Red Alert 1 Released As Freeware
Ciaran_H writes "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 1 was released as freeware on C&C's 13th anniversary. The Soviet and Allied CDs are available for download on EA's site. With the freeware release of the original Command & Conquer: Tiberium Dawn having taken place last year for the 12th anniversary, two of the most popular RTS games are now available completely free."
EA is also offering a free download of Red Alert 2 with a pre-order of the upcoming Red Alert 3. The above link has a trailer for the new game, which includes appearances from George Takei, Tim Curry, Jenny McCarthy, and others.
Oh failure, let me count the ways:
1. The Tiberium Dawn link does not render correctly in Webkit. (Read: Google Chrome)
2. The Red Alert download link uses HTTP transfers rather than Bittorrent for 2x500MB files. And it was just posted on Slashdot.
3. I just purchased the C&C Collection Pack, you insensitive clods!
(Checks packaging)
Whew. Never mind. The C&C Collection Pack only has RA2. So thus I avoid the typical Slashdot failure!
Err... other than purchasing a "collection" that's missing the most defining games of the series that is. Hey! It was on sale! (pause) You know what? On second thought, let's just forget about the collection thing, shall we? It will be our little secret, Comrade. Da?
In all seriousness, I'm glad to see EA take this step. Old games are easily lost to the sands of time, the trials of moving, the march of operating systems, and the bateria that eats CDs. Embracing the "abandonware" mentality legally means that the game is preserved both physically and in the hearts and minds of the new generation of players. It also limits the ability of companies to continually repackage old works, thus forcing them to move forward with new titles rather than backward with the old. So kudos to EA!
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I just* purchased "The First Decade", you insensitive clods!
* well, okay, I've had it for over a year ... and it does have a few more C&C games than just TD and RA.
Ask me about repetitive DNA
The game trailer for Red Alert 3 literally made me cringe at the screen.
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" -Hunter S. Thompson
I never played this game before but my son likes Rise of Nations so I may give this a try. Why is there a Soviets CD and an Allies CD? Do you need one to play as NATO and the other as the Warsaw Pact or something like that? Is there a manual somewhere?
now I resume wasting hours of my life where I left off nearly a decade ago
I don't think RA2 is a download. I believe you get it with the game when it comes.
When EA releases C&C games as freeware, they really mean it. Back during the "12th anniversary" celebration, they released the Command and Conquer Gold. It's still free a year later.
http://www.gamershell.com/news_41337.html
C&C Gold and RA look about the same graphicswise, and they both require a little bit of configuration on modern machines to run smoothly (to run with sound and arrow keys working properly), but it's worth it.
get the 3.03 update http://planetcnc.gamespy.com/View.php?view=RedAlert.Detail&id=186
http://www.cncnz.com/files/redalert/patches.php
I just got laid last night.
df -h
Trying to get Red Alert 2 working on a network is a bitch because it uses IPX and wasn't made in a time when PCs typically had 2-3 networking devices.
Is Red Alert 2 any better, or (as I imagine) is it worse? Has anyone written a program to trick it into working properly via the Internet?
Read Pynchon.
I like playing these old games because they make my graphics card look huge.
I don't like it. RA2 is--maybe second to Starcraft, depends on my mood--my #1, desert-island RTS, but I find RA1 to be unplayable.
Thing is, I love the original C&C. RA2 plays too much like C&C, I think, but with worse units. The cutscenes are great and all, but the gameplay simply isn't there, IMO.
I already own C&C Red Alert. Oddly, I owned it for several months before realizing I did. I do not know how that happened at all, but it's right there on my shelf, and I even remember finishing it. So I'm going to pass.
The installer checks for 95/98, and I believe compatibility mode doesn't work (neither does DOS installer in W2K). There are two methods to get past this:
1. Copy files from INSTALL directory, apply 3.03 patch, then apply registry patch (and no-cd):
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Westwood\Red Alert Windows 95 Edition]
"Name"="Red Alert Windows 95 Edition"
"Version"=dword:00030003
"InstallPath"="INSTALL_PATH (i.e. C:\\WESTWOOD\\REDALERT\\RA95.EXE)"
"SKU"=dword:000003ed
"FolderPath"="START_MENU_PATH (i.e. C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Westwood\\Red Alert)"
2. (untested) Change HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\VersionNumber to appropriate number to fool installer.
No-CD: http://ra.afraid.org/html/downloads/fixes.html
Good to see the game being given as freeware, but free software would be better!
Option A: wine
- use winecfg to set windows version to 98.
- before installation copy the contents of CD1 (allied) to a local directory
- use winecfg to configure a cdrom drive (F: for example) to point to it
- further, in winecfg set the corresponding cdrom label to 'CD1'
- run the installer;
$ wine F:/SETUP95/INSTALL.EXE
- copy the included PATCH.* from the XP_Patch subdir to the REDALERT installation folder
- run the inlcuded update patch;
$ wine C:/WESTWOOD/REDALERT/PATCH.EXE
- run the game;
$ wine C:/WESTWOOD/REDALERT/RA95.EXE
Option B: freera (haven't tried it though)
Happy world domination!
:(){
It's so old and they don't want to support so that's why it's free which is cheeky considering it wasn't that long ago they included it in that C&C pack and charged you for it.
Unless they've fixed it (I'm a bit clueless on it tbh) it runs like a million times too fast on modern PCs.
I guess that means the Linux kernel hasn't evolved in that whole time eh?
Or you just don't know what your talking about. Or maybe you're trolling.
Anyone else feel like adding more options?
Nick