Command & Conquer(tm) Generals

IMPORTANT UPDATE FROM THE BATTLEFIELD

© 2003 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved.

For latest news and updates visit GENERALS.EA.COM

- - Incoming transmission - -
General,
We have further tactical enhancements to improve your effectiveness on the battl
efield. Please take the time to
review the following brief.

Generals Intelligence Agency

- - End transmission - -

Version 1.8 - November, 2005

Issues addressed:
1. Compatibility patch to support multiplayer with C&C First Decade version.

Version 1.7 - October, 2003

Issues addressed:
1. FORCE FIRE - CHINA's Gattling Tanks can no longer force fire through buildin
gs.
2. RALLY POINTS - Added rally points to the GLA Tunnel Networks.
3. IMPROVED ONLINE STATS - Made improvements to the code that tracks statistics
and disconnects in online games.
4. CRASH FIX - Fixed a crash bug related to the Particle Cannon.
5. DESYNCH FIX - Fixed a mismatch that occurred when ordering a unit to attack
right after they exited a building.
6. REGION ACCURACY - User tooltip in the Custom Match lobby now correctly displ
ays the user's region.
7. HERO RADAR ICON - Jarmen Kell, Black Lotus and Colonel Burton now have a spe
cial icon on the radar map.
8. CHAT SOUND EFFECT - Added an audio cue to the communicator to alert users to
an incoming message.
9. TEXT FIXES - Fixed text errors in the tooltips for USA Drone Armor and CHINA
Nuclear Tank upgrades.
10. FIREWALL PORT OVERRIDE OPTIONS ITEM - Firewall Port Override values can now
be set on the Options menu from the
Main Menu.
The game will need to talk to external servers that use the following port numbe
rs. These ports need to be open in your firewall in order to play on Generals O
nline:

TCP ports: 80, 6667, 28910, 29900, 29920

UDP ports: 4321, 27900

If your firewall does not allow outgoing packets to open ports to incoming traff
ic, or you experience problems connecting to other players, you will have to spe
cify which port you want Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour to use for communi
cating with other players. To do this, go to the Main Menu and then select Opti
ons. There is a box labeled Firewall Port Override . Assign the port you want to us
e to the port override entry. After you enter a port number, be sure to hit Acc
ept.
You will need to open the chosen port in your firewall for communication with pl
ayers external to your firewall or NAT device. If you use the port override fea
ture, the port you have chosen can not be masqueraded by a NAT device.

Direct Connect does not support firewalls.

Version 1.6 - July, 2003

Issues addressed:
1. FIREWALLPORTOVERRIDE INI ENTRY - repaired this entry so it functions correct
ly. See section 2.1 of the Readme for more information on using this INI entry.
2. ALT-F4 MULTIPLAYER EXPLOIT - Quitting the game during a multiplayer match us
ing Alt-F4, as well as Ctrl-Alt-Delete or the Alt-Tab menu, will now correctly g
ive the user a disconnect stat.
3. CHINESE AND KOREAN IME WINDOW ORDER - Re-prioritized the Korean and Chinese
IME windows on the Save/Load screen so they now sort on top of all other windows
.
4. SCUD STORM ANTHRAX BETA BUG - GLA s Scud Storm now has the correct damage radi
us when upgraded with Anthrax Beta.
5. CHINA GATTLING TANK BUG - China s Gattling Tank now correctly moves slower whe
n it is damaged.
6. MULTIPLAYER LOBBIES The lobbies have been renamed to allow people to congreg
ate based on the type of game they want to play, not their region. These lobbies
are:
1 vs 1
2 vs 2
3 vs 3
4 vs 4
Free4All
ClanWars
Asia
Europe
N America
No Supers
Mod Maps
Newbies

7. GENERAL BALANCING ISSUES:

China s Gattling weapons now require Line of Sight to fire.
China s MiG cost increased from 1000 to 1200.
China s MiG Armor cost increased from 500 to 1000.
US s Cold Fusion Reactor Control Rod upgrade cost decreased from 800 to 500.
8. QUICKMATCH RESOLUTION The resolution for QuickMatch games is no longer limit
ed to 800x600.
9. BEHIND BUILDINGS GRAPHIC - Addressed a problem where unit occlusion was caus
ing people with old video cards to see invisible units.
10. ALTERNATE MOUSE INTERFACE - Added feature to allow players to play with right
click action interface. Movement and actions are handled via right click on the
mouse. Also
changed arrow keys to support map scrolling.
11. GEFORCE FX GLITCH - Fixed a glitch that caused some graphics corruption to a
ppear for owners of NVIDIA's GeForce FX video cards.
12. CRASH FIX Fixed a crash that occurred when you disable the behind buildings fe
ature in the advanced options, exit the game, re-enable the feature in the advan
ced options,
and then load a map.
13. CHEAT HACKS Fixed the ability for players to cheat by giving themselves auto
matic build, upgrade, and Generals powers buttons. Also fixed the ability for pl
ayers
to hack their Generals points in multiplayer games.

Version 1.5
Issues addressed:

1. STAT RECORDING INACCURACY: Made sure the online stats are tracked correctly.
Initial disconnecting players will be tracked and wins/losses will be correctl
y tabulated. One note to
remember: At the Disconnect Voting screen players MUST wait for the count d
own to finish. A player that exits this screen before the count down is done wi
ll receive a disconnect.
Also, the voting button has been removed from any 2 player game Disconnect S
creen.
2. US BARRACKS EXPLOIT: Lowered the number of Rangers that appear after a US Ba
rracks is destroyed.
3. BUGGY MISSILE TRACKING AFTER UPGRADE: Made sure the missiles continue tracki
ng targets after the player upgrades the Rocket Buggy.
4. RELOADING COMANCHES, ROCKET BUGGIES: Made sure the Rocket Buggy and the Com
anches can reload reliably.
5. GLA FAST BUILD BUG: Fixed exploit that allowed multiple Workers to
speed structure build times.
6. DOUBLE PLANE WEAPONS CAUSE INCORRECT DAMAGE (All planes): Made sure that tar
gets take damage correctly when multiple ordinances hit a target simultaneously.
7. SOME USERS ARE SEEN IN THE WRONG GAME LOBBIES: Fixed this so that phantom use
rs wouldn t be seen in misc. lobbies.
8. GENERAL BALANCING ISSUES:
Bug fixed in MiG damage code where upgraded napalm did too much damage to
targets.
GLA Bomb truck health up from 220 to 250.
Worker health up from 100 to 140.
Tunnel Network gun damage increased from 10 per shot to 15 per shot.
Overlord build time increased from 20 to 25 seconds.
Scorpion Tank now builds in 10 seconds instead of 14.
GLA Arms Dealer build up time decreased from 50 to 40 seconds (ini seconds, not
game seconds.)
Tunnel Network Build Time improved from 20 seconds to 15 seconds (ini se
conds, not game seconds.)

Version 1.4 - 3/10/03

Issues addressed:
1. Changed the rules for disconnections. Now, only the players who disconnect f
rom the game or physically lose their connection to the Internet are charged wit
h a disconnect.
2. Added a new 25 second on Generals online. Now, online matches need to be pla
yed for over 25 seconds in order to record a win, loss, or disconnect. This is t
o discourage players
from artificially bolstering their rank and stats through a dummy account.
3. Fixed occurrences of the same game appearing multiple times in the lobby. Ge
nerals now actively removes duplicate games in order to make finding and joining
matches easier.
4. All the chat rooms in the custom match lobby now have their own dedicated li
st of active games.
5. Fixed improper disconnections from the game lobby. You should no longer see
the "Lost connection to Generals online" error when your connection is still act
ive.
6. Fixed language filter stability.
7. Added a new command line for mod developers that lets Generals run user-cre
ated content. Simply add the "-mod" command line after the generals.exe target p
ath, followed
by the name of any user-created .big file or user-created directory. The cor
rect path would like this: "C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command and Conquer Genera
ls\generals.exe"
-mod MyGeneralsMod.big. All user-created content must be placed in the "Comm
and and Conquer Generals Data" folder within your "c:\Documents and Settings" di
rectory.
8. Fixed the missing artwork for the "random private" rank in Generals online.
9. Fixed the rank hack where some players appear to have a higher rank than the
y should.
10. Increased the allowed time for game to negotiate matching between players.

11. Fixed some instances of the "serious error" crash.

12. Added a new 4 player Multiplayer Map: Rogue Agent
13. Implemented the following balance changes:
Tunnel Network build speed increased from 5 seconds to 20
seconds.
Marauder hit points increased from 430 to 490.
Stealth Fighter hit points increased from 120 to 140.
Explosion damage done by Chinese Nuke Tanks when they are destroyed is reduc
ed from 25 to 10.
Nuke Cannon changed so it moves the same speed when damaged, not faster.
Aurora speed increased from 90 to 120 after it drops its bomb. Damaged spee
d increased from 60 to 120.

Serious Error info:

If you encounter this error frequently, you may also send an email to seriouserr
or@ea.com to help us diagnose the problem. You will not receive a response as th
is email
is exclusively set up to help us collect data. Make sure to include EAsy System
info which is located in your installed directory. You should also include you
r ReleaseCrashInfo.txt
file which can be found in your Command and Conquer Generals Data folder.
Make sure to check the message boards at www.generals.ea.com for user suggested
workarounds.

Version 1.3 - 2/20/03

Issues addressed
1. QuickMatch stability and matching
2. General connection fixups behind routers (multiple players behind the
same router, refreshing the player IP after a failed connection)
3. Refresh button added to Custom Lobby
4. Game List/Player List no longer pops to the top occasionally
5. Player List no longer jumps, etc. making it difficult to click on a
name
6. Communicator requests addition of buddy to both players. Also,
incoming messages get a sound effect
7. Spaces in front of games in Game List no longer allowed
8. Game Lists/Player Lists alphabetize in upper and lower case
9. Ping tolerance icon adjustment to make more useful
10. More accuracy in number of players per game in Game List

MISC. NOTES & ISSUES

1. KNOWN FIREWALL ISSUES AND WORKAROUNDS

1.1. Known Issues
1.2. Wireless SMC Routers
1.3. Linksys Routers
1.4. Other Routers
2. STABILITY ISSUES AND HEAT
3. VIA CHIPSET USERS
4. UNSUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS
5. ACCURATE 1.2 PATCH ISSUES

1. KNOWN FIREWALL ISSUES AND WORKAROUNDS

1.1. Known Issues:
Playing Command & Conquer Generals on more than one PC behind a D-Link router mi
ght lead to a disconnect error.
1.2. Wireless SMC Routers:
Below, you will find instructions on how to open the ports of an SMC wireless ro
uter. Special thanks to forum regular HautKarl for the following information.
NOTE: This configuration is only for those experiencing connection problems sett
ing up a game Online in Command & Conquer Generals behind a SMC Wireless Router/
Firewall,
although other SMC firewalls might work with similar setups.
These instructions show how to setup your SMC Wireless Router to open certain po
rts in the firewall when Generals tries to create or connect to an Online game.
1. Go to the configuration program for your router. To do that, open MS Inter
net Explorer and in the address box type http://192.168.2.1 (this is the defaul
t IP address for the
SMC Wireless router; if you changed this address, then you should type the
address that you entered the first time that you configured your router). You ll
be prompted for
your login and password. If you have never changed your password, then use
the default one. Look for it in the SMC instruction manual.
2. Now you should be at the main menu of the SMC setup program. Click in the
menu named NAT, then click in the submenu named Special Applications.
3. Now you have to set up one rule per computer connected to the router that
will be used to play Generals.
a) Add a triggering port per computer. The Trigger Port specifies which port
is used to initiate the connection. It is important not to use a standard port.
As you can see below we setup
rules for 2 computers and we used port 29900 for the first computer and 29
910 for the second computer. In the Trigger Type option select UDP as this is th
e protocol used by Generals
b) In Incoming Port Range we have to specify the ports that the router will e
nable whenever the computer establishes a connection through the Trigger Port. H
ere you will set up a range of
ports. SMC routers seem to work correctly if you provide a range with 10 p
orts, however other firewalls might need wider ranges. Once again, do not use an
y standard ports or a range that
might include a standard port. You have defined a range of 10 ports per co
nnection between 27900 and 27921. In the Public Type option, select UDP, as this
is the protocol used by Generals.
c) Repeat this process adding a new rule per computer that will be used to pl
ay Generals online. You have setup forwarding rules for just two computers.
d) Once you are done, click the Apply button.
4. Now you have set up each of the computers so each one uses a specific port
in your firewall to initiate the connections.
a) Go to the first computer that you are going to use to play C&C Generals an
d open the My Documents folder. Then go to the folder named Command and Conquer
Generals Data and double click in
the file named Options.ini
b) Look in the file for the lines:
FirewallBehavior = XX
FirewallPortAllocationDelta = X
c) You have to add a new line FirewallPortOverride that specifies the first o
f the trigger ports that you already defined when setting up your firewall. In t
he above example, the
first Trigger port was 29900 so the line will be:
FirewallPortOverride = 29900
d) The file should look now something similar to this:
FirewallBehavior = 1
FirewallPortAllocationDelta = 0
FirewallPortOverride = 29900
GameSpyIPAddress = XXX.XXX.XX.XX
Gamma = 48
IPAddress = XXX.XXX.XX.XX
IdealStaticGameLOD = High
LanguageFilter = false
MaxParticleCount = 3000
MoveScrollAnchor =

e) Save the file and repeat this process in the other computers, changing the
FirewallPortOverride value to the correspondent Triggering Port that you define
d while setting up the router
(Point 3 of this document).
5. Now start the game in each computer and go to the Options menu, then click
in the Refresh NAT option.
6. You are ready to play Command & Conquer Generals Online.

1.3. Linksys Routers:

Below, you will find instructions on how open the ports of a Linksys router in o
rder to play Command & Conquer Generals online. Special thanks to forum regular
HautKarl for the
following information.
NOTE: This configuration is only for those experiencing connection problems sett
ing up a game Online in Generals behind a Linksys Router/Firewall.
These instructions will show you how to set up your Linksys Router to open certa
in ports in the firewall when Generals tries to create or connect to an Online g
ame.
1. Go to the configuration program for your router. To do that open MS Intern
et Explorer, and in the address box, type http://192.168.1.1 (This is the defau
lt IP address for Linksys routers.
If you changed this address at any time, you should type in the address th
at you entered the first time that you configured your router). You ll be prompte
d for your login and password.
If you have never changed your password, then use the default one. This ca
n be found in your Linksys instruction manual.
2. Now you should be at the Main Menu of the Linksys setup program. Click on
the tab labeled Advanced settings, then click in the tab named Forwarding. At th
e bottom of that screen will be a
button named Port Triggering. Click on this button.
3. Now you have to setup one rule per computer connected to the router that w
ill be used to play Generals.
a) In Application Name enter the name of the first connection. It can be anyt
hing; this is just so you can differentiate them. We suggest you to use Generals
1, Generals2, etc, or the Computer
name for that connection.
b) Trigger Port Range specifies which ports are used to initiate the connecti
on. In your case, you will only need one per computer; therefore you will enter
the same port number in both boxes.
It is important not to use a standard port. In the picture below you can s
ee we used ports 27901 to 27904.
c) In Incoming Port Range you have to specify the ports that the router will
enable whenever the computer establishes a connection through the Trigger Port.
Here you will setup a range of
ports. Linksys routers seem to work correctly if you provide a range with
10 ports, however other firewalls might need wider ranges. Once again, do not us
e any standard ports or a range
that might include a standard port. As you can see in the example below, y
ou will define a range of 10 ports per connection between 29901 and 29940.
d) Repeat this process for each computer connected to your router that will b
e used to play Generals online.
e) Once you are done, click the Apply button.
4. Now you have setup each of the computers so each one uses a specific port
in your firewall to initiate the connections.
a) Go to the first computer that you are going to use to play C&C Generals an
d open the My Documents folder. Then go to the folder named Command and Conquer
Generals Data and double click \
in the file named Options.ini
b) Look in the file for the lines:
FirewallBehavior = XX
FirewallPortAllocationDelta = X
c) You have to add a new line FirewallPortOverride that specifies the first o
f the trigger ports that you already defined when setting up your firewall. In o
ur example the first Trigger
port was 27901 so the line will be:
FirewallPortOverride = 27901
d) The file should look now something similar to this:
FirewallBehavior = 1
FirewallPortAllocationDelta = 0
FirewallPortOverride = 27901
GameSpyIPAddress = XXX.XXX.XX.XX
Gamma = 48
IPAddress = XXX.XXX.XX.XX
IdealStaticGameLOD = High
LanguageFilter = false
MaxParticleCount = 3000
MoveScrollAnchor =
e) Save the file and repeat this process in the other computers, changing the
FirewallPortOverride value to the correspondent Triggering Port that you define
d while setting up the
router (Point 3 of this section).
5. Now start the game in each computer and go to the Options menu, then click
the "Refresh NAT" option.
6. You are ready to play Command & Conquer Generals Online.
1.4. Other Routers:
If you own a different brand of router, try applying similar settings to the rou
ters listed above in order to connect to others players online. Check your manuf
acturer's documentation before
applying any changes.

2. STABILITY ISSUES AND HEAT

Command & Conquer Generals taxes computer hardware, particularly CPU and system
memory, very heavily. This will cause the hardware to dissipate a lot of heat. I
f your system cooling is
inadequate, it will cause the system to become unstable, and possibly crash. Thi
s issue will manifest itself in the form of a "Serious Error" message, and/or a
blue screen crash.
Here are some diagnostics that you should run in order to find out if your syste
m is stable:
Prime95
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm
ftp://mersenne.org/gimps/p95v2212.exe
When using Prime95, run the Torture Test until your PC passes the self-diagnosti
c.
Memtest86
www.memtest86.com
Use Memtest86 to test your system memory's stability. Be sure to let it complete
a full pass at least once.
Sandra
http://www.sisoftware.net/?dir=dload&location=sware_dl_x86&a=&lang=en
Various diagnostics included in this program. This software will also tell you y
our motherboard and CPU's temperature. Sandra also has a BurnIt test to examine
the stability of your system
by running a series of tests continuously. However, Prime95's Torture Test is a
more reliable way to test your system's stability.

3. VIA CHIPSET USERS

We found that users with VIA motherboard chipsets for AMD and Intel CPUs will en
counter crash problems with Command & Conquer Generals. If you own such a mother
board, please go to
http://www.viaarena.com and download the latest 4-in-1 drivers. If you continue
to experience problems with the game after installing the 4-in-1 drivers, downlo
ad VIA's version 4.38 of the
4-in-1 drivers. Not having the correct VIA drivers could manifest itself in the
form of a "Serious Error" message, and/or a blue screen crash.

4. UNSUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS

Command & Conquer Generals will work properly with ATI Radeon 7500 or newer chip
sets, and Nvidia GeForce 2 or newer chipsets. The game will not run properly if
your computer has an ATI
or Nvidia video card with an older chipset than the ones listed on the box, or a
chipset from a completely different manufacturer. These include the following c
hipsets:
3dfx chipsets
Nvidia TNT2
ATI Radeon Mobility
ATI Radeon 7200
S3 ProSavage
Kyro and Kyro II chipsets
Intel 810e integrated chipsets
If you attempt to run C&C Generals with any of the chipsets listed above, you mi
ght encounter a blue screen crash, or a "Serious Error" message. Always make sur
e that you have installed your
manufacturer's latest drivers before running the game.

5. ACCURATE 1.2 PATCH ISSUES

Some users have patched C&C Generals using incorrect and incorrect 1.2 Patch. I
f you have done so you will need to reinstall C&C Generals to allow the game to
work properly. If you
downloaded 1.2 from any server other than ftp.ea.com or the normal Generals Onli
ne autoupdate then you likely have the