Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Westwood Pacific | |
Electronic Arts | |
Windows | October 25, 2000 |
Metacritic | 84 |
Monetization | One-time game purchase, Expansion pack |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | Bird's-eye view, Isometric |
Controls | Multiple select, Point and select |
Genres | RTS |
Themes | Europe, North America, Africa, Oceania, Antarctica, Sci-fi, Space |
Series | Command & Conquer |
⤏ Go to series page | |
Command & Conquer | 1995 |
Command & Conquer: Red Alert | 1996 |
Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor | 1997 |
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun | 1999 |
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 | 2000 |
Command & Conquer: Renegade | 2002 |
Command & Conquer: Generals | 2003 |
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars | 2007 |
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 | 2008 |
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising | 2009 |
Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight | 2010 |
OpenRA [unofficial] | 2010 |
Command & Conquer [2013] | Cancelled |
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection | 2020 |
Renegade X [unofficial] | 2014 |
Key points
Small but dedicated community.General information
Availability[edit]
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later [see above for affected versions].Monetization[edit]
DLC and expansion packs
Explicitly requires the base game to be patched to v1.006. Bundled with the The First Decade and Ultimate Collection compilations. |
Essential improvements[edit]
Patches[edit]
Patch 1.006 for Red Alert 2 fixes general bugs, network and exploit issues - available from CNCNZ.com, C&C Labs, Patches-Scrolls and GameFront. Patch 1.001 for Yuri's Revenge fixes bugs, crashes and a problem when multiple CD drives are plugged in - available from CNCNZ.com, C&C Labs, Patches-Scrolls and GameFront. Both patches are already included in The First Decade and The Ultimate Collection releases.CnCNet YR Client[edit]
Download link Requires the Yuri's Revenge expansion patched to version 1.001. Includes a variety of custom graphics renderers, each fitting different configurations: cnc-ddraw, ts-ddraw, DDrawCompat and DxWnd. Settings changes apply to the main executables of Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge.Game data[edit]
Configuration file[s] location[edit]
Save game data location[edit]
Save game cloud syncing[edit]
Video[edit]
In-game options screen.
Widescreen resolution[edit]
Regardless of the settings applied, the Yuri's Revenge main menu is hardcoded to 800x600. These changes apply to the in-game resolutions of the base game and expansion, as well as the base game main menu.
[Video] ScreenHeight=XXXX ScreenWidth=XXXX Where |
This will let you change the resolution in the game menu to any supported by your computer. |
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Input[edit]
In-game key map settings.
Audio[edit]
The Traditional Chinese versions have forced subtitles enabled in-game due to the presence of subtitle.ini [RA2] and subtitlemd.ini [YR] which other versions do not have.
| |
Localizations
Fan translation and full dubbing by TSF, download. |
Network[edit]
In-game network settings.
Multiplayer types
8 | Versus, Co-op Uses IPX protocol. Requires a LAN patch to be replaced with UDP [ModDB, CNCNZ.com]. Alternatively, the CnCNet YR client includes its own workaround. | |
8 | Versus, Co-op Lobbies point to XWIS by default since 2005 as part of an agreement with EA. CnCNet is a more popular alternative. |
Connection types
Ports
3840, 4005, 4808, 4810, 4995, 7000-7002 |
1234-1237 |
Issues fixed[edit]
String manager failed to initialize properly[edit]
This issue manifests as an error window reading "***FATAL*** String Manager Failed to Initialize Properly".
|
"Player already has the same serial" error[edit]
This issue most often occurs when using the Command & Conquer Ultimate Collection version from Origin.
|
Auto-defeat after 30 seconds[edit]
Is triggered by DRM, even on legitimate installations.See "Player already has the same serial" error |
Fully re-install the game with administrator privileges in hopes the registry keys will be correctly created. |
Black screen with switchable graphics[edit]
This occurs when the game engine tries to render in VRAM.
If the problem persists only in Yuri's Revenge when exiting from playing to the menu, try to set renderer=opengl in |
Download Aqrit's ddwrapper and extract the FakeVsync = 1 NoVideoMemory = 1 Alternatively, simply download and extract the contents of this preconfigured fix into the RA2 folder. Also, consider using the performance fix as well. |
Game is purple/green colored and displays only on the other half of the screen[edit]
This happens sometimes on newer versions of Windows [7 and above]. Use any of the renderers that come with the CnCNet client or use the manual method from above.
Some Windows elements flicker from behind the game[edit]
This happens if you have downloaded Aqrit's ddwrapper and extracted the ddraw.dll
and aqrit.cfg
files into the RA2 folder and have set the ForceDirectDrawEmulation
to
"1". To fix this, set ForceDirectDrawEmulation
to "0":
ForceDirectDrawEmulation = 0
Alternatively, use any of the renderers that come with the CnCNet YR client or use the manual method from above.
Lag/low FPS[edit]
Notes cnc-ddraw applies this fix |
Game runs too fast[edit]
This will allow players to manually re-set game speed in missions like in the previous title. Make sure the in-game "Game Speed" slider is adjusted properly."Normal" game speed is "Fast" 30 FPS. "Real" speed is "Slow" 15 FPS; 1 second in-game equals 1 second in real-life at 15 FPS. 60 FPS is Game Speed 5 "Faster".
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Restore command-line argument support [The Ultimate Collection version][edit]
The Ultimate Collection on Origin was released with no support for mods or command line arguments. An unofficial patch that provides a slight enhancement to the default launchers provided with the Origin release [fixes some registry entries and allows
command line arguments to function properly]. Previous fixed launchers from Bibber were not available and supported for a while at Bibber's own request, but can be downloaded again from his site. As support and availability is
unknown, it is advised to remove those and replace them with Medstar's ones.
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Other information[edit]
API[edit]
7 |
Middleware[edit]
Bink Video | |
Westwood Online |
FinalAlert [map editor][edit]
- The latest version of FinalAlert 2 [YR 1.02] is available from CNCNZ, Project Perfect Mod, ModDB, CnCLabs, and GameFront. Despite the version name, it can work with and without the Yuri's Revenge expansion.
Hero units in "Hollywood and Vain" mission lack their unique lines[edit]
Yuri's Revenge patch 1.001 replaced the voice lines of movie star characters in Allied mission 2 with those of regular GIs for unknown reasons.System requirements[edit]
95, 98, NT 4.0, ME | 2000 |
Intel Pentium II 266 MHz | Intel Pentium II 450 MHz |
64 MB | 128 MB |
350 MB additional 350 MB for expansion | |
2 MB of VRAM DirectX 7.0a compatible |
Notes
- ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[2]
- ↑ 2.0
2.1 2.2 When running this game without elevated privileges [Run as administrator option], write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMDATA%
, or%WINDIR%
might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later [more details].
References
- ↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
- ↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2022-08-10 Common method used in the 2000s.
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2022-08-10
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2022-08-10
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2022-08-10 Common method used in the 2000s.
- ↑ //www.stuffhost.de/files/cnc/CnCPatcher.html
- ↑ //cnc-comm.com/community/index.php?topic=2132.0
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2021-10-14
- ↑ Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge - Hollywood and Vain Action Hero Voice Restore Mod - last accessed on 2020-01-25