#WHO PUBLISHED COMMAND AND CONQUER OFFLINE#
#WHO PUBLISHED COMMAND AND CONQUER SERIES#

It was cumbersome to try to multi-task while producing units, but in the remaster, each production type has its own tab that is hotkeyed, where you can easily produce multiple units or structures simultaneously.

In the old game, the low resolution of the screen also made it necessary to actively click to scroll up and down the user interface to produce units and buildings from various production places: like the barracks, air pads, and factories. Instead of having multiple zoom modes due to the low resolution of the original game, the satellite map now has enough resolution to show the entire playing field in lavish detail without zooming. On top of remastering the artwork, the extra resolution and screen-space real estate are actively used to make the game more playable.

#WHO PUBLISHED COMMAND AND CONQUER OFFLINE#

Perhaps the developers could implement an optional scanline filter for these offline rendered cinematics to make them look like low-tech filmed footage in the field instead of blown up low resolution upscales? The offline rendered CGI videos showing combat or machines and troops moving from afar tend to fare worse, with only marginal improvements. Character close-ups tend to benefit most from the process as there is much more information for the AI scaler to work with. In general, I think it looks pretty great, but the AI upscaling's effectiveness depends on the content. This level of resolution definitely helps in gameplay, where telling apart different pieces of terrain or different infantry units is much easier to do at a glance, with the silhouettes and detail in the sprites making the game much more readable.Ĭommand and Conquer's almost legendary full-motion video sequences have also been remastered with some interesting improvements: AI upscaling is used to boost detail, colour depth is massively improved, while the scanline effect of the original is gone.

It's here where you can appreciate how the developers have stayed true to the original style of the artwork - nothing looks radically different, just better, a great fit for today's displays. It's not an immediate, jarring cut, but rather a linear blend between the old and new art styles, giving the impression of defocusing or refocusing the image. Similar to the Halo Anniversary remasters, players can switch between old and new art with a single press of a mappable button and even the attention to detail here is impressive. Watch on YouTube Command and Conquer Remastered: the Digital Foundry tech review. The remade songs are a delight, hitting the same beats and sounds of the original while also bringing new notes to the table.

#WHO PUBLISHED COMMAND AND CONQUER SERIES#

On top of this, the game's soundtrack is freshened up with new versions of the songs by series composer Frank Kelpacki joined by his band the Tiberian Sons. It's not just about the graphics either as the audio is also revamped - the low sample rates of the original audio are drastically improved, so gunshots, explosions, and unit responses sound clear and not as 'crunchy' as they did back in the day. There's a careful, but effective approach to the remastering here and it's deployed on every aspect of unit and environmental art. The remaster's solution here is straightforward enough: artwork is redrawn at a much higher resolution, extra frames of animation are added and general movement is improved. In-game artwork was of a low resolution, animation was limited, and it was often difficult to identify individual units - especially the similar-looking infantry. However, this was a game held back by the technology of the era. Meanwhile, the full-motion video sequences for inter-mission campaign briefings were also state-of-the-art for the day. It rendered a lot of animated sprites on top of expansive, destructible environments. It's easy to forget that despite relatively simplistic visuals - judged by modern day standards, at least - Command and Conquer was doing a lot of work for PCs back in 1995. Consisting of the original game and the Red Alert sequel along with all expansions, everything has been expertly remastered to work flawlessly on modern PCs while looking great on today's displays, but this is a remastering effort that goes beyond the superficial: subtle but well-judged tweaks are made to the user interface and gameplay too and the pay-off is massive. In fact, Command and Conquer Remastered is such an exceptional piece of work, I'm almost in awe of the effort. The grandfather of the real-time strategy genre is back, improved and modernised while retaining everything that made it great - and in the process, delivering a game that still manages to hold up against the best in the business.

Who published command and conquer