The question that bugs me for 20 years already.
What's the real-life basis of an ore truck and ore/gems?
Surely, this is a fantasy world as most RTS games out there are, but still Red Alert 1 has mostly accurate copies of historically existed vehicles, gap generators and chrono tanks being but a minor fraction of exceptions.
The whole economy stuff though just doesn't make sense, at least for me. A mine that "grows" valuable ore around it?.. The only possible explanation I can think of is that there is a mining operation underground that dumps its cargo to the surface to be gathered by ore trucks. But still all this is bordering stupid - mythical miners that endlessly work in the mines? Selflessly giving away all the product they mine? Don't even care who will get the materials or whether it will be gathered at all? Ore trucks themselves that shovel/magnet ore and dump it into the open container, not really spilling anything?..
Eager to hear your suggestions on the matter.
Red Alert ore and ore trucks IRL
Red Alert was originally designed to be an expansion pack to the original C&C. It was developed very quickly - in less than a year, copying and expanding on the mechanics and units from the original game.
Ore trucks and ore/gems were simply the most reasonable reskin of tiberium that they could think of that fitted within the RA1 lore. It doesn't and doesn't need to make sense.
Ore trucks and ore/gems were simply the most reasonable reskin of tiberium that they could think of that fitted within the RA1 lore. It doesn't and doesn't need to make sense.
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CatGirls420
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Well, obviously, by removing Hitler from the space time continuum there has been some repercussions in the timeline even backwards into ancient history. This has caused gold, silver and other heavier elements which, in our timeline, had been mined for centuries by the celts, spaniards and other civilizations from deposist near the the surface to be "frozen in time" until the timeline-disrupting event.
The clash of timelines thus has caused a merging of multiple parallel universes and basically multiplying the available resources in the resulting parallel universe of RA.
For the protagonists of RA, this situation is natural and accepted, however for us it might seem weird that such precious resources are so readily available and easy to mine from such shallow depths.
The clash of timelines thus has caused a merging of multiple parallel universes and basically multiplying the available resources in the resulting parallel universe of RA.
For the protagonists of RA, this situation is natural and accepted, however for us it might seem weird that such precious resources are so readily available and easy to mine from such shallow depths.
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That's interesting.. I mean it's pretty clear the game is just a reskin in many ways, even sharing many of the same units/buildings (light/medium/Mammoth tanks, turrets, artillery, sam sites, rocket infantry etc. etc.) but i never heard that it was actually intended to be an expansion pack to TD rather than a standalone game release. Just curious if you remember what source you read that from.Sleipnir wrote: ↑Red Alert was originally designed to be an expansion pack to the original C&C. It was developed very quickly - in less than a year, copying and expanding on the mechanics and units from the original game.
Ore trucks and ore/gems were simply the most reasonable reskin of tiberium that they could think of that fitted within the RA1 lore. It doesn't and doesn't need to make sense.
To me. it always was awesome how Tiberium was the cornerstone of the backstory/lore of TD (and TS), it was a really interesting unique concept, and it's awesome how they were able to tie something that is just lore/backstory into an integral component of the game's functionality as well.
Obviously Tiberium in a way is just an evolution of the concepts behind Dune's Spice (a rare mystical resource that everyone is fighting over which has many other exotic uses and traits beyond simply being a currency) so I will say that it was always a bit disappointing how Ore (and "gems") are just so vanilla and as the OP mentions, straight up illogical. It really doesn't make any sense, but perhaps more disappointing, it doesn't have any unique traits (like harming unprotected infantry, spawning visceroids, being used for chem weapons etc) so all in all, as much as I love Red Alert and the universe it created, Ore has always seemed like a weaker point in the vision/design.
Obviously this is an "issue" with the original game, so by no means am I or I assume anyone suggesting that there is a problem with this that needs to be "fixed" in OpenRA or that anything should be changed. Just interesting to talk about this with other C&C nerds on the "stoner level" lol
I don't remember where I originally read it, but a quick search uncovers https://www.nowgamer.com/the-history-of ... d-conquer/ which says
“Red Alert was intended to be a WWII-themed expansion pack for C&C,†explains Joe. “During development we added more units and features to the game and it became strong enough to ship as a standalone product. At the time, we weren’t thinking it had anything to do with the C&C storyline, but existed as a separate timeline. A parallel dimension so to speak, as indicated by the opening movie showing Einstein sending a young Hitler through time and spawning an alternate history where Red Alert takes place.â€
From what I understand, the ore mines in Red Alert are automated thingies that dig the ore from underground and just kinda dump it. Which is why the ore trucks can just kinda scoop it off.
I imagine that the trucks look like regular dump trucks with loader-like scoops, which is a bit odd but maybe they just redistribute the power to the loaders when they're doing their things, as they don't need to move while operating them anyway.
What I don't understand though is why the RA2 harvesters grind the ore if they're gonna take it to the refinery anyway. Maybe it takes up less space?
I imagine that the trucks look like regular dump trucks with loader-like scoops, which is a bit odd but maybe they just redistribute the power to the loaders when they're doing their things, as they don't need to move while operating them anyway.
What I don't understand though is why the RA2 harvesters grind the ore if they're gonna take it to the refinery anyway. Maybe it takes up less space?
Re: Red Alert ore and ore trucks IRL
netnazgul wrote: ↑The question that bugs me for 20 years already.
The whole economy stuff though just doesn't make sense, at least for me. A mine that "grows" valuable ore around it?.. The only possible explanation I can think of is that there is a mining operation underground that dumps its cargo to the surface to be gathered by ore trucks. But still all this is bordering stupid - mythical miners that endlessly work in the mines? Selflessly giving away all the product they mine? Don't even care who will get the materials or whether it will be gathered at all? Ore trucks themselves that shovel/magnet ore and dump it into the open container, not really spilling anything?..
Eager to hear your suggestions on the matter.
So yea, in RA1 the ore grows around a hole in the ground with a mine cart and and mine track, so it is implying that there is some mining going on. In RA2, they continue this theme with a big drill endlessly going into a hole in the ground, so there is some strong implication that some sort of mining operation is happening.hazelnot wrote: ↑ From what I understand, the ore mines in Red Alert are automated thingies that dig the ore from underground and just kinda dump it. Which is why the ore trucks can just kinda scoop it off.
I imagine that the trucks look like regular dump trucks with loader-like scoops, which is a bit odd but maybe they just redistribute the power to the loaders when they're doing their things, as they don't need to move while operating them anyway.
What I don't understand though is why the RA2 harvesters grind the ore if they're gonna take it to the refinery anyway. Maybe it takes up less space?
As the OP mentioned, this seems bizarre though, as who is heading that operation, who is supplying the electricity/fuel and most importantly manpower to continue this operation. Even if it's all automated somehow, it's still going to require a steady supply of energy.
Even more so, the gems spawn as if they grew right out of the ground, it doesn't appear at all that they were mined underground and dumped around , although I can't remember if the original Red Alert ever had gems spawning around the mine tile like ore does.
Even more bizarre is in RA2 when you're in New york city or washington DC for example, how these resource mines are happening right outside US monuments, or in the middle of a park in NYC, lol just really doesn't make any sense if you try to think about it.
Just like a girl you love who has that one standout flaw you learn to overlook and love her anyways, we have all come to accept this and it is just engrained as an accepted part of the magnificent game we all love.
In a hypothetical scenario, if I was on the original development team, I would have maybe suggested that the ore would stay stagnant (no more would spawn) and the ore spawn point (mine) would not animate, but if you placed a power plant nearby, and/or sent an engineer into the mine, it would "activate" begin animating, and more ore would start to spawn around it. This would be a cool gameplay dynamic, give more usefulness for engineers, especially at points throughout the game where they begin to barely if ever be used, and it would also just make some level of logical sense.
I think "gems" is a technical term, as they are called "valuable minerals" in original. Still, nothing explains what the hell this substance is.Even more so, the gems spawn as if they grew right out of the ground, it doesn't appear at all that they were mined underground and dumped around , although I can't remember if the original Red Alert ever had gems spawning around the mine tile like ore does.