Sire wrote: ↑Right now I believe Bio Labs in Red Alert give access to Giant Ants and Zombies. However, I would not be opposed to also adding " Sarin Gas Demo Truck" and the "Sarin Gas Bombers". Being super effective against Infantry would put some more reliance on vehicles in RA as OpenRA is more about infantry warfare with tank support.
Then, in Tiberian Dawn, Bio Labs innately give access to Visceroid. I also think I saw a map in the default map pool that also allows the player to build the Dinosaur units.
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As for the Tech Center for Red Alert, it would be fun to see it give out a random Tech item like in Red Alert 2, as you have stated.
Specifically, I can see...
- British Spy, Phase Tank, Mobile Gap Generator, Fake Structures (will need to include Soviet Fakes as well), Chonoshift, Chronotank
- Tesla Trooper, Tesla Tank, Demo Truck, Parabombs, Iron Curtain
- Sniper (for fun)
However, if it is given a function, existing maps that use the Tech Center as a decoration will need to be revised. A minor concern, but one present nonetheless.
Now, as for Tiberian Dawn, maybe a random vehicle of the opposing faction? So, Nod may be able to get Mammoth Tanks while GDI can get Stealth Tanks.
Personally I would love to see Renegade X's interpretation of also including Tiberian Sun vehicles into a Tiberian Dawn setting, but that involves making new units with all the art and coding and stuff.
Huh...zombies seem kind of out of place. Same goes for the ants. I know "It CAmE FrOm WeEeestwoOoOd oooOoOoo~ spoooOooky~ !"
I still have the folder with the promo ant wallpaper and desktop theme on my laptop (cause I use the interface sounds for my desktop theme).
But, I never was crazy about those ants or the dinosaurs. It just came off as out of place but, at the same time, Jurassic Park came out when Dawn did and "Mars Attacks!" came out the same year as Red Alert 1 so throwing in cheesy B Movie horror monsters was a fun little gag but, it was better off on its own; not as an ongoing feature.
If they're dead set on having an entrepreneur mad scientist lab that wants to capitalize on the market for BOTH giant insects AND
Nazi Soviet zombies then, maybe at the very least make two versions of the Biological Lab:
One for the Sarin and another just for the B-Movie stuff.
Or better yet, use some assets for some of the fan-made castle stuff to make a spoopy castle for the zombies and ants and keep the Bio Lab just for the chemical warfare.
I think I was one of the only people playing the game back in the day that said, "They get tanks with two barrels, lightning tanks, AND poison gas?! Why can't I use poison gas?!"
Opting to make the campy gag units available as part of the norm in a Red Alert/C&C game is just weird because it'll go against the whole "too much of a good thing" motif and the zombies and ants will lose their novelty value.
That's just my thought on the matter though.
And for you thoughts on the Research Lab:
I wouldn't say the Tech Lab placement would need to be fixed in existing maps. Most of the time, people place hazards near them in anticipation of them someday serving a purpose.
In fact, almost every map that features the Tech Lab has barbed wire and barrels around it or even entire concrete wall perimeters.
The Renegade X style of adding new tech would be cool. Maybe instead of adding Tiberian Sun tech it could add Tiberian Dawn tech to save on resources by reusing existing ones.
While the one additional unit would be completely random, it could add some interesting tech.
- If a faction owns an airfield, they could get the Warthogs (the jets used in the airstrikes).
- If a faction owns a helipad, they could get either the Apache or the Orca.
- They could ever get the Advanced Comm Center to grant access to Ions but, since it's being used against 1940s buildings, it would be a 1HK against whatever is directly under the crosshair (cursor).
I don't think the Temple would be necessary though. Maybe Dawn vehicles with slightly more damage than all standard vehicles would be okay.
Ex: GDI Medium Tank could do as much damage as a Heavy Tank and slightly higher damage resistance than the RA version.
I won't go too in-depth since this is all essentially wishful thinking.
But, yeah, the possibilities would be endless.