• I have added a new RA2/YR download section Miscellaneous which basically will cover any modding graphics/downloads that don't fit into other sections. First download there is Blade's Single Player Mission Template in which will greatly assist you in creating your own RA2/YR SP Mission loading screens. Sleipnir64 and myself also assisted with the combining of the background world maps. The download basically contains a whole lot of images that is really all you need to design your own. The main feature though is Yuri related images, so you can design loading screens for any Yuri missions your mod may include!


• I have continued to update the Generals Editors/Utilities page. Adding in any new programs I discover that will assist you in your modding efforts. Olaf has released V1.23 of the XCC Mixer program with added Generals support (more details here) and V1.24 is in the making to continue the coverage.


• Finally I have added two new affiliates to the list, one is a new Featured Site Armageddon Entertainment, a development network which offers free hosting packages for modding based sites. Among the existing hosted sites is a 3DS2VXL converter, a new Voxel Editor program and the Reincarnated Editing Source, our second affilate. Editing Source was one of the most well-known graphics download sites when hosted by Federation Studios. This is the successor to that site and already has some nice content available for modders and collectors alike!

• Tutorials: Anyway, tutorials. I have not forgotten them from the results of last month's poll, with the graphics submission system still in operation I still need to get these up so newbie's to modding can figure out what to do with them and graphics downloads from all over the community. I will get started on these quite soon.



• Projects: This is the main thing, the majority of voters chose to see more projects on MODDEN, which is a good sign to know that my continued work into RA2/YR Projects is not in vain. As I have hinted and speculated to people in the past, I am working on a NEW RA2/YR modification, this one isn't totally off the planning stages yet so I don't want to get into it in detail just yet. However I can say it will be a gameplay modification like my past MooRules mod, however it will focus more on IMPROVING the current game and options rather than adding in new things outright. More details later...



• Content Updates: With the added time available, I have been thinking about doing a small update to MooRules to fix the number of bugs and issues brought in by V3.0, this would be more of an individual patch rather than a brand new version, I will be looking into the matter further. The Terrain Expansion is due to be updated to V1.4 in the future, featuring many new additions primarily to the Snow theater to make it possible for 'SnowUrban' maps of sorts. Blade is working on getting The Project website back up, and there will probably be more details on this there. Certain graphics downloads that I created might also receive updates, as I improve my cameos with a more Westwood-like Bevel effect and other related things. As soon as I do this there will be news updates telling you which downloads have received upgrades.



• Generals Content: Now, this is where some problems arise. Since I'm not in the position right now to be able to review submissions for Generals, it could be difficult for me to be able to manage graphics and other modding things for a game I WILL have, but not be able to do much too. If worse comes to worse, I will attempt to find someone who could review them for me and then, if it passes their standard, I can then proceed to upload it. However it's a bit too early for that right now, so I'll play it by ear over the next few weeks.

First off, I was extremely excited as soon as I started up a 1-person server on LAN so I could run around and test out the mod. It was a very pleasurable experience when the loading screen disappeared, and was replaced with the friendly glow of the new Red Alert Purchase Terminal. To begin my testing experience, I pressed the often used "F" button and went into third-person view, displaying the new Allied Soldier! "Cool!" I thought out loud, and began to run around being a tourist in the Red Alert world. As I ran out of the beautiful new War Factory, my eyes were greeted with a friendly green environment. I looked to my right, and saw accurately modeled Renegade equivalents of many of the old Red Alert structures. "Woohoo! Let's go climb into one of these bunkbeds here," I was nosing around in the Infantry Barracks. About 12 or so bunkbeds were around in the green Allied tent, which would probably be a pretty good obstacle for any Soviet infantry running through the barracks with any lag. I continued to check out the beautiful Renegade recreations of the Red Alert structures...

Hi EJAH, can you start off by giving us a bit of background information about yourself - I mean, we all know you made some awesome maps for Red Alert 2, what other kind of things have you done?
I'm Edwin Johan Alexander Huisman (EJAH), 31 years of age and living in the Netherlands. I started making maps many years ago for Command & Conquer, mostly just for playing against friends of mine. I started with the original Command & Conquer.

After the cool Red Alert 2 stuff that featured in magazines, things seem to have been quiet from you - what have you been up to this last year or so?
This last year has been quite a challenge. I have been working for EA Pacific designing maps for Generals. Never thought that I would get an opportunity like this so its a bit like a dream coming true!

I know that hehe, but for the readers out there - how did that come about then? Whats it been like?
I got a mail from EA Pacific about a design opportunity for Generals. Its been great working on a major project like this... of course it was very different than I imagined. When I made maps for RA2 etc there was nobody to tell me what I could or shouldnt do. This time, there were some guidelines to follow but they gave me enough room to use my imagination, not exactly carte blanche - I found that difficult sometimes, but hey... thats one of the things I've learned.

This low-poly-model tutorial gets you on the right track for making models to put into Generals. 12 steps, 4 pages. Screenshots included.

-Mainly a 'shoring up' release, to make code more reliable and easy-to-use.
-Added text parser companion. This is used to read .TXT, .INI, .WND, .HTM and .HTML files. TXT, WND and INI files are edited using the in-built text editor, while HTML files are parsed for viewing in Internet Explorer.
-Minor change to CSF window: 'Save' button now ghosts and changes caption until saving is completed, at which point it becomes enabled and once again says 'Save'.
-Changed email address for support (dce@igreen.net), and changed About box to include this information.
-Minor changes to BIG file load and extract routines; load code now uses NumberOfEntries instead of 'Terminate when empty' loop.
-Completely rewritten BIG file save routine to fix some rare bugs, and to make my life a little easier. Slower (but not much), though 100 percent reliable.