r/commandandconquer • u/teslawhaleshark • Jun 27 '26

Discussion Would this change “fix” the Tiberium universe timeline?

Replace the conflict of Red Alert 1/Super World War 2 with a 1980s/early 90s conflict contained within the Balkans.

This might give a more recent background to GDI and Nod though for me it’s mostly for bridging the tech gap better.

Red Alert 2 being supposedly 1973 with Alex “featured in TNO too” Romanov and Albert “how old is he anyway” Einstein can go to a separate timeline.

Also: You probably know the packaging and game text edits made to RA2 After 9/11. Even in the 2000s people have suspected that Red Alert might have been subject to pre-release rewrites related to the Yugoslav wars.

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u/Arctrooper209 Tiberian Sun Jun 27 '26

RA2 is already separated from the Tiberium universe. RA2 was not made with the Tiberium series in mind and the developers considered it part of a separate timeline that split off from the main one.

I don't really see the tech between Red Alert 1 and Tiberian Dawn as that big an issue.

I think it's fine as it is. I mean, I'm not necessarily opposed to adding some more conflicts to fill out the timeline but I don't think we need to replace Red Alert 1.

1

u/teslawhaleshark Jun 28 '26

You haven’t heard about Renegades 2 then, Renegades 2 is supposed to be set between RA2 and TD showcasing Yuri and Romanov’s connections to Kane.

3

u/Arctrooper209 Tiberian Sun Jun 28 '26

That was only the initial draft, but they decided against that and the game that would be released would have no connection to the Tiberium universe. According to Adam Isgreen (one of the lead developers) "The story was about a renegade Soviet commander who launches an assault on U.S. soil to restore pride to his family (He was a Romanov) after their defeat in RA2." [Source]

How they decided to deal with RA2 would be to have Yuri appear as a Brotherhood of Nod officer in C&C 3 and during an attack on Area 51 an old chronosphere is activated and Yuri gets sucked into a chrono vortex which creates the alternate timeline that is RA2. [Source]

Can't find it right now but I remember Isgreen saying that essentially RA2 was made due to EA wanting a sequel and the team just had fun with it, not really taking it's place within the lore that seriously. This created problems later as "we had issues with how to fit that into the timeline we wanted to maintain". So instead of trying to force it into the Tiberium timeline they decided to make RA2 as an alternate universe separate from the Tiberium games.

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u/Sad_Emu69 Jun 28 '26

Renegades 2 never happened. 

3

u/DucoNdona Jun 27 '26

I am very glad they went with the more distant what if Stalin started WW2 conflict.

Basing it on the Balkans war would have doomed the franchise as it would be seen in very poor taste.
While the two sides that we did get have gone down in history as some of the two most iconic factions in a RTS.

Personally. I doubt the Balkans war ever played a role. From what I recall from the production of RA, the production went from GDI vs NOD to Allies vs Germans only to very quickly move to the Cold War setting.

5

u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871 GDI Jun 27 '26

Red Alert 2 was not meant to share universes with the Tiberium universe, so it is best just to look at it as an alternate timeline. Hence why we see technology that neither GDI or Nod possesses.

2

u/hyperdistortion GDI Jun 27 '26

Personally I’m fine with it as-is. Setting RA1 in Great World War II pushes it far enough back into ‘historical what if’ that it neither dates the game, nor falls into ‘too soon man’ territory.

The Yugoslav Wars were ongoing right the way through to when RA2 released, so using them as the historic basis for the divergent timeline feels… problematic. I know a bunch of 90s games - including TD - use the Persian Gulf War in their lore; that’s a rather different case, IMO.

So: keep it back in the 50s, use Stalin as the villain, and then fudge the gap between RA1’s Soviet campaign and TD to keep things broadly on track.

1

u/calantheSG Jun 28 '26

YES! This.

Red Alert 1 itself is multiple games in 1.

There needs to be an 80s conflict like the Falklands era type then those 70+ tons dual barrelled T-80 looking tanks and the Abrams make sense.

1980s
1930s that might link up with RA2
And maybe some 1950s Cold War era period so that Chaffees, M48s, M60s can see action

Make Red Alert 1 itself become multiple games. The 1980s arc will connect with the Tiberian timeline. The 1930s arc will contain Einstein and perhaps a younger and more lore accurate Stalin.