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NOTE: THIS FILE MAY BE DISTRIBUTED FREELY, AS LONG AS README.TXT OR RULES.INI, INCLUDED IN THIS .ZIP, ARE NOT MODIFIED. TO DISTRIBUTE THIS FILE, INCLUDE AN UNMODIFIED COPY OF THIS FILE AND RULES.INI. TO OBTAIN A COPY OF RULES.INI, EMAIL THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: danhoff@glasnet.ru AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A COPY. COMMAND AND CONQUER AND COMMAND AND CONQUER RED ALERT ARE TRADEMARKS OF WESTWOOD. ALL OTHERS MENTIONED ARE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE COMPANIES. REMEMBER, THIS FILE CAN BE DISTRIBUTED FREELY AS LONG AS THIS FILE (README.TXT) AND RULES.INI ARE NOT MODIFIED. PLEASE SEND QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS AND OTHER IDEAS TO: danhoff@glasnet.ru 
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Contents: Red Alert Rules.ini Modified by Daniel Hoffman v.1.0

1.0 What is RULES.INI?
2.0 How do I use it?
3.0 Where can I get it?
4.0 What modifications have been made, and what do they do?
5.0 Suggested Strategies and tactics

1.0: What is rules.ini, anyway?

Rules.ini is a file that contains settings for Command and Conquer: Red Alert. It is either in your Red Alert directory, or it is embedded in redalert.mix somewhere. An original copy of rules.ini, completely unmodified, can be obtained by email the following address: danhoff@glasnet.ru . Rules.ini sets many things in the Red Alert game, among them unit settings, buildings, etc. There are many editors on the Web that change these settings, but it is just as easy to edit it as an .ini file with wordpad or notepad. 

2.0 How do I use it?

To use this copy of rules.ini, which changes many aspects of the game, simply unzip it into your red alert directory (C:\redalert or C:\westwood\redalert\ if you installed it on C:\). If you already have a copy of rules.ini in your game directory, then you can either rename it, which will allow you to revert back to it if something goes wrong, or just plain delete it. It will take effect the next time you run Red Alert.

3.0: Where can I get it?

This modified version of rules.ini is available by emailing the following address: danhoff@glasnet.ru , or it may be posted on the web soon. The most reliable way is via email though. 

4.0: What modifications have been made, and what do they do?

This version of rules.ini has been heavily modified, and 99% of the changes are documented below. However, if you find a change that is not documented, please email me and I will include it in future versions of this document. 
4.1 There are a lot more crates, almost 3 times as many. They also come up more often, and the good crates more often than the bad ones.
4.2 The crates have an effect over a wider area. This is more helpful than harmful because of modification 4.1
4.3 The amount of money in money crates has increased dramatically.
4.4 Chronoshifted units stay chronoshifted for longer.
4.5 Planes and helicopters reload a lot faster. This is more realistic than the old settings.
4.6 The atom bomb has a much wider radius of damage, and is much more powerful. This is a much more realistic setting, as  the original ones were useless.
4.7 The ore harvester explodes big time when hit too much.
4.8 Player units automatically crush enemy units if they are close. This is great for dealing with those pesky infantry dudes.
4.9 Everything builds faster. This is helpful, because it allows you to build a decent base before you get attacked.
4.10 Gems and gold have doubled in value, and are harvested a lot faster. This increased cash flow helps prevent bankruptcy because of the faster build speed (4.9)
4.11 Most of the units get to where they're going faster. This allows greater mobility and the ability to counterstrike when attacked is better.
4.12 In skirmish mode, you start off with 20,000 dollars instead of 10,000.
4.13 All of the special weapons, such as the nuke, chronosphere and iron curtain take from 1 to 2 minutes to charge. This makes them much more useful, and make the game a lot more realistic. (in the nuke's case, anyway)
4.14 England's firepower, speed, etc. are doubled, so England is twice as good as all the other countries (skirmish mode)
4.15 Some units can now be owned by both sides. This also adds a touch more of realism, as each side would have more than one or two types of tank.
4.16 All of the tanks now have bigger guns-one size larger than their previous one.
4.17 Light and Medium tanks now have Vulcan machine guns to deal with those damn infantry. (Vulcans are the ones in the pillboxes). This was a major design flaw in Red Alert originally, and this change makes it MUCH more realistic. 
4.18 Mammoth tanks have 8 inch cruiser guns, which makes them great for long-range destruction.
4.19 Mobile artillery now fire two shots, instead of just one.
4.20 The harvester is a lot stronger now, and can take a lot of damage.
4.21 Ranger Jeeps now have M60 machine guns, and a top-secret Tesla Generator. Now, the Rangers use Tesla Zaps as well as the bullets from the gun. This is not exactly in the name of realism, but it is a very good modification and works well. Makes them a lot more dangerous.
4.22 APC's are also armed with mobile tesla zap generators,  same as in 4.21
4.23 Minelayers should now be able to lay 10 mines instead of 5. This hasn't been tested.
4.24 The destroyers now have 8 inch guns and stinger missiles, but no depth charges. This may have been a mistake, but to remedy it, the gunboats now have depth charges. 
4.25 Gunboats have stingers and depth charges now, and no longer have that incredibly ineffective 2 inch gun.
4.26 Rife soldiers now have 2 M1Carbines. This gives them a higher rate of fire. This also makes it a little more realistic, in terms of the damage they inflict.
4.27 Grenadiers are now ambidextrous, and throw two grenades instead of just one. They also discovered how to store their grenades so they don't explode when the grenadier dies.
4.28 Tanya has 2 Colt .45's now, which makes her more deadly against infantry, but still ineffective against tanks.
4.29 Lots more badgers are used to drop parabombs. Because of the inaccuracy of parabombs, I recommend targetting the middle of the enemy's base, and the badgers will probably crisscross it.
4.30 The tesla coils shoot a double zap now, which makes them a lot more potent. This is a cool effect, and helpful for the soviets, whose only other stationary base defence is the flame tower, which is ineffective against tanks. The teslas can take tanks out now.
4.31 The gun turrets also shoot two shells instead of one now. This balances the soviet's double teslas.
4.32 The AA guns also shoot twice as many AA shells.
4.33 The Power Plant and Advanced Power Plant have been converted to nuclear power, and porduce three times as much energy. This helps keep the size of your base down.
4.34 The probability of different crate types coming up have been modified slightly, to a positive effect. Bad crates are few and far between now.
4.35 The range of the 8 inch guns on Mammoth tanks and cruisers has been extended.
4.36 The game is now capture-the-flag style, and by capturing the enemy's flag and taking it back to your base, where you have a little circle for disposing of the enemy's flag. As soon as the tank carrying the enemy flag crosses this circle, all the enemy units die.

5.0: Suggested Strategies and Tactics

Allies
One of my favorite tactics with this file in skirmish mode is to convert the MCV into a construction yard, then build a power plant, then an ore factory. Sometimes the ore truck doesn't come with the factory, so I build a War Factory (remember to leave space in front of it for units to go after they are built) and build an ore truck. Once I have an ore truck and steady flow of income, I start churning out medium tanks like crazy, mixing in Jeeps and light tanks. I then build a barracks, and a radar dome. Then build a advanced power plant, this will give you enough power for a while. Next, make a tech center and build a missile silo. As soon as the GPS gets into orbit (only a minute or so) and the nuke is charged, target it on your nearest enemy. Aim the nuke at a building close to the one you want to take out, as buildings at ground zero are not as severely damaged as those surrounding it. If the computer has built its construction yard and war factory close together, then target a building in the middle or close to both of them. Once the computer's barracks, construction yard and war factory are destroyed, it usually sells the remaining buildings and sends all the units in a massive attack against you. However, if you want to avoid nuclear war, a good way to beat the computer opponents is to either build a naval yard and a fleet, or use a massive tank attack just after they have attacked you. There is a lot more red alert strategy that I could write, but if you want more you can email me or search the web, there's tons out there. 

Soviet

Follow the instructions for the allies up to the ore truck point. After the ore truck has been built, send it off to get money. Start building heavy tanks immediately, and organize them into teams of 10 or so. (control and a number key). Or keep them all together and do a massive tank rush. I wouldn't recommend being the soviets when this modification of rules.ini is being used, as the allies, especially England have a decisive advantage. Anyway, you could use the old soviet tank rush tactic, which is especially effective after a computer attack. In terms of defending your base, I have found that it is best to build a lot of teslas, and group them in triangles. This way, any tank wandering within the range will be hit by zaps from 3 teslas instead of only one, and this will probably destroy it before it manages to take out something vital. Also, use flame towers for close-in defense. Sub pens are useless, as the computer doesn't build ships in skirmish mode. I could go on for quite a while about how to cream the AI in redalert, but if you can't do that, then you better write me at danhoff@glasnet.ru and I will give you some more strategy

Suggested used for this rules.ini

I designed this set of rules for skirmish mode, and I don't know how good it is for multiplayer mode, where human players are participating. However, I am working on a special multiplayer version for people playing head to head, so email me  if you want it. 

Other notes and ideas

I hope to have this uploaded onto the web soon, but right now it is only available through e-mail. Email me at the address I said about a million times above, and I will gladly email it to you. It is only about 20K zipped, so no big downloads are necessary.

This rules.ini also affects the red alert missions. I don't know how it will affect it, but it shouldn't mess anything up too much.

Note: This is freeware, but the rules.ini file and this file MAY NOT BE MODIFIED. Distribute it all you want. But do not change it. This took a lot of work and careful fine-tuning, and I don't want it changed. If you have a suggestion or idea, email it to me and I will probably include it in a future version.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Daniel Hoffman, danhoff@glasnet.ru







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