With this post I want to spread the word about a completely free to play game based in the Command and Conquer universe called "Renegade X".
You can find the website here (click me)
What is it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-ZQbXnhp6Q#t
It is a first person shooter indie game in no way affiliated with Electronic Arts built in the Unreal Engine 3. Renegade X is a remake and revival of the classic and less known Command & Conquer: Renegade developed by Westwood Studios.
I have personally played thousands of hours in the original game. It's that good.
What's it all about?
The two factions in this game, GDI and NOD, are at war with each other for power, influence, and a mysterious mineral known as Tiberium.
In Renegade X each faction has a base with several buildings (more info below), and your job is to destroy the enemy base while defending your own.
In this fight, you will equip advanced weaponry in the form of character classes, deploy devastating vehicles such as Mammoth Tanks and Stealth Tanks, and work as a team to win the battle.
Renegade requires strong team play to win. The teams that work together the best to accomplish their goals will 9 times out of 10 win the battle.
Getting Started
Starting out in your first match can seem a bit daunting at first, but don't worry. Here I will explain some things for you to get your bearings and allow you to jump right into a match in progress.
Here is also the Wiki for the game which contains a LOT of information about the game, and would be a great source to check out. (click me).
Like I stated above, each team will have a base with their own buildings in it.
Each building in the game serves a function. Not every map (or level) has every building in it. If one of your buildings is destroyed, you lose the benefit that building provides. Buildings can not be repaired or rebuilt once destroyed, so once they're gone - they're gone.
I'll list the buildings later below for each faction, and what they do.
As you play, you will be gaining a resource simply called 'credits'. As long as your refinery has not been destroyed, you will continue to gain these credits. Damaging and/or killing enemy players, vehicles, and buildings will earn you additional credits, proportionate to the damage done. Guarding your harvester while it gathers Tiberium will allow you to get a nice payday once it drops its load off at the refinery. Repairing friendly vehicles and buildings is a great way to earn credits with your engineer, too.
Once you have some credits, you can spend them at purchase terminals located in each of your factions buildings.
Purchase Terminal:
http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2dd764cc.png
Main Purchase Page
http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...pse0a6e433.jpg
(Sorry it's blurred)
If you have a keen eye, you'll probably notice some things are free! You can switch to these free classes at any time at no cost to you. They are the most basic of infantry with the most basic of weapons.
The engineer is a vital class needed to repair vehicles and buildings, disarm C4 and superweapons (ION Cannon beacons and Nuclear Strike beacons).
You can also select 'Refill' at any time for free. This will restore all health and ammo. Take full advantage of this when defending your base or when your expensive character is low on health.
You can always start a skirmish (single player vs bots) from the main menu to play around by yourself and check out each of the classes and vehicles. Just click either 'Characters' or 'Vehicles' in the menu and you will be taken to another page loaded with deadly goodies just begging to be used.
Building Descriptions
In Renegade, the battle can often be won or lost based on what buildings your team manages to take out. Some will cripple the enemy entirely if lost on certain maps.
I will list first the shared buildings - the ones that are the same for both teams.
Power Plant - This building is vital on maps with base defenses. If destroyed, that teams base defenses such as the Advanced Guard Tower of Obelisk of Light will cease to function. As an added penalty, all items in the purchase terminal will cost DOUBLE.
Refinery - This building provides your team with a credit income, and is the place your harvester drops off its tiberium for extra income every few minutes. If you lose this building, you lose all passive income. You will have to kill or damage enemies for your money - A.K.A. working for it.
Base Defenses - The GDI will get the Advanced Guard Tower on some maps, and NOD will get the Obelisk of Light along with a couple small turrets. These buildings will automatically target and fire upon enemy players who come within line of sight and range. It will take a team effort to eliminate these buildings, as a single tank or infantry will be obliterated quickly.
NOD Specific
Hand of Nod - This building allows your team to purchase advanced character classes such as the Stealth Black Hand, Laser Chain Gunner and Technician (upgraded engineer). If you lose this building, your team will be restricted to the basic, free character classes.
Airstrip - This building is responsible for delivering your vehicles - by airdrop. Once ordered, your vehicle will be dropped off by a giant cargo plane. Note that this plane can not be destroyed to deny a vehicle. If you lose the Airstrip, your team will no longer be able to order any vehicles, and your harvester will not be replaced when destroyed.
GDI Specific
Barracks - Much like the Hand of Nod, the Barracks allows the GDI team to purchase advanced character classes.
Weapons Factory - This is where you pick up your Mammoth Tank once you've bought it. Again, once it's gone, no more tanks.
Something you should know about the vehicle production buildings: On maps where there are full base defenses, you should guard your vehicle buildings with your lives. If you can't build tanks, it can be very hard to successfully attack an enemy base.
Other Stuff
- Unfortunately there is no voice comms in this game. That is something it would greatly benefit from, but it's still in beta at this time so who knows, maybe some day. In the meantime, communication is done in one of two ways.
- Text chat - You can press F3 to type a message to everyone on the server, or F4 to type to just your team.
- Radio Messages - Holding down either Ctrl, Alt, or Ctrl + Alt and then a number from 1 to 0 will quickly send a radio message to your team. You can hold just these buttons down to have the combinations appear on screen. (Try it out and see!)
- When selecting a server, you will generally see two types of servers: AOW (All Out War) and Marathon. AOW servers have a time limit, and if no team has won by destroying a base, the team with the higher score wins and the game is over. In Marathon servers, there is no time limit and the game will keep going until one team works together and wins. I personally have played in matches that have lasted over 8 hours in the original game.
- Press TAB. Do it. Often. This will open the score screen with all those juicy details on your KDR, but more importantly it will display in real time the health status of both teams buildings. In case you play with music and can't hear the radio messages about your building needing repair, you can consult this for a status update.
-Press 'F'. Do it. Often. This will put you into 3rd person mode. It's great if you want to see what's around a corner before you go around it. Aiming with some weapons can be easier too. It's not considered 'cheap' to look around corners, it's a perfectly acceptable thing to do, so do it.
-Put C4 on this. This is the 'Master Control Terminal'. Each building has one, and is a weak point within the building. Note this is not a purchase terminal.
http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...pseec5314d.jpg
I could list tons of tactics and strategies and descriptions of just about everything in the game for you here but I won't. Play the game, test things out, read the wiki I linked above etc. If you have questions, please just ask!!!
Renegade X is something that I and the rest of the original Renegade community has been following for a very long time. There are plenty of servers available to play on, but only a couple are populated at a time right now. I want to get the word out about this game and get more people into it. Like I said, it is completely free. No microtransactions, no no premium accounts, no subscriptions.
Some Pictures
The Mammoth Tank - Respect it.
http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3bb2d926.jpg
The Harvester - Protect it.
http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...ps36ad5ccf.jpg
