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Posted by: The_Hunter 16 Mar 2015, 11:10

Posted by: Basilisx 16 Mar 2015, 12:06

Wow, that came pretty unexpected that you are giving away one more update to shockwave. That is totally awesome
Didn't know that Shockwave and you share the same birthday

Looking forward to the new update.

Posted by: nikitazero678 16 Mar 2015, 12:30

Well, this is a good news for ShW fans. However, this also means that I may have to suspend the development of my fan patch to wait for the update.

Posted by: Generalcamo 16 Mar 2015, 17:47

It begins...

Posted by: Alias 16 Mar 2015, 18:42

Nice to see this finally being formally announced!

Shockwave really does deserve some attention one last time, I've been following this mod for more than 9 years now, quite amazing how time flies...

Hunter's birthday was actually one of the most common release dates back in the day.

Posted by: Kommandant Karisse 16 Mar 2015, 20:10

Oooh, awesome! I'm curious to see what this will bring! I just hope I won't have to uninstall 1.1 first ... ><

Posted by: Admiral*Alex 16 Mar 2015, 20:17

Happy Birthday Hunter. Shockwave is how I discovered ROTR so I'm happy my favorite mod is getting an update.

Posted by: Mr.Kim 16 Mar 2015, 22:03

Ah 10 years, it was good of year and bring back good old memories

Posted by: Angel 16 Mar 2015, 22:25

It's a nice news, I hope there will be fixed all the cheats. It will allow me to fight better against some strong, but unfair gamers. I basically never use cheats units. And I also hope that with this update there will be more players in this great mod. Also, if you need my help with balance advices, just ask me, I will help with pleasure.

Posted by: Generalcamo 16 Mar 2015, 22:44

Cheats? What do you mean?

By the way, I'm allowed to confirm that I am working on this project as well.

Posted by: nouamane_air 17 Mar 2015, 0:25

I'm so happy for this epic news, thanks a lot SWR for making these awesome stuff.
I'm just so excited!!

Posted by: Edsato82 17 Mar 2015, 1:51

Could not be left behind this wonderful MOD. Good to read this wonderful news.

Undoubtedly SW and ROTR are the best of the best.

Happy anniversary for this great MOD

Posted by: Red Alert 17 Mar 2015, 7:21

After so many months of just lurking around on the forums, I decided to log-in to say how excited I am for this update (and RoTR of course).

He probably means units that are overpowered. Salvage general comes to mind. I look forward to the balance tweaks the most. I hope the quality and hard work from RotR is carried over into ShW as well.

Now then, about the mod.

I have to make one comment about the Railgun Artillery. The thing that bothers me about it is its effectiveness against fast moving targets with no apparent weaknesses or trade-offs (shot down by PDL, slow moving projectile, non-homing, and/or lower damage, etc). It's like a Howitzer with its weaponspeed set to 99999. Of course you can nerf the stats (rate of fire and/or damage), but that would be cheap and bland. I would like to use the Beam Cannon concept from CnC3 to add uniqueness for this general (replace the prism tank's voices with that). The front designator can relay data (special ability) to other close-by Beam Cannons to fire at a target (the same way with tomahawk waypoint). There are relay voice scripts available for use in CnC3 that you can use. To keep it unique from other artillery-type units, I propose less damage (trade-off for being able to hit its target 100% instantly) with a sustained (1-2 seconds) burst of laser. They are more effective when in groups, and thus are cheaper and quicker to produce relative to other artilleries. To add additional uniqueness to this unit, the Beam Cannon can charge up (delayed fire) and fire a super-charged beam, but will either disable and/or slowly damage the vehicle itself. The reasoning behind this is that they are never meant to be effective when in small numbers, and in these situations, you may find it necessary to use that special ability knowing full well what the cons of doing so are. Another reason is that they are cheap and quick to produce (relative to other artilleries) and for this reason should not incentivize players from spamming them. Since only one weaponset_upgrade is allowed, you have the option of either enabling super-charge shot ability by purchasing the Focusing Crystals upgrade (does not upgrade primary weapon however) or waypoint targeting ability by purchasing the Waypoint Targeting upgrade. All in all, faction diversity is key.

Next up are two easter eggs in World Builder. The submarine and Executioner. They don't have voices and the submarine doesn't have a cameo (uses battlemaster cameo). There are plenty of submarine voices in the Red Alert universe but the Boomer submarine from RA2:YR is probably the best fit as it's the only one that has sea-to-land attack voices. The Executioner can use the Future Tank X-1 from RA3.

Sky Crane needs "cannot build here" voice scripts.

Several years ago I was the one who came up with the neutron cluster mine that made its way into the game. I should have been more specific that it was meant for the Nuke general, while everyone else got the EMP cluster mine. That was a terrible mistake on my part for not communicating that part clearly.

Posted by: GDIZOCOM 17 Mar 2015, 12:05

Ten years ago huh, and to think I actually started lurking around the old forum back in 2007 before joining in 2009 thanks to this mod, time is a really amusing thing (and I'm not even out of high school yet)

Looking forward to it!

Posted by: MPGM 17 Mar 2015, 12:06

ShW 1.1 just have overpowered units such as Katyusha. I haven't found any bugs yet

BTW, a new version sounds very exciting, I hope I get into Dev. team which is completely impossible

Posted by: Shockwave 17 Mar 2015, 14:21

This is Awesome.

Posted by: Angel 17 Mar 2015, 16:04

Actually I think there was wrong decision to do bet on ROTR, my opinion shockwave is more better and more important, than ROTR

Posted by: strikershockwave 17 Mar 2015, 17:07

It is a generation of C&C Shockwave players!!!
For example, I play shockwave online through the gameranger almost a year! I hope to come more and more players for this mod!

Posted by: Dangerman 18 Mar 2015, 1:17

Damn, time has flown past by, I recall following Shockwave and the SWR team (in its E-Studios days, BTW I loved that forum banner but too bad it is probably lost ) since 2005. Its been an amazing decade following you lot .

One question will that online service in RotR 1.85 be available in this release?

Posted by: Thelord444 18 Mar 2015, 2:17

10 years, wow.

An update though! YES!

Posted by: The_Hunter 18 Mar 2015, 3:10

We've allready stated before that depending on how well it will run for Rise of the reds we would probably also port it over for ShockWave

Posted by: MPGM 18 Mar 2015, 9:25

WTF?!?!?!?! o_0

ShW is more important??????!?!?!?

Posted by: Renmazuo9 19 Mar 2015, 0:35

1. - I have updated your statement for clarity.

2. - It is my opinion that Shockwave was very important, as a stepping stone in the path of testing and evolving the skills and capabilities of the SWR Productions team, as a whole. Because of the things that Hunter and the rest of the wonderful and talented people that make up SWR learned from working on Shockwave for so long, it allowed them to push themselves further and create something even more ambitious, incredible and amazing and push the limits on what the SAGE Engine can do. ROTR is a incredible mod and a testament to the dedication and conviction of the SWR team and the best part, is that they aren't even finished with it, so many incredible and awesome things that we haven't even seen yet and have to look forward to.

That's not to say Shockwave isn't awesome, because it most certainly is, Shockwave and ROTR are, imo, the 2 best mods that you could ever have for Generals/Zero Hour.

Posted by: Angel 19 Mar 2015, 1:22

If Shockwave does not exist, perhaps I would have played ROTR, and of course ROTR would be the best mod but my heart forever given Shockwave

Posted by: Generalcamo 19 Mar 2015, 1:48

Everyone has their own opinion. Honestly, ROTR is not for everyone. Shockwave seems to appeal better to the "pro" scene (though this may change with the amount of time taken to balance 1.85), while ROTR seems to appeal better for casuals. ROTR also feels unfinished in certain aspects, mainly because of the fact that a few things were designed for 2.0 in mind.

Posted by: SqUak 23 Mar 2015, 14:58

shockwave is the best
can i join the developing group ? i'm not bad at modding
or at least lemme help testing it
please i love it too much and i want it to be the best mod ever

Posted by: The_Hunter 23 Mar 2015, 16:06

You don't ask to be a tester we will contact you if we see potential.

Posted by: Kommandant Karisse 24 Mar 2015, 0:00

Er, I seem to remember an issue with the infantry in a Junk Fortification not engaging targets properly ... is this something that will be included in the fixes? Sorry if I'm asking in the wrong place, or asking something I shouldn't ask ><

Posted by: SqUak 24 Mar 2015, 1:12

and how can i show you potential sir ?
what do i have to do ?

Posted by: Red Alert 24 Mar 2015, 23:23

First and foremost, you need to demonstrate a teamwork attitude. I've read that $200 tournament of yours and that kind of attitude is unnecessary. You need to be professional about it in the face of criticism. It's probably too late for you.

Anyways, you don't necessarily need to join the team to test for bugs and balance issues. You can post them on this forum. What you need is attention to detail (minor things like spelling errors, animation glitches, and what not). Check for completeness and consistency throughout all the factions. You need to take it from the perspective of a game designer. I.e. how intuitive is the UI? Is there anything that may potentially be confusing to the players (especially for first-time players)? What are the potential cause and effects of introducing an element into the game that may drive a player to act or not act in a certain way? Just to name a few. Anyone can test for bugs, but to be a great QA, you'll need to go beyond testing the obvious (i.e. bugs and glitches). This is probably what the SWR team is looking for.

Balance fixes require a lot of time to analyze properly. You'll need to go deep. Balance is about relationships between one element to another. Saying a unit needs to be "nerfed" or "buffed" will not cut it. You'll need to provide the team with a concrete analysis of the stats between units so the team can make an informed decision. Here's a post I made when I compared Quad Tank vs Emperor: http://forums.swr-productions.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=6482&view=findpost&p=97812 (spoiler: Quad Tanks win over Emperor). That large post was just a comparison between those two units. However, one cannot conclude that its "weakness" needs to be buffed. There could very well be another unit that will make up for its weaknesses; one has to take a look at the entire faction as a whole to see who's making up for who, and the sort of implicit doctrine that the faction follows. Shockwave has hundreds of units and structures so it might take an entire summer or more to perform a thorough analysis like this. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do this sort of thing, but I'll be happy to show anyone who wants to be a QA for SWR.

Edit: I just stumbled upon your "to the ones who care" thread in ROTR. Ugh... no, just no. It's all vague and loaded with ignorance. You'd make a terrible beta tester. No offense.

Posted by: Zeke 25 Mar 2015, 4:21

To join the team, you have to forget about joining the team. Just focus on being a good member of the community.

Posted by: (WbG)~SpeC~ 28 Mar 2015, 6:25

10 years is a lot. I remember playing this mod even with version 0.91 even a 07M year (not the very first) - that's how I felt then ShockWave the best mod for Zero Hour, so after 10 years and now I think its the best.
authors - my deep respect!

Posted by: Caustizer 5 Apr 2015, 17:59

This is amazing news! I play Shockwave regularly and have done so since the last update in 2011.

I've noticed a number of issues that could be addressed in the improved version, and many of them have to do with AI in the Generals Challenges. Here's a bit of a list:

- General Townes never activates his Laser Defense Turrets, and has no Stealth detection around the entrances to his base. It's far too easy to just walk in with Bomb Trucks, Black Lotus, etc. and take apart his base even on Hard. He should also probably make more frequent use of his UAV Drone strikes against applicable targets such as unit and building groups. Perhaps Railgun Artillery should be a *bit* less accurate against moving infantry targets, as it seems a bit powerful to me ATM against virtually everything on the ground.

- Prince Kassad only targets either the top of his own base, or the very rear of your base with his Scud Storm. He should probably target the center. He also only uses Sneak Attack once, and never reloads his Tunnel Networks with units. For some reason one of his attack waves consists of Combat Buggies as well (which are unique to Deathstrike)... perhaps he should use his Stealth Bikes more often? If I wanted to be extra mean with how I set up this scenario, I'd swap his garrisoned Jarmen Kell units for Assassins and include Kell as part of the regular attack waves, as well as incorporating Assassin/RPG Battle Buses. Also, his RPG troopers should start with the Stinger Missiles upgrade when you fight against him in the challenge... it makes sense because its a powerful upgrade!

- Dr. Thrax is done masterfully and is one of the most challenging and rewarding generals to fight in the game. Good on your team! The only issue I've noticed with him is that he drops his Anthrax Bomb and Nerve Gas at the back of your base, where it does very little damage apart from kill your workers/trucks. I would have the Anthrax Bomb drop in the middle of the base (around the command centre) while Nerve Gas targets groups of combat units. I do think his Python Tanks are a little bit too good with the combination of Anthrax Gamma and AP Ammo... perhaps they should only get one or the other? It also surprises me that Toxin Grenadiers detect stealth... this should be mentioned in their tooltip.

- General Juhziz is fun to play against, and his only major flaw is that his attacking tanks/Flak Tanks never change their targets during an attack wave so they are especially vulnerable to air based attacks. A few Commanches/Helixes is often enough to stop almost everything he sends at you. I'd fix this issue, as well as his tendency to never target your base with any sort of general powers... his Demo Trap Parabombs always target ridiculous places such as the bottom of the map. He should also send Jarmen Kell at your base just like he says he will... Demo Kell is one of the best commando units in the game! He has a similar issue to Kassad in that he never stocks his tunnel networks.

- General Granger has one HUGE issue... he doesn't have enough power plants to power his base! He should at the very least build some control rods, but otherwise is pretty challenging. His Hypersonic Aurora Bombers should pick their targets right away so they can't be shot down on their attack runs... they really squander their best ability by flying around aimlessly looking for something to bomb. His base seems to lack a Helipad or War Factory, so I have no idea where his Combat Chinooks are coming from... I would get rid of those useless warehouses in his base and try to make room for the new structures. His Comanches should probably be upgraded to have Stealth from the beginning of the game too since its such a powerful ability. He also never fights general Leang due to an error in the Generals Challenge order.

- General Alexander seems almost completely up to snuff. Good work to the team on her challenge, especially whoever added the bridge! Her Comanches attack annoyingly early, but a rushed barracks allows your infantry to get inside the Flak Bunkers just as they arrive. Her Lockdown MLRS units seem entirely useless as they don't auto-attack even if an enemy is within range (not to mention they are really fragile) so I'd change them to fix that. Perhaps you could make her more difficult by creating vehicle based attack waves from the entrance to her base? Aurora Alpha Bombers also have a misspelled tooltip in the general powers menu.

- Generals Ironside, Fai and Deathstrike could use their own maps! (I know this is unlikely, but hey you guys did an amazing job with Juhziz and Leang so one can dream)

- General Kwai is a complete joke of a matchup at the moment because he runs out of money midway through the game! This huge issue makes the game basically a mopup operation past the first ten minutes and needs to be fixed. His Internet Centre should probably be filled at the start of the game, and he should have a Tank Plant and Nuclear Missile from the beginning if just to have access to the valuable upgrades within (which he should start with or at least gain as the game progresses). It would be nice to see some Reaper Tanks and Warmaster Tanks in his attack waves too so the difficulty and variety increases. He also makes precisely zero use of General powers, so EMP bombs and Artillery Strikes should also be considered. His Ramjet Turrets seem to have very low power costs considering how powerful they are... perhaps they should at least be 3?

- General Tao is pretty beefy, especially if you can't come up with a way to deal with his nuclear missiles before they launch. Oddly, he seems to target large groups of units with them which results in lots of duds where your units move and he bombs an open field. Perhaps his nuclear missiles should go for building groups instead while the Artillery Strikes and nuclear cluster bombs go for units? In his challenge he really should have a Research Reactor so he can access the valuable upgrades within and build Siege Cannons/Devestators. His MiGs should also start with Tactical Nukes... they are sort of a joke at the moment with just radiation missiles. It's also mildly surprising the the large group of units he has in the middle of his base (which consists of Overlords, Tanks and Troop Crawlers) rarely ever moves to defend his base.

- General Leang is a pretty tough and rewarding general to play against, though a bit odd because she has no voice taunts programmed in so the entire thing is in silence apart from the intro. As a matchup she attacks relentlessly and with waves of Blacksharks and Phoenix Bombers which is really tough to play against (and so enjoyable and challenging). She seems to loose all her general powers in a single burst though and never again after that... perhaps this needs to be adjusted?

Well I think that covers all the generals. I look forward to whatever adjustments you plan to make with eager anticipation!

Posted by: Kommandant Karisse 5 Apr 2015, 18:54

On the topic of the Juhziz challenge, they should fix the issue of it being virtually the same scenario regardless of what difficulty you picked. It makes it a difficulty spike/That One Level on Easy, and something of a Breather Level on Hard.

Posted by: Shockwavelover84 6 Apr 2015, 7:56

Glad to hear you guys are taking the time to polish up Shockwave.

Just one curiosity here - will you fix the Skirmish AI? The only real fix needed is for the default Generals' AIs to be given unlimited money (the new Generals' AIs are fine in this area and don't just run out of money) - that, and the AIs for Alexander and Tao build multiple Super Weapons if the limit isn't set, while the others only build one.

I won't get my hopes up too high since I've heard that fixing AI scripts isn't easy, but it'd be great if you guys are able to do this.

Posted by: Skoony 22 Apr 2015, 12:38

Good post, Caustizer, I agree on some of it, but don't you think the incredible scud launchers of Thrax and Juhziz are OP as well?

(Sorry, a bit off-topic and that)

The Topol kills everything in a single fire from 1500 km away.

The Anthrax missiles fires fast and you need 300 avengers to stop them.

Does Townes never really activate his lasers? I had no idea, but then I'm also extremely careful.

Posted by: Caustizer 23 Apr 2015, 0:10

I think the Scourge is a powerful unit, as it should be since Thrax normally struggles when it comes to structure elimination (American Defenses in particular give him a hard time). They make up for their firepower by being really slow and vulnerable, and the only general that really struggles to answer to them is Kwai since he has no fast vehicles or artillery and his aircraft are expensive and weak.

Topuls are good, and in an army that for the most part relies on suicide units the upgrade to Demo Scud launchers seems like a nice bit of flavor. Like other artillery they suffer from the same flaws (unwieldy close up, low HP, slow) but are still not as good as nuke cannons.

Posted by: MrThirsty247 10 May 2015, 15:26

Followed you guys from the start (re-registered after forgetting my ancient account!), way back when! Was a little sad when you wrapped up with last release Hunter but now I've read this news - it's flipp'in excellent! Congrats and can't wait to see the next update (any teaser images?, I know you like to post 'em now again

I'll keep playing ROTR for now which is now such another fantastic mod produced by yourself and team, the latest beta of which is brill.

Cheers!

Posted by: zourv 5 Jun 2015, 8:58

sooooo, when we can expect new Shockwave patch ?

Posted by: Lobo Solitario 6 Jul 2015, 17:18

Great news!

Shockwave also has great single-player replayability, thanks to the generals challenge. The challenge maps break down nicely into various sub-objectives (Granger: race for AA, secure/destroy the derricks, secure the bridge, secure the town, destroy the base) and the tailored maps, base layouts and AI attack patterns keep the pace interesting throughout. When multiplied by all the different playable generals this adds up to a ton of replayability, which I still go back to and enjoy after years of playing.

I find that Skirmish just doesn't offer the same kind of experience, as the AI behaves in a similar manner whatever the map - the AI has no map awareness when it comes to building placement, and limited variation in attack patterns, so once you've beaten an AI a few times, the experience becomes very samey. It's always a race to rush first or out-tech and nuke/snowball the AI, and as it throws pretty much everything it has at you continually, there isn't much room for finesse, just a brutal meatgrinder until its base(s) are razed and the ground sown with salt.