Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

Developers
	Westwood Pacific
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Re-release	Sold Out Software
Release dates
Windows	October 25, 2000
Reception
Metacritic	84
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, Subscription gaming service
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

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view and isometric RTS game in the Command & Conquer series.

A sequel to Command & Conquer: Red Alert was pitched by Westwood Studios co-founder Brett Sperry in 1999 to the studio's then-new Irvine subsidiary Westwood Pacific. Hence, it was the first game in the series developed by largely a separate team, but the main Westwood team at Las Vegas contributed cutscenes, audio/music and input regardless. The game uses a heavily modified and optimized engine from its immediate predecessor, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, albeit forked from a pre-release build.

The Yuri's Revenge expansion from October 2001 added two new campaigns, new units, and for the first time in the franchise, a third faction playable in both singleplayer and multiplayer.

Post-release support included 6 patches for the base game and only 1 for Yuri's Revenge, as well as a semi-official map editor (FinalAlert) compatible with both titles. While no official modding tools were released, the game quickly received a sizable modding and mapping community, whose projects remain popular well into the 2020s.

The game and its expansion were first released digitally on October 2, 2012 on Origin as part of the Command & Conquer: The Ultimate Collection package. On March 7, 2024, they were released on Steam for the first time as part of The Ultimate Collection with compatibility tweaks, with the EA App version mirroring the changes on the same day.

The game has considerable issues running on newer operating systems without modification, mainly caused by the broken DirectDraw renderer preventing the game from launching, combined with the deprecated SafeDisc 2 DRM in the retail version. Community efforts have resulted in multiple viable alternative renderers, all of which are included as options in the CnCNet client, which is also used for accessing the community-run CnCNet multiplayer service. The official multiplayer service, Westwood Online, was redirected to the also community-run XWIS server in 2005 in agreement with EA's German community team, and using the in-game multiplayer menus lead to it without any additional configuration, but this service is presently seldom used due to CnCNet's quality-of-life improvements.

The base game included the World Domination Tour game mode in multiplayer, but as neither XWIS nor CnCNet have the necessary code to host it, it is no longer playable.

General information

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

Project Perfect Mod - The most expansive RA2 mod site.

CnCNet (multiplayer replacement; Yuri's Revenge expansion required)

XWIS (legacy multiplayer replacement, default server lookup leads to this service)

Red Alert 2 section on CNC.community

Red Alert 2 section on C&C Communications Center

Red Alert 2 section on CNCNZ.com

Yuri's Revenge section on CNCNZ.com

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc 2 DRM. The installer for the base game is also DRM-protected, but not the one for Yuri's Revenge.
Origin		Bundled as part of Command & Conquer: The Ultimate Collection; includes the Yuri's Revenge expansion. Pre-packaged with DDrawCompat. Included with EA Play. Manual link for EA App purchase.
Steam		Bundled as part of Command & Conquer: The Ultimate Collection; includes the Yuri's Revenge expansion. Pre-packaged with DDrawCompat. Included with EA Play (Steam). Steam DRM removed on March 9, 2024.

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

Retail versions include custom DRM code which can sabotage the game by destroying all units and structures owned by the player after 30 seconds, triggering an automatic defeat. It can occur on legitimate copies under certain circumstances - see Auto-defeat after 30 seconds for instructions to fix this.

Monetization

Type	Notes
Expansion pack	The expansion pack includes a new faction, new campaigns, maps, and units.
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service	Available via EA Play.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Yuri's Revenge	Explicitly requires the base game to be patched to v1.006.

Essential improvements

Patches

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

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.

On Windows 11, Yuri's Revenge specifically (but not the base game) requires the Use legacy display ICC color management option in the compatibility settings to be enabled even when using these alternate renderers.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\ra2.ini <path-to-game>\ra2md.ini
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2229850/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\*.sav
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2229850/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Origin
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game options screen.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor			See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen			See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD			See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)		Isometric.
Windowed		Run the game with -win command line argument. Requires to be run in 16-bit colour mode unless a custom graphics renderer is used.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Using the CnC-DDraw renderer.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS		Videos display in 15 FPS. Framerate is tied to game speed, and skirmish/multiplayer can go up to 60 FPS (for campaigns, use the -SPEEDCONTROL command line argument to enable the speed slider).
120+ FPS		If using the CnCNet YR Client, the "MAX" speed setting is available, but it can result in uncontrollably fast game speeds and is not recommended.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Widescreen resolution

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.

To make these methods work in the EA App and Steam (2024) versions of the game, first open <path-to-game>\DDrawCompat.ini in a text editor and add the desired resolution(s) at the end of the SupportedResolutions entry or delete that entry entirely. Without this step, the game will default to the default three resolutions.

Modify the configuration file, method 1
Go to <path-to-game> Open RA2.ini (base game) or RA2md.ini (Yuri's Revenge) with any text editor and type the resolution there: [Video] ScreenHeight=XXXX ScreenWidth=XXXX Where ScreenHeight and ScreenWidth are the desired resolution.

Modify the configuration file, method 2
Go to <path-to-game>. Open RA2.ini (base game) or RA2md.ini (Yuri's Revenge). Under the [Video] value, insert AllowHiResModes=yes. Save the file, then run the game. In the options screen, all standardized resolutions should be visible.

Main menu "cheat code"
When in the game's main menu, simply type HIRES. In the options screen, all standardized resolutions should be visible.

Input

In-game key map settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Mouse controls can't be changed. LMB is for selection/orders, RMB is deselection/viewport panning.
Mouse acceleration		Can only change scroll speed
Mouse sensitivity		For scroll speed.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Touchscreen optimised		Only if touch input doubles as mouse input (tapping = LMB, holding = RMB, etc.). No special touch-screen controls or touch-screen control-overlay
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles		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.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Korean
Russian				Fan translation, download.
Ukrainian				Fan translation and full dubbing by TSF(link to catalogue), download.
Vietnamese				Fan translation, download.

Network

In-game network settings.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8	Versus, Co-op Uses IPX protocol. Requires a LAN patch to be replaced with UDP (ModDB, CNCNZ.com) or IPXwrapper. Alternatively, the CnCNet YR client includes its own workaround.
Online play		8	Versus, Co-op Lobbies point to XWIS by default since October 6, 2005 as part of an agreement with EA. CnCNet is a more popular alternative.

Connection types

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

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	3840, 4005, 4808, 4810, 4995, 7000-7002
UDP	1234-1237

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

Issues fixed

String manager failed to initialize properly

This issue manifests as an error window reading ***FATAL*** String Manager Failed to Initialize Properly.

Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME and as administrator. Choose "Change settings for all users" if the options are disabled.

"Player already has the same serial" error

This solution refers to retail versions of the game.

Add missing registry value
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Westwood\Red Alert 2 (base game) and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Westwood\Yuri's Revenge (expansion) Make a new string called Serial. Enter a valid serial key as the string text (each player must have a unique entry). Incorrect values trigger the 30-second defeat DRM.

Auto-defeat after 30 seconds

Is triggered by DRM, even on legitimate installations.

This solution refers to retail versions of the game.

Check game's serial key registry entries
See "Player already has the same serial" error

Clean reinstall of the game as administrator
Fully re-install the game with administrator privileges in hopes the registry keys will be correctly created.

Rendering issues

The following rendering problems are handled by the solutions below:

• Game running only a black screen on startup (occurs when the game engine tries to render in VRAM)
• Game is purple/green colored and displays only on the other half of the screen

Install the CnCNet YR client and choose an alternative renderer until ideal performance is reached

Manually setting up cnc-ddraw renderer

Disable the compatibility mode of the game's RA2.exe and RA2MD.exe executables. Copy the files from the .zip of cnc-ddraw custom renderer to the Red Alert 2 installation folder, replacing those present. If using the CnCNet YR client, use its options menu to select cnc-ddraw among renderer choices. If the problem persists only in Yuri's Revenge when exiting from playing to the menu, try to set renderer=opengl in ddraw.ini; auto or direct3d9 may be causing the problem.

Manually setting up ddwrapper renderer

Download Aqrit's ddwrapper and extract the ddraw.dll and aqrit.cfg files into the RA2 folder. Next, ensure that only these settings are set to 1 in aqrit.cfg: 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. Notes If some Windows elements flicker from behind the game, open aqrit.cfg and set the ForceDirectDrawEmulation value to 0.

Lag/low FPS

Modify the RA2(MD).ini file
Go to <path-to-game> Open RA2.ini for the base game and RA2MD.ini for Yuri's Revenge. Under the [Video] section, add VideoBackBuffer=No to a new line. Save the file and launch the game. Notes cnc-ddraw applies this fix

Apply the Command and Conquer Graphics Patcher

Game runs too fast

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".

Note that the CnCNet YR Client has its own game speed settings. Setting them at "MAX" may cause uncontrollably high game speed, so limiting to 60 FPS is recommended.

Cutscenes crash the game

Issue is currently only on the Steam version. Some of the cutscenes are corrupted and can cause the game to crash.

Download the working cutscenes
Follow this link to a Steam discussion on how to download the fixed cutscenes.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DirectDraw	7.0a

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	Westwood Online

Command line arguments

Command	Description
-WIN	Runs the game in windowed mode (requires 16-bit color mode)
-16	Forces 16-bit color mode
-480	Forces screen resolution to 480px height
-[width]x[height]	Sets custom resolution
-SPEEDCONTROL	Enables the game speed slider in campaign mode
-noaudio	Disables game audio
-nostr (or -jabber)	Disables reading the string file (.csf); base game only
-record	Saves a match replay in <path-to-game>\SESSION.IPB; faulty function, does not track other players' correct movements in multiplayer
-play [filename]	Plays a replay file
-CD [path]	Redirects the disc check to a set path, which needs to contain YR1.dsk with at least 3 bytes of content; unknown how it relates to DRM
-STEALTH	Hides player names in multiplayer
-DESTNET	Specifies destination network IP address
-SOCKET	Specifies network socket number (0-16383)
-DROP=[int]	Enables Packet Loss Simulation mode
-MESSAGES	Allows incoming messages from outside the game (Westwood Online only)
-DLINK	Enables additional logic for D-Link LAN configurations
-NETGEAR	Enables additional logic for NetGear LAN configurations
-MPDEBUG	Enables multiplayer debug mode

FinalAlert (map editor)

The latest legacy 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.

In 2024, FinalAlert was made open-source, and both the tool and its source code are distributed as part of the Steam and EA App versions of the game. This version of the tool has several improvements compared to v1.02.

Hero units in "Hollywood and Vain" mission lack their unique lines

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.

Use Hero voicelines restoration mod

Modifications

The listed modifications are all for the Yuri's Revenge expansion.

Mental Omega

C&C: Reloaded

Rise of the East

Red Resurrection

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98, NT 4.0, ME	2000
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 266 MHz	Intel Pentium II 450 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	350 MB additional 350 MB for expansion
Video card (GPU)	2 MB of VRAM DirectX 7.0a compatible