Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Template:Infobox Command & Conquer (series) Key points

3.03p-Iran patch as it brings back LAN functionality, replaces officially-supported XWIS servers with more populated CnCNet online service, adds high resolutions, Counterstrike and Aftermath missions, eliminates CD-checking and offers better Windows (32 and 64-bit) and Wine compatibility besides fixing a great number of bugs.

France and England are still debuffed in multiplayer; England has thinner instead of thicker armor and France has a slower instead of faster rate of fire.

In order to play online with CnCNet, start the game with cncnet.exe. To play LAN, start the game as usual.

General information

Multiplayer guides

CNCNZ subforum

CnC-Comm subforum (+Maps)

Official EA subforum

Availability

Windows

Instructions

Game is also bundled with other games in the franchise on Command & Conquer: The First Decade or newer The Ultimate Collection.

Improvements

Patches

3.03p-Iran

This patch contains:

• Latest official 3.03 patch and 3.03p-Iran patch along with other community fixes
• Support for newer Windows systems and Mac/Linux through emulation
• Online (provided by CnCNet) and LAN playability up to 8 players
• High-resolution graphics
• No-CD setting
• Missions from Counterstrike and Aftermath expansions

You can find the list of full changes in the changelog.

Compatibility mode, 256 colors and 640x480 should be turned OFF in the compatibility tab.

It is not recommended to install CnCNet alone as most players use 3.03 version and the patch installs CnCNet anyway.

You need to have .Net Framework installed for RedAlertConfig to work. You can download it from Filehippo servers.

Movies and music from PS1 Retaliation and music from the expansions ("Music Add-on") can be downloaded from redalert95.tk.

Video settings

These are video and input settings in the fanmade patch.

Network Settings

There are 2 online services to choose for Red Alert: XWIS and CnCNet. XWIS is officialy-supported by EA and works internally by clicking the "Internet" button. On the other hand, CnCNet is supported by the CnCNet community and runs by executing cncnet.exe which boosts a player into "Network" screen. CnCNet is also much more popular with over 100 players playing every day; that's why the patch and the fan download has CnCNet. Unfortunately, XWIS and CnCNet can't coexist for now so CnCNet settings are presented in this section.

In order to play the game online with CnCNet, you can choose two main options: peer-to-peer or tunneled mode. Generally, peer-to-peer is faster, but may need some network configuration. There are 2 options of doing this:

1. Automatic setup by CnCNet Tester with instructions below.
2. Manual setup (instructions here).

Instructions

Issues Fixed

If you have an issue, be sure to check this FAQ first.

General fix

Instructions

RedAlertConfig won't run

Instructions

Game speed/Map Scroll Rate issue

Instructions

"Unable to set video mode" error

Instructions

Mac/Linux Emulation

This game usually performs well in Wine.

This is an emulation guide for the fan-made packs, not for the ISOs or CDs.

This is a guide to emulation using PlayonLinux/PlayonMac and can be also set on Wine with same configuration.

You need to have Mono installed for RedAlertConfig to work.

1. Download PlayonMac or PlayonLinux and install it.
2. Open, click "Install" and then "Install a non-listed program" at the bottom.
3. Choose "Install a program in a new virtual drive" and then check "Configure Wine" (Name of the virtual drive doesn't matter)
4. In the libraries tab, add ddraw.dll and wsock32.dll to override list; write them and click Add (one at a time).
5. After configuring Wine, select the executable and extract the game.
6. Add shortcuts for RA95.exe and CnCNet.exe (and RedAlertConfig.exe for configuration).
7. Run RedAlertLauncher.exe under Mono. If it doesn't work run under Wine ra95.exe directly or cncnet.exe for online play.

General Information

Open-source implementation

OpenRA is an implementation that is multiplatform. It has a completely reimagined interface, supports high resolutions and is most supported. However,it only has multiplayer and music has to be put separately into its Aplication Data folder.

Multiple languages

C&C patch also supports multiple languages. They can be found here under language packs section. You only need these if you applied the patch above. Currently available languages are (besides English) German, French, Spanish and Russian.

Total conversions

There are some total conversions of the game that are quite neat. There's a Red Alert 3 conversion called The Red Alert.

Maps

Red Alert has support for external maps, both multiplayer and singleplayer. Links for them is at the beginning of this article as well as one map archive here. There's even a map creator you can find here.