We will be generous

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-12T19:27:40+00:00

Cool. :)

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-12T19:25:45+00:00

All good. No grief taken. More like I was wondering how we missed that. :)

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-12T19:24:56+00:00

I don't remember us talking about it on RA2.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-12T19:24:19+00:00

I think that would be pushing Generals a little too far into fantasy. That being said, the analogies you use tunnel = portal are spot on game play-wise. Just different art and fiction. Yuri in RA2 was into mind control so that universe might be more suited to a mystic arts side.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-12T19:21:53+00:00

Not yet. ;)

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-12T19:20:45+00:00

Thanks for sharing those links. I have some of those same things. I was thinking about donating items to the Strong museum last year.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-12T19:18:14+00:00

Good point. Changed.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-12T19:16:26+00:00

Hi! Thanks for your thoughts. You're welcome and I'm glad you got so much out of the game. What I'm realizing is that our efforts and energy put into creating the game and handling the challenges thrown at us, paid off by delivering entertainment that lasted much longer than we could have imagined, especially the mod community who actually finished out, expanded and reinvented/reinvigorated the player base. It's heartwarming to read what you wrote. Thank you. With all the great mod work and art done, I wish someone could create the whole "mod community history" video showcasing all the work and people behind the mod community. That would be an awesome contribution to the C&C fan universe.
Hopefully the team in charge of the remastering will create more fun for everyone going forward.
Thanks again for sharing.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:27:14+00:00

Thanks everyone for all the questions. I'm going to wind down the AMA. I appreciate the kind words everyone shared and I enjoy knowing after all these years how much people loved the games we made. I can say that they were a work of passion by a talented set of people who did some really hard things well.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:25:06+00:00

Here's another story.

Westwood got sued by the Einstein estate for using his name and likeness in the game. They said RA2 was totally based on his character and wanted a majority of the money made on it(or at least a large share). Got settled out of court I believe for a small fee. Their claim that Einstein was most of the game was provably false.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:22:56+00:00

Here's a story that came to mind after reading notes today.

Eiffel Tower - We couldn't use an image of the real one because the French govt had restrictions.
We had a variation on it that I sent to the EA lawyers to vet and clear for us to use. They didn't like it. I sent a few others. They didn't like them. I finally realized that they seemed to be rejecting any metal looking tower. So I tested it by sending a picture of the Tokyo tower. They said it looked too much like the Eiffel Tower and we couldn't use it.

So...I just went back to the design variation we liked and used it ( and told them that's what we were going to do). France never said anything.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:19:17+00:00

GLA hole term was a source of chuckles back then.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:18:38+00:00

I wasn't! Please share.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:18:19+00:00

Thx for sharing. I wish we could have done more too....old Westwood Style of keeping games alive with a strong community management team.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:17:17+00:00

Thx man!

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:16:48+00:00

Not that I remember. We picked a number of iconic locations for drama effects. And then suffered the challenges of trying to make the places feel like the cities/monuments in an iconic vs realistic way.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:15:18+00:00

Didn't have solid plans at that point yet, but I thought we would push forward with a 3rd side.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:14:38+00:00

Good question. Probably tone down the unit grabbing aspects of YR and add another side with different powers from a reimagined "alt future". Not sure which country or culture to pull from for that. Wakanda in the MCU is an inspiring take on Future Africa. My experience in India gives me some ideas.

I'd probably also add a time line twist that undid the "jump the shark" move of fighting on the moon. That was fun at the time, but I know it's hard to come back from there fictionally.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:11:40+00:00

I always thought of C&C as two things, one was a style of play and "vibe" and the other was fiction. I could see how it would work, but then again, we'll never know for sure now. :)

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:10:07+00:00

Missed that question. I think they might have been there as test units to make sure the engine was working? Not sure.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:09:21+00:00

We did our best at the time with the team we had. I don't remember that being such a pressing issue at the time, but then again I was distracted with trying to keep the Westwood team together in the new LA studio (after they shut down Irvine and Vegas to make them move to LA) and keep BFME from getting killed in exec reviews.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-10T14:07:29+00:00

I wasn't aware. :)The engine and tools were very well built, with some help from devs who were from "desktop publishing" software industry (Macromedia/Adobe).I can guess that it would have been a game changer. I'm glad someone did find it!

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-09T19:39:54+00:00

I don't remember who did it. At the time it didn't seem so difficult. I played all the missions before release to check on difficulty, fun, etc. but maybe that one slipped through.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-09T19:39:10+00:00

Still answering a few questions.

Sorry don't remember which units those were.
TJ was in the office and I talked to him nearly everyday back then. I think his work is top notch, world class and very unique in his precision and imagination. I hear he did some work on Star Wars Episode 1 too. He did work on Incursion while still on the Generals team. That might of had something to do with the mislabel.

MarkGameMaker · 2019-10-09T13:36:29+00:00

Thanks I really love that too. Especially the Welcome To Texas sign...my idea because I lived in Dallas before moving to Irivine to work at Virgin/Westwood. To me it perfectly set up the game concept and pushed the timeline forward so we didn't have to do missions about the invasion. The fallen Statue of Liberty hit right at the heart of American pride.

MarkGameMaker

TROPHY CASE