Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight Interview

EA’s Jim Vessella is a veteran developer of RTS games, having worked on the Command and Conquer series for the past five years. He’s currently working as a producer on C&C 4. Last week we met up to chat about the game and why fans of the franchise may be in for a few surprises.

VideoGamer.com: Why did you choose to change so many familiar elements for C&C 4?

Jim Vessella: There were a few things behind this. On-team, as developers, we’ve been doing the same formula in RTS for almost a decade now. This is the team that made Red Alert 2, Generals, the Lord of the Rings series and some of the C&Cs. We’d seen within ourselves that it had been the same for a long time, and I think the team really had an urge to try something different, to keep the spirit of C&C but to throw something out there in left field. So it came from passion on the team. There are some great other RTS games that have been released recently, Dawn of War II and World in Conflict. We have a lot of respect for these guys trying new things in the genre, we saw that and it also inspired us. It was like, “Wow, there are ways to play RTS without just building up a base and attacking the enemy base.” So I’ve got to throw a call out to those guys for trying some new things. And the other thing is that what we’d seen and what we’d come to, looking at just the numbers, is that that classic RTS formula is kind of intimidating for new players to get into.

Of course we have this hardcore fan base in the RTS community that’s been there for a long time, and we love those guys, but when you make a game that’s entirely focused on that – like Red Alert 3 – it’s really hard for a new player who just wants to try out RTS. So we wanted to find a solution that can allow veteran guys to have a great time, but that can also support new players who just want to try it out, a new generation who didn’t grow up on the games in the 90s, so they can get in there and not feel intimidated by being Zerg-rushed in the first four minutes. That’s what happens even to me, as a veteran RTS player, if I go online and try to play competitively. I can’t even beat my own games! I try to play Red Alert 3 and I just get destroyed!

VideoGamer.com: The same thing happened to me the first time I played RA 3. I was bear-rushed in under five minutes…

JV: Yeah! We loved Red Alert 3, and we’re really happy with the work that we did there, but we certainly focused on that group. And I think we really satisfied that group. There are guys doing ladder tournaments and all kinds of great stuff, but I think it was a little limiting in terms of reaching out to the more casual audience, so we wanted to make a game for that crowd this time.

VideoGamer.com: Do you think the new approach a big risk?

JV: Absolutely, it’s a big risk. C&C has been a very strong franchise for a long time now with that formula, and it’s worked well with us. So we stuck with that plan, and kind of made C&C 4 a standard C&C game in the same way that 3 was. And that probably would have worked out fine, but it wasn’t going to grow our audience, it wasn’t going to bring in new players and allow a new generation to come in. I think we are taking a little bit of a risk, but it’s a really good risk. It’s what the genre needs, and I think that other companies like Relic and Massive have seen that as well. I hope it pays off, I really do. I hope that new players try the game, have fun with it and then try out some of the other RTS games out there. There are still so many high quality games in the RTS genre. I just think it’s always been typecast as this hardcore genre where you need to have 250 APM [actions per minute] to get into. We want to try and prove that stereotype wrong.

VideoGamer.com: StarCraft II is on the horizon. Are you guys fazed at all?

JV: StarCraft II is going to be great. I mean, it’s going to be awesome. All of us on team are super excited to play SC2. Our former lead designer from the Battle For Middle Earth series, Dustin Browder, is leading up that team. He’s a great, legendary designer and an awesome guy. We’re all looking forward to it. Sure it’s intimidating. It’s one of the most powerful franchises in gaming and it’s going to take the market by storm. What I hope is that gamers will try both. I hope that an RTS player will try StarCraft 2 for that classic RTS formula – base-on-base, the epitome of classic RTS PvP gameplay. And then maybe after they get Zerg-rushed a few times they come and try C&C 4 and get more of a casual, accessible experience. I think there’s room for both of us. C&C and StarCraft and Warcraft have been legendary franchises, and I think we’re both going to be great. I can’t say anything bad about those guys.

VideoGamer.com: The new unlocking system seems interesting. What motivated you to change this from the traditional approach, where you introduce new units as you progress through a campaign?

JV: What I’ve found is that when I install a new RTS game, and say I don’t want to play the campaign but rather a skirmish or multiplayer, my first experience is going to be that I’m dropped into this world where I have 50 units, a bunch of structures, powers and upgrades, and it’s just “GO!” I have no idea what anything does, no idea what counters anything, and if I’m playing against someone who’s had a little more experience with the game, I’m going to get destroyed. That’s not going to be a fun first experience. So the unlocking mechanic… like you said, it’s normally handled in the campaign, but we wanted to branch that out so that no matter what mode you’re playing, you’ll be introduced to the game at an understandable pace. At the start you’ll have a few of your main battle units that can cover the combat chain and do their job, you’ll learn about them and then after a few matches you’ll be able to unlock something else. You’ll be like, “I want to try out that unit. He has a cool special ability – how does that work, and what does it counter?”. So you’ll play with that for a few matches and then you’ll get to try something else. We think it’ll help new players to understand how the genre works, what these units do. No matter what mode you jump into, you have a chance to learn how the game works. Every other genre does this. RPGs don’t start you at level 16, they start you out very small with one weapon and one ability, and they slowly teach you the mechanics until you reach the high end. Then you look back and you’re like, “Wow, look at all the stuff I’ve learned!” That’s the kind of experience we want people to have.

VideoGamer.com: Presumably you’ll have a few mechanisms in place to keep things balanced? It’ll be no fun if one side has access to a massive tank that can just kill all your troops.

JV: There are a few things we’re doing here. First off, we’re going to try to match people within their level range. The next thing is to track people by skill level, so we have tracking mechanisms that determine how good you are and to keep the teams balanced. But most importantly we’re working on the balance so that even if you have some of the high-end units and toys, low-tier units will still be able to counter those. Even though the dude who’s been playing for months will have access to some really intimidating weapons, you’ll still be able to win if you build the right counters at a low level. He’s the big slow ship, and you’re the speedboats. The high-end player might have a bit of an advantage as they’ll have more options and will be a little more versatile, but in terms of units you’ll be fine as long as you build the right counters. And of course in terms of the meta-game, if you’ve got better strategy and capture the right points on the map, it won’t matter if he has a giant tank – you’ll still win the match.

VideoGamer.com: Many thanks for your time, Jim.

Command & Conquer 4 will be released on PC in 2010.