things aren't looking good in terms of modding Generals 2. The game isn't built on SAGE or RNA or anything like that, but is actually being developed on the Frostbite 2 engine - the same engine EA has used on Battlefield 3. As of yet, DICE (the company behind the engine) has said they're not releasing modding tools for Battlefield 3 due to the engine's complexity, so I'll be honest, the future's not looking that bright for modding Generals 2.
But the possibility's not completely ruled out... yet.
And that brings me to the second C&C game recently announced. Unfortunately, going through Generals 2 first is likely not going to make this one sound as good, but here goes.
C&C Tiberium Alliances is a browser-based massively multiplayer online instalment in the Tiberian series. Yes, it is still a strategy game, don't worry. And even better, it will be free to play. No messy and expensive subscriptions like other online MMOs. However, there will be purchasable bonuses at some point after general release.
It will run on HTML 5, and is officially compatible with the current versions of Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. They're a bit more sketchy on Google Chrome support at the moment.
Current sides seem to be just GDI and Nod, with the Forgotten (named in the info as simply "the mutants") as some sort of mutual enemy. The objective is to build alliances with other players and control as much global territory as you can. A single player mode has been mentioned, but it sounds like EA don't particularly want to play it, and have really been touting the multiplayer interactivity of the game. From what I can see in the trailer, the GDI seem to be closely adhering to their C&C3 unit list. Nod wasn't really shown.
Regardless, this will mark the first time the C&C franchise has entered the massively multiplayer arena in RTS form since the joys of C&C Sole Survivor back in the 1990s.
Will either of these two games prove to be the saving grace of the C&C franchise? Or is it doomed to destroy itself under the weight of standardisation and "Generals fanboys" ?
Time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell...
Nighthawk.
CNC Guild Leader.
Addendum: I've also taken this opportunity to do a little forum-related sprucing up.
Our C&C4 forum was never really used... in fact, it was never used at all except for my introduction topic. So I've removed it. I've also opened a joint discussion forum for Alliances and Generals 2. The continued existence of these will be evaluated based on their success.
The Guild site has also been updated to handle articles, downloads, and anything else for the two new games.
If there's really a desire to bring back the C&C4 forum, I will do so, but otherwise, it's tried, it's failed, and it's consigned to the dustbin of history.
Battle for Middle Earth 1
Battle for Middle Earth 2
A few new American units & a look at some of the maps I have been working on. The website has also been updated with a new look, most of the American & German unit pics have also been redone to to the new standardised layout. 
. We'd really appreciate the support. 
