Publisher Electronic Arts today announced that it will release the source code of both the remastered versions of Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn in an effort to support modding for the upcoming Command & Conquer Remastered Collection.
Part of the reason behind Command & Conquer Remastered Collection going open source is that, alongside the game’s new map editor, it “should assist users to design maps, create custom units, replace art, alter gameplay logic, and edit data”.
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection Open Source Modding
“Today we are proud to announce that alongside the launch of the Remastered Collection, Electronic Arts will be releasing the TiberianDawn.dll and RedAlert.dll and their corresponding source code under the GPL version 3.0 license. This is a key moment for Electronic Arts, the C&C community, and the gaming industry, as we believe this will be one of the first major RTS franchises to open source their source code under the GPL.”, Producer Jim Vessela wrote in a Reddit post.
“After discussing with the council members, we made the decision to go with the GPL license to ensure compatibility with projects like CnCNet and Open RA. Our goal was to deliver the source code in a way that would be truly beneficial for the community, and we hope this will enable amazing community projects for years to come.”, he continued.
Vessela gave a glimpse at the modding potential behind Command & Conquer Remastered Collection’s open source approach through the example of the Nuke Tank pictured above.
The unit, created by developer Petroglyph when asked what would the Brotherhood of NOD do with a Mammoth Tank, will be fully usable in-game as a mod.
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection will launch with Steam Workshop support alongside in-game menus that can also be used to browse and download mods.
Origin users will have access to maps and mods through the to the in-game menus but will be required to install them manually.
There were, however, some bad news surrounding the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection. LAN Play was initially intended to be available on launch but Covid-19 and the resulting need for social distancing made that impossible.
“We understand this feature is vital as both an avenue to play mods in multiplayer, and also to serve as a backup in case the online systems are ever down. We’re bummed this one got away, and will continue to keep this on our priority list going forward.”, Vessella said.
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection is slated for a June 5 release on PC.
