Banshee Is Mad As Hell And Ain't Gonna Take It Anymore

[IconOfEvi 0]

 

Aaaand it's time for a VOLCANO POST!! Follow me and we can get started!

 

EDIT - NOTE TO TEXAS RESIDENTS. FIND SHELTER. Also, if Derelict Studios is down for a while, our servers are in Houston.

Edited September 17, 2008 by IconOfEvi

[IconOfEvi 0]

It is indeed time for another VOLCANO POST! I, IconOfEvi bring to you tidings from the CNC Community. As usual, all the old rules apply. This is yes, a news post, but it is also my biases creeping upon. Thus, I, IconOfEvi are alone for all content. This is my posting of news, and yes, biased at times news. Any inappropriate content is my fault, not Derelict Studio's or Keeper Of The Keys therein.

 

Now then!

 

 

Project Perfect Mod SDK Polling Project Ignored By Apoc!

In a surprising tiff, Banshee burst forth about how Apoc has ignored what the Community wants first in regards to Kane's Wrath.

 

If you recall, PPM started a campaign to get the Mod SDK either imported, updated, or at least Kane's Wrath's code over the World Builder, which in all fairness, was also horrendous (like everything else from Kane's Wrath, but don't tell anyone!). tooled back into the Tiberium Wars SDK.

 

Apoc's reply, in a very creepy manner:

 

-----------------------------

Hey guys,

 

Here is the latest update on the MOD SDK for KW that I have been trying to steer.

 

-There are some serious technical challenges with getting this SDK up and running, and quite frankly they are too dangerous and time consuming. I don't think we can get the resources to muster this up. Consider that right now we need to build an RA3 Mod SDK, fix KW World-builder, patch KW and RA3, to be perfectly honest, those are all more critical than a KW Mod SDK at this point. I know it's not ideal in saying that, but if you poll the community, I am certain that would be cold-hard truth.

 

-I am not giving up on a KW MOD SDK just yet, but, we have yet to see some of the truly great mods for C&C 3 come out and I feel the community spreads themselves very thin. At best, right now a KW MOD SDK would bring new balance mods. Full blown mods are unlikely as many people will move to mod RA3 and finish up their C&C 3 mods. I whole heartedily believe this.

 

- I am looking to potentially meet a middle compromise. Instead of releasing a full blown SDK, I am looking to potentially release all of our KW art assets so that you can mod those in to C&C 3. KW does not bring a lot of new significant functionality to the table, the primary being the Mechapede, garissoning customization, and epic units. Those are hard things to live without in a mod, but I think we can meet halfway.

 

Where I wish we could find a technical way is in the balance mods. This requires us to patch, and build the full SDK.

 

This campaign is not lost yet, but against the other priorities this community wants, we cannot do everything right now. I will do the best I can to either make this happen, or meet you guys halfway.

 

I hope this can be understood. Thank you and apologies.

 

I will keep pushing and keep updating you guys.

 

-APOC

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Guys, head over to PPM and calm Banshee down and comment on this development!

 

 

 

 

INTERVIEWS

Nothing much here, but two interviews have been given recently about Red Alert 3.

 

- Louis Castle, a retrospective (YOU'RE WRONG, YOU)

- Amer and Kasavin talking about features

 

Some side goodies from the two pieces.

 

* Red Alert 3 - Hell March, First To Last mp3

* Random babe on ActionTrip I liked.

 

 

RED ALERT 1 FOR FREE

This might be old news, but gone noticed is that RED ALERT is still available FOR DOWNLOAD, from EA! It's everywhere else if EA takes it down, so don't worry.

 

As for if it has been updated, I have literally no idea. I'm looking for where I downloaded it actually.

 

If Patch 3.03 isn't included, I highly recommend getting the experimental 3.03 patch that Westwood worked on for a time. A must for LAN games, and also can connect to Westwood On Line (now XWIS) through the game, not needing Westwood Chat.

 

There is also patches that make Red Alert run through TCP instead of IPX, but I posted those in another post. I will retrieve them when I am not lazy.

 

 

 

 

OpenRedAlert

 

When you see that picture, what comes to mind? Besides the Frenchness. Yes, that's right...LINUX. Now that obviously could be WINE running Red Alert, but no, its something else. Now I actually discovered this while looking for a good Red Alert picture, but it is OpenRedAlert, an open source continuation/based on work of now sadly defunct FreeCNC/FreeRA. While it may or may not be moot now with Red Alert being released as freeware, with this, Red Alert can than be distributed in a distribution of free software, since it is built from the ground up. As for needing the original mix files, either the demo can provide that, or now Red Alert itself.

 

 

 

Red Horizon

Coming back to our OTHER Red Alert from grounds up build, we come to Red Horizon, a Java-ish project with things like OpenAL, OpenGL and other fine jibberish only programmers care about thrown in. As shown by his current screenshots, Emanuel Rabina (Ultraq, creator of the awesome Ultraq campaign for Red Alert) is advancing quite far, with even now structures ingame.

 

 

 

 

Vietnam | Glory Obscured: Pegasus 1.1 Mac Ed.

 

Getting over my initial displeasure with the Mac symbol even, I come to bring you grand news. Screamingcricket and VGO crew have released VGO 1.1 - Pegasus for the Mac. As you should know. VGO is awesome.

 

Also, really do take time to visit the Music Player section. New tracks abound. NVA - Seraphim and The River are especially wonderful. The River is especially - it feels as if you're on the rivers, your swiftboat going along. Very emotional.

 

And Death Will Have His Day

 

 

 

Red Alert 3 DRM notes

 

A quick note, as many of you are aware, Red Alert 3 is going to have a draconian form of SecuROM. Many of you are aware of the details, however, Chris Corey updated the details of the DRM. You're not going to get installs back. Take that! It really is a rental for 50-60 bucks >_<.

 

 

 

 

 

And now, my favorite news for last.

 

RA2 - RELOAD (perhaps, name wip)

You wanted Red Alert 2 in 3d? Wanted extended modding and mapping capabilities? Write in pugins? WORRY NOT NO MORE. YuriX HAS A SOLUTION FOR YOU. Called RA2 - Reload, the engine is one that will strive to recreate RA2YR in complete 3d, similar in vein (imo to Spring, the TA 3d recreation engine).

 

Some notes of his:

 

File System

Mix files are still supported for compatibility.

However you can get your own archive file format supported by writing a plug-in DLL.

 

ExLangmd*.mix: new files for langmd.mix can go here

ExThememd*.mix: new themes can be here

 

The Plug-in System

“Expandmd*.dll”s are recognized as plug-ins for the game. Written in C#, VB.Net or other .Net programming languages, such DLLs are used to extend the engine.

 

Old .tem, .sno, etc. is no supported. A new format is used. It allows models with tiles and double layered tiles.

 

The scene is lit in 3D dynamically.

 

Lit ramps.

 

Maps

Old YR map are not supported directly but I had made a converter to convert them.

The main difference between old format and new format is the [isoMapPack5] section. The new map format is still plain text INI.

I just use some original YR maps and cummunity made maps for testing. Wink

 

 

Some good pics

 

 

Tell me this does not look the awesome.

 

 

And with that, another Volcano Post is concluded! (Find the hidden Frank Klepacki song reference and win a prize!)

 

Also,

 

ITS A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU. (this is all true btw...maybe we all are 50th cousins of each other...)

Edited September 13, 2008 by IconOfEvi

[BlckWyerve 0]

Banshee is always mad when he isn't the center of attention.

[Smurf Bizkit 0]

You know someone's a whining too much when he has me defending EA's actions. :P

[Bhones 0]

You defended someone? :P :: ducks ::

[IconOfEvi 0]

So like what do you guys think overall :(? I know I seem to have focused on a lot of Red Alert in retrospect.

[Banshee 0]

Banshee is always mad when he isn't the center of attention.

 

I'm not that kind of attention whore. I was trying to do or promote some pressure on EALA developpers to review their priorities. What matters is the KW mod SDK being created, and not if I get attention or not. If someone else took their time to organize a campaign for it, I wouldn't care for my words to get attention from APOC. I'd simply support it. It wasn't nice to see how APOC ignored community's feeedback with this:

 

Consider that right now we need to build an RA3 Mod SDK, fix KW World-builder, patch KW and RA3, to be perfectly honest, those are all more critical than a KW Mod SDK at this point. I know it's not ideal in saying that, but if you poll the community, I am certain that would be cold-hard truth.

 

Cold hard truth, while all 6 polls on 6 random (and at least 3 huge - CNCNZ, Planet CnC and CnCHQ) community sites had the KW mod SDK humiliating the fixes for World Builder and the results of these polls were emailed to him.

 

But I've heard in a later time that, due to technical problems that weren't mentioned, they can't make the mod SDK for KW, so they'll fix the world builder, which is better than nothing.

 

Anyway, I did overreact in that news post. Afterall, it is just a mod SDK for a almost dead umballanced game that have potential to be a very fun game.

 

 

You know someone's a whining too much when he has me defending EA's actions.

 

You are more interested on RA3 than me. I still think that KW engine seems to provide more freedom than RA3's, with features like mechapede, mind control, teleport and the tiberium storyline is more interesting than RA's wacky one. Also, global conquest mode alone is a whole new game. So, honestly, I prefer much more a KW mod SDK than one for RA3. But this is just a matter of personal preference.

Edited September 25, 2008 by Banshee

[IconOfEvi 0]

lol calm down Banshee. Take a chill pill. You should for one not take seriously anything Blck says at face value.