Command & Conquer: Generals Preview

By now, you've probably read The First Hours of Command & Conquer: Generals, our story that chronicles the birth of the latest entry in Westwood's venerable series of Command & Conquer real-time strategy games. Our feature gave you insight on the game's conception, the early brainstorming sessions by the designers, how the idea of Generals was pitched to and ultimately approved by the powers that be at Electronic Arts, how EA Pacific came to be, and the long road to completion that faces the game's developers. The story also gave you a general overview of the game itself: It's a 3D real-time strategy game that takes place in the not-so-distant future; it's based on brand-new storyline that pits three sides (the US, China, and a terrorist group known as the Global Liberation Army) against each other; and it's being developed by the team that made Red Alert 2 and its subsequent expansion pack, Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge. But the story purposely left some questions unanswered. How does each side play? How has the classic Command & Conquer gameplay formula been changed? What kinds of units will the game have?

We'll answer all these questions and more in this preview. However, it's important to note that Command & Conquer: Generals is still relatively early in its development cycle, and since General isn't scheduled for completion until around October or November of this year, many aspects of the game and the information contained in this preview are still subject to change. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the name of the game itself, Generals. The Command & Conquer: Generals that's in development today isn't exactly the same game that the designers at EA Pacific originally had in mind. "For a while, we were going to make a game where you'd pledge allegiance to one of several field generals," said EA Pacific executive in charge of production Mark Skaggs. This plan would have had players assume the unique power of whatever general they followed, but in the end, it was scrapped. "We kept remembering Romanov [from Red Alert 2] walking across the battlefield--it just seemed kind of goofy," Skaggs said. But the "Generals" stuck, and even though one of the earliest features of the game was dropped, its name remained the same.

Additionally, the aspect of having field generals was one that Skaggs and the designers at EA Pacific weren't quite ready to do away with. So, instead of having you follow the orders of a general, you will be the actual general in the game, and you'll be the one issuing all the commands. In fact, there will be three generals in the game, one for each of the three sides. And while you won't actually be able to see your likeness walking around in each level, the designers at EA Pacific are still toying with the idea of portraying the three generals using actors in some of the game's cutscenes.

So what does Generals have to do with Command & Conquer? Read on to find out about the game's setting, plot, and campaign structure.

The Plot, in General

To be clear, Generals isn't an offshoot of either the original Command & Conquer or Red Alert storylines. It's a completely new game, with a completely new plot, in a completely new universe. The game is set 20 years in our future, and it involves an escalating situation between China, the United States, and an increasingly hostile terrorist organization called the Global Liberation Army, which has its roots in Central Asia.

The China in the game won't be the same kind of China that's typically depicted in the news today. This isn't Tom Clancy's China, run by an elitist group of aging, hard-line Politburo members who've been around for years--this is the new China. Its government is still based on a rule-by-council system like the old Politburo, and the government itself is still communist, but the council members are all relatively young people who have the good of their country in mind. "These are guys who have grown up with MTV, video games, and the Internet," Skaggs said. "So while they've kept their communist mentality, they're not these old gray-haired guys who can't even type. They're really slick, and they're hard core."

The new Chinese government is establishing itself as a political, militaristic, and economic force to be reckoned with in the world. But standing in the way of China's superpower status are frequent and distracting scuffles with numerous terrorist cells that are cropping up within China's borders at an alarming rate. What's more, every time China's military snuffs out one of these cells, two more pop up elsewhere. Even more alarming is that these terrorists--or the Global Liberation Army, rather--somehow have access to Chinese tanks, planes, and other weapons, which makes dealing with them particularly difficult for the Chinese. The government doesn't know who's funding these cells, but it's become clear that if China wants to become the dominant player in the world market, the GLA has to be completely pushed out of the country.

And so begins the single-player campaign in Command & Conquer: Generals. The game is split up into 30 missions, 10 for each of three sides. The game will give you the opportunity to play as any of the three sides at the outset, though the default order will be China, then the GLA, and finally the United States. While details about the individual missions are still in the works, we do know that the overall objective of the Chinese campaign will be to gradually overrun all the GLA cells within China and eventually push them completely into neighboring countries. Naturally, the terrorists are not too happy about being kicked out of what they feel is their homeland, so as the GLA, your objective will be to exact a little revenge. Skaggs elaborated further on the GLA campaign: "These guys will obviously be a little pissed, but they've got cells all over the world that they'll be activating. They're also working on a really nasty sort of biochemical warhead that they start testing out in various countries, including China." Naturally, this captures the attention of the rest of the world, which quickly denounces the GLA. In response, the GLA sets off one of its biochemical warheads in Europe and launches another one at the United States.

It's at this point that the third and final campaign begins. Using its network of antiballistic satellites, the US actually manages to intercept the incoming missile, but the toxic fallout contaminates the majority of the world. The US is forced to deal with the GLA situation, which it has largely ignored up until this point, and throughout the missions in this last campaign, you and your US forces will engage the GLA in a series of Desert Storm- and Enduring Freedom-style operations.

Now that you've got the feel for the game's plot, let's take a look to see how Generals will play differently from previous Command & Conquer games.

Changes

The biggest change that Generals brings to the Command & Conquer universe is obviously the fact that it's 3D. But the real differences between this game and its predecessors are more than just skin deep. For starters, the notion of unit deployment has been thrown out. In Yuri's Revenge, for example, the machine gunner's deploy ability encased him in a ring of sandbags and allowed him to inflict more damage, though at the cost of being immobile. Even though this deploy command was useful for certain situations, it wasn't particularly functional in most cases. "We've seen this sort of thing done better in other games, so we wanted to make that change in Generals," said EA Pacific producer Harvard Bonin. "Getting rid of deploy commands gives us freedom and lets us add some variety in what our units can do. We didn't want all our units to be stuck with only one secondary function, and we needed to make it more obvious to the players that these units had secondary functions to begin with." Bonin asserted that only seasoned Red Alert 2 players knew of their units' deploy commands, and they rarely used them during battle. The addition of upgrades will also dramatically change the way that a single unit might behave throughout the course of any given mission.

So every unit in Generals will have a set of different abilities, but if the deploy feature from Red Alert 2 has been removed, how will players access those abilities? Simple. Generals will include a brand-new interface that completely does away with the standard vertical build menu that's been a staple of every Westwood real-time strategy game since Dune II in 1992. Instead, the game's interface will mimic the horizontal menu that companies like Ensemble and Blizzard have been using in their real-time strategy games. So, for example, instead of clicking on the infantry tab of the old build menu and then selecting to train a spy, by simply clicking on the barracks in Generals, the new interface will clearly show you everything that you can build using that structure. The final look and feel of the interface is still very much in development, but Skaggs said that it'll give his team the ability to imbue units and structures with many more options than were possible in earlier Command & Conquer games. And purists will also have the option of collapsing the interface altogether for an undisturbed view of the action.

Another major change to the Command & Conquer gameplay formula will be the introduction of peon-class units: dozers and supply trucks. When you begin a game in Generals, no matter which side you choose, you'll automatically start with a bulldozer, as it's part of the command center. This dozer performs the actual construction of all your buildings in the game--structures no longer build themselves. "It's just a big construction vehicle," Bonin said. "And it's more obvious for players to see something building a structure than to have it magically appear on the ground." These dozers will also let you build anywhere you want, which is a feature that the team at EA Pacific has always wanted to introduce. While this might seem like it'll throw off the balance of skirmish matches, Skaggs said that the dozer is only lightly armored and will require a significant amount of protection. So sending your dozer off to build a SAM battery near an enemy's airport might not be terribly smart. The dozers will also function as your repair units--structures will no longer repair themselves when you tell them to--and you can build more of them at your construction yard.

The notion of supply trucks and supply depots will also be a new one to the Command & Conquer universe. These will form the basis of the game's resource model--there's no tiberium or ore in Generals. Instead, each map will have several supply depots--really nothing more than large warehouses--where you'll be able to send your supply trucks to in order to pick up construction materials. The designers haven't decided whether to give these trucks the ability to defend themselves like some of the harvesters in Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge, though that's a distinct possibility.

There's more to Generals. Read on to learn about the different military commands that you can choose.

Choosing Commands

We mentioned earlier that the original idea of Command & Conquer: Generals was for you to pledge allegiance to a general and acquire his or her unique powers. Well, that idea was dropped, but EA Pacific still found that basic notion appealing. To that end, the ability to choose specific "commands" will be included in Command & Conquer: Generals.

So, what's a command? And how does it work? Every side in Generals has three different commands--specialties, really--that dramatically change the way those sides function. Before every mission, no matter what side you're playing, you'll be prompted to choose from one of the three commands that are available to your side. EA Pacific is still working on the commands for the Chinese and the Global Liberation Army, but the commands for the United States have already been finalized. They are:

NATO tank command: This specialty will give you bonuses for most of the land-based vehicles you build, though it will also handicap your production of airplanes. For example, with this command selected, all supply trucks are 20 percent cheaper to build than they'd otherwise be. Additionally, all tank units are built with veteran status. With the Tank Command, you'll also receive a unique rechargeable area-of-effect ability that repairs all tank units that are within its range. Another one of these rechargeable "specials" is an ability that gives all tanks within its range a permanent speed boost. Lastly, the NATO Tank Command also gives its users a unique unit that can't be built otherwise. It's the leopard tank, a fairly straightforward tank that's cheap to build and very effective against infantry, thanks to its turret-mounted .50-caliber machine gun. There will be a variety of other bonuses to your vehicles as well, though EA Pacific isn't ready to reveal them all just yet. Depending on your style of play, however, choosing the NATO Tank Command might hurt you. All aircraft, for instance, are 20 percent more expensive than normal.

US Air Force: This command is clearly suited to players who prefer to taking to the skies rather than playing around in the mud. The US Air Force command will let players build a unique stealth fighter, which has antiradar missiles that are especially effective against defenses like SAM sites and antiaircraft batteries. Unfortunately, against other enemy aircraft, the stealth fighter is almost defenseless, though ground-based defenses will miss every other shot they take against it. This specialty also gives players the "daisy cutter," which is dropped from a B-52 and does an incredible amount of damage to a concentrated area. Another special ability that this command will grant you is one that's simply called "defector." With this, you can target an enemy plane and force it to take off and land at one of your airports, at which point it becomes completely under your control. Bonuses to players with the US Air Force command include airplanes that are automatically built as veterans and the ability to construct aircraft and base defenses for 20 percent less than they'd normally cost. Tanks, however, are 20 percent more expensive than normal.

Special Forces: The third US command is designed for people who are always on the offensive. The Special Forces command will give you the unique pathfinder unit, who's like an Army Ranger with a sniper rifle. He can hide in the open because he'll come equipped with Predator-like optical camouflage. The "specials" for this command include a paradrop and the ability to shut down the power to an enemy's base for 30 seconds. When used in tandem, both of these specials can have a devastating effect. Players who choose the Special Forces command have commandos who automatically emerge from the barracks as veterans, and the cost of training infantry is 20 percent less than normal. Base defenses, on the other hand, are 20 percent more expensive to build.

Though Command & Conquer: Generals only has three unique playable sides, the addition of these commands means that the game can be played nine different ways. Getting excited? Let's take a look at some of the three sides' individual units.

The Americans

The three sides in Command & Conquer: Generals will play markedly differently from one another. EA Pacific is building on commonly accepted themes in creating the units and maintaining the balance of each side. The US, for example, values the lives of each of its soldiers, so the game will encourage you to place more value on each of your units by making them generally more expensive to build than the other two sides. The Chinese, on the other hand, will have more infantry than the US, but an individual Chinese solder won't be as tough or as well armed as his US counterpart. As for the GLA, they have the ability to scavenge parts from destroyed US and Chinese vehicles and use them as their own. Let's take a closer look at some of these units. Please note that the names of these units are subject to change.

Aurora strike fighter: This fighter/bomber is modeled after the rumored Aurora spy plane, and it can reach amazing speeds. However, it only carries a single bomb, a massive airburst explosive that can be dropped anywhere onscreen, and once the bomb is dropped, the aurora will slow down dramatically. The idea here is that the jet uses up the majority of its fuel to reach its target at supersonic speed, and after it has dropped its payload, it has to conserve fuel to make it back to base. The aurora is so fast that the sonic boom created in its wake will damage nearby units, and while traveling at supersonic speeds, ground-to-air defenses cannot target it. However, after it slows down, the aurora becomes especially vulnerable to ground fire. Like other aircraft in Generals, the aurora carries a pilot.

Detention camp: Modeled after Camp X-Ray in Guantánamo Bay, these sunny vacation spots are used to detain enemy troops and show them the error of their ways. In Generals, you'll actually be able to capture infantry and pilots who've been overwhelmed in combat. While EA Pacific isn't discussing the particulars of how you'll capture enemies, we do know that once your forces capture someone, a POW truck will emerge from the detention camp, pick up the prisoner, and bring him back to this facility. While interned at the camp, these soldiers will be subject to demoralizing propaganda, and their demoralization will somehow "feed" a special weapon that you can use to demoralize other enemy soldiers on the battlefield. These soldiers will then move slower and fire slower than normal. The Chinese have an ability that has an opposite effect--it makes soldiers move and fire faster. But the US demoralizing weapon negates this effect. If the detention camp is destroyed, however, any detained prisoners will revert to their original owners and havoc will generally ensue.

Pilot: Each aircraft in the US arsenal will also come with an individual pilot. If shot down, the pilots will eject from their planes and hit the ground safely. They will actually be able to take over tanks and other enemy vehicles to help them escape from behind enemy lines. What's more, once they eject, they retain their veteran status, and they'll transfer that status onto any vehicle they commandeer.

Crusader tank: The crusader is an all-purpose tank that's capable of traversing any type of terrain, even water. Initially, the crusader is a standard tread-based tank, but it can be upgraded with VTOL attachments that transform it into a hovercraft. It's this upgrade that allows the crusader to cross water. In fact, the VTOL upgrade also makes the crusader faster, though it will more vulnerable to damage from enemy fire. Another one of the crusader's special attacks is the ability to launch a drone that flies alongside the tank and fires a potent laser beam at nearby enemies. Like the aurora, the crusader also carries a pilot, and he'll eject from the tank once it has sustained a significant amount of damage. "It's pretty far up the tech tree," Bonin said, "so we're still fiddling with some of its finer points."

Obviously, the US side will have more than just four units, but as we stated earlier, EA Pacific is still adding and removing units from the game, so it's too early to reveal them all just yet. We're fairly certain, however, that US units like the comanche, the missile team, the raptor fighter jet, and the B-52 heavy bomber will make it into the final game. You can also expect the barracks, command HQ, strategy center, and supply center structures in Generals. Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, let's take a look at the Chinese side.

The Chinese

If the US units we listed on the previous page seemed eerily familiar, there's a good reason. Skaggs said that the units in Generals will be based on existing military hardware "plus one." The "one" indicates that the designers are taking that extra step to liven up the units so that they don't seem ordinary. The game is set 20 years in the future, after all, and besides, it is a game, so if some liberty is taken with a tank based on the M1A2 Abrams, for example, we won't hold it against EA Pacific. However, it's interesting to note that, compared with the US side, the Chinese units have a distinct sci-fi look to them. Let's take a look:

Propaganda blimp: This slow-moving blimp might be reminiscent of the kirov from Red Alert 2, but it rains down propaganda instead of 500-pound bombs. This blimp flies over its own troops and, using the many speakers attached to its side, inspires them to fight harder. As their morale increases, Chinese troops will move faster and fire more quickly than their unenlightened comrades. The blimp can also be used to negate the effects of the United States' demoralizing weapon, though it has no offensive capabilities whatsoever.

Seismic tank: The seismic tank is truly massive. It's made up of two interconnected pieces, and it's powered by four sets of treads. It has a single turret with two 150mm cannons that fire concussion shells. When these shells hit the ground, they cause seismic waves that damage any nearby buildings and cause vehicles and units to slow down temporarily--and that's in addition to the explosive splash damage. The seismic tank is so big, you can place a single base defensive structure--a turret or SAM--right on top of it, and it can crush smaller tanks that get in its way like a soda can.

Inferno cannon: Functionally, the inferno cannon is a lot like the flame tanks from earlier Command & Conquer games, though it doesn't look like anything we've seen before. It's a slow-moving treaded tank that can create entire firestorms in a matter of seconds. It's obviously effective against infantry, but it can also set buildings on fire. When destroyed, the inferno cannon explodes in a giant fireball, engulfing anyone who is standing too close.

Hackers: These walking headaches are the Generals version of the standard Command & Conquer engineer. By hacking into satellite uplinks and radio transmitters, hackers can effectively control another player's vehicles for a small amount of time and temporarily shut down an enemy's base. "We wanted to address the engineer rush," Bonin said. "While it was a valid tactic to use, we always felt that it was a little cheap. With the hackers, we force players to work a little harder in order to take over buildings. This way, we retain the aspect of taking over buildings without making the victim feel like he or she was screwed." In practice, it will take five hackers to take over another player's building, though that number might change during the balancing phase of the game's development. Units with veteran status are more resistant to the effect of hackers.

Troop crawler: China is a populous country, and the Chinese military enlists a lot of people. Nowhere is this more evident than in the troop crawler. "We designed the troop crawler to really emphasize just how reliant the Chinese side is on sheer numbers," Bonin said. "It's essentially a heavy APC that comes loaded with 20 foot soldiers." These 20 infantrymen will come ready to go with the troop crawler itself, which is designed for a quick insertion of overwhelming forces into enemy territory. It also serves as a medical facility, and it will heal anyone who enters it.

As you can tell, whereas the units on the US side were grounded in reality, those on the Chinese side clearly have more liberal designs. While these variations in designs will definitely keep Generals from looking stale, it also guarantees that the three sides will play as differently as they look. There's one side left in Generals: the terrorist group known as the Global Liberation Army.

The Global Liberation Army

The GLA will play distinctly differently from either the Americans or the Chinese. Whereas the US side places value on every single one of its soldiers, and the Chinese rely on overwhelming numbers, the Global Liberation Army uses human life as a weapon. They're not disregardful of human life, but they'll stop at nothing to overpower their enemies--even if it means death. Skaggs compares the GLA to the world of Mad Max, where violence is commonplace, survival of the fittest is the rule of the land, and salvaging anything and everything is the norm. Here are a few examples of what you can expect to find when playing as the Global Liberation Army:

Angry mob: This group of about 20 angry civilians will actually be considered one single unit. These demonstrators will band together, throw rocks, and shoot small arms at nearby enemy forces. This mob gradually heals itself, and it can be ordered to merge with other groups to form an even larger mob that can inflict and sustain more damage. The angry mob isn't very effective at long range--any long-range antipersonnel weapon can make quick work of this group--but it can be devastating at close distances. With a generous helping of Molotov cocktails and firebombs, the mob is also quite effective against buildings. The mob can't board transports as a group or as individuals, though you will be able to upgrade the mob with AK-47s for added deadliness.

Technicals: Black Hawk Down refers to these low-tech units as "technicals." They're nothing more than some kind of weapon mated to an everyday pickup truck, jeep, or car. The type of vehicle that will emerge from the GLA factory will be random, but each will come built with an effective .50-caliber machine gun on the back, and it will be manned by a fairly accurate gunner. These units also demonstrate the GLA's ability to scavenge enemy parts--if it approaches a destroyed tank, it can pick up that tank's turret, for example, for added firepower. Through scavenging, technicals can upgrade their .50-cal weapon to a 20mm recoilless rifle, and once again to a rapid-fire RPG system. In addition to those upgrades, technicals can also improve their effectiveness by attaining veteran status.

Scud storm: The scud storm is one of the Global Liberation Army's superweapons. Modeled after the Iraqi scud missiles used during the Persian Gulf War, these low-tech missiles aren't terribly accurate, but they will destroy nearly anything they hit. Once this superweapon is available to you, you'll receive a battery of three rockets that you can fire anywhere on the map. The scud missile always has a chance to hit your target, though more often than not, it will randomly land in an area within five tiles of your target. Each individual rocket does lots of splash damage and releases a deadly nerve gas that will kill nearby infantry. Surface-to-air missile defense systems can shoot scuds out of the sky, but even though the missile will miss its target entirely, the falling missile shell will still do a considerable amount of damage wherever it lands.

Tunnel network: Terrorists have the ability to appear and disappear around the battlefield using a series of tunnels and cave networks. As the GLA, you can build any number of endpoints on the map, and they'll automatically connect to other existing tunnel entrances. Each endpoint produces six fanatic fighters, and as they die, the tunnel network will produce more. You can also order your infantry into the network and store them until you feel the need to activate them. This network has a teleportation effect, so if you build multiple endpoints, you can transport your infantry across the map in a matter of seconds. If all the endpoints are destroyed, you will lose anyone still inside the tunnels.

These 13 units and structures are obviously only a fraction of what'll be available in the final game, but they should give you a clear picture of what to expect in Generals.

The Sage Engine

Much of Command & Conquer: Generals is still relatively early, and many of the gameplay details are a long way from being finalized. We do know that each of the three sides we've detailed will have its own hero units, though these too are still in the initial design phase. Skaggs said that the hero for the Americans will be a Schwarzenegger-like all-purpose commando, while the Chinese heroine will be a nimble melee fighter reminiscent of Trinity from The Matrix. "We're still juggling several ideas for the GLA's hero characters," Skaggs said. "It'd be kind of cool to have another female character, but I don't think that would fit the whole terrorist image."

One gameplay mechanic that will likely find its way into the final game is four levels of veteran status for every unit--Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge had three levels--the fourth of which is being referred to as "super elite." Like in the previous two Command & Conquer games, though, veteran status probably won't carry over from one mission to the next.

There'll also be the ability to buy upgrades for most of your units. These upgrades are extremely varied, and they can even be found in crates, a mainstay of Command & Conquer games. "We wanted these upgrades to be real augments to your army," Bonin said. "You know, something more significant than 'Oh look, I got a bonus to armor.'" The specifics for the upgrade system in Generals are still up in the air, but you can expect upgraded units to make a tactical difference during combat--nuke-tipped shells for your tanks is only one example of what these upgrades might include.

One aspect of Generals that has been finalized is the 3D technology that will power the game. Called "Sage," the game's engine has been in development for nearly a year and a half at EA Pacific. According to Skaggs, his team looked at various existing 3D technologies, but it was ultimately agreed that using Renegade's W3D rendering technology on top of a brand-new 3D engine would be more beneficial for Generals. "For the first time in the team's history, an engine will finally let our artists show off their skills," Skaggs said. For example, the team is considering using a thermal-imaging effect to represent units that are behind solid objects and structures, and Sage will allow them do that. Missions that take place during different times of day will also be a possibility in Generals, thanks to dynamic lighting that casts realistic shadows and impressive reflections on most objects.

Generals has plenty of spectacular visual effects, even at this early stage. One of the most impressive aspects of the game is what Skaggs referred to as highlight moments. "One of the things we want to do is raise the intensity of the emotion of the people that will play the game," Skaggs said. "So we're going to show them these spectacular show-stopping effects." This effect is essentially the stop-camera motion from The Matrix. Blow up a gas station, for instance, and the action will freeze in mid-explosion, and the camera will quickly pan around the environment, revealing pieces of debris and shrapnel suspended in the air, before the action promptly resumes. Another impressive feature of the Sage technology is the way it renders smoke. While that might not seem like a big deal, seeing a city smoldering after an exhausting battle is a sight to behold.

Final Thoughts

Certainly, everything about Generals sounds good so far, and the developers at EA Pacific are making sure that this game--the first Command & Conquer game not to be developed by Westwood--will be one that fans of the series can be proud of. And fan feedback from earlier Command & Conquer games is shaping many aspects of the game, especially the multiplayer component. Generals should be extremely accessible to online players of all skill levels. The game will include a built-in buddy list like AOL's Instant Messenger and numerous filters to make it easier to compete only in the types of matches that you feel comfortable with. "We did some research with Red Alert 2 and Yuri's, and we found that 85 percent of online players log off after their first 15 minutes of playing, and another 70 percent after 30 minutes," Bonin said, "So we knew we were doing something wrong, and we didn't want to repeat that in Generals." There'll be stricter measures to prevent cheating, the ability to record matches, and an amateur ladder that newbies will be able to compete in and eventually graduate from. A cooperative mode with actual scripted missions will also be included in Generals.

Generals will also have a system of battle honors, which are iconic awards that you'll able to collect for performing particularly impressive actions, like taking over an enemy's construction yard or defeating an opponent in less than a minute. Bonin likens the battle honors to something that you'd see in a typical fighting game for pulling off combos or defeating a certain number of foes in a row. There'll be about 15 different battle honors in Generals, and they'll be displayed as icons next to your online handle. Multiple honors will be denoted by a number next to that honor. "They'll allow you to see how others play at a glance," Bonin said. "Battle honors will also let our designers see how the community plays--if 90 percent of players have a ton of battle honors for winning matches under one minute, for example, then we know there's some kind of balance problem that we need to address."

A strong sense of community is also something that EA Pacific is aiming for, and the company will be encouraging the development of fan sites early on. It also plans to release the Sage editor a few months before the game ships so that mod makers can get a head start on making their own maps and total conversions. "We loved how there was a Sims community already up and running six months before the game ever released, and that's the same kind of support we want to generate around Generals as well," Bonin said.

But even with all this--the new additions and changes to the Command & Conquer formula, the all-new visuals, and the strong multiplayer component--the most impressive aspect of Generals is the release date. Skaggs is adamant that the team at EA Pacific will have this game ready to ship this year. In fact, the team has already scheduled the game to reach the alpha stage of development this July, a mere three-and-a-half months away from now. Knowing this team's track record--Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge both shipped on schedule--we don't doubt that Command & Conquer fans everywhere will be playing Generals this year. This preview is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and we'll revisit Generals to bring you additional information on gameplay features and hands-on impressions throughout the coming months.