Tiberian Sun News

Name: Laser Hunter II Role: main battle tank Cost: 950 Strength: 350 HP, heavy armour Weapons: laser turret Download Asset: https://ppmforums.com/topic-56091/ts-voxel-assets-from-ts-forgotten-wars/ A parallel evolution to the newly unveiled Nod Scarab Laser Tank, the Laser Hunter II came from a separate CABAL development stream that focused on recreating the classic main battle tank configuration, but with a laser cannon as primary armament. Where the CABAL design succeeded in recreating a nimble turret mount, and a broad-spectrum laser effective against any target, it fell short on the speed and cost side - Laser Hunters are not only slower than most other battle tanks of the time, they are also about 20% more expensive. Once moved into position, these hunter drones will present a formidable and nigh-impenetrable wall of steel and firepower to any force that faces them. Enemy commanders are advised to exploit their slow speed to hit them with EMP and artillery strikes while they are on the move, for once they reach their target there is little stopping them.

Name: Servitor Drone Role: vehicle repair Cost: 1000 Strength: 300 HP, heavy armour Weapons: welder & repair claw Special Ability: can detect stealth Download Asset: https://ppmforums.com/topic-56091/ts-voxel-assets-from-ts-forgotten-wars/ Formed by mating a construction drone torso to a heavy tracked chassis, the Servitor Drone is a common feature in most CABAL bases. Its ability to repair CABAL's extensive fleet of vehicular drones makes it invaluable for the AI to continue its operations, and its advanced sensor suite makes it the ideal sentry for detecting cloaked units around sensitive installations. They are often seen guarding CABAL's Advanced Refineries too, where they will maintain the integrity of the fragile Scarab Drone swarms upon which CABAL relies for its resource collection. Due to its heavy chassis, it is also far more durable than the comparable Nod Mobile Repair Vehicle, which allows it to better keep up with CABAL attack forces as they advance across the Tiberian landscape.

Name: Scorpion Hunter Role: tech battle tank Cost: unknown Strength: unknown Weapons: lasers, rockets With the newly developed Cyborg Reaper lost to CABAL's homicidal treachery, Nod labs had to work fast to find a replacement for this unit in its arsenals, and the Scorpion Hunter was the solution to this. Taking the "fear and awe" element of previous Nod designs, together with the scorpion symbol so important to the group, the Scorpion Hunter represents another terrible weapon in the Nod arsenal - both in terms of its appearance, as well as its armament. Armed with dual cluster-missiles launchers similar to that carried by the Reaper, and with a paralysing EMP sting in its "tail", the Scorpion Hunter is perfectly suited for hunting, paralysing, and smashing apart CABAL cyborgs. This unit still appears to be going through final development, so its fielded battlefield performance is probably subject to change.

Name: Falcon Gunship Role: light bomber Cost: 1,200 Strength: 230 HP, light armour Weapons: GP bombs, 4x loads Download the asset: xxx Combining older VTOL technology with a weapons rack filled with low-yield bombs, the Falcon Gunship offers the Forgotten a light bomber option that can loiter over the battlefield and perform a number of bombing runs before its stores are depleted. Ideal for strafing enemy ground columns, the Falcon can also be used against enemy turrets if they work together in squadrons; on their own, a single Falcon lacks the accuracy to do great damage quickly, and concentrated AA fire will down them before they can do much.

Name: Forgotten Airstrip Role: primary aircraft production & reloading structure Cost: 750 Strength: 600 HP, concrete armour Foundation: 2x3 Fielding a larger variety of older S/VTOL tech for their air units, the Forgotten Airstrip is by necessity a slightly larger structure than comparable GDI and Nod Helipads. The Airstrip is also more expensive than regular Helipads, although it does have one advantage: being made from almost solid concrete, it it far more resistant to damage. It is capable of producing and reloading all of the various Forgotten air units.

Name: Lancer Bomber Role: fast bomber Cost: 1,600 Strength: 180 HP, light armour Weapons: smart bombs, 1x load Download the asset: xxx Built around a battlefield requirement for surgical strikes against targets with light or medium armour, the Lancer Bomber emphasized speed at the expense of payload. Faster than the Orca Bomber, the Lancer will deliver its entire payload with pinpoint accuracy on a single spot, making it the perfect tool for taking out targets fast. It is more fragile than the Orca Bomber though, and Forgotten commanders are advised to keep them well away from enemy SAM sites, and repair them as often as possible. Too many hits will see these craft tumbling from the skies in no time.

Name: Drone Exo-Barge Role: hover transport Cost: 900 Strength: 400 HP, heavy armour Weapons: none Abilities: transport 10x infantry Download asset: xxx Repurposed from an existing trans-oceanic cargo liner design, the Exo-Barge gives CABAL sub-commanders the ability to land troops on any beachhead where the AI might need them. Slow but heavily armoured, the Exo-Barge can unload its cyborg cargo within seconds before pulling back to safety again.

Name: Helix Jet Role: light fighter Cost: 1,100 Strength: 180 HP, light armour Weapons: HE rockets, 2x shots Download the asset: xxx Developed around a prominent European aerospace design, the Helix was intended to offer military force a fast-strike ability on the changing battlefields of a post-tiberium world, but did not manage to impress the intended GDI audience with its performance. Considered too fragile and too poorly armed against the competing Orca designs, the Helix was instead bought up by a scattering of small national users and private security forces, and has proliferated slowly over the globe ever since. Armed with a cluster of high explosive rockets, and boasting unrivalled speed, the Helix is best used for surgical strikes against targets without any AA defences. Too fragile for a stand-up fight, and carrying too little ordnance for a prolonged bombardment, the Helix shines best in situations where its high speed can be used to best effect.

Name: Falcon bomber Role: light bomber Cost: 1,200 Strength: 200 HP, light armour Weapons: smart bombs, 1x shot Download the asset: xxx Built around a battlefield requirement for surgical strikes against targets with light or medium armour, the Falcon Bomber emphasized speed at the expense of payload. Faster than the Orca Bomber, the Falcon will deliver its entire payload with pinpoint accuracy on a single spot. It is more fragile than the Orca Bomber though, and Forgotten commanders are advised to keep them well away from enemy SAM sites, and repair them as often as possible.

Tiberian Sun - Forgotten Wars, a modification from Askhati for Tiberian Sun that tweaks the gameplay and adds Forgotten and CABAL as a faction, has received a myriad of updates during these months, although there is no known release yet. Anyway, here are some of the units that were announced for it recently.

The crew from the Dawn of the Tiberium Age have been patching their mod during these recent months. Most of the changes are bug fixes, but new things are added occasionally, such as the Mechanic for the Allies or interior wall corners. It also includes smarter harvesters, as shown in the video below (which is a feature that will also be included on Twisted Insurrection): 

We have some interesting resources on our Tiberian Sun Research Center (registered users only) that was recently posted by Rampastring. Thanks to the source code from Red Alert, Rampastring was able to tweak areas of Tiberian Sun that had identical code (or almost identical). And, with that knowledge, he has posted some interesting patches to improve the TS engine. Here's his words on it: Quote: With the release of the RA source code, I've studied the TS code more as well and noticed that a lot of the game logic code is identical between TS and RA. This has made it a lot easier to write hacks for the TS engine, as when researching something I can take a look at the equivalent logic in RA and figure out how it works from the documented C++ source code and then match the code to x86 ASM instead of having to figure out the ASM from the ground up. That is when an equivalent logic exists in RA; if a logic does not exist (like particles), then the RA source is of no help. So far I've written the following notable bugfixes and enhancements in the past few months:    Smarter harvester AI (demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G_IQiQ346Q )    Smarter AI fire-sale    Sidebar cameo sorting    Mechanics (like in RA1)    Fixing AI unit scatter when the AI produces vehicles from a factory that has WeaponsFactory=no    Oil Derricks (like in RA2)    Vehicle transports (like in RA1) You are free to use these enhancements in any projects. Although if you do, it's appreciated if you credit myself and Dawn of the Tiberium Age. To make use of these with your mod, you have to compile the spawner with these source files included in the Makefile. Also, big thanks to CCHyper for providing me information that has helped with many of these hacks. More are likely coming. The smarter AI video was posted on the DTA news below, but we can repeat it here: If you are interested, register on our forums. You won't get spammed ro anything, so don't worry. Once you are logged in, visit this topic to view all the recent asm codes and apply them with C&C Executable Modifier. If you are skilled with asm, share your patches there as well.

Hello everyone! The crew from Twisted Insurrection modification for Tiberian Sun has posted some improvements on some of the voxels used in the Brotherhood of Nod faction, on their discord channel.

The following are civilian art pieces that will be used to decorate maps. All of them are downloadable here, for other TS mappers to use (just add the relevant credit, etc etc). Civilian Yacht Used by rich businessmen and power brokers, these sleek yachts can be found in many harbours around the world. Deals are made on them, clandestine documents get transported around the globe inside their luxurious compartments, and they have even been known to run a blockade or two when the urgency is great. Note: there are four versions include: - black with gold trim - black with remap trim - white with gold trim - white with remap trim Civilian Freighter Often found plying the waterways of backwater regions, these old freighters carry all manner of legal and not-so-legal cargoes wherever they may be found. Some carry tourists on sight-seeing trips, while others carry fishing nets and act as simple trawlers. They have even be repurposed into primitive gunboats in certain regions, although their ability to stand up to modern watercraft is dubious at best. Download 01. Civ Boats 01 - Yacht1 and Freighter2.zip

Name: Drone Harvester Role: heavy harvester Cost: 1,400 Strength: 1,200 HP, heavy armour (+20% of a normal Harvester) Abilities: harvest tiberium Capacity: 35 bails (+25% of a normal Harvester capacity) Realising the limitations present in the more advanced Scarab Collectors, CABAL sub-commanders will have the option to deploy more conventional Drone Harvesters in battlefields too hostile or too environmentally turbulent for the smaller Scarabs to function efficiently. Consisting of a regular Harvester crawler refitted with a drone brain, these Drone Harvesters can carry a much larger load of tiberium in the extra space traditional reserved for the vehicles crew and crew shielding, and have been outfitted with additional armour on their flanks to make them even more resistant to damage. While virtually unstoppable once set on their harvesting coordinates, the Drone Harvester suffers from one key weakness: due the limited sensors used to operate it, the vehicle is essentially blind, and will not detect any enemy units that are not directly in front of it in its drive path. Wily commanders have been known to exploit this, and sneak up on these heavy crawlers before attacking them at point-blank range before being noticed.

Name: Mk.I Harvester Role: medium harvester Cost: 1,150 (-15% on regular Harvester) Strength: 850 HP, heavy armour (-15% on regular Harvester) Abilities: harvest tiberium Capacity: 24 bails (-15% of a normal Harvester capacity) Unlike the GDI and Nod monopolies on tiberium harvesting technology and operations, the rest of the world - including the Forgotten warbands - still relies on older designs and generations of harvesters. Considered inefficient by modern standards, these utility trucks often date back to the First Tiberium Wars, and it is a testament to their robustness that so many are still in service in the private sectors. The Forgotten are often seen using these older designs - colloquially known as Mk.I models, even though they cover more than just the first few marks - and they are generally a reliable way to establish a tiberium-driven economy in most territories. One big advantage they have over the more modern designs, is their speed: the older designs, with less shielding and using larger off-road wheels on a 6x6 chassis, can hit speeds that the regular GDI and Nod harvesters cannot match.This allows them a slightly better chance to evade enemy forces, but Forgotten commanders are still advised to keep them well away from enemy forces for as long as they can.

Welcome to the second Renegade X DevTalk featuring almost 45 minutes of new skirmish singleplayer ingame footage from the upcoming Firestorm expansion!

Name: Infantry Hunter Role: scout & anti-infantry Cost: 550 Strength: 250 HP, light armour Weapons: MG Special Ability: EMP immune Initially designed as part of CABAL's weapon experimentation work in pre-Firestorm times, the original Infantry Hunter drones were rejected by Nod generals as being too slow compared to the more agile Nod Attack Buggy in use at the time. However, following the Nod AI's rebellion and the subsequent showdown in Libya, CABAL forces have been seen deploying these drones in their own ranks - and the Nod commanders have been forced to admit that they are in fact very effective at their role. Slower than Attack Buggies, the Infantry Hunter runs on a tri-track crawler chassis, exchanging speed for greater armour. It carries a simple AI brain in its hull, and uses a turret armed with twin Vulcan cannons to intercept anything that comes within range. They are often seen patrolling base perimeters in pairs, and will make short work of any enemy infantry units that cross their path. In terms of endurance, they are roughly comparable to the standard CABAL cyborg model, except faster. Commanders are also advised to note that the Infantry Hunter, due to its extremely basic processing unit, is immune to EMP attacks. This makes them invaluable in cases of EMP attacks, as they will continue to function - and attack - even when other CABAL units around them are disabled.

Name: Skyhook Role: Airlifter/ carryall Cost: 750 Strength: 175 HP, light armour Abilities: carry 1x vehicle CABAL was quick to recognise the strategic valuable of being able to shift armoured assets across the battlefield with air power, especially after analysing multiple GDI attacks against Nod installations where a combination of GDI Carryalls and Disruptors were used to great effect. It's response was to develop a carryall of its own, the Skyhook, which - from an operational point of view - is identical to the GDI model.Relying on a series of powerful lifter turbines and a omni-directional grapple array in its belly, the Skyhook can lift any vehicle over the battlefield, and is often used to rapidly re-deploy CABAL's slower armoured assets like the Goliath. It is generally quite fragile though, with armour traded for lifting power, and will go down quickly if caught in enemy AA fire.

Name: Cossack APC Role: armed troop transport Cost: 800 Strength: 300 HP, heavy armour Weapons: light MG Abilities: transport 5x infantry Download the asset: https://ppmforums.com/topic-53791/ts-nod-cossack-apc/ Battlefield operations during the Firestorm Crisis highlighted an operational requirement which the existing Nod arsenal was not able to address: that of a basic troop carrier that could go where the Subterranean APC was too slow, or too unsuited, to go. Reverting to an older design that had been employed in the interwar years, the solution was presented in the form of the Cossack APC. Lightly armed with a single machinegun, the Cossack is heavily armoured compared to the other troop carriers in the conflict, and has an almost tank-like resilience to damage. It is also quite fast, and more than capable of keeping up with Nod armoured assets. Its ability to push through withering fire and still deliver its cargo makes it a force to be reckoned with, especially when it comes to penetrating a base's perimeter lines.