Command and Conquer: Renegade Official Forums - RDF feed
C&C: Renegade --> Dying since 2003™, resurrected in 2024!
I hope to soon have an interview for Renegadecommunity.com with EALApredator, EA's C&C community manager. I had a first contact but obviously he is a very busy guy. I got a 'principle agreement' though. I thought it would be useful that, for once, it's not me thinking of the questions but all our visitors can contribute! So you can post the questions you'd like to ask to EA here and I'll ask as many of them as possible during the interview. Some rules though: - This interview is about Renegade and its community. This means no questions about C&C 3 or other C&C-games, unless there a relevance towards Renegade - Don't ask questions that you know he cannot answer or that could mean disrespect towards the interviewee. I will not retain those questions in the interview for obvious reasons - Be detailed in your question. I want to be sure to understand the question before asking it - Try to be a bit original - Stay on-topic in this topic! Any flaming or off-topic posts will be removed from this topic. This will be a one time event and opportunity for YOU to interact directly with EA's community manager. By all means, take it . I'll close this topic the 15th of April, leaving plenty of time for all to leave their questions and/or remarks. I'll add the already retained questions here:
Ask him what he honestly thinks about the three major Renegade mods, andweather or not they will recieve support from EA. And Renegade 2007, the Renegade mod for UT3.
Merovingian wrote on Tue, 27 March 2007 09:23 Ask him what he honestly thinks about the three major Renegade mods, andweather or not they will recieve support from EA. And Renegade 2007, the Renegade mod for UT3. Can you elaborate 'support'?
I imagine "support" meant that they wouldn't just ignore them or say to the makers "you can't make/release this". Question: Quote: Are there any hopes of another C and C based FPS (Renegade 2?)
Ask him if EA have any plans on releasing the Renegade Beta Assets, the Renegade 2 demo engine or the Renegade source code to major figureheads in the Renegade community. Thanks Goztow.
If by "beta assets", you mean "assets from before renegade changed to the "less realistic" look" (e.g. back when vehicles for Nod had the TD cutscene style camo paint), I think that some of them have been released (a bunch of vehicles for example and some building stuff in the always.dat). They may not have the other stuff (the old guns, the old buildings/interiors etc) or may not have it in a usable/releasable format. As for the renegade 2 demo engine, releasing the engine itself as a binary would be useless (its probably not in a releasable state in any case). Having the source code (to renegade, renegade 2 demo or whatever else they may have) would kick ass though
my question: Do you plan to make a sequel to Renegade on the Crysis Engine?
Would it be possible for any current anti-cheat software to receive official support from EA? Not in terms of manpower (as they already have their own support teams). but in terms of having a seal of approval from the game publisher? Follow up: If so, by what means could that support be obtained? Just to point out, I'm not asking if any current projects WILL gain that support, but moreso if EA would be willing to give it to a current program if certain conditions are met (hence the reason for the follow up question)
jonwil wrote on Tue, 27 March 2007 12:27 If by "beta assets", you mean "assets from before renegade changed to the "less realistic" look" (e.g. back when vehicles for Nod had the TD cutscene style camo paint), I think that some of them have been released (a bunch of vehicles for example and some building stuff in the always.dat). They may not have the other stuff (the old guns, the old buildings/interiors etc) or may not have it in a usable/releasable format. As for the renegade 2 demo engine, releasing the engine itself as a binary would be useless (its probably not in a releasable state in any case). Having the source code (to renegade, renegade 2 demo or whatever else they may have) would kick ass though That was the point I was trying to make jonwil. Thanks.
warranto wrote on Tue, 27 March 2007 16:26 Would it be possible for any current anti-cheat software to receive official support from EA? Not in terms of manpower (as they already have their own support teams). but in terms of having a seal of approval from the game publisher? Follow up: If so, by what means could that support be obtained? Just to point out, I'm not asking if any current projects WILL gain that support, but moreso if EA would be willing to give it to a current program if certain conditions are met (hence the reason for the follow up question) Well, you say not in terms of manpower, but I disagree there, since our partnership with BHS I know that they do have either too less time/ppl to get the new rengaurd done fast and properly. For BI it would be usefull if either the source was released, or we could talk to someone who knows more about the renegade engie and could give us more information on possible intresting things. [Ontopic] Could you ask why EA/Westwood never REALLY finished Renegade? I know that might be a bit offencive question, but from what I've seen @ seyes place, the renegade engine could do a lot more then it can now, just because loads of things are not/ cannot be used now. Also, I think that if Renegade was properly finished it would have gotten way more sales and more attention. I've heard from a lot of ppl that they had the feeling it could do way more then it did, and that it didn't have the "true" C&C feel, and no not because of it being an FPS.
The question that's on everyone's minds: Where the fuck is Renegade 2? Other than that, tell him the community says hi
As i think it's relevant, Crimson already asked something about a renegade 2 and the response was something like, "it is within the realm of possibility" It's not like they're going to say "yes" or "no" ever and I'm thinking they're just going to say the same thing as last time but by all means
Yeah, I can already answer all these questions with his words.
That's why I stated "don't ask questions he cannot answer" .
In case EA is "unable" to release the beta assets. Is Petroglyph allowed to support the mod community with the old Renegade assets they still have?
Petroglyph doesn't have any of those assets. They all belong to EA. What about that golden havoc statue in C&C3? Ask him if it was just for fun or if it had any 'real' meaning (IE. a hint of some sort).
what about if they could make a update for the renegade client and fds so the client can download any maps it doesnt have? Like CSS has? That would add years into the game.
5 more days . I'm still following this, so keep the questions flowing .
what happened to the forgotten in cnc3? what is the REAL reason why generals was branded with the cnc name? for money?
Nightma12 wrote on Tue, 10 April 2007 19:30 what happened to the forgotten in cnc3? They were forgotten perhaps? Maybe they will be in an expansion pack if they release one...
You will have to interview APOC instead. EALApredator died in the line of duty saving APOC.
y cant they just say that they are going on holiday for a bit!!!!
Have you ever considered releasing the source code to renegade?
Goztow, you can ask these questions for me: What is EA's vision for the Command & Conquer series? Does EA see C&C as strictly RTS or see the possibilty of an FPS title that will connect with and extend the storyline? What does Westwood's Renegade mean to EA? Does EA see it as a misadventure or a viable alternative option to further the series? Does EA see it as a distraction from the strictly RTS C&C games? Has EA thought about the possibility of following up on Renegade with a new FPS that will reunite fans of Renegade AND create a new extended fanbase through innovative and exciting game features? NOTE: I know there's lot of questions...and (lol!) I am afraid I may have asked some dumb ones. But please feel free to only ask questions that make sense and fit with the theme of your interview. I may have some more questions and I get back once I remember them. Thank you very much for your work, Goztow!
There is not one question here that I can't answer.
Iron, I like what you are doing there, plz go on .
I'll bundle the questions this weekend and send them to my contact .
Mail sent: Dear Apoc, I'm glad that you're back in-seat after the horrible moments you must have gone through after your abduction by Kane's forces. While you were away, I had this conversation with Predator and I hope you can live up to his promise. I have taken the liberty of posting about this on the ren forums and have come up with a nice amount of questions. I'm sure not all can be answered but pick the ones that you can answer and maybe we can have an instant messenger interview then. Here we go with our top 10: 1. What's your personal experience with Renegade? Did you play the game / do you still play it? 2. How was EA's experience with the game. Many say the game wasn't really finished and its potential wasn't fully used due to the corporate's policy at that time. 3. We know representatives of some of the three major mods (A path beyond, Reborn, Apocalypse rising) were invited at C&C3-meetings. What were your impressions/thoughts on these mods back then. 4. Would it be possible for any current software (ani-cheat?) / modification / website to receive official support from EA? Not in terms of manpower (as they already have their own support teams) but in terms of having a "seal of approval" from the game publisher? We know this has been done for services like Xwis (and clanwars.cc?). Follow up: If so, by what means could that support be obtained? Just to point out, I'm not asking if any current projects WILL gain that support, but moreso if EA would be willing to give it to a current program if certain conditions are met (hence the reason for the follow up question) 5. We have a lot of dedicated coders in the Renegade community who have a lot of knowledge about the Renegade engine. Could we talk to someone who knows more about the Renegade engine and could give us more information on possible intresting things. 6. What about that golden havoc statue and dead 6 poster (+ map) in C&C3? Was this just for fun or if it had any 'real' meaning (IE. a hint of some sort). 7. What is EA's vision for the Command & Conquer series? Does EA see C&C as strictly RTS or see the possibilty of an FPS title that will connect with and extend the storyline? What does Westwood's Renegade mean to EA? Does EA see it as a misadventure or a viable alternative option to further the series? Does EA see it as a distraction from the strictly RTS C&C games? Has EA thought about the possibility of following up on Renegade with a new FPS that will reunite fans of Renegade AND create a new extended fanbase through innovative and exciting game features? What about the rumours of a sequel to Renegade on the Crysis Engine? 8. Could a release of Renegade Beta Assets (assets from before renegade changed to the "less realistic" look" (e.g. back when vehicles for Nod had the TD cutscene style camo paint)) be considered? Possibly for download on ftp.westwood.com (Renegadecommunity.com would definately hyperlink to it).We know there's a lot of it in the game's files already but some files were never released. 9. Is a release, under very strict conditions, of the Renegade source code to major figureheads in the Renegade community possible in a forseeable future ? 10. Same question about access to the Renegade auto update function? A community generated, EA aprooved, official 1.038 Renegade patch could mean a big step for this game (solving bugs, anti cheat, auto map update, securing netcode, ...). Even if it would only include very small, invisible modifications that do not change the gameplay at all. Oh and someone asked to tell you "the community says 'hi'". I also wanted to give you an overview of some intresting projects the Renegade community has realised and/or is working at (this list is all but complete though): 1. Renegadecommunity.com Mission: bringing back a portal for the official Renegade forums. Helping (new) players / modders / ... Concentrating information in one place. We have choosen to use the original Renegade-website design for this cause but I recoded it for easy updating (now in PHP-coding with a mysql-backend) 1'. Renegadewiki.com Seems straight to the point 2. Renguard. (renguard.com) Mission: client anti cheat program. Responsible: Black hand Studios. I'm sure you have had a lot of information on this project from Crimson. A new public beta which blocks all current public bypasses is now availlable 3. Core patch 1 and 2 Mission: unofficial C&C Renegade update which fixes several bugs identified in the game. 4. BIATCH (BlackIntel Anti Cheat) www.black-intel.net Mission: server side anti cheat This server side anti cheat completes a function that the Renegade server should have had: verifying damage the client sends to the server. It also includes protection against some other cheats like aimbot and purchase terminal cheats. 5. Total conversion modifications Mission: convert Renegade into a whole new world A path beyond: converts Renegade into Red Alert. http://www.apathbeyond.com/ Reborn: converts Renegade into Tiberian Sun. http://www.cncreborn.planetcnc.gamespy.com/ Apocalypse rising: converts Renegade into Red Alert 2. http://www.apathbeyond.com/ (same website) Renegade 2007: converts UT3 to Renegade. http://www.renegade2007.com/ 6. Server regulators: Brenbot, Night regulator, Cloudy bot, ... 7. Custom scripts that provide many new features that mod and map makers can use + visual enhancements (use of directx 9, blooming, ...) 8. Linux FDS beta: a working FDS for WOL that runs on Linux 9. Implementing the in-game ranks again (BHS in collaboration with Xwis) 10. A ton of new maps and different small modifications And so on. I probably forgot a lot of them, but at least it's a "starters list" . I hope to hear from you soon. Goztow.
Not yet but last times it also always took 1-2 weeks before I got a reply.
I can't wait to read this Goztow, lets hope we get some answers once and for all. Oh and just to say, no one from Apocalypse Rising was invited to the C&C3 Summit. Assassin, the admin of the C&C Source network went but that was about the closest we got. There is always next time though eh
My hopes on a fast reply are gone by now .
OR they are deeply looking into the possibilities OR they just don't give a fuck. Who knows...
or they're busy making the forthcoming C&C3 balance patch
MaidenTy1 wrote on Thu, 03 May 2007 22:10 or they're busy making the forthcoming C&C3 balance patch If they are, then I accept that they don't reply straight away . But a receipt aknowledgement would have been nice =/.
Goztow wrote on Sun, 22 April 2007 07:30 1. What's your personal experience with Renegade? Did you play the game / do you still play it? He has the huge Renegade banner draped over his cubicle wall which I have called dibs on. To the best of my knowledge, he has never played it. Quote: 2. How was EA's experience with the game. Many say the game wasn't really finished and its potential wasn't fully used due to the corporate's policy at that time. He didn't work for EA at that time so he would most likely have to research this or just say he doesn't know... Quote: 3. We know representatives of some of the three major mods (A path beyond, Reborn, Apocalypse rising) were invited at C&C3-meetings. What were your impressions/thoughts on these mods back then. If he said anything less than complimentary I would be surprised. The other developers at EA also viewed these presentations and I remember hearing a lot of "wow"s. Quote: 4. Would it be possible for any current software (ani-cheat?) / modification / website to receive official support from EA? Not in terms of manpower (as they already have their own support teams) but in terms of having a "seal of approval" from the game publisher? We know this has been done for services like Xwis (and clanwars.cc?). Follow up: If so, by what means could that support be obtained? Just to point out, I'm not asking if any current projects WILL gain that support, but moreso if EA would be willing to give it to a current program if certain conditions are met (hence the reason for the follow up question) This was a stupid question to ask. Like oh, we haven't already thought of it and asked? Until anything is definite, he won't be saying anything publicly about it. Quote: 5. We have a lot of dedicated coders in the Renegade community who have a lot of knowledge about the Renegade engine. Could we talk to someone who knows more about the Renegade engine and could give us more information on possible intresting things. Basically, everyone who knows anything about the Renegade engine isn't working for EA. I know that one of the level designers from Renegade is still there, and Greg Underwood is still there. Quote: 6. What about that golden havoc statue and dead 6 poster (+ map) in C&C3? Was this just for fun or if it had any 'real' meaning (IE. a hint of some sort). I don't know. Quote: 7. What is EA's vision for the Command & Conquer series? Does EA see C&C as strictly RTS or see the possibilty of an FPS title that will connect with and extend the storyline? What does Westwood's Renegade mean to EA? Does EA see it as a misadventure or a viable alternative option to further the series? Does EA see it as a distraction from the strictly RTS C&C games? Has EA thought about the possibility of following up on Renegade with a new FPS that will reunite fans of Renegade AND create a new extended fanbase through innovative and exciting game features? What about the rumours of a sequel to Renegade on the Crysis Engine? I don't know why this was all listed as 1 question. We asked this in person and the impression we got is that it's not out of the realm of possibility, but we wouldn't get to know anything until it was publicly announced. Quote: 8. Could a release of Renegade Beta Assets (assets from before renegade changed to the "less realistic" look" (e.g. back when vehicles for Nod had the TD cutscene style camo paint)) be considered? Possibly for download on ftp.westwood.com (Renegadecommunity.com would definately hyperlink to it).We know there's a lot of it in the game's files already but some files were never released. See question 4. Quote: 9. Is a release, under very strict conditions, of the Renegade source code to major figureheads in the Renegade community possible in a forseeable future ? See question 4. Quote: 10. Same question about access to the Renegade auto update function? A community generated, EA aprooved, official 1.038 Renegade patch could mean a big step for this game (solving bugs, anti cheat, auto map update, securing netcode, ...). Even if it would only include very small, invisible modifications that do not change the gameplay at all. See question 4. Quote: I also wanted to give you an overview of some intresting projects the Renegade community has realised and/or is working at (this list is all but complete though): I've already told him all about those.
gamemodding wrote on Wed, 11 April 2007 19:48 please share this knowlage. You could have saved me the trouble of writing these questions down when gamemodding suggested u'd share your knowledge. Anyway, I still hope to have the interview, we'll see.
Crimson wrote on Wed, 11 April 2007 17:49 There is not one question here that I can't answer.
gamemodding wrote on Fri, 04 May 2007 08:59 Crimson wrote on Wed, 11 April 2007 17:49 There is not one question here that I can't answer. It's not because you know the answer that you are allowed to write them down.
Well, I wasn't going to ruin the whole thing, but since he's not replying...
Goztow wrote on Thu, 03 May 2007 15:24 MaidenTy1 wrote on Thu, 03 May 2007 22:10 or they're busy making the forthcoming C&C3 balance patch If they are, then I accept that they don't reply straight away . But a receipt aknowledgement would have been nice =/. There's no "if" about it, that's what they're doing.
One Winged Angel wrote on Sun, 20 May 2007 20:53 Any news? I sent in a bump, no reply.
Goztow wrote on Sun, 20 May 2007 21:45 I sent in a bump, no reply. This is a real shame. I was wanting to know the answers to these questions straight from Apoc's keyboard....
I might try at a different e-mailadress, maybe he changed mails :-S.
He didn't. I already told you that most of your questions are unanswerable at this time, so it wouldn't be a huge stretch that he can't answer the interview yet.
Crimson wrote on Wed, 23 May 2007 10:21 He didn't. I already told you that most of your questions are unanswerable at this time, so it wouldn't be a huge stretch that he can't answer the interview yet. Well, I guess at least a reply would have been nice
One Winged Angel wrote on Wed, 23 May 2007 15:58 Crimson wrote on Wed, 23 May 2007 10:21 He didn't. I already told you that most of your questions are unanswerable at this time, so it wouldn't be a huge stretch that he can't answer the interview yet. Well, I guess at least a reply would have been nice I never knew APOC as someone rude enough to not even write a reply saying he cannot answer my questions. I'll live with my naive hope.
It's not rudeness, he's just got a ridiculous workload.
Probably the workload one. He's told me to contact him several times. I've worked my ass off making my emails to him as if they're essays, and he never gets back with a professional reply.
Even if you're very busy, it stays rude.
Well, when I was in LA with him (on the bus to go play laser tag), I told him that he is not allowed to complain about his job because anyone on the bus would have gladly taken it. He didn't believe me.
Crimson wrote on Wed, 23 May 2007 22:58 Well, when I was in LA with him (on the bus to go play laser tag), I told him that he is not allowed to complain about his job because anyone on the bus would have gladly taken it. He didn't believe me. Very true
Crimson wrote on Wed, 23 May 2007 17:58 Well, when I was in LA with him (on the bus to go play laser tag), I told him that he is not allowed to complain about his job because anyone on the bus would have gladly taken it. He didn't believe me. Anyone knowing his workload wouldn't believe it either.
MaidenTy1 wrote on Thu, 24 May 2007 01:35 Crimson wrote on Wed, 23 May 2007 17:58 Well, when I was in LA with him (on the bus to go play laser tag), I told him that he is not allowed to complain about his job because anyone on the bus would have gladly taken it. He didn't believe me. Anyone knowing his workload wouldn't believe it either. Perhaps someone knowing a bit more about ren and stuff would not hexperience such high workload, since they know atleast a thing or 2 about it...
yeah, that's right, Renegade is his only concern *pats EvilWhiteDragon on the head*
.... NO, but from what I heard, he doesn't know anything (well, very little anyway) about C&C games pre-generals, so... And since Generals can't even count as a proper C&C game...
read this through.. looks very interesting.. just a shame he didnt reply back :\ oh well.. thers always hoping that his out "researching"..
I consider this project as frozen for the moment. Therefor I'll put a lock on the topic until (if) I get a reply.
Update: "apoc" I am working on getting approval from PR to do this interview..weill get back to you asap, apologies its taken awhile, ive had a ton on my plate with C&C 3...
See? Crimmy was right... almost every question involves stuff he's not supposed to talk about right now.
Crimson wrote on Thu, 31 May 2007 18:44 See? Crimmy was right... almost every question involves stuff he's not supposed to talk about right now. Any idea when this will all be revealed Crimmy?
I got a progress report on things... but I'm still not allowed to say anything.
ahhh a cryptic crimson, could be construed as good news
Sn1per74(2) wrote on Thu, 14 June 2007 07:03 Anything? I'll bump when I receive anything. I see this happen in the mid-long term.
Crimson wrote on Thu, 03 May 2007 14:29 Quote: 4. Would it be possible for any current software (ani-cheat?) / modification / website to receive official support from EA? Not in terms of manpower (as they already have their own support teams) but in terms of having a "seal of approval" from the game publisher? We know this has been done for services like Xwis (and clanwars.cc?). Follow up: If so, by what means could that support be obtained? Just to point out, I'm not asking if any current projects WILL gain that support, but moreso if EA would be willing to give it to a current program if certain conditions are met (hence the reason for the follow up question) This was a stupid question to ask. Like oh, we haven't already thought of it and asked? Until anything is definite, he won't be saying anything publicly about it. That was MY question. I intentionally worded (or tried to word it) so that nothing currently in discussion had to be revealed. Which is why I was using words such as "Is it possible" and "How could it happen?".
Any updates? Also, if there's room for another question, ask him if EA would consider releasing the extended version of the opening movie (the overdubbed version used to be on cnc-source, but it's gone now; I still have it downloaded, though).
Ya, what ever happened to this idea? Question: Do you or any of your coleagues, still play renegade at all, or have you ever played atleast at 1 point?
I remind him regulary but get no replies. It's my way of letting him know I'm still intrested.
Bumping because apparently Apoc answered an e-mail from Renardin regarding Reborn, so maybe he'll actually respond to Goztow now.
I've lost all hope that he will reply.
So did I, but u never know .
I got a big box of Renegade mousepads 10 months later... maybe one day you'll get your survey answers too.
Probably after most of them have already been answered in one way or another... Questions 1 and 3 have kind of been answered by the fact that Apoc was in the official APB server a while ago, and by the fact that APB appeared (extremely briefly) on cnc tv.
Crimson wrote on Sun, 04 November 2007 22:24 I got a big box of Renegade mousepads 10 months later... maybe one day you'll get your survey answers too. Mabye he'll get Renegade coffee mugs. That'll make everything better.