Tactical Operations 1

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CCEdit -- a Command and Conquer Editor CCEdit v2, written by Andrew Griffin. CONTENTS: [1] Important Notices [1-1] Copyright Notice and Distribution Restrictions [1-2] Warnings [2] CCEdit Reqirements and Files [2-1] Hardware requirements [2-2] CCEdit data files [2-3] Getting new data files [3] How To Use CCEdit v2 [3-1] Starting the program [3-2] Keyboard shortcuts [3-2-1] Main menu shortcuts [3-2-2] Secondary menu shortcuts [3-3] Mouse actions [3-3-1] Main menu actions [3-3-2] Secondary menu actions [3-4] Changing the values [3-4-1] Input boxes [3-4-2] Lists [3-4-3] Plus and Minus Buttons [3-5] Buttons and their actions [3-5-1] Save All button [3-5-2] Default All button [3-5-3] Use Patch button [3-5-4] Make Patch button [3-5-5] Reload All button [3-5-6] Save button [3-5-7] Def button [3-5-8] Reload button [3-5-9] Close button [4] Patch Files [4-1] What is a patch file? [4-2] Why do I need a patch file? [4-2-1] Synch errors [4-3] Using and making patch files [5] Unit and Building Characteristics [5-1] Speed [5-2] Armour Thickness [5-3] Secondary weapon [5-4] Primary Weapon [5-5] Owner [5-6] Power Required [5-7] Power Produced [5-8] Cost [5-9] Visual Radius [5-10] Hit Points [5-11] Weapon Payload [5-12] Invulnerability [5-13] Construction Type [5-14] Double Fire Ability [5-15] Rotor Blades [5-16] Transport Ability [5-17] Draw Graphics [5-18] Tech Levels [5-19] Turning Speed [5-20] Tiberium Capacity [5-21] First Build Level [5-22] Unit Can Be Selected [5-23] Enemies Will Attack Unit [5-24] Aircraft Cannot Land [5-25] Can Be Built [6] Supplementary Notes on Some Units and Buildings [6-1] Dinosaur Units [6-2] Viceroid and Mobile HQ [6-3] A-10, Hovercraft, Gunboat, and Transport Plane [6-4] Walls and Fences [6-5] Multiplayer-Only Units [7] Problems Running CCEdit v2 [7-1] Failure to initialise your graphics card [7-2] Not enough memory on your graphics card [7-3] No Microsoft mouse driver detected [7-4] Setting video mode failed [7-5] Error creating a patch file [7-6] Suspected XMS problems [7-7] Unfreed XMS memory [8] Andrew's Stupid Quotes [9] Last Minute Notices and Thanks ------------------------------ Chapter [1]: Important Notices ------------------------------ [1-1]: Copyright Notice and Distribution Restrictions ===================================================== Command and Conquer is a trademark of Westwood Studios Inc, and is so acknowledged. Any trademarks not mentioned here are still acknowledged. GDI and NOD logo graphics (c) 1995 by Westwood Studios Inc. This program is Copyright (c) 1996 Andrew Griffin. All rights reserved. You are granted the right to freely distribute this program (and its associated files) with the following restrictions: I. It (and its associated files) may not be included in cdrom compilations or on magazine cover disks without the express permission of the author. II. That no charge be made for the copying or distribution of this program and its data files (beyond normal and reasonable access charges). III. That no changes be made to any of these files. If you would like the right to include this program and its files on a cdrom compilation or magazine cover disk, write to the author at "buggy@adam.com.au" on the Internet. If this address bounces, visit the WWW page mentioned in section [2-3] where you will find my current email address. Please note that CCEdit is no longer considered freeware, and that versions prior to v2 are no longer supported. See section [9] for details. [1-2]: Warnings =============== ******************************************** ********* THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT ********* ******************************************** * This program makes changes to the file: game.dat. This file is required to play Command and Conquer. You may feel safer if you make a backup copy of this file. * You use this program at your own risk. If anything happens as a result of you using this product, I am in no way accountable for any damage caused. * I do not guarantee that this program will work on your system. It works on mine, that is all I can say. --------------------------------------------- CHAPTER [2]: CCEdit v2 Requirements and Files --------------------------------------------- [2-1]: Hardware requirements ============================ CCEdit v2 is now fully graphical. To run it, you need the following hardware: - a 386 or better CPU - a microsoft compatible mouse driver loaded - 512K or more of memory on your video card - a VESA compatible video card (capable of 640x480 256 colour mode) It is recommended that you have at least 800K of XMS memory available when using this program, as CCEdit will be able to make use of this memory which will result in faster screen redraws in certain parts of the program. You will also need at least 3 XMS handles available (the default number of handles for himem.sys is 32, so you should have no problem here). [2-2]: CCEdit data files ======================== In order to use CCEdit v2, you must have a ccedit.dat file. This is the file that tells CCEdit what it can edit, and how. Without this file, you will be unable to use CCEdit. There are a number of different ccedit.dat files for one reason: so that this program can be used with any version of Command and Conquer. When a new patch for Command and Conquer is released, the offsets for the values being edited change, which requires a new ccedit.dat file. Each ccedit.dat file will only work with one version of Command and Conquer. The program checks whether your version of the ccedit.dat is compatible with your version of Command and Conquer, and tells you if it isn't. If your version of the ccedit.dat file is incorrect for your version of Command and Conquer, then you need a new ccedit.dat file. [2-3]: Getting new data files ============================= If you have an incorrect version of the ccedit.dat file for your version of Command and Conquer, you can obtain the correct version of this file by going to one of the Official CCEdit WWW pages at: http://www.isl.net/~mohit/ccedit http://wellness.uwsp.edu/other/agriffin/ You can also visit my personal homepage at http://adam.com.au/~buggy although this site is slower than the other sites, and might not exist if I change access providers. These pages contain all the CCEdit v2 files. They also contain my current email address (in case I change my present address). If there is a version of Command and Conquer that I have not created a ccedit.dat file for, please email me at "buggy@adam.com.au" and I will see what I can do. However, I will not be doing versions for either the 1.08 or 1.10 patch versions for the English language version of Command and Conquer as these were not official Westwood patches. At no point will I knowingly create a ccedit.dat file for any pirate version of Command and Conquer. This is a great game, and Westwood deserves their money. Do not use this program unless you have bought Command and Conquer. --------------------------------- CHAPTER [3]: How To Use CCEdit v2 --------------------------------- [3-1]: Starting the program =========================== The program and data files are distributed as zip files, so you must first unzip those files (using a program like pkunzip) into your Command and Conquer directory. Please make sure that you have a ccedit.dat file, and the hardware requirements to run this program. To the DOS prompt, simply type in: ccedit and press return. There will be a brief pause during which time the screen will stay dark, and if everything went correctly, the title screen will be displayed. Press any key on the keyboard or click the mouse to get rid of this title page. You should now be displayed with the main menu. [3-2]: Keyboard shortcuts ========================= For those of you who feel more at home using the keyboard than the mouse, I have added in as many keyboard shortcuts as I was able to. This lets you move around the menus faster. Whenever you see a button marked 'Yes', you can either press the 'y' key, or the 'Enter' key to select this button. Whenever you see a button marked 'No', you can press the 'n' key to select this button. [3-2-1]: Main menu shortcuts ---------------------------- On this screen you have access to the following keyboard commands: 'i' Takes you to the Infantry screen. 'v' Takes you to the Vehicles screen. 'b' Takes you to the Buildings screen. 'a' Takes you to the Aircraft screen. 'e' Exits the program. 's' Has the same effect as clicking on the Save All button. 'd' Has the same effect as clicking on the Default All button. 'u' Has the same effect as clicking on the Use Patch button. 'm' Has the same effect as clicking on the Make Patch button. [3-2-2]: Secondary menu shortcuts --------------------------------- The available keyboard commands are the same regardless of whether you are in the Infantry, Vehicle, Building or Aircraft secondary menus. The available keyboard commands are: 's' Has the same effect as clicking on the Save button. 'd' Has the same effect as clicking on the Def button. ESC Has the same effect as clicking on the Close button. TAB Selects the next unit/building for editing (this wraps around when moving from the last unit/building). Shift-TAB Selects the previous unit/building for editing (this wraps around when moving from the first unit/building). Up Arrow Has the same effect as Shift-TAB. Down Arrow Has the same effect as TAB. [3-3]: Mouse actions ==================== Whenever I mention clicking on something, it always means clicking on it with the left mouse button. Whenever you see a white word, clicking on that will do something, such as change a value, bring up a list, or switch screens. [3-3-1]: Main menu actions -------------------------- Clicking on the word 'Infantry' will take you to the Infantry screen. Clicking on the word 'Vehicles' will take you to the Vehicles screen. Clicking on the word 'Buildings' will take you to the Buildings screen. Clicking on the word 'Aircraft' will take you to the Aircraft screen. Clicking on any part of 'Exit Program' will exit this program. See section [3-5] for the effects of clicking on the buttons on the right side of the screen. [3-3-2]: Secondary menu actions ------------------------------- When you are in one of the secondary screens (Infantry, Vehicles, Buildings, or Aircraft), clicking on the name of the unit/building on the left hand side of the screen will make that unit/building the current unit/building being edited. See section [3-5] for the effects of clicking on the buttons on the bottom of the screen. There are 3 buttons next to each numerical value in the top right section of the screen. The first (and largest) button will pop up an input box (see [3-4-1] for dealing with input boxes). The next two buttons are Minus and Plus buttons respectively (see [3-4-3] for dealing with these buttons). Depending upon which secondary screen you are on, there will be a number of different values which you can click on to bring up lists, or change values. See section [3-4-2] for dealing with lists. Infantry Screen --------------- Clicking on the weapon of the current unit will bring up a list of available weapons. Clicking on the owner of the current unit will bring up a list of available owners. Clicking on the tech level of the current unit will bring up a list of available tech levels. Vehicle Screen -------------- Clicking on the primary weapon of the current unit will bring up a list of available weapons. Clicking on the secondary weapon of the current unit will bring up a list of available weapons. Clicking on the owner of the current unit will bring up a list of available owners. Clicking on the tech level of the current unit will bring up a list of available tech levels. Clicking on the armour of the current unit will bring up a list of available armour levels. There are also a number of switches which are either in an 'On' or 'Off' state (or 'Yes' and 'No' for Display Graphics). If you click on these words, you will switch their value (from 'On' to 'Off' and vice versa). These switches are for: stealth ability, double firing ability, invulnerability, and display graphics. Building Screen --------------- Clicking on the weapon of the current building will bring up a list of available weapons. Clicking on the owner of the current building will bring up a list of available owners. Clicking on the tech level of the current building will bring up a list of available tech levels. Clicking on the armour of the current building will bring up a list of available armour levels. Clicking on what this building can create will bring up a list of available construction types. There are also two switches which are either in an 'On' or 'Off' state. If you click on these, you will switch their value (from 'On' to 'Off' and vice versa). These switches are for: double firing ability, and invulnerability. Aircraft Screen --------------- Clicking on the primary weapon of the current unit will bring up a list of available weapons. Clicking on the owner of the current unit will bring up a list of available owners. Clicking on the tech level of the current unit will bring up a list of available tech levels. Clicking on the armour of the current unit will bring up a list of available armour levels. There are also three switches which are either in an 'On' or 'Off' state. If you click on these, you will switch their value (from 'On' to 'Off' and vice versa). These switches are for: invulnerability, transport ability, and whether the aircraft has a set of rotor blades. [3-4]: Changing the values ========================== There are 3 different ways to change the values available for editing (apart from the 'On'/'Off' switch). These are through input boxes, lists and plus/minus buttons [3-4-1]: Input boxes -------------------- There are two types of input boxes: those for numerical data, and those for text data. If you want specific information on boxes dealing with text data, see Make Patch button (secion [3-5-4]). There are 3 parts to an Input box: the value being edited, a Cancel button and an Accept button. The Cancel button is the small button in the upper left corner. The Accept button is the OK button in the lower right corner. You use the keyboard to enter the value you want that variable to have. Use the backspace or delete keys to erase the current data, and type in the new value. For numerical boxes, only the keys 0-9 will be accepted as valid. If you enter a value which is large than the acceptable maximum for that variable, it will be reduced to the maximum allowable. Instead of clicking on the Cancel button, you may also press the Escape key on your keyboard to get rid of the input box with no changes being made. Likewise, you can press the Enter key on your keyboard instead of clicking on the Accept button. [3-4-2]: Lists -------------- Once you have brought up a list, there are a couple of ways to exit it. The first is to press the Escape key on your keyboard. This gets rid of the list with no change to the value. You can also press your right mouse button, which has the same effect as pressing the Escape key. The other way is to click on one of the available values, which gets rid of the list, and changes the value of the variable being edited. Please note that a couple of values on the ownership and tech level lists are not available (such as those which show up an Not Applicable) as these are outside of the useful values. [3-4-3]: Plus and Minus Buttons ------------------------------- There are two versions of these buttons. The first is found only when editing the visual radius of a unit/building. This type will stay depressed and not increase in value for as long as you hold down the mouse button (and the mouse cursor is over the particular button). This was done because the small range of the visual radius (maximum of 10) needed a way for very slow changes to be made. The second variety of these buttons increses the value of the variable constrantly, for as long as the button is depressed. This allows for a much faster increment/decrement of the value. The amount that the variable is changed by depends on the maximum value of that variable. Those that have a low value (127 or 255) are increased/decresed in steps of 1. Those that have a much larger maximum value are increased/decreased in steps of 5 (except for the power required variable for the Temple of Nod, the Advanced Communication Centre and Obelisk of Light, which have a step value of 1). [3-5]: Button Actions ===================== There are a number of different buttons in CCEdit, each of which does something different when clicked. These buttons are: [3-5-1]: Save All button ------------------------ When this button is clicked, CCEdit writes all editable values to the game.dat file. It is especially useful when using a patch file or using the Default All button. [3-5-2]: Default All button --------------------------- When this button is clicked, all values in memory are changed to the default values of Command and Conquer. Please remember that these changes only affect the values in memory - you must still save them to the game.dat file (using the Save All button). As a precaution, you are asked whether you are sure you want to change all the values to their original values. This is to stop you from losing all your work if you hit this button by accident. Also, please note that the price of the Gun Turret was increased to $600 from its original price in the 1.18 patch. The default price for the gun turret remains at $250 for the 1.07 versions of the ccedit.dat file but has been increased to $600 for the later versions. [3-5-3]: Use Patch button ------------------------- When this button is clicked, you are shown a list of available patch files that were created with CCEdit v2 (note that those patches created with the cc-p program distributed with the v1.5 version of CCEdit are not usable by this program). A maximum of 77 patch files can be displayed. If you have more than 77 patch files, then only the first 77 will be displayed. These files are sorted in the order they were created, with the oldest appearing first. If you click on the name of one of the patch files, the values in memory are changed. If you want to make these changes permanent, you need to save them to the game.dat file. Do this using the Save All button. If there are no available patch files in the current directory, you are told of this fact. Click on the OK button to get rid of this message. [3-5-4]: Make Patch button -------------------------- When this button is clicked, it will attempt to create a patch file of the current values that can be edited by CCEdit. These values are those that are currently in memory, not those that have been saved to the game.dat file. You are first asked to give the new patch file a name (the default is newpatch). Do not give it an extension, as it is automatically given the extension .pat (this is required for the Use Patch function). Please note that only lower case letters and numerals are accepted, in an attempt to prevent invalid file names being created. The file name given can have a maximum of 8 letters (to fit in wth DOS's 8.3 file naming system). If you have changed your mind and no longer wish to create a patch file, click on the little button in the upper left corner of this input box. The process will be aborted. You can also press the Escape key on your keyboard to abort this process. Once you are happy with the name, click on the OK button in the lower right corner of this input box, or press Enter on your keyboard. If the named patch file already exists, you will be asked whether you want to overwrite it. If you do, press the Yes button. If you do not want this file to be overwritten, press the No button, the process will be aborted. [3-5-5]: Reload All button -------------------------- When clicked, CCEdit refreshes all the editable values with those that are in the game.dat file. This gets rid of any and all changes you have made since the last time you saved your work. Because of this, you are first asked whether you really want to do this. Click on the Yes button (or press Enter on your keyboard) if you want to do this. Click on the No button (or press Escape on your keyboard) if you don't want to refresh all the values. [3-5-6]: Save button -------------------- If this button is clicked, the values for the current unit/building will be written to the game.dat file. No other information will be written to the file (the values for the other units/buildings will not be written out). [3-5-7]: Def button ------------------- If this button is clicked, the values for the current unit/building will be reset to their default values. Other units/buildings are not affected. Note that this change is not written to the game.dat file, but just affects the values in memory. You must still write them to the game.dat file (using either the Save All or Save button). Also, please note that the price of the Gun Turret was increased to $600 from its original price in the 1.18 patch. The default price for the gun turret remains at $250 for the 1.07 versions of the ccedit.dat file but has been increased to $600 for the later versions. [3-5-8]: Reload button ---------------------- When this button is clicked, CCEdit re-reads all the values for the current unit/building from the game.dat file. This will get rid of any changes you have made to that unit/building since the last time you saved your work. It has no effect on any other unit/building, just the one currently being displayed. [3-5-9]: Close button --------------------- Clicking on this button simply takes you back to the main menu, whether you were in a secondary screen or the Use Patch screen. ------------------------ CHAPTER [4]: Patch Files ------------------------ [4-1]: What is a patch file? ============================ A patch file is a small file (about 3K) that contains all the values that can be edited by CCEdit v2. It is independent of the versions of Command and Conquer used to create it, so there is no problem with, say, creating a patch file from a 1.19 version of Command and Conquer and then using it with the German 1.07 version of Command and Conquer. [4-2]: Why do I need a patch file? ================================== The main reason why you would want to create a patch file is so you can create a customised version of Command and Conquer. You might have a particular set of values that you enjoy using, and instead of having to set these values by hand, all you need to do is create a patch file containing these values. This is especially useful when you play multiplayer games. If you wish to play a multiplayer game of Command and Conquer but use values different from those that Westwood decided upon, you need to make sure that all the players have the same values in their game.dat file, otherwise you will get a synch error (see [4-2-1]). With a patch file you can just give your opponent the small patch file, have them apply that, and your files will (should) be identical and you should have no problems. [4-2-1]: Synch errors --------------------- If you use this program and play multiplayer games of Command and Conquer, you must make sure that all people in the multiplayer game have the same values, otherwise you will get a synch error and will be kicked out of the game. Westwood programmed it this way, so make sure that you have the values correct. You should not attempt to cheat in multiplayer games by using this program. There are some other occasions which can cause synch errors, but as these circumstances have nothing to do with using CCEdit, I won't mention them here. [4-3]: Using and making patch files =================================== See sections [3-5-3] and [3-5-4] on how to create and use patch files. ---------------------------------------------- CHAPTER [5]: Unit and Building Characterisitcs ---------------------------------------------- There are certain characteristics which will only take effect at the beginning of a level, or when a new unit of that type is produced. The way around this is just to restart the level. From memory, this includes stealth ability, hit points, and ownership (there are probably others). There are some maximum values that I am not 100% sure about (such as maximum power required), but in these cases I decided to be safe rather than sorry (likewise the maximum of 32K for hit points). [5-1]: Speed ============ Units all have a maximum speed of 127 (this is very fast - the recon bike has speed 40 normally). However, there are a few problems with setting the speed high that you should know about. Infantry units behave very wierdly when given speed values above about 30. Their movement becomes increasingly jerky, and eventually it will appear that there are 3 units where there should only be one, and at this stage that unit becomes very difficult to move around. It is recommended that you keep infantry speed below 30. Air units (mainly orca and apache) also behave strangely when given extremely high speed values. Sometimes they will simply refuse to land on a helipad, even thuogh there are no other helicopters trying to land there. This can get extremely frustrating. I don't know of an exact value at which this begins to occur. Decreasing the speed of the A-10 means that it drops its bombs in a much smaller area, but also makes it much easier to kill with defensive missiles. Increasing the speed of the A-10 increases the area over which it will drop its bombs. [5-2]: Armour Thickness ======================= There are 5 levels of armour available to be placed on your vehicles or buildings. These increase in strength ranging from 1 (the weakest) to 5 (virtually indestructible). No unit in the game has a natural armour value greater than type 3, so I'm not 100% sure whether types 4 and 5 are completely legal. Nevertheless, they work and don't cause Command and Conquer to crash. [5-3]: Secondary Weapon ======================= Only one unit (the mammoth tank) comes with a secondary weapon by default, but this allows you to give secondary weapons to all vehicles. However, they operate in a manner which is different to the primary weapons. For those vehicles which have turrets, the secondary weapon is fired when the turret turns around to fire at a new opponent. For vehicles which do not have turrets, the story is a little different, and more complex. When vehicles do not have a turret and are given secondary weapons, they will fire their primary weapons when in a direct line (horizontally or vertically) to their opponent. When not in a straight line, they will fire their secondary weapon to attack ther opponent. When giving a unit a secondary weapons which has a longer range than its primary weapon, that unit will begin to attack enemy units with its secondary weapon whenever an enemy unit comes within range of that weapon. [5-4]: Primary Weapon ===================== This is the weapon that the unit/building attacks with, and there are only a few things that you should be aware of. If you give a unit/building (except for the Obelisk) the laser, then whenever that unit/building fires its weapon, there will be no graphic associated with the weapon discharge. The sound effect is still there however. I haven't found out why this is happening. Putting the napalm bomb on anything other than the A-10 is a pretty pointless excercise, as the bomb falls straight down on the square from which it was launched. While this does not damage the unit firing the bomb, it also doesn't do much (if any) damage to surrounding units. However, giving infantry napalm bombs is definitely interesting when they are in large groups. [5-5]: Owner ============ The ownership variable is set to determine which side (GDI, NOD, both, or neither) can build that particular unit/building. Remember that some units/buildings do have pre-requisites (check out Westwood's FAQ) before they can be built, so those pre-requisites must also be set (eg. grenadiers require a barracks - they cannot be built with just a hand of nod). Please note that there is no known way of producing the dinosaurs, viceroids, hovercraft, A-10, gunboat and transport plane so changing the ownership on these items is a pointless exercise. Also note that in single player mode, that the computer will continue to rebuild its buildings even if they are marked as 'Cannot be built'. This only affects the human player in single player mode. [5-6]: Power Required ===================== This is the amount of power that a building drains from the available power supply. Only the Temple of Nod, Advanced Communication Centre and Obelisk of Light can have a required power value of greater than 127. These three structures can have a maximum power requirement of 32,766. The minimum power requirement is 0. [5-7]: Power Produced ===================== This is the amount of power that this type of building contributes to the power pool. Only the Advanced Power Plant can produce more than 255 units of power. The Advanced Power Plant can produce 32,766 units of power. The minimum power produced is 0. [5-8]: Cost =========== Most units/buildings have a maximum cost of 32,766, but there are a few exceptions that you should know about. The minigunner has a maximum cost of 255. The walls and fences have a maximum cost of 255. The dinosaurs also have a maximum cost of 255, although it is probably better to leave their cost unchanged. The minimum cost (except for the dinosaurs) is 1. [5-9]: Visual Radius ==================== This determines how many black squares of the map are cleared when a unit moves into range, or when a structure is built. Remember, it is a radius, so this amount is cleared on all sides. There is a maximum value of 10 for the radius. If you give a unit a large radius (such as 10), what occasionally happens when that unit unloads from a transport helicopter or hovercraft is that some part of the map near the unit that should have been uncovered will remain black. Simply move that unit (or another) to uncover the dark area. It seems as though the black is removed from the edge of the visual radius rather than from all squares covered by that unit's vision. [5-10]: Hit Points ================== There are three classes of hit points: light unit, heavy unit and building. Light units all have a maximum hit point value of 127. These units are: all forms of infantry, the stealth tank, mobile HQ, SSM, artillery, rocket launcher, and all aircraft. The heavy units all have a maximum hit point value of 32,766. These units are the remaining vehicles. Buildings are different again. They have a maximum hit point value of 16,382. If they have a value greater than this, then they fail to build correctly. Please note that the walls have a maximum hit point value of 255, but editing their hit points does not make them stronger. If you have increased the maximum hit point value of a unit and load up a savegame in which these units already exist, then these units will appear to be damaged as the hit points they currently have is less than the new maximum. They still have the same amount of hit points as before, but will appear to be injured. [5-11]: Weapon Payload ====================== This changes the amount of ammunition that the aircraft carry. Increasing it means that the aircraft can stay out longer without needing to rearm itself. Changing the payload of the A-10 will increase the length of its bombing path (it does not turn back for another pass over the target until it has dropped all of its bombs). The A-10 will drop a number of bombs (or other weapon) equal to three times this number. Please note that the rearming rate of the helipad is constant, so completely rearming a helicopter which carried 127 missiles will take a very long time. The maximum allowable payload is 127. [5-12]: Invulnerability ======================= When turned on, this unit/building type cannot be hurt in any way. However, buildings can still be captured by engineers, but cannot be blown up by commandos. [5-13]: Construction Type ========================= This determines what a certain structure type allows you to build. There are a few things that you shuold know about this, however. In all cases, having multiple structures that have the same construction type (ie multiple barracks) decreases the time needed to build that unit/building. While setting a building other than the barracks or hand of nod to have the ability to build infantry will decrease the time needed to produce infantry units, they cannot be built FROM structures other than barracks or hand of nods. What i mean by this is that although, say, a power plant can give you the ability to build infantry units, if you just have a power plant and no barracks/hand of nod, then any infantry which you build will not appear. They will not emerge from buildings other than the barrack or hand of nod. Likewise for the building of vehicles. Vehicles will only emerge/be delivered from weapons factories and Runway Delivery Systems. They will not emerge from other buildings. Fortunately, any type of building with the ability to build structures will be able to place down newly built structures. [5-14]: Double Fire Ability =========================== When on, this ability causes the unit/building to fire its weapon twice instead of once. This also affects the seondary weapon, it the unit has one. Note that if the unit/building kills its opponent with the first of its shots (and there was a delay before the second fired), the next time it attacks, it will use the shot that remains from this interrupted firing pair. So, there will be a single shot, the reloading delay, and then it will resume is double firing pattern. I think that when the obelisk has its double firing ability set, that when it attacks an opponent, it fires both lasers at the same time, rather than having a delay between attacks. At least, that is what I make of it. [5-15]: Rotor Blades ==================== I added this purely for fun, it just alters the graphics of the aircraft a little and has no othe impact on the game. You can give a set of rotor blades to any of the aircraft, or take them away from those aircraft (the apache and chinook) that already have a set. [5-16]: Transport Ability ========================= This ability allows an aircraft to carry infantry (or, in the case of the transport plane, to deliver the newly created vehicles to the Runway Delivery System). When set for the orca and apache, the display showing how many infantry units it is carrying replaces the display showing how much ammunition it still has. An important note when giving the apache the transport ability is that when an infantry unit gets on and gets off, the graphics stuff up in a really big way. Don't worry about this, it doesn't seem to affect the game at all. The graphics will return to normal once the apache takes off again. It is important to note that if the transport plane does not have the transport ability turned On, then it will be unable to deliver units to the Runway Delivery System. This means that Nod will be unable to build new vehicles. Any money spent on undelivered vehicles is just wasted. [5-17]: Draw Graphics ===================== Added so that you can see the dinosaur units (you need to play a mission that has some dinosaur units in it to see them). Please note that this is not the same as the stealth ability. These units are treated as though they are completely visible by opposition units, and will be attacked when they come in range. It is mainly a disadvantage for human palyers. When a unit doesn't have its graphics being drawn, the status bar showing how much health it has left is also not drawn. The only way to tell if you have selected an undrawn unit is through sound. When a unit dies however, you do see their death graphic. [5-18]: Tech Levels =================== This only affects multiplayer games, it has no effect on what you can build in single player games. Remember that some units/buildings have pre-requisites, so use your head when changing the tech levels. eg. making orcas and apaches tech level 3 is useless if helipads are still tech level 6. When it says that the tech level is Not Applicable, it just means that the default value of the tech level is outside the normal 1-7 range. [5-19]: Turning Speed ===================== This determines how fast a unit (vehicle or aircraft) will be able to change direction. The higher this number, the faster it will be able to change directions. You may experience some control problems if you give a vehicle both a high Speed and high Turning Speed (it will occasionally go running off in another direction, especially if it has a secondary weapon). [5-20]: Tiberium Capacity ========================= This reflects how much tiberium a buildings can store. Only the refinery and silo can store more than 127 units of tiberium. These two structures can store up to 32K of tiberium. While it may seem that the refinery/silo is full (all the boxes have turned green), they will continue to store tiberium until their new limit has been reached. It seems that a box represents a set amount of tiberium stored. Just wait until you get the 'Silos needed' message. [5-21]: First Build Level ========================= This is a very useful variable. It determines in which level of the game this unit/building can first be built by the human player. It is a level common to both the GDI and NOD mission levels (eg. setting Repair Bays as a level 14 building means that GDI will be able to first build them in the 14 mission, but NOD will never be able to build them [as there are only 13 missions in the NOD sequence]). Remember that some buildings have pre-requisites (eg. the Advanced Communications Centre needs the Communications Centre to be built first), so you will need to make sure that these pre-requisites are of the same or lower level. It is doubtful that building the Temple of Nod early will give you access to the nuclear missile, as you still have to collect the three steel crates before gaining access to this missile. However, if you build the Advanced Communications Centre early, you do get access to the Ion Cannon. [5-22]: Unit Can Be Selected ============================ When set to On, this aircraft can be selected. When Off, you are not able to select the unit, and hence are not able to move it around. See section [6-3] for details about how to use this in a useful way. [5-23]: Enemies Will Attack Unit ================================ This is the variable that allows the Nod transport plane to fly in new vehicles without being attacked by any missile troops. If you want the current aircraft to get attacked by missile troops (and by ground forces when it lands), set this to Off. If you do not want these troops to attack this aircraft, set it to On. One thing to note is that while SAM sites will not attack a unit (I used an orca) that is attacking it and has this variable set to On, a bazooka infantry unit will attack any aircraft that attacks it, even if it has this variable set to On. It is likely (but untested by me) that vehicles will attack units that attack them (if possible), regardless of this variable, but structures will not. [5-24]: Aircraft Cannot Land ============================ If this is set to On, then this aircraft will not be able to land on the ground. It will seem to 'float', and you will not be able to move it, even if you are able to select it. It Off, then the aircraft will be able to land, just like the normal helicopters. Please note that if you set this to Off for the Transport Plane in a single player game and the computer is NOD, then it will be able to drop its newly bought vehicles anywhere on the map, not just where its runway it. This lets it bring new vehicles directly to the front line of the battle. See section [6-3] for details on how to use this in a useful way. Also, if you set this to On for the A10, then it will have problems using its napalm bombs in the correct way. Instead of flying over the target, it will attempt to attack the target like a helcopter, and so will drop its bombs well away from the intended target. [5-25]: Can Be Built ==================== This flag determines whether that particular unit/structure can be built. It does affect what the computer can build, not just the human player. When On, this unit/structure can be built. When Off, it cannot be built. Using this flag, it becomes possilble to build the dinosaurs, viceroid, A10, transport plane, hovercraft and gunboat. ------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER [6]: Supplementary Notes on Some Units and Buildings ------------------------------------------------------------ [6-1]: Dinosaur Units ===================== There are 4 dinosaur units in Command and Conquer (why? ask Westwood, not me). Normally, these units cannot be built, but there it is now possible to be able to produce these units. Firstly, set the Draw Graphics to On, so you can see these units once you build them. Now, set the Ownership to GDI, NOD or common. Lastly, set the Can Be Built variable to On. Now all you have to do is to set the level at which they will first appear (using the First Build Level variable). When you build the weapons factory or runway, you will be able to build and control them. However, their graphics are quite jerky, and are not very smooth when being moved around. Their death animations are nice, however. Also, they regenerate when eating infantry (not sure if this happens when eating vehicles). There is no little icon on the sidebar showing the dinosaur (you just get a blank square), suggesting that Westwood never intended you to be able to build them. You still get a name and price where there picture should be (when you move the mouse over the non-icon). [6-2]: Viceroids and Mobile HQ ============================== You'll see a viceroid occasionally in multiplayer games, but, like the dinosaurs, they are not normally able to be built. Just follow the same method as to get the dinosaurs buildable: Set the Ownership correctly, make them buildable, and then set the level at which they are first available to be built. Viceroids regerate when on tiberium. The mobile HQ only appears in multipalyer games where you are playing Capture the Flag with bases off. You should be able to build them by setting the first build level to an acceptable number. Be warned about the Mobile HQ: it one is destroyed, all of your vehicles and structures are blown up and you lose that mission. It is probably best not to built one :) [6-3]: A-10, Hovercraft, Gunboat, and Transport Plane ===================================================== Being able to build the hovercraft and gunboat is not very useful as you can't really control them. The hovercraft just travels down the screen and disappears off the edge while the gunboat travels across the screen going left to right, and back again. It will attack any enemies it sees, and ignores the different terrain types, but as you need a weapons factory or runway to build one, it is likely that you will end up with gunboats strolling through your base. All you have to do is set the Can Be Built variable to On, and set the appropriate build level. You are also able to build the A10s and transport planes, but the method for building them is a little different (if you want to be able to control them as well). Firstly, you need to set the Can Be Built variable to On, and set the appropriate build level. Now, to control the A10 or transport plane, you must set the Unit Can Be Selected variable to On, and the Cannot Land cariable to On. You will now be able to build, select and move around these two units. However, it is important to note that these units will not behave and move in the same way as helicopters. The A10 will no longer be able to use its napaml bombs in the same way (even when called in by an airstrike). The transport plane has the ability to carry 5 infantry units (like the chinook), but when infantry units load into the transport plane, the graphics of the plane stuff up in a big way (like they do for the apache helicopter). Interestingly, the A10 and transport plane both have the appropriate icon on the sidebar, so assume that you would have been able to buy these units in an early (unreleased) version of Command and Conquer. [6-4]: Walls and Fences ======================= Unfortunately, almost none of the values available for editing actually does anything. This is a real shame, and leads me to suspect that they are not treated as proper structures by Command and Conquer. The values that I know will do something are: cost, tech level, and probably ownership. Changing the first build level will also work. None of the others seem to do anything, but you are welcome to try your hardest. [6-5]: Multiplayer-Only Units ============================= There are four units that you can only build in multplayer only games: the transport helicopter, the commando, the chemical warriors, and the SSM (surface to surface missile launcher). However, using First Build Level, you can make it so that you will be able to build these units in the single player game. Remember that these units do have pre-requisites before they can be built, so they will need to be built first (you may have to alter their first build level as well). --------------------------------------- CHAPTER [7]: Problems Running CCEdit v2 --------------------------------------- This is the section to consult is you cannot get CCEdit v2 up and running properly when you should be able to. Hopefully no one will ever have to consult this section. [7-1]: Failure to initialise your grahpics card =============================================== If you get the following message: "CCedit was not able to initialise your graphics card for the desired resolution. Make sure that your card is able to operate in 640x480 256 colour mode. If you have a card that is 100% VESA compatible, then you should never get this message. You might like to try loading a graphics driver which should have been distributed with your graphics card." Then you are in a bit of trouble. What this means is that your graphics card is not 100% VESA compatible, and as such, is missing a few vital components that are needed by the graphics library I am using. What you should do is load up a VESA driver (which should have come with your system) and try again. If you are the owner of a pre-1995 designed Packard Bell system using the Headland Technologies graphics card and you have received this message, you should load up the HTVESA.COM driver which was supplied with your system and try again. It should now work. I don't have a Packard Bell system, but this solution was given to me by one of the beta testers. If you have tried loading up your VESA driver and it still doesn't work, then you are really out of luck. There is nothing I can do about your problem. Fortunately, this is unlikely to be a problem for the majority of people as nearly all cards are VESA compatible nowadays. [7-2]: Not enough memory on your graphics card ============================================== If you get the following message: "You graphics card has less than the required 512K of video memory required to put CCedit into its required graphics mode. CCedit cannot be run on a system with less than 512K of video memory." Then you are in serious trouble indeed. To be able to be work in the required video mode (640x480 256 colour mode), your graphics card needs at least 512K of memory. From this message it seems as though you have less than this amount. Other than buying a new video card, or putting more memory on it, there is no solution to this problem. If you are playing Command and Conquer on a system with this little video memory, it begs the question: Why? [7-3]: No Microsoft mouse driver detected ========================================= If you get the message: "Unable to locate a Microsoft compatible mouse driver. Please make sure you have one loaded." Then CCEdit was not able to locate a Microsoft compatible mouse driver. You need to have such a mouse driver loaded before you can use this program. Do a bit of looking (or ask a friend), and you should be able to find a Microsoft compatible driver pretty easily. [7-4]: Setting video mode failed ================================ If you get the message: "CCEdit failed when trying to put your system into 640x480 256 colour mode." Then I have no idea what is wrong. I put this in as a final check, but cannot envision a scenario in which it might occur. You should be able to set 640x480 256 colour mode on any SVGA video card, and your graphics card has the required amount of memory, and has been recognised, but for some reason you system has failed when being set to this video mode. I guess some sort of congratulations are in order for your system stuffing up in a very strange way. [7-5]: Error creating a patch file ================================== If you get the error: "An error occured while creating the patch file ..." then the following has occured. For some reason, CCEdit has been unable to create the patch file using the name you specified in the text box. You should not have been able to do this as only letters and numbers should have been accepted. A possible reason may be that your drive (or directory) cannot be written to, or that you don't have permission to write to this directory. Another possibility (very remote) is that no new files can be created due to some limit being reached. This area is a bit out of my depth in terms of the various technologies and their limitations. I've no idea what went wrong. You should not get this message if you entered a valid filename. [7-6]: Suspected XMS problems ============================= If you suspect that CCEdit is having problems using XMS memory on your system (ther shuold be no reason why it would), then you can force CCEdit to not use XMS memory, even if there is enough for it to use. To do this, you start CCEdit using the command line: ccedit -noxms This forces CCEdit not to use XMS memory. You will notice a slowdown in some areas of screen updates when CCEdit doesn't use XMS memory. The screen updates will also not be as smooth as when CCEdit is using XMS memory. [7-7]: Unfreed XMS memory ========================= I've tried to make CCEdit crash as gracefully as possible if it does bomb, but one problem you might get is that it is possible for the XMS memory not to be freed if CCEdit crashes badly. Hopefully this should never happen, and that I've done all the possible error checking, but you should know that if this happens, you will need to reboot your computer to get this XMS memory back again. This should NEVER happen. ------------------------------------- CHAPTER [8]: Andrew's Stupid Quotes ------------------------------------- Here are a couple of quotes from the CCEdit v1.5 documentation that obviously are no longer true :) "... This is the last version unless there is a serious bug in it. There will be NO FURTHER RELEASES!" And, "So You Want This in Graphics??? ------------------------------- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Never! You don't want to pay for this editor, I don't want to do any graphics. Its as simple as that. Text is more than adequate." Obviously this is no longer true (you're looking at the product of both of these promises being broken). I did update CCEdit (mainly because v1.19 was released by Westwood), and this is the end product. -------------------------------------------- CHAPTER [9]: Last Minute Notices and Thanks -------------------------------------------- I was going to make this a shareware editor and ask for a $15 donation, but at the last minute decided to make it a $0 donation. If you do wish to send some money over in appreciation for this program, email me and I will supply you with my postal address. Please note that this program is NOT freeware, just shareware that doesn't cost anything to register. I've tried to make these notes as comprehensive as possible, and have tried to get all the bugs out of the program. If you find a bug in this program, please let me know. It goes without saying that Seth E. Williams (PatryMan42@aol.com) deserves huge wraps for his great work on the title page. I'd like to send a thanks to the people who took part in the beta test of this product. They are responsible for the final look-and-feel of this product. I'd also like to send a big thank you to the various people who gave CCEdit a permanent home on the WWW: Mohit Dewan (and the InfoNet ISP for providing the webspace), and George Heeres (for providing the uwsp webspace). Remember, don't ask for the source code to CCEdit (any version). I just delete email that asks for the source code, no matter the quality of the rest of the post. And on a long chance: if you are a computing firm in Adelaide, I'll be finishing my computer science degree this year. Any and all offers of job interviews are warmly received, and happily accepted. Thank you, Andrew Griffin