The Art of European Conflict Part 2 news - Deep Impact mod for C&C: Generals Zero Hour

So, you know that little "part one" bit at the beginning of the last update? This is part two, and I'm here to give you a more detailed look on a unit we've gotten a lot of questions about. The MASS, the WEA's epic unit, is actually one of the most interesting units in the game at the moment, in my personal opinion, and undoubtably one of the more versatile. However, it's also gone through a lot of changes, only the most minor of which the public has seen. Now, I've got permission to give you guys a little more information on the development of the Massive Aerial Strike System, alongside some fresh concepts and renders from Camille, the man who's been tweaking this unit since it's first concept. And that's quite a long time.

This is, believe it or not, the first concept for the MASS. Camille drew it more than a year ago (if I remember correctly), and the design stuck with us for a while. Heavily "steampunk" influenced, the idea of a blimp as the WEA's epic unit has been in our internal documents ever since the first concept, and for a reason. If you ask me, it's pretty damn cool. While the idea didn't end up sticking around, it was definitely a good one, just not one that worked with the design philosophy we ended up embracing for the WEA. Still: who can deny the sheer awesomeness of being about to destroy your enemies with howitzers fired from an armoured support system?

This was a concept for the current MASS. It's more or less the same design as the currently in game version, and quite frankly, is pretty damn cool. While the current design has scrapped the old plans we had for the vehicle (it was originally going to be surrounded by a field of drones, protecting it and acting as it's main offensive weapon) due to engine limitations, the new system is a unique addition to ZH. Now, when the MASS drops it's bomblets, they arm themselves on the ground. If an enemy can damage them fast enough, the bomblets explode only with a minimal charge, just enough to do a little damage. If they aren't destroyed, however, the "Singularity charge" in the weapon detonates, doing a... rather large... amount of damage, a mechanic we're quite happy with.

Lots of mods have custom splashscreens, and this was (and still is) a serious consideration for European Conflict. Because of all the design iterations that the MASS has gone through, we have a lot of unused models for it, and some of them might just be seen in the games splash screen. Ya never know...

Speaking of unused models, this and the two renders after, are all the different versions of the MASS. This layout makes it easy to see the progression from a heavily armoured, steampunk styled blimp, into the lightweight, high-tech support system currently in game.

EC team signing out.