EA has open sourced Command & Conquer: Red Alert under GPLv3

⁨839⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨ampersandrew@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩

https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Red_Alert

I’m not well versed in C&C, but it’s always good to see more games open sourced.

source

Comments

Sort:hotnew top

simple@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Rare EA win

source
- Klear@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Are they trying to become the not most hated studio? The bar is pretty low these days…
  
  source
  - frezik@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    I feel like at some point, EA became the least hated major studio by staying exactly where they were. The rest of the industry zoomed past them.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
egonallanon@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Image

source
TheImpressiveX@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
No matter what you think of EA, this is fantastic news.

source
- ObsidianZed@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Perhaps why this feels like them trying to save face.
  
  source
  - kautau@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    This feels more like some o.g. Command and conquer devs who have worked at EA for a long time that are passionate about the franchise. There was no big PR release, no product tie in or announcement, no media campaign.
    
    Recovering and restoring the source code for these titles was made possible through the combined efforts of EA technical director Brian Barnes, Respawn producer Jim Vessella, and Luke Feenan, a long-standing member of the C&C community who was involved in the development of the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection.
    
    polygon.com/…/command-and-conquer-open-source-cod…
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - limitedduck@awful.systems ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    On what?
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
farcaster@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Open sourcing old games is awesome for video game preservation.

source
- slaacaa@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Yeah, this should be standard practice
  
  source
GoOnASteamTrain@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
This is brilliant! :) aw, I hope it benefits the OpenRA developers and means more fun things to play eventually :)

Wait… this is EA… are they okay? This is very unlike them

source
- wabafee@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Almost like a mistake?
  
  source
  - VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    I think the old Westwood dev they put in charge of the franchise just doesn’t have any oversight.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
turkalino@lemmy.yachts ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

To use the compiled binaries, you must own the game

Was expecting a catch. Still good for modding I guess

source
- ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Open source does not mean that the intellectual property is free. There’s a lot of good that comes from this, and it’s not like those games are expensive.
  
  source
  - VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    Though do also note that of these four, TD and RA1 were already made freeware years ago.
    
    source
  - turkalino@lemmy.yachts ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    I realize. Intellectual property is an icky concept IMO but I know not everyone agrees
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- Ninmi@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  I’m assuming this is more about art assets. Art is not code and you shouldn’t expect them for free. It’s not a catch.
  
  source
  - Jeffool@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    Which, in the immediate future, makes me wonder less about the things that are going to be done in code, and more about the creation of a new, free, visual and audio resources that make this work. That seems like quite a noble pursuit.
    
    source
  - frezik@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    Correct. The license (at least, the one I read for Red Alert) is GPLv3 with some additional stuff. The additional stuff is mostly about not using EA trademarks in your version or showing any connection to EA itself. So it appears that a clean room asset swap would be allowed as long as it includes the title screen.
    
    source
- Xatolos@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  The entire series is on sale on Steam right now for $6 if that helps.
  
  …steampowered.com/…/Command__Conquer_Remastered_C…
  
  source
  - VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    That’s only the HD remaster of TD and RA1.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- Artyom@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  This is a pretty standard affair for open sourced games.
  
  source
Tezzerets_Tea_Time@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Holy shit, EA did something… Good? I did not have that on my 2025 bingo card. So, what’s the catch? There has to be a catch, right?

source
- finitebanjo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Short version: You can make free stuff for them but they still own all of it and still require people to purchase a copy to use the derivatives.
  
  source
  - frezik@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    You can make complete conversions with your own assets. That’s basically how old id engines work.
    
    source
Evotech@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I’m ready for a zero hour remake!

source
- kautau@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Im now just happy that it’s far more likely for a clean 60fps mod that’s not locked behind someone’s patreon
  
  source
- SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  It’s a kick ass game but some of the tropes didn’t age well.
  
  source
  - Evotech@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    Ak47s for everyone!
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - frezik@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    The whole premise is “America: Fuck Yeah, The RTS”.
    
    source
BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
EA ? Did I read right ?

source
accideath@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Old games being open sourced is a trend I can get behind.

source
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Mmmmm pre-standard C++

source
Adalast@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
This is a momentous event. I only wish it had Red Alert 2 in it.

source
- FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  If it doesn’t then I’m not interested.
  
  source
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
RENEGADE!!!

source
- theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Loved Renegade so much. Played the shit out of the MP back in the day.
  
  source
  - Jerkface@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    That game seemed so underappreciated. I would be thrilled if I could have another LAN party with that game.
    
    source
TastyWheat@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I hope everyone’s SSDs have enough SPACE

source
- DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  SPAAEUUCE
  
  source
- frezik@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  When I first played Red Alert, it was on a computer with a 6.4GB hard drive, and I had no idea how to fill up that much space at the time. I think we’ll be fine.
  
  source
- harmsy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  SPGHGHAAIGHGHSSSE!!! is literally the only thing I know about Command & Conquer.
  
  source
sunglocto@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Broken clock

source
9point6@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Well I’m very excited to see the injection of life this hopefully gives c&c modding

I wonder how many of the old guard are still around, I’m glad the cncnet project is still going strong

source
DontMakeMoreBabies@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Fuck EA but cool move - if they keep being not shit for long enough I might consider their products again.

Doubt they can keep it up.

source
TheFonz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Is Tiberian Sun included!!!??

source
- VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  No. The repo has Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert 1, Generals with Zero Hour, Renegade, and components for the HD ports of TD and RA1 they put out a few years ago.
  
  source
  - NikkiDimes@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    AY YO RENEGADE!?
    
    source
- Animated_beans@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Yes, if you click the link, it takes you to the EA github amd you can see folders for all included games
  
  source
- boxfulloffoxes@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  From what I’ve read/know, the source for Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 were lost a while ago. Doesn’t mean it can’t be reverse engineered at some point, but it’s challenging. I’d LOVE for those to be next though!
  
  source
- Scavenger_Solardaddy@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  I heard so, yes.
  
  source
Ledericas@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
dont people already make seperate MODS for each anyways, for them anyways,.

source
MITM0@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Now if only they open-sourced the SAGE engine, then we’d be all happy

The engine is highly optimized & produces great visuals, Of course there IS OpenSAGE

source
Lemmchen@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
If I had to guess, I’d say it’s some write-off move. A bit like Epic Games released all Paragon assets after they canceled the game.

source
- ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Epic released those to add value to their engine not as a write off
  
  EA released this to boost Steam Workshop content - which would boost sales - not as a write off
  
  source
- wizzor@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  As I understand accounting, you really don’t need to do stuff like this to write off your assets.
  
  I’m not saying there isn’t a cynical corporate reason for doing this but I doubt this is it.
  
  source
Montagge@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Abusers will often buy gifts to placate the victim. It’s a cheap and empty move that changes nothing in the end. Do not be fooled.

source
- ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Are you okay? They open sourced some classic video games. They didn’t roofie your drink.
  
  source
  - danc4498@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    They roofied my drink.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - Montagge@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    Go ahead and fall for their PR campaign. You wouldn’t be the first and you won’t be the last.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  I’m sorry but comparing this to domestic abuse is just insane
  
  source
  - Montagge@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    It’s literally the exact same tactic
    
    source
- hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  EA doesn’t open source old games: EA are scum and anti-consumer.
  
  EA open sources old games: EA are scum and anti-consumer.
  
  If it’s good it must be bad, right?
  
  source
  - Montagge@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    That’s correct
    
    source
- BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  I am under the impression that lemmy is more negative than reddit
  
  source
  - smeg@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    People are people; I feel we’ve generally got quite a good vibe going on so don’t let the grumps bring you down!
    
    source
DicJacobus@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
its odd that they open sourced Generals and the first CNC and Red Alert, but nothing in between.

CNC3 was my favorite, and I’ll die on that hill . but RA2 was obivously the fan favorite, and Tiberian Sun had probably the best atmosphere

source
- LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Sometimes licenses get in the way, it’s possible they bought em engine or tech from a 3rd party and don’t have the legal standing (or don’t know if they do or not) to release the source.
  
  source
  - DicJacobus@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    someone else here suggested that the source code for TS/RA2 was lost. which wouldnt surprise me.
    
    These are games that were made when and before the Zoomers were being born. they are ancient by most people’s standards.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
x00z@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Holy shit.

I hope they opensource Dungeon Keeper.

source
- polle@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Can you say why? The opensource project is already insanely good.
  
  source
  - x00z@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    To make the opensource project even better! :P
    
    The compiler has optimized the rendering engine too much to be decompiled into any useable code. Somebody is working on Linux and 64bit support which will need to have this completely rewritten. github.com/dkfans/…/bflib_render_gpoly.c
    
    The maintainer of KeeperFX told me that EA does not have the original code anymore though.
    
    source
IndustryStandard@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Finally someone can fix Twilight Flame

source
Ghyste@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Best computer game theme ever

source
SplashJackson@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
It’s about thyme!

source
joyjoy@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
They’re still requiring EA Access or $6 for the bundle on steam.

source
- ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Correct. Doom and Quake still cost money as well.
  
  source
Punchshark@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Who cares. EA sucks balls

source
- ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Not when they do this.
  
  source