This is the transcript of "Establishing a Base", the second Tutorial mission in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Commander's Challenge.
Mission script[]
Introduction[]
[The Guardian tank, Hammer tank and Tsunami tank appear.]
- Guardian Tank: Good to have you, Commander. In this mission, we'll be reminding you all about constructing a base for each of the factions. We'll start with the Allies for obvious reasons. First things first, though. On the right side of the screen is the Sidebar, which is where you manage all your base construction and unit production./You need to know about the Command Menu. Pull and hold the Right Trigger/R2 Button to bring up the Command Menu. The Command Menu lets you manage everything from build units and structures to use your units' special abilities, and much more. It's arranged like the face of a clock. You can make selections along the periphery by moving the left stick and pressing the A/X to confirm. In general, you can drill deeper or confirm in the Command Menu with the A/X, or go back up or cancel selections with the B/circle button. Go ahead and get comfortable using this thing. It lets you manage all your forces and production no matter where you're focusing your attention in battle.
Primary Objective 1: Build an Allied Base[]
- Hammer Tank: Here we have one of the hated Allied Mobile Construction Vehicles. The MCV will unpack into a Construction Yard. To unpack it, select it, then click on its special ability at the bottom right of your screen/use its Unpack special ability by bringing up the Command Menu and pressing the A/X button. Go on, don't be shy!
- Tsunami Tank: Observe the ghosted image of the Construction Yard attached to your cursor. Now left-click anywhere on open terrain to open/press the A/X button anywhere on open terrain to order your MCV to unpack at that location.
- Hammer Tank: Very fancy, no?
- Guardian Tank: Best remember to use the F hotkey as a shortcut to your units' special abilities./Best remember there's a shortcut for using your units' special abilities. Just hold the Right Bumper/R1 Button with units selected, then press the X/square button.
- Hammer Tank: In general, special abilities are executed with the left mouse/A/X button, or canceled with the right mouse/B/circle button. However, the right mouse button is used for basic orders./The B/circle button is also used to deselect units or structures.
- Guardian Tank: Bear in mind that there may be impassable areas of the map where you're not allowed to place down your structures. When you try to place a structure down over impassable or un-buildable terrain, red cells will appear on the build grid indicating that you're unable to place a structure there.
- Hammer Tank: Now that your MCV has unpacked into a Construction Yard, you should have some new construction options available to you. To access your production structures build queue, slect the Conyard or click on the Production Tab that's flashing./and open the Command Menu. Alternatively, if you don't have anything selected, open the Command Menu and drill down to your Production Structures in the 12 o'clock position. Whoa, look at what we have here! Looks like you have access to build a Power Plant! [The Tsunami Tank fires at the Hammer Tank.] Ow!
- Tsunami Tank: Don't overdo it. Commander: Select the Power Plant button to begin building it. All Allied structures build over time inside the Construction Yard. Once they're ready, you'll be able to place them on the battlefield right away.
- Tsunami Tank: Your Power Plant is now ready to be placed. Simply left-click on its button and move your mouse over open terrain/open the Command Menu and press the A/X to select the Power Plant. Then left-click/press the A button/press the X button on an open spot on the terrain.
- Guardian Tank: That's the way. As the name suggest, a Power Plant provides your base with power. All your structures, with the exception of your Power Plant and Construction Yard, use power. You can tell how much power you've got to spare by glancing at the power meter next to your Radar. It's important to understand the consequences of a low-power situation. While in Low Power, your units and structures will build at a reduced speed, and your base defenses won't work, so it's always good to have plenty of power as you build up.
- Hammer Tank: The next thing you'll need to get base humming along is an Ore Refinery. This structure comes with a free Prospector vehicle, which will collect ore from that nearby Ore Mine. To build your Ore Refinery, select the Production Tab and select/open the Command Menu, navigate to your Production Structures, and press the Ore Refinery button, just as you did with the Power Plant.
- Tsunami Tank: Bear in mind that a single Ore Refinery likely will not be enough to fund your military escapades. Try to build an Ore Refinery next to each Ore Mine near your base, but be careful to defend them.
- Hammer Tank: Now that construction is complete, click the Ore Refinery button/open the Command Menu and select the Ore Refinery and consider where to place it on the battlefield. While you're able to place your Refinery anywhere on open terrain, the optimal location is just in front of an Ore Mine. You'll see those spots on the terrain. As you move your cursor over those spots, your structure preview should snap to the optimal position. Then, just click/press the A button/press the X button to place your Ore Refinery and you're set!
- Tsunami Tank: Hai! Properly executed.
- Guardian Tank: When you place your Ore Refinery, you get a Prospector as part of the deal, and he'll go about collecting ore for you automatically. [An Apocalypse Tank drives right by the Ore Refinery, shoots to destroy the Prospector.] Pro tip, friend: If by some freak accident, one of your Prospectors or Ore Collectors is destroyed, you can always build another from your Ore Refineries. Just select the Ore Refinery and you'll see it can build another resource vehicle as its special ability. As long as your Ore Refinery is close to a mine, you only need one vehicle gathering from it, so don't waste credits making more of those little tykes than you need.
- Hammer Tank: I always wonder, though... how come the mightiest nations in the world need to collect ore while killing each other? I mean, what is even in that stuff? [Both the Guardian Tank and Tsunami Tank fire at the Hammer Tank.] Ow!!
- Tsunami Tank: Don't ask ridiculous questions! Ore is the primary resource in Red Alert 3. Refineries automatically convert it to credits, which is the currency used to purchase all units and structures. Ore Mines have a finite amount of resources that will eventually slow to trickle. So if you deplete an Ore Mine, it's best to try and expand to another in order to maintain a steady income.
- Guardian Tank: You now have power and an economy set up. You're ready to start training units for the fight. From your Production Tab, go ahead/Go ahead and open up the Command Menu and build a Boot Camp. Remember to place it down by selecting its icon, then left-clicking/opening the Command Menu once it's built, pressing the A/X button to select it, then pressing the A/X button again on open terrain. Incidentally, you can rotate the face of a structure you're about to plop down by holding down the left mouse button and moving the mouse around/A/X button and moving the left stick around. Let go of the button when ready.
- Hammer Tank: Now that you have a Boot Camp, you're able to train some infantry. To do this, you may select either your Boot Camp or the Infantry Tab under your Radar/and open the Command Menu, or navigate to your Infantry Queues in the 2 o'clock position in the Command Menu.. This will bring up the available units you're able to train. Let's train some of the so-called "Peacekeepers." Select the Peacekepper button to start training one. You may queue up multiple Peacekeepers by continuing to select on his portrait.
- Guardian Tank: Try holding the Shift key to queue up five of those blokes at a time.
- Tsunami Tank: You can also halt the production of units or strucutres by right-clicking on a production button/pressing the B/circle button while you have them highlighted in the Command Menu. Right-clicking/Pressing the B/circle button a second time will cancel production and refund any credits that were spent. Left-clicking/Pressing the A/X button on a paused production process will resume production.
- Guardian Tank: You can set a different rally point for them by selecting the structure and right-clicking some other place/, moving your cursor to the desired location, and pressing the A/X button. All three factions produce units in the same way, from the respective tabs in the sidebar. By the by, many of your structures aren't restricted to being built on land. You can set 'em up on water as well. If you build another Power Plant, try placing it out in the drink. It doesn't cost you any extra and most ground units won't be able to get to it that way.
Primary Objective 2: Unpack a Prospector into a Command Hub[]
- Tsunami Tank: Observe, however, that Allied structures may only be built in the radius surrounding the Construction Yard. You may expand your build radius by creating Command Hubs, which convert from your Prospectors. Please select your Prospector and use its special ability to unpack it somewhere. Across the water, perhaps? Go ahead, commander.
Primary Objective 3: Upgrade to Heightened Clearance[]
- Guardian Tank: Yeah, that's it. Also, bear in mind that the Allies' Technology Level is local to their Construction Yards or Command Hubs. That means not all your production structures on the battlefield may offer you the same construction options. You can upgrade your Construction Yard or your Command Hub by clicking the Heightened Clearance button with one of these structures selected. Try requesting Heighted Clearance on both your ConYard and your Command Hub now.
[Upon one of the structures being upgraded.]
- Guardian Tank: That's it. Now the other.
[When both structures are upgraded]
- Guardian Tank: There it is. Heightened Clearance costs you, and there's even a higher clearance level after that. You need to decide when and where to request better tech when commanding the Allies, else things may turn rotten.
- Hammer Tank: Yes. Also, should you ever have need to run away like a little girl, you may pack up your ConjYard, then unpack it on the water. The Boot Camp and Armor Facility are the only Allied structures you may not place on the water. Your Seaport, on the other hand, is the only structure you may not build on land. [The Tsunami Tank fires at the Hammer Tank.] Ow! What was that for?!
- Tsunami Tank: Silence! Surely the Commander wants to move on to the other factions by now. Feel free to continue dabbling with the Allies, then select me when you are ready to continue.
Primary Objective 4: Build a Soviet Base[]
[The three tanks move to another part of the beach where a Soviet Construction Yard is present.]
- Tsunami Tank: This monstrosity is the Soviet Construction Yard. You will see that the Soviets build differently from the Allies. Select the Construction Yard or the Production Tab, then/and open the Command Menu, or just navigate to the Production Structures queue in the Command Menu. Then select the Reactor button. Notice how the Command Menu closed automatically, to let you make your next move. Now place the Reactor on open terrain, as you did with the Allied structures. Do not wait for the Reactor to build in the queue, for you would wait... forever! Unlike the Allies, the Soviets carelessly build their structures out on the battlefield.
- Guardian Tank: Notice how the structure is hastily being thrown together in the field. While it's building up, it's vulnerable to enemy attack, so be cautious when placing your structures. All Soviet structures build up in this way.
- Hammer Tank: Just like the Allies, however, you can pause and cancel a structure's build-up by right-clicking on its button/navigating to that structure in the Command Menu and using the B/circle button. And of course, your Soviet structures may be placed at sea -- with the exceptions of the Barracks and War Factory.
- Guardian Tank: Oy, aren't you forgetting something?
- Hammer Tank: Nyet! At least... not anymore. Commander, one truly unique Soviet structure you should be aware of is the Crusher Crane. Try building one now from your Production Structures queue. Crusher Cranes work much like Construction Yards, so now, you can build two structures at once from your two separate build queues. What's more your Crane's repair drones will automatically repair nearby vehicles, or you can order those vehicles into its grinders to crush them for a quick refund. To access your newly-added build queues, click the buttons added to the Sidebar, or click the tabs in the Sidebar to cycle between queues/open the Command Menu with the Crusher Crane selected. When you have multiple queues of a type available, you can cycle through them in the Command Menu by pressing the A/X button.
- Hammer Tank: You can build multiple production structures to gain more build queues, allowing you to build more stuff at once. Of course, you'll need plenty of income to support this. Now please feel free to continue exploring the richness of the Soviet build system. When you're done, please select the Tsunami Tank to proceed.
Primary Objective 5: Build a Rising Sun Base[]
[The three tanks move to another part of the beach where an Imperial Construction Yard is present.]
- Tsunami Tank: At last. Let us continue, Commander, for this will be worth it. The Empire of the Rising Sun has the most unique build system in that our structures are all created from special units called Nano-Cores. Cores may "unfrul" at the location of your choosing, much like an MCV unpacks into a Construction Yard. However: unfurled Imperial structures cannot pack back up. Go into your Production Structures queue and build a Generator Core. The Generator Core will be yours to control as soon as it emerges from you Construction Yard. If you select it, you may give it move commands around the map like any unit. To unfurl it into an Instant Generator, while having it selected, use its Unfurl special ability, much like you did with the MCV earlier in this lesson. You should now have a ghosted image of the Instant Generator attached to your cursor. Select a spot on open terrain to make your Generator Core unfurl at that location. All Nano-Core are amphibious, so they can cross land as well as water. This means the Empire of the Rising Sun can spread its borders far and wide. The Imperial Docks is the only structure that cannot unfurl on land, while the Mecha Bay and Instant Dojo cannot unfurl at sea. One last thing about Imperial production structures: They must be upgraded individually to unlock new construction options. You'll find these upgrades in their build queues. Now, Commander, do you see how superior our production capability is compared with that of my barbaric friends here?
- Hammer Tank: I still think ours is better... Oh no. [The Tsunami Tank fires at the Hammer Tank.] Ow! OW!
- Guardian Tank: Hahaha, keep fussing with the Imperial build system if you want, and when you're all set, select me and we'll wrap up.
Completion[]
- Guardian Tank: Well, that concludes the lesson on base-building. Don't worry, the other ones will be shorter. Mostly. Let's shove off, lads. Commander, see you then.
[The Tsunami Tank fires at the Hammer Tank.]
- Hammer Tank: Ow!
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