OpenRA for classic Red Alert and Command & Conquer has a new test build up

Dune 2000, Red Alert, Command & Conquer - all classics and all playable on Linux with the cross-platform open source OpenRA.

Yesterday, a brand new test release went up that we actually spoke about in a previous article. It brings in an overhaul to the rendering engine, to make more modern features possible. It was a special experimental build before but now they're getting everyone in to test.

Playtest "20200303" brings with it multiple long-awaited features, that will keep OpenRA playable far into the future and more accessible than ever like:

• Smooth Zooming: The previous “pixel doubling” feature has been updated with the ability to smoothly zoom the battlefield using the mouse wheel or new hotkeys ([ and ]). The default zoom level can be changed using the new Battlefield Camera option in the settings menu.
• UI size options: Players with larger screen resolutions can increase the size of the menus, sidebar, and other UI elements using the new UI Scale option in the settings menu.
• Improved HiDPI support: OpenRA can now detect HiDPI rendering modes on Windows and Linux, fixing the blurry rendering for players on Windows with higher resolution screens. Many UI elements now include high resolution artwork, staying crisp when drawn at larger sizes.
• New introduction screen: A new screen is displayed when launching the game for the first time to introduce the most important display and control options.
• Overhauled settings menu: The Display and Input settings panels have been refreshed with new options and a new layout.

Example of the new zooming in Dune 2000

As they make the game engine more advanced, it's now bumping up the OpenGL requirement from OpenGL 2 up to OpenGL 3.2 or OpenGL ES 3. This, they said, is a small step towards using modern rendering APIs including Vulkan.

They also put in a small mention about other work done towards the in-progress Tiberian Sun mod, bringing in "fixes for low-level rendering bugs and new logic for production exits, EMP vs Aircraft, and the Firestorm Generator". We've been waiting a long time for that one, very exciting!

See more in the announcement and you can download OpenRA here.