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Command & Conquer Team Take On LoTR RTS

Posted by simoniker on from the franchise-of-the-kerchings dept.

Thanks to GameSpy for their unveiling of a new PC real-time strategy title based on the Lord Of The Rings movies. Not to be confused with Vivendi's book-based War Of The Ring RTS we covered a couple of days back, in this title, "EA and the C&C Generals team are bringing their own brand of RTS gameplay to Tolkien's world.", and the tech demo screenshots from this large-scale, early-in-development title look intriguing, as the developers try to "capture the epic cinematic flavor of the three film's battles (including Helm's Deep, Ithilien, and Minas Tirith) by combining content from all the movies."

6 of 29 comments (clear)

  1. I hope the Helm's Deep battle scenario... by HaloZero · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...goes better than it did during Development of The Two Towers.

    (Referencing the bug in which the AI controlling the CGIed Uruk-hai, in attempting to cause the most damage with the fewest casualties, turn around and ran away from the scene on the first take. That would make for a lousy campaign.)

    --
    Informatus Technologicus
    1. Re:I hope the Helm's Deep battle scenario... by mraymer · · Score: 3, Informative
      (Referencing the bug in which the AI controlling the CGIed Uruk-hai, in attempting to cause the most damage with the fewest casualties, turn around and ran away from the scene on the first take. That would make for a lousy campaign.)

      Eh, wrong. Just google around and you'll find several interviews with crew members of the massive dev team who explained that this is sort of a rumor that has been twisted around a bit.

      What happened was that the CGI monsters did not have good enough vision to see where the enemies were. Therefore, while it looked like they were running away, they were in fact looking for people to fight. They simply couldn't see anyone to fight, so started wandering around aimlessly.

      A few tweaks to the AI cleared this problem right up. While it is funny to imagine any vast army running away in fear, it's not exactly what happened with massive. I know you were just joking and it was funny, too, just not accurate. Sorry for the nitpick.

      --

      "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking

  2. I hope... by KDan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... that we don't end up with yet another C&C clone in a different disguise. I'm sure I'm not the only one to have found that all the C&C variations, from the original to Red Alert 1 and 2, etc, were all more or less the same game with slightly different game play and units... Hopefully, instead, LOTR can be at least as groundbreaking as warcraft 3 (which is not very groundbreaking, let's be honest, but at least is different from the previous blizzard RTS's).

    Daniel

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    Carpe Diem
    1. Re:I hope... by TheFlyingGoat · · Score: 3, Informative

      Did you read the article? The AI involved seems completely groundbreaking. In addition, the graphics engine (or logic for hiding detail while zoomed out) they're using must be a stud to be able to handle 1000+ units, each fighting and reacting uniquely. Toss in the fact that arrows actually stick in enemies, Trolls being smart enough to use Orcs as weapons, and the incredible graphics and it should be an excellent game. I normally don't get into RTS games, but I'm almost definitely going to buy this one.

      --
      You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
  3. Confused. by Schnapple · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Could someone out there point out to me a good place to sum up all of the recent LOTR games? I can't remember who's making what game or what they're based off of (i.e., the FOTR game based off of the books, the FOTR game based off the movie, the FOTR game based off of the breakfast cereal, etc.)

    Also, how is it that so many people are making so many games based off of LOTR? How is it EA didn't sew them all up?

    --

    Schnapple

  4. And when will this be released? by zoobaby · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I love previews of games that will be out when? Next Week? Next Month? Next Year? 2 Years?

    I really can't get excited about a game that I will not be able to play until 2005.