Service Depot: Fully Updating The Ultimate Collection

As of 7 March 2024, the default installations of Command & Conquer: The Ultimate Collection were specifically prepared to minimize compatibility issues. Some users may still need additional changes.

This guide will show you how to make the most of your Ultimate Collection installation, including making use of unofficial patches to fix gameplay issues.

Although the games contained within The Ultimate Collection are separated, enabling you to select the games you wish to install, this guide assumes that you intend to install all of them. You can skip the steps related to the games which you do not wish to install.

Installation – Steam and EA App versions

  1. Make sure that the DirectX 9.0c end-user runtime libraries are installed by these guidelines before proceeding.
  2. Install the desired games from within the Steam or EA App client, one by one.
  3. Patch C&C Gold with the latest version of Nyerguds’ unofficial 1.06 patch. In CCConfig.exe, make sure the “No-CD” option is enabled.
  4. Patch C&C: Red Alert with the latest version of FunkyFr3sh’s setup. Choose the following option: “Patch existing installation”.
  5. Patch C&C: Tiberian Sun with the latest version of FunkyFr3sh’s setup.
  6. For C&C: Red Alert 2/Yuri’s Revenge, install the latest version of the CnCNet YR client.
  7. Patch C&C: Renegade with the latest version of Tiberian Technologies scripts. Optionally, for multiplayer, download the latest version of RenList or the W3D Hub Launcher.
  8. Patch C&C: Generals/Zero Hour with GenPatcher. What this does is fix most currently known issues, including the DirectX 8.1 warning, restoring the missing registry entries, removing some loose files that may cause desyncs and more. It also includes GenTool.
  9. Download and apply the Red Alert 3 quicklauncher (this removes the check for the RA3 news server that is now offline and adds a few tweaks).

Alternate renderers

Explanation

For many old games which used DirectDraw to display graphics, including C&C games from Tiberian Dawn through Yuri’s Revenge, there have been problems when running on Windows Vista and newer due to deteriorating support for that library.

Multiple custom-made display wrappers have appeared over the years. They differ in their implementation, and perform better in different games and for different hardware.

Usage

If the default renderer from the Steam or EA App versions (DDrawCompat by narzoul) does not work on a particular system, switch to any of the following alternatives by extracting them to the game directories:

For Yuri’s Revenge and on Windows 11 specifically, if not using DDrawCompat, an additional step is required. In the compatibility settings for gamemd.exe, ra2md.exe and YURI.exe, enable the “Use legacy display ICC color management” option.


Setting custom display settings

Apply your desired settings (resolution, graphics levels…) from the following executables that you now have in the games’ directories:

  • Command & Conquer Gold: CCConfig.exe
  • C&C: Red Alert: RedAlertConfigFull.exe
  • C&C: Tiberian Sun: TSConfig.exe
  • C&C: Red Alert 2 & Yuri’s Revenge: CnCNetYRLauncher.exe
  • C&C: Renegade: WWConfig.exe

Resolutions for Tiberian Sun, Red Alert 2 and Yuri’s Revenge can be changed manually by opening sun.ini, ra2.ini and ra2md.ini, respectively, in a text editor and changing the ScreenWidth and ScreenHeight values under the [Video] section (may require a first launch if they are not present).

Alternatively for RA2/YR, go to the game’s main menu and type HIRES; after a sound is played, go to the game’s options and choose a resolution from there.

For the Steam and EA App versions specifically, one extra step is required if you decide to stick with the default DDrawCompat renderer. From the game’s directory, open DDrawCompat.ini in a text editor, and in the SupportedResolutions entry, add the resolution(s) you intend to use OR delete that entry entirely.


Multiplayer

For online multiplayer, please refer to the following services:

For games from Tiberian Dawn through Yuri’s Revenge, LAN will not work by default on modern systems as they rely on the deprecated IPX protocol. Solutions:


Notes

C&C: Generals and Zero Hour require limiting the framerate to 30 FPS (Frames Per Second) to avoid game speed issues – this is done by calling the GenTool menu by hitting the Insert key while in the games’ main menus. GenTool also enables a wider range of resolutions in the games’ option menus.

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