How Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Solved Pathfinding | War Stories | Ars Technica

[@dr.strangelove6118]

We still remember you Westwood.

[@SoccerBoyAP]

We miss you Westwood!!!

[@ieuanhunt552]

Soon EA will join you. Not soon enough.

[@ashmasterc]

@@ieuanhunt552 Not even close to joining.

[@Kevin-finity]

Yeah!

[@HarriJokinen]

KANE LIVES IN DEATH.

[@gejnormcswipe8435]

*"Welcome back Commander"* Me: *lays down, tries not to cry, cries A LOT*

[@jacksbob8746]

Gejnor Mcswipe EA challenge everything... hissss...

[@UnworthyChicken]

This comment made me tear up

[@MYSOULOFDOOM]

Ikr 😭

[@NcrXnbi]

"Hold my napkins" *Cries harder* [ I miss westwood studios]

[@tacticalear9601]

ZOMG

[@Datan0de]

Don't think we didn't notice the scorpion on your shirt, Brother. KANE LIVES IN DEATH!

[@chrisguemmer7748]

PEACE THROUGH POWER!!!!

[@Bnr324]

KANE LIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[@dontblameme9468]

For the technology of peace!

[@ohchinchindaisuke1927]

IN THE NAME OF KANE!

[@omgsam7185]

TIBERIUM IS THE FUTURE!

[@xyph3r]

"welcome back, commander" - we never left. after EA's engineers took over our base we've been sitting in a remote corner of the map with a lone soldier all these years, waiting for you guys to send us a fresh MCV as reinforcement.

[@fuupdaass275]

You mean lone soldier wandering the map looking for a crate with a mcu in it

[@Omegatonboom]

Shake a baby!! -Tanya

[@danatronics9039]

@@fuupdaass275 _Crate explodes_

[@fuupdaass275]

Crate always was something different but if you were ever that lone soldier it would be a new base

[@ReX0o0]

@@fuupdaass275 yeah, as long as it wouldn't explode

[@IHIavok96]

I really hope to see a Remaster of Tiberian Sun one day. Especially seeing how the remaster for the first one did good.

[@Marc_Araujo]

I think its high time That a C&C Remastered Collection II hits including Tiberian Sun, Firestorm, Red Alert 2, Yuri's Revenge...AND Renegade.

[@warriorcrab1319]

C&C not having unit caps was one of the most glorious parts of the game, and one of the first features that come to mind. Thanks.

[@requestcontainsinvalidargu185]

3:00 this was my exact thoughts when I saw this.

[@notlikethis5782]

It's what broke Tiberian Twilight for me.

[@ezrasalamat2885]

yup, it was a game changer

[@furtim1]

I still have all the cc games...can't get them to work on windows 10. With a modern system, I can see myself unit counting the hell out of it now. When I was a kid, my poor computer would bog the game down if things got up there.

[@ezrasalamat2885]

Tiberian Sun has been released for free on Windows, which should work in Windows 10. I'm not sure with the other C&C games though

[@SoccerBoyAP]

9:00 - "If you spend more time just making sure it doesn't do something stupid, it'll look pretty smart." - Louis Castle Great summary of path-finding!

[@Iby00]

pretty much sums my poster up. spend a long time doing it. made a quick final edit didnt re-read it and had a duplicate line on it... :( and as a 3rd yr undergrad that is just bloody stupid

[@vguyver2]

@@Iby00 Pretty much what happened with Colonial Marines coding. The single line of coding in an entire game messed up the entire AI functions due to a typo, and it hurt the gameplay badly.

[@jacintojosephdimen3930]

@@vguyver2 Is it fixed now? So is it playable?

[@vguyver2]

@@jacintojosephdimen3930 The PC version now is with the fan patch. www.ign.com/articles/2018/07/15/modder-fixes-maligned-aliens-colonial-marines-ai-with-one-simple-coding-change

[@mickhoward3954]

@@jacintojosephdimen3930 my house mate and I play Bughunt all the time. Just apply a ReShade and fix line 435 by getting rid of the 'a' in teather (wankers XD) and you're all good to go. Just do a quick search on how to find the correct file to edit :)

[@derelicttyrant3409]

"New construction options." "Building." "Construction complete." You guys made my childhood really fun, thanks for everything Westwood.

[@timobatana6705]

Same. I didnt have the best childhood but these games were a great escape. Many hours on these games. Many.

[@serenemountain6769]

"Your Base is Under Attack!" "Building Destroyed!"

[@latmask00]

Unit ready.

[@serenemountain6769]

@Thru-VIKING Yup ...

[@lgvereor]

@Thru-VIKING right there with you

[@GeeBeisH]

I remember these times. It was a time when game developers released well polished games. Games that worked out of the box(literally)...

[@Johnny-rx4hs]

I also preferred expansion packs to the miniscule, often cosmetic DLC we see today too.

[@LordVader1094]

@@Lowlightt It still worked out of the box.

[@calebb7012]

these days we don't even get a physical "boxed" option.

[@weston407]

@@Johnny-rx4hs i miss old school expansion packs so much - Brood Wars, Opposing Force, etc - such good times - i’m glad i had a decent computer in middle school in the late 90s

[@mycosys]

and it sure as hell wasnt the 3rd rts like this pathological liar claims

[@hux2000]

That graphic that shows a tiny, 1 MB data "droplet" going through the "straw" of the CD-Rom drive, supposedly at 150 KB/sec? It takes just under 7 seconds from when it appears to when it "drops". Meanwhile, 1024 KB / 150 = 6.83 seconds. Bravo, Ars. Well played!

[@jnevercast]

Now that's editing to scale.

[@RabidArtists]

Hahaha wow when I was making that I never thought someone would even notice, it's even timed to the frame 😂 you are my hero

[@DevranUenal]

@@RabidArtists great work! :)

[@cksvideocloudstorage2993]

Oh damn that's some hard detail lol

[@benruss4130]

@@RabidArtists Yes, people only tend to notice things when they are wrong. In my sound job, if no one has anything negative to say I consider it a job well done.

[@AzariusR]

Clicks Build WestWood Studios. *Building* *Construction Complete* *New Construction Options* EA Detected EA sends Engineer Building Captured Structure Sold RIP Westwood Studios

[@OrenTubing]

LOL so true...

[@Geomaverick124]

so true...can I use this comment on a different vid?

[@chemoboy-dannypheleps9234]

haha decent

[@Nyerguds]

In C&C1 this is actually possible with some modding. As shown on the image I put in the other comment, the WestWood Studios building is actually in the game.

[@Alex_Hard068]

Give all Generals 2! Tiberian sun or Red Alert - NO GOOD!!! No perspectives! Generals 2 - top!

[@CncnetOrgOfficial]

Thanks for sharing your memories with us Louis. We've still got almost 100 concurrent users playing Tiberian Sun online every day. (And Ars Technica... Wow, you guys made your own Tiberian Sun maps and graphics? Well done.)

[@Kodaemon]

You should know better than to thank Louis Castle for anything C&C-related.

[@landonrankin7891]

@@Kodaemon Why?

[@Kodaemon]

@@@landonrankin7891 Because he's the type of greedy exec who stayed with EA after they killed Westwood and proceeded to kill C&C?

[@Alzexza]

@@Kodaemon He also made C&C3 that I really enjoyed :-)

[@steelbear2063]

@@Kodaemon A man needs to eat. And a game is ultimately just a game. Grow up.

[@piggeneral1275]

I remember faking sick to play C&C.

[@01MrCapricorn]

We used to sneak into class at lunch to play the demo disk when it first came out! 🤣

[@Leopardipzg]

I remember feeling the most ultimate happiness when school day ended, and I was rushing home to play Tiberian Sun :D

[@licentiousdreams]

PigGeneral I'm here to tell you that you we're never faking sick, withdrawals are real and can cause you to be a non-functioning sack of meat and bones. As a fellow Commander myself I want to let you know that you did what had to be done to make sure you and your troops Conquered any opposition that came your way. For the dedication and sacrifice you showed, I salute you, PigGeneral. Now go, I Command you to boot up that old pentium, listen to that beautiful windows dumdumdum, and Conquer your foes of yesteryear once again. Only then will you be reminded of why you "faked" being ill, when monday rolls around you may have to call into your side job and let them know you died, because you have a nuke to deliver. Tl;dr: It's late, I'm tired, I need sleep. I love Command and Conquer!!!!

[@downholler3772]

I got suspended on my last day of seventh grade. They sent me home early and I went straight to tiberian sun.

[@manictiger]

Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge dropped my grades across the board by about 1 GPA. And now I'm a rich equities trader. Videogames made me rich!

[@FloraJoannaK]

*Flashbacks of NOD engineers burrowing into base and capping, cause I missed a single tile to cement.* Whew. Nostalgia. My first RTS!

[@Quadrolithium]

More annoyed and as well as hilarious about Nod's ability to deform the terrain one time an idiot deformed the terrain with one of the support weapons before sending an engineer... the result? A perfectly uncapturable MCV with walls I cannot even sell (at least 1/4 of them). Great job idiot.

[@shaolinpowerranger5008]

Building...unit ready.. Building....unit ready Building... unable to comply building in progress....... Silo Needed

[@savagex466-qt1io]

Wait a second ... If you dont buy Silo's is all your ore wasted then ? Say like your harvaster comes back to drop off his load ? I always spent money in that game lol

[@LightningSe7en]

Yes it is wasted.

[@william8672]

silo needed

[@william8672]

silo needed

[@william8672]

silo needed

[@theelectricindian]

You sir are a hero to me. CnC from the original to RA2 changed my life. Those games changed my life.

[@theelectricindian]

Dune 2 and Dune 2000 also played a big role. It was most of Westwoods RTS games that made me a PC gamer and got me interested in computers. Hey also kept me entertained after I was in a bad accident and wasnt mobile for a few months. I played them every day.

[@pyr3x849]

Mine too man... I spent most of my childhood playing c&c

[@miksuko]

Try OpenRA. Has players, still.

[@dontblameme9468]

Agreed.

[@mycosys]

but why does he need to lie so much?

[@what7287]

the editing is superb.

[@dicedoom7162]

yeah sure, exept at 0:23 is a bit weird in my opinion

[@mattimhiyasmith]

I really enjoyed the detail described, more game developers should put this detail in :)

[@XBONESXx]

RIGHT?

[@blacknebulon]

Transitions were way too loud imo. Had to mute the video when the wipes happened, otherwise perfect.

[@dontblameme9468]

Agreed.

[@g3nkamgaming]

I really love TIberian Sun for its designs, environment and story.

[@ugiustuskeiserus8066]

Looking forward to see how they do with the remaster

[@Deathbrecht]

@MF Kamil Arts Haven't you forgotten Something?? What about the Soundtrack?? 🙄🤔😇

[@ugiustuskeiserus8066]

@laflugantabastardo Yeah, but I'm sure if the remasters do well they would start doing some others.

[@dreamingflurry2729]

Command and Conquer was my gold-card back then (I got invited by almost everybody (which was great to spend time when my real friends couldn't spend time with me) - on the condition that I brought whatever Command and Conquer was the newest (this started with a Game of the Year edition of Red Alert...don't remember when it ended...))

[@PrimitiveBaroque]

Did a recent playthrough and it still got me hooked.

[@codinginflow]

God I remember playing a tiny demo of that game that was contained in some gaming magazine over and over again. Terrific game.

[@mycosys]

definitely not the 3rd rts tho. This guy is a pathological liar

[@fergusmurphy8310]

Ah yes, demo CDs with game trials. Those were the days....

[@wallamazoo01]

@@mycosys Not necessarily a liar, if you ask most RTS gamers which games were their starting game, they will respond with Starcraft/Warcraft, Command and Conquer, or Dune. There certainly were other RTS games, but many I played were commando style missions only, where you completed challenges with set units. Hearts of Iron was like this, you had so many units and needed to do a thing in a WW2 setting. The RTS of Macro and Micro Economies really started with these three games, as they were the most popular.

[@noneater]

That magazine was most likely PC Gamer!! I used to beg my mom to buy it for me each month at the supermarket.

[@codinginflow]

@@noneater I think that was the one 😁

[@mylions95]

I remember getting Red Alert 2 for Christmas and basically not leaving my computer chair for two weeks during vacation. Those were some really frustrating and great times.

[@crossfitsolidorange9897]

Lan parties..pack up entire computer setup and drive to your buddy's house...stay up all night.

[@manictiger]

I lost so many grade points to Red Alert 2, hehe.

[@fuupdaass275]

Link mode

[@Prizm44]

“I’ve got the knowledge!”

[@mylions95]

@@Prizm44 lol. That really made me smile. All this nostalgia is making me want to locate this game and show my son. He might just love it.

[@CrowCZ]

Man I replayed Red Alert 2 so many times as a kid that I still remember every single mission after all those years, good times. And those custom installers, Westwood was really good at those.

[@jeffreyrowan8865]

Same, RA2 was my entire childhood

[@WARDEATHFUN]

WARNING: MILITARY SOFTWARE DETECTED. TOP SECRET CLEARANCE REQUIRED.

[@TidusleFlemard]

My first though when I downloaded when I downloaded the serie from origin (my cds were fubar and I had spare changes) was WHY ORIGIN DOESNT HAVE THOSE INSTALLER EVEN IF FOR A JOKE?

[@mwperk02]

@@TidusleFlemard That would probably take actual work on EA's part to get the old launchers working the way they want.

[@joshuaupham5993]

Hundreds of hours.......😄

[@Thesilverninja]

I have a few things to say about this video. 1.) Thank you so much for covering my favorite video game series of all time. Hearing Louis Castle talk about C&C instantly threw me back to my childhood. I loved those games with a passion and I'm still pissed that it ended with C&C 4. 2.) I am super impressed by the ARS effects team. The reproduction of the C&C effects and video compression was spot on. Definitely a big kudos to the effects team. I also liked that the green screen background mimicked Tiberian Sun's Philadelphia station motif. 3.) I never realized how incredibly intelligent Louis Castle was. Seems like working for him would teach you a lot of stuff about video game development. I have to see that if the C&C team considering opening up job applications. I'd consider submitting my resume after having worked at R* games for two years.

[@Marc83Aus]

If only there was a hope of getting new Command and conquer... That isn't a mobile game with microtransactions :(

[@hurtigheinz3790]

@@Marc83Aus It ended with C&C4? In my universe there is only C&C 1 to 4 + Generals + Renegade. RA is part 2, Tiberium Wars is part 3 and Red Alert 2 is part 4. So, what are you talking about? :D

[@Ueberdoziz]

@@hurtigheinz3790 more like c&c tib 4 there are c&c red alert 1-3 c&c tiberium XXX 1-4 c&c generals now the last comman and conquer was called "command and conquer 4: tiberium twillight" which completely wrecked the series, so peeps often jus call it C&C 4 or did i miss your comment and you meant that you are not acknowledging anything after generals?

[@emmamorris6577]

@@Marc83Aus EA are remastering TD and RA and are actually working with Petroglyph devs and experienced modders (such as the OpenRA team) do make a good job of it - I've no clue what's made EA suddenly make a not-horrific decision, but it's amazing that they're doing this. @The Silver Ninja you should definitely look into applying to the team that's working on the remasters, there'll be *tonnes* of great devs and artists there to learn from and with

[@Marc83Aus]

I see they've even got Frank Klepaki involved, as well as experienced members of the original dev teams, should be a decent remaster for a change. Maybe if theres good sales they might commit to a new full game. @@emmamorris6577

[@JamesPimlott]

Any C&C fans here should check out the MAGFest 2019 Frank Klepacki and The Tiberian Sons performance, it's incredible. Love the C&C games!

[@ChristopherMundahl]

it really was awesome!

[@microqueen69]

Very high energy!

[@dontblameme9468]

Agreed

[@LewisJohnsonIII]

Your games inspired me. I ended up being a lead 3d animator for years. Now I do IT work and grow weed legally.... Life is crazy.

[@Senorpoontang]

Teach me

[@alibabaei1953]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@jthemagicrobot3960]

What courses did you take to get into 3d animation?

[@SolantisA]

What courses did you take to grow weed legally?

[@produccionesabuela8533]

What game did you grow to weed courses legally?

[@thebigh4752]

We will always remember you fondly Westwood. As for you EA: You can go sit in the hallway.

[@roaldthamesen533]

YAAAAAY!! MORE CLASSIC C&C AND WESTWOOD PLEASE!! P.S: Would love to see the stories from the creators of World in Conflict.

[@ROBOHOLIC1]

I heard they had actual Spetsnaz co-operate with them during many of the Russian parts in the Campaign!

[@hennaikimono]

That was a great game

[@willlasdf123]

God I wish that game got a sequel

[@KingZealotTactics]

world in conflict, what a great game.

[@AxelLeJeff]

EA has hired Petroglyph to recreate the C&C series in 4k.

[@aoijeka]

3:08 "And every time we saw some great innovation we said does that make sense for our series or not." Yeah, try to tell that to EA. Oh, you already did, and now Westwood is closed. Goddamn, EA.

[@CaveyMoth]

*Notices EA* These critters don't look too friendly.

[@Orcawhale1]

The thing is though, it wasn't EA's fault. Westwood's closure was due to all of the staff leaving to go do other projects, or join EA LA(Which would later make Generals). Also, keep in mind if your going by the logic you use, EA would be just as responsible for bringing the game to life and the public(Which we all know isn't the case).

[@OrenTubing]

Replace "sense" with "money" and you get EA thinking

[@SilverKnightPCs]

I talked to Louis a long time ago. Back then EA wasnt the Evil it is now. He also got a position as a senior VP at EA. Unfortunately, EA evolved into a game company that only cared about the bottom dollar. Louis tried to adapt new technologies like mobile to make both interesting and profitable games. Unfortunately EA slowly bled his company dry of talent by sending them to EA LA and others. Louis was my hero as a kid and I met him through his son at my high school in 2011. It changed my life to meet the man. He was a giant to me even though if you didnt know who he was he looked like a normal dude. He inspired me to start up my PC building company and to achieve that level of success he did with his.

[@poonczey]

@@SilverKnightPCs ^This is very important! EA was awesome back in the day!

[@Drahcael]

I loved Tiberian Sun (and the other C&C games). In general C&C was a big influence for me as a gamer. Good childhood memories. How I loved the Obelisk of Light :D

[@awsomebot1]

I know it's an older video, but all the in-game footage to help explain the concepts is spectacular. The transitions are a great touch too. Whoever put this together clearly loved Tiberian Sun and elevated the video to the next level.

[@digitalbuzz]

Thank you, Louis, for giving me my first job out of college.

[@LTV746]

Reach out I’m sure he’d love to know again

[@markfrellips5633]

Man the cutscenes and the talent they recruited; they garnered huge stars to star in the cinematics. I still remember Michael Ironsides and going nuts.

[@Di0nysys]

Hell yea! Tiberian Sun still has the best story/campaign and atmosphere out of the series.

[@Sunnysideanyway]

Atmosphere I'll agree with, but C&C3 had a better story and campaign in my opinion.

[@Sunnysideanyway]

@Jeff Mitchell Why are "Secrets" so important?

[@Sunnysideanyway]

@Artuurs Z. I never said that.

[@Sunnysideanyway]

@Artuurs Z. There was more information to work with regarding the backstories of the factions in the intelligence data. There was also more things to know on Kane's intentions and a lot of unexplained things are actually noted in Kane's Wrath.

[@Sunnysideanyway]

@Artuurs Z. I understand where you're coming from with Slavik. Would've been great to see him in Kane's Wrath. But, why do you say it's "made up"? Aren't all stories made up?

[@HerrDerpington]

"Welcome back, Commander." I never left.

[@meh5812]

me neither

[@MentoliptusBanko]

I love the C&C games, I played them since I remember having a computer at home. And your words are absolutely true: I play games because of the setting, the story, the lore...and my units are not only stat blocks or bytes in memory. I agree with you, and I wish more games were made today with more focus on the narrative.

[@ANJIN79SAMMA]

I still can’t believe James Earl Jones and the legend Michael Bein we’re in this game. Blew my mind when I saw them in this as a kid!!!

[@johnny_eth]

And Kari Wuhrer

[@patrickbateman6214]

*WERE

[@ANJIN79SAMMA]

patrick bateman -oops damn auto correct 😑

[@chrisrichfield8906]

i really wanna play this now. As a kid i played a lot of Red Alert 1 and 2, and my uncle always praised this game but i only ever got 1 chance to play it. I really would love to play that campaign now, I watch Terminator 1 at least once a year and it is my favorite in the series mostly because of Micheal Bein, and James Earl Jones is equally legendary.

[@Johnny-rx4hs]

Same reaction to seeing Mark Hamill in Wing Commander III and IV

[@myztklk3v]

Yuri's revenge was one of my favourite games/expansions when i was a kid, I miss you westwood.

[@zx169]

"The fix"....*A Goliath and a Dragoon taking notes quietly in the corner*

[@indominusrex1652]

They aren't in the corner because they're pathfinding is horrible

[@aloe7794]

@@indominusrex1652 As Goliaths say, 'All systems """"""""""""functional""""""""""'

[@liammorriss]

"Systems ...not functional"

[@despawn7663]

War Stories are amazing, please continue to deliver this content. The historical and personal perspective is amazing, there are plenty of youtube and others out there that do similar, but the production values on this are immense.

[@ewenchan1239]

It's interesting to learn about some of the details that went on behind-the-scenes, years later. I remember playing this as a teen and not really thinking too much nor too in-depth in terms of how the dev team accomplished this, but as someone who is much older now, I can definitely appreciate it a lot more.

[@Helmutlozzi]

Westwood.. Never forget.

[@peterh2828]

Never forgive!

[@fortress-r7y]

i like land of lore series

[@ristonalaimo5048]

never forgetti

[@insertcognomen]

the north remembers

[@wallacerigby4393]

C & C series was and is the ONLY RTS game I played. Didn’t even play multiplayer. It was just so good like a RPG/Story driven game with art designs I loved. God I miss C & C.

[@markdavis160]

Tiberian Sun is one of my all time faves, but you are missing out if you never tried Starcraft, Warcraft III, Age of Empires, or Rise of Nations.

[@demonlordotrt754]

I grew up in C&C ,Total annihilation, starcraft Broodwar, Diablo 2, orcs Ver. Humans and warcraft 2.

[@KucheKlizma]

The reason no player gives a damn about the story anymore is because no studio cares about telling a story that's worth a damn anymore. :( One vision. One purpose. Micro-transactions. The technology of peace.

[@pigzard01]

Riches through Loot Boxes!

[@deliciousdeviant5333]

we are living in a golden age of entertainment. Yes there AAA games out to milk your money, but there is also the endless supply of uniquely crafted indie games and more.

[@gamiezion]

kane lives in death :(

[@user-ik4nc8ob8h]

Boi dont you compare EA to brotherhood of nod,one is tyranical ,greedy entity and the other is brotherhood nod

[@cc-bk3tx]

@@deliciousdeviant5333 not rts games :(

[@piyh3962]

This was my first RTS and will always be one of my favorites along with RA2. Doesn't give me the anxiety to play like SC2 .

[@MichaelHarto]

I thought i was the only one who had anxiety playing sc2

[@ChristopherMundahl]

StarCraft units have no movement acceleration and it's more of a twitch reflex/apm game.

[@RunawayYe]

@@MichaelHarto that phenomenon is called "ladder anxiety"

[@MichaelHarto]

@@RunawayYe actually SC1 too. It's not about the rank, but the limited resources.

[@stillwatersrundeep001]

I'm replaying Starcraft 1 now, and the pathfinding AI at Westwood from Red Alert to Tiberian Sun really blows SC1's pathfinding _out of the water._ SC1 units won't wait their turn to go through a chokepoint and will instead go around the map looking for another path that isn't there, and won't move out of the way to allow other units to pass through.

[@ehshornet2010]

and yet this game is total garbage,and SC had actual strategy lol

[@stillwatersrundeep001]

@@ehshornet2010 Haha look at you with your cute opinions.

[@ehshornet2010]

@@stillwatersrundeep001 you know I'm right boiiiiiiiiiii lol rock paper scissors was for children

[@stillwatersrundeep001]

@@ehshornet2010 All i know is that you like to pretend your opinion is the truth.

[@espablo220]

It is pretty annoying how the Pathfinding in SC is, no wonder why pro players have to micro their units at all times in SC.

[@SpaceMissile]

7:15 - That was hilarious. Remarkable what subtle editing can do.

[@RabidArtists]

Haha appreciate it :)

[@TheChumm]

Your production on these videos is really impressive, going to the effort to illustrate so much in-game really elevates the video. Well done!

[@thetrustysidekick3013]

Westwood, man, those guys made me happy for a very long time. My love for strategy games now is because of wonderful memories playing Command and Conquer.

[@jmitterii2]

They started it all... along with War Craft until it went RPG.

[@darkdigger15]

Ah, the installer, I cannot forget how awesome that felt. The audio was something out of this world. The iconic high beeps while navigating through the menu's and the almost trance-like music theme sucking you straight into the game, gives me the bumps every time i hear it. Thanks for the good old times

[@Wok_Agenda]

I served in C&C Red Alert 1996-1998

[@feelx92ger]

Were you a part of the dev team? If so, what was your function? Just curious

[@Scribbby]

@@feelx92ger I was in battle, on the front lines and he was my commander.

[@Maarten8867]

I served in that war as well, I still suffer from terrible headaches to this day as a result of my service. (I served as a tesla coil)

[@Wok_Agenda]

@@Maarten8867 Thank you for your service

[@porkwoofles3909]

Time to re-enlist. Download OpenRA today for free!

[@chrishaugh1655]

Westwood: hey we like the idea of no unit caps! EA: yeah well C&C4

[@jonnyjai1314]

LOL thats how C and C died in the hands of EA

[@MrTBSC]

@@jonnyjai1314 hope´s to C&C remasters reinvigorating the hype to get EA doing a propper sequel ... be it tiberian wars, red alert, generals or even dune ... that generals 2 cancelation didn´t need to happen at all ...

[@dixie_rekd9601]

@@MrTBSC EA wouldnt though , they would make a "sequel" where you need to pay actual money to get lootboxes to possibly upgrade units. - they would make you buy a subscription to unlock higher unit caps. they would tie everything into an always online "service" which turns the whole thing into effectively clash of clans or farmville. we have long ago seen the end of EA making anything just because its awesome, rather than to milk the gamers for every penny.

[@patrickshelley09]

We don't talk about C&C4.

[@dixie_rekd9601]

@@patrickshelley09 shhhhhhhh

[@GunRunner106]

i always really loved the atmosphere in cnc tibsun... something other rts always struggled with once the game had begun.... irly loved the mini cutscenes in the radar map screen....

[@triplehelix3207]

I can't wait for this game to ported to OpenRA or just straight remastered

[@NFMorley]

Closest for now is probably the CNCNet.org project - definitely worth trying if you're interested!

[@triplehelix3207]

@@NFMorley Well we are going to see Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn remasterd. I hope it paves the way for Red Alert 2 and Tiberian Sun Remasters, at that point i can die happy

[@SethTheProphet]

It's being made by EA man... they are gonna pump it full of microtransactions and DLC.

[@fernandohood5657]

look around for "Shattered Paradise" its made in OpenRA

[@miksuko]

Can't wait for Red Alert 2 to come to OpenRA in 2030 :)

[@robbymulvany2109]

I worked on a pathfinding algorithm years and years ago on a slow computer and one of the things I did is I offset pathfinding to different frames. So when units were moving, I would do the calculations for X amount of units per frame - basically timing out how long each calculation took and if it went on too long I wouldn't do another until the next frame passed.

[@NinusMaximus]

Oh my god this channel! Why didn't youtube recommend it to me earlier!!! In love with these guys work!

[@khalylehagood3222]

I appreciate the editor who synced up the callouts to the music.

[@haasgaming]

All the classic C&C games were superb in virtually every way. Absolutely a hallmark I wish more games would try to live up to. Tiberian Sun had a fantastic atmosphere and from the glances we've had at Tiberian Twilight, I'd have loved to have seen that come to fruition. Few games out there can beat what classic C&C accomplished. Also, lovely video editing.

[@Chayat0freak]

We are going to have to act if we want to live in a different world

[@HarriJokinen]

Your feeling of helplessness is your best friend, savage!

[@Sans-Soucii]

Are you a Mechanical man, acting on instinct? :3

[@Gruntvc]

One of the best songs from the franchise.

[@JeansWithPockets541]

Move towards more ideas that will, uhhhhh... help bring this thing to an end!

[@minh3264]

we will stop them now

[@DisguiseAU]

Definitely my favourite C&C game and one of my most played games ever!

[@thexels1]

OG westwood is one of the largest chunks of my childhood gaming. I was so sad renegade was not as popular as it should have been. An RTS FPS... such a neat game!

[@wasimlafir6865]

Westwood Studios..... Red Alert, Tiberian Sun hand down epic RTS games ever

[@AdioAurel]

The 1st time I saw C&C 1 Tiberian Dawn was with my brother in the gaming section of a store (Vilan Aarau xD) on the Playstation 1, probably in 1995/96. I was like 8 and he 10 and we were totally blown away! We started drawing those bases, units and stuff which got burnt into our minds. I don't remember when, but we finally got our very own copy and didn't have to go to the market anymore. It was a blast! When Tiberian Sun got released I was once again mindblown! I got the game even before having a PC to play it 🤣Sometimes I could go with my mom to her friend's apartment and played on her PC, it was special, because rare, since she didn't live nearby. So, I would play the whole night and had to be careful not to open the internet browser (expensive haha). When at home I read the manual tons of times and stared at the beautiful box's artstyle so much... Happy times! I still have all original copies of the games and the PS 1 from back then :D Now my mom's friend is not doing so well anymore and I help her out sometimes. It keeps bringing back the memories and occasionally I still play the games. Now even with the remastered edition and stunning mods^^ Thanks goes out to the devs! Cheers!

[@HinanawiTenko]

The great thing is that for the C&C Remaster, EA got Petroglyph to work on it, which has most of the original staff that worked on it in '95. As for the video, I noticed he glossed over dropped features like armor was planned on a vehicle class basis and would function like weakpoints do in C&C3.

[@simple11q]

That was great. Was a different time back then. The pre Geoff Keighley era before everything went downhill. It's an absolute disgrace what they did to C&C. If only they could go back in time like they did in Red Alert.

[@Sunnysideanyway]

There is an upside to it. If it weren't for EA, C&C 3 would've sucked.

[@muhammedmajid7749]

Smyger. Any chance to make we love generals episode 7?

[@KX36]

The original CNC is still my favourite game ever.. The music was SO GOOD!

[@dontblameme9468]

Frank is such a beast!

[@DrGreerIsRight]

Great Shot!

[@Exile1a]

Can't wait to listen to the Remastered Music come june 5th. ^^

[@ChesterRico]

@@DrGreerIsRight Return to base immediately!

[@dragoraan7247]

Red Alert 2:yuris revenge was one of my favorites, well done!

[@JulianMakes]

Brother of the Worm I loved yuris revenge too, great units and map options

[@romariobraam]

Same here 😎

[@thefrunj]

Full credit for the editing, transitions, and in-game footage! Only request for headphone users is to increase the interview dialogue to match the rest of the audio :)

[@Moreanolc]

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE THIS MAN 10 MILLION DOLLARS AND HAVE HIM SAVE THE GAMING INDUSTRY!!!!

[@daghostds]

You won't get far with 10 million...

[@Zgmflegend]

@@daghostds What basement dwellers/modders can do with a potato pc....

[@UnitSe7en]

That's entirely the problem: It is an _industry._ The state of games then was not like it is now. You can't fix games except by changing the zeitgeist again.

[@fortheloveofnoise]

He would need 10 billion.

[@Johnny-rx4hs]

Nah, just vote with your wallet and support game developers that actually care about making good games. Right now Paradox Interactive is getting my money.

[@SnowySleet]

Unit caps do my head in. I love massing a huge army and just rolling over everything in my path. I loved playing Dune II and Red Alert. In my opinion RTS games peaked at red alert 2 and have been in decline ever since. I would love it if they kicked off another RTS series like Red Alert, or even revamped the games and released them again.

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

Its ususally not that bad, but then Warcraft 3 introduced a soft unit cap as well and units cost more than one 1 supply/food. Oh how frustrating that game was at times.

[@LucasCunhaRocha]

I think that unit caps are a good way to balance units, you can make a very strong unit that occupy a good cap, that way this unit can't be spammed but still fun to use. Company of heroes used that well.

[@davidpardy]

I got a Dune 2 package editor off my cousin, you used to be able to edit the configuration for each map to bump the unit cap from 25 up to 99 and then re-pack the file. You could also do things like edit the buildings etc., on the map, I think a whole community was formed for making custom Dune 2 maps. Was great :)

[@jimstorr1833]

Supreme commander had one at a 1000 and that was great game

[@TheCraigy83]

Bro get supreme commander 2 on xbox360/xb1 , unit cap is 200 but you can spam units out ridiculously fast , and the computer ai is brutal...multiplayer capable 4player.

[@enchainedprometheus]

Thank you Westwood all the hard works, Tiberiam Sun was my first RTS game, you gave my childhood such a nice experience and sci-fi love I cann't be graetfull enough. This game simply changed my world.

[@miggymigz7160]

2:53 When C&C Remaster and C&C Red Alert Remaster are on sale.

[@nicogesellbarrios7956]

i'm still playing dune 2000 and tiberian sun to this day.

[@catklyst]

WORM SIGN!

[@Gurchen]

Absolutely fantastic video, great insights and superb editing. Thank you Ars Technica!

[@notbrandon2888]

I didn’t realize other people actually got to experience this amazing game too. I used to come home from school and play firestorm LAN games with my friends for hours. The good old days

[@bowmin1]

Whoever is responsible for gathering game footage is absolutely amazing. The people need a promotion asap. It's amazing how some simple game footage recording done right can add so much comedy to an otherwise mostly educative video. Stuff like the transition scenes where a problem is brought up and then a solution is found, in one such case, the solution being an ion cannon striking down. The army spam was a hilarious moment and we saw that same army multiple times through the video. It was great.

[@spencerw9784]

I still play Tiberian sun off and on to this day, it’s a part of my childhood I will never forget, and I’m glad to see this very very recent piece of media come up about the subject

[@grorse]

I feel privileged to have been alive in the golden age of RTS gaming, I still play RA2 and Tiberium Sun very regularly. I'd kill to see Westood re-borne, they were one of the only RTS developers that knew what the score was. Unfortunately RTS gaming doesn't fit the agenda of micro transaction based money making cash cows. It's a shame Total War went to complete shite as well. COH1 was the last good thing to happen in the RTS scene, everything else is underdeveloped, passionless and empty compared to the classic stuff. RIP......... Just gunna leave this here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n16ko5V7Zcd4h7M

[@grorse]

@Jeff Mitchell, I started out on RA1 so I think that's why I preferred RA2, the Tiberium Sun campaign is defiantly more hardcore though. I played the Nod campaign for the first time in years the other week and loved it.

[@tadghb]

EA would need to keep out of the way. Lol

[@retroand]

@@tadghb Only if you have the sequence calculations now.

[@ew3612]

I noticed that you didnt include COH2. I dont think it was a great game either because THQ collapsed mid development and the game was released lacking soul. The top RTS games for me starting with the best are: COH1 Supreme Commander: FA C&C3:Kanes Wrath RA2:YR Axis and Allies:RTS C&C Tiberium Dawn C&C Generals:ZH Other noteworthy RTS games in the same order: RA TibSun - My family didnt own a good enough computer at the time and my parents didnt upgrade until RA2 came out. Warcraft2 COH2 Medieval 2: Total War (never got the hang of it) Supreme Commander 2 SC2 And the two worst RTS games that i have ever played and tried enjoying but failed. These two killed both franchises for me. RA3 C&C4 It really is too bad that RTS gaming has died off since its market is so much smaller than FPS CoD and its difficult to fit micro-transactions in. Companies want to make the most money for their investment and if its Candy Crush and CoD then they will follow that route unfortunately.

[@darkslayr1]

the sad part is even though your right with it not fitting the agenda of micro transactions.. you can see by games like Starcraft 2 that skins for units and all the little things do work and honestly if they did that for Red Alert and TibSun and Westwood Studios was brought back with full reign, im sure fans wouldnt mind throwing down a few bucks for a cool new skin ( and im lookin at you BLIZZARD! none of this oh its a new skin gimme $5.99 for a different blue color instead of red) but some awesome stuff would be cool maybe a skin for a one of the heros so now they look like Kane or something i dunno but there are things that would be cool just not a color swap.. ether way i know theres passion there.. weve seen it with the newest Red Alert remaster... they went above and beyond for it and it showed, they knew who their fans were and they knew asking them for help would be the right thing to do and damn was it worth it in the end.. i just hope its not the last we see from them

[@sirfatalx]

Great Video! I miss Westwood Studio and the Command and Conquer series in general. I wish the best for the new remaster coming out soon!

[@LichLordNemo]

4:36 made me laugh The classics are the best. They were authentic back then. Syphon philter was a good one too

[@Phosphos]

I lived down the street from Westwood studios and visited back in the 90s as a kid admiring games. Louis and the team are legends.

[@Fishy_Chameleon]

I love how you can tell the editor had fun with making this video

[@tengkualiff]

C&C games :'(

[@derek400004]

selling to EA was one of Westwood's biggest mistakes :(

[@PhazeyBlur]

@@derek400004 Yeah. What is the reason they had to sell? I thought CnC was doing them good.

[@bondris011]

@@PhazeyBlur as the person in the video said many people working on tiberian sun wanted to work on different types of games and merging with big company like EA made sense from that perspective as they got a chance to work on different type of games without leaving their company.

[@MetalRabit]

Hello there

[@miksuko]

OpenRA :)

[@Davepotnoodle]

Tiberian Sun is still my favourite RTS.

[@Datan0de]

I waffle between Tiberian Sun and C&C 3 as my favorite RTS. C&C 3 was obviously far superior technologically, but if I just have some time to kill a "quick" TS skirmish is easier to pick up and more satisfying.

[@FlameDevily]

What a legend. CnC3 and RA3 just don’t have the same taste.

[@Dj3ndo]

Tiberian Sun is definitely my favorite C&C. REALLY hoping for a remastered version at some point.

[@Nightstand94]

2:58 Yeah Westwood fans are everywhere!!

[@aabbccddeeff7749]

*drops a tear*

[@warcorer]

Yeah, seriously got the feels from this video and the nostalgia of the old C&C games.

[@bobgatewood5277]

you guys actually quited right in the middle of something awesome. Still got my tiberian sun and red alert 2 copies, still play them, and I say it to you ppl, theyre NOT dead, they're just as great as when they came out and they're awaiting someone to pick up where the original creators left and continue a great idea that should not have ever been halted (even if its just a spiritual successor). P.D: dont even mention EA

[@aldunlop4622]

Bob Gatewood how do you play them? I still have mine but they won’t run on win 10

[@tonyeff4447]

@@aldunlop4622 he probably still bashing it out on windows 95 in Zimbabwe or something

[@tonyeff4447]

Jokes aside, I fully agree with your comment. Something like C&C World wars. Progress from WW1 etc. I'm not massively keen on space age though

[@commmander64]

There is still Generals. That was good.

[@Promilus1984]

Damn, was some 15 years old kid back then, played so hard that when I closed my eyes to sleep I still saw some rifle soldiers running and screaming "medic!"

[@angrypotato_fz]

This interview is so well produced and edited! Having seen a lot of similar videos about game development, I hugely appreciate how well the gameplay footage represents whatever the game developer is talking about. And also great chapter title sequences. I know a lot of work went into this, including planning, creating environments and scenarios in-game. And you also credited all the other sources. Great job, Ars Technica crew!

[@theoriginalbreadcrumb]

My favorite activity in C&C was to save 1 enemy harvester and build a massive insanely big base covering all of the map. :)

[@LightningSe7en]

Me too!

[@isaiasizquierdo3369]

I spent so many hours playing all of C&C games. Red alert is still one of my favorites. C&C Generals is a fantastic game. Thank you for what you built and helped building.

[@pho3nix-]

This brought back some memories :) would love a HD remaster via Steam of the classic C&C games!

[@richardkotorac5423]

Kane Lives in Death!

[@NodDisciple1]

In the name of Kane!

[@MosoKaiser]

Peace through power!

[@gumunduringigumundsson9344]

Kane lives! Somewhere, he is. Doing what he does best. Long live Kane! Long live Kane! Long live Kane! Hoorah! Hoorah! Hoorah!

[@papilloneffect4015]

Thanks to Louis as well as Ars Technica. This is such a great series. I can't thank you all enough.

[@mycosys]

pity Louis lies so much tho

[@arshaghazie]

this is childhood right there. I remember sneak installing this in my school computer and always playing it everytime

[@jimbojones8208]

C&C Renegade was so much fun. A great addition to the series.

[@Itachi21x]

My favourite C&C. I remember purchasing the Box in 2001

[@BFMert]

There is not a game that gives the same nostalgia as Tiberian Sun with its environment, the music and the feeling itself.

[@tryptamigo]

The production values here are surprisingly good. Even the skits during transitions.

[@ushipb00]

So cool. I loved Command and Conquer! Thanks for making this much beloved documentary!