init

.github/FUNDING.yml

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+github: xan105
+custom: https://www.paypal.me/xan105
+patreon: xan105

.gitignore

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+build/
+src/pkg/
+src/*.syso

LICENSE

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+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) Anthony Beaumont
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.

README.md

@@ -1,2 +1,166 @@
-# RA3-Launcher
-Red Alert 3 Launcher (RA3.exe re-implementation / alternative)
+Welcome back, Commander 🫡.
+
+Red Alert 3 is one of my favorite game but it's in a sorry state since EA shut down their servers for the game.
+
+This project is an open source re-implementation of the original game launcher `RA3.exe` aimed at addressing and mitigating some of the issues that have emerged since EA servers were shut down.
+
+### Issues due to EA shutting down their servers
+
+1. Game Startup is (very) slow
+
+   The game takes awfully long to start because the official launcher tries to get the latest "Comrade News" from files.ea.com
+   whether or not the gui interface was requested (-ui). And wait until the connection times out, before starting the game.
+
+2. LAN play: "CD key is already in use" (%CDKEY%)
+
+   LAN play requires each player to have a different CD Key.
+   Steam no longer populates the `%CDKEY%` variable in the registry _(is it due to EA's servers shutdown ?)_.
+
+   This is a problem because each time the game is run by Steam; Steam will write "%CDKEY%" as the user's CD key.
+   Every (Steam) players will therefore end up with the same CD Key: "%CDKEY%" and are unable to LAN play with each others.
+
+   The registry value is read on game launch. It is uneffective to change it after the game is ran by Steam.
+
+3. Online play: emulation and DLL injection
+
+   You can no longer play online nor co-op without using 3rd party service that emulate gamespy such as [revora/CnC:Online](https://cnc-online.net/en/)
+
+   Requiring an additional launcher to be able to use their service.
+
+   While _"Launchers inception"_ (Launcher which starts another Launcher) is despised by many it remains a matter of personal preference. 
+   But for me the core issue was that their launcher didn't work with the Steam version nor with Linux/Proton when I tried it.
+
+## Features
+
+- Start Red Alert 3 process almost instantly _(Issue 1)_
+
+- Fix the CD Key registry value if needed for LAN play before starting the game _(Issue 2)_
+
+- Addons: revora/CnC:Online without their launcher _(Issue 3)_
+
+  See [xan105/CnC-Online](https://github.com/xan105/CnC-Online) for more details.
+
+- Compatible with 🐧 Linux/Proton
+
+- Splash screen customisation: none, random, ...
+
+## Installation
+
+Copy the files in the game directory and replace `RA3.exe`
+
+#### Steam
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> In order to fix the issue with `%CDKEY%` _(Issue 2)_ `RA3.exe` will need elevated privileges.<br/>
+> Because the CD Key value is in the registry under `HKLM` which is write access protected.
+>
+> If you run the game via Steam, you may want to consider always running `RA3.exe` with elevated privileges<br/>
+> by right clicking RA3.exe > properties > Compatibility > check "Run this program as an administrator"
+
+<details><summary>Wait... why does it need admin right and Steam does not ?!</summary>
+<br/>
+Steam has its own windows service running in the background with system privileges (`steamservice.exe`) to do these kind of operations silently without the end user noticing.
+</details>
+
+## Command Line Arguments
+
+`RA3.exe --help` to display all arguments.
+
+Most of the orignal `RA3.exe` cmdline arguments were kept:
+
+|flag|type|description|
+|----|----|-----------|
+|xres|number|Sets resolution width|
+|yres|number|Sets resolution height|
+|xpos|number|Sets horizontal offset of the window|
+|ypos|number|Sets vertical offset of the window|
+|win|boolean|Runs the game in windowed mode|
+|fullscreen|boolean|Runs the game in fullscreen mode. Combine with -win for borderless windowed mode|
+|noaudio|boolean|Disables game audio|
+|noAudioMusic|boolean|Disables game music|
+|silentLogin|boolean|Forces the game to immediately log in to a multiplayer account|
+|modConfig|string|Runs the game with selected mod (has to point to its .skudef file)|
+|replayGame|string|Plays replay file|
+
+> [!TIP]
+> `-modConfig path`
+> 
+> If "path" is **not** an absolute path then it will look for any `.skudef` file corresponding in `%Documents%/Red Alert 3/Mods`
+>
+> eg: `%Documents%/Red Alert 3/Mods/Upheaval/Upheaval_1.16.skudef` > `-modConfig Upheaval`
+
+## Config File
+
+📄 `RA3.json` (required): 
+
+- `lang?: string (auto)`
+
+  Which language to start Red Alert 3 with.
+
+  Default (auto) will query the registry value `HKCU/Software/Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts/Red Alert 3/language`.<br/>
+  If no value is set then it defaults to "english".
+
+- `borderless?: boolean (false)`
+
+  Runs Red Alert 3 in borderless fullscreen.<br/>
+  This superseeds the cmdline arguments `-win` and `-fullscreen`
+
+- `upheaval?: boolean (false)`
+
+  Starts Red Alert 3 with the infamous mod "upheaval" if it's present in the `%GAMEDIR%` or in `%Documents%/Red Alert 3/Mods/Upheaval`
+
+- `keygen?: boolean (true)`
+
+  Check the CD Key value in the registry.<br/>
+  If it's empty or equals to "%CDKEY% generates a random CD Key and write it to the registry.
+
+> [!CAUTION]
+> Unfortunately requires elevated privileges because the key is located under `HKLM` which is write access protected.
+
+- `splash?: boolean (true)`
+
+  Display a splash screen while the game is loading similar to the original `RA3.exe`
+
+- `splash_image?: []string (["Launcher/splash.bmp"])`
+
+  Splash screen filepath. When more than one, a splash screen is selected at random.
+
+  Either absolute or relative path.<br/>
+  _NB: relative to `RA3.exe` and **not** the current working dir_
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> Image should be a 640x480 BMP file.
+
+- `addons?: []{ path: string, required?: boolean }`
+
+  List of addons to inject to the game process.<br/>
+  When `required` is set to `true` and if the injection failed, alert the user and kill the game process.
+
+  Either absolute or relative path.<br/>
+  _NB: relative to `RA3.exe` and **not** the current working dir_
+
+> [!TIP]
+> Example: You can use this option to load [xan105/CnC-Online](https://github.com/xan105/CnC-Online).
+>
+> Restoring the online features of Red Alert 3 without relying on the revora/CnC:Online launcher.
+
+  ```json
+  {
+    "addons": [
+      { "path": "Launcher/opencnconline.dll", "required": true }
+    ]
+  }
+  ```
+
+  <p align="center">
+    <img src="https://github.com/xan105/RA3-Launcher/raw/main/screenshot/linux_proton.png">
+    <em>Connected to C&C:Online under 🐧 Linux/Proton 9.0-2 (Fedora)</em>
+  </p>
+
+## Building
+
+- Golang v1.23
+- [go-winres](https://github.com/tc-hib/go-winres) installed in `%PATH%` env var for win32 manifest & cie
+
+Run `build.cmd`<br/>
+Output files are located in `./build`

build.cmd

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+@echo off
+cd %~dp0src
+set GOOS=windows
+set GOARCH=386
+go-winres make --in "..\winres\winres.json"
+echo Compiling x86 (DEBUG)...
+go build -o "..\build\Debug\RA3.exe" launcher
+echo Compiling x86 (RELEASE)...
+go build -ldflags "-w -s -H windowsgui" -o "..\build\Release\RA3.exe" launcher

src/alert.go

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+/*
+Copyright (c) Anthony Beaumont
+This source code is licensed under the MIT License
+found in the LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+*/
+
+package main
+
+import (
+  "os"
+  "golang.org/x/sys/windows"
+  "log/slog"
+)
+
+func alert(message string){
+  slog.Error(message);
+  windows.MessageBox(
+    windows.HWND(uintptr(0)),
+    windows.StringToUTF16Ptr(message),
+    windows.StringToUTF16Ptr("Red Alert 3"),
+    windows.MB_OK | windows.MB_ICONERROR)
+  os.Exit(1)
+}
+
+func displayHelp(){
+  windows.MessageBox(
+      windows.HWND(uintptr(0)),
+      windows.StringToUTF16Ptr(
+        "-win\n" +
+        "Runs the game in windowed mode\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-fullscreen\n" +
+        "Runs the game in fullscreen mode.\n" +
+        "Combine with -win for borderless windowed mode\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-modConfig filePath\n" +
+        "Runs the game with selected mod (has to point to its .skudef file)\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-replayGame filePath\n" +
+        "Plays replay file\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-noaudio\n" +
+        "Disables game audio\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-noAudioMusic\n" +
+        "Disables game music\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-silentLogin\n" +
+        "Forces the game to immediately log in to a multiplayer account\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-xres number\n" +
+        "Sets resolution width\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-yres number\n" +
+        "Sets resolution height\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-xpos number\n" +
+        "Sets horizontal offset of the window\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-ypos number\n" +
+        "Sets vertical offset of the window\n" +
+        "\n" +
+        "-help\n" +
+        "Show list of all arguments\n",
+      ),
+      windows.StringToUTF16Ptr("Red Alert 3"),
+      windows.MB_OK,
+    )
+}

src/fs.go

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+/*
+Copyright (c) Anthony Beaumont
+This source code is licensed under the MIT License
+found in the LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+*/
+
+package main
+
+import(
+  "os"
+  "io"
+  "io/fs"
+  "path/filepath"
+  "encoding/json"
+  "errors"
+  "launcher/internal/regedit"
+)
+
+func locate() string{
+  process, err := os.Executable()
+    if err != nil { alert(err.Error()) }
+  return filepath.Dir(process)
+}
+
+func readJSON(filepath string) (config Config, err error) {
+
+  //default values
+  config.Version = "1.12"
+  config.Lang = "auto"
+  config.Upheaval = false
+  config.Keygen = true
+  config.Borderless = false
+  config.Splash = true
+  config.SplashImage = []string{ "Launcher/splash.bmp" }
+  config.Addons = []Addon{}
+
+  file, err := os.Open(filepath)
+    if err != nil { return }
+  defer file.Close()
+
+  bytes, err := io.ReadAll(file)
+    if err != nil { return }
+
+  err = json.Unmarshal(bytes, &config)
+    if err != nil { return }
+
+  if config.Version == "" {
+    config.Version = "1.12"
+  }
+  if config.Lang == "" {
+    config.Version = "auto"
+  }
+
+  if len(config.SplashImage) == 0 {
+    config.SplashImage = []string{ "Launcher/splash.bmp" }
+  }
+
+  return
+}
+
+func fileExist(path string) bool {
+  target, err := os.Stat(path)
+  if err == nil {
+    return !target.IsDir()
+  }
+  if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+    return false
+  }
+  return false
+}
+
+func findFilesWithExt(dirpath string, ext string) []string {
+  var matches []string
+  filepath.WalkDir(dirpath, func(path string, info fs.DirEntry, e error) error {
+      if e != nil { return e }
+      if filepath.Ext(info.Name()) == ext {
+         matches = append(matches, path)
+      }
+      return nil
+   })
+  return matches
+}
+
+func getUserProfilePath() string {
+
+  const PATH = "Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\User Shell Folders"
+  keys := []string{
+    "{F42EE2D3-909F-4907-8871-4C22FC0BF756}", //win10
+    "Personal"}
+
+  for _, key := range keys {
+    value := regedit.RegQueryStringValueAndExpand("HKCU", PATH, key)
+    if len(value) > 0 {
+      return value
+    }
+  }
+
+  return filepath.Join(os.Getenv("USERPROFILE"), "Documents")
+}

src/go.mod

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+module launcher
+
+go 1.23.0
+
+require golang.org/x/sys v0.24.0 // indirect

src/go.sum

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+golang.org/x/sys v0.24.0 h1:Twjiwq9dn6R1fQcyiK+wQyHWfaz/BJB+YIpzU/Cv3Xg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.24.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=