Kanes Wrath (units)

[Sven]

Ich sah nur: Auf ccdx würd ich hören

[Aschante]

Servus und Hallo,
live von der Games Convention in Leipzig.
Vor etwa einer knappen Stunde durften Olaf, Don Carlo, blackshark und ich einen aller ersten BCD-Blick auf das neue Add-On zu C&C 3 werfen.
Der Titel wird lauten: Kane's Wrath (Deutsch: Kanes Zorn)

Wie bereits einige hier im Thread die panische Befürchtung hatten, wird es tatsächlich einen mobilen Sonic-Emmitter geben.

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Dieser wird allerdings basierend auf der TS-Technologie als Hover-Tank aufwarten. Ebenfalls wurde uns auf mehrfache Nachfrage deutlich versichert, dass dieser Emitter nur Gebäude bezogenen Schaden anrichten wird. Fahrzeuge und Infantrie wird hier etwas geschont werden.

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Ebenfalls als Neuerung erhält die GDI zur Abwehr der Venoms einen Flak-Panzer, nach russischem Vorbild. Als Vorbild stand hier der SU-Panzer mit seinem Vierlingsgeschütz Modell. Jedoch wird auch dieser Panzer mit der TS-Technologie ausgestattet sein und als Hover-Tank seinen Dienst antreten.

Der Neuerungen nicht genug, wird die GDI neue Kampftruppen erhalten, die den Zone-Troopern nachempfunden wurden. Panzerung und Bewegungsbild entspricht dem der bislang eingesetzten Zonetrooper. Jedoch bei der Bewaffnung werden sie sich massiv unterscheiden. Die neuen Trooper verfügen nicht über die Laserwaffen, sondern werden mit Raketenwerfern ausgestattet werden. Diese zeigen jedoch nur Wirkung gegen Lufteinheiten und Panzer. Gebäude und Infantrie nimmt unwesentlichen Schaden.

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In der Luft wird die GDI ebenfalls neue Kaqmpftruppen erhalten. Hier kann man mit Sicherheit geteilter Meinung sein, da wir einstimmig diese Einheit als "fliegende Festung" eingestuft haben. Sie verfügt wie bereits von den Orcas gewohnt über Luft-Boden-Raketen. Zusätzlich wird die Einheit mit Gatlings ausgestattet sein, die spezifisch gegen Infantrie-Einheiten verheerenden Schaden ausrichten werden. Um dem Ganzen jedoch die Feinnote zu geben, haben die Entwickler die Lufteinheit mit der Fähigkeit der Venoms ausgestattet, dass sie nicht mehr zurück fliegen muss um "aufzutanken". Und... ja noch ein Feature der Einheit, was sie tatsächlich zur Festung macht, man kann ein Infantrie-Squad einladen. Die Infantrie-Einheit feuert aus der fliegenden Einheit heraus!
Bestätigt ist ebenfalls, dass die GDI eine neue Supwerwaffe erhalten wird. Es wird sich dabei um etwas ähnliches handeln wie die Ionenkanone. Nähere Spezifikationen folgen jedoch noch, da wir bislang nur das Pic inGame sehen konnten.

Alle Anhänger der Bruderschaft dürfen sich an dieser Stelle jedoch ebenfalls über deutliche und massive Verstärkungstruppen freuen.

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Nähere Infos dazu im Laufe des Abends...

[Chrisser]

Oje ein Sonic Emitter als Hovercraft-Panzer.. Also wenn das die Einheit von den Screenshots ist, dann gefällt die mir irgendwie nicht wirklich.

Der Flak-Panzer wird wohl auch der von den Screenshots sein, sieht finde ich ebenfalls alles andere als schön aus, aber ist auf jeden Fall ne bessere Idee als der Sonic-Emitter Tank.

Die neuen Kampftruppen (Trooper) der GDI klingen auch ganz okay, aber umhauen tut mich das auch nicht. Aber gut, mal abwarten wie die dann letztendlich werden.

Die neue Flugeinheit der GDI hört sich ja mal extrem heftig an. Immerhin die 1. Einheit die mir rein optisch von den Screenshots her gefällt. Aber wenn die wirklich so stark ist wie hier erzählt wird, führt das am Ende wieder nur zu Balancing-Problemen.

Eine neue Superwaffe für die GDI? Hey, das ist dann echt mal was neues, denn sowas gabs in nem Add-Onn zu CnC bisher noch gar nicht. Ich hoffe aber dass die alte Ionenkanone trotzdem erhalten bleibt und einfache eine weitere Superwaffe dazu kommt. Ich finds nur nicht so toll, dass diese der Ionenkanone ähneln soll. Etwas anderes würde ich mir schon erhoffen. Nicht dass am Ende so ne dämliche Partikelkanone rauskommt wie bei Generals.

Eigentlich hab ich persönlich aber eher auf ein Comeback älterer Einheiten gehofft, aber das wird wohl leider nix werden.

Schön dass ihr uns hier etwas auf dem Laufendem haltet. Ich kann leider nicht zur GC weil ich am Wochenende arbeiten muss.

[ccdx21]

Grade diese neue Flugeinheit, egal wie mächtig die nun scheint, ist für GDI eine Bereicherung da GDI bisher immer noch die einzige Fraktion war die nicht über eine Lufteinheit verfügte die unabhängig vom Flugfeld arbeiten kann.
(Abgesehen von den Flyingtroopers die aber auch nicht wirklich was aushalten)

Da kann das Ding ruhig extrem viele und starke Waffen haben.
Das wird dann halt wieder mit sehr hohen Kosten und sehr langsamer Geschwindigkeit ausgeglichen.
Zudem denke ich mal das das Teil nicht so viel aushalten wird wie ein Scrin Kreuzer mit Schild.

[IslandMonkey]

Story Line

Command & Conquer is a huge franchise these days. Even bigger thanks to the welcoming reception that 360 players gave the game upon release. It was no surprise when the first expansion, Kane's Wrath, was announced though it was a bit of a surprise to hear all of the huge changes to the single player campaign and revamped 360 control scheme. EA VP and Executive Producer Mike Verdu and Associate Producer Jim Vessel were on hand to give us the run down of the product including the story, campaign structure, new units, and what to expect from the 360 control scheme in a game that will be released simultaneously for the PC and 360.

Kane's Three Wrathful Chapters
The campaign in Kane's Wrath spans 20 years in the Command & Conquer universe. It will begin at the end of Tiberian Sun and attempt to answer many of the questions still hanging in the air from the end of that second game in the Tiberium universe. If you're familiar, you'll probably remember Nod was in disarray and splintered into several factions, the fate of CABAL was unknown, and Kane himself had seemingly disappeared. We pick up right after the events of those games where Nod has been factionalized and marginalized on the global stage. You'll play the role of Kane's right hand man in the re-forging of Nod into the powerhouse that eventually rises up to nearly annihilate GDI at the beginning of the Third Tiberium War. "The first chapter in Kane's Wrath should provide a lot of connective tissue between the events of Tiberian Sun and C&C 3 that fans have been clamoring for ever since we announced C&C 3 and started talking about the story." Says Mike Verdu. "There's a lot of nostalgia value there. We'll have Kane in his old costume and a bunch of the stuff on the set for the FMV in that part of the game dates back to that era so fans will get to watch Kane transform through the three chapters of the story."

In the second chapter, the campaign will focus on the time of Command & Conquer 3 and the Third Tiberium War when Kane re-emerges to cast his bloody shadow over Earth yet again. EA is going to answer some of the questions that were left unanswered during the events of C&C 3 including what was going on with Killian. Some of the other mysterious events in that were hinted at but not resolved in C&C 3 will compliment new parts of the story of the Third Tiberium war.

Perhaps most exciting for fans who haven't been following the entire series will be the third chapter, which follows the events after C&C 3 ended. At the same time, long time fans will relish the return of the Tacitus and its mysteries. "The Tacitus played a role in C&C 3, but it's really central to the third chapter in the expansion pack," explains Verdu. "It has a lot of importance that ties in with the fact that there's a huge warp portal sitting on Earth after the events of C&C 3 and it appears to be a gateway to other star systems and the Tacitus is somehow bound up in the mystery of the Scrin, the portal, and Kane's mission to ascend." We still are a bit unclear about what Kane's ascension is all about, but the gateway should probably give everyone a clue what it has to do with. In any case, the third chapter is all about the question of what happened next and likely when we'll be introduced to many of the new toys.

As you can probably tell, the campaign is centered around Nod and their history since the second Tiberium War. Kane plays a central role in all that's happening here so we'll see plenty of Joe Kucan's face as he steps back into the evil robes of Earth's greatest evil. We'll also be treated to the same FMV cutscenes that we've come to love over the years though Joe will apparently be the only cast member back from C&C 3. EA isn't ready to spill the beans on the new cast quite yet so we'll have to get back to you with that info when it's announced. Either way, the story is locked and they'll begin filming soon.

[IslandMonkey]

Meta C&C
The campaign structure is changing pretty dramatically from previous C&C games as the team is building on experience from the Battle for Middle-earth titles. The new campaign will add a high-level turn-based strategy game where players make global decisions and then jump into the more familiar tactical battles when armies come into conflict on the global map. "It's a mechanic that, to some degree, has been explored in other games with meta-games including Battle for Middle-earth II, but this is our next generation of that," says Verdu. "Rather than what some would consider clunky territory borders you actually have zones of influence around your bases and the flexibility that you have in customizing armies and moving the armies around on the strategic map really wanted to feel like a natural extension of the tactical gameplay and not just a different type of board game that was superimposed above that."

It's cool to see the territorial boundaries being tackled in a different way like they are in Civilization or the real-time aspects of Rise of Nations. While the map will still show the boundaries of existing countries on the global map so that you can orient yourself in the familiar, they'll play less importance in delineating territory. They'll likely be more important in determining the actual tactical map that is played on when two forces collide. "As you employ bases they'll have a radius of influence and a radius of engagement," explains Vesella. "So if units move into that radius of engagement, you'll go down into battle. The radius of influence affects the world such as causing unrest with Nod or growing more Tiberium with the Scrin as their influence grows."

As with many games of this type, persistence is key. There have been several great attempts at persistent armies and bases such as Dawn of War: Dark Crusade or BFME II, but they weren't perfect. The solution EA has come up with is for a tier system that must be handled on a global scale. For instance, a tier 1 base might include the standard package of a Con Yard, power plant, refinery and a barracks. You can choose to upgrade the base with power or defense or simply just upgrade the entire base to the next tier for better structures like an airbase. If you end up using that base in the tactical setting and manage to upgrade the whole thing to an ion cannon and space uplink and all of that during a tactical engagement, you won't get to keep it. You'll have to spend the cash to upgrade it in the meta-game. Persistence only sticks if you create it at the global level

Strike forces (armies) work in the same manner. You can have a tier one strike force up maybe through Predators or tier two forces up to Orcas or something similar. "So if you come up against a tier 2 Nod strike package that's medium sized, you'll know approximately the power of the group you're coming up against," says Vesella. "If they're not coming with an MCV then you'll know that's all the power they're going to have in their battle because they won't be able to build up to units like Avatars."

The number of armies you can have on the global map is still being balanced at the moment, but one of the ways they're combating the grind of having too many things on the map and turns taking too long is the operation points system. This will limit the number of moves you can make per turn. Building, moving, fighting all take different numbers of points so you'll have to choose wisely where to use them and won't be able to do everything at once like you can in a game like Civilization or Total War.

Those familiar with BFME II should know that there won't be hero units needed to lead armies into battle, though there will apparently be meta-units that are powerful units that radiate their own influence. EA was reluctant to say any more than that at this point.

The story will also be told during the meta-game which should provide an even stronger connection between the two modes of play. "You'll get objectives on the meta-game level that you have to accomplish and you'll see some of the FMV at that level and it should be a tightly integrated experience that we don't think has been done on this level before," says Verdu.

[IslandMonkey]

New Toys

GDI, Nod and Scrin will all be receiving two additional sub-factions (added in the place of a separate fourth faction, which they didn't want to add) which will come with modified units of those you're used to with new special abilities and maybe some new upgrades along with unique powers and upgrades for each of the sub-factions as a whole. "All of those adjustments and modifications will come together to cater to a style of play for each of the sub-factions," explains Jim Vessella. "So if someone is into turtling or maybe they just like to steam-roll their opponents of units or maybe they're more finesse players that are great with their hotkeys and they like hit and run gameplay, well they should be able to find a subfaction that really is good for their style." At the end of the day you'll have nine styles to choose from in multiplayer and single player campaign. It'll be interesting to see how teammates mix and match all of these variations of the various factions.

Unfortunately for us (or maybe fortunately for the size of this article) EA was only showing off a small portion of the new units that will be included in the final version of Kane's Wrath, which will eventually include the modified versions of various existing units as well. We'll surely get to see more in the coming days, but we got a quick peek at some existing units, which happily re-introduces hover and cyborg technology into the gameplay. Most of what was shown was pretty heavily GDI

Nod Updates

New Units

The Awakened: These are the cyborg remnants of CABAL's former army that have risen to assist Kane in the Third Tiberium War. These guys have a welded machinegun on their left arm that is excellent for taking down infantry. While mostly used as anti-infantry troopers, the Awakened also come with a welded EMP cannon on their right arm, which is very effective in knocking out vehicles for other units to wipe up such as the…

Specter: New stealth artillery that fits well into Nod's style of play. The Specter can tail other units around the battlefield or hide themselves in a corner just waiting for the perfect moment to strike. With the help of the EMP cannon from the Awakened, they can take out a group of enemy armor units easily. They also can fire over longer distances with the help of the new Shadow Infantry ability called Artillery Beacon that sets a target that the artillery can barrage the radius around that beacon from afar. Sneaky sneaky!

Reckoner: This armored personnel carrier is a heavily armored troop carrier used for transporting infantry into defended areas with smaller risk of death. While the Reckoner is moving, units inside can't shoot out of it, but if you use the one time ability to deploy it, it turns into a bunker (and gets an extra garrison slot) and any troops inside can begin attacking everything around them with impunity until that hefty bunker is taken down.

Other Upgrades
Also mentioned were extra laser upgrades for the cyborgs to give them even greater power on the battlefield along with a sub-faction only unit that acts much like the Black Hand but uses liquid tiberium instead.

[IslandMonkey]

Zitat von IGN

GDI Updates

New Units

Hammerhead: New flying unit for the GDI that doesn't require constant re-loading with ammo back at the air field. This one never needs to reload the twin auto cannons that can rain hell down on infantry. However, it's still fairly defenseless against anti-air units and can only hit ground targets. Hammerheads also have one garrison slot, which is especially important because whatever infantry unit is garrisoned inside will be able to fire as well. Pile in some Zone Troopers or grenade troopers and you'll have one hell of an attack force in the sky that can be deployed to the ground if need be.

Slingshot: This guy fills a much needed deficiency in the GDI's line-up, which is vulnerability vs. aircraft. While they have pretty decent planes, they also require re-armament just like the Orcas. The Slingshots will fill that role nicely as they're a fast ground based lightly armored anti-air hovercraft that can destroy air forces pretty easily if protected from ground troops.

Shatterer: This mobile sonic emitter is another hover tank that has taken the sonic emitter turret from C&C 3 and strapped it onto a mobile platform which becomes a very strong siege weapon. Because these tanks can hit multiple targets, micromanagers should be able to be very successful maneuvering units to get the greatest impact.

Modified units
Zone Raider: Comes with shoulder mounted anti-air rockets. She's great for defending against air attacks though that weapon isn't particularly terrific for full on attacks. The Raider shown in the demo was also upgraded with a new toy called the sonic cannon which fires a shell that explodes in an area effect, which is pretty slick at clearing out clumped units. When combined with the ground-only Zone Troopers, they're a pair to be reckoned with. Even so, good anti-infantry troops like the Black Hand will still have a decided advantage over the Zone Raiders and Troopers.

Other Upgrades
We were also told that Orcas will be able to upgrade with sonic launchers of the Zone Raider, though this particular upgrade will be tied to one of the specific sub-factions. Being able to fly in and spam a much larger area with sonic shells is a pretty nice thought though.

New Power:
GDI also gets a new orbital strike that essentially launches large slugs from space that will be available in the late game for the GDI. It causes a great amount of damage to a pretty large area and is another power that reinforces the fiction that GDI has control of orbital space around Earth.

Scrin Updates
Unfortunately, we didn't really get a chance to see any of the new Scrin units in action. Our only glimpse was in a quick video that showed the design for the Ravager and Mechapede units. We heard it slip that the Mechapedes would be highly customizable unit, but that's all we can tell you for now, though we're pretty stoked about the idea of a mechanical centipede of death.

Improving Console Controls
The control scheme on the 360 for C&C 3 worked really well for what it was. It wasn't perfect, but it did allow players to access nearly everything that PC players could, albeit a tad bit slower and less precisely. But as with most good interface developers, EA wanted to improve upon the system. What they are implementing with this expansion, something they had toyed with saving until their next game, is a much easier radial interface system.

"What it is essentially is a radial that pops up via the right trigger which allows you to pick anything via the left analog stick," explains Vessel. "So, if you have infantry selected you hold the trigger down and it'll pop up the unit abilities. If there's a unit structure selected it'll pop up the build queues." One of the best things about the new interface is an improvement towards the efficiency of the PC build. Those that played the PC build will remember the side bar that allows control over all build queues in one place no matter where you are on the battlefield. Those that played the 360 version won't, because it wasn't there. The radial menu will help alleviate this by allowing you 360 players to access unlimited numbers of build queues via the radial menu which should help you focus on the business of strategy and tactics rather than structure management. We didn't have the opportunity to play with the controls ourselves, but the concept already sounds much better than the original.

Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath is looking to be a pretty huge expansion pack that we're definitely looking forward to seeing more of in the future. There are a lot of solid ideas here that sound well conceived and many of the meta-game features might indeed improve this aspect of the RTS genre. Expect both the PC and 360 versions of the game to release at the same time though the PC version will ship as a standard expansion pack while the 360 version will hit stores as a stand-alone product. We'll be sure to carry whatever info we get your way in the future.

Source: http://pc.ign.com/articles/814/814252p1.html