Command & Conquer 3: Incursion

Command & Conquer 3: Incursion (also referred to as Tiberian Twilight during development) was the working title for an iteration of Command & Conquer 3 while being developed by Westwood Studios. It used the SAGE engine and started development after Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, with a total development time of at least three years. Development halted in favor of Continuum, a Command & Conquer MMO which was also cancelled.

The C&C 3 concept underwent numerous revisions. The eventual product, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars from Electronic Arts Los Angeles, evolved to be very different from Westwood's concept.

Development
The game was intended to finish the Tiberium universe and was already under development after Tiberian Sun was released. Westwood intended to keep the range of Tiberium fauna and flora from Tiberian Sun. However, the SAGE engine was not designed to handle Tiberium growth; this remained unresolved when Westwood stopped development.

There were four versions of the game developed, as described by Adam Isgreen: "The C&C3 story changed with each new location / producer and time period it went through. There are at least 4 versions of C&C3 (WWv1, WWv2, EAv1, EAv2) that had different factions and story concepts. I worked on the WWv1/2 and EAv1 versions. EAv2 is pretty much TW. The WWv2 story was the one that the EAv1 was going to use as well (or a modified version thereof).

WWv1 started right after Firestorm shipped, and we voluntarily stopped it to work on Continuum. All existing design docs were given to WWP for ideas for RA2 / Yuris. Some of the units in Yuris are modified versions of that first C&C3 design.

WWv2 started towards the end of WWLV's existence, right before the consolidation. It continued on for a bit at EALA before sputtering because all of us working on it were put onto ZH.

EAv1 was the real official restart of C&C3, which we worked on in both EALA locations (BelAir and Playa). EAv1 was stopped to help LotR, Goldeneye and MoH. It was never really picked back up.

After that version, I'm going to assume that the next one was TW, since I was gone at that point."

- Adam Isgreen, 4 October 2007

Plot
The introductory sequence showed a GDI commando in Screaming Eagle power armor floating in the debris field of Philadelphia, destroyed off screen by Nod. There were a number of flashback sequences before the commando re-entered the atmosphere. The armor was melted during re-entry.

GDI and Nod fought in Area 51. GDI was attempting to retrieve the remaining Screaming Eagle suit from the vaults. During the fighting, GDI inadvertently activated technology from Command & Conquer: Red Alert in one of the vaults, including a Chronosphere. A chrono vortex threw Yuri back in time. Yuri was the result of Nod's psychic experimentations and an acolyte of Kane. This would make Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 another branch of the timeline.

Not that much is known about the plot afterwards, but it is known that it included the Scrin coming to Earth, lured by the Scrin rebels stealing the Tacitus, and also CABAL as a faction of its own. The Scrin believed that Tiberium would kill off humans, but didn't account for the effect it had on some humans, the Forgotten. They were able to harness Tiberium's energies themselves, able to direct them against the Scrin, nullifying their powers or even controlling ion storms. They were supposed to be a playable faction in an expansion pack for Incursion.

Gameplay
The game was to feature four factions - GDI, Nod, a CABAL faction and the Scrin. It is unknown if the Scrin were intended as a playable side, although concepts for a Scrin trooper exist.

Legacy
Not all of the ideas from Westwood were scrapped. The idea of CABAL's faction was recycled in Kane's Wrath as the Marked of Kane, but it was loyal to Kane and the Brotherhood. However, all that CABAL itself was used for was merging with LEGION. The designs for sniper teams, GDI and Nod power plants, as well as civilian architecture and vehicles were almost completely copied from Tiberian Incursion to Tiberium Wars.