Red Alert 1 Released As Freeware 105
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.
C&C: Total Failure (Score:3, Interesting)
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!
Re:C&C: Total Failure (Score:5, Insightful)
Point noted but collection packs are nice ways of legally getting all the old games and having a complete collection that doesn't take up a lot of space. Some even update the game to run on newer operating systems.
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Releasing the game as freeware is also useful for those who bought the game when it was first released and lost the CDs.
It really would have been nice if they'd also released it via BitTorrent. I guess they dont want to do that because its easier to sue BT tracker websites if it doesn't have as many legal uses.
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Not everyone is out to get you and sabotage the new economy (though the RIAA is).
It's possible that they just want to collect data on how much demand there is for old "classic" games. This is one thing you absolutely cannot reliably get from BitTorrent or other p2p, and I can think of several ways the data could be useful. Getting marketing data for the cost of bandwidth is practically free.
Re:C&C: Total Failure (Score:4, Informative)
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Thanks for the link, it was interesting.
Still, they probably want to have a clear click-through agreement before the download, giving them legitimacy to C&D anyone else offering the files.
Another possibility is that EA themselves doesn't want their downloads slowed/blocked by overzealous ISPs thinking they are music downloads. How ironic that would be in face of this conspiracy theory.
In short there are many, many explanations more reasonable than EA wanting to sabotage the bittorrent protocol by not of
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... Getting marketing data for the cost of bandwidth is practically free.
and getting marketing data for the cost of other people's bandwidth is practically free-er!
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Releasing the game as freeware is also useful for those who bought the game when it was first released and lost the CDs.
That would be me. They're not also releasing the audio CD with all the music on it as well are they?
Re:C&C: Total Failure (Score:4, Informative)
Some even update the game to run on newer operating systems.
Freeware doesn't necessarily mean you have access to the source code. Just try running some ancient Linux games released binary-only on a modern system. If I recall, Sim City 3k was one of these. Lost to the abyss.
To save a game for history, source needs to be out there. Dungeons of Daggorath [wikipedia.org] is a fine example of this. Originally released in 1982, and still going strong in 2008. Well, "strong" being relative to it's sales back in the day compared to number of folks who don't have a problem compiling a game nowadays.
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Thats why we also have to keep a backlog of old OS's
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Just try running some ancient Linux games released binary-only on a modern system. If I recall, Sim City 3k was one of these. Lost to the abyss.
Crappy solution to the binary problem, but shouldn't it be possible to run it in an old distro virtualbox or similar? I don't know if any of the current VMs do it, but with open source on both sides of the VM it should be possible to "patch it through" to modern hardware for graphics acceleration, if that's even needed on the old games.
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Freeware doesn't necessarily mean you have access to the source code.
I think if you re-read the post you'd see they were referring to the possibility of the original creators updating the games when they release a collection pack.
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>>To save a game for history, source needs to be out there.
[[Citation Needed]]
You provided a "fine example" of this, but I can still find ways to play all sorts of games (some of them are abandoned) and still enjoy them without ever once having had access to the source.
I'm pretty pro open source but let's work on honesty.
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Freeware doesn't necessarily mean you have access to the source code. Just try running some ancient Linux games released binary-only on a modern system. If I recall, Sim City 3k was one of these. Lost to the abyss.
True that I'd rather have source, but binary-only doesn't mean gone forever. Most distros (I use Gentoo, which does this) have a Loki-compatibility package, much in the same way as you would have a Linux Standard Base package, which contains all the binary versions of libraries that you would need for the program to run. Then you write a shell script wrapper for the game (again, Gentoo does this for you) that sets LD_LIBRARY_PATH to where the compatibility libraries are, and everything runs smoothly.
I've
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I've been playing Descent 3 like this on my modern laptop for the past 2 years.
Thanks for backing my point up. Yes, it helps when the source code is released:
The source code to the original Descent (minus the audio code, which was replaced with the Allegro project) was released in 1997. The source code to Descent II was subsequently released in 1999[2].
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_(computer_game) [wikipedia.org]
The method you cite stops working the day Loki decides to close it's doors and the Linux kernel makes another step forward in it's evolution.
Loki shut down 6yrs ago (Score:1)
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?
Re:C&C: Total Failure (Score:5, Funny)
So kudos to EA!
My guess is this is the second least common statement on slashdot next to "I just got laid last night".
The rarest thread ever in 5...4...3... (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:The rarest thread ever in 5...4...3... (Score:5, Funny)
It doesn't count as getting laid unless there was more than one person involved. And the people on your computer screen don't count as being "involved".
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We at the Delinquent American Youth Getting Laid Only With Sword-Wielding Animated Monitor-Presented Youthful Busty Redheads Association of America Dot Org Foundation (DAYGLOWSWAMPYBRAA.org Foundation) are appalled with the above statement. We will seek all legal remedies available against this libel.
--Bob Bobson, DAYGLOWSWAMPYBRAA.org Foundation, LLC, LLLP
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Does it count if it involves three fingers? If so, last Thursday was a good day for me.
There, fixed it for you.
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I just moved out of my mom's basement.
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So kudos to EA!
My guess is this is the second least common statement on slashdot next to "I just got laid last night".
Queue posts from all 3 Slashdotters who have girlfriends.
I kid... I kid.
Plenty of slashdotters have wives and girlfriends. They are just too busy taking out the trash, and rubbing feet to post.
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Or getting here late 'cause Helga is finally sleeping...
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Burning and installing.. well that's another issue. Made 3 coasters with one burner, switched machines, burnt a working copy, installed with the original "problem" burner, installed the patch, rebooted, and crash to desktop. Guess I'll have to put an older machine together for this one. I don't think this likes sli.
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Re:C&C: Total Failure (Score:4, Insightful)
>1. The Tiberium Dawn link does not render correctly in Webkit. (Read: Google Chrome)
Renders perfectly in Opera, so who cares. Maybe you'll think twice before using the fruity browser next time ;)
>2. The Red Alert download link uses HTTP transfers rather than Bittorrent for 2x500MB files. And it was just posted on Slashdot.
Thankfully. This way I don't have to double the traffic through my slow DSL+WiFi link.
>3. I just purchased the C&C Collection Pack, you insensitive clods!
The First Decade includes pretty much every C&C game ever, so I guess you could say that your purchase just lost some value. However, you still get the game so the difference is negligible.
I've played most of the the Tiberium C&C games soon after they were released, but somehow missed the first Red Alert game, only starting with RA2. I've gone back the to it with the First Decade, and aside from some frustrations with the controls, it was a fun experience. Giving old games away for free is a great idea, even if it was not started by EA. At the cost of perhaps some additional compatibility coding and hosting, they get lots of good publicity (see this story above) and talk about their games (these comments), while gamers get to play the old games they loved to play or wanted to pay but missed, from a safe source.
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For the love of web standards and all that is holy, I care!
(/me jumps up and down trying to get attention)
That's one opinion. Personally, I prefer using Bittorrent to download large files. The experience is superior in my mind to a straight HTTP download. (Which is itself, surprisingly, superior to an FTP download. I blame poorly configured servers for that one.)
It wouldn't have kil
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Err... Download it and make it a .torrent?
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I run Linux you insensitive clod. but seriously why not open source it?
*Its so old their competitors arnt going to use the code to beat them
*It allows ports to other systems
*It could be used in other open source games (like ufo:ai uses quake2)
*It removes any need to support it
But
*They lose control
*An open source competitor could draw users away (unlikely)
*They have to clean up the code (no real need?)
*They don't own the code (does this apply to their own game?)
I realize i have a bias but with games this old
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Merry Christmas [dosbox.com], you insensitive clod!
DOSBox is simply an incredible emulator. I never thought I'd see the day when DOS would be as well emulated as the classic computers of yore. :-)
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If we were talking about general x86 DOS emulation, I would agree with you. But DOSBox is tuned for video games. Which makes it superior for game applications. Of course, I have been known to be wrong. :-)
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Re:C&C: Total Failure (Score:5, Informative)
I have literally /always/ had better performance with dosemu for games, with out it taking much CPU usage. Hence why I use it.
YMMV, I guess. I like dosemu, but it emulates DOS so well that I always end up revisiting my days of trying to get enough conventional memory going before I can start a game. DOSBox takes care of that. It's not dosemu's fault, it's a result of them being a full emulator. You can replace the freedos they supply with MS-DOS and it'll work.
DOSBox has all the drivers you need (like sound blaster and mouse) already "loaded" without actually taking up any memory that the DOS applications can see. So 640k ends up actually being enough for anyone :)
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Here's the link you really want: "Command & Conquer: Red Alert" [dosbox.com]
Looks like someone has already mentioned some tweaks needed to get the EA-supplied rar running smoothly with dosbox.
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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.
Bateria? Oh noes!!!!
Batman: Quick Alfred, we need some kind of gadget to get rid of bateria?
Alfred: Aye commander
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2. The Red Alert download link uses HTTP transfers rather than Bittorrent for 2x500MB files. And it was just posted on Slashdot.
Yeah, fucking morons. Clearly they should use a transfer method that is blocked or QoS'd to shit almost everywhere. Also one that requires you to upload a lot, which screws up voip, etc, on the line.
If they can handle the load (they could and speeds were decent) and if they are willing to pay for the bandwidth costs, more power to them. Why are you bitching again?
Another one free? (Score:2)
I just* purchased "The First Decade [ea.com]", 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.
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Christ, couldn't they just use one?
Out of curiosity, why are you asking Christ? I'm pretty sure he wasn't involved in the development of this collection.
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Well Christ is meant to be God, and God is meant to be omniscient, so despite the fact he wasn't involved, he should be able to answer the question.
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FYI, if you don't plan on playing online, the same key will work to install Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2. (I only say this since you are allowed 2 instances of a key online at the same time, and installing both games with one will end up with 4..)
On the bright side, after installing from Decade a lot of the games don't require the disc to be in the drive anymore.
ugh.... (Score:1)
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What's worse than her being dumb is that she is fucking blonde. For fucks sake, the original Tanya was brunette.
How could EA fuck the C&C universe this bad?
At least dye the bitch's hair.
Is a little bit of continuity too much to ask for?
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The problem would seem to be that Jenny McCarthy is also a brunette. It's terribly difficult to dye hair back to its original color over the top of an existing dye job. Take a look at any of her nudes. You can tell she has dark roots up top if you look carefully in lots of shots, but it's dark brown downstairs.
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That makes things so much better.
two discs? (Score:2)
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?
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Re:two discs? (Score:5, Informative)
Red Alert used a fsckton of FMV, so they split the campaigns over two discs. Plus, it made an excuse for Westwood to pack two discs, so a friend could play RA when they came to your place for a LAN party or something.
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--
"I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
Where is that quote from?
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http://twitter.com/segphault/statuses/893689301 [twitter.com]
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As eddwee said, each disc has a separate campaign. It was done as an early form of game sharing, long before the advent of downloading playable game stubs over WiFi. If you wanted to play a modem game with a friend, you could give them one of the two CDs and you could both play. Otherwise they probably would have crammed everything onto a single CD.
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The real fun is the Rules.ini file. Google it and you will unlock an entirely new world in RA that was unimaginable!
For fun, change the soviet dog's attack type to the scud missile or tesla coil! It's hours of fun
sweet (Score:3, Funny)
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--
So who is hotter? Ali or Ali's Sister?
RA2 is not a download (Score:1)
Command and Conquer is free too (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.gamershell.com/news_41337.html [gamershell.com]
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.
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My only issue is that they Don't Release the expansions. Tiberian Dawn had 1 expansion an RA had 2. But there is no longer any way to buy those without also buying a copy of these now free games.
It is the full dos / windows 95 disks get the 3.03 (Score:3, Informative)
get the 3.03 update http://planetcnc.gamespy.com/View.php?view=RedAlert.Detail&id=186 [gamespy.com]
http://www.cncnz.com/files/redalert/patches.php [cncnz.com]
What is the network/multiplayer support like? (Score:2)
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?
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Has anyone written a program to trick it into working properly via the Internet? --
Someone did that about a decade ago [kali.net], fortunately it is still available, for $20 for pretty much forever.
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Man, that's the longest $20 (or less) that I've paid for shareware that's still available going forward... it's actually longer than a decade - close to a decade and a half! (And I still remember the initial requests for help with a Mac port in basically replacing MacIPX).
Trivia: It was originally written to allow people to
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I remember fighting this with Yuri's Revenge - you had to go in and set the MAC address of your card in the options somewhere. My mind is a bit fuzzy on this, but we got it working; maybe there's a dropdown?
Everyone has to have their settings right, or random people either won't see the game or can't be a server etc.
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Yeah, there are so many variables that it's nigh-on impossible to get them all right on every computer. For unknown reasons wireless seems to screw things up even more severely...
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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.
Love these old games (Score:1, Funny)
Damn... (Score:1)
Installation Help (Score:1, Informative)
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
Free software would be better (Score:2)
You can run it on linux... (Score:5, Informative)
- 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 [sourceforge.net] (haven't tried it though)
Happy world domination!
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Try this link for Wine.
http://www.winehq.org/ [winehq.org]
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Try this link for Wine.
http://www.winehq.org/ [winehq.org]
It was just a typo, but thanks for correcting anyway.
Incidentally, I've made a standalone installer using the BitRock InstallBuilder [bitrock.com].
The resulting package is neat, small (318 MB), includes it's own copy of wine, and even comes with an uninstaller.
If I find a suitable hosting solution I will share the link here.
Cheers, XnPlater
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It's http://www.winehq.org/ [winehq.org], not http://www.wine.org/ [wine.org]...
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Option C: Dosbox
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Command & Conquer: Red Alert linux installer [megaupload.com]
Cheers, XnPlater
At least it's free (Score:2)
Unless they've fixed it (I'm a bit clueless on it tbh) it runs like a million times too fast on modern PCs.
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I have the Win95 version from A Long Time Ago, and it ran fine under vista.