CNC-DDRAW: Play Command & Conquer on Modern Windows

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CNC-DDRAW: Play Command & Conquer on Modern Windows

Postby PMJPlay » Fri Aug 21, 2015 10:42 am

cnc-ddraw is an OpenGL re-implementation of the old DirectDraw API which was used for games such as Command & Conquer 95, Red Alert and Carmageddon.

Key features:

- Command & Conquer 95 (any version, v1.06c tested) support
- Red Alert (any version, v3.03 tested) support
- Carmageddon 95 unofficial support
- windowed mode
- resolution stretching
- C&C95 video resizing
- aspect ratio correction
- letter- & windowboxing
- both OpenGL and software renderers
- different scaling filters (GL_LINEAR/GL_NEAREST)
- better multi-core/SMP compatiblity
- better Windows Vista/7 compatibility
- better Wine compatibility

Additional features:

- fps limiting
- mouse sensitivity scaling

Multi-core/SMP/fast CPU issues fixed:

- game freezing randomly
- too fast scrolling in-game

Windows Vista/7 issues fixed:

- wrong colors, the game uses a 256 color palette which breaks down occasionally.

Wine issues fixed:

- bug #4487 - SMP: C&C and Red Alert stop redrawing at random times
- bug #6181 - C&C Cutsceens and Menus Run Slow
- bug #24179 - Cursor in Red Alert jumps on the right side of the screen and makes scrolling slow

Latest development snapshot: ddraw.dll (updated 2012-06-15)
Source: cnc-ddraw @ github

If you are going to play C&C95, always check for the latest patch from Nyerguds' first at http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/cnc95upd/cc95p106/.

Configuration
For cnc-ddraw to work at all, you need to disable all compatibility settings. Yes, thats right, disable. That means Windows version, 256 color mode and 640x480 resolution. It will most likely crash if any of them is enabled. For both C&C and RA to work properly, you need to set "Back buffer in Video memory" ON and "Allow hardware filled blits" OFF in "Hardware Options" using ccsetup.exe/rasetup.exe.

For best results with Red Alert, set its video mode to 640x400. For best results with C&C, use v1.06 patch and 1024x768 mode.

Place ddraw.dll in the game folder and on first run it will automagically create ddraw.ini using the following default settings (Wine users: add ddraw to dll overrides!)

Code: Select all
[ddraw]
width=0
height=0
; bits per pixel, possible values: 16, 24 and 32, 0 = auto
bpp=0
windowed=true
; show window borders in windowed mode
border=true
; use letter- or windowboxing to make a best fit (GDI only!)
boxing=false
; real rendering rate, -1 = screen rate, 0 = unlimited, n = cap
maxfps=0
; vertical synchronization, enable if you get tearing (OpenGL only)
vsync=false
; scaling filter, nearest = sharp, linear = smooth (OpenGL only)
filter=nearest
; mouse sensitivity scaling
adjmouse=false
; manual sensitivity scaling, 0 = disabled, 0.5 = half, 1.0 = normal
sensitivity=0.0
; enable C&C/RA mouse hack
mhack=true
; enable C&C video resize hack, auto = auto-detect game, true = forced, false = disabled (OpenGL only)
vhack=false
; switch between OpenGL (opengl) and software (gdi) renderers, latter supports less features but might be faster depending on the GPU
renderer=gdi
; force CPU0 affinity, avoids crashes with RA, *might* have a performance impact
singlecpu=true


With these settings you should have a naturally sized window which is not scaled.

You can alt-tab out of the window and back. To lock your cursor inside the window, click it. To unlock, press Ctrl+TAB.

Enjoy!
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