RedModAlert SDK is a package containing all essentials to create Yuri's Revenge mods, including documentation, tutorials and some of the best works the community has achieved so far. The point of this release is to replace the ancient tools currently available and to make YR modding more accessible. But this is still work in progress and will continue to receive updates in the future.
The community, unfortunately, although full of good and skilled people, has been plagued for a long time by all sorts of ghosts and zombies who actively refuse and even attack new things. This kind of toxicity has killed many fragile attempts to improve the modding scene in the past and has dimmed the community itself. We can all see a decrease in Yuri's Revenge mods lately. Point is, newcomers shouldn't mistake the bad apples with the apple tree itself. So this SDK is meant for you, the good side of the community, those who still hold passion for the game.
But let's get started.
Modding Yuri's Revenge can be a burden and there are only 2 options:
1. Start from scratch, which can be quite time consuming and can burn you out in the long run, or...
2. Start from another mod. Unfortunately, because people spend lots of time on their mods, they become selfish and not willing to let you do that, so the only alternative left is... ripping off someone else's work!
RA2YR Enhanced has now become an open mod so that newcomers can have an easier start without having to step on toes to get what they want. The most important game scripts are already cleaned up, all units and buildings are fully balanced and the AI can play at a competitive level. You can now use RA2YR Enhanced to quickly startup the mod you have always dreamed of!
RedModAlert SDK contains (almost) all tools required to do proper RA2/YR modding.
Amphora - Strong AI editor built along RA2YR Enhanced, covering all aspects of the game's AI. Map AI support has been recently added. It also offers pre-emptive support for anything other modders can bring.
Coffee - CSF editor that can manipulate the game's text. Lots of these available, but this one features great stability and advanced text search and filtering. Find and edit what you're looking for even without knowing the exact name.
Mixtor - Old and powerful MIX editor that gets the job done without complaining. Most game's assets are stored in packages that have a *.mix extension. Working with mix files can be a real pain but this editor can pack and unpack anything and everything with just a few clicks. You can use it to extract all game assets in a matter of seconds.
Pallet - Easy to use editor for any kind of palettes the game can use. Can generate the best possible palettes by using NeuQuant Neural-Net quantization algorithm to scan a large number of images thus becoming indispensable for advanced modding. Recommended to be used alongside other editors.
Orchestra - Sound editor with loads of features. It can convert and play almost any common sound file. Adding new sounds to the game has never been easier.
Raisin - Almost as old as Amphora, this INI editor offers all important features required to work with *.ini files. Features many little tools that can simplify modding. Not too flashy, but it has supported RA2YR Enhanced all the way. Maybe you will find it useful too.
Terral - Nice and cozy terrain editor. Fresh, but well tested tool. Get new terrain done for your mod very easily and without ending up in a mad house. Some tutorials have been included in the SDK.
Yvory - You probably already know this, it's the best voxel editor for the game and the flag ship of this SDK. It has been rebuilt for 64 bits with lots of improvements and issues fixed. The very few voxel editors that are better (such as MagicaVoxel) are generic editors aiming at looking good and offer no modding support whatsoever for Yuri's Revenge.
The big absent is a new SHP editor which is still on the workbench and planned to be included in a future update. A new map editor would be nice too, others are already working on one at the moment, we'll have to wait and see how it goes.
The core code used by these tools is now available as a full fledged open source library that covers pretty much every kind of asset the game has. MoToR Library, which stands for "Modding Tools for RA2/YR", allows advanced modders to make their own custom tools much easier than ever before, or even attempt a fan-remake of the game! That's right, patching the game to smithereens is not gonna work forever! At this point, with some logic to connect the assets, a remake can be started at any time now.
Don't take this library lightly. Most documentation around is old, wrong and rotten, while the already available "working" code is just shoveled spaghetti that not many can use, to be honest. I believe the lack of proper code and tools has taken a heavy toll on everyone, but things have started to get better.
In the near future, feeding MoToR Library to AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) will most likely put to shame all current tools and blast modding this game to the skies. Let's dream for more.
Special thanks to ModDB, without the environment they provide, RA2YR Enhanced and its tools would have most likely died at version 2.63, the very first release... This is it for now, see you later with more news!
