Red Alert & Tiberian Sun "Error - Unable to set video mode"
Hello.
Every time I try to play Red Alert or Tiberian sun, the screen will dance around a bit, before closing itself and displaying "Error - Unable to set video mode"
I have been trying hard to get it to work the last week, I've been working on it for several hours today alone, but nothing is working. I am pretty sure I have read and tried everything Google could turn up about this error. I think I have messed with every resolution setting imaginable, tried every combo of compatibility I could, and the last thing I tried before posting this was installing the C&C Gold 1.06c patch, but alas since it's in Origin, it could not find the directory the game was installed in, no matter how many things I tried to pair it with. Also I have read all the READ ME FIRSTS and tried everything on there relating to my problem.
I assure you at this point I am fed up and would just like a straightforward fix, or for someone to tell me I will never get it to work on my operating system.
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
Intel HD Graphics 4000
i7 2.90 GHz
A laptop that is an HP Elitebook 2570p
Thank
You
The Origin version of C&C should be detected by the 1.06c installer... I've never had problems with that. But even if you can't detect it, you can choose the directory manually.
Do note, the C&C Gold 1.06 patch is for C&C Gold, the Win95 re-release of the original (DOS) C&C. "C&C Gold" = "C&C95" = "C&C1". The original first game. It can't be applied to RA1 or TS.
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, though. For Red Alert 2 there's a more general patch that solves a lot of its graphics problems. You can find them here:
Command & Conquer 1:
- Nyerguds' C&C95 v1.06c revision 3 patch (which also adds bonus missions originally exclusive to the Playstation and Nintendo 64 versions of the game)
Red Alert 1:
- Funkyfr3sh's automatic Red Alert 1 patcher/installer
- Nyerguds' main.mix cleanup for TFD/TUC (Not really needed, but cleans up about a gigabyte of unnecessary files in the RA1 folder. Unpack in the game folder, run "patch_main.bat", let it finish, and then delete the files you extracted.)
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.
