How to Save the Command & Conquer Franchise
COMMAND AND CONQUER - TIMELINES (or other catchy name)
Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but E3 2018 made me realise that our beloved C&C is in danger of going extinct. So here's my idea. It's a shot in the dark from an old C&C veteran. Presented with love, like the blurb on the back of an old PC game box. Steal this idea; I don't care. Just save our beloved C&C.
IMAGINE: A multiplayer/skirmish game with every faction from every C&C (and spiritual C&C) game you've ever loved, from the Dune universe, to the Tiberium, Generals and the Red Alert series. What would it be like to crush the GDI under the devastating heel of House Harkonnen? Could the Soviets hold off a sneak attack from the GLA? In Command and Conquer: Timelines, every faction battles for glory and supremacy across all the worlds of the C&C universe. There have never been so many ways to crush your enemies!
EXPERIENCE: Vast and varied battlefields. Endure sandstorms and ravenous sandworms on the parched deserts of Dune's Arrakis as you rush to refine valuable spice. Keep your aircraft grounded as massive ion storms wrack the Tiberian Red Zones. Garrison the towns and chokepoints of Red Alert's alternate World War to safeguard your ore fields, and battle to save (or destroy) the modern world of Generals. Each environment carries with it unique resources, dangers, risks and opportunities to get one up on your opponent.
PERSONALISE: Your army. As your representatives on the battlefield, customise everything from your army's colours and building style, to special effects and even superweapons. Unlock more choices as you accrue victories, and other commanders will be able to see at a glance that your army is not to be trifled with! Every faction has a number of sub-factions to choose from, to further tailor your tactics to your preferred style of play. Unlock them all!
CLASSIC: Command and Conquer style. Infantry. Vehicles. Air units. Veterancy. Commander Powers. Superweapons. Use your strategy, skills and knowledge to exploit your opponent's choices, and take care not to reveal your own. When universes collide, only the most cunning commanders will prevail. New technologies and new ways to bring the pain ensure that the classic strategy mix stays fresh and modern, with almost endless variety and opportunity.
CONTINUED: Support, with new factions, maps and other content released periodically, or get the Season Pass to make sure you never miss a new update!
So that's it in a nutshell. Base the game on the DNA of C&C Generals/C&C 3 (for skirmish/multiplayer variety and customisation) and release with perhaps one faction from each of the Dune/Tiberium/Red Alert/Generals to start, and you can add maps/factions/skins etc as DLC/in-game shop/Season Pass/whatever. Make the different universe environments truly different, and interesting, changing gameplay. Hardcore multiplayer people can play tournaments and ladders, and casual skirmish people can enjoy holding off 9 brutal horde AIs with 90% handicap as their favourite faction. Have mirror maps for competitive play, unbalanced maps for co-op play, and even 'challenge' maps based on the unique universe environments.
The key is to bring all the spiritual C&C worlds and factions back to life, with beautiful new models and effects on stunning maps with the same classic C&C gameplay style. The RTS genre is severely anaemic at the moment with not many good titles. EA could exploit this, and make a lot of fans happy. This is a successful formula that does not need to be further changed (at least until after this multi-year-supported game) besides the few small ideas like different random effects/opportunities (storms, worms or capturable buildings etc) that have been explored in some of the previous C&C games. The depth will come from the number of factions and environments and the customisation therein.
Guaranteed seller, and winner. The person that thought that just because Candy Crush made someone rich meant that C&C would suit mobile play knows how to understand data and numbers, but not the gaming industry, nor its fans.
Anyway, I set this idea free to the universe and the fans, and hope it lands somewhere fertile.
-Rust
Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but E3 2018 made me realise that our beloved C&C is in danger of going extinct. So here's my idea. It's a shot in the dark from an old C&C veteran. Presented with love, like the blurb on the back of an old PC game box. Steal this idea; I don't care. Just save our beloved C&C.
IMAGINE: A multiplayer/skirmish game with every faction from every C&C (and spiritual C&C) game you've ever loved, from the Dune universe, to the Tiberium, Generals and the Red Alert series. What would it be like to crush the GDI under the devastating heel of House Harkonnen? Could the Soviets hold off a sneak attack from the GLA? In Command and Conquer: Timelines, every faction battles for glory and supremacy across all the worlds of the C&C universe. There have never been so many ways to crush your enemies!
EXPERIENCE: Vast and varied battlefields. Endure sandstorms and ravenous sandworms on the parched deserts of Dune's Arrakis as you rush to refine valuable spice. Keep your aircraft grounded as massive ion storms wrack the Tiberian Red Zones. Garrison the towns and chokepoints of Red Alert's alternate World War to safeguard your ore fields, and battle to save (or destroy) the modern world of Generals. Each environment carries with it unique resources, dangers, risks and opportunities to get one up on your opponent.
PERSONALISE: Your army. As your representatives on the battlefield, customise everything from your army's colours and building style, to special effects and even superweapons. Unlock more choices as you accrue victories, and other commanders will be able to see at a glance that your army is not to be trifled with! Every faction has a number of sub-factions to choose from, to further tailor your tactics to your preferred style of play. Unlock them all!
CLASSIC: Command and Conquer style. Infantry. Vehicles. Air units. Veterancy. Commander Powers. Superweapons. Use your strategy, skills and knowledge to exploit your opponent's choices, and take care not to reveal your own. When universes collide, only the most cunning commanders will prevail. New technologies and new ways to bring the pain ensure that the classic strategy mix stays fresh and modern, with almost endless variety and opportunity.
CONTINUED: Support, with new factions, maps and other content released periodically, or get the Season Pass to make sure you never miss a new update!
So that's it in a nutshell. Base the game on the DNA of C&C Generals/C&C 3 (for skirmish/multiplayer variety and customisation) and release with perhaps one faction from each of the Dune/Tiberium/Red Alert/Generals to start, and you can add maps/factions/skins etc as DLC/in-game shop/Season Pass/whatever. Make the different universe environments truly different, and interesting, changing gameplay. Hardcore multiplayer people can play tournaments and ladders, and casual skirmish people can enjoy holding off 9 brutal horde AIs with 90% handicap as their favourite faction. Have mirror maps for competitive play, unbalanced maps for co-op play, and even 'challenge' maps based on the unique universe environments.
The key is to bring all the spiritual C&C worlds and factions back to life, with beautiful new models and effects on stunning maps with the same classic C&C gameplay style. The RTS genre is severely anaemic at the moment with not many good titles. EA could exploit this, and make a lot of fans happy. This is a successful formula that does not need to be further changed (at least until after this multi-year-supported game) besides the few small ideas like different random effects/opportunities (storms, worms or capturable buildings etc) that have been explored in some of the previous C&C games. The depth will come from the number of factions and environments and the customisation therein.
Guaranteed seller, and winner. The person that thought that just because Candy Crush made someone rich meant that C&C would suit mobile play knows how to understand data and numbers, but not the gaming industry, nor its fans.
Anyway, I set this idea free to the universe and the fans, and hope it lands somewhere fertile.
-Rust
