I just hopped onto the multiplayer server of Command & Conquer Renegade game and thought I’d share some tips and tricks for navigating your way around.
So, let’s talk about spawning and purchase terminals. Ever wondered what happens when you respawn or how to upgrade your character class? Well, look no further!
Within your base, you’ll find Purchase Terminals that let you switch classes and buy vehicles. But, there’s more as I’ll also cover how to earn credits, understand buildings’ functions, and even some communication tips.
Also see -> How to update Command & Conquer Renegade
Spawning and Purchase Terminals
Whether you’ve just joined the server or have just died, you’ll respawn in your base, inside one of the buildings. Within each of the buildings are Purchase Terminals which allow you to change your character class and purchase vehicles, amongst other things.
Each team has 4 character classes they can choose to play as for free. Simply go up to any of your team’s Purchase Terminals, press the action key, and you can pick from there.
There are an additional 10 character classes you can pick too, but they’ll cost you credits. Similarly, if you want a vehicle, you’ll usually need to buy one from here too.
How to get credits
There are three main ways to get money:
The Harvester
Somewhere in the map will be at least one Tiberium field: a green, poisonous, crystallised swamp. At the start of the game, a large truck-like vehicle called the Tiberium Harvester will spawn in your base and drive itself out to the Tiberium field.
After collecting Tiberium there for a few moments, it’ll then drive itself back to a building inside your base called the Tiberium Refinery, and unload what it collected. Once unloaded, it’ll then head back to the Tiberium field and repeat the process.
Each time the harvester returns and unloads Tiberium into your refinery, everyone in your team gets credits. Typically, a good few hundred each time. So long as both your Tiberium Refinery and harvester aren’t destroyed, this is probably the main way you’ll get money in the game.
If the enemy team destroys your harvester, you’ll lose out on whatever it collected, but don’t worry too much- a replacement harvester will automatically spawn in your base (so long as your vehicle-producing building hasn’t been destroyed!) and head out again.
If the enemy team destroys your refinery, your harvester will self-destruct and you no longer have this method of getting credits.
The Refinery
As long as your team’s refinery hasn’t been destroyed, everyone on your team will also get a very slow incremental flow of credits coming in. But if the enemy team manages to destroy your refinery, this will stop too.
Playing the game
Every time you damage/kill an enemy player/vehicle/building, every time you repair one of your team’s vehicles/buildings, not only do you get points, but you get credits.
You might also get credits from random crates found on the battlefield or through teammates using the donate command. More on that later.
Buildings and their functions
- You have your goal: destroy the enemy’s base.
- You know you can buy character classes/vehicle to help you do that.
- You know how to get the cash to fund those upgrades/buy those vehicles.
…but what do you the other buildings in the base do, and which enemy building do you attack first?
Understanding what each building does for each team and how it affects their game choices/plans will go a long way, and adds to the unique RTS-inspired nature of the game.
GDI Advanced Guard Tower (AGT) / Nod Obelisk
Your base will often have one of these towering structures at the entrance or in the middle of the base. It’s an automatic base defense building, which fires at the other team if they get too close.
Destroy this, and the enemy team will have to actively defend their base from approaching tanks/infantry. Sneaking into their base will be easier, too, since these buildings usually prevent infantry from approaching altogether.
GDI Infantry Barracks / Hand of Nod
This building allows you to upgrade your character class beyond the 4 free ones. Destroy the enemy’s building, and you’ll cut off their ability to purchase those pesky sniper classes or advanced engineer characters.
GDI Weapons Factory / Nod Airstrip
You need this building to be able to purchase and spawn vehicles. Fairly self-explanatory. A sometimes overlooked aspect of destroying this building is the harvester; without their vehicle-producing building, the enemy team’s harvester won’t respawn if you destroy it, severely hampering them.
Likewise, if your vehicle-producing building is destroyed, protect your harvester!
Tiberium Refinery
See the ‘How to get credits’ section on the impact of having this building alive.
Power Plant
If the enemy destroys your power plant, all character, and vehicle purchase prices are doubled. In addition, your base defense building (the AGT or Obelisk) no longer works… rending it a sitting duck.
For this reason, the power plant is often a sought-after target, as it’s a double-impact for the enemy if you destroy it.
Repairs and MCTs
Repair guns
One of the most common characters to play as in the game is the Engineer, who is equipped with a repair gun. Fire the repair gun at one of your team’s buildings/vehicles/characters to restore their health. You can also fire the repair gun at an enemy’s C4 to disarm it.
Each team has an “advanced engineer” class (GDI Hotwire / Nod Technician) whose repair gun works at double the rate; so repairs are twice as effective and disarms twice as fast.
The MCT
Each building has a Master Control Terminal inside it. The MCT is a sort of critical/weak spot in the building where damage or repairs are more effective.
For example, placing C4 on the MCT of an enemy building is far more effective than planting the C4 on the walls of the building itself.
Likewise, firing your repair gun at the MCT of a friendly building is far more effective at restoring its health than firing your repair gun anywhere else in/at the building.
Beacons
Each team has a special weapon they can purchase called the beacon. It is always available to purchase from any Purchase Terminal in your base and always costs 1000 credits. When equipped, your character can ‘plant’ the beacon where they are standing by holding down the fire mouse button.
If you’re GDI, you’d be placing an Ion Cannon Beacon. Roughly 30 seconds after placing the beacon, what could best be described as a giant blue laser will blast down from the sky right on the beacon’s position, destroying anything in one blast… most notably buildings.
For Nod, you’d be placing a Nuclear Strike Beacon. Again, after about 30 seconds, a tactical bomb lands on where you placed the beacon, destroying anything in one blast. These beacons are often used to destroy enemy buildings, but there is some planning involved.
Aside from the high cost of purchasing the beacon, and the ability to get into the enemy base unharmed to plant the beacon, when you do manage to plant the beacon everyone in the game hears an announcement that a beacon has been placed. A countdown announcement will be initiated too.
Players nearby will be hearing a beeping noise, helping them find the beacon, and enemy engineers can use their repair guns to disarm the beacon.
Just like a C4, it’ll take them a few seconds of firing their repair gun at the beacon to disarm it, but if they do- no ion cannon or nuke shows up, you’ve just wasted your efforts and the enemy team will have earned some credits/points for disarming it.
Finally, you might recall one of the three ways of winning the game was to place a beacon on the enemy team’s pedestal and successfully keep the enemy from disarming it.
The pedestal is a small platform, almost always located inside the GDI Infantry Barracks/Hand of Nod. If you manage to ‘ion’ or ‘nuke’ the enemy’s pedestal, your team automatically win the game, regardless of points or amount of buildings destroyed.
Communication
Renegade unfortunately doesn’t have built-in voice channels to coordinate with your team, but many servers have TeamSpeak/Discord or other means of facilitating it.
Aside from this, Renegade’s primary means of communication are:
- F2, chat to everyone in the server
- F3, chat to everyone on your team
- Radio commands
To send a private message to a specific person, press F3 then type / followed by the player’s name. Press space, then type your message and press return.
For example, pressing F3 then typing /jimmy you noob would send “you noob” to Jimmy.
The radio commands are 30 preset voice commands you can say that your team will hear. For example, pressing Alt + 4 will make you issue the radio command “Follow me”.
A small icon will also appear above the person who issued the command to help distinguish who said it.
Here is the list of commands:
Ctrl + 1: Building needs repair
Ctrl + 2: Get in the vehicle
Ctrl + 3: Get out of the vehicle
Ctrl + 4: Destroy that vehicle
Ctrl + 5: Watch where you’re pointing that
Ctrl + 6: Don’t get in my way
Ctrl + 7: Affirmative
Ctrl + 8: Negative
Ctrl + 9: I’m in position
Ctrl + 0: Enemy spotted
Alt + 1: I need repairs
Alt + 2: Take the point
Alt + 3: Move out
Alt + 4: Follow me
Alt + 5: Hold position
Alt + 6: Cover me
Alt + 7: Take cover
Alt + 8: Fall back
Alt + 9: Return to base
Alt + 0: Destroy it now
Ctrl + Alt + 1: Attack the base defences
Ctrl + Alt + 2: Attack the harvester
Ctrl + Alt + 3: Attack that structure
Ctrl + Alt + 4: Attack the refinery
Ctrl + Alt + 5: Attack the power plant
Ctrl + Alt + 6: Defend the base
Ctrl + Alt + 7: Defend the harvester
Ctrl + Alt + 8: Defend that structure
Ctrl + Alt + 9: Defend the refinery
Ctrl + Alt + 0: Defend the power plant
Client and Server Commands
Client Commands
The first time you join a game in Renegade, press the ` key (to the left of 1, above the tab key). This will open the client command prompt. In there, type FPS and press enter.
You’ll now see your frames per second and server ping information, which can be informative if there’s performance issues.
Usually when you join a server you’ll start off in first-person view. Press the F key to switch between first and third person view (Renegade is primarily a third-person shooter).
Press the Tab key to toggle the player list. It can be useful to see who on your team has credits, as well as their stats.
Server Commands
This differs from server to server, but you can usually press F2 and type the following commands for some helpful features:
!td
This donates all your credits evenly amongst your team. If you add a space then a number after it, the server will donate only the specified amount.
For example if you have 3500 credits and type !td 1000 then 1000 of your credits will be donated evenly amongst your team.
!d Jimmy 500
This donates a player called Jimmy 500 credits. If you don’t put a number at the end, the server donates ALL your credits.
!rec Jimmy Being a team player
When you join the server you’ll be introduced in the chat by the server and the amount of recommendations you have will be shown.
The server automatically gives you recommendations for doing thins beneficial to your team, but players themselves can also aware you a recommendation by using the above command.
In this example, I am awarding a player called Jimmy a recommendation, and the reason given is “Being a team player”
!help
This shows the list of commands you can use. If you can’t read the list fast enough, press the U key and you’ll see the chat history
