Kursah(CC4Ever): We all know that the manual for RA was a lot larger than the one for TD...will the TS manual be just as large as the RA one, or larger/smaller?
Rade: Well it seems bigger to me, but maybe that's because I've been working on it for the past two weeks.

Kursah(CC4Ever): Will Tiberian Sun have any training/prep missions?
Rade: Yes.

Kursah(CC4Ever): What kind of options for graphics settings would the owner of TS be able to set? (ie. # of colors, In-Game Res, Dithering on/off, Terrain Detail...etc.)
Rade: There's a resolution option and a detail slider.

Kursah(CC4Ever): Later after TS is released, do you think there will be patches for it to fix bugs like with RA and SS?
Rade: I certainly hope not. That's why we test it so much. If we miss something we'll patch it but like I said before, it isn't something we plan to do.

Kursah(CC4Ever): Will the FMV's be in full screen, or like half the height of the screen and centered?
Rade: It depends on which resolution you run the game in, but in the most common resolution (640x480) it is full screen.

Kursah(CC4Ever): Are you guys still considering of making all the settings of TS like ra in files editable by gamers, and will thereb e the ability for users to make new units out of old ones?
Rade: You can't add new units. As for settings files, you won't be able to see them.

Well, we couldn’t give you Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun in time for the holidays, but in meantime, you can partake of the festive C&C music on the enclosed CD.

It’s all composed and performed b Frank Klepacki, the same guy who has written just about every song for every Westwood game since 1991. Remember "Hell’s March" from Command & Conquer Red Alert? That little ditty with the drill sergeant commands and addictive lock-step beat received airplay on local radio here in Las Vegas. You might remember the critical raves that the music from Blade Runner received. Frank actually rebuilt the music for the by ear from the movie’s soundtrack. His latest score, for Dune 2000, also got great notices for capturing the exotic and mysterious feel of the Dune World.

Since he started working here, Frank, in an incredible display of musical gear changing, has composed sweeping orchestral epics, techno, industrial , heavy metal, new age, world beat and jazz. In his spare time he drums for Home Cookin’, the funk band that was recently voted one of Las Vegas’ best local groups.

On the CD, you’ll find four Klepacki-brewed tunes. "Stomp" and "Score", sporting a hard techno-industrial vibe, are from Tiberian Sun. Then watch out for earbone whiplash when we slip into the symphonic movements of "White Tower" and "The Woods", both from Lands of Lore III. The CD will play in a CD player like any other disc, but if you slap it into your computer, you’ll find WAV files of all the songs. This makes them suitable for posting on websites or emailing.

Hope you enjoy the disc, and be prepared for waves of Tiberian Sun and Lore III news.

• Hover tanks can't go over other units
• They can't land on infantry
• They don't lose health when they drop to the ground in an ion storm
• They give off a cool effect when they're killed over water

Your first computergame?
Ultima 1.
Three games for the island?
Unreal + Editor, Diablo, Star Control 2
Favourite Multiplayer-game?
Duke Nukem.
You private computer is a...
Pentium II / 333, 128 MByte and Voodoo2-card
Your favourite bands are...
Chemical Brothers and Depeche Mode.
Your happiest day was...
the day I realized that C&C will get a success.
In your fridge you have...
Tortillas and beer.

duketroop1: duketroop1 says, "Can you burn the ice with flamethrowers?"
Erik: Yes, ice can be destroyed with fire weapons.

Nova-: Will you be able to 'spawn' network-only copies like you can with Starcraft so you can play multiplay with your friends?
Erik: No, but there are multiple cds which kinda works too.

Alkaline: Which one of the following upgrades would enhance or speed up TSCC: Processor, Video Card, RAM, something else? -- Luke
Erik: All of the above. :) However, TS likes RAM. Video and system RAM.

Alkaline: You've already mentioned a soldier killing a tank gives a lot of points, but does a soldier get even more points if he kills a tank that had a lot of points already? (a very experianced tank). -- Zed
Erik: Yes, the points are based on a value that is based on a percent. The bigger the unit, the bigger the percent, the bigger the points.

omegacentrix: Whats the max resolution TS will support right now and what res do you like to play it at?
Erik: 1024x768 and 800x600.

HelMaskr: Will TS have a feature such as SS in the sense that you can play as only 1 unit in a inf vs. inf game?
Rade: Nope, we don't have that feature. Most people didn't like it in SS.

Evman: Currently we are not sure about the Stealth Tank for Nod. What kind of weapon will it have, if any?
Rade: It has a rocket launcher.

Kaspm: When buildings explode do they take out most of your base like in Total Anihilation or do they just have minimal shrapnel like in Dune 2000?
Rade: One building exploding will not take out most of your base. We do have a lot more debris than Dune 2K though. It can damage structures but won't destroy them on impact unless they are already heavily damaged

Evman: Will the Stealth not be able to cloak in Ion Storms
Rade: Correct, everything else will work in an Ion storm except the cloak.

HelMaskr: Will TS support mutiple play like Starcraft where you could set teams of people and then fight it out or will it be FFA???
Rade: You can't set teams in the multiplay options screen but you can ally with other players during the game and do pretty much the same thing.

Click here for the rest.

Mr: Will there be an antimissile defense? In real war, paticularly on ships, there is a Vulcan chain-gun to down any
Erik: No. We don't want anything to down the long range attacks.

KBBL: Is the ion storm lightning still just a white line?
Erik: No, the lightning isn't just a line. It's nice now.

Hypertank: How is the infantry vs vehicles balance? Is infantry still slow and extremely squishable? I liked Dune2k where tanks died before they could squish them especially Harkonnen tanks
Erik: Many infantry are squishable, but many are fast. Also, some defenses have a hard time hitting infantry that are prone. Some infantry can't be squished.

Mr: Like in RA, if there was a cloaked unit, and you killed everyone else, they were almost impossible to find. You'de search all over ,but not find them and have to give up. What about in TS?
Erik: The Hunter Seeker can find cloaked units. A truly evil device...

Click here for the rest.

SoulKrusher: Hey Erik. Happy new year.
Erik: You too. Have a good holiday?
SoulKrusher: Yeah. Its really hot where I am.
Erik: Where you at?
SoulKrusher: New Zealand.
Erik: That's gotta suck. A hot Christmas? Can't imagine it.
SoulKrusher: Naw, I just stay inside in the nerdatory =)
Erik: Me too. Our Nerdatory is called Westwood. :) Guess I'll never die of skin cancer. ;)
SoulKrusher: Hehe. Speaking of Westwood (you knew this was coming ;), what is your favourite unit in TS?
Erik: Right now? Hmmm... I'm having fun with Ghostalker. He can pop light units with 2 shots. Tanks only take 3. However, he sucks vs. infantry. He needs Umagaan to kill the infantry.
SoulKrusher: I'd need Umagaan anyways.
Erik: She's easy on the eyes isn't she? And powerful. Gotta love a woman like that.
SoulKrusher: Hehe. About the subterranean units.. can they dig under hills? If they can, can they go under the hill and then submerge on top of the hill?
Erik: Yes. They are evil.
SoulKrusher: Cool. On the recent TiberianSun.com update, it said something about Forgotten troops helping Nod. I thought the Forgotten hate nod and would never work for them?
Erik: Depends on the region. The media in some areas is still controlled by NOD so the Forgotten don't know any better. Also, NOD can make it seem like GDI is responsible for some attacks that were actually setup by NOD. The main Muts (Umagaan, Tratos, etc.) know better.
SoulKrusher: Oh. Are infantary smart enough to avoid walking into a patch of tiberium?
Erik: Yes, unless the time to run around a large patch is too long. They make the judgement call.
SoulKrusher: Wow, the AI has taken quite a jump from RA and C&C.
Erik: Yes. Bret Ambrose has some very good ideas on AI. I think he has an article coming out about it soon. He's given us a lot of new abilites for scripting AI.
SoulKrusher: Will TS come with anything cool like a MS Plus! theme pack?
Erik: I think so. We always do something interesting. We have new icons, so I'm sure something is in the works.
SoulKrusher: Thanks for the interview. You must be sick of hearing the same old TS questions everytime you come on ICQ =)
Erik: Naw. I know not everyone reads all the sites. I just wish I could relate why we miss release dates.
SoulKrusher: Heh. There are people out there convinced that someone in Westwood knows the exact date TS is put in stores.
Erik: Ha. Not a chance. We know a new date we WANT to hit, but hitting it is another matter.
SoulKrusher: I don't mind you guys delaying the game every now and then. As long as its done some time =) I'd rather have a good full game instead of a game thats 3/4 done.
Erik: Me too. It's not up to me when to ship though. I hope everyone likes it.

What is unique is that the TS single player game isn't just a contrived mish mash of missions thrown together in a linear fashion. Rather, the mission tree is truly non linear, with several different ways to finish each mission. In other words, you don't have to achieve all the objectives in order to get past a level. If you lose too many men or one of your heroes, you may still be able to advance, but those types of failures will have consequences later.