Command & Conquer: Dawn of Tomorrow teaser thread

[Kilkakon]

And here it is!

[Kilkakon]

http://kilkakon.com/c&c/index.php

I've finished the new tech trees and descriptions on the site for all the new units! I'll include the tech trees here as well. Note the new Tear Gas APC icon.

 

 

[Kilkakon]

Hey there everyone. It's been a year since last update, wow! While I've been more active on my Discord server it's way past time to let you know how things have been going.

First off, here's an animated GIF of Eva, a start on the cinematics:

I've yet to do more with her but I am happy that she's finally got to a place where I'm proud of how she looks rather than internally screaming. I hope to get some time to flesh out her remaining frames soon.

Otherwise, I've done some work with Nyer on projectiles, allowing two as of yet classified units to work correctly and have nice attacking animations. It goes without saying Nyer is a beast and nothing would have been possible without him.

I've also done a significant amount of improvements on the maps. I had a friend play through the campaigns and note any issues with AI pathing and so on. I actually had to remake FoT6 entirely as it wasn't possible to fix the problems with the old geography. I'd say that at least half of the maps received improvements of one form or another. Those map reworks are all done now, with the possible exception of FoT3, which I feel is a bit stagnant and leads to overly defensive while waiting for reinforcements play.

Last and most importantly, earlier this year I tried to move my C&C setup to my Windows 10 PC, to my loss. I had issues getting the resolutions and shaders to work properly, followed by further hard crashes to desktop when I tried to run through my campaigns repeatedly. As of time of writing, I'm unable to play through the CoA campaign without a crash on CoA6, and it crashes even earlier when playing through the FoT campaign first. This really shattered my morale for the project as I was completely at a loss of what to do about it.

Then, this week, I'll call it divine inspiration, I remembered of an old university assignment that I did back in 2011, where I used C&C as an example of game testing, as I knew of several ways to crash it back then, the most reliable of which was using sc*.mix files to introduce cameos and then proceed to play a campaign. Nyer's recommended solution for solving this was to store all my icons directly in the *icnh.mix files, which seemed to resolve the issue back in the day. Thinking that this problem might have returned, I ran through the vanilla C&C campaign using my existing cncdraw settings, which worked without incident. Then I went back to my project, and replaced the *icnh.mix files with the vanilla ones. Lo and behold, the crashes disappeared entirely.

So my current working theory is that the game is not handling my larger mix files properly (mine are 218KB, the vanilla ones are 120KB). Perhaps it's because I have jungle files in the directory that I am not using (could delete them just to be safe, the extra theatre seems too much trouble for now) or it is related to the sc*.mix crash which was easier to provoke. At the end of the day while it's not yet working I have hope that a solution can be found now that I know what's wrong rather than the unknown fog of shrouded mystery.

I'm also spurred on by the news of EA remastering the game. I'd like to beat them to release if I can.

Sorry it's been so long everyone. Let me know if you want to see anything in particular or if you want any additional information.

 

[Messiah]

On 6/18/2019 at 5:10 PM, Kilkakon said:

First off, here's an animated GIF of Eva, a start on the cinematics:

 

I remember, I had an english teacher looking like her.

Do you plan to do a public beta/pre-release?

Otherwise, you should contest with the BER berlin airport instead of EAs TD remaster.

[Kilkakon]

Shots fired, but not entirely uncalled for, I'll take it Thanks for keeping in touch.

It's true that the C&C engine crash did demoralise me. But I am pretty driven to get this out by the end of the year. I've told myself that if I fail to do any more work on it until then I'll just release it as a public beta or something similar. Outside of the game crashing and a handful of small issues the main component remaining is the polished cinematics and I can cut some corners there. Still, I hope to be able to give you guys a polished product with the kinks ironed out.

On the plus side, I have been working on the project, and can share something for you today. Here's the outpost, a new structure that is used during the campaign as a mission objective. I struggled with this building for a while, initially using a supply dump done by CombinE (which I rejected because it looked like a barracks), then using the Dune2000 construction yard (which I rejected as it looked like a civilian building), now ending up with this new design partially inspired by the Red Alert 2 Tech Outpost.

It's meant to invoke feelings of being a construction yard, as it does allow you to build structures, but notably can only build structures you have unlocked with your existing buildings. So if you only have a Barracks, you can build Guard Towers but nothing more. I did reuse the crates in CombinE's original supply dump again, so credit to him for those.

If anyone wants to chat with me more or follow things more closely they're more than welcome to poke me on Discord.

[Kilkakon]

I've finished the new version of the 3rd FoT level ^^

 

Edited December 1, 2019 by Kilkakon

[Messiah]

I like that windmill, awesome! Does it rotate?

This Redoubt building looks quite blank. I would add some more detail to the surface, e.g. by adding a texture to the 3D render model, or adding the faction logo on one of the surfaces.

Generally, your shapes have a weird pixellation. I guess the reason is either an insufficient algorithm for the conversion into a palette image, or the colors of the images itself do not really fit into the C&C1 palette. Latter issue can be fixed by shifting the colors of your image more close to those colors used in the C&C palette by using brightness/hue/saturation tools.

The outpost building has 3x2 foundation, right? It looks quite small, you should make sure your building fills the whole 72x48.

What do you think of this building?

There are more of my artwork here in this thread, you can use any of them.

[Kilkakon]

That Windmill was by Noose actually! My part of it was to convert it into a TD friendly format, as the original was for OpenRA, and in RA palette.

Thanks for your feedback on the buildings. Some of the pixellation you're perceiving would be due to the Tomorrow player colour, which is not as smooth as some of the default ones due to the reduced dark greys in the palette. I'm pretty satisfied with my buildings at this stage, and I have done a lot of post production on the models as my 3D skills frankly suck.

I did see your buildings actually! Your Naval Shipyard as a land building was actually a partial inspiration, as the side shed is based off the RA1 Shipyard as well

The main thing I was going for with the Outpost was to still make it look like a conyard but not necessarily a full strength one or looking like any of the other existing factions. I have 3 regular Construction Yards otherwise!

Edited December 3, 2019 by Kilkakon

[Kilkakon]

I did end up working more on the Outpost, reshading it, partially due to your suggestion, but I also wanted to make it look nice with the two-tone schemes I have in the mod.

See what you think! There's two alternatives here, with differing levels of contrast.

Work slowed down over Christmas, but continues at a steady pace. Here's some other recent work, my rework of FoT6:

 

[Messiah]

It still looks quite skinny. I added some part of the construction yard, the power station and the radar to the building:

Though, the refinery-style look is rather accidently.

I suggest to do some 2D post-editing anyway to remove some of the pixellation, e.g. like this:

[Kilkakon]

At last the vapourware takes form!

A trailer! A release date!

C&C Dawn of Tomorrow will release this coming Saturday, on May 30th. Hope you enjoy the trailer and are looking forward to a bit of classic C&C action before the remaster hits!

Edited May 25, 2020 by Kilkakon

[Kilkakon]

It's out!

https://forums.cncnet.org/topic/11032-cc-dawn-of-tomorrow-released/

I decided it was high time to make a new thread considering this one is 6 years old. It remains an interesting archive of the developmental process!

[Makoto]

What a great mod that you created, I would like to make some suggestions and I am afraid it will be a long read, could you please be patient.

In fact I made an account just to be able to communicate my ideas with you.

Because the US has that light tank instead of their Abrams tanks, I think it would be better if the US had the medium tanks and the Russians had the light tanks, especially since the light tank looks like a T-90.

In the unit production list you could change the image of the light tank from the Bradley to the T-90, you could also use the Red Alert model of the medium tank for the Japanese tank and change the unit production image from the Abrams to the Type 90 or Type 10 depending on which decade the story unfolds.

It would also be possible to use the Red Alert light tank model to be the APC of Russia? it would have to shrink its turret to make it look like a BMP and give it an automatic cannon and give it the ability to transport infantry, it would have to use the image of a BMP on the production list.

You could also use the Yak red alert plane for the Company of Answer and Cassandra's Host faction with the image of an AT-802L Longsword or a Lasa t-bird in the production list? as a weapon of the plane you could air-to-surface missiles instead of the Yak machine guns, the plane should have a high price with a cost of $ 1500 or more per plane.

Regarding the Company of Answer's forces, I remember that Eva had said that the company bought the best weapons on the market, but it doesn't seem so at all, rather it gave me the impression that they were a moderately armed militia than a private army with vast resources.

Company of Answer forces are in need of military vehicles, air units and air attacks do not make up for this lack, also Cassandra's Host needs military vehicles.

Company of Answer and Cassandra's Host could use the ranger, the mobile artillery and the light tank Nod should be the attack vehicles and that the Red Alert truck is used to transport the infantry instead of using the APC, The image of a T-54/55 or an M60 Patton could be used for the image of the light tank Nod in the production list.

That all these vehicles are delivered to the Airstrip instead of the war factory, to imply that Company of Answer and Cassandra's Host buys weapons instead of manufacturing them as the other factions do.

Regarding artillery, I think the best thing is that the mobile artillery used by the US should be replaced by the MLRS, it is very strange that the US does not have it, as they are the manufacturers and main users of this weapon.

I also think it would be better for Russia to change the SSM for the V2 launcher of the Red Alert that the forces of tomorrow use and that it be given the name of rocket launcher.

The SSM with its improvised appearance seems more appropriate for the forces of tomorrow than the Red Alert V2, it is clearly seen that the V2 is a Russian weapon and the MSS a modified MLRS to launch 2 giant missiles.

Would it also be possible to give the ability to transport infantry to the humvee, ranger and the Mi-24/25/35? The humvee and the ranger could carry 4 or 5 soldiers, meanwhile the Mi-24/25/35 could carry 8 soldiers, for their part, the US and Japan could produce the chinook.

It would be necessary to increase the transport capacity of the APC, BMP, trucks and Chinook, the APC, BMP and trucks could carry a total of 8 soldiers, for its part the Chinook would carry 10 or 12 soldiers.

Is it possible for the US and Russia to use the powers of paratroopers and air strikes? the Mig spy plane and parabombs with the Badger would be the exclusive powers of Russia, for the US the Airstrike with the A-10.

Is it possible that Russia can build the Red Alert MIG and that the US can get its own attack aircraft like an F-15 or F-18? Japan and the US could use the same plane.

In response to the new air threats, the forces of tomorrow could manufacture the mobile radar jammer to keep the base hidden from enemy aircraft when the player faces the forces of tomorrow, a version of the stationary radar jammer could also be built more resistant and with a greater range to hide the base from air attacks.

I remember that in the campaign the forces of tomorrow had apaches, equipping them with a combat planes and helicopters would be a good idea now that the forces of tomorrow control the world, surely they will have a large air fleet.

Also the forces of tomorrow could be given a Eurofighter Typhoon or a Dassault Rafale or a Saab 39 Gripen.

You could use the Mig spy model to make the F-15 by removing the fins from the nose, you could also make a Mig-29/35 by extending the tail in this way, in the same way you could make the plane of the forces of tomorrow by changing the Mig spy tail.

Also modifying the Mig could make the F-18 or 16, combining the Mig and the Mig spy could make a Su-27 and its variants and many other aircraft.

Will it be possible in the future to see other powers in the game like the EU, China, Iran and the UK fighting the forces of tomorrow? it's just a question.

By the way, why does Russia have the Mammoth tank? the mod is on a divergent timeline from the Red Alert.

Anyway, thanks for the mod it really is one of the best.

Edited August 28, 2020 by Makoto

[Kilkakon]

Wow thanks for the detailed questions and enjoyment you've got from the mod dude! Did you complete all the maps? I love you using emoji for each faction haha. Which one was your favourite?

One thing I can say is that a large number of your ideas are more informed from a Red Alert (or possibly OpenRA) perspective. It wouldn't be possible to back port something like aircraft for instance, as much as that would be fun, or Red Alert superweapons like parabombs or spy planes. That would have to be in the realms of a sequel if it was to happen (Unlikely at this stage, but maybe one day). Infantry carrying capacity, for instance, is locked to either 0 or 5.

Regarding the faction design, I've had multiple iterations on the various factions over the years, and a few units changed sides more than once. I would say that it is a bit late for me to make any changes, the current lot are pretty much set in stone, but what I can do is share my philosophy and some trivia about the various units and factions you brought up.

US

Originally, US were a "worse" Company of Answers. They had no Weapons Factory, Naval Command or Airstrike Control, only the ability to build SEALs and receive periodic reinforcements from an Airstrip. In late 2018 I gave them a major redesign, basing them somewhat off of Allies, hence the Artillery, but also wanting to give them some more unique gameplay style. A lot of factions can devolve into "I build only Medium Tanks" so in this case I took it away from them, giving two very useful vehicles in exchange, both for the same price: the toughest, baddest Humvee yet, and a Light Tank with a missile (thanks to AchromicWhite for the sprite!). The end result is that both vehicles end up being built in decent numbers, instead of just spamming one. If it helps, you can think of the Light Tank as a Bradley, similar to TD in that regard.

Russia

Russia has been largely consistent in its design, and in my opinion was the strongest of the three RL country factions in its original inception. I really like how they have almost no good units vs. infantry, relying on the SSM launcher as a key unit. To further drive home this infantry weakness, I decided to make their light unit, the Malyutka, not carry infantry, and instead be an anti-vehicle unit instead. It's actually tankier than I had intended but hey, it works. While this mod isn't based off the Red Alert universe, Mammoths in C&C do have that Russian connotation, which is why they are here. Note that I am limited in my vehicle space which is why the Medium Tank graphic is shared across the factions that can build them, in an ideal world I probably would have used the RA1 Medium Tank for Russia.

Japan

Japan's been a bit of a crowd favourite due to a lot of the unique architecture I made for them, but their initial design was lacking in some areas, having a Tear Gas Tank instead of a Tear Gas APC, and no artillery unit. When I revisited US and Russia, giving them their new unique units, I also gave the MLRS to Japan, as the forces of Tomorrow had picked up the new Missile Crawler unit instead. The MLRS seemed a decent fit for Japan, as they're actually effective against Redoubts, whereas as a Tomorrow unit they had no real role and were completely overlooked by playtesters. I believe that JDF also use some MLRS in real life anyhow.

Company of Answers

I've got a big soft spot for the Company of Answers. I know a few folks really dislike their frail defences and lack of vehicles, but for me that's what it was meant to be all about. Heavy heavy focus on air play, and the OP Navy Seal, makes for a real fun experience for me. It also helps that their campaign, for the longest time, was the better designed of the two, as the mission objectives are more specific and tight. While I could add an Airstrip in future updates, it would cause the whole faction to pivot to whatever I added there instead of what they're meant to be about: infantry, aircraft and covert ops. I do have to give Nyerguds a shoutout for helping me with getting the Phoenix and Hind going.

Forces of Tomorrow

Tomorrow has remained largely consistent over the years, the main late addition in 2018 being the Missile Crawler, which really compliments their vehicle forces well. Possibly the one regret I have with the faction as it stands is that the infantry lineup was not the most inspired (there's not a lot I can do about it now) in that the RPG isn't particularly useful alongside the flamer. A bazooka is more useful as the infantry are already covered. At least they're a unique unit to fight against, but Tomorrow players rarely get a chance to focus on their infantry as they're often rushing up to Weapons Factory and forgetting about all infantry, including the high tech ones.

Cassandra's Host

She almost didn't make it. I was very low on time when I hit my deadline (which is why the first release had a few bugs that I missed sadly :cabal:) Her faction is very limited, for two reasons: the first is that I've pushed the engine to its absolute limit in terms of scope, there's very little room left for additional factions--I have to use triggers to give certain buildings off screen when things are built to make the tech tree work. The second is that I wanted players to force on using Cassandra as a hero unit, and in most cases I've seen people ignore her and instead spam pillboxes or helicopters instead. Wasn't what I intended but it's what happens when people are too scared to use a hero I guess haha. But I'm glad that she was added to the game, she is fun and I like the maps I made for her.

That all being said, as you've shown a lot of interest, I can share some of my plans for the upcoming planned release. I'm intending to focus on expanding Cassandra's faction with new units, and making a playable Cuban faction. I've already designed how I want things to pan out, it's just a matter of technical difficulties that need to be overcome to make it happen.

Cassandra will get two new units: a flame grenadier from the Barracks and a Demolitions Truck from the Weapons Factory. She won't be able to build any other vehicles, as I really do want to focus on her power as a hero unit, but the flame grenadier will be a strong infantry on par with other elite infantry like the Navy SEAL.

Cuba is very much dependent on a few technical glitches that I hope to resolve soon, but the plan for their unique units are an Assault Gun and a fictional vehicle: a short-ranged artillery on a Mammoth tank chassis, that almost works like a battering ram in knocking down enemy fortification. It'd be very tanky and relatively fast. Not sure on its name yet.

Map wise, I've had ideas for a large number of maps, energy levels will determine how many of them get made. I want this release to be for fun rather than pressure ^^

Thanks for the interest dude