Command & Conquer

n/a

Command & Conquer

Publisher: Virgin Interactive, Sega (JP)

Developer: Westwood Studios

System(s): Sega Saturn

Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (11/15 tracks)

Genre: Simulation

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1997-04-25	¥6,800	GS-9131
JP (Satakore)	1998-03-12	¥2,800	GS-9193
US	1996-12-18	$?	T-7028H
UK	1996-12-06^[2]	£44.99^[1]	T-7028H-50
FR	1996	?F	T-7028H-09
DE	1996	DM ?	T-7028H-18
ES	1996-12-06^[2]	?Ptas	T-7028H-50
AU	199x	$?	?
BR	1997-03	R$?	191x32

ESRB

Sega

ELSPA

USK

OFLC

Tectoy

Command & Conquer (コマンド＆コンカー) is a real time strategy game developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive for IBM compatible computers running DOS in August 1995. It is the first in the Command & Conquer franchise and is considered a milestone in the genre, influencing many RTS games in the years which followed.

The game's success saw it ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in late 1996. Command & Conquer is frequently referred to as Tiberian Dawn by fans and is subtitled in Germany with Teil 1 Der Tiberiumkonflikt.

Plot

Command & Conquer takes place in an alternative universe, shortly after a mysterious alien substance crashes on Earth near the river Tiber in Italy at some point in 1995. This substance, henceforth known as "Tiberium", becomes an extremely valuable commodity, which despite its toxic nature, is able to absorb and crystallize precious metals from the surrounding soil. A secret society known as the Brotherhood of Nod, spearheaded by a self-proclaimed messiah known only as "Kane", claims to have foreseen the arrival of Tiberium and has great plans for its future, soon controlling over half the supply and using the funds to amass an army of followers.

Following a succession of terrorist incidents blamed on the Brootherhood, the United Nations Security Council authorizes the creation and deployment of the United Nations' Global Defense Initiative (GDI) to intervene against Kane and Nod, quickly escalating into a conflict which spans the globe (and is later referred to as the "first tiberium war").

The player, who is nameless and does not speak, can choose to conduct missions on behalf of GDI or Nod (each as its own disc), building bases and ordering troops, usually to destroy enemy factions and spread influence over countries. GDI's campaign takes place mainly in Europe, while Nod is more concerned with Africa.

History

Legacy

Command & Conquer is thought to have been reasonably successful on the Sega Saturn, as it qualified for the Satakore range in Japan (where it was published by Sega themselves) and was at one point bundled with consoles in Europe. It has since been superseded by superior versions - a Macintosh port released around the same period in 1996 which offers higher resolution graphics and official support for online play. These features were eventually ported to a Windows 95 version released in 1997. The final port of Command & Conquer was released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64. This version features 3D graphics, but has missing content.

Tomsoft attempted an unlicensed port to the Sega Mega Drive, but gave up early on and released his horribly incomplete beta. Because he failed to remove the copyright from the title screen, this has sometimes considered an official beta — but a look at the header (crediting his SDK) proves otherwise.

Command & Conquer was followed by Command & Conquer: Red Alert, set in the cold war era of the 1950s/60s, however the Tiberium storyline would receive a direct sequel in the form of Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, which introduced isometric graphics (although cameos and nods to the future mean Red Alert is technically a prequel also). No future Command & Conquer games were released on Sega systems, though the series has largely avoided consoles entirely (save for PlayStation ports of Red Alert and some expansions, and the Xbox 360 port of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars).

Versions

The Sega Saturn version of Command & Conquer derives from the DOS original, being the most accurate console port of the game. There is no support for the Shuttle Mouse meaning the controls are considered to be more cumbersome than computer versions, and the resolution is fixed at 320x240. Some other changes were made for unknown reasons, such as the inclusion of wider bridges. Unit shadows are also missing, and the user interface features horizontally-scrolling menus as opposed to the vertical ones seen in the DOS version.

Its PlayStation counterpart is reportedly built off the Saturn's code, with slightly higher resolution (and more complete) cutscenes in comparison. Unlike the Saturn, the PlayStation version is known to suffer from noticeable slowdown when many units are on-screen, but is at an advantage for including extra missions (sourced from The Covert Operations - an official expansion pack for Command & Conquer). The Saturn version retains more of the original soundtrack and sound effects, however.

Production credits

Producer: Steve Wetherill
Asst. Producer: Ed Del Castillo
Original Concept: Joe Bostic, Brett W. Sperry
Programmers: Greg Hjelstrom, Jonathan Lanier
Technical Direction: Eric Wang
Designer: Erik Yeo
Artists: Joseph B. Hewitt Iv, Matthew Hansel, Damon Redmond
Screenplay: Ron Smith
Audio Direction: Paul S. Mudra
Soundtrack: Frank Klepacki
Sound Effects: Dwight K. Okahara
Qa Direction: Glenn Sperry
Quality Assurance: Kenny Dunne, Chris Rubyor, Randy Greenback, Phillip Castro, John Archer, D'Andre Campbell, Chris Blevins, James Hughes, Levi Luke, Errol Campbell, Abe Hernandez, James Adkins, Richard Rasmussen, Ben Lublin, Chris Holloway, Isaiah Myers, Lloyd Bell, Mike Smith, Albert Springfield, Steve Corcoran, Tyler Thackery, Marcus Cobb, Chad Shackelford, Troy Leonard
Manual Design: Penina Finger

Source: In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Command & Conquer/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

FR print advert

PDF

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #89: "December 1996" (1996-xx-xx)
also published in:

Ultra Game Players (US) #93: "January 1997" (199x-xx-xx)^[3]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #91: "February 1997" (199x-xx-xx)^[4]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #92: "March 1997" (1997-xx-xx)^[5]
GameFan (US) #0504: "Volume 5, Issue 4: April 1997" (1997-xx-xx)^[6]

PDF

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #182: "January 1997" (1996-12-11)
also published in:

Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) #15: "January 1997" (1996-12-17)^[7]

PDF

Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) #16: "February 1997" (1997-01-16)
also published in:

Computer & Video Games (UK) #183: "February 1997" (1997-01-10)^[8]
Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) #17: "March 1997" (1997-02-19)^[9]

PDF

Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1997-13: "1997-13 (1997-04-25)" (1997-04-11)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication	Score	Source
Consoles + (FR)	94	№61, p140^[10]
Computer & Video Games (UK)	100	№182, p54/55^[1]
Weekly Famitsu (JP)	78	№437, p32
GamesMaster (UK)	91	№50, p42/43
MAN!AC (DE)	85
Mean Machines Sega (UK)	90	№51, p58-60^[11]
Player One (FR)	95	№70, p92/93/94
Sega Saturn Magazine (UK)	94	№15, p72/73^[12]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)	73	№1997-13, p139^[13]
Sega Saturn Magazine (readers) (JP)	86	№, p9Media:SnGwSISDRZK Book JP.pdf^[14]
Ultra Game Players (US)	84	№96, p82