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The History of… Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (1999)

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun is set in a dark, dystopian future in the year 2030, continuing the story from the original “Command & Conquer” game.

The Earth is ravaged by the extraterrestrial mineral Tiberium, which has transformative effects on the planet’s landscape and ecology.

The game pits two factions against each other: the Global Defense Initiative (GDI), aiming to contain and control the spread of Tiberium while maintaining world order, and the Brotherhood of Nod, a paramilitary cult led by the enigmatic Kane, seeking to harness Tiberium’s power to reshape the world according to their leader’s vision.

The narrative delves into themes of ecological disaster, technological advancement, and ideological extremism, as players navigate through the campaign’s missions.

Game: Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
Developer: Westwood Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Designer: Brett Sperry (often credited with the creation and design direction of the Command & Conquer series)
Programmer: Not specifically documented per individual, but Westwood Studios’ team as a whole
Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Release date: August 27, 1999
Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Mode: Single-player, Multiplayer
RRP when released: $49.99 USD

Tiberian Sun Gameplay

Tiberian Sun builds upon the mechanics of its predecessors, offering real-time strategy gameplay where players gather resources (primarily Tiberium), construct bases, produce units, and eliminate their opponents. It introduced several innovations to the series, including dynamic day-night cycles affecting visibility and unit effectiveness, varied terrain that influences unit movement and battle outcomes, and subterranean units and structures.

The game also features two distinct single-player campaigns, one for each faction, with missions that include objectives beyond simple base destruction and unit annihilation, providing a more in-depth strategic experience.

Development

The development of Tiberian Sun was led by Westwood Studios, a pioneer in the real-time strategy genre. The game’s development faced numerous challenges and delays, partly due to high expectations set by its successful predecessors and the ambition to significantly advance the game’s technology and storytelling.

Westwood aimed to create a visually stunning and immersive experience, with significant advancements in game AI, environmental effects, and unit design. The development process was marked by efforts to balance complexity and accessibility, ensuring that both new players and series veterans could enjoy the game.

Release Details

Tiberian Sun was released on August 27, 1999, by Electronic Arts, which had acquired Westwood Studios in 1998. The game was highly anticipated, and its release was met with significant attention from both the media and the gaming community. It was available on CD-ROM and later as a digital download, and it received several patches post-release to address bugs and balance issues.

A significant expansion pack, Tiberian Sun: Firestorm, was released in 2000, continuing the story and adding new units, missions, and multiplayer features.

Reception

Upon its release, Tiberian Sun received positive reviews from critics, who praised its atmospheric setting, improved graphics, and deep strategic gameplay.

However, it also faced criticism for not fully living up to the high expectations set by its groundbreaking predecessor, “Command & Conquer,” and for some technical issues and AI shortcomings.

Reviews

Critical reviews highlighted the game’s immersive storyline, advanced graphics (for the time), and the innovative gameplay mechanics it introduced to the series. Nonetheless, some reviewers pointed out that despite these advancements, Tiberian Sun did not revolutionize the real-time strategy genre as much as expected, with some elements feeling like natural evolutions rather than groundbreaking innovations.

The game holds a special place in the history of real-time strategy games, often remembered for its ambitious attempt to evolve the narrative depth and complexity of the genre. While it might not have achieved every one of its lofty goals, its legacy is seen in how it influenced the design and development of subsequent strategy games. Its retrospective reviews tend to acknowledge its role in pushing the genre forward, even if it didn’t redefine it.

Predecessors

Tiberian Sun was the sequel to the original Command & Conquer (1995) and Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996), building on the universe established by these games. It followed the storyline introduced in the first game, expanding the series’ narrative and gameplay depth.

Sequels

The direct sequel to Tiberian Sun is Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, released in 2007, which further explores the conflict between GDI and Nod in a world further transformed by Tiberium.

The expansion pack, Tiberian Sun: Firestorm, served as an immediate follow-up, concluding the story arc started in Tiberian Sun. Additionally, the Command & Conquer series has seen several other sequels and spin-offs, each exploring different facets of its expansive universe, including the “Red Alert” and “Generals” series, showing the enduring popularity and influence of the franchise.

Tips for Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun

1. Resource Management: Focus on building a stable economy early in the game by constructing multiple Tiberium refineries and harvesters. Efficient resource management is key to maintaining a steady flow of units and buildings.
   
2. Explore the Map Early: Use fast units to scout the map early in the game. Knowing the layout of the land and the location of enemy bases can significantly influence your strategic decisions.
   
3. Utilize Terrain: Terrain plays a crucial role in battles. Use cliffs and ridges for defensive advantages, and hide units in forests to ambush enemy forces.
   
4. Day-Night Cycle: The game’s day-night cycle affects unit visibility and combat dynamics. Nighttime is perfect for launching surprise attacks or sneaking engineers into enemy bases.
   
5. Subterranean Units: Both GDI and Nod have access to units that can travel underground, bypassing enemy defenses. Use these to your advantage for surprise attacks or to quickly reinforce positions.
   
6. Specialize Your Forces: Instead of mass-producing only one type of unit, create a balanced force. Different units are effective against specific targets, so a varied army is more versatile.
   
7. Save Often: The difficulty of some missions can spike unexpectedly. Save your game often to avoid losing significant progress.
   

Cheats and Easter Eggs for Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun

Cheats

Important Note: The original game did not officially support cheats through conventional in-game codes as seen in some other games. Instead, players looking to modify their gameplay experience often turned to third-party trainers or modifications that were created by the game’s community. These tools can alter various aspects of the game, such as giving unlimited resources, making units invincible, or revealing the entire map. However, using such software comes with risks, including stability issues and the potential for malware, so they should be used with caution and sourced from reputable websites.

Easter Eggs

1. CABAL’s Commentary: In the Nod campaign, if you click on the CABAL interface multiple times, CABAL, the computer AI, makes humorous and sometimes sarcastic remarks. This is a fun nod (no pun intended) to players who enjoy exploring the game’s interactive elements.
   
2. Giant Ant Mission: While not exactly hidden in “Tiberian Sun,” its predecessor “Command & Conquer: Red Alert” featured a secret Giant Ant mission. In “Tiberian Sun,” references to these ants can be found, continuing the tradition of including lighthearted content amidst the otherwise serious tone of the game.
   
3. Special Units: Although not easter eggs in the traditional sense, “Tiberian Sun” included several special units that could only be accessed under specific circumstances or through the game’s map editor. These units, like the Cyborg Commando and the Mammoth Mk. II for GDI, and the Montauk for Nod, added unique strategic options for players who discovered them.
   

Secret Levels

There aren’t traditional “cheat codes” to access secret levels in “Tiberian Sun,” but the game does include hidden and special missions that can be discovered through exploration and achieving certain objectives in specific ways. The game’s community has also created custom missions and maps that can be considered “secret” content due to their unofficial nature.

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun is a real-time strategy game set in a dystopian future where players command the forces of the Global Defense Initiative or the Brotherhood of Nod in a global war over the control of a powerful substance called Tiberium.

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun is a real-time strategy game set in a dystopian future where players command the forces of the Global Defense Initiative or the Brotherhood of Nod in a global war over the control of a powerful substance called Tiberium.