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News
Developer QA Session Number 5
How does veterancy work, and what advantages does a unit or defense structure gain from it?
In CnC4, veterancy is gained both from picking up green tiberium cores that are created when units die or are dismantled, or by killing enemy units and structures. In both cases, the unit gains damage reduction for every point of veterancy. A high-veterancy unit can withstand quite a bit of punishment! We have moved weapon damage bonuses off of veterancy and onto blue tiberium cores (a mechanic unique to the Offense class), structure upgrades, and global upgrades, to provide for a wider variety of potential upgrade mechanics and unit customization. Veterancy is still being tuned through balance play-tests.
Are all types of rockets and projectiles 100% accurate, or is there a chance of a missed shot?
It depends on the unit and weapon type. For the most part, cannon weapons have a chance to miss when the tank is moving, while rockets have a chance to miss against moving targets. This makes for a very different micromanagement priority system when using one type of unit versus another. Upgrades can be purchased to mitigate the chance to miss, and some units, like the GDI Commando, are so elite that they never miss their targets.
How do the Mastodon and Mammoth tank differ in terms of roles on the battlefield?
The Mastodon is a slow-building, high CP, long-range artillery unit (especially good against structures) that can be upgraded to do AOE damage around itself. It is susceptible to fast-moving units, and especially those armed with laser weaponry. The Mammoth is slightly faster and does additional damage to medium-sized targets, such as your average tank, and also has a special weapon known as the "taunt laser." Any unit that the Mammoth is firing on is forced to fire on the Mammoth, and with an upgrade that gives the Mammoth reflective armor, this can be deadly for enemy forces.
Get out of the way when you see one of theseDo air units need to reload like Orcas did in C&C3?
There are several different reload mechanics in C&C4. Some units fire in a burst and then reload single shells or missiles over time, allowing a player to get in, fire off a burst, and get out to fully restock. Many machinegun-using units have a "fast reload" ability, that reloads their gun clip at an accelerated pace, exceptionally effective when used near the end of the clip. The fastest units in the game are the speedy Vertigo and Firehawk bombers, which have a very long reload time but reload more quickly in the presence of the Crawler. These fixed-wing aircraft will always return to the crawler after dropping their payload, but do not have to dock to re-arm.
Ready to drop the bombsIs reverse move still in the game? What advantages does reverse moving have?
Indeed it is! Reverse-move no longer slows down most units, with the exception of hover units and most aircraft, meaning that it is now an effective way to keep the enemy units spaced apart as they attempt to follow your mass of backing-up tanks, and allowing the player to funnel the enemy more effectively into a cone of damage. Units with slower-than-fullspeed reverse move generally have other advantages, such as cliff jumping, to make up for the lower in-combat maneuverability. In addition, many units can only fire in front of themselves or have a turret that takes time to turn around. When using these units, you will always do more damage using reverse move. Finally, after extended testing, directional armor might be making a comeback; expect to hear more as gameplay develops.
Reverse move this big guy
Discuss the Q&A; here, and check back next Friday for more!
Previous Developer Q&A's :
Developer Q&A #4
Developer Q&A #3
Developer Q&A #1 & #2
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