Major PortableRA update released

Iran · Pyro Sniper **Joined**: 23 Mar 2011

PortableRA is a distribution of the freeware game Red Alert. It's completely modular with easy to use downloads and installers. It comes with optional configuration tool and launcher, cnc-ddraw (for windowed mode, OpenGL and GDI support) and CnCNet v4 (for online play). It also comes with a large patch, ra303p, which I've been working on with hifi. This patch is compatible with the version of the game used by all players online. Red Alert is one of the most played C&C games online with 100+ players on CnCNet v4 every European evening.

This update comes with tons of new features and fixes, including a fix for the radar dome crash, fixes to missions bugs, ability to save skirmish games and the addition of two new map theaters: desert and winter. Bugs with previous versions of PortableRA have been fixed. There is a lot more, you can find a list of patch features at:

https://github.com/cnc-patch/ra303p/blob/6a547da0481a148e7e7c296161dfcdd6c9edda96/docs/features.txt

A lot of people helped me and the patch also contains reverse engineered fixes from AlexB's Arda. Credits go to:

Code:

CCHyper: Sharing his vast analysed Red Alert engine database with me and code contributions. Also extended the excutable with a game icon.
FunkyFr3sh: Lots of testing, suggestions, game knowledge, language packs, expansion maps converted to .MPR and much more. You're awesome, dude!
Nyerguds: Contributions to the patch and sharing C&C95 engine knowledge.
AlexB: Various ideas and addresses used for Arda's fixes taken from his Arda project. In Additional lots of information taken from the Arda manual.
Allen262: C&C95 desert and winter theater conversions, testing, map fixes, DOS graphics conversions, beta unit recreations, generic cameos for units which don't have cameos.
Merri: Started work on the desert theater conversion which Allen262 based his finished conversion on, also made the game strings editor used by Iran and FunkyFr3sh for language packs and strings fixes
ehy: Suggestions and bug reporting.
Lovehandles: Testing high resolution patches for in-game LAN dialogs. Which took about 4 hours or so. ;-) And more helpful testing.
r34ch: Reporting map bugs and game bugs.
Plotkite_Wolf: RedAlertLauncher background image.
djohe: Making useful test maps and reporting game bugs, testing too.

In the future I will add FunkyFr3sh's CnCNet v5 client to PortableRA. CnCNet v5 is the next iteration of the the CnCNet online service for classic C&C games. It has tons of new features, more convenience and is easier to use than CnCNet v4. It's still new and in heavy development but since a week it's feature complete. It's an amazing effort by FunkyFr3sh and I'm happy to announce I will add his client to the next PortableRA update.

PortableRA and the ra303p patch are still betas and considering the huge size of the project it's reasonable to expect some bugs. Please report any bugs you find and remember this is still a beta.

Download from the PortableRA Official Website