Your thoughts on the beta

[missusCT]

For those of you that have the beta, what do you think so far?

I love how each different faction has a different way to build a base, each one has its pros and cons. The Japanese naval fleet is awesome. I find the support power system a bit confusing, sometimes I'm not sure if I've done it right, but I love the way you get support powers in the first place.

Most of all I like the way this game seems to be focused on fun, I always found TW and KW so serious. RA3 is like a breath of fresh air.

[Frankaz]

I think it's awesome, and I still haven't played it yet

[NikD1]

The cartoony feel in my opinions is one of the worst decisions i have seen in C&C/RA. makes it look either like it was designed for a 10 year old or that it was built before RA2 which in my opinion looks a lot more up to date.

I don’t like was the resource collection either. It just really seems pointless although its not half as bad as generals where there was just a load of docks with tons of resources doted around the map for no reason. If anything I think the resource vehicles should have to dig of the gold or something

Another thing that I really don’t understand is that the game completely fried my computer with every setting set to minimum and although it visually was equivalent probably to RA1 and I wasn’t asking much of it ran veeery slowly! even in the beginning menus the buttons took 5 seconds to light up (why does it run that slow when not even in game??)

on the plus side i think the storyline as much as i have heard sounds good and the units are very clever (although im not sure about the transformers so much!)

maybe the feel is something that you have to get used to but im really not sure if i could stand it very long!

i have loved every single game of the C&C/RA/Generals series but unfortunately i dont think im going to be buying this game unless there are major changes

[skinjim]

Originally Posted by NikD1

The cartoony feel in my opinions is one of the worst decisions i have seen in C&C/RA. makes it look either like it was designed for a 10 year old or that it was built before RA2 which in my opinion looks a lot more up to date.

I don’t like was the resource collection either. It just really seems pointless although its not half as bad as generals where there was just a load of docks with tons of resources doted around the map for no reason. If anything I think the resource vehicles should have to dig of the gold or something

Another thing that I really don’t understand is that the game completely fried my computer with every setting set to minimum and although it visually was equivalent probably to RA1 and I wasn’t asking much of it ran veeery slowly! even in the beginning menus the buttons took 5 seconds to light up (why does it run that slow when not even in game??)

on the plus side i think the storyline as much as i have heard sounds good and the units are very clever (although im not sure about the transformers so much!)

maybe the feel is something that you have to get used to but im really not sure if i could stand it very long!

i have loved every single game of the C&C/RA/Generals series but unfortunately i dont think im going to be buying this game unless there are major changes

so your saying RA2 wasnt cartoony? get real it was definitely cartoony the Red alert series has always been made to not be so serious as the normal command and conquer series, as its set in a different timeline. so you really think that those tesla troopers and the oddly sized tanks and infantry arent cartoony. lol that does make me laugh. keep living in your dream world NIKD
i on the other hand love RA2 and RA3 and think RA3 has the potential to be an awesome game when properly released

[chickndipp]

I definitely prefer RA3 to C&C3 already, although I must admit I've always found the Red Alert series more fun to play. The Tiberium series has great fiction and I think Kane's awesome, but it's just a little too serious for my tastes.

The gameplay has been simplified as the whole multiple unit upgrades of C&C3 made things too complicated for me. Hitting F to activate the secondary ability on any unit means it's easy to make tactical decisions, but that doesn't mean there's any less thinking involved.

Originally Posted by NikD1

Another thing that I really don’t understand is that the game completely fried my computer with every setting set to minimum and although it visually was equivalent probably to RA1 and I wasn’t asking much of it ran veeery slowly! even in the beginning menus the buttons took 5 seconds to light up (why does it run that slow when not even in game??)

Must be your computer mate. Do this:

* Hold the Windows button on your Keyboard and press the "R" key.
* In the box, type the following: DXDIAG, then click OK.
* The Dxdiag program should appear. Click on the Save All Information button.
* Save the file somewhere easy to remember like your Desktop.
* Open the dxdiag text file and copy the following sections into your post:
--- System Information
--- DxDiag Notes
--- Display Devices
--- Sound Devices

...and I'll take a look.

[Remora Wraith]

Just to point out the Red Alert series wasn't ALWAYS cartoony, the first Red Alert was REALLY gritty and had a downright dirty and industrial aesthetic quality to it right down to the music being really heavy and industrialised in it's composition. Even the cutscenes though campy had some downright cut throat action going on what with Stalin being either poisoned or buried alive to die and the fact that the game was basically an alternate WWII. Red Alert was not cartoony or over the top, it was the closest C&C has been to reality, right down to basing a lot of the tech and units on real world technology and stories/conspiracy theories that were extended, Nikola Tesla's Tesla Coil, the Philadelphia Project and invisibility stuff, even Einstein taking the side of the Allies. It was actually very grounded compared to all the other C&C games.

So my opinions of the game. Visually it's very good, still needs some polish but it's only a beta eh? Obviously it's hard to talk about the sound as 90% of it is recycled from RA2 for the beta but the context dependant music seems a bit schizophrenic at times and will skip back and forth between normal and battle music in an irritating way but generally it's very smooth which is good, I have a feeling that each piece of ordinary music has specific contextual music for that track as the basic structure of the music tracks is very similar meaning they always transition very well, so hopefully this will be carried through to the full game with more music variety.

Gameplay wise it's a bit here and there, I like the way each side builds, expands and techs up in a unique way but I feel the Allies drew the really short straw on this one.
As it stands the Allies have to buy clearance to the higher units from the construction yard, this means that on the up side getting mid-range tech is quicker and cheaper than for the other sides, but it takes longer and costs more to get their top-tier tech.
Furthermore to expend the allies need to use prospectors or MCVs, anything built in the range of or buy the resulting outpost or construction yard is subject to that structures clearance level. So if you were to use a prospector to create a forward base you would have to buy clearance for that prospector so that any war factories, barracks etc. built in it's build radius have access to the higher level tech meaning the Allies have to buy access to the tech at every base it isn't a blanket unlock for all thing. This makes the Allies the most immobile side and puts them at a disadvantage when setting up on forward positions.

Also in the case of the Allies they are sorely lacking in the ground based units, they've never had the best tanks but they completely lack any armour that can deal with infantry effectively, the closest they have is an IFV packed with a peacekeeper. Their tanks are all non-amphibious except for their harvestor and APC which brings us on to another sore point. They are short on infantry, in terms of combat capable infantry they have the peacekeeper and the javelin soldier and that's it, they've lost the rocketeer and the chrono legionnaire. In Red Alert 2 while they had a strong naval presence the real strength of the allies was in the infantry and their variety.

In terms of strategy the ability to build on water is a plus, it adds a whole new dimension to the game, but one dimension in which it is lacking is the radar. In the previous games (not counting C&C3) you needed to build a radar structure, this often gave access to some low-mid level tech and activated the radar. Since C&C3 the requirement to build a radar structure has been totally removed, this does two things, firstly it removes the problem of losing your radar. In RA2 and generals it was a big strategic thing to hit someone's radar, you don't realise how blind you are until it's gone, and secondly it makes a low power situation a minor inconvenience that merely disables defences super weapons and slows construction and unit production. Before hand it was a big problem while losing your super weapon and defences isn't minor in itself it is compared to being blinded. Knocking out someone's power so they had no radar made it easier to move units in from various positions to take them by surprise, the fog of war as opposed to shroud does change things slightly in regards to the importance of radar but it is still a valuable tool for monitoring the battlefield.

Speaking of monitoring the battlefield why can I see enemy subs before they surfaced? Why do that, for the previous two games subs have been invisible until they surfaced, that was their point and now you can see them but not target them meaning they're no longer a surprise attack unit.

My final complaint this far is the menus, they seem highly broken with some text missing and the online lobbies and server browser are put to shame by Quake 3, though this is typical of a lot of PC EA games server browsers, BF2s was pants, I'm sure BF2142's was also pants and C&C's have been pants all the way back to Tiberian Sun when nobody knew any better.

So in closing it's a lot of fun but it still needs a lot of polish the menus in particular, and I defiantly feel the Allies have drawn the short straw in terms of land based units, their navy kick *** but I'm sure a lot of it especially the dolphins will get nerfed before release.

[chickndipp]

Don't worry the UI isn't done yet, they've just cobbled together basic functionality to make it possible to play. Hell in the alpha it was just a pink/red screen with random boxes!

[skinjim]

i do want the satellite buildings back and am really hoping for some decent superweapons to use on my unwitting enemies hehe

[Remora Wraith]

Originally Posted by chickndipp

Don't worry the UI isn't done yet, they've just cobbled together basic functionality to make it possible to play. Hell in the alpha it was just a pink/red screen with random boxes!

I dunno, I had a look through the 1.0 files and in one of the UI files there was a variable along the lines of "RA3PublicDemo = 1" if you set that to 0 then it enables the full UI including Campaign, Skirmish and such, it's what enabled LAN play before they patched it. So I think other than some minor polish that's pretty much the UI we're gonna get.

Also does anyone else get a bug where the Allied defence structure tab keeps flashing to signify construction complete even after you place the structure.

[chickndipp]

They wouldn't release a menu interface with less functionality than the previous game, don't worry.

[Remora Wraith]

Time will tell, sooner or later......time will tell.

[Frankaz]

The beta does not seem to work on wine...

[lethalbizzell90]

when i try to download a patch it keeps on failing at the lat moment it is realy anoiying as i had waited and am still for about 2 hours at a time if any of u out there can advise me then please do my email is jbizzel@ravensbourne.info

[chickndipp]

If your connection is blocking Active FTP then you can download the patch manually: COMMAND & CONQUER RED ALERT 3

[Remora Wraith]

An 855MB PATCH!? That's bigger than the original chuffing software download, although at least it's a direct download not a link to fileplanet.

[chickndipp]

1.03 -> 1.04 = 30MB (only available via auto-update).
1.00 -> 1.04 = 855MB.

[black raven]

Right, so I have the beta but since its mp only ( most likely wont be SP one ) I cant play it because it needs a update, problem is I cant update it, the autopatcher failes and manual download also doesen't work, my net connection is good but it seems that EA hasen't found any propper hosting places.
Now that combined with all that I've heard about the game elsewhere (mostly bad things ) shows me that EA has failed big times somewhere. Now KW was still a good game but RA 3 seems to be a piece of ****, I have completely lost hope, there shal be nomore good C&C games.
I apoligize to everyone who finds this post offensive but I don't really care.

[chickndipp]

The manual downloads listed here: COMMAND & CONQUER RED ALERT 3 work perfectly; I have just tested them all.

What bad things have you heard about the Beta, bearing in mind that this is a beta, not a complete product and will contain errors and bugs?

[black raven]

I underrstand that its a beta but I doubt that theyll change the things that, well ruin the thing.Also the manual downloads they come to a standstill, it shows that its coming 150-240 KB/s but actually no data is coming trough and as i said my net connection is good

[chickndipp]

Care to elaborate?

[Stuntmanpliskin]

er. when this comes out on console, it better have a system link option or else i and many others won't be paying for this, as this is a major complaint from console users.

EA: "I know, let's take over Westwood and release all those strategy games cross format... system link/LAN? no no, that's not what C&C is all about !!"

[MulipTanUK]

I am loving Ra3, I think that they have gone all out on the Powers like the Magnetic Satilite and the various crono weapons. I very like the fact that most units have Multiple functions. Most of all i love the Art style of RA3, good Job RA3 TEAM!!!