EA's big news: Renegade and Zero Hour source code now available and Steam Workshop support!
March 02, 2025 - 04:55
March 02, 2025 - 04:55
Hello, ladies and gentlemen!
I have woken up from my slumber... well, not necessarily slumber, but real-life being hectic as usual.... because our friend CCHyper has delivered a major set of resources for the C&C community. It is one of the best news in decades that I have seen coming up from EA itself! It happened last Thursday, but I have taken some time to check it out and believe it for real. Too good to be true!
So, as a summary:
- EA has released the source code of Renegade and Zero Hour.
- EA has updated the source code of Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert 1.
- Renegade, Generals, Zero Hour, Tiberium Wars, Kane's Wrath, Red Alert 3, RA3: Uprising and Tiberian Twilight received Steam Workshop support
- C&C Modding Support pack with XML, shaders, and original maps from all games mentioned in the previous paragraph (as long as they actually feature it).
- The Steam version of the games mentioned above received updates to reflect these changes.
Before quoting Hyper's message to the C&C community, I have a few comments about what just happened.
First of all, I am very happy about the source code from Renegade and even happier with Zero Hour's source code. It is a great opportunity to help the community build good 3D RTS games and customize the good gameplay experience that Zero Hour provides. I never expected EA would give these things away and I think it is great for the community as a whole.
Regarding the Steam Workshop, I am no fan of it at all. I do understand that it is easier for users to install mods using that.... as long as it is one single mod at a time. If you have different kinds of customizations for a game, it might not be friendly at all. I also don't like their interface to find content and Steam sabotages third-party who try to organize their content. So, keeping in touch with the updates on the content there is very troublesome, in my humble opinion.
The modding support pack is a great initiative and will help modders, especially with the XML and shaders.
And here's Hyper's post:
Finally, it is worth mentioning that user-created content with C&C material should follow the guidelines here.
And another tip of Jimtern in the Reddit post is this video below:
I have woken up from my slumber... well, not necessarily slumber, but real-life being hectic as usual.... because our friend CCHyper has delivered a major set of resources for the C&C community. It is one of the best news in decades that I have seen coming up from EA itself! It happened last Thursday, but I have taken some time to check it out and believe it for real. Too good to be true!
So, as a summary:
- EA has released the source code of Renegade and Zero Hour.
- EA has updated the source code of Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert 1.
- Renegade, Generals, Zero Hour, Tiberium Wars, Kane's Wrath, Red Alert 3, RA3: Uprising and Tiberian Twilight received Steam Workshop support
- C&C Modding Support pack with XML, shaders, and original maps from all games mentioned in the previous paragraph (as long as they actually feature it).
- The Steam version of the games mentioned above received updates to reflect these changes.
Before quoting Hyper's message to the C&C community, I have a few comments about what just happened.
First of all, I am very happy about the source code from Renegade and even happier with Zero Hour's source code. It is a great opportunity to help the community build good 3D RTS games and customize the good gameplay experience that Zero Hour provides. I never expected EA would give these things away and I think it is great for the community as a whole.
Regarding the Steam Workshop, I am no fan of it at all. I do understand that it is easier for users to install mods using that.... as long as it is one single mod at a time. If you have different kinds of customizations for a game, it might not be friendly at all. I also don't like their interface to find content and Steam sabotages third-party who try to organize their content. So, keeping in touch with the updates on the content there is very troublesome, in my humble opinion.
The modding support pack is a great initiative and will help modders, especially with the XML and shaders.
And here's Hyper's post:
CCHyper wrote:
Hello C&C Community!
For those of you awesome C&C fans who I have not crossed paths with before, my name is Luke Feenan, aka. “CCHyper”. I’m a 20+ year veteran of the C&C Community, a long-time modder, and an Admin of CnCNet. I was also very fortunate to have been involved in the development of the C&C Remastered Collection under the mentorship of Jim Vessella.
Over the past year, I have been working alongside the amazing C&C stakeholders here at EA to restore the Perforce source code archives for the C&C games back to buildable states, which now provides us with the ability to patch these classic games in a deeper way going forward. As a long-time modder, it was amazing to finally get a chance to dive deep into the source code for these games and see how they work!
Today, I have been given the pleasure to share two major announcements for the C&C Franchise with you all!
# 1 Empowering the future of the community
For those of you in the community who know me, you will be familiar with my strong advocacy for video game preservation and my support for the video game open-source community.
It's almost 5 years ago now that EA released the source code for the C&C Remastered Collection DLL files. This release received praise across the video games industry and has enabled the community to create amazing content for the Remastered Collection. In reaction to the restoration process of the C&C archives, I wanted to take this one step further…
So, I’m proud to announce that we are releasing the fully recovered source code for Command & Conquer (aka, Tiberian Dawn) and C&C Red Alert under the GPL license! I know this will empower those in the community who continue to create content for these classic entries in the franchise, and I hope it will aid communities like CnCNet to continue to support these games and keep them playable for future generations. But let's not stop there!
The community over at W3DHub has been doing amazing things with the C&C Renegade engine for almost 20 years now, and their projects have been pushing the absolute limits of the game. To support them in taking the game and their awesome projects to the next level, we are also releasing the complete source code for C&C Renegade under the GPL license. All of us here are really excited to see what’s next in store for the community over at W3DHub and what they will be able to do with this release!
And finally, in appreciation of the C&C Generals community who have kept the game alive with their consistent energy and passion, hosting multiplayer tournaments, and producing amazing content, I’m extremely happy to share that we are releasing the full source code under GPL for C&C Generals and its expansion pack, Zero Hour! I know the Generals/ZH community is going to do amazing things with this source code release, and I’m excited to see what the team over at C&C Online does next with the multiplayer experience for these games.
You can find the source code on the Electronic Arts GitHub page;
- https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Tiberian_Dawn
- https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Red_Alert
- https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Renegade
- https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Generals_Zero_Hour
# 2 Steam Workshop Support
But now, onto our second announcement.
We are enabling Steam Workshop support for more C&C titles to allow users to upload their custom maps! We know this has been an ask from the community for a very long time so we are pleased to finally give all you map creators an official and permanent home on the Steam Workshop for your content. Now Steam Workshop support has gone live for:
- C&C Renegade
- C&C Generals & Zero Hour
- C&C 3 Tiberium Wars and Kane’s Wrath
- C&C Red Alert 3 & Uprising
- C&C 4 Tiberian Twilight
We have also updated all the Mission Editor and World Builder tools so you can publish maps directly to the Steam Workshop. When you subscribe to an item on the Steam Workshop (via the Client or webpage), the games will now pull that content down when you next launch the game and the maps will be displayed in the singleplayer/multiplayer map selection menus. We're all looking forward to seeing the fun and crazy maps you upload!
And to top this off, to support the Steam Workshop, we are releasing a “C&C Modding Support” pack, which contains the source XML, Schema, Script, Shader, and Map files for all the games that use the SAGE engine. This has been another wish from the community for almost 15 years now so we’re excited to finally make this happen, and we hope this helps you all in continuing to make amazing content and mods for the years to come.
You can find this support pack on the Electronic Arts GitHub page;
https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Modding_Support
I would like to take a moment to thank all the Community Playtesters who have supported us throughout this journey with their invaluable feedback and encouragement, also, a big thank you to everyone who has reported bugs and issues for the C&C games on Reddit and Steam. And of course to the whole C&C community for supporting these games for over 25+ years!
I would also like to thank the many people at EA working at various studios and departments across the globe who have helped make this happen (there are just too many to name!). Their support for this project and the C&C franchise was really motivating during the final push to launch. I also want to thank the amazing team at EA Partners for providing me with the freedom to execute this project and the resources to help make it happen. Additionally, a shoutout to all of those who have supported me throughout this journey who are not at EA or associated with the C&C franchise. You're awesome, and you know who you all are! Lastly, I would like to take a personal moment to thank my two biggest supporters here at EA and throughout this journey. Technical Director Brian Barnes, who gave me the respect and autonomy to develop this project in the technical direction I felt was best for the core community. And Jim Vessella, for pulling all the pieces in place, and continuing to share his experience, knowledge, and insight with me. (And, of course, continuing to champion the C&C franchise here at EA!). Thank you to both of you for always looking out for me.
Luke “CCHyper” Feenan
For those of you awesome C&C fans who I have not crossed paths with before, my name is Luke Feenan, aka. “CCHyper”. I’m a 20+ year veteran of the C&C Community, a long-time modder, and an Admin of CnCNet. I was also very fortunate to have been involved in the development of the C&C Remastered Collection under the mentorship of Jim Vessella.
Over the past year, I have been working alongside the amazing C&C stakeholders here at EA to restore the Perforce source code archives for the C&C games back to buildable states, which now provides us with the ability to patch these classic games in a deeper way going forward. As a long-time modder, it was amazing to finally get a chance to dive deep into the source code for these games and see how they work!
Today, I have been given the pleasure to share two major announcements for the C&C Franchise with you all!
# 1 Empowering the future of the community
For those of you in the community who know me, you will be familiar with my strong advocacy for video game preservation and my support for the video game open-source community.
It's almost 5 years ago now that EA released the source code for the C&C Remastered Collection DLL files. This release received praise across the video games industry and has enabled the community to create amazing content for the Remastered Collection. In reaction to the restoration process of the C&C archives, I wanted to take this one step further…
So, I’m proud to announce that we are releasing the fully recovered source code for Command & Conquer (aka, Tiberian Dawn) and C&C Red Alert under the GPL license! I know this will empower those in the community who continue to create content for these classic entries in the franchise, and I hope it will aid communities like CnCNet to continue to support these games and keep them playable for future generations. But let's not stop there!
The community over at W3DHub has been doing amazing things with the C&C Renegade engine for almost 20 years now, and their projects have been pushing the absolute limits of the game. To support them in taking the game and their awesome projects to the next level, we are also releasing the complete source code for C&C Renegade under the GPL license. All of us here are really excited to see what’s next in store for the community over at W3DHub and what they will be able to do with this release!
And finally, in appreciation of the C&C Generals community who have kept the game alive with their consistent energy and passion, hosting multiplayer tournaments, and producing amazing content, I’m extremely happy to share that we are releasing the full source code under GPL for C&C Generals and its expansion pack, Zero Hour! I know the Generals/ZH community is going to do amazing things with this source code release, and I’m excited to see what the team over at C&C Online does next with the multiplayer experience for these games.
You can find the source code on the Electronic Arts GitHub page;
- https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Tiberian_Dawn
- https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Red_Alert
- https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Renegade
- https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Generals_Zero_Hour
# 2 Steam Workshop Support
But now, onto our second announcement.
We are enabling Steam Workshop support for more C&C titles to allow users to upload their custom maps! We know this has been an ask from the community for a very long time so we are pleased to finally give all you map creators an official and permanent home on the Steam Workshop for your content. Now Steam Workshop support has gone live for:
- C&C Renegade
- C&C Generals & Zero Hour
- C&C 3 Tiberium Wars and Kane’s Wrath
- C&C Red Alert 3 & Uprising
- C&C 4 Tiberian Twilight
We have also updated all the Mission Editor and World Builder tools so you can publish maps directly to the Steam Workshop. When you subscribe to an item on the Steam Workshop (via the Client or webpage), the games will now pull that content down when you next launch the game and the maps will be displayed in the singleplayer/multiplayer map selection menus. We're all looking forward to seeing the fun and crazy maps you upload!
And to top this off, to support the Steam Workshop, we are releasing a “C&C Modding Support” pack, which contains the source XML, Schema, Script, Shader, and Map files for all the games that use the SAGE engine. This has been another wish from the community for almost 15 years now so we’re excited to finally make this happen, and we hope this helps you all in continuing to make amazing content and mods for the years to come.
You can find this support pack on the Electronic Arts GitHub page;
https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Modding_Support
I would like to take a moment to thank all the Community Playtesters who have supported us throughout this journey with their invaluable feedback and encouragement, also, a big thank you to everyone who has reported bugs and issues for the C&C games on Reddit and Steam. And of course to the whole C&C community for supporting these games for over 25+ years!
I would also like to thank the many people at EA working at various studios and departments across the globe who have helped make this happen (there are just too many to name!). Their support for this project and the C&C franchise was really motivating during the final push to launch. I also want to thank the amazing team at EA Partners for providing me with the freedom to execute this project and the resources to help make it happen. Additionally, a shoutout to all of those who have supported me throughout this journey who are not at EA or associated with the C&C franchise. You're awesome, and you know who you all are! Lastly, I would like to take a personal moment to thank my two biggest supporters here at EA and throughout this journey. Technical Director Brian Barnes, who gave me the respect and autonomy to develop this project in the technical direction I felt was best for the core community. And Jim Vessella, for pulling all the pieces in place, and continuing to share his experience, knowledge, and insight with me. (And, of course, continuing to champion the C&C franchise here at EA!). Thank you to both of you for always looking out for me.
Luke “CCHyper” Feenan
Finally, it is worth mentioning that user-created content with C&C material should follow the guidelines here.
And another tip of Jimtern in the Reddit post is this video below:
