What is Red Alert2? :
Red Alert2
is a sequel to one of the most popular real-time-strategies
games of all time, CnC:Red Alert. The original was released in
December of 1996 and continues to be a popular game played by thousands of
people all over the world.
Who is the developer?
The
developer of Red Alert2 is Westwood Studios, makers of such greats as
Command & Conquer, Blade Runner, Tiberian Sun, and the original
CnC:Red Alert.
When did Westwood first decide to
make a sequel to Red Alert? (As answered by Westwood.)
We first
began preproduction in May of 1999. We had been thinking of
ideas for a few months while we decided how we wanted to focus
our efforts.
When will the game be
released?
The game was
released on Oct. 24, 2000 and is available worldwide.
What type of game is Westwood
trying to make with RA2? (As answered by Westwood.)
Good
question. We are very specific with regard to the vision of
the game. We want to capture the magic of the first one with
its fast gameplay and strange, techy universe. The 20th
century tech we chose to focus in on was due to lots of
research on the net, libraries, etc. You’d be surprised how
much of it is based in theory or off-beat science. We want the
game to be a fun, deep and exciting game. We decided our focus
would be on new units, structures and tactics. This is the
heart of the game. We want to keep it fresh for a long time.
What
timeline does Red Alert 2 take place in relation to the
original?
RA2 takes
place roughly 20 years after RA1.
Will it run on my computer?
The
minimum realistic system requirements is a 266MHZ with 64 megs of RAM. Keep in mind this is on the very
low end of the scale. The more RAM memory you have the better.
Real-Time-Strategy games are memory intensive. The video card
isn't that important since the game is not 3D. In fact, no
hardware acceleration is required.
Can it be played online?
The answer
is yes. Along with the single player missions, multi-player
online and lan will be included with the game. At this time, 4
players will be able to play at one time. Included with
the game disk will be files for Westwood Online launching that
will take you directly to the game servers at Westwood Studios
where you'll be able to play with thousands of people from all
over the world.
What makes this game stand out among
other RTS games? by Harvard Bonin RA2 producer
The
biggest change is the style of gameplay. We've created a
real-time strategy game that's fast-paced, in-your-face and
visceral, as opposed to slow and methodical. When we started
designing, we took a long, hard look at the real-time strategy
form, and agreed that, more often than not, the genre usually
involves a slow war of attrition -- sometimes you've pretty
much lost the game in the first ten minutes, and the next two
hours is spent playing it out. Well, we wanted to pick up the
pace, and make the game a real roller coaster ride in which
the tides can turn at any moment -- without sacrificing deep,
strategic gameplay. We wanted to make it a real blast right
out of the box. When it comes down to it, often the units in
real-time strategy games are balanced low -- that is, they're
within a point or two as far as attributes go.
We're
balancing Red Alert 2 very high. We have a healthy mix of
units that are unusually powerful and add a lot of intensity
to gameplay. In the original Red Alert, if you dropped a nuke,
you did some damage. If you get the nuke bomb in Red Alert 2,
someone is in big trouble unless it can be stopped before the
launch. Luckily everyone will get plenty of warning that
someone is about to drop the big one.
There are
a lot of "magic bullets" that, if you use them
smartly, can make the battle shift dramatically.
Will we be seeing some of the
units from the original Red Alert? by Harvard Bonin RA2
producer
Sure! We
wanted to bring back a few favorites like the Spy or the Iron
Curtain. Even though some are back, they've been upgraded a
lot from the previous game.
The Spy,
for instance, does a lot of different things this time around.
If you sneak a spy into the enemy's power plant, their power
is shut down for 30 seconds. Or you can sneak him into an
enemy's ore refinery and steal all their cash. You can get him
to steal enemy technologies combine them with your own to get
brand new units unavailable anywhere else in the game. We also
beefed up the whole Chrono and Iron Curtain technologies.
What else is new? by Harvard Bonin RA2
producer
The
interface is brand new and much easier to use. We've switched
to a tab system, so structures you want to build are just one
click away. That gets players off the command bar and on to
the tactical map, because that's where the fun is. We also
included the optional Advanced Command Bar that makes some of
the more elusive keyboard commands accessible on the game
screen. The game will also feature a planning mode, so players
can easily synchronize multi-pronged attacks on enemy bases.
With just a keystroke or two, you can set your attacks off at
just the right time.
And I'd
definitely say the mood is the same. When we started the
project, we wanted to capture the feel of the original Red
Alert, but exaggerate our fantastic alternate universe even
more with a lot of pop culture stuff. We really play up the
Soviets' dabbling in psychic phenomena, for instance. They've
even got psychically-controlled giant squids as part of their
navy. We did a lot of military research for weapons and
actually found some pretty kooky things. This research
influenced the weapons we created. Many of our weapons are
based in conspiracy myths of the 20th century. I've got two
big binders of stuff that's pretty wild. Would you believe
that at one point the U.S. was working on a weapon called
HAARP that would heat up the ionosphere and use it as weapon?
Then again, that doesn't hold a candle to the stuff we've got
cooking in Red Alert 2.
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