Having a good strategy or build order and microing your units well are only two parts of succeeding in Red Alert 3. Another extremely important aspect is how you manage your money, especially early on in the game. Collecting resources and managing them within your means can dictate strategic decisions and the flow of the game. A wise player may not always have the best micro, but can over the long run win the game because they made better financial decisions.
Making Money – Accounts Receivable
Ore
Throughout the Red Alert Series, the main resource has always been ore. Ore was laid out in a nice field and the field shrunk as you collected it. A player could place multiple Ore Refineries around the patch and collect until the patch went dry. Multiple Ore Collectors could work one Refinery and bring in a booming stream of cash.
Red Alert 3 still relies on ore as the main resource, but it is now collected in a slightly different way. Ore is no longer spread out in a field where multiple collectors have open access to it, but is now scooped out from a mine. Only one collector can access an Ore Mine at a time, receiving $250 per load for a 10 second collection cycle or $1500 per minute. Having more than one collector per Ore Mine causes jams in the collection cycle over long periods of time, plus costs an extra $1400 for a second collector for the Empire and Soviets, and $1000 for the Allies. This significantly reduces the “Eco-Boom” factor from previous Command and Conquer titles where players would amass large amounts of cash quickly to spam out large numbers of units.
S.H.R.I.N.K. Ray and Ore Collectors
The Cryocopter’s S.H.R.I.N.K. Ray shrinks units making them weaker, but also faster. While using this on a Ore Collector increases its speed, it is still stuck at both the Ore Refinery and Ore Mine for a set period of time resulting in no change in the credit per income rate.
Oil
Red Alert 2 introduced the Oil Derrick as a secondary source of income, which starts as a neutral structure until captured by an Engineer. In Red Alert 3 when an Engineer captures an Oil Derrick, you receive a $500 capture bonus plus an additional $15 every two seconds. While it does not seem like a large amount of money at the beginning, the $15 every two seconds translates to $450 every minute you control the Oil Derrick. That translates to almost two extra Ore Collector cycles per minute which can add up even over a 10 minute game.
Enemy Oil Derricks – When to Capture and When to Destroy?
Keep in mind an enemy that has an Oil Derrick is also collecting $450 per minute. There are two options to denying your opponent this free resource: capture it for yourself or destroy it. Capturing an enemy Oil Derrick does not grant the $500 capture bonus a neutral Oil Derrick gives. Factoring in the cost of the Engineer, it takes 68 seconds to turn a profit on a captured enemy Oil Derrick. This is only a wise option if you can keep it under your control for longer than that. If you know you will not be able to keep it under control for that long, then it’s best to just destroy it.
Faction Specific Money Making
Both the Allies and the Soviets have extra means of getting extra income. These are mainly Secret Protocols, but the Soviets also have the Crusher Crane which allows them to scrap their units for spare cash. Empire does not have any protocols or structures that directly effect income, but have a different Secret Protocol which will be discussed later.
Allies
The Allies Secret Protocol Free Trade increases the Prospector’s carrying capacity by 30%, raising it to $312.50. That translates to $1875 per minute or an extra load and a half per minute. It has no effect on the speed the Prospector collects ore. This is the only Secret Protocol or Allied ability that directly effects income rates.
Selling Deployed Prospectors
The Allied Prospector is also the Allies expansion vehicle. Once you have successfully expanded and are not going to build more structures in the vicinity, sell your deployed Prospector for a $500 refund.
Soviets
The Soviets have a couple toys of their own to play with when it comes to making money. Like the Allies, they have a castable Secret Protocol, Cash Bounty, which allows them to gain money for destroyed units and structures. Once Cash Bounty is cast, there is a 30 second window to destroy enemy units. When a unit is destroyed, Cash Bounty will refund 25% back to the caster.
The second toy the Soviets have is their Crusher Crane. Not only does it give you an extra build queue and repair units, it also can be used to scrap units, much like the Grinder from Yuri’s Revenge. When an armor or naval unit is crushed, it will refund back 75% of the unit’s current value. This value is dependent on how much health is left, so more health translates to more money.
