Re: Control Center + Mods for Red Alert 3.
There are some updated launchers that will allow you to start Red Alert 3 with the ui. After you have replaced the launchers, navigate to the "<ultimate>\Command and Conquer Red Alert 3\Red Alert 3" folder, right click "ra3.exe" and select "create shortcut". Once you have the shortcut, right click it and select "properties", and add a space and "-ui" after the rest of the text in the "target" edit box. Click ok, and then run it. Should see the UI.
I agree with you, it's criminal that EA does things like this. When I ordered the game online, I clicked "physical media" and waited for them to ship me a DVD just to avoid problems like this. What they didn't say was that even if you order physical media, all they ship you is a music CD in a box with a cover that says "download the game".