Command & Conquer: Generals

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) release of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).


⤏ Go to series page
Command & Conquer fangames (series)
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
Command & Conquer (2013)	Cancelled
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection	2020
Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances	2025

Key points

Small but dedicated community.

Framerate tied to gamespeed.

General information

C&C:Online - fan-hosted multiplayer server replacement (Windows version only)

EA's Official Command & Conquer site

Command & Conquer Wiki - A wiki for everything Command & Conquer-related

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc DRM^{[Note 1]}.
Mac App Store		Deluxe Edition. Updated for compatibility with modern systems. Multiplayer is not compatible with the Windows and original OS X releases.
EA app		Bundled with other games in the franchise up to Tiberian Twilight. Included with EA Play.

SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected releases).

Deluxe Edition includes the base game and the Zero Hour expansion

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour	Comes bundled with the The First Decade and Ultimate Collection compilations.

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch v1.0.4 (English, French, German) is the latest patch for the OS X version. ^[7]

The Origin-version is already patched to the latest version.

Unofficial Command & Conquer Ultimate Collection Fixed Launchers (Origin)

The maker of these launchers, "Bibber", stopped supporting these launchers and his site is offline.

Fixes support of the Origin version for mods.

As the launchers won't be updated again, it is likely that in the future they will stop working after a Origin update.

An unofficial patch that provides a slight enhancement to the default launchers provided with the Origin release (fixes registry entries and allows command line arguments to function properly).

Its last released version can be downloaded from CNCNZ.

Skip intro videos

Skip intro videos^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\Data\english` Move, delete or rename the `Movies` folder.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Data\ %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data\
macOS (OS X)	~/Library/Containers/com.aspyr.command.conquer.generals.appstore/Data/Documents/Command & Conquer Generals/User Data/ ~/Library/Containers/com.aspyr.command.conquer.generals.appstore/Data/Documents/Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour/User Data/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Data\Save\ %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data\Save\
macOS (OS X)	~/Library/Containers/com.aspyr.command.conquer.generals.appstore/Data/Documents/Command & Conquer Generals/User Data/Save/ ~/Library/Containers/com.aspyr.command.conquer.generals.appstore/Data/Documents/Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour/User Data/Save/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
EA app
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents* folder in OneDrive on all computers.*

Video settings

In-game options screen.

In-game advanced video settings.

In-game options screen for Zero Hour expansion.

In-game advanced video settings for Zero Hour expansion.

Template:Video settings

Widescreen resolution

Higher resolution^{[citation needed]}

For Generals, open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Data\Options.ini
For Zero Hour, open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data\Options.ini
Change the Resolution line to your liking, like this:

Resolution = 1920 1080

Camera height

Adjust camera height^{[citation needed]}

For Zero Hour, go to <path-to-game>\Data\INI and paste the file GameData.ini into this folder
You can get a modified version of this file on Mod DB
Change the height of the camera to your liking, like this:

MaxCameraHeight = 800.0 DrawEntireTerrain = Yes

And for vanilla Generals it doesn't work.

Input settings

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German				An uncensored version of C&C Generals was shortly sold. The censored version, titled "C&C Generäle", is more widely available and known and uses separate patches.
Italian
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Spanish
Traditional Chinese				Not available in P.R.China.
Russian				Fan translation by «DK team»

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D User created profile, requires DGVoodoo2 v 2.55.4. For required ini tweaks see profile introdution. `Note:` Profile may not work with the latest wrapper, in case of issues please report to the vorpx forum. Zero Hour has its own profile.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8
Online play		8	Official services have been shut down; use GenTool.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	80, 6667, 28910, 29900, 29920
UDP	4321, 27900

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

Game does not start (Origin)

Disable Origin In Game^{[citation needed]}
Select the My Games tab in Origin. Right-click Generals/Zero Hour and select "Game Properties". Check the "Disable Origin in Game for this game" option. Click OK and launch the game.

"Technical Difficulties" error

This problem occurs on modern systems; one of the methods below should fix it.

Error message

Set Windows XP Service Pack 2 compatibility mode^{[citation needed]}
Go to the properties of `generals.exe` or one of its shortcuts. Enable Windows XP Service Pack 2 compatibility mode. Restart the game.

Edit Options.ini^[8]

This solution involves editing Options.ini.

Set AntiAliasing = 6 (maximum) for AMD/ATI or AntiAliasing = 4 (maximum) for Nvidia.

Open options.ini if it exists, or create it if it doesn't.
Replace its contents with the following and save your changes:

AntiAliasing =
DrawScrollAnchor =
GameSpyIPAddress = 0.0.0.0
Gamma = 50
IPAddress = 0.0.0.0
IdealStaticGameLOD = High
LanguageFilter = false
MoveScrollAnchor =
MusicVolume = 55
Resolution = 800 600
SFX3DVolume = 79
SFXVolume = 71
ScrollFactor = 50
SendDelay = no
StaticGameLOD = Low
UseAlternateMouse = no
VoiceVolume = 70

Fully reinstall^[9]

A full reinstallation is a last resort that seems to work for most users.

Uninstall Zero Hour (if you have it)
Uninstall Generals
Reboot
Install Generals
Patch Generals
Install Zero Hour (if you have it)
Patch Zero Hour (if you have it)

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8.1
OpenGL		OS X only.

Executable	PPC	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)				Install the version 1.0.4 patch for Intel support. 64-bit Intel support is only available in the digital re-release.

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System
Cutscenes	Bink Video (Windows), QuickTime.framework (macOS)
Multiplayer	GameSpy

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98	ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium III 800 MHz AMD Athlon 800 MHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB	256 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	1.8 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 2 ATI Radeon 7500 32 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible	Nvidia GeForce 3 DirectX 9.0c compatible

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.9.5
Processor (CPU)	Intel 2.2 GHz
System memory (RAM)	4 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	5 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon HD 3870 Nvidia GeForce 330M Intel HD 3000 256 MB of VRAM

OS X requirements are for the Mac App Store version

Notes

↑ This version of SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows 10^[5] 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.^[6]

References

↑ EA ANNOUNCES PUBLIC TEST FOR COMMAND & CONQUER GENERALS - Blue's News - last accessed on 2016-9-12
↑ GameSpy: Command & Conquer: Generals - Page 1 - last accessed on 2016-9-12
↑ Aspyr: Command & Conquer Generals hits beta - Macworld - last accessed on 2016-7-23
↑ Aspyr Media Inc. Ships Electronic Arts' `Command & Conquer Generals' for Macintosh - Business Wire - last accessed on 2016-7-23
↑ 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
↑ Aspyr Support Center - last accessed on 2011-08-27
↑ http://forums.hexus.net/software/99903-vista-command-conquer-generals-zero-hour-3.html#post1039984
↑ http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/544479-cc-generals-and-zero-hour-technical-difficulties/

[7] This version of SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows 10^[5] 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.^[6]

[1] EA ANNOUNCES PUBLIC TEST FOR COMMAND & CONQUER GENERALS - Blue's News - last accessed on 2016-9-12

[2] GameSpy: Command & Conquer: Generals - Page 1 - last accessed on 2016-9-12

[3] Aspyr: Command & Conquer Generals hits beta - Macworld - last accessed on 2016-7-23

[4] Aspyr Media Inc. Ships Electronic Arts' `Command & Conquer Generals' for Macintosh - Business Wire - last accessed on 2016-7-23

[5] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[6] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[8] Aspyr Support Center - last accessed on 2011-08-27

[9] ttp://forums.hexus.net/software/99903-vista-command-conquer-generals-zero-hour-3.html#post1039984

[10] ttp://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/544479-cc-generals-and-zero-hour-technical-difficulties/

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[Note 1]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[5]

[6]

Developers

	EA Pacific^[1]^[2]
Zero Hour	EA Los Angeles
macOS (OS X)	i5works^[3]^[4]
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
OS X	Aspyr Media
Engines
	SAGE
Release dates
Windows	February 10, 2003
macOS (OS X)	April 14, 2004