HAND OF NOD

I received the Hand of Nod model from Firagon today but I haven't got the time to texture it yet. You know...over 170 faces... 8()

OTHER BUSINESS

I'm fixing some old normal TA units right now but I'll be back on the stuff as soon as I can.

NEW TA UNIT

New normal TA unit available. Check the News page.

BUSY

Again, I've been busy but I'll see if I have time to get something done by tomorrow. Firagon is also busy and shows up on weekends only so this'll be slowing down the project for a while but I hope to have time to make something myself during weeks.

DOWNLOADS

Due to the problems in downloading the CNC-TA.zip from here at Geocities, Ninja at Unit Universe offered that he could have the latest CNC-TA.zip on Unit Universe server for those people that have the problem with the downloads. The Unit Universe download might be late sometimes in case Ninja or any other UU guy won't be online in ICQ to receive the latest zip when I update the pages. I will be adding this zip on Xoom too, soon. The link to the CNC-TA.zip on Unit Universe is at the Units page

BUSY

I don't know about others but I've been busy due to other stuff, but I'll try to make something soon...

PROBLEMS

I heard that some people can't access the CNC-TA.zip file on this Geocities account. I will propably put it on some other servers to give those people a chance to test our great units. The first mirror will be our old, but a bit slow, Xoom account and some other place will be second...but that will possibly be done tomorrow.

LIGHT TANK

The first version of Nod's Light Tank, M2-F Bradley is ready. Here's a screenshot of it:

ADVANCED POWER PLANT

Firagon sent me the model for Advanced Power Plant. I of course textured it immediately, added other necessary files, tested and packed it. So it's already in the latest CNC-TA.zip. Screenshot:

INFANTRY

I made a model for a Minigunner infantry, and next will be the scripting so I can see if it can be used. It looks like this:

COMMANDO

Dynamius is working on the Commando model. Here's a shrinked pic (to save server space) of it. I asked him to reduce the amount of polygons/faces in it just because right now it is so complex that it could make the game unstable. Too many faces always make TA crash more easily. The second reason for reducing the face count is that it might look messy in game. Looks pretty good, eh?

ORCA WEAPON

I modified the Orca to fire its 6 rockets faster. This will be temporary as long as we have decided the final weapon.

CNC-TA.ZIP

I uploaded the latest with the new Light Tank and Adv. Power Plant. Go get it from the Units Page!

TOP100

Last time I checked out the Top100 list we were 10th!!! I knew you could do it. Keep going, we can get Reeeally high this way.

LIGHT TANK

I'm going to test this thing as soon as I can. Right now I don't have any pics to show you but I hope to have the whole thing ready by tomorrow.

STUFF

I've been receiving so much new ideas and suggestions by mail and message board lately that they really have helped me to make future decisions. Keep at it!

OBELISK OF LIGHT

I also made model for Nod's Obelisk of light. Here's a very early pic of it:

CNC-TA.ZIP

I uploaded the latest with some new sounds and a new unit which can be seen below. Go to the Units Page to get the latest.

ORCA

I got it working, yeehaaw! But that was just the first problem. Now the reloading thing is quite a problem. Right now the weapon fires a burst of 6 rockets. Reloading a new burst takes about 1 minute, I guess. The problems are, that when you have chosen a target it will fire all of the 6 rockets in that target...and if you move the Orca away from the target, it keeps firing all 6 rockets, no matter where they go. If I make the weapon so that it fires like Rapier, single missiles, the unit will be very unfair and not well balanced. Please tell me what way to think is the best way and please give me new ideas. Best way to do it might be our Message Board. Below is a series of screenshots I took in game of the Orca:

SOUNDS

I received the package of C&C sounds from Firagon by mail today. Some of the sounds have suffered in the Wav<->Mp3 conversion and most of them are useless, but I still found plenty of sounds in the package that can be used, so I already added some of them in the latest CNC-TA.ufo. I will receive the rest of the wav files later on.

SCREENSHOT

Webster mailed me a screenshot recently. This must be the closest possible side colour for GDI units: (Note that the Artillery is NOD's unit :) )

ORCA

That Orca model I mentioned before won't work. It just simply crashes when TA's loading the 3d data. Any suggestions?

RELAXING...

I'm updating the news throughout this evening. Right now I'm going to Boneyards to relax for a while but I'll continue work later on.

ORCA

I decided to try making the Orca aircraft (or helicopter) and so far it looks like this:

POLL RESULTS

I haven't seen much new votes on the polls page. That must mean that either you are really honest or there aren't much of you fans out there. Well I believe in the first explanation :). Anyway I decided to remove the following poll due to the clear decision:

Harvesting or extracting Tiberium

How will the Tiberium be collected?

The winner choice was

Both styles. Tiberium crystals will be harvested with Harvesters and Refineries are built on tiberium strains where the rest is extracted. Collecting will be a lot more efficient way to get tiberium but with the extracting it will be possible to play the game to the end, not like in C&C where the tiberium ran out leaving the battle virtually even. Well, there were Blossom trees producing tiberium but extracting in C&C:TA will produce more than that giving you enough credits to even build something useful :).

The voting percentage was 70% so the decision should be pretty clear.
This poll has now been removed from polls page.

SOUNDS

Firagon decided to save the sounds in MP3 format to reduce the filesize which is now below 2mb. I hope to receive the files from him by Email soon.

BEEN BUSY

Just like the title says, I've been busy. My friend came to visit me and that basically took the rest of the day. That's the reason for the less news.

POLLS

I removed the Nod texturing poll just because we seem to use full sidecolouring in our units. Thanks for voting, though.

I also removed the other poll about side colouring. The reason is the same in this as in the above one.

DOWNLOADS

I got the Power Plant pic from Dynamius and can now upload the latest CNC-TA.zip which includes 5 (!!!) units already. Go get the package from the Units Page.

BUILD PICS

Thanks to Dynamius we now have all the original C&C build pictures in JPG format to start editing from. I'm still waiting to be online with Firagon at the same time to receive the original sound files.

ADJUSTING

I've been trying to get as close to C&C values in damage, armor, speed and buildtime in C&C:TA units. Wow, there're 5 units already, weeeee!

ROCKET LAUNCHER

It's basically done but the weapon won't work the way as I thought it should. Anyway here's a screenshot for you to look at: (Green side color fits in nicely, eh?)

SOUNDS

I heard that Firagon has extracted the original C&C sounds as Wav files and will send them to me soon. The package is 8mb zipped so you can be sure that some sounds will be left aside.

C&C:TA

C&C:TA is a Total Conversion (TC) based on Westwood's original Command and Conquer game, and not just original C&C units in TA. We are planning to make this much like our previous Dune:TA but a LOT more improved. The bad side in Dune:TA was that Dune2 didn't have that many units in it, so it kind of didn't fit in TA. C&C:TA is expected to be a lot more strategic and as close to original C&C as possible (I even count the construction times to be the same :) ). I don't know how to count the damages of original C&C weapons as numbers so I just have to find the closest possible numbers.

Summary: C&C:TA is a Command And Conquer in TA, Total Conversion for Total Annihilation. I know some of you missed the first news and didn't know this. Well...now you know. ;)

COMMUNITY

I'm having a feeling that the whole community is watching this operation real closely, I got so many offers for help and so many other kinds of mail that I don't know much people that wouldn't know about us. This is really great thing, and it also increases my personal morale as being the team's "leader". Thanks to everyone who support this project. And keep supporting, ok? :)

ARTILLERY

Ok I made the first version of Artillery which will be in the next CNC-TA.zip which will be uploaded as soon as someone sends me that damn Power Plant's build pic. The real problem in the artillery is that it has a turning turret, not like in C&C where the whole unit turned against the enemy. I tried solving this problem but every time the unit itself turned against enemy but still leaving the direction, where the unit was going, the same. If someone knows how to fix it then mail me. Anyway here's a screenshot of it in Dark Blue side colour:

UNITS

I decided to put all C&C:TA units into one ufo file. This way you always get also the other latest C&C:TA units. I updated the Units page and I'll upload the first CNC-TA.zip as soon as the power plant gets its build picture...hopefully soon. Until then...no units for download.

STAFF PAGE

I added a staff page to the links at the top. It, of course, shows the people that work with the C&C:TA conversion.

HELP PROVIDED

We will possibly get some original C&C sounds and animations from Dynamius who has been doing a lot of C&C stuff in the past. This means more original C&C material for our conversion.

POWER PLANT

Ok Firagon's Power Plant model is now textured and scripted. All we need is a build pic for it. Here's a pic of it in game. Cool, eh?

SIDE COLOURING

I tried texturing the Humvee and Medium Tank with full sidecolouring. And they don't look that bad afterall. I guess it might even be the answer for the side colouring question.

POWER PLANT

Firagon has been working a lot on models lately and here's a preview of his first version of the Power Plant as Rhino3d rendering.

TEMPLE OF NOD

I retextured Firagon's Temple of Nod model and I got a pic of it here. It is simply Firagon's best model ever. Very accurate and detailed copy of the original C&C one. (Still remember that I used 3 hours to retexture it.) :)

ANIMATIONS

I saved the Nuke explosion and the Ion Cannon Fire animations into a Gaf file so I can soon test them in game and take some sscreenshots for you. :)

NEW TEXTURES

Webster's first experiments on the new textures failed but he keeps working on them.

NEW TEXTURES

Webster suggested making new textures for possible side colouring problems. He said that he's working on the textures right now so we can start waiting for his works soon.

TEMPLE OF NOD

I recieved a model from Firagon. The model was for Temple Of NOD and I must say that I'm very satisfied in it. It just needs proper texturing and that's it! This means the next full unit might be the Temple of Nod with its 'devastating' nuke. I hope to get the animation I found ready for the Nuke.

CORE LEVEL 3

The Core level 3 vehicle project is finished! Go get it at the Core Level 3 page in the left frame. :)

WORK

The Core level 3 vehicle project is about to be finished so C&C:TA will get much more attention in the near future.

NOD TEXTURING

I just thought about how to texture Nod units and found it to be a tough question. The textures in TA aren't too versatile so I decided to give everyone the opportunity to choose their favourite style. I'm putting up a new poll at the Polls Page very soon. There will be 6 different texturings to choose from. One option is of course whole unit with side colouring but that won't happen unless the Side Colouring poll gets most votes...

NUKE EXPLOSION

While wandering around some old C&C sites I came across this gif animation of nuke explosion. I'll try to make a Gaf animation from it so I can use in C&C:TA. :)

POLLS PAGE

Come on now everyone, go vote at the Polls Page if you haven't done it yet!

TEAM WORK

It's great to see Webster and Firagon making models too and with little fixes I'm quite sure some of them will be included. I, myself am mostly interested in the technical and graphical sides of C&C:TA so I might not be making much new units right now...maybe test some infantry or someting tho...

ION CANNON ANIMATION

Firagon and Webster suggested me to change the Ion Cannon Animation to different looking one, so I remade it. The second version actually touches the ground/target immediately when it fires, preventing that the target would actually blow up before the animation reaches it. I'll possibly put up a poll where you can choose which one looks better for you. Now go check the new version at the Pictures Page above. It's over 200kb so be patient when loading it...

POLLS

If you haven't done it yet, then vote at the Polls Page above. We need to know what things should be done in what way and such.

FIRST DOWNLOADABLE UNITS!

Allright, people! I have the GDI Hum-Vee and Medium Tank, M1A1 Abrams here. They are early betas and they will change a lot in future. We need to decide the proper way to show the side colours in the units. There will be a poll on this subject at the new polls page (Check the news below). Remember that these units will certainly change a lot and so, and they might be buggy or something, blah blah blah...So just check them out. They are conflict free with Cavedog and Unlimited Units units...at least I think so. I will use resized Westwood's pics for now so you can freely give comments on them and suggest how to make the pics. So click on the pics to download. They are built by Arm Vehicle Plant.

POLLS

I added a Polls Page at the top. The polls will be of great importance when making choices in our units, so please visit it regularly or at least sometimes and vote in every new poll. Please, only one vote per poll, ok? There might not be any polls yet but I'm about to add some really soon.

ION CANNON READY!

Well it's not really been done yet, but you can see the first version of the Ion Cannon charge animation, I made the graphics with Rhino3d, so it's not special quality, but should go as a first version. The weapon itself will be an extra fast invisible ballistic or starburst shot which basically has 'unlimited range' and it can be fired anywhere, and the shot itself is so fast that it should reach the target in second or two, and when it hits the target it shows the Ion Cannon charging animation. That must be one of the best ways to make it. The Animation is available at the Pictures Page above.

MACHINE GUNS

I decided to make a new animation for the machine gun, when it fires the target there will be a C&C stylish animation of bullets hitting the ground. Something like this I made. I hope you like it. (This animation is also available in the Pictures page)

MODELS

I heard Webster has done some models so the project might be speeding up a little. I'm still waiting for a reply from him.

IDEA

I just thought of a new option for the Tiberium collecting in C&C:TA. Maybe we should make BOTH styles. The tiberium that is harvested is around the battlefield and ends but there could also be Tiberium Strains (or waste, like in Tiberian Sun) where the refineries are built. They make some Credits but you get more by reclaiming the Tiberium crystals on the field. Only Harvester is able to collect these crystals. Send me comments on this idea! And go vote for your favourite choice at the Polls Page.

TIBERIUM

I'm afraid that we can't make the Tiberium to inflict damage on infantry. That is not such a big thing afterall but still reduces the C&C touch a little.

M1AI ABRAMS PICS

Here are some preview pics of the GDI's M1A1 Abrams (Medium Tank) model. First picture is from 3dobuilder's OpenGL view and the second is from UnitViewer:

TIBERIUM

It seems that the first way to make tiberium to reproduce didn't work so we need to think of something else. Basically there are 2 ways to harvest tiberium in this upcoming TC. The tiberium is either extracted (TA style) or harvested (C&C style). The Harvesting style means also that the tiberium will run out, unless we can get the blossom trees to work. In my first test my TA wouldn't start at all, it always crashed in the 3D data loading. Might have been too complex model, I dunno. I'll research more on this and maybe put up a poll to see which way you guys want it. I really don't care, as long as it works well with the TC.

BROKEN LINKS

The links above might be broken or the page doesn't exist yet, but all this will be fixed later. Right now you can mostly check out some pics and project plans but there will be much more later on.

TIBERIUM AND PICS

Here are some pics of my first versions of the tiberium which will be harvestable and a Blossom Tree should be able to produce it. If not, then there might be some changes in the plans. First pic is a close look to the model and the second is closer to the real size in the game.

ABOUT UNITS

The units will have some new features, most because it's not possible to make it in TA. Like Flame Tank will have a turret that turns...it would look stupid and old if it would turn against the enemy when firing. And I'm not even sure if it's completely possible to do without a turret.

DOWNLOADS

This time we will be releasing all the stuff regularly, not much of hiding it. At first the units will be built from Vehicle plants and such. As soon as we have decided the proper construction unit and the have made it, the units will be moved to their own tech tree.