Top 10 Improvements for Command and Conquer
It is quite possibly the best strategy game ever created, but as with all things, there is room for improvement. This is a list of adjustments or additions that could be made to Command and Conquer to make it, far and away, the best strategy game of all time.Create sprawling home bases or work to capture territory in key points across the map. Opens up new strategic options like flanking attacking armies and provides for tactics such as guerrilla warfare.
Environmental effects were part of Total Annihilation. They should absolutely be included.
Changing weather conditions affect the actions of the armies. Dust storms shorten visibility, rain slows vehicles, and long periods in the snow cause infantry to lose health. User-controlled day span also comes into play, as it is easier to move troops and position for sneak attacks during the night.
Ultimately, there are times where your opponent has a better strategy and better thinking than you. This is fine and should be accepted, but once you start to stagger a little, the whole plate starts to wobble, and soon enough, you cannot retaliate. This is even more notable in skirmish, where all resources on the map have been depleted, and both commanders are trying to figure out just how to break through.
For the most part, infantry in Command and Conquer are basically useless. Give users the ability to tell infantry to hide behind obstacles, dig trenches, lay suppression fire, set up ambushes, etc.
It hurts the realism when a soldier can only fire at something the equivalent of 50 feet away. Change the range so soldiers and vehicles can fire much further, naturally sacrificing accuracy at longer distances.
Artillery can be annoying in this regard. Having a spotter and artillery conjunction is best. However, enemy artillery should be made aware to the player as soon as its projectile leaves the barrel.
Make CPU controlled enemies smarter as the difficulty level increases instead of just giving them unnatural advantages. The difference between an easy enemy and a hard enemy should not be that the hard enemy seems to be able to produce units much faster and that they attack with eight tanks at regular intervals instead of three.
I like to be on equal terms with my opponent. Don't give the AI capabilities that players don't have, unless it's specifically marked as a Cheating AI.
A feature that was present in earlier versions but was abandoned. It gives players the option to determine how much of an army's arsenal of weapons is available to use in a skirmish. This is a great feature for adding variety to the game.
How great was it in the original C&C to set the technology level down to 1 and have to create armies of 200 soldiers just to take down a few pillboxes? Except, of course, for how badly it bogged down the old Pentium 100Mhz.
Another feature that was abandoned. It was nice to be able to order units to specifically guard another unit or building. The guard mode in Generals pretty much takes care of this for buildings, but it was a nice feature for getting faster vehicles to stay with slow tanks.
Like in Age of Empires. The game should automatically place long-range weapons at the rear of formations and shorter-range units at the front. Maybe that way, the Humvee wouldn't be ripped to shreds before the tanks even get a shot off.
See below. PA has this. Short range and tankier, slower units up front. Softer, long range, faster units at back. Custom formations are good too.
Also like Age of Empires. Set units or groups of units to move back and forth between two points or along a defined path so they can protect more ground than if you simply ordered them to guard a single location.