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72d33c55ed0a047c's avatar
72d33c55ed0a047c
New Novice
10 years ago
Solved

Command And Conquer no video

I downloaded the Command and Conquer pack with 17 titles to play Red Alert 2, which is my favorite old computer game. I paid for it, downloaded it, and installed it successfully. When I launch the game, I can hear it going through the old intros and whatnot, and can even click on things as if I was starting a match, but the entire screen is completely black. I also have a friend that has the same issue. We both have HP laptops that are less than a year old. I'm running Windows 10 with an intel I7 processor. It was a top tier laptop when I purchased it. My friend has similar specs on his. So if anyone can shed some light on this issue, please let me know what you think is going on. The only thing I can figure is that it isn't compatible with Windows 10. Hopefully there's a patch or something somewhere I can try? Thanks in Advance ..   

-Seth

  • Nyerguds's avatar
    Nyerguds
    10 years ago

    @sethluvsgod7

    This isn't a matter of specs, actually. These games are all really old, so minimum requirements mean nothing to them. The problem here is mainly that they were all made for completely different systems.

    Worry not, though: Command & Conquer 1, Red Alert 1 and Tiberian Sun have all been upgraded with community-created unofficial patches that fix a lot of their bugs and compatibility problems, and for Red Alert 2 there's a more general patch that solves a lot of its graphics problems. You can find them all here:

    Command & Conquer 1:

    Red Alert 1:

    Tiberian Sun:

    Red Alert 2:

    • The graphics system patch DDWrapper is known to solve the "black screen" issue.
      Download the zip file and extract "ddraw.dll" and "aqrit.cfg" into your game folder. Then, open the configuration file "aqrit.cfg" in Notepad, change the "ForceDirectDrawEmulation" option to 1, save the file, and the game should work.

    It is strongly advised to install all of these.

5 Replies

  • Nyerguds's avatar
    Nyerguds
    Hero+
    10 years ago

    @sethluvsgod7

    This isn't a matter of specs, actually. These games are all really old, so minimum requirements mean nothing to them. The problem here is mainly that they were all made for completely different systems.

    Worry not, though: Command & Conquer 1, Red Alert 1 and Tiberian Sun have all been upgraded with community-created unofficial patches that fix a lot of their bugs and compatibility problems, and for Red Alert 2 there's a more general patch that solves a lot of its graphics problems. You can find them all here:

    Command & Conquer 1:

    Red Alert 1:

    Tiberian Sun:

    Red Alert 2:

    • The graphics system patch DDWrapper is known to solve the "black screen" issue.
      Download the zip file and extract "ddraw.dll" and "aqrit.cfg" into your game folder. Then, open the configuration file "aqrit.cfg" in Notepad, change the "ForceDirectDrawEmulation" option to 1, save the file, and the game should work.

    It is strongly advised to install all of these.

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    10 years ago

    I'm sorry but Most People don't know how to do  this. And I think that origin should fix the problem or don't offer the game . I just spent hours trying to fix this and I won't do it again.

  • Nyerguds's avatar
    Nyerguds
    Hero+
    10 years ago

    @dove5b

    @dove5b wrote:

    I'm sorry but Most People don't know how to do  this.

    That's exactly why we already did it for you. The patches I linked to are installers which auto-detect where the game is installed. All you need to do is download them, run them, let them do their thing, and  then just start the games again. Is that really so hard? 😕

    If you mean the Red Alert 2 instructions... what exactly is your problem? Finding the game folder? Unzipping a zip file? Opening a file in notepad? All of these are pretty trivial. People should really be more aware of what goes on inside the computers they're using.

    If you have trouble finding where the game is installed, open the Origin menu and select "Application Settings". In the settings screen, go to the "Advanced" section. Copy the address in the grey box, paste it in your Windows file explorer's address bar, and press [enter]. In the folder where you end up you will see the actual installation folders of your games. Then just find the Red Alert 2 one in there.

    @dove5b wrote:

    And I think that origin should fix the problem or don't offer the game . I just spent hours trying to fix this and I won't do it again.

    Well, sadly, there's no one employed at EA to work on anything C&C related, so them offering more support isn't an option. So we, the fans, just do what we can, y'know? I know, the way this pack was made is awful; but it's still preferable to not having any legal way to get the games.

    Though it'd be nice if they'd just make Red Alert 2 freeware, like they did with the first three games 😞

  • Player_nv0wmwqu's avatar
    Player_nv0wmwqu
    5 years ago

    Hey,

    I fixed the black screen, however while playing the screen turns off, shows my desktop in a different resolution (the resolution the game operates at) and will not go back into the game. I can hear sounds but never get back into gameplay. Any suggestions?

  • Nyerguds's avatar
    Nyerguds
    Hero+
    5 years ago
    @Player_nv0wmwqu This is generally caused by desktop notifications... the best you can do is make sure no programs are running that give such notifications, I guess.

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