Welcome
to the DEN Soldier!
Lion's
September 2010 Blurb
-
As of April 2010 I stopped with
regular news updates and went into retirement due to a
heavy work schedule off the net. I do however keep tabs
on the DEN websites and the Command & Conquer community,
and I miss my webmaster duties. I did it for more than a
decade, and it was hard walking away. Anyhoot, IF I find
myself with enough time I may be returning to resume my
duties as webmaster...I'll see how things go in the next
month or so...Lion
Lion Says Thanks...etc. Mon - Apr 26, 2010, 11:03 am [EST] posted by Lion
Since announcing my retirement on April 13, I have received numerous emails and comments in my retirement announcement. Let me just say thanks to all for a memorable send-off. I've heard from C&C fans that I haven't heard from in years...as far back as 1997, and from former Westwood Studios employees and others who've worked on the C&C games.
Two questions that have been most asked of me since retiring that I suppose I will answer for those of you interested.
Will the DEN websites and forums stay opened? Yes, for now, as my current host is allowing the sites to stay on the server. There will be no news updates, but you can help yourself to the downloads that are available.
Why did I retire? It wasn't because of health issues. I'm in great health as far as I can tell. It was simply time for me to move on. My leaving has nothing to do with the current status of the C&C franchise or community. The C&C community will live on, as it always has.
Lion is retiring...farewell to all! Tue - Apr 13, 2010, 8:58 am [EST] posted by Lion
After more than a decade of being a part of the Command & Conquer community and webmastering the DEN websites, I have decided to hang up my webmaster title. I don't have a big speech planned, other than to say I've had a super great time over the years. There have been some ups and downs in the C&C community, but for the most part, all has been good.
I want to say thank you to all who have visited and supported the DEN websites. I've had much help from C&C fans over the years. Thanks to Westwood Studios and now Electronic Arts for the C&C games. I've enjoyed playing them. Goodbye and best wishes to all.
C&C4 Patch V1.02 + Worldbuilder Released Wed - Apr 7, 2010, 2:32 pm [EST] posted by Lion
Those of you who own C&C4, a new patch is available for downloading, as well as the Worldbuilder map making program. Here's the word from EA.
This patch (V1.02) addresses various network/disconnect issues, adds auto-save to Campaign/Skirmish if a network disconnect occurs, support for Worldbuilder, and most importantly, skirmish/custom match tunable options such as lethality, time, victory points, and more. A wealth of gameplay tuning fixes have also been addressed. To patch, simply launch Command & Conquer 4, and the update should take place automatically over a short time in your launcher window.
You can head HERE for a complete patch change list, and also to get the download for the Worldbuilder Editor.
C&C Motion Comic Episode 3 Wed - Mar 31, 2010, 7:15 am [EST] posted by Lion
Episode #3 of the C&C Motion Comic series has been released. This latest episode is titled 'the War Messiah'. You can check it out HERE, or watch it in the player below.
Also want to mention there are some new wallpapers to go along with the C&C Motion Comics. You can check them out HERE.
C&C4 Lobby - Main Menu Crash Issue Sat - Mar 27, 2010, 8:25 am [EST] posted by Lion
On the official C&C4 forums HERE, community online manager APOC chimes in on what is being done with some problems C&C4 players are experiencing.
Just wanted to let you guys know, we are fully aware of the lobby/main menu crash and have identified what we believe is the core root issue. This is in regards to those getting the "frame rate" dropped error message, and/or crashing primarily right when the game loads in.
This IS NOT related to connection with the server errors that you experience randomly during a match. We're assessing that issue as well, but I would strongly encourage you to check your ISP provider as well. Yes, that is quite obvious, but I have to say it because that could be the culprit as well, unfortunately.
We're working on a patch that addresses the lobby crash errors and also includes some new MP maps and a host of other bug fixes. This patch will not be out tomorrow, just to set expectations, but I will have a further update on Monday.
Apologies for this inconvenience, we will address as quick as we can.
-APOC
Also, those of you waiting for the World Builder editor for C&C4, APOC has stated the following concerning that.
APOC: Worldbuilder should be released close to the end of the month or early April. We are working out some kinks and will be releasing it with the patch after next (early April is our intended target). Would have been great to get it out by launch, but we had to make our choices.
So a couple patches and the map editor coming our way soon.
Finding Jason Graves - C&C4 Blog Sat - Mar 27, 2010, 8:15 am [EST] posted by Lion
Audio Director for C&C4, Nick Laviers has posted his second in a series of three blogs. Here's a snip from his latest.
Hello, Nick Laviers here with my second blog of the set of three I promised. This time, I'm featuring the work of Jason Graves who composed the music for the GDI campaign.
Jason Graves is well known for his composing on the audio award-winning Deadspace, as well as other accredited games and movies. Click here to visit his official site.
This story goes right back to the beginning of production on CnC4. Our lead sound designer Sam Bird and I were brainstorming what the music should be. In that session, we decided that we'd have very different sounding scores for NOD and GDI, so that CnC4 sounded like a completely different game depending on which faction you were playing. We also coined the term ‘Anglo Military’ for the GDI music, but still had to figure out what that meant!
CNCDEN's C&C4 Giveaway Mon - Mar 22, 2010, 5:47 pm [EST] posted by Lion
As promised, I selected five winners from nearly 450 entries in the DEN's C&C4 giveaway contest. They were selected at random. Congrats to the winners listed below. Your code to download the C&C4 game has been emailed to you. Thanks to all who participated. I wish everyone could have been a winner.
Winners: Brandon Mather, Fei Liu, Lord Nikon, Marco (Zenas), Andrew Pietrylo
Note From Lion Sat - Mar 20, 2010, 9:24 am [EST] posted by Lion
I understand that many people in the C&C community have not been happy with the way the C&C4 game has turned out. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I will not stop people from posting their thoughts.
Having said that, I ask that those of you posting on the comments section of the news to refrain from posting urls to websites that offer pirated copies of C&C4, or any information concerning pirated/illegal copies of C&C4.
CNCDEN Giving Away FREE C&C4! Fri - Mar 19, 2010, 8:43 am [EST] posted by Lion
Ok....listen up people. I have five copies of Command & Conquer 4 I'm giving away. The giveaway contest runs until Sunday night (midnight EST). Then sometime on this coming Monday I'll announce those who will be receiving a freeby.
I'll keep this very simple. To get in on your chance to win one of five copies of C&C4, just send an email to dalion@comcast.net and put in the subject line I want C&C4. This coming Monday I'll randomly draw five emails and send the winners their digi-download code. If YOUR a winner, you will be playing C&C4 on Monday!
PS: The C&C4 giveaway is open to everyone the world over.
C&C4 Reviews Thu - Mar 18, 2010, 10:07 am [EST] posted by Lion
Below are links to a couple reviews of C&C4. I'll post more when I get some time. It looks like average scores for the game are gonna be around 70%, so hopes of C&C4 being RTS game of the year ain't gonna happen. Not that I ever thought it would. I played in the C&C4 beta, and being the C&C veteran that I am, was disappointed with the game mechanics and overall feel of the game. It's just NOT Command & Conquer. Anyhoot, I have the full blown version of the game. I'll be playing the single player missions and report back on my final thoughts on Command & Conquer 4.
Full Gamespot C&C4 Review Here (Score = 7/10) GAMESPOT: "It's a good-looking, nice-sounding game with the thick and colorful C&C attitude you hoped to see. Yet the limited focus and flabby campaign make Tiberian Twilight a disappointment nonetheless. This is a good game, but such a renowned and beloved character as Kane should have received a more explosive goodbye."
Full GameInformer C&C4 Review Here (Score = 7.75/10) GAMEINFORMER: "Some of the reliance on cooperative play could be mitigated by a strong online backend, but C&C 4’s is middling at best. There is a friends list and rudimentary matchmaking, but the stat tracking and achievements leave me cold compared to better solutions like Modern Warfare. Forcing players to be online in order to play single player is lame as well."
Full VideoGamer C&C4 Review Here (Score = 7/10) VIDEOGAMER: "Is C&C4 a fitting finale? Well, the answer will vary depending on the type of C&C fan you are. If you're a series veteran who's stood by C&C from the very first FMV to the end of C&C3: Kane's Wrath, if you care about the canon and agonise over the art style, then, well, the answer is probably a big fat no. Why? Because C&C4 isn't very C&C at all. EALA's only done a Relic Entertainment and stripped away base building and resource gathering completely, replacing it with a class-based system and Modern Warfare-style experience gain."
Full GameSpy C&C4 Review Here (Score = 2.5/5) GAMESPY: "Okay, details. First thing you need to know is that EA Los Angeles (EALA) has taken the long-running real-time strategy series in a completely new direction: The base-building, resource-harvesting, tank-rushing model -- once the hallmark for RTS worldwide -- is totally dropped here. C&C4 replaces the venerable gather-and-build system with a little piece of just about every other significant RTS of the last few years; the majority of the gameplay is now rather unabashedly ripped off of Massive Entertainment's World in Conflict, while the capture-and-hold scoring system is somewhat more abashedly ripped off from Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, and the new UI (no more sidebar interface) is re-purposed from EA's own C&C: Generals series."
