Electronic Arts to release ‘Command & Conquer Remastered’ source code to allow for modding

Electronic Arts is making the source code for its upcoming Command & Conquer Remastered Collection open to mods, allowing players to edit maps and make new units. — EA

Electronic Arts (EA) says it will allow players to mod its upcoming Command & Conquer Remastered Collection by making the game open source.

The video game company's creative director Jim Vessella announced that due to popular demand, EA will be "releasing the TiberianDawn.dll and RedAlert.dll and their corresponding source code under the General Public License (GPL) version 3.0 license".

He added that the move "to open source their source code under the GPL" was a first for EA, and possibly for any major real time strategy (RTS) franchise.

With this, modders would have access to a new Map Editor as well as the ability to design maps, create custom units, replace art, alter gameplay logic and edit data.

“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,” Vessella said, in a blogpost.

Petroglyph, the studio made up of the original designers of Command & Conquer who are remaking the game, had already begun creating modded units and sharing it on EA’s Discord channel.

As a showcase, they modified the classic Mammoth Tank unit into a Nuke Tank which fired nuclear artillery, and would be fully playable in the game via a mod.

Vessella said another feature that players had requested, LAN (Local Area Network) Play, would not be included in the launch version of the game.

“Unfortunately, LAN Play became the key impact of the Covid-19 situation as we realised the challenge of developing or testing a 'local area network' feature in a workplace time of social distancing,” he said.

Realising how important it was to players using mods in multiplayer and as a backup in case the online systems are down, he said the team would keep working on rolling it out eventually.

Classic real-time strategy videogame Command & Conquer, which was remastered with the aid of Malaysia’s Lemon Sky Studios, is set for release on June 6.

According to its Steam page, the game can be pre-ordered now for RM79.