Tiberium

“

Fields of green! —Nod Harvester

”

Tiberium is a mysterious crystalline material that arrived on Earth in 1995 and is the focus of the Tiberium universe.

It is the main resource in the Tiberium universe, having enough value when processed to directly fund armies. Tiberium comes in many different varieties and its effects on carbon-based organic matter has led to the creation of Tiberium wildlife.

Overview

In Twisted Insurrection, Tiberium is the primary means of earning money on the battlefield. Tiberium that can be harvested comes in three different varieties, listed from least to most valuable: Riparius, Vinifera, and Cruentus.

Fields of the green Riparius are abundant, and more Tiberium can be generated every minute by an indestructible blossom tree found in the middle of a Riparius field. Vinifera and Cruentus are generated every minute by an indestructible large crystal in the middle of their fields. Essentially, Tiberium is an infinite resource. However, not all Tiberium fields have a blossom tree or a central crystal. Note that if "Unlimited Tiberium" is set in the Game Options, then each individual isolated patches of Tiberium can grow more Tiberium, albeit slower than those around a blossom tree or a large crystal.

Tiberium can only be gathered by special vehicles called Harvesters. Producing more of these vehicles is critical to building a strong economy and getting more money, whether by producing them in War Factories or building a Tiberium Refinery, as each refinery comes with a harvester. Harvesters of each faction differ by the amount of Tiberium they can carry:

Cameo	Name	Riparius	Vinifera	Cruentus
	GDI Harvester	$875	$1575	$2275
	Nod Harvester	$625	$1125	$1625
	GloboTech Harvester	$750	$1350	$1950
	Twisted Dawn Harvester	$750	$1350	$1950

Once their storage is full, or ordered by their commander, the harvester will return to the nearest Tiberium Refinery (if one exists) to unload the Tiberium and process it immediately to fund the commander's war efforts.

If a harvester containing a Tiberium load is destroyed, a cloud of toxic Tiberium gas and a small patch of Riparius will be released, regardless of the original type of Tiberium that was harvested.

Because of its mutagenic effects on carbon-based life, it is lethal to most infantry that attempt to traverse through a field of Tiberium for too long; they will either die or horrifically mutate into a Juvenile Visceroid.

Lastly, wheeled vehicles will have their speed reduced when travelling through a Tiberium field.

Types

Riparius

Riparius is the most basic form of Tiberium. Its crystals are small and green in appearance, thus it is commonly referred to as "green Tiberium". Because it has a low level of leeched minerals, Riparius is considered to be the least valuable strain of Tiberium, albeit the most abundant and available. Riparius grows and spreads very fast.

The most common proliferator of the Riparius was the "blossom tree", which launched Tiberium spores (microscopic crystals) that eventually mature into Tiberium pods.

Its name comes from the Latin word rīpārius, meaning growing near a river, as this was the first type of Tiberium which arrived in the meteorite at the Tiber river.

Vinifera

After some time, developed Riparius crystals mature into Tiberium Vinifera, a more valuable, though volatile, strain of Tiberium. Although its crystals are about the same size as Riparius, Vinifera is also called "blue Tiberium" because of its crystals' blue coloration.

Since it has a much higher concentrated mineral density than the Riparius, it has greater economic value but is highly combustible and unstable. It detonates violently when brought into contact with fire or explosives.

Cruentus

Cruentus is a rare strain of Tiberium, being even more economically valued and volatile than Riparius and Vinifera. Cruentus fields are usually seen in the more desolate and uninhabitable parts of the world.

Traversing through and harvesting from a Cruentus field must handled with extreme caution, as any incendiary or explosive material can set off a very violent chain reaction even more devastating than that of a Vinifera field.

The word cruentus is Latin for "blood-red", fitting as its crystals are dark red in appearance.

Notes

Tiberium Arboreus

• Before version 0.8, Arboreus existed as the fourth Tiberium strain. It had a purple-violet appearance, and was the most valuable and volatile strain. Since the 0.8 update, Arboreus was removed, and all its fields in the maps have been replaced with Cruentus fields. For each faction's harvester, Arboreus was worth:
  • GDI Harvester: $2975
  • Nod Harvester: $2125
  • GloboTech Harvester: $2550
  • Twisted Dawn Harvester: $2550

See also

•  Tiberium at the Command & Conquer Wiki