About ROTR

Command & Conquer Generals: Rise of the Reds is a C&C Generals: Zero Hour mod made by SWR Productions in 2008 (latest version 1.86 in 2015 that I’m currently playing) that uses the old 2003 game engine & UI as base - therefore quite limited possibilities to work with. The way I figured when it comes to ROTR, SWR team is generally a truckload of nerds that use their knowledge & free time to develop something cool out of old stuff their granny is keeping in her garage - so quite limited resources too.

However, a fair amount of things is actually pretty impressively improved, a lot of new stuff is added - 2 whole new factions (Russian and European, which is a lot of work), new units, features, abilities, promotions, voices, details,… but still – imperfections. Imperfections everywhere! They do bring something to the table for me, so let’s dive in…

GRAPHICS

Since we live in 2020s, I believe that improving graphical content (such as 2D/3D modeling, animations, VFX & SFX) wouldn’t be a big issue, so, even though I have quite an amount of notes there, I won’t write them down here (for now…). As a matter of fact, I found a mod for C&C: Red Alert 3 that’s called Generals Evolution, which goal is to apply C&C: Generals to C&C: Red Alert 3 engine as close as possible, and that fixes a lot of things that I would if given a gear. I will, however, refer to GE later for other matters...

CONCEPT & GOALS

NOTE: If you haven't played this game before, there is a small chance you won't understand some terminologies used, so I apologize in advance.

The type of game is RTS (Real Time Strategy). The core of game is non-fictional military, though not fully non-fictional, because it has some futuristic elements like flying robots, indestructible 2-story tall wrecking tanks, ground-shaking earthquake projectiles & neutrino bombs, Solar burst superweapons, Particle canons, etc.

But, since they make 10-15% of all units & features, I think it’s totally cool to have some unrealistic weaponry here and there. Like, every government in the world has some secret military project they are working on that is unknown to the public and could potentially wipe out everything we hold dear, right?

So in accordance with non-fictional foundations of this war game, first thing to change about it, in my opinion, should be in-game base building mode:

  • accuracy man

  • more units, more rockets, more buildings!

A small digression:

There was a time when I used to challenge myself by setting the maximum number of Hard/Brutal opponents against me in Skirmish single-play mode, or even (try to) play online matches against other ZH/ROTR enthusiastic dudes from around the world. And let me tell you one thing about them – they suck!

Winning a Hard/Brutal or online match is nowhere close to strategically outsmarting and beating your opponent with some unique warfare skills - that should be the case when it comes to real time strategy games, right? In fact, it’s all about building your base (read supplies & unit-making structures) as fast as possible, making as many units as quick as you can, and then strik- pardon me, impulsively & aggressively pressing 3 buttons on your keyboard & mouse, destroying your CPU & internet modem, while lowkey relying on the game to crash on some poor guy’s computer on the other side so he disconnects from the game and you win the fight. Seriously, not cool! A fight between 150 tanks on each side is nowhere near cool – it’s buggy, laggy, ugly & pointless.

Back on the track:

Since modern age military is our asset, and we don’t have super-advanced futuristic building technology that can rise a tank factory from flowers in a matter of seconds (as in case of Red Alert 3 that makes perfect sense, since the plot is set somewhere in alternate future and all units are science fiction), building a base while fighting battles at the same time is unnecessary - and as I said before, the final outcome of the game depends on how fast you build/recover and how many units* you make. That’s a race! Not a strategy. Also, science fiction!

  • look at these beauties

However, replacing in-game building mode with, let’s say, pre-match build time (like CS:GO has a buy time of 15 seconds before every round) should be a cool thing to add: You have several minutes to think how to build your base the best, and you build it as you please instantly. Some aditional technical tools can help you with your OCD (hearts crossed, there is no OCD in millitary, it's called discipline), so, you don't waste time stressing around about unparalleled lines between roads and your structures, you don't wait minutes for a structure to rise – you just put command center, barracks, air fields and tank factories wherever you want, you place defense mechanisms & machines wherever you feel is right - like, you predict where could be the best place to put gattling cannons, bunkers, rocket launchers, Tesla defenders, SAM launchers, AAA systems,… so they can provide the optimal protection with their abillities & targeting ranges. You use the benefits of terrain in your favour - like “hmm, that hill there should protect me from ground units, but not from aircraft, so I’ll put a SAM launcher here instead of bunker”, or “okay, river is at my left side, long-range units should guard that place there, so I’ll make some extra space for them here… and a SAM launcher, in case of an air attack”, or “wow, my base is at beach, I’m puttin’ barracks there so my soldiers can play beach volleyball” (if you’re a trolling noob).

  • OCD build

  • GE build

When your base is all built, there is no turning back. There is no selling your buildings and moving them around during a fight. Structures should be way more durable because they are millitary structures, right? They can take much more damage than a regular civilian building and even survive a superweapon strike. So now, it’s much harder to actually conquer a base, and a bit easier to defend it. You’ll have some extra control over the fight for your base, and when a structure is destroyed, there is no rebuilding it. You can repiar damaged structure, but not rebuild the destroyed one. So conquering a base doesn't have to require you to destroy every building in it. Capturing structures will do the job just fine, and the reward for capturing a base could be better than when destroying it, so you're encouraged to be a Gentleman General (ending the game with GG xD).

And then you roll! You collect supplies, build your units, scout the area, make plans, capture checkpoints, conquer territories, and most importantly - you develop a strategy – in real time with your opponents. The odds are even, there is no race of who is going to make first units first & attack, and then the real fight of strategies begins!

  • foundations

  • race build = race win

  • checkpoints, drop zones, temporary structures

  • neutralized base

NOTE:

In-game building mode should not be completely removed from the table. Since you will eventually get beaten, the game could give you a choice to either surrender or fall back (assuming that your base is mostly captured rather than destroyed). By not surrendering (which I believe most players will choose) you’ll have to (naturally) fall back from your main base to a temporary one/checkpoint, repair your broken/damaged units aka “rise from the ashes”, and then “take back what is yours”. Building a temporary base could, for example, replace barracks for tents, war factories for drop/landing zones for reinforcements, command center for a pair of emergency escape trucks/helicopters, etc. That concept could play a valuable role in aftermaths and final results of the game/match, based on previously defined goals. I mean, imagine being beaten up, being forced to fall back and recover your strength, and then conquering back your own base, push your opponent back and beat him up - #likeBOSS! (of course that could get boring and annoying at some point, but leveling the game with difficulties and other parameters should eventually balance that). Also, you won't have to destroy every building in the base to conquer it - you just neutralize it.

Fights, fights & FIGHTS:

Now, the title of the game itself contains word General. A lot of voices out there are speaking to you with “General”, so your actions should be indeed General-y. By general-y, I mean you should be sitting on your arse giving your fellow warriors simple orders:
-“Air units, bomb that line of defense!”
-“Helicopter units, guard this area!”
-“Marine troops, capture that building”
thus letting them, the paid & trained professionals, take care of the business on their own. When I say on their own, I mean without you being bothered to navigate every single move of every single unit, endlessly clicking around hoping that certain units hit certain targets and don’t die in a ridiculously stupid manner (which happens a lot in ZH/ROTR). Giving your units a certain type of Intelligence (that I will put into 4 categories of features) should provide them the ability to finish their task while taking care of themselves on the way:

Categories:

  1. Stances (Based on Red Alert 3 (GE) solutions) - Behavior of units that are out of your focus or left on their own
    • Hold fire - units are not engaging enemies that approach their attack range, but return fire when attacked while falling back or fleeing (useful for static stealth units, scouting parties, patrols, saving ammo)
    • Defense - units hold fire, but return fire without falling back when attacked
    • Hold ground – units attack enemies that approach their attack range, do not fall back & do not pursue them further if they flee (default)
    • Guard area – units approach and attack enemy units that enter the guarding area, pursuing fleeing enemies from the guarding area
    • Offense – units guard area, destroy enemy structures within guarding area & pursue fleeing units off the guarding area
    • Weapons free – units attack and destroy everything on their way, indefinetly pursuing fleeing enemies
  2. Multiple targeting - Attack plan when coming across several enemy units
    • S-S - Several units detect several targets and deploy the attack equally among themselves* (useful when ordering several units to guard area)
    • S-1 - Several units detect one target and hit it at once (useful with offense stance and against structures & strong units)
    • 1-S - One unit detects several targets and hit them all (damaging several units instead of destroying one, useful when several enemy units are low hp)
    • 1-1 - One unit detects one target and hits it (default?)
  3. Priority targeting - Attack plan when coming across several enemy units of different types, deciding which type gets attacked first by which unit
    • Infantry (AI, AT/S, AA)
    • Vehicles (AI, HAI, AT/S, HAT/S, AA, HAA, LR, VLR)
    • Aircraft (FAA, FAG, B, HB, H, D)
    • Structures (D/A/SW, P, B)
    The player rearrange those 4 as he pleases (lite version), or all 20** (full version)
  4. Movements (combined with stances) - Paths***, patrols, loops & other types of movements
    • Infantry
      • -Stealth - infantry is moving slowly, avoiding open areas (roads, fields, waters) and using nearby objects, trees, bushes, vehicles and structures as cover
      • -Front - infantry is moving in frontal formation
      • -Column - infantry forms 1 or more columns
      • -Rush - infantry is rushing to destination without fear of being hit (useful when falling back, intimidating**** arriving or pursuing fleeing enemies)
    • Vehicles
      • -Civil column - units choose a single path, going one after another in a column, respecting roads and civil goods, while infantry is following alongside potentially using vehicles as cover
      • -Civil front - units scan several possible paths, each (column) taking a diferent single path maintaining frontal formation controlling their speed, respecting roads and civil goods, while infantry is following alongside
      • -Aggressive column - untis choose the shortest path, running over and crushing everything on their way (fences, trees, cars, other civil goods), while infantry is following behind
      • -Aggressive front – units take several shortest paths, running over and crushing everything on their way (fences, trees, cars, other civil goods), while infantry is following aside
      • -Patrol - closed circular paths (useful when combined with certain Stances)
    • Aircraft
      • -Front
      • -Column
      • -Patrol
      • -Heaven - air units climb high above the clouds, far from your sight, AA reach, but not from HAA and other air units that are Heaven
  5. Formations (optional for now)

* promoted or experienced units could be smart enough to predict how many hits they need to destroy their targets, so they deploy the attack smarter

** certain units are strong against certain type of enemy units (existing feature), and some aditional advatages in battles could be gained by expanding these 4 types to these 20: AI - Anti-Infantry, HAI - Heavy Anti-Infantry, AT/S - Anti-Tank/Structures, HAT/S - Heavy Anti-Tank/Structures, AA - Anti-Aircraft, HAA - Heavy Anti-Aircraft, LR - Long Range, VLR - Very Long Range (can shoot any point on the map from base or wherever it's put), FAA - Fighter jets Anti-Aircraft, FAG - Fighter jets Anti-Ground units, B - Bombers, HB - Heavy Bombers (MOAB, Carpet bombs, EMP bomb, Napalm Strike, Earthquake projectile,...), H - Helicopters, D - Drones, D/A/SW - Defense/Attack/Super Weapon structures, P - Power plants, B - other base Buildings (barracks, command center, airfield,...)

*** more about these at technicals

**** intimidating enemy units will force them to fall back or flee, regardless of their current objectives. If units are experienced, chance to flee decreaces

INTELLIGENT FIGHTS

Now that your units have more knowledge on how to do their job, giving them a set of specific instructions:
-“Air units, bomb those 4 bunkers, but as they're low hp, put 1 bomb into each bunker, and make sure you don’t die on your way back to airfield”(multiple targeting 1 or 3, priority structures, unique path of return)
-“helicopter units, guard this area, but make sure you take down ground units that can potentially take you down first, then tanks, and then foot soldiers”(Guard area stance, Priority HAA, AA vehicles, AA infantry, multiple targeting 1 or 3)
-“Marines, capture that building silently, try not to be seen or die while reaching it, and open fire only if nessessary” (defense stance, stealth moving)
can now provide you a set of unique tactical advantages, and your goal of strategically outsmarting and beating your opponent (who is also a general) is then on the good way to be fulfilled.

When you spend some time playing the game, thus learning the ropes and getting tons of experience (a singleplayer campaign can help there) you eventually learn how to use these intelligent features better and naturally gain extra warfare skills - y’know, special tactics, mind games, timings, coordinating several attacks at once (at several fronts maybe, why not, if you’re a badass), making tough decisions, diversions, sending out decoys & fake information, taking advantages out of situations (economy status, diplomacy tools, 2 generals being busy fighting each other, on some occasions even stabbing an ally in the back why not, war is a messy place).

  • "smarter" column attack

NUMBERS:

In order to avoid the quantity advantage/disadvantage situations, or getting defeated by 100 tanks, let's deal with some numbers. Now, when we take a look at the military organization hierarchy in real world, we see that first appearance of the word General is somewhere at the 6th place from the top out of 11. The Brigadier General (the 6th guy) is in charge of approximately 3000-5000 units, which is quite a lot, and therefore we can confidently conclude that his job couldn’t possibly include controlling every group of units, or even single unit on the battlefield. That is reserved for the lower ranked personel such as colonels (1000-3000), captains (80-250), lieutenants (26-55), sergeants (8-20) and corporals (2-8). Therefore, you do not start a game/match immediately ranked as General. Being promoted to General should be your goal. You start as corporal, and through the game, based on the things you’ve done, you get promoted to sergeant, then lieutenant,…

  • promotions & numbers

To get promoted, you must win battles, destroy enemy units, capture checkpoints, successfully defend your base, etc. As your rank goes up, the number of units to be in charge with rises (like build limit per unit rises), you get to unlock and upgrade units/buildings, summon small/medium/large reinforcements and get other relevant authorizations (for example, to use a superweapon once/several/unlimited times, to unlock heavy units, have a reinforcement party come your way more frequently, emergency supplies, evacuations, etc.). When you eventually reach the General level, you may have unlimited (or max 5000) resources. There, you avoid winning/losing a game because someone made 100 tanks faster (or made your game to crash). So - if you lose every fight you start, get your units destroyed every time while providing a minimum resistance damage to enemy units, if you don’t capture any checkpoint on the map and your territory is as same size as it was when you started a game with no upgrades, and then you get #rekt by 100 tanks, well - that’s because you suck, and your opponent got promoted on you being a noob. No hard feelings towards the game, right?

GAME MODES & SCORES

Another thing that should be among crucial parts of the game – value of people’s lives and goods. It is a war time. A few armies are fighting each other inside/outside the city/village. There are civilians and their properties on your ways. Now, as a General, people live or die based on your decisions. Warriors, allies, enemies, civilians - they are all human beings just like you, and having as little casualties as possible is everyone’s goal, right? Even your enemy’s - he (or she) doesn’t want to lose his (her) soldiers for sure, as well as material goods (if we’re not talking about terrorists of course). I know it’s just a game, but it doesn’t have to mean you can go around with 50 soldiers and let them get massacred as a sacrifice so you can smuggle 15 tanks in your enemy’s base and defeat him by destroying every building, while smashing civil goods on your way with zero consequences. Things have value in real world, and this game should include that somehow. Some parameters should be defined to play a role in the after match statistics, that will eventually determine who is a winner or loser. Some point receiving system that puts everything in place.

  • sacrifice

  • chill kill

Let’s use CS:GO as an example. When you’re on T side, your goal is to blow up a site. When you’re on CT side, the goal is to prevent that to happen. Now, as a terrorist, you can plant the bomb and get yourself & your teammates killed, but if the bomb goes off while everyone on CT side lives, it is T side that wins the round. Same goes with CTs – the bomb has been planted, your entire team gets killed, but somehow you manage to defuse the bomb without a single frag (the so called ninja defuse). The bomb has been defused, they eventually kill you on your way to hide yourself and save the weapon for the next round, but it is CTs that win the round.

I believe the same concept could be applied to ROTR when it comes to skirmish/online matches. We have generals that went mad over something and their goal is to “send a massage” by destroying something - civil goods, other general’s base, or even capture a city (T side). And then we have war heroes - generals that prevent that to happen (CT side). Some objectives could be assigned to both sides, like capturing checkpoints, evacuating certain areas, taking hostage areas or terrorist attacks. And then a point receiving system…

  • terrorist attack

  • area secured

  • ghosts

  • ghosts everywhere

"TECHNICALS"

Vehicles: Before going further, vehicles & tanks should be put into 3 major categories: light, medium & heavy. I won’t go into specifics of which vehicles should be put into which category (for now), but I will refer to them later. Also, unbalanced speed of vehicles should be mentioned here, as I will refer to that too.

Maps: In the original version of the game, maps are nothing more than nice-looking places filled with waters, hills and semi-useful buildings that stand on your way when building a base or moving with your units & fighting battles. Beside oil plants, hospitals & other useful capturing buildings, civilian buildings are pretty useless. You can occupy them with infantry to provide a cover from anti-infantry units & rushing vehicles that want to run over your foot soldiers, sometimes give them an adventage over tanks, but as soon as dragon tank or toxin tractor or microwave tank arrives, they’re done (it’s both awesome and stupid feature). In the other hand, if placed in covenient spots, they can provide quite a decent protection for your base, even serve as bunkers, but that’s really rare. They have 4 to 12 empty slots for infantry units (10 on average), you can repair but not rebuild them, and 90% of them has the same hp level while the size kinda doesn’t matter at all.

  • Yes, we are equals! We smash trees!

When it comes to ground textures, they are even more useless! As a matter of fact, the only purpose they have is aesthetics. Roads, bridges, grass, concrete, mud, snow – as cool as they look, they have zero influence on the game. Same goes with objects & vegetation like trees, bushes, lampposts & fences. Every vehicle you use is going to either smash it on their way or run through it like it doesn’t exist. Aircraft are casually gonna fly through buildings likewise, and if they happen to open fire while passing through the building, well - accidential suicide (and it could be quite annoying at some point). Zoning the map could solve this issue:

PATHS

When ordering your vehicle unit to go from point A to point B, by default feature, it choses the shorthest path through the map objects to reach it. That means it will automatically smash everything on it's way, and it's pretty cool thing to watch... actually, was back in 2003, but now...? So, the existing "path feature" (Alt + LMK) is essetially an oredered list of check-points (A,B,C,D,...,N) that your unit will reach one by one before reaching the final destination, using default feature of movement - choosing the shorthest paths between check-points. Even then you can smash something on your way accidently.

That could be changed to an actual built-in path that follows the road when there is one, with all curves and such, so now, when ordering a specific route for your units, you can choose between existing built-in paths that come in package with the map instead of drwaing your own check-point lists. Units will automatically recognize civil objects and then apply civil movements instead of running over fences, cars, trees and other static objects. As for the mentioned default shortest paths movement, it could be assigned to agressive movement features.

  • manouverings

  • GE manouverings

Zones:

  1. Civillian zone - there is a city or village on the map. A default stance for your units is now changed to a different one (and you can change it back or forth as you please of course). Civil movements can be applied (front or column) so roads & streets make sense now, as your units respect them among other civil goods. If you switch to aggressive movement, well then – smash smash smash!
  2. Open area zone - fields, meadows, countrysites, deserts. Your units are able to move easily wherever and however they want, and will potenitally look for a lonesome objects on the feild to use for cover or something. Since it is an open area, stealth abillity is in jeopardy, meaning that stealth units have to stand still to be out of sight.
  3. Danger zone - forests, swamps, deep snow, muds, stone pits, narrow passages. Not every unit can get through these. When it comes to swamps, deep snow or mud, light vehicles will be slightly slowed down, medium vehicles will be significantly slowed down with the chance of getting stuck, while heavy vehicles will most certainly get stuck (if they’re not experienced/highly promoted). When it comes to forests and stone pits, heavy/medium vehicles will smash (almost) everything ahead, making a way for light vehicles & infantry. Stealth abillity is boosted, meaning that stealth units can move around without being seen. There is room for an ambush. Minefields.
  4. Bridge zone - There is a limit of how many light/medium/heavy vehicles can be at same time on it – otherwise it collapses. If the bridge collapses, all units on it either get killed or significantly damaged. Additionally, you can rebuild a new temporary bridge (engineering), or find another way around.
  5. Waters - seas, lakes, rivers. Only certain vehicles and infantry units can pass through it. Room for Navy units.

Weather, day/night: This is kinda obvious. Stealth abillities and Air units depend on it.

Ammo & Fuel: This is obvious too. Indefinite ammo is out of the table definitely, especially for heavy and LR/VLR units. They are very strong, they do a lot of damage, yes, but it costs. Of course, they won’t spend that ammo easily, and, of curse, you can always come back to base for repair, refuel and rearm. You can also drop ammo for your units anywhere on the map. Air units should worry about fuel.

OUTRO

There are countless other parts & details in this game that I would add/improve/change. Some other major parts like UI design, field of view, Keyboard/Mouse controls, etc. will be added here at some point in the future. Meditate on them first I have to! Even the sharpest brainstorms need a little formatting before finding themselves online or wherever they need to be.

UI design is something that I’m currently working on in my free time (exploring & testing Red Alert 3/Generals Evolution UI). Naturally, feel free to contact me anytime, share your thoughts & ask questions about anything related to ROTR. Cheers!