Installing RA2 on public computers?

[Jacen Solo]

I've been wondering...

 

I want to install RA2 on my uni computer lab server cause I've got bored of CS and don't know whether the On The House freeness would still apply...

 

I mean if it never appeared On The House I would have pirated it anyway but now I'm wondering if I were to download RA2 and install it on the server would it be breaking some terms of agreement or something?

[Nyerguds]

Um. The "On The House" thing gets linked to an Origin account. So once you got it on your account it doesn't matter where you install it; you'll need your Origin login to play it anyway.

 

Whether that's legitimate use of that computer is entirely your problem, though

[Jacen Solo]

Um. The "On The House" thing gets linked to an Origin account. So once you got it on your account it doesn't matter where you install it; you'll need your Origin login to play it anyway.

 

Yes I realised this just bout a minute after I posted this thread... 

 

But it will only be used for LAN play between friends...

Is that okay?

or is it still grey?

[Grant]

Um. The "On The House" thing gets linked to an Origin account. So once you got it on your account it doesn't matter where you install it; you'll need your Origin login to play it anyway.

 

Yes I realised this just bout a minute after I posted this thread... 

 

But it will only be used for LAN play between friends...

Is that okay?

or is it still grey?

Hey - best contacting EA or Origin regarding the matter. We're in no position to give you an official answer

[fir3w0rx]

I mean if it never appeared On The House I would have pirated it anyway but now I'm wondering if I were to download RA2 and install it on the server would it be breaking some terms of agreement or something?

You're not worried about pirating, but at the same time you're worried about terms and agreements? I don't get it.

 

But seriously, the only possible problem I can see here is what Nyerguds already mentioned. I highly doubt that your uni's IT department will allow you to play games for recreational purposes. You'd have to pretend it's for a networking assignment or something.

[Nyerguds]

But it will only be used for LAN play between friends...

Is that okay?

or is it still grey?

You'll all need an Origin account and the game on it, but I don't see why not? You'll need to do that registry edit to make sure the games don't think they all have the same serial though. Origin is quite sloppy when it comes to installing the classics...

[Jacen Solo]

You're not worried about pirating, but at the same time you're worried about terms and agreements? I don't get it.

 

Hehe gotta obey some rules!  XD

 

But yes Nyerguds is right I can't install the Origin version... It can't run on computers with limited accounts...

 

So I figured I would use the XWIS version, where you just need a key for online play...

 

But now I have the obvious problem of trying to run the game without all the Admin privileges needed to fix all the String Manager errors and the black screens and lag and all that...

 

Is there any way of fixing those problems without having an admin account?

[FunkyFr3sh]

play red alert 1, that works without admin rights

[Jacen Solo]

play red alert 1, that works without admin rights

But I like Red Alert 2 better!

[Nyerguds]

Boo! Hiss! Shun the non-believer!

 

(Play C&C1, not RA! :yo:)

[Jacen Solo]

Oh come on guys!!

 

Is there any way? Or will I have to sneak an admin password from somewhere...? 

[FunkyFr3sh]

There is a patch to remove the blowfish.dll dependecy for tiberian sun, this should also work for red alert 2. Not sure if anyone ported it yet, try to check www.ppmforums.com

blowfish.dll is the file the game needs to register, that action requires admin rights

 

You will also need to modify all the game files to remove the encryption using the XCC mix tools

[Nyerguds]

Still won't get rid of the Origin requirement of the Origin version though.

[Jacen Solo]

Still won't get rid of the Origin requirement of the Origin version though.

Yep! 

But like I said I realised that almost immediately after I first posted this thread...

So I'm trying now with the XWIS version of RA2... That works fine, but still requires Admin privileges to run properly which I cannot do...

[Nyerguds]

Well I assume he wouldn't go for cracks if he was so concerned about legality of installing it on a public computer in the first place

[Jacen Solo]

There is a patch to remove the blowfish.dll dependecy for tiberian sun, this should also work for red alert 2. Not sure if anyone ported it yet, try to check www.ppmforums.com

blowfish.dll is the file the game needs to register, that action requires admin rights

 

You will also need to modify all the game files to remove the encryption using the XCC mix tools

 

Is it this: http://funkyfr3sh.cncnet.org/files/TiberianSunDllFix.exe ?

 

It seems to me that you made this... hehehe  XD

 

I've found some success stories with it so am gonna give it a try... will report back soon! 

[Jacen Solo]

Well I assume he wouldn't go for cracks if he was so concerned about legality of installing it on a public computer in the first place

hahaha!

I know, I'm weird right!

 

heres a tip for you consider your self lucky... for any one having admin issues, downloading vmware and download a virtual copy of windows. install ra2/YR inside there play from there.

 

Well when I last checked vmwares require admin rights to install in the first place let alone a virtual copy of windows on a lab computer in a school... 

[FunkyFr3sh]

There is a patch to remove the blowfish.dll dependecy for tiberian sun, this should also work for red alert 2. Not sure if anyone ported it yet, try to check www.ppmforums.com

blowfish.dll is the file the game needs to register, that action requires admin rights

 

You will also need to modify all the game files to remove the encryption using the XCC mix tools

 

Is it this: http://funkyfr3sh.cncnet.org/files/TiberianSunDllFix.exe ?

 

It seems to me that you made this... hehehe  XD

 

I've found some success stories with it so am gonna give it a try... will report back soon! 

 

No, this is something different, it needs admin rights

[Jacen Solo]

There is a patch to remove the blowfish.dll dependecy for tiberian sun, this should also work for red alert 2. Not sure if anyone ported it yet, try to check www.ppmforums.com

blowfish.dll is the file the game needs to register, that action requires admin rights

 

You will also need to modify all the game files to remove the encryption using the XCC mix tools

 

Is it this: http://funkyfr3sh.cncnet.org/files/TiberianSunDllFix.exe ?

 

It seems to me that you made this... hehehe  XD

 

I've found some success stories with it so am gonna give it a try... will report back soon! 

 

No, this is something different, it needs admin rights

Oh... So what does this do then?

[FunkyFr3sh]

The tool will force your to be logged in as an admin and then it registers the .dll file

 

I made it cause some people try to run the game without admin rights and end up with this error

[Jacen Solo]

The tool will force your to be logged in as an admin and then it registers the .dll file

 

I made it cause some people try to run the game without admin rights and end up with this error

Oh so it WILL require admin rights each time to even launch the game?

Ah man...

 

 

Well would you know the other tool's name or developer? ppm is really a rather large forum and I'm not exactly sure what to search for and the search isn't especially helpful either...

 

 

Surely it can't be hard to run RA2 on a limited account windows 7 without getting Fatal String Manager errors and all that nonsense...

Shouldn't there have been thousands of people over the years who would have tried this at one point and figured out a way eventually, right...?

 

I've tried googling but the results are all bout how to play RA2 on win 7/8/10 (must have admin or you're screwed :mad:)

or that red alert 2 is now free on Origin On The House (like we didn't know that already!!! :ranting:)

[Rampastring]

It needs admin rights only once, at least if it functions like original TS.

[FunkyFr3sh]

I just checked and it turned out that iran already coded the blowfish stuff, add this to ra2md.ini under [Options]

 

DisableBlowfishDLL=Yes

 

Afterwards you need to open each and every mix file with XCC Mixer, then right click and compact to remove the encryption. It can be that there are .mix inside of .mix files, you will then need to extract them first and compact, then put them back into the other .mix

 

This will only work for cncnet online games

[Jacen Solo]

I just checked and it turned out that iran already coded the blowfish stuff, add this to ra2md.ini under [Options]

 

DisableBlowfishDLL=Yes

 

Afterwards you need to open each and every mix file with XCC Mixer, then right click and compact to remove the encryption. It can be that there are .mix inside of .mix files, you will then need to extract them first and compact, then put them back into the other .mix

 

This will only work for cncnet online games

 

Wait so those this work for the ra2.ini as well? or only ra2md.ini?

I kinda prefer RA2 to YR...   

 

Will try this though and tell ya guys whether it works...

[Jacen Solo]

ok so I'm kinda confused... the option in xcc mixer to compact the .mix files is blanked out...

what am I doing wrong here?

 

what does compacting them even do...?

 

WAIT!!!

do you mean I have to extract each file then compact them?

[Nyerguds]

"Compact" means "rewrite the mixfile". You can only do it for mix archives. I believe you have to open the mix archive, then right-click in it and then press "compact", though.