Powerups
This section of rules(md).ini controls the content of crates, i.e. which bonuses they can provide, which amount of them, and what animation to play when triggered. For general crate rules, like their frequency of appearence, see [CrateRules].
Flags in Powerups are listed as Cratename=X,Y,Z,S, where
- Cratename is the name of the powerup (hardcoded)
- X is the chance1 that this powerup will be triggered
- Y is the name of the animation to play (or <none>)
- Z defines whether the crate is available on water - if you set this to "yes" on the wrong crates, you risk Internal Errors; an example of this is the unit-crate, where you will get an IE if the crate tries to generate naval units on land or land units on water.
- S is a special parameter, different from crate to crate.
The CrateType column gives you the number you need to use for FA2 to spawn the crate in RA2 and YR via trigger action 108. It is not a number you'll find anywhere in the rules. If this is empty for a boon, then that crate doesn't exist in RA2 or YR.
Example
Armor=10,ARMOR,yes,1.5
Armor crates appear with a chance of 10/1101, play ARMOR as an animation when triggered, do appear on water, and multiply your unit's Strength by 1.5 when it picks up the crate; the crate's number is 9.
| CrateType | Flag name | Chance1 | Animation | Water? | Special Parameter | Flag explanation | Works in game(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Armor | 10 | ARMOR | yes | 1.5 | Multiplier to unit Strength, controlled by Special Parameter In TS, this is a multiplier to incoming Damage instead. Uses the Money powerup if the receiving unit already has picked up an Armor crate. |
RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
| 11 | Firepower | 10 | FIREPOWR | yes | 2.0 | Multiplier to weapon Damage, controlled by Special Parameter. Uses the Money powerup if the receiving unit already has picked up a Firepower crate. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
| 2 | HealBase | 10 | HEALALL | yes | Heal everything to full health | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| 0 OR 6 (one is forced) | Money | 20 | MONEY | yes | 2000 | Gives you the amount of Credits specified in Special Parameter. Note the exact amount always varies, apparently between +-$9002. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
| 8 | Reveal | 10 | REVEAL | yes | Reveals entire map (sans Gap Generators, of course). In Tiberian Sun, gaining a second Reveal will cause an opposite effect, shrouding the entire map (same as the Darkness powerup) | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| 10 | Speed | 10 | SPEED | yes | 1.2 | Multiplier to unit Speed, controlled by Special Parameter. Uses the Money powerup if the receiving unit already has picked up a Speed crate. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
| 14 | Veteran | 20 | VETERAN | yes | 1 | Instant promotion by the number of levels set in Special Parameter. Uses the Money pwoerup if the receiving unit has already reached promotion. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
| 1 | Unit | 20 | <none> | no | Gives you one free VehicleType not marked CrateGoodie=no | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| 13 | Invulnerability | 0 | ARMOR | yes | 1.0 | Renders your unit invulnerable for the number of minutes set by Special Parameter. In Tiberian Sun, has no effect. In Red Alert 2, defaults to the action of the Money powerup, but can be forced to spawn using trigger action 108. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
| 15 | IonStorm | 0 | <none> | yes | Was intended to generate a random Ion Storm, but has no effect. In Red Alert 2, defaults to the action of the Money powerup, but can be forced to spawn using trigger action 108. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| 16 | Gas | 0 | <none> | yes | 100 | Releases a cloud of gas, damage controlled by Special Parameter. Check [Gas] and fix [GasCloudSys] before using this. In TS/FS, the gas is green, hinting that it is the same Tiberium gas released by Nod's chemical missile. In RA2/YR, the Weather Storm's clouds are used, discolored due to the game using the incorrect palette. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
| 17 | Tiberium | 0 | <none> | no | Creates a small patch of ore or Tiberium, depending on the game. Picks a random "maturity" of Tiberium/Ore patch as well as the amount. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| 18 | Pod | 0 | <none> | no | Would have given you the Drop Pod Special in TS, but that feature was scrapped. In Red Alert 2, defaults to the action of the Money powerup, but can be forced to spawn using trigger action 108. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| 3 | Cloak | 0 | CLOAK | yes | Gives everything within the CrateRadius the effect of Cloakable=yes | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| 7 | Darkness | 0 | SHROUDX | yes | Shrouds the entire map, even if you have a SpySat Uplink. You need to collect a Reveal crate or sell each Building with SpySat=yes first before building another one to re-gain full map view. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| 4 | Explosion3 | 0 | <none> | yes | 500 | Creates an explosion using the warhead defined in C4Warhead, damage controlled by Special Parameter. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
| 12 | ICBM | 0 | CHEMISLE | yes | Gives you a free shot with the first super weapon in the SuperWeaponTypes list to have Action=Nuke.
Note this crate does nothing when a building with the Nuke Special has already been built by whoever collected it. However, if an ICBM crate was collected, and then a Nuke Silo built before firing, the nuke comes out as fully charged for its first shot. |
RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| 5 | Napalm3 | 0 | <none> | no | 600 | Creates an explosion using the warhead defined in FlameDamage, damage controlled by Special Parameter. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
| 6 (most likely)
or 0 |
Squad | 0 | <none> | no | Spawns a squad of InfantryTypes. In Red Alert 2, it is forced to the action of the Money powerup, and there's no way to even play the animation, if specified. | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |
| ParaBomb | 3 (RA) | PARABOX | Gives you one (1) loaded ParaBomb Superweapon | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |||
| Sonar | 3 (RA) | SONARBOX | Gives you one (1) loaded Sonar Pulse Superweapon | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR | |||
| TimeQuake | 3 (RA) | TQUAKE | Creates a Time Quake | RA, TS/FS, RA2/YR |
Can be triggered, but logic doesn't work
Not available1Note: Due to Westwood's...err..."interesting" style of coding, the chances are not percentage values, but rather shares of the sum of all default shares, meaning:
- In RA2/YR, the chance is x/110
- In TS/FS, the chance is x/441
- In RA, the chance is x/146
where x is, in all cases, the chance-parameter.
2"Money [crates] do not only award the amounts set in the rules, but also vary the amount randomly by 900 credits." - Ares DLL Documentation on Crate Settings
3The Napalm and Explosion crates appear to only damage (or kill) one infantry of a squad: the infantry that was registered as the receiver. It needs to be tested if the same goes for the Gas crate.
Trivia
Calculating from the shares-system, our example, the Armor-crate, has a chance of
- 9.09% (10/110) to appear in RA2/YR, while 1% equals 1.1 shares.
- 7.48% (33/441) to appear in TS/FS, while 1% equals 4.41 shares.
- 6.85% (10/146) to appear in RA, while 1% equals 1.46 shares.
Obsolete Powerups in RA2/YR
Several Powerups do not work the way they were coded anymore. They are, however, not useless. Even though they do not create a specific, special effect when you pick them up, they do play the specified animation. And animations can have Damage, can spawn Particles and even neutral infantry. Whatever you can do with an animation can be called by a crate. Several mods use this to have a crate spawning neutral Brutes, for example.
The only CrateTypes that can be used for this are the IonStorm, Pod and Invulnerability crates, as only these play their set animations. The others either don't exist in RA2/YR or (in the case of Squad) are forced to use another action.