(Solved) RA2/YR: Main executable stops working when trying to run the game standalone

[Techno_Man]

I'm unable to run Red Alert 2 or Yuri's Revenge out of CNCNet (to play campaign). Does anyone know what causes this?

If you're wondering, I'm set to TS-DDRAW already.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Techno_Man
The problem has been solved

[MorbidDesire]

I had to uninstall the game, delete the folder and reinstall to get it working again.

It started happening randomly. I don't recall changing any settings between a boot-up that worked and the next ones that stopped working.

[AbYsMaL]

Is there a way that we can get around having to do a fresh reinstall? I wanted to show my friend the campaign for this game, but having to uninstall the whole game just to play the main game is a little bit tedious.

[Grant]

Are you using Origin too?

[FunkyFr3sh]

Check your game folder for a file named "ddraw.dll", if it's there, delete it.

 

Not sure if there is anything else that could break the original game (maybe rampastring knows)

[AbYsMaL]

Are you using Origin too?

 

Yes I am. If there is anything you want me to try I am more than welcome to do it. As far as base changes go to the game, all I did to make it run was go into the game.exe, gamemd.exe, RA2 and RA2MD and set compatibility by having it run in 640x480 resolution and then running as administrator one time on each of them. In order to make the game run faster without lag I went into the RA2 and RA2MD.ini and added under the [Video] section VideoBackBuffer=no. I have Mental Omega installed as a mod, and it works fine although in the MO folder (MO and RA2/YR are being kept in separate file locations; MO on desktop and RA2/YR in Origin Games in the default path). I don't think the MO side matters though because I can play those campaigns and the skirmishes nd CnCnet on that just fine, just not in vanilla.

 

@FunkyFr3sh I do not have a ddraw.dll in my directory. It was never placed during RA2/YR installation, unless you mean I should delete ddraw after CNCnet is reinstalled?

[FunkyFr3sh]

Are you using Origin too?

 

Yes I am. If there is anything you want me to try I am more than welcome to do it. As far as base changes go to the game, all I did to make it run was go into the game.exe, gamemd.exe, RA2 and RA2MD and set compatibility by having it run in 640x480 resolution and then running as administrator one time on each of them. In order to make the game run faster without lag I went into the RA2 and RA2MD.ini and added under the [Video] section VideoBackBuffer=no. I have Mental Omega installed as a mod, and it works fine although in the MO folder (MO and RA2/YR are being kept in separate file locations; MO on desktop and RA2/YR in Origin Games in the default path). I don't think the MO side matters though because I can play those campaigns and the skirmishes nd CnCnet on that just fine, just not in vanilla.

 

@FunkyFr3sh I do not have a ddraw.dll in my directory. It was never placed during RA2/YR installation, unless you mean I should delete ddraw after CNCnet is reinstalled?

 

 

do you have windows XP? If so, enable the windows 95 compat mode for game.exe and gamemd.exe

[AbYsMaL]

Are you using Origin too?

 

Yes I am. If there is anything you want me to try I am more than welcome to do it. As far as base changes go to the game, all I did to make it run was go into the game.exe, gamemd.exe, RA2 and RA2MD and set compatibility by having it run in 640x480 resolution and then running as administrator one time on each of them. In order to make the game run faster without lag I went into the RA2 and RA2MD.ini and added under the [Video] section VideoBackBuffer=no. I have Mental Omega installed as a mod, and it works fine although in the MO folder (MO and RA2/YR are being kept in separate file locations; MO on desktop and RA2/YR in Origin Games in the default path). I don't think the MO side matters though because I can play those campaigns and the skirmishes nd CnCnet on that just fine, just not in vanilla.

 

@FunkyFr3sh I do not have a ddraw.dll in my directory. It was never placed during RA2/YR installation, unless you mean I should delete ddraw after CNCnet is reinstalled?

 

 

do you have windows XP? If so, enable the windows 95 compat mode for game.exe and gamemd.exe

 

Believe me if I had XP I would gladly use it; this is a windows 10 laptop though. On a side note, I didn't have this issue with the old CnCnet, just the new one. In regards to deleting ddraw.dll, is that in CnCnet and if so are there any repercussions for doing this with Cncnet?

 

Edit: Removing ddraw allows Red Alert 2 to run normally, however Yuri's Revenge seems to have an issue where it wants to immediately rush into CnCnet YR instead of vanilla.

[Grant]

Are you using Origin too?

 

Yes I am. If there is anything you want me to try I am more than welcome to do it. As far as base changes go to the game, all I did to make it run was go into the game.exe, gamemd.exe, RA2 and RA2MD and set compatibility by having it run in 640x480 resolution and then running as administrator one time on each of them. In order to make the game run faster without lag I went into the RA2 and RA2MD.ini and added under the [Video] section VideoBackBuffer=no. I have Mental Omega installed as a mod, and it works fine although in the MO folder (MO and RA2/YR are being kept in separate file locations; MO on desktop and RA2/YR in Origin Games in the default path). I don't think the MO side matters though because I can play those campaigns and the skirmishes nd CnCnet on that just fine, just not in vanilla.

 

@FunkyFr3sh I do not have a ddraw.dll in my directory. It was never placed during RA2/YR installation, unless you mean I should delete ddraw after CNCnet is reinstalled?

 

 

do you have windows XP? If so, enable the windows 95 compat mode for game.exe and gamemd.exe

 

Believe me if I had XP I would gladly use it; this is a windows 10 laptop though. On a side note, I didn't have this issue with the old CnCnet, just the new one. In regards to deleting ddraw.dll, is that in CnCnet and if so are there any repercussions for doing this with Cncnet?

Re-name it to ts_ddraw.dll and move it back to Resources folder to play it safe

[AbYsMaL]

I think we Ninja'd each other @Grant. I removed ddraw.dll and the RA2 runs just fine. YR seems to do this thing where it forces itself to run the CNCnet version.

[AbYsMaL]

I think I have it fixed now; ddraw in the CnCnet was definitely causing issues, but when I deleted it, it allowed me to launch both games using the GameMD.exe. It still has a few moments where the frames drop but it is still nice to play the campaign and skirmish without deleting CNCnet... thanks again.

[Macpolo]

you need to uninstall it and reinstall it!... thats it