C&C95 version 1.06, patch in progress... Options

[Nyerguds]

As some of you may know, I am working on a C&C95 update that will offer a huge amount of upgrades and fixes R0XX0RZ Y00R B0XX0RZ!

The patch is currently in its final stages. Some features I'm still looking into are removing the code that disables the music in multiplayer games, and making dinosaurs visible without funpark mode.

[edit] dinosaurs are now visible [/edit]

[edit] Music in MP is now enabled [/edit]


As of this moment, these are the changes I have:

External addons:

• Scorpio9a's LAN patch (thipx32.dll)
• Funpark launcher program (funpark.bat) for playing the dinosaur missions

Code upgrades:

• VK's 1.05 patch (fixes top-of-map reconnaissance crash, adds native XP compatibility)
• Komfr's stealth crash fix (fixes a crash when the stealth animation is played on the right half of the bottom edge of the screen)
• Fixed the "/?" help parameter
• Fixed the empty error box when the game fails to set the video mode (which can happens when setting the game resolution to 640x400)
• High resolution available, with centered menus and a large version of the title screen for a more finished look (no centered vids yet, sorry)
• LAN play expanded to six players
• Default multiplayer tech level set to maximum (7)
• Skirmish mode enabled (note that AI players don't have bases, only units)
• Capture The Flag games with AI players are now possible. The "Bases" button now has 4 states: Bases On, Capture The Flag, Bases Off and Mobile HQ (note that AI players get a Mobile HQ in normal Capture The Flag mode too)
• Enabled music in multiplayer (was originally disabled because it was streamed from slow CD-ROM drives)
• Campaign missions will now show briefing text at the start of the mission if no briefing video can be shown (like in RA1)
• Fixed a bug that prevented the music from starting when a mission from the New Missions menu had a Briefing video set (normally it only has an Action video)
• Dinosaur graphics are always visible, even outside of Funpark mode
• The end of the funpark dinosaur campaign no longer exits the game, but goes to the main menu instead.
• Chan's name is shown (it now shows "Scientist" instead of "Civilian")
• The Hospital's name is now always visible to the player, even if it is owned by the enemy
• The Hospital can no longer be sold. It wasn't sellable in the original C&C; this was a bug in C&C95
• A primary building can be selected for helipads, so people can prevent newly built helicopters from flying to their base from the edge of the map.
• Civilian buildings no longer decay for no reason
• Fixed the Rocket Launcher graphics bleed
• Fixed a Chem Warrior behaviour bug; for some reason it had the civilian panic behaviour
• When multiplayer teams are used in single player missions, they no loger show up as grey on the radar
• The missions in the New Missions menu can now be played with any C&C CD
• Added "update*.mix" reading system for updates (same as "sc*.mix" addons)
• Added "updatr*.mix" reading system which disables the read files in the game instead of adding them (same as "ss*.mix" addons).
• Made the hidden beta options editable in conquer.ini, in a new section called [Advanced].
• Added an option in conquer.ini to disable score screens
• Added an option in conquer.ini to enable Funpark mode
• Added an option in conquer.ini that allows disabling the music in multiplayer (like it was originally)
• (unnoticeable) Added black tiles for fixing map borders of small missions in high resolution
• (unnoticeable) Changed internal strings management to read certain hardcoded strings from the external strings file

Graphics updates:

• Shadow of the Construction Yard fixed, so it remains like it is at the end of the MCV deploy animation
• The Rocket Launcher now has its launcher aimed 45 degrees up, as it should
• Nod logo restored on the Hand of Nod
• Several buildings which showed side-sensitive colour instead of real yellow are now fixed:
  * Civilian Oil Derrick (V19)
  * Advanced Communications Center
  * Tiberium Silo
  * Barracks
• Fixed green line refresh error on top sidebar icons
• Ion cannon icon rotated so the satellite fires from the correct side.
• Fixed Civilian Oil Pump building (ARCO) to fix the bug where the damaged state doesn't show up.

String updates:

• Changed "Med. Tank" to "Medium Tank"
• Changed "Attack Helicopter" to "Apache"
• Changed "Transport helicopter" to "Chinook Transport"
• Changed "Stegasaurus" to "Stegosaurus"
• Changed MCV from "Mobile Construction Yard" to "Mobile Construction Vehicle"
• Changed "Obelisk Guard Tower" to "Obelisk of Light"
• Changed "Dr. Chan" to "Scientist", because the unit can spawn from a destroyed tech center. Chan's original name was never visible anyway
• Added some of Frank Klepacki's original track names to the music list
• Added world map animation strings to the strings file (for language compatibility)

Mission updates:

• Added the Covert Operations missions
• Added the updated dinosaur missions included in the Covert Operations pack
• Edited the maps of all missions where you could see beyond the map border in 1024x768 so they show black outside the border instead of unreachable terrain.
• Fixed some missions where the AI's production wasn't started, so it didn't build anything.
• Fixed some mission files that didn't play their videos due to mistyped video names.
• scg05ea: re-enabled the Ukraine mission, which was replaced by a duplicate of one of the choices from Germany.
• scg08eb (Moebius hospital mission): removed the blossom tree in the village so the "lose when ## civilians are killed" trigger is less random.
• scb08ea (capture abandoned GDI base): Moved the build location of the refinery to a place where the AI can actually build it.
• scb10ea (destroy mammoth prototypes): fixed map error near start location.
• scb13ea (Nod end mission): fixed a mission programming setup that could crash the game.

Sound updates:

• "Right Away!" infantry response fixed; was not played due to a mistyped string
• Grenade throw sound restored
• Added the remixes (Advanced options, "Scores") of the tracks No Mercy and Deception (aka "We Will Stop Them") from the console versions of C&C.
• Added the beta sounds (which can be enabled in the [Advanced] options)
• Enabled all hidden music (note that some tracks are only available because of the [Advanced] option "Scores", and will disappear if you disable that)

The patch is currently about 9 mb. The german version will be slightly larger since it will contain de-censoring of graphics, sounds and mission briefings.


I'll keep this list updated when I add new things.

This post has been edited by Nyerguds: Sep 16 2008, 03:57 PM

[Nyerguds]

Notes on high resolution:

1. Small mission maps:
The first campaign missions for each side will be smaller than the screen resolution, which gives some odd graphical bugs. Most of these are fixed by just touching the edge of the screen with your cursor (to scroll) and then opening and closing the main menu.

2. Savegames:
There is an odd bug in the game which makes the sidebar unusable after loading a game that was saved when playing with a different screen width. Because of this, I have decided to completely separate the savegames for the 1024x768 resolution. This means you can't use older savegames in this mode. In fact, The game will not even show them in your list. The new hi-resolution savegames will use the filenames "SAVEG_HI.???" instead of "SAVEGAME.???".

3. minimap crash on small missions:
Another more serious bug is the fact that C&C95 will crash when trying to display a minimap in a mission that is smaller than the screen resolution. However, since none of the smaller C&C missions allow you to have a communications center, this should not be a problem.
Because of this bug, I will not release any patches to play C&C95 in a higher resolution than 1024x768, since it will make the problem occur on campaign missions where you CAN get a minimap.

I will not add any additional resolutions (like, 800x600, or widescreen resolutions) to the game until I manage to fix both the savegame bug and the minimap crashes. I will also never add any ridiculously high resolutions like 1600x1200, since this will cause problems on pretty much every C&C map.


Notes on the Funpark missions:

1. funpark.bat:
This patch will add a file called Funpark.bat, which will launch C&C95 in dinosaur missions mode. To start the new dinosaur campaign, click Start New Game on the main menu and choose any side.

2. Savegames:
A problem occurs when loading Funpark savegames straight from the main menu: when finishing or restarting the mission you will get thrown out of the dino campaign and end up in the corresponding GDI mission. To get around this, first start a new dinosaur campaign from the main menu and then load the savegame once you're ingame.


Notes on the Advanced options:

When you open conquer.ini and scroll down to the [Advanced] section, you'll see the same options that could already be enabled with my old CCOptions.exe program. These options have always been meant to be in conquer.ini, but needed a special string value to be activated. Since these strings were encoded inside the exe file, only one was found so far: the "Scores" option needed to have the value "remix" to activate.

Rather than searching for all the other encoded strings, I recoded this section into simple booleans. Just put an option to "1" to activate it, and "0" to disable it. The only exception to this is "Players", which actually allows you to set the number of LAN players (2 to 6).

Be careful when changing these options; the ones that actually affect gameplay will most probably cause multiplayer incompatibility. The only options of which I am sure they don't affect multiplayer compatibility are "TrueNames", "TreeTarget", "Scores" and "Sounds", since they only affect the game's input and output, and not the actual game behaviour. I'm not sure if the Players option will cause incompatibility or just allow you to make LAN games with a customized limit to the amount of players.


Notes on Skirmish play:

Skirmish games can be played by starting a network game without additional human players, but with the "AI players" option enabled. Older versions didn't allow LAN games to start without human players, but v1.06 makes an exception if AI players are used instead.
To start a skirmish game, go to Multiplayer -> Nework and click "New" to start a new Network game. On the Network Game Setup screen, select the map and game options you want, enable the "AI players" option and start the game by clicking "OK".

When playing in this mode, you must keep these things in mind:

• The AI players have no base, just units. These will attack you one by one, giving you a constant stream of attackers to fend off. You win the game when all enemy units are destroyed.
• You must set starting units to at least 1, otherwise the game will finish right away, since the AI players have no MCV.
• The AI players do not attack eachother. They will team up against you.
• All available player slots will be filled up with AI players. The default number of LAN players in C&C v1.06 is six, meaning you will have five AI players attacking you simultaneously. You can reduce the number of enemies by editing the "Players=" option in the [Advanced] section of conquer.ini
• Since this is really just LAN without players, skirmish games can not be paused or saved. So keep in mind that opening the main menu will NOT pause the game.

This post has been edited by Nyerguds: Sep 9 2008, 12:14 AM