Tools

Tools

A categorized list of programs that are used by modders. For info about each of these file types, click each header.

.MIX editing

• XCC Mixer - (by Olaf van der Spek) Part of the XCC Utilities suite of programs. The most important tool.

.SHP editing

• OS SHP Builder - (by Banshee & Stucuk).
• Many people prefer converting SHP files into PCX and editing them with standard, full-featured graphic programs such as Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and others. IrfanView can also help in this situation.

.SHP viewing

• SHP Shell Extension - (by CnCVK)

.VXL editing

• Voxel Section Editor III - (by Will, Plasmadroid, Koen, Stucuk and Banshee).
• OS Voxel Viewer - (by Stucuk and Banshee).
• Cube Normalizer - (by Stucuk and Banshee).

.HVA editing

• OS HVA Builder - (by Stucuk and Banshee).
• DMZ's HVA Editor - (by DMZ).

.INI editing

To edit INI files, all you need is a plain text editor, although additional functionality such as section listing or syntax highlighting is also quite useful:

• TextPad
• NotePad++
• EditPad Pro
• A lot more on the List of Text Editors on Wikipedia

There are also several text oriented INI editors with functionality secifically tailored for editing the C&C games:

• INI Editor 2 - (by OmegaRed).
• XCC INI Editor - (by Olaf van der Spek), discontinued?.
• INI Checker - (by DCoder) Used to debug your INI files for errors (does not support RockPatch or NPatch in any way, outdated).

You will also find a number of other INI Editors that provide you with a graphical interface to edit INI files by (e.g. TibEd, SunEdit 2K, SunForge etc...) It is recommended that modders do not use these for their editing needs, as they give you bad habits and make you lazy, as you will get used to the program doing a lot for you. There are a number of inherant disadvantages of using a graphical editing interface over pure text editing, in which any unique 'hacks' (like the particle-trick) cannot be carried out, and the program itself can have internal bugs which corrupt your work.

Map editing

• FinalAlert 2 - (by Matze) For Yuri's Revenge. The one and only Final Alert 2. Use the latest version.
• FinalSun - (by Matze) For Tiberian Sun / Firestorm.

Terrain editing

• XCC TMP Editor - The only terrain file editor available so far.

CSF String editing

• XCC String Table Editor - (by Olaf Van Der Spek) The XCC Mixer program includes a built-in string table editor.
• - RA2StrEdit.

Bag Audio editing

• XCC Mixer - The Mixer includes a built-in Sound Editor.

Sound related

• Playlist Modifier - modify your in-game soundtrack with ease.
• XCC AUD/IMA ADPCM WAV Writer Plug-Ins - WinAmp plugins which will convert souncds to AUD and IMA ADPCM WAV files.

Mod Launchers

• XCC Mod Creator/Launcher - XCC MC/L. Most mods released nowadays use this launcher, as it is really convenient.
• LaunchBase High advanced Mod Launcher with plugin system (Beta State).
• XRML Mod Launcher - Saberhawk's plugin-based mod launcher. Still in development, not publicly available.

.TLB viewing

• OLE View - (by Microsoft)

Other

• Cleanup Program - Cleans your RA2/YR directory from mod files which can conflict woith other mods.
• Saberhawk's RA2/YR Update - game launcher executables stripped from any non-essential code. Increases game start-up speed.