MidEast Crisis 2 mod for C&C: Tiberium Wars

9 comments by smurfbizkit on Sep 24th, 2009 digg this super bookmark

Before we get into mentioning some of the things planned in the next update, we have a lengthy postmortem on MEC2's first release written up. This article details over some of the key things that we felt went right, and went wrong in its development and most importantly how it has affected the upcoming release.

Now, we've got a new update showcasing the background, units and structures of the United Nations Peacekeepers faction which you'll be able to try for yourself soon when R2 releases.

The UN Peacekeepers
Buoyed by equipment and political support from the EU and NATO, extensive recruitment of Private Military Companies and corporate sponsorship. The UN Peacekeepers operates with a mandate and modus operandi that barely resembles the organization that stood idle as the Syria, Israel war unfolded and only intervened after the "reactor disaster" disfigured huge portions of Syria beyond recognition. The UN Peacekeepers are authorized and equipped to take any necessary measures to prevent a repeat of the previous middle conflict, not limited to directly attacking both the IDF and GOI.

Gameplay
The UN Peacekeepers gameplay centers on effective operations out of fortified bases and positions and employment of units that mostly trade mobility for resilience. Outfitted with some of the heaviest weapons in existence and state of the art nanotechnology, the UN excels at fighting toe to toe with the enemy from fixed positions, but relies on convoys of units to protect vital assets in the field. Utilizing a far more traditional fighting doctrine of heavy weapons, advanced aerial units and highly trained infantry, the UN is a force to be reckoned with in most head on battles.

M1 Abrams
After nearly 30 years of active service in the US Army, the M1 Abrams' was again called to serve in South America. However dismal performance against next-generation anti tank weapons led to it being phased out of US army doctrine, decommissioned and placed in storage. To offset economic problems, the Pentagon sold their stocks to approved PMCs and any remaining tanks were used to meet support obligations with the United Nations. At the request of the Peacekeepers, NATO began an extensive modernization program to upgrade the aging M1A2s for combat operations in the Middle East. The introduction of SEP II computer systems, tungsten shells and a new armor suite has made the new M1A3 one of the most capable heavy tanks in service today.

The M1A2's proven vulnerabilities to even archaic weapons such as the Soviet RPG-7 led to the development and implementation of one of the most advanced survivability packages in existence to all M1A3s, comprising firstly of a hardened carbon-ceramic armor plating capable of withstanding a direct hit from any known anti tank weapon and secondly the experimental Active Repair and Engineering System (ARES) which when activated immobilies the tank to enable nanoseeds to autonomously repair and restore the vehicle. However this results in the vehicle being temporarily impaired following repairs. Despite this flaw, the capability of the ARES system is considered to be vastly superior to any existing active protection suites such as the IDF's Trophy.

The UN Base
Below we have some screens of the UN base. Please keep in mind that it is still a WIP, and doesn't show some of the UN structures (such as Walls, the Airfield and their Drone Nest).

A quick list of the buildings shown;

Command Bunker - Creates Structures, can be upgraded to have Solar Panels (not shown) and Satellite Uplink (not shown, but unlocks several special powers).

Warfactory - Creates Vehicles

Training Center - Provides upgrades and each Training Center will increase the speed your units gain veterancy at.

Nanotech Center - Unlocks units and provides upgrades.

Corporate Sponsorship
In addition to the UN's secondary resource revolving around Corporate Sponsorship, this theme reflects itself in the faction's art. Some of the buildings will have Ads placed on them like the Command Bunker has, as well as one of the new UN vehicles.

The fun part of it is that who your sponsor is will depend on what map position you choose. For example, say you pick map position 1 on Small Town your sponsor could be Sparkle Cola. However, if you pick position 2 it could be Magino Oil.

Garrison
The building shown above is the UN Garrison. This functions as a barracks, with the added benefit that you can garrison troops inside it and use it like a defense bunker.

Jeep
The Jeep, which we've talked about before has had a couple of gameplay changes. First, it can now transport a couple of infantry. Secondly, it has a turbo button which when activated will drastically increase its movement speed for a short time.

Shadow Bibs
In the past, we've rarely mentioned some of the technical wizardy involved in making MEC2. The mod is filled with a lot of little tweaks that most people won't notice, but give our coders and artists hours and hours of headaches to get right. One of our more recent additions is the inclusion of bibs on the UN base buildings.

Something I doubt many of you noticed in the above screenshots is that on all of the UN structures we've implemented baked-in ground shadows. Its a very subtle effect, but as you can see in the above screens it really helps the buildings feel attached to the ground (and not just kinda floating on the surface).

Help Wanted!
MEC2 is getting close to being complete, however we could use some help. If you're skilled at making videos or 3d modeling please contact us.

See the above links or our Help Wanted forum for full details.