GameSlice: Besides the interesting units and structures in the game, you’ve championed Red Alert II as a game that will move away from the slow and methodic “war of attrition” players are used to in RTS titles.   Was this a conscious design decision from the start?  If so, how did it affect the map, unit and structure design?

Mark: This was definitely one of the design goals from the start. It can sometimes get really boring if you find a single game lasting for three hours. We wanted to keep the fun concentrated and make sure that games could be brought to conclusion with a bang rather than a yawn. 

When we first conceptualized shortening the game lengths, we created a design where games would last 30 minutes. Very early on, the Nuke and the Weather Storm were so powerful, they completely wiped out your enemies base and ended the game. After play testing this for a while, we realized that games ended quickly but weren’t as fun as we expected. After all, part of the fun of playing an RTS game is coming back against the odds.

In addition to shorter games, we wanted players to always feel that they were on the edge of a stunning defeat or an amazing victory. We did this with the proper balance of the super weapons and balancing units high to make them fun and powerful in their own right. 

GameSlice: Do you ever worry that by trying to induce shorter battles you might actually be destroying some of the layers of strategy that players have come to expect from C&C games?   Couldn’t this alienate some new players who would prefer a slower game experience?

Mark: Not at all. Our focus is on creating great units, and all of their abilities actually give the players more options. Everyone plays a strategy game differently, meaning the units and tactics used will vary from game to game. Some people will play at a slower pace and their game may last up to two hours. Others will play fast and furiously, with games ending in 15 minutes.

GameSlice: Let’s talk for a second about balance.  TibSun is famous for the problems with the Nod Artillery and stealth mode being a virtually unbeatable tactic, later fixed in a patch.  With over 100 units in the game, do you ever think you’ve overdone things here with too many units? Do you worry that due to the game’s complexity you might not get the balance quite right?

Mark: Balance is key. We’ve spent a huge amount of time tuning and tweaking it.  Since we had working code from the start, it allowed us to focus in and hone our units and tactics. Balancing has been our top priority for the past four months. Having a stable technology to work from has been a huge help. We’ve been designing the game instead of building an engine.