C&C Generals: FAQ

This Command & Conquer Generals FAQ was compiled by Manatee_05x and answers many of the questions that were frequently asked when C&C Generals was first released.  Nearly all of these questions are still applicable for players new to Command & Conquer Generals.  This FAQ covers a variety of topics ranging from troubleshooting technical issues to general information about the game.

 

What are the default installation folders for Generals and Zero Hour?

The default installation folders for Generals and Zero Hour depend on whether or not you have the games installed as part of The First Decade compilation pack.  You can browse to these folders by clicking on the My Computer icon in your Start Menu, double clicking on the C drive, and then following the path as follows.

C&C Generals Default Installation Folder:
  • C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command and Conquer Generals\
Zero Hour Default Installation Folder:
  • C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour\
C&C Generals with The First Decade Default Installation Folder:
  • C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command & Conquer The First Decade\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\
Zero Hour with The First Decade Default Installation Folder:
  • C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command & Conquer The First Decade\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\

Where can I learn to make maps using the World Builder?

Please check out our World Builder section.
 

Where can I learn to make mods?

"To learn how to made mods for Generals and Zero Hour, please visit our modding section.

Why did EA make Generals? What happened to Westwood?

A few years ago, EA bought Westwood. Westwood then created its own subsidiary, basically a second branch directly under their control, called Westwood Pacific in Irvine, CA. These are the people who created Red Alert 2, Yuri's Revenge, and Generals. During the early development stages of Generals, EA took Westwood Pacific and put it under their control instead, renaming it to EA Pacific. EA Pacific then published Generals. EA Games is simple the brand name that Generals was published under. EA has a few different brand names - EA Games, EA Sports, etc. Now just recently, EA decided it would be a good idea to close up the Westwood and EA Pacific studios and consolidate them into one large EA LA studio.
 

Where can I download add-on maps?

Most C&C fansites have fan-created add-on maps available for download. We certainly do! Check them out here.
 

Where are fan maps stored?  Where do I extract downloaded maps?

Fan-created maps for Generals and Zero Hour are stored within special folders in your My Documents folder.

    • For C&C Generals:
      • My Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Data\Maps\
    • For C&C Generals: Zero Hour:
      • My Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data\Maps\
Downloaded maps should be extracted into their own individual folders within the appropriate Maps folder.  For example, the files for a map named "MyMap" should be extracted so that they appear directly within a folder named "MyMap" within the Maps folder.
 

Where do I save downloaded replays?

C:\...\My Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Data\Replays
 

Where can I find cheats for Generals?

There are no built-in cheats for CnC Generals.
 

Why is the game running slowly in single player?

Turn your game detail to custom, and turn all the graphics options right down to the very minimum. If this doesn't help, or you if you don't want to play at a low resolution with second-rate graphics, then make sure your computer specs are up to scratch. You should be looking for something like this: Processor: Pentium 3 1Ghz at least, preferably 1.5ghz or faster. If you have a 64 or 128Mb graphics card, then you could probably get away with 800Mhz, but that's pushing it. Video: a 64Mb GeForce or ATi graphics card at least. I know the minimum specs on the box read 32Mb, but that will only provide smooth gaming if supported by a 1.6Ghz processor or somewhere around there. Ram: 256Mb minimum, but you really do want 512 to play the game nicely. Memory: Set your Windows Paging File/Swap File to 512Mb minimum. If you don't know how to do this, go into your Control Panel, and go to System. Accross to the Advanced tab, and click on Settings for Performance. Go accross to Advanced and go down to Virtual Memory and click Change. Scelect Custom Size (as opposed to System Managed) and set Initial Size to 512MB (or 1024 or you can afford the hard disk space) and set the Maximum to something big, around 1000 - 1500. In addition to this, make sure you're not running any programs in the background (like a virus scanner). Defragment your hard disk if you havn't done so in a while, and on older machines, you may want to run scandisk. NOTE: Older graphics cards like the 64MB Gainward Xabre 400, 32MB Leadtek Winfast GeForce 2 GTS and 64MB SiS Xabre graphics cards are below the game's supported specs, despite their capacity. Anything other than a recent GeForce or ATi Graphics card can't be guaranteed to work effectively.
 

Why is the game running slowly in multiplayer?

If it's online play you're having problems with, then make sure you have something faster than a 56k modem, or you will have to accept some degree of lag. If you want to avoid lag, get Broadband or Cable, and only play with players who have a ping of less than 200ms. I would certainly recommend that you have a high-performance PC for online play, and LAN gaming as well. With a 1.5Ghz or higher processor, a supported 32Mb graphics card and 512Mb of RAM, you can't go wrong.
 

How come I drop out every time I try to play with someone online?  Or, why does the game freeze while loading?

If you are running any firewalls, turn them off. Either this, or you may not have enough RAM. We recommend 256Mb for online play, although 512Mb is preferable.
 

How come when I run the game, it gets to the "EA Games" intro, then flashes back to the desktop and can't be recovered?

This is a strange problem, but if you open Windows Task Manager (ctrl+shift+esc on Windows XP, or ctrl+alt+del on older versions of Windows) you can select Command and Conquer Generals in Applications, and then click on Switch To, to force open the game. This generally works. If you can't get the game back up, do this four or five times, and if it still fails, then force-close the application and re-start it. If this problem happens frequently, try a full re-install.
 

Why is there is one medal missing on the bottom right of the medals table?

That is just a blank space. If you pre-ordered the game, that space would be filled with a rather pointless medal to acknowledge that you did so... you're not missing out on anything special, I assure you.
 

Where are the GLA air units?

There are none that you can build. There is an aircraft that enters the map to drop the Anthrax Bomb (5 star general upgrade), but no combat aircraft as such.
 

Why is there a GLA tank on the game box that I can't find in the game?

They did the same thing with Tiberian Sun. You just can't get that tank; they must have removed it. It doesn't look all that exciting anyway.

How come I can't play the game on LAN with game CD 2?

Each player on a LAN or Online game needs an original copy of the game.
 

When I play on LAN or online it says there is a CD Key conflict!  Can you help?

Get another copy of the game. Make it a legal one this time, and don't burn copies for friends.  If you did purchase the game legally, contact EA technical support.
 

How come when I play multiplayer or skirmishes, everything blows up after a few minutes?

Try doing a full re-install of the game. That should fix it... unless of course you have an illegal version of the game, in which case, you deserve it.
 

Why does the game give me a serious error of some description?

Try doing a full re-install of the game, and make sure your CD Drive is set to run on DMA, not PIO. This could be a source of your problem, and could be causing a corruption of one of the game files. If that doesn't work, do a system defrag, scandisk, and be sure that your computer meets the game's system requirements. If that doesn't work, ask at the forums.
 

Why do I get an error "Failed to connect - the game is a different version" (or similar message) when I play online?

Be sure to update your game to the latest patch online, and be sure that you don't have any mods installed. To install the latest patch, simply connect to the internet, start up the game, and connect to Generals Online. If there is a new patch, it will update automatically.
 

Why does the AI do nothing when I play skirmish on a downloaded map?

The map probably doesn't have waypoints to support single-player AI, meaning that computer opponents don't know what to do, rendering the map good for online and LAN play only.  Map authors have to set up waypoints in their maps in order to for the single-player AI navigate through them and gather resources correctly.