Hey guys, I'm quite new here :)
And I'm also new in modding Red Alert 3. To start, I would like to make a simple mod.
I want to reduce the build time of all buildings (including turrets) of the Allies. I have downloaded Red Alert 3 Mod BuildStudio (don't know which version) but I don't understand *censored* about it. It only shows some build button, and some select buttons with some text I rarely understand 😛 Oh, and you can select SampleMod, but nothing changes :P
There are some documentations though, but none of them includes some kind of tutorial.
I heard you needed to compile it, which sounds quite complicated.

Reading the documentation I only found out that it was about editting xml files, but I cannot find any xml files to edit. So I guess I need to create them. No problem? Well, nowhere in the entire documentation is there any sign or any hint on where to put the files!

Can someone give me a step-by-step guide on how to do this? This is possible right?

Oh, btw, if someone wonders why I wanted to reduce the Allied build time;
I normally play on 40k, you'll get bigger armies, better battles etc. The problem there, is that both the Soviets and the Empire are fast at building, while the Allies always lag behind. It would be more fun if the Allies had their build time multiplied by 0.7 or something like that. And, it makes a good start for further modding :)

Thanks for the help, and for all you modders out there, good luck 😃

The easiest way to create a new mod project is to copy the sample mod included with the Mod SDK. The sample mod's folder is [Mod SDK]\Mods\samplemod.

Once you've done that, you need to find the XML files that have the code for the Allied structures. The XML source code is in [Mod SDK]\SageXml, and all of the allied structures are in [Mod SDK]\SageXml\Allied\Structures\. Copy that folder into your new mod folder and you'll be well on your way.


The documentation isn't the easiest thing to follow, but it has a lot of information on the basics of mod creation. Specifically, look at Mod_Creation.html in the documentaion folder.

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Thanks for your reply.

So, I did what you said; copy and paste the samplemod, then rename it (I renamed it to 40K correction). I copied the Structures map from \SageXml\Allied to \mods\40K correction\. Then I changed some values. I clicked Build Mod, no errors.
After that, I launched the game using this command:

D:\Games\Electronic Arts\Red Alert 3\RA3.exe -modConfig "C:\Users\*name*\Documents\Red Alert 3\mods\40K correction\40K correction_1.0.skudef"

But nothing really changed. Now, I've got patch 1.12, and I read somewhere that there should be a Control Panel included in patch 1.09 for launching mods. I can't find it anywhere.
How do I launch the mod?


Well, I'm one step further now. I know how to launch the RA3 Control Panel. But once I click the 'Game browser' it crashes.


Another step further. Game browser doesn't crash anymore. I fixed it by backing up my replays, and then deleting the replay folder in C:\Users\Name\Documents\Red Alert 3\Replays.
But now it asks for my CD key, which I don't have. I downloaded the game. So I tried a keygen, but none of the keys pass through. Then I tried creating a shortcut on my desktop. No luck there. Whenever the game starts, it starts normally. But when I try to edit the shortcut, and add -modConfig "C:\Users\Name\Documents\Red Alert 3\Mods\40K correction\40K correction_1.0.skudef" to it, it starts complaining about the file not being found.
How do I create such a shortcut?


Using Vista right now, btw.
Hate it, but I'm bound to it now.

I definitely like Linux more.


I finaly got to launching the game by executing RA3.exe -ui -runver 1.12, going to game browser, then select 40K correction and click launch.
However, nothing is changed.


To be more precise, in my 40K correction mod map there are these files:

AlliedBarracks.xml
mod.str
mod.xml

No errors on building the mod, but when starting the mod by executing "ra3.exe -ui -runver 1.12".

Can anyone help me with this? I don't know wether I set it up correctly.

Did you edit mod.xml to refer to your new AlliedBarracks.xml?

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Ok I changed a little bit;

My folders look like this:
In
D:\RA3 MOD SDK\Mods there are these folders:

- 40Kcor -> data
- samplemod -> data

In 40Kcor and samplemod both have 1 file; mod.babproj.
For 40Kcor thats this file:


Then in 40Kcor/data there's these files:
- mod.xml
- AlliedBarracks.xml

mod.xml looks like this:


And AlliedBarracks is a little too large to show here, but its the exact copy of this one:
D:\RA3 MOD SDK\SageXml\Allied\Structures\AlliedBarracks.xml except for this variable:

BuildTime="1" enclosed in the GameObject tags.

Thats all I have right now. If this works, I'm planning to change the other buildings too.

My game config is like this btw;
I've got patch 1.12, cracked, and I start the game by executing 'ra3 -ui -runver 1.12'. When I don't put in the '-runver 1.12' the game will ask me for a serial key, and every key I generate doesn't work. So the game won't start this way.

Thanks for your respond again, hope to hear from you soon.
Next Monday I want this to be finished.

PS I would like to change the amount of ore that's in one box, which is currently 30k. I find that way too low. In every game at 40K I've had the 'ore mine depleted' message, which annoys me like *censored* 😛 Where can I change that? I've searched for it, but I can't really find it. If you'd help me with this too, I would be one happy guy 😃

It looks like the path reference for your AlliedBarracks.xml is wrong. If the file is in the same folder as mod.xml, then the correct line is:

That is the price of piracy, I'm afraid.


Modding the ore node is a bit trickier, since the code for it is in two files: [SageXml]\BaseObjects\BaseOreNode.xml and [SageXml]\Neutral\Structures\OreNode.xml. I recommend combining the contents of both into a single file.

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Well, I found out that SampleMod doesn't work either. I installed the required programs:
.NET Framework v3.5 (version 2.0 is needed, is this a problem?)
Visual C++ 2005 SP1

There are no errors, no warnings, and no critical errors when building the mods.
In the documentation it says that the include should be:
and I tried different configures, but none of them work. I'm starting to think that its not my mod, but the whole program not working.

Ok, I'm starting to get pretty desperate.
I've tested in on an XP computer, and it shows a lot more information in the log, but it also includes some errors:

[00:00:01.0156250] Error: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: StartIndex cannot be less than zero.

It shows this 3 times in the whole log, in a purple color.
I looked into my mod folder in \My Documents\Red Alert 3\Mods, and in the 40Kcor folder, there's no .big file. In the SampleMod folder however, there is a .big file.
But when I launch the Gamebrowser, and click my mod or the samplemod, neither of them work. There will be no changes whatsoever.

It should be noted that I updated my Mod SDK to version 3.0, which should be compatible with patch 1.12.
I want this done before monday. If somebody would make these changes for me, it would be very nice:
- Change the buildtime of every Allied building (including turrets), multiply the original buildtime with 0.7, so that the new buildtime is 70% of the original.
- Change the OreNodes to have unlimited gold instead of the 30K they have now.

I would be gratefull forever if somebody would make these changes for me, and send me the Skudef and the big file, and if you want, the source either.
Or just tell me how to fix this darn problem.