Command & Conquer

Command & Conquer
developer	Westwood Studios (1995-2003) EA Los Angeles (2003-2010)
Publisher	Virgin Interactive (1995–1998) Electronic Arts (from 1998)
Designer	Brett W. Sperry (until 2003)
First title	Command & Conquer: The Tiberium Conflict (1995)
Last title	Command & Conquer Rivals (2018)
Platform (s)	MS-DOS Windows macOS , Mac OS Classic Nintendo 64 Sega Saturn PlayStation PSP PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Android , iOS
Genre (s)	Real time strategy game

Command & Conquer [ kəmɑ: nd Rev. kɒŋkəʳ ] (abbreviated C & C or CnC ; Engl. " Successfully command & conquer " or " commanding & Conquer ") is originally from Westwood Studios developed video game series from the genre of real time strategy games . The original concept comes from Westwood founder Brett W. Sperry and designer Joseph Bostic . Although the Dune II - Battle for Arrakis, also developed by Westwood, laid the foundation stone for the genre, Command & Conquer is today, alongside the Warcraft series, one of the forefathers of real-time strategy, as it is the genre with its uncomplicated controls and an exciting story and its multiplayer function for a wide range of customers.

description

The Command & Conquer game series consists of three different universes that differ significantly from one another: The Tiberium , Red Alert and Generals Universe. The first game in the series, Command & Conquer: The Tiberium Conflict , was released in 1995 via Virgin Interactive. A red alert followed just a year later . In 1998, Publisher Electronic Arts took over the Westwood and Virgin Interactive Irvine development studios along with the C&C trademark rights. Under the new publisher, Westwood published Tiberian Sun and Virgin Interactive Irvine, now renamed Westwood Pacific, in 1999 , a year later Red Alert 2 . In March 2002, Command & Conquer: Renegade was the last time Westwood released a Command & Conquer game. In March 2003, the Westwood main studio was closed and the now renamed EA Pacific branch in Irvine was merged with Dreamworks Interactive. With the expansion to the Command & Conquer: Generals still developed by EA Pacific , the continuation of the series was transferred to EA Los Angeles .

EA Los Angeles released three other titles, Tiberium Wars (2007), Red Alert 3 (2008) and Tiberian Twilight (2010). As early as 2009 it was announced that EA would dissolve the C&C development team after the completion of Tiberian Twilight . In 2010 EA Los Angeles was renamed Danger Close and focused mainly on the further development of the Medal of Honor shooter series .

On December 11, 2011, the game developer BioWare , which belongs to Electronic Arts, announced the development of Command & Conquer (announced as Generals 2 ) through its development studio Victory Games. The game was to be released as a free-to-play title for multiplayer, but due to customer protests, a single-player campaign was announced shortly after the release. Before it could come to that, Electronic Arts announced shortly before completion on October 29, 2013 that the development of Command & Conquer had been discontinued and developer Victory Games had been dissolved. The reason given was the mostly negative feedback from fans during the closed beta test.

On December 13, 2011, just two days after Command & Conquer was announced , the development of a free-to-play browser game called Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances was announced. EA's German subsidiary Phenomic was entrusted with the development of this HTML5- based game . The game was released in May 2012.

On June 5, 2020, a Command & Conquer Remastered Collection was published on the digital distribution platforms Steam and Origin for the 25th anniversary . This collection includes The Tiberium Conflict and Red Alert and their related extensions.

Games from the Command & Conquer series

Only in German-speaking countries was Red Alert distributed as the second part of the series. In the US and the rest of the world, the second part of the series is only in 1999 with Tiberian Sun appeared. The Red Alert series was sold as a standalone game that had nothing to do with the original Command & Conquer series, much like Generals . So if you take it exactly, there are three different series of games.

Games

• The Tiberiumkonflikt (Engl. Tiberian Dawn ) (August 1995)
  • The state of emergency (Engl. The Covert Operation ) (April 1996)
• Red Alert (Engl. Red Alert ) (Oct 1996)
  • Counterattack (Engl. Counterstrike ) (March 1997) and retaliation (Engl. The Aftermath ) (September 1997)
  • Counterstrike (Engl. Retaliation ) (August 1998), consolidated and improved version of the extensions for PlayStation
• Sole Survivor (not published in Germany) (November 1997)
• Operation Tiberian Sun (Engl. Tiberian Sun ) (August 1999)
  • Firestorm (Engl. Firestorm ) (March 2000)
• Red Alert 2 (Engl. Red Alert 2 ) (October 2000)
  • Yuri's Revenge (Engl. Yuri's Revenge ) (October 2001)
• Renegade (February 2002)
• Generals (February 2003), original version was indexed (canceled in 2013), changed new edition in Germany as Generals
  • The zero hour (Engl. Zero Hour ) (September 2003), the first publication by the Westwood-closure
• Tiberium Wars (published on March 29, 2007 in Europe, at the same time the " Kane Edition ", which is not suitable for minors)
  • Kane's Wrath (Engl. Kane's Wrath ) (March 27, 2008)
• Red Alert 3 (Engl. Red Alert 3 ) (30 October 2008)
  • Insurrection (Engl. Uprising ) (March 12, 2009 as a download)
• Red Alert (Engl. Red Alert ) (2009), on Red Alert 3 based iOS offshoot
• Tiberian Twilight (March 18, 2010)
• Tiberium Alliances (browser game) (May 2012)
• Rivals (Mobile) (December 2018)

More games were in development. This includes Tiberium , which should be designed as a tactical shooter with the Renegade gameplay. Its development was stopped at the beginning of October 2008. Furthermore, with Generals 2, a successor to Generals was planned.

Game collections

Command & Conquer - The first 10 years

For the tenth anniversary of Command & Conquer , the game collection The First 10 Years ( The First Decade ) was published on February 16, 2006 with all Command & Conquer titles, except the now no longer usable Sole Survivor , and its expansions. For the first time, the first two parts can now also be played under Windows XP without additional tools or configuration. All games are stored on a DVD. Attached is a DVD with bonus material and background information in English. However, the multiplayer mode has not been revised and is still based on serial connections and IPX protocols in the older Command & Conquer titles , which means that multiplayer mode can only be activated by installing the appropriate protocol (no longer possible for Windows Vista or higher) or adding it a file in the games folder for IP support becomes playable. In addition, certain videos are not played with some games, but EA has fixed this problem with a patch. There is an unofficial patch for the English version for remaining problems .

The Command & Conquer Saga

On the occasion of the twelfth birthday of Command & Conquer , the revised game collection The Command & Conquer Saga was released on January 31, 2008 . This includes Command & Conquer - The First 10 Years and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars . The collection contains a total of 13 C&C titles. In Germany, the Command & Conquer saga was released with an age rating of 16 years, which means that the uncensored, adult version of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars , also known as the Kane Edition , is not included. The Command & Conquer Saga also lacks the official expansion for Tiberium Wars , Kane's Wrath (German: Kanes Zorn ), which was subsequently released on March 27, 2008. The revised game collection was therefore considered obsolete after a short time and came under criticism, since such a collection normally claims to be complete, which is relevant for collectors and newcomers.

Command & Conquer Ultimate Collection

The Command & Conquer Ultimate Collection was released on October 9, 2012 and contains 17 titles from the series. However, the collection only contains a code and no DVD, which is why you have to download up to 40 gigabytes of data for all games before you can use them. This code also offers early access to the next Command & Conquer title. The collection is digitally distributed through EA's online service Origin . There are some negative comments about the ability of all titles to run on the "Windows 7 & 8" operating systems. The games appear in Germany with an age rating from 16 years, which is why they are available in the cut or modified version.

Command & Conquer Remastered Collection

The Command & Conquer Remastered Collection was released on June 5, 2020 on Steam and Origin . This includes Command & Conquer: The Tiberium Conflict and Command & Conquer: Red Alert and the three associated expansions The State of Emergency , Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Counterattack and Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Retaliatory Strike in 4K resolution . The multiplayer mode, the user interface and the soundtrack have been redesigned.

music

Frank Klepacki composed the music from the beginning of The Tiberium Conflict to Renegade . For the first time, the soundtrack to Generals was composed not by Klepacki, but by Bill Brown .

Although most of the pieces of music come from Klepacki, the styles differ in the individual C&C parts. The theme music in the main menu is always the program song for the entire part.

The Tiberium conflict consists of electronic industrial music with rock elements. Pieces like “No mercy”, “Act on instinct”, “Nod Final Theme” or “Warfare” are among the best known and most popular of the whole series.

Red alert mostly avoids rock elements (one exception is the theme song "Hell March"). Almost all of the tracks are in the electro category.

Tiberian Sun keeps the electrical industrial elements. Some of the tracks go over to the chill-out track. In general, the tracks are slowest and "heaviest" compared to all other parts, which fits in with the dark atmosphere in this game. The (in) official song for Tiberian Sun is "twotribes" by the group TAM .

In Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Vengeance , rock elements can be heard again since the first part.

Renegade's music is very similar to that in The Tiberium Conflict . Almost every track has a melody that you know from the first part.

The soundtracks to Generals (cropped: Generals) were composed by Bill Brown. It depends on the side you are playing. The USA (cropped: Western Alliance) have “American military music” (instrumental music with a patriotic touch), China (cropped: Asian Pact) music with Far Eastern elements and the music of the GBA (cropped: IBG) consists of a mixture of oriental and African sounds. Rock elements are again included in all three directions.

Individual melodies keep appearing in other tracks. For example, the track - the beginning of everything - "Act on instinct" in The Tiberium Conflict can be found hinted at in "Face the enemy 2" in red alert and in Renegade when one is fighting against Raveshaw. Sometimes certain tracks are continued, for example “Hell March” (red alert), “HM 2” (red alert 2) and “Hell March 3” (red alert 3) with the same melody.

Another special feature: you can (except in Generals, Tiberium Wars and Renegade ) access a list of the pieces of music and listen to, stop and repeat certain tracks if you wish.

The music for Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars was composed by Steve Jablonsky and Trevor Morris .

Trivia

• The song Mechanical Man from The Tiberium Conflict is named "Target" on the soundtrack CD. There is no specific reason for this.
• There is a song in Blizzard's Warcraft II called Medieval Man , which is a parody of Mechanical Man .
• The first German edition of the extension red alert - counterattack included a mousepad with motifs from the Allies or the Soviets.
• All German versions of Command & Conquer except for Red Alert 2 and Generals , which was later published in a defused version under Command & Conquer: Generals due to the indexing , have been changed. For Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars both a modified version from 16 and an uncensored version from 18. The infantrymen became cyborgs and various cut scenes, including the scene from The Tiberium Conflict , in which Kane kills Seth with a head shot or the scene from Red Alert , in which Adolf Hitler is removed from the time, has been cut.
• The composer Frank Klepacki appears in various cutscenes , such as in red alert as a Soviet soldier lighting a cigarette or as a Nod soldier who dies in the final sequence of The Tiberium Conflict (cut in Germany).
• The piece of music Nod Final Theme (original title: Destructible Times , in German about 'destructible times') comes from the band "I AM", a side project of Frank Klepacki.
• The software Low Orbit Ion Cannon is named after a fictional weapon of mass destruction from C&C, the ion cannon . This is partly used for DDoS attacks .
• The Russian Embassy in Great Britain used a screenshot instead of a real picture of the situation in a Twitter short message from the zero hour game on the civil war in Syria . The report was published on May 13, 2016 with the content "Extremists near Aleppo receive several truckloads of chemical ammunition". On the screenshot there is the note "Image used for illustration purposes only" (translated from English: The image is for illustration purposes only).

Novels

• Keith DeCandido : Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars , Panini Verlag , 2007, ISBN 3-8332-1644-1 .

Web links

• Official Command & Conquer page
• Command & Conquer series at MobyGames (English)
• Link catalog on Command & Conquer at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
• Command & Conquer Wiki

Individual evidence

1. ^ A New Dawn: Westwood Studios 15th Anniversary. In: gamespot.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2009 ; accessed on November 30, 2015 (English). 
2. ↑ Chris Morris: EA buys Westwood. In: CNN Money . Time Warner , August 17, 1998, accessed January 13, 2013 . 
3. ↑ Rumor: EA's Cuts Include C&C Team, Pandemic, Maxis & More. kotaku.com, accessed November 1, 2016 . 
4. ↑ EALA Medal Of Honor Team Don's New Studio Name 'Danger Close'. gamasutra.com, July 22, 2010, accessed November 1, 2016 . 
5. ↑ EA reveals Command & Conquer Generals 2. presse.ea.de, December 12, 2011, accessed November 1, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Robert Purchese: BioWare's Command & Conquer: Generals 2 repurposed for new free-to-play venture. In: Eurogamer.net . August 15, 2012, accessed August 15, 2012 . 
7. ↑ Command & Conquer - campaign missions announced - trailer, screenshots and date. August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012 . 
8. ^ Christian Weigel: Command & Conquer - development stopped. GameStar .de, October 30, 2013, accessed October 30, 2013 . 
9. ^ A New Future for Command & Conquer. Victory Studios, October 29, 2013, accessed October 30, 2013 . 
10. ↑ EA announces Command & Conquer Tiberium Alliances. ea.de, accessed on November 1, 2016 . 
11. ^ Command & Conquer Remastered. gamestar.de, accessed on June 6, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Command & Conquer: Tiberium discontinued. derstandard.at, October 1, 2008, accessed on November 1, 2016 . 
13. ↑ Command and Conquer - Generals 2: Release, costs and all information (canceled). giga.de, December 9, 2014, accessed November 1, 2016 . 
14. ^ Command and Command - The first Decade Community patch. (No longer available online.) In: cnp.cncnz.com. 2010, archived from the original on January 5, 2012 ; accessed on January 13, 2012 (English): “ Most importantly it's unofficial; a community patch. It does not require the 1.01 or 1.02 patch from EA, as it includes all fixes from them [...] upgrade you to 1.03 [...] it is for the English version of TFD only! It will not work on the German TFD. “ Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
15. ↑ Command and Conquer: The Ultimate Collection gets negative reviews. In: PC Games. December 11, 2012, accessed February 26, 2017 . 
16. ↑ Martin Downtown, Nils Kreimeier, Claus Hecking, Matthias Lambrech: The extra-parliamentary opposition Internet. Financial Times Deutschland, December 14, 2010, archived from the original on March 19, 2011 ; Retrieved December 29, 2010 . 
17. ↑ Curious: Russian Embassy uses screenshot from Command & Conquer. pcgames.de, May 16, 2016, accessed on November 9, 2016 . 
18. ↑ Russian Embassy embarrasses itself with "Command & Conquer" images. In: Stern . May 13, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016 .