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A rehash of old, old news... with some new news added.
Warning: This is going to be a very long news post.
There's been recurrent discussion in the forum about what the tech steal units
should be, and in fact there is another going on now. I have a plan that I posted on this site about a year and a half ago, and I'm reposting
it below. Admittedly progress has been glacially slow in this area, but that is because I've always considered the Beyond Revenge project as
a higher priority, and because new infantry animations are very tedious to make.
Since laying out this plan, I have completed 2 of the new units: the Chrono Yuri and Telekinetic Adept, and they are present in the currently
available version of the mod, as possible Secret Lab options. If you are unfamiliar with these units, then you can read about them
Stolen Technology page. I did say that the upcoming 1.8 release may include a third new
infantry unit, but this is not something that I'm willing to make a firm promise on. Again, I consider the Beyond Revenge stuff to be a
higher priority, as you can imagine.
Without further ado, this is the plan as posted (edited to reflect current conditions):
In Red Alert2, the 2 sides multiplied by the 2 Battle Labs resulted in 4 possible "secret" stolen tech units:
Chrono Commando, Chrono Ivan, Psi Commando, and Yuri Prime. When the pre-release hype news surrounding the Yuri's Revenge
expansion described the addition of a 3rd side, I (and several other fans) looked forward to what should have been 9 stolen
tech guys (3 sides multiplied by 3 Battle Labs). I was very disappointed to discover that not only were no new
"secret" units added, but that we effectively "lost" one since Yuri Prime became the 3rd side's hero
unit.
This lack is something that I will be working to address in future public releases of CannisRules. My plans for the 9 stolen
tech guys are as follows:
- Allied Barracks + Stolen Allied Tech = Chrono Commando
- Allied Barracks + Stolen Soviet Tech = Tesla Commando
- Allied Barracks + Stolen Yuri Tech = Psi Commando
- Soviet Barracks + Stolen Allied Tech = Chrono Ivan
- Soviet Barracks + Stolen Soviet Tech = Tesla Ivan
- Soviet Barracks + Stolen Yuri Tech = Psi Ivan
- Yuri Barracks + Stolen Allied Tech = Chrono Yuri
- Yuri Barracks + Stolen Soviet Tech = Tesla Yuri
- Yuri Barracks + Stolen Yuri Tech = Telekinetic Adept
I think this is consistent and logical, in that spying Allied tech gets you chrono upgrades, spying Soviet tech gets you
Tesla upgrades, and spying Yuri tech gets you mind-control upgrades... and Allies can get upgraded C-4 commandos, Soviets
can get upgraded Ivan bombers, and Yuri can get upgraded Yuris. Given that CannisRules also add stolen tech MCVs as spied
Battle Lab units, the determined player will find it possible to build and own all 3 barracks, and be able to train all 9 of
these units in the same game.
As you can see, this adds 6 new infantry to the game, which requires 6 new animations. Chrono Yuri and Telekinetic Adept are
done, which means 4 new infantry animations remain. Until all are finished, none of these Battle lab changes should be
implemented; this is certainly not something that can be done piecemeal.
However, as the new units are done, they are being temporarily added to the game as possible Tech Secret Lab units. This
gets the work into the game where there's a possibility that it can be enjoyed. Then when all 6 of these new guys are
finally all done, I'll take them off the SL and implement the Battle Lab changes.
Of course the above is a plan, and like all plans it is subject to change. For example the Ivan guys are likely to have some sort of
attack cursor issues depending on what weapons they have. But, I'll work that out when the time comes.
While on this topic, this is a good time to talk about other changes I plan to make to the tech steal infantry. Firstly, I'd like to even
their prices, so they all cost the same. Other changes to the units will doubtless have to be made to justify this.
Also, the IFV modes these units will use will be changed. Right now, the Chrono Ivan shares the Crazy Ivan IFV weapon, and the other tech
steal infantry share the SEAL IFV weapon. I am planning to make all tech steal infantry use a new IFV weapon (they will all use the
same weapon when in an IFV, as there simply are not enough IFV modes available to give each a unique weapon). This new weapon will
have to be something reasonably powerful given the cost of these infantry types, while at the same time, not be some outlandish tech weapon
that wouldn't be associated with a particular side. I'm sure that coming up with a good compromise weapon will end up being an interesting
forum discussion in of itself.
Anyway, in order to give the tech steal guys a new IFV weapon, I'll have to replace an IFV weapon already in use. I've decided that I'll use
the Initiate mode's slot, and the Initiate will use the "Machinegun IFV" weapon just as GIs and Conscripts do. Not only does this
put all basic infantry on the same level, but it allows a Yuri player to put a Spy in an IFV without everyone automatically knowing that
there's a Spy in there.
Well there you have it, the tech steal infantry plan, expanded and amplified. Hopefully it won't take another year and a half to finish it.
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