MrFlibble

I'd say the new sprites could look okay if the terrain is also recreated from scratch, to match the perspective. Also I guess that the "wrong" perspective might be exactly the consequence of using original sprites for reference without taking the vertical stretching into account.

Where'd ya get all those high-res sprites? The perspective looks a bit wrong though, but the art is neat

That's a bit odd, considering that the lack of vertical stretching results in all in-game sprites being displayed wrong. The fact that people who are unfamiliar with the DOS version may not notice this doesn't make it any less serious. Anyway, you can tell about this flaw in the port directly to the other members while I'd have to register at GitHub just to report a single bug.

Yeah, you'd better simply use the DOS game for that, actually. The demo is quite lacking in assets. Perhaps they don't want to upload the full version files, because the DOS version was never officially made freeware so it's still technically illegal to distribute (and maybe GitHub rules forbid this kind of uploads)?

Well, I was implying something like that. Of course, one could also try resampling individual sprites but it's probably a mess to implement. Then again, it's up to the developers to decide. File a feature request at http://bugs.open-ra.org then. Aren't you on the dev team?

Right. Although I think that maybe a version of that ordering screen might have crept into a release of Covert Ops. Not sure though.

Well, it certainly should be implemented one way or other so that the sprites look what they were intended to be.

It's not a feature of the original code, it's how the hardware back then would output the 320x200 resolution on a 4:3 monitor. This article might provide some more info on the subject. (Also perhaps someone of the mods would split this into a separate OpenRA topic?)

Both the original version of C&C and RA1 were developed for DOS and used the 320x200x256c VGA graphics mode. When run on real hardware, the 320x200 image would be stretched to fit the 4:3 screen, and the in-game graphics were created with that in mind. As a consequence, raw sprites look different from how they would appear on the actual screen. For example, you may notice that the GDI logo sprite in the DOS version isn't perfectly round, instead it has a slightly oval shape. Here's a DOS screenshot from C&C without aspect correction: And this is how it would appear an actual screen: (DOSBox can correct the aspect ratio for graphics modes that use the 320x200 screen resolution.) Notice that the GDI logo is perfectly round on the second screen. In C&C95 and the Windows version of RA1 the high-res faction logo sprites already have correct proportions, and as a result they look vertically stretched if you play in the 640x400 resolution which is the one to display all the other sprites correctly. This is why I'm asking if OpenRA actually stretches the graphics in both C&C and RA1 (but not in Dune 2000 which wasalready developed for the 640x480 resolution) or not.

No, I wanted to ask if the sprites are actually scaled properly, as they were intended to be by the developers.

Actually I haven't played OpenRA (lost my taste for third-party remakes that change gameplay some time ago), but it looks pretty good in that video. Still not the original thing, but nice anyway. [Edit] BTW, does OpenRA do aspect correction? It's not very clear from the video.

Not sure if I said that before (haven't checked in here for quite some time!) but to the best of my knowledge, the C&C demo does not have any exclusive files (except for the modified missions that is). Which shouldn't be surprising since the demo was released after the full game, not before. The CCFAQ bundled with the downloadable demo mentions the latest version of the full game being either v1.18 or v1.19, which I guess gives a rough idea of when the demo was released.

Heh, that's awesome (seems to me it's how it should have been in the first place). BTW, I don't remember if Tanya's special quote is even played at all in RA under similar circumstances (IIRC she says "Kiss it bye-bye!").

Personally I would probably be more than content with a version of TD that would include the skirmish option of the RA variety while keeping everything else (including the DOS resolution and interface) the same. Overall C&C is a game very well put together, and I'd rather say that it would be not unreasonable to ask the opposite question to what this thread is about, namely: what features of TD do later games miss? I like it how the Westwood guys tried to create an entire world of their own in TD, complete with news footage, intrigue around the Tiberium that is slowly revealed to the player over the course of the campaign etc. etc. There was this premise that the player connects to the command network in real time and is thus a real commander of either side's forces. I'd say no other Westwood game repeated that on the same scale, with Red Alert's retro camp sci-fi setting and Tiberian Sun's complete lack of player commander character (which was averted in Firestorm though). That said, introducing any significant changes into TD would essentially make it a different game altogether. I should also say I have mixed feelings about the feature in C&C that keeps the chance of infantry emerging from a destroyed structure if it was blown up by the Commando. On one hand, this makes playing Commando missions a bit more of a challenge compared to the later games where infantry is never spawned from structures destroyed by the C4 attack. On the other hand, players will most probably resort to save summing to ensure the Commando doesn't lose health when blowing up those SAM sites, so the result is basically the same as in later games except the players have to do the annoying save-load routine. Also with the Commando, when you order to attack a building, the "I've got a present for ya!" line gets overlapped with a random regular acknowledgement response from the Commando. Nyer explained to me that this is because the "I've got a present for ya!" line is played for every player in the game to hear (much like other Commando's taunts that are played randomly) as a kind of a warning. Would be nice if the acknowledgement responses were not played when a Commando is ordered to attack a structure, but I think this kind of logic is hard or impossible to implement in the original code. (How's that for a "new feature"? )

Bumping this as possibly the most appropriate place to post, I've just stumbled upon what seems to be an accuratemirror of Westwood Studios FTP: ftp://ftp1.westwood.com/pub/ Anyone knows if this is an official thing (an alias of ftp.westwood.com perhaps?) or some mirror maintained by enthusiasts?

Also it seems that Modern Design is modelled after Red Alert 2's Motorized.

It seems to me that Moving Forces sounds a lot like Roll Out from Red Alert but I'm not sure. Also Zap has a certain similarity with Killing Machine from Firestorm, although again I have doubts here.

To the best of my knowledge, Dune 2000 uses completely different file formats (which may or may not be due to the fact that this game can alternate between 8-bit and 16-bit graphics sets) compared to Dune II, C&C and RA, however I cannot be 100% sure about the fonts.

A little Googling resulted in more discussion of subject matter: http://www.petroglyphgames.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7630 http://www.petroglyphgames.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8107 To what is said in those threads, I must add that the tracks Slithering, Hit and Run, and Fog of War all sound rather familiar yet I can't quite place them. But then again it could be Frank's style in general.

Frankly I don't know, the editor Siberian_GRemlin has supports both formats (I assume C&C and RA use the same format) however I can't be sure that the format in Dune II is similar. For all I know, it might be, but then again, it might not. Should be more or less easy to check that by putting a Dune II font into C&C, and vice versa.

Well, there's a reason why early RTS games like Warcraft II limited the construction of walls to multiplayer only, as to prevent the player from getting an unfair advantage over the already not-too-bright AI. OTOH, walls work pretty well with the AI in Age of Empires. With C&C of course, there's the question of keeping the integrity of the original game intact. What's the visceroid attacking but by the way?

I have absolutely no idea if this has been discussed before, but I couldn't but notice that there are several themes in the Universe at War soundtrack that pay homage to the classic tracks from C&C. There are at least three tracks that are essentially variations of original C&C themes - not exactly remixes but they have the same structure although sound differently. The most obvious one is the track titled Act on Invasion which homages Act on Instinct. Because of its title it was very easy to spot. The other two I had to listen to a couple of times before I guessed they were based on C&C tracks: Prepare for Oblivion (based on Prepare for Battle) and Mechanical Brain (Target/Mechanical Man). There are also several others that sound vaguely familiar but I can't quite place them, and the titles aren't as obvious as those of the above. I also suspect that music from other C&C titles is being referenced as well, some tunes resemble music from Renegade and Red Alert 2/Yuri's Revenge. However, this can be just due to Frank's distinct style and not a reference to a particular track from Westwood games.

Well, after I posted the first message here Siberian_GRemlin e-mailed me that he figured out how to work with language packs on his own. I merely told him that you're wondering why he didn't ask you directly. I guess you should ask him if he's willing to make the font editor public, while he's in a mood for communication (BTW, he mentioned in a recent letter that his latest disappearance was caused by some serious RL issues he had, so he may have had some reason for not replying earlier).

Yeah, I remember that for the triggers "destroyed" actually means "no longer in possession by the original party (either by destruction or capture)". It's just that in Dune II the score screen doesn't count captured enemy structures as destroyed, so I thought that maybe there's something similar in C&C as well. I never realised that the CarryOverMoney thing in the INI files actually works in-game. I've always thought this was some kind of a feature that was never fully implemented and the devs got it right only in Red Alert (where entire missions can saved to continue playing later).

Hmm, I've never heard of Nod score getting lower with destroyed enemy structures. Actually, this would make sense considering that there's the Engineer unit in the game and that it would be more effective to appropriate enemy materials rather than destroy them. On the other hand, I wonder if it could be a glitch in the code that reduces the score whereas it was intended to increase it?