Command & Conquer

Command & Conquer

Developers
	Westwood Studios
Publishers
Original	Virgin Interactive
Current	Electronic Arts
Release dates
DOS	August 31, 1995
Mac OS (Classic)	1995
Windows	March 10, 1997

Key points

Also titled as "Tiberian Dawn"

Re-released for free in 2007.

Command & Conquer Gold: Project 1.06 fan patch is highly recommended to install.

If you want a modernized C&C experience, check out OpenRA.

Language support can be further extended with language add-ons.

CD/ISO installer is 16-bit and doesn't run under modern systems; it's better to download fanmade installers instead.

General information

C&C Communications Center forums

CnCNet

Command & Conquer Wiki

Patch discussion

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
Origin		Bundled with other games in the franchise up to Tiberian Twilight.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Command and Conquer: The Covert Operations	Comes bundled with the The First Decade and Ultimate Collection compilations.

Unofficial downloads

OpenRA includes a modernized open-source version with its "Tiberian Dawn" mod.

CnCNet installer is a bare-bones version optimized for multiplayer (small size, portable). Missions, music and cutscenes are omitted. The music and map editor are downloadable inside the CnCNet settings.

Nyerguds' installer is a more fully-featured version which includes singleplayer missions (including Covert Operations and PSX/N64 missions) and soundtrack from the get-go. Cutscenes are available at Mod DB.

Essential improvements

1024x768 resolution with the Command & Conquer Gold: Project 1.06 compared to earlier versions.

Command & Conquer Gold: Project 1.06

Not needed for the unofficial packages.

This patch contains:

• A large amount of fixes (changelog)
• Support for newer Windows systems (including 64-bit)
• LAN and online playability up to 6 players (includes new CnCNet lobby)
• Support for higher resolutions
• No-CD option
• Missions from PSX and N64 versions and The Covert Operations

The site also offers Music Upgrade Pack if you installed the game through CDs/ISOs.

Support for regular installation, The First Decade and The Ultimate Collection.

Game data

External video settings (for the fan patch.)

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/row

System	Location

conquer.ini contains normal game settings.

ddraw.ini contains CnC-DDraw settings (added by the fan patch).

cncnet.ini contains CnCNet settings (added by the fan patch).

Save game data location

Template:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/row

System	Location

DOS save games not compatible with C&C Gold.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Origin

Video settings

External options menu (for the original release.)

External video settings (for the fan patch.)

In-game video settings.

Borderless fullscreen windowed

Set in ddraw.ini[citation needed]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open ddraw.ini. Set: windowed=true, width, height = equal to computer resolution, border=false Notes The resolution settings in ddraw only stretch the image; to set internal resolution, you need to run CCConfig.

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Set in ddraw.ini[citation needed]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open ddraw.ini. Set: opengl=true, vsync=true

Audio settings

External audio settings (for the fan patch.)

In-game audio settings.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French				Installed by patch 1.06, audio only from Fan mirror #2.
German				Installed by patch 1.06, audio only from Fan mirror #2.
Italian				Unofficial; use Language add-on.
Japanese				Installed by patch 1.06, audio only from Fan mirror #2.
Polish				Unofficial; use Language add-on.
Brazilian Portuguese				Partial audio; use Language add-on.
Spanish				Unofficial; use Language add-on.

C&C patch adds support for multiple languages. Download them from PCGamingWiki repository.

Network

External multiplayer settings (for the fan patch.)

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		6	Versus Use the Command & Conquer Gold: Project 1.06 fan patch to enable modern LAN support.
Online play		6	Versus The original multiplayer service is no longer available. Use the Command & Conquer Gold: Project 1.06 fan patch and CnCNet.org to re-enable support.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated		See: CnCNet.org
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues unresolved

This list assumes you've installed the patches. If you experience a new issue, please create a thread at the CnC-Comm forums.

• The game has some minor problems with missions that are smaller than the game resolution. This is nothing to be worried about, you can "fix" it by pressing Escape.
• When playing in any resolution higher than 640x400, you can't place buildings with a placement height of only one cell on the lowest row of cells on the map.

Issues fixed

If you have problems with The First Decade or The Ultimate Collection, be sure to check this FAQ at EA forums.

General fixes

If you have not found a fix, be sure to also check:

Check these if you haven't[citation needed]

If you have installed the patches properly. If everything in the compatibility tab is unchecked. If you have enabled "Back buffer in Video memory" and disabled "Allow hardware filled blits". If you may be able to initiate the game/lobby with administrator privileges. If you may be able to run it using a different renderer or enabling/disabling "singlecpu" in ddraw.ini If you may be able to run it by disabling cnc-ddraw (may introduce some other issues like scrambled colors).

Crash after overheating

Enable "singlecpu" in ddraw.ini

Game is laggy after installing the patch

Change the renderer in ddraw.ini

Game speed/Map scroll rate issue

Resolved by using frame-rate limiter in the fan patch, but this may cause an unresponsive in-game menu.^{[citation needed]}

Set the slider in-game[citation needed]
While in-game, press Esc to open a menu, press game controls and move the game speed slider to adjust the game speed or scroll rate slider to adjust the scroll speed.

"Unable to set video mode" error

Change the resolution[citation needed]
There are 2 ways how to fix this error: Change the resolution. Enable windowed mode. If you really want to play fullscreen, you might want to check how to enable Borderless fullscreen windowed mode.

No music in the CnCNet version

Go to CnCNet lobby and download the music in the settings[citation needed]

Scrambled colors (without ddraw.dll)

Ddraw.dll within the fan-patch already fixes that issue. However, if the game needs to run with ddraw.dll turned off and this appears, then this is for you.

Use palette fix[citation needed]
See Rainbow color problems in older games for solutions.

No videos after installing the patch

Download the videos[citation needed]
If you happen to have the game on CD, that means No-CD option is turned on. Either turn off the option, copy movies.mix from the CDs into the installation folder or just download the videos.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DirectDraw	3
DOS video modes	MCGA, VGA

Executable	PPC	16-bit	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Multiplayer	Westwood Online

Maps

C&C has support for external maps, both multiplayer and singleplayer.

CnCNet includes its own online map folder.

Map editors can be downloaded inside CnCNet's game options.

Cnc-Comm.com - Mapping discussion

Re-implementations

Thanks to dedicated C&C community, there are a couple of re-implementations and total conversion existing.

• OpenRA - Open Source recreation that tries to modernize the classic gameplay.

• C&C: Tiberian Dawn - HTML5 - Playable in browser, might run slowly, multiplayer-ready

Total conversions

• The Dawn of the Tiberium Age - mod for Tiberian Sun, has a completely new campaign, CnCNet supported
• Red Dawn - Red Alert
• Tiberian Dawn Redux - Generals

System requirements

DOS

Windows

Mac OS (Classic)

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	MS-DOS 5.0
Processor (CPU)	486 DX2 66 MHz	Intel Pentium 60 MHz
System memory (RAM)	8 MB	8 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	800 MB	800 MB
Video card (GPU)	MCGA video card	DirectDraw compatible video card 1 MB of VRAM

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium
System memory (RAM)	8 MB	16 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	40 MB
Video card (GPU)	1 MB of VRAM