Command and Conquer Red Alert Question

[leeland]

I saw on the Wikipedia on this game that it is now freeware...

link

I was curious if you can play an internet game with a friend where one of us would host the game?

If anyone can let me know I would be grateful!

Thanks,
Lee

 

[CP5670]

You can play using Hamachi. I've done it before. The game itself can be somewhat unstable on modern computers though, especially with mods.

The most straightforward way is probably to use IPX, but that only works on XP and is a little tricky to set up. An alternative method is to get the obscure 3.03 beta patch (it should still be available somewhere) and an updated thipx32.dll for TCP support. The patch has a few issues of its own, however.

 

[BassBomb]

I've easily played RA2 via internet w/o Hamachi.

Not sure how RA is for that sort of thing.

 

[leeland]

huh...seems like a ton of mucking around to get it to work correctly...and even then you might run into issues...

 

[Maximilian]

RA on its own... no idea, my guess would be no.

If you have TFD (the first decade) which is a pack including all good c&c games (and some lousy ones) you can download the 1.03 patch that enables multiplayer play just by using the in game interface. I got railed the other week in a 1v1v1 where someone cheated So it does work. If you plan to use that 8800 card though you may have problems, 8xxx cards ususally cause RA1 to run extremely slowly when building stuff, this can be fixed by turning off the video memory buffer but the fix causes the scrolling speed to go crazy fast. Both are pretty irritating and i dont know of a way to slow down the scroll speed.

 

[bearxor]

Originally posted by: Maximilian
If you have TFD (the first decade) which is a pack including all good c&c games (and some lousy ones)

There are no lousy C&C games in TFD. Good thing they didn't include Sole Survivor!

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: bearxor

Originally posted by: Maximilian
If you have TFD (the first decade) which is a pack including all good c&c games (and some lousy ones)

There are no lousy C&C games in TFD. Good thing they didn't include Sole Survivor!

Generals and zero hour come with TFD, they suck.

 

[leeland]

Originally posted by: Maximilian

Originally posted by: bearxor

Originally posted by: Maximilian
If you have TFD (the first decade) which is a pack including all good c&c games (and some lousy ones)

There are no lousy C&C games in TFD. Good thing they didn't include Sole Survivor!

Generals and zero hour come with TFD, they suck.

what was so bad about Generals...I didn't mind it that much

 

[leeland]

Originally posted by: Maximilian
RA on its own... no idea, my guess would be no.

If you have TFD (the first decade) which is a pack including all good c&c games (and some lousy ones) you can download the 1.03 patch that enables multiplayer play just by using the in game interface. I got railed the other week in a 1v1v1 where someone cheated So it does work. If you plan to use that 8800 card though you may have problems, 8xxx cards ususally cause RA1 to run extremely slowly when building stuff, this can be fixed by turning off the video memory buffer but the fix causes the scrolling speed to go crazy fast. Both are pretty irritating and i dont know of a way to slow down the scroll speed.

So is the TFD pack something that has like 10 cd's or can you get this as DVD?

Also, if I were to get this TFD and my friend were to get this...then we could play RA1 via internet without mucking around (just getting the 1.03 patch)

AND

If I play from my laptop which has a G-Force 6800 on my dell Inspirion
vs.
My desktop which has a G-Force 8800 GTS

Thanks in advance,
Lee

 

[coreyb]

man I loved sole survivor. I used to play that game like crazy!

 

[TidusZ]

after ra1 came out all the c&c games have been pretty much the exact same, how can one suck and another be awesome?

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: TidusZ
after ra1 came out all the c&c games have been pretty much the exact same, how can one suck and another be awesome?

I disagree completely. I think everything after RA1 was a departure from the original. To each their own, though.

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: leeland

Originally posted by: Maximilian
RA on its own... no idea, my guess would be no.

If you have TFD (the first decade) which is a pack including all good c&c games (and some lousy ones) you can download the 1.03 patch that enables multiplayer play just by using the in game interface. I got railed the other week in a 1v1v1 where someone cheated So it does work. If you plan to use that 8800 card though you may have problems, 8xxx cards ususally cause RA1 to run extremely slowly when building stuff, this can be fixed by turning off the video memory buffer but the fix causes the scrolling speed to go crazy fast. Both are pretty irritating and i dont know of a way to slow down the scroll speed.

So is the TFD pack something that has like 10 cd's or can you get this as DVD?

Also, if I were to get this TFD and my friend were to get this...then we could play RA1 via internet without mucking around (just getting the 1.03 patch)

AND

If I play from my laptop which has a G-Force 6800 on my dell Inspirion
vs.
My desktop which has a G-Force 8800 GTS

Thanks in advance,
Lee

TFD is 1 DVD.

You should be able to play no fuss with the 1.03 patch. Nothings ever certain with pc games, especially old ones. The 6800 may be ok, i chalked the slowdown with the video buffer setting up to 8xxx cards having the new unified shader thing. If you already have a copy of RA1 just try that in skirmish with the 6800, if it chugs then no its gonna suck online, if it runs fast and you need to turn the speed down via the in game menu then it should be fine.