Without the source code, he rewrote Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 in five years.

Guys, I've got something really outrageous to tell you.

There's this game that, even after more than twenty years, still has a bunch of people playing it every day like they're addicted.

It's Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.

Don't you doubt it.

There are several guys in our editorial department. Every noon, instead of checking out cute girls or browsing Chapingjun, they just watch Command & Conquer videos while having lunch. And on weekends, they even go to the online gaming platform to have PK battles.

On various media platforms, there are also many UP owners who specialize in making Command & Conquer videos, with hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers.

Seeing this, some of you might have your memories triggered, and you're probably already imagining dozens of Prism Tanks in your mind, ready to go all in.

But here's the problem. When you suddenly feel like playing a round of Command & Conquer to relive your childhood -

Sorry, you'll definitely be discouraged.

The Command & Conquer installation packages you find online can indeed be played, but you'll easily run into problems. You have to adjust the compatibility settings and solve one error pop - up window after another before you can barely enter the game.

You might be wondering, is there a version that even computer beginners can play?

Well, there is.

Some Command & Conquer players will tell you to download an online gaming platform, register an account, receive the verification code, and then go to the lobby to join or create a game...

It's still a bit troublesome. Is there an official and genuine version?

Yes, there is.

But even if you buy the official EA version of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 on Steam, chances are you'll just be wasting your money. There are a lot of problems like black screens, freezes, and error reports. Many people say the experience is even worse than that of the pirated version.

The above is still for Windows users.

As for Mac users? Dude, I suggest you just give up.

So, Shichao just wants to ask:

On this planet, is there really a simple and straightforward way for us ordinary players to play a round of Command & Conquer right away when we want to relive our childhood?

Don't mention anything about compatibility, error reports, online gaming platforms, or system requirements. And preferably, don't even make me look for resources and download installation packages...

Is there such a way? Is there?

Actually, there is.

01

Recently, while slacking off, Shichao found a web - based version of Command & Conquer called Chrono Divide.

Note, the key points are: it's a web - based version and it's free.

Whether you're using a PC, Mac, mobile phone, tablet, or even a kiddie smartwatch or the display on your fridge door -

As long as you have a browser, just click and you can play.

Actually, at first, Shichao didn't have high hopes for it. After all, considering the performance of web pages, I thought it was probably just a scaled - down version, good for just a taste.

Until I opened it...

Wow!

It has both single - player and multiplayer battles, a ranking system, and even supports mods.

The cost of playing is almost zero. Just click "download" on the web page, and it will automatically download and extract the game package.

Ten seconds later, you'll see the following screen.

I can only say that Shichao instantly felt like it was that summer vacation back then...

Don't rush. Then, start operating in the game for a while.

The Prism Tanks, Spider Drones, V3 Rockets, and Kirov Airships - everything from your childhood memories is back.

Even more advanced operations like holding down Ctrl to force an attack and using engineers to repair buildings are all perfectly supported.

To be honest, the only drawbacks are that the patrol function can't loop, and the particle effects aren't reproduced.

But guys, this is just a web page!

02

Even more outrageous things are yet to come.

I originally thought this was some kind of porting, packaging, or emulator technology that stuffed the original Command & Conquer into the web page. But after a week of efforts, I got in touch with the author, Alexandru Ciucă, a Romanian programmer with 15 years of programming experience...

He told me -

Oh, I rewrote Command & Conquer in TypeScript (JavaScript).

What?

Rewrite the game?

Guys, you need to know:

The official has even lost the source code of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2...

So, for Alexandru to rewrite the game, he had to use black - box reverse engineering to analyze all the behavioral logic of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.

Hard to understand?

Imagine that you want to replicate a dish, but you don't have a recipe. You can only watch videos of others eating this dish and guess the texture and taste of the ingredients based on their chopstick movements and chewing rhythms.

That's how Alexandru replicated Command & Conquer.

Except that the official art assets and the rule.ini configuration file (which records the attack power, health, and cost of each unit) can be directly referenced -

The entire core engine of the game logic was derived by Alexandru through screen recording, slow - motion playback, frame - by - frame analysis, modifying the rules.ini file, and repeated testing and trial - and - error.

What's the animation of a Rocket Soldier taking off? How to replicate the up - and - down flight state in the air? How do the scattered debris fly when a building is destroyed?

All these need to be carefully considered and repeatedly simulated.

No one knows exactly how large this project volume is.

But when you see the dense update log on the official website, which has been recorded for a full five years, you can get a general idea.

Well, interestingly enough -

Shichao found several versions in the log that said they fixed some bugs in the original Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.

For example, in version 0.64, it fixed the damage of Anti - Aircraft Infantry to Anti - Aircraft Guns (a bug in the original Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2).

In version 0.18, the Construction Yard can no longer be packed/moved and sold at the same time (a bug in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge); it also prevents free engineers from being spawned.

Huh, something doesn't seem right?

Logically speaking, since the game engine and code are all rewritten by himself, why are there still original bugs?

Alexandru's answer to this question is quite shocking.

Let me summarize it for you. There are three types of bugs in the web - based Command & Conquer.

The first type is logical bugs.

After Alexandru wrote some basic rules, some complex game mechanisms could be directly formed on the basis of these rules, but they also brought bugs. It's like when you build a house with Lego according to someone else's design. If their house has bugs and isn't stable, yours will be the same.

The second type is data bugs.

The Rules.ini configuration file records parameters such as the attack power, health, and construction cost of all units. When the official writes the parameter values wrong, Alexandru will also make mistakes when importing this configuration file.