5 ms·

The post mentions TiberianDawn.dll and RedAlert.dll, I assume it's not the whole source of the games, is it?

by hiq 6y ago

TaylorAlexander 6y ago
Here’s the language they use: “Electronic Arts will be releasing the TiberianDawn.dll and RedAlert.dll and their corresponding source code under the GPL version 3.0 license” I assume “their corresponding source code” means “the code for those DLLs”, but I do wonder why they bother mentioning the DLLs at all.
- DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
  Even weirder considering the games were for DOS originally - and DOS doesn’t use DLLs at all.
  - learc83 6y ago
    They released remastered versions of both for windows, so maybe that was the most readily available version of the source code they had.
  - Slartie 6y ago
    They probably wrote some kind of generic loader or wrapper for starting these games for pretty much exactly this reason (them being originally DOS games, thus expecting a DOS environment). The games then are compiled as DLLs and act like some kind of plugin for the generic loader, which is a self-sufficient project compiled into an executable.
  - mnd999 6y ago
    IIRC Red Alert came with a DOS version and a DirectX 3 version for Windows 95
    - llimllib 6y ago
      two separate double CD cases, I think?
      - kakwa_ 6y ago
        I'm pretty sure it was only one CD. Keep in mind that the 600MB of CD was just huge at the time, so more than enough place for both versions. At the time I had only an old 486 with a 500MB disk under DOS, and I played this game quite extensively. I even remember cutting the sound to gain a few FPS, which enabled me to go from "unplayable" to "barely usable" ^^.
        KindOne 6y ago
        Red Alert was released on two CD's, Allied and Soviet, mostly because they each had the video clips for the campaign you were playing. Same applies for Tiberian Sun. GDI and NOD CD's. I have them all via the "The Command & Conquer Collection" released back in 2003. Source: Red Alert: https://i.imgur.com/xD7j08b.jpg https://i.imgur.com/xD7j08b.jpg Tiberian Sun: https://i.imgur.com/xD7j08b.jpg https://i.imgur.com/xD7j08b.jpg
        gmueckl 6y ago
        I have an edition of Red Alert somewhere that includes the expansions as well, which adds up to 4 CDs. It sounds big, but it's not unheard of in this era. Riven was released on 5 CDs and The 7th Guest on 7 CDs, if I remember correctly.
      - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
        Just two CDs. One with the Soviet campaign videos and the other with the Allied campaign videos. Other then that, both discs contained full copies of the game for both DOS and Windows 95 - users were encouraged to lend the other disc to a friend so you could play multiplayer. This continued with Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2. Generals came on two CDs but it used the “install disc” + “play disc” system rather than the “lend one to a friend” model used previously. Then CNC3 was released on a single DVD.
- TAForObvReasons 6y ago
  > these open-source DLLs should assist users to design maps, create custom units, replace art, alter gameplay logic, and edit data
- bni 6y ago
  I think this code release is to enable mods only. To make it possible to develop a MyGame.dll with custom behaviour and/or art. It wont be possible to make a total conversion, standalone. So the talk about open source might just be marketing fluff.
haunter 6y ago
Most likely the whole engine and the bare metal game without the arts/graphics and music/sound. That's how a lot of opensource clones work. For example OpenTTD [0] was reverse engineered and you have 2 options to actually play the game - either have the original game and use the arts/graphics and music/sound data from the original files - use the open source remake of the arts/graphics and music/sound The 2nd option where a lot of open source clones fail. It's one thing to have the engine and the bare metal game but the actual arts/graphics usually takes more time to recreate. That's where OpenTTD is really successful because you can just download the game and play. As another example an open source clone of Red Alert already exist [1] but it's just the engine. To actually play you need the original arts/graphics 0 https://www.openttd.org/ https://www.openttd.org/ 1 https://www.openra.net/ https://www.openra.net/
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
  At least with OpenRA you can legally download the original game content ISO CD images (EA released them as free(beer)-ware a while ago) - the only thing missing is about half of the single-player campaign missions as OpenRA can’t play the original game missions directly so the project’s contributors recreate them by-hand,
  - flatiron 6y ago
    its missing missions? my openra has missions, i thought it would have been complete. only thing i noticed its missing is the so awful they are amazing videos
    - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
      > its missing missions? my openra has missions Only about half of the missions
  - MaxBarraclough 6y ago

The post mentions TiberianDawn.dll and RedAlert.dll, I assume it's not the whole source of the games, is it?

by hiq 6y ago

The post mentions TiberianDawn.dll and RedAlert.dll, I assume it's not the whole source of the games, is it?

Here’s the language they use: “Electronic Arts will be releasing the TiberianDawn.dll and RedAlert.dll and their corresponding source code under the GPL version 3.0 license” I assume “their corresponding source code” means “the code for those DLLs”, but I do wonder why they bother mentioning the DLLs at all.

DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
Even weirder considering the games were for DOS originally - and DOS doesn’t use DLLs at all.
- learc83 6y ago
  They released remastered versions of both for windows, so maybe that was the most readily available version of the source code they had.
- Slartie 6y ago
  They probably wrote some kind of generic loader or wrapper for starting these games for pretty much exactly this reason (them being originally DOS games, thus expecting a DOS environment). The games then are compiled as DLLs and act like some kind of plugin for the generic loader, which is a self-sufficient project compiled into an executable.
- mnd999 6y ago
  IIRC Red Alert came with a DOS version and a DirectX 3 version for Windows 95
  - llimllib 6y ago
    two separate double CD cases, I think?
    - kakwa_ 6y ago
      I'm pretty sure it was only one CD. Keep in mind that the 600MB of CD was just huge at the time, so more than enough place for both versions. At the time I had only an old 486 with a 500MB disk under DOS, and I played this game quite extensively. I even remember cutting the sound to gain a few FPS, which enabled me to go from "unplayable" to "barely usable" ^^.
      - KindOne 6y ago
        Red Alert was released on two CD's, Allied and Soviet, mostly because they each had the video clips for the campaign you were playing. Same applies for Tiberian Sun. GDI and NOD CD's. I have them all via the "The Command & Conquer Collection" released back in 2003. Source: Red Alert: https://i.imgur.com/xD7j08b.jpg https://i.imgur.com/xD7j08b.jpg Tiberian Sun: https://i.imgur.com/xD7j08b.jpg https://i.imgur.com/xD7j08b.jpg
        gmueckl 6y ago
        I have an edition of Red Alert somewhere that includes the expansions as well, which adds up to 4 CDs. It sounds big, but it's not unheard of in this era. Riven was released on 5 CDs and The 7th Guest on 7 CDs, if I remember correctly.
    - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
      Just two CDs. One with the Soviet campaign videos and the other with the Allied campaign videos. Other then that, both discs contained full copies of the game for both DOS and Windows 95 - users were encouraged to lend the other disc to a friend so you could play multiplayer. This continued with Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2. Generals came on two CDs but it used the “install disc” + “play disc” system rather than the “lend one to a friend” model used previously. Then CNC3 was released on a single DVD.
TAForObvReasons 6y ago
> these open-source DLLs should assist users to design maps, create custom units, replace art, alter gameplay logic, and edit data
bni 6y ago
I think this code release is to enable mods only. To make it possible to develop a MyGame.dll with custom behaviour and/or art. It wont be possible to make a total conversion, standalone. So the talk about open source might just be marketing fluff.

haunter 6y ago

Most likely the whole engine and the bare metal game without the arts/graphics and music/sound. That's how a lot of opensource clones work. For example OpenTTD [0] was reverse engineered and you have 2 options to actually play the game - either have the original game and use the arts/graphics and music/sound data from the original files - use the open source remake of the arts/graphics and music/sound The 2nd option where a lot of open source clones fail. It's one thing to have the engine and the bare metal game but the actual arts/graphics usually takes more time to recreate. That's where OpenTTD is really successful because you can just download the game and play. As another example an open source clone of Red Alert already exist [1] but it's just the engine. To actually play you need the original arts/graphics 0 https://www.openttd.org/ https://www.openttd.org/ 1 https://www.openra.net/ https://www.openra.net/

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
At least with OpenRA you can legally download the original game content ISO CD images (EA released them as free(beer)-ware a while ago) - the only thing missing is about half of the single-player campaign missions as OpenRA can’t play the original game missions directly so the project’s contributors recreate them by-hand,
- flatiron 6y ago
  its missing missions? my openra has missions, i thought it would have been complete. only thing i noticed its missing is the so awful they are amazing videos
  - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
    > its missing missions? my openra has missions Only about half of the missions
- MaxBarraclough 6y ago