Modding of Command & Conquer

The Command & Conquer series of video games is one of the most modded real-time strategy games. The first true modder-friendly C&C game was Tiberian Sun, but Red Alert 2 and its expansion pack Yuri's Revenge had more features to work with.

The *.ini files

The game uses many *.ini files that can be changed to mod the game. There are 3 main files for the game:

• Art(md).ini — The Art coding file
• Ai(md).ini — The Ai Coding so the Computer will use the certain units
• Rules(md).ini — The Main coding file for almost all the things in the game

For example: When you want to mod the files for Command & Conquer series Generals. The *.ini files are compressed into *.big files. So first you download FinalBIG, its a program that helps opening .big files.

Art files

The art files for Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun and Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 & Yuri's Revenge use 2 types of art files

• SHP: These files are 2D animated images (much like GIF files) but require palettes for use. They are mainly used for buildings, infantry and landscape tiles.
• VXL (voxel files) & HVA: These two types of files work in unison with each other. The VXL contains the main 3D art, whilst the HVA contains information on use for the game, i.e. rotor blades etc.

The files are stored in MIX archives.

See also

• Mod (computer gaming)
• Modding