Community Patch must work with C&C Online (Revora) out of the box

[RedvsBlue87]

[xezon]

I think what this will require is faking the EXE and CRC hashes on our client (within reason) to tell the retail client that we are compatible. Otherwise we will not be able to join them. This is a code task.

We will need to implement it in a way that regular Mods still classify as incompatible.

[HiddenDude]

I'm not really familiar with C&C Online (Revora), but isn't it just a master server that helps clients advertise their lobbies to each other over the internet? I don't think it would need to check any hashes for that, as long as it receives valid "hi I'm a client and now give me the server list" / "add my server to the list" / "take my server off the list" packets.
The game client should then check hashes between the host and clients anyway before the network game starts?

Only for testing I guess it could be somewhat useful to fake compatibility with the last official patch while having some modifications already included.. Testing multiplayer locally could be a little complicated & it wouldn't be a real test without connections over the internet..?

The community patch should become the new standard of playing Generals anyway. Who would want to run an inferior version.
Just focus on bugfixing, performance and compatibility and keep it stable and in EA's spirit.. In time you probably come across an issue that can be solved much more effectively or simply by dropping official patch compatibility and requiring everyone to update.

In summary.. Theres is probably no need to change this working system, unless you really need it for testing. 🤣
Make sure to keep a nice change log of the stuff that actually affects players in the main readme. Good advertisement for the patch.

[xezon]

Here are the URL's that GenTool will patch:

1

ccgenerals.ms19.gamespy.com
ccgenzh.ms6.gamespy.com
gpcm.gamespy.com
peerchat.gamespy.com
master.gamespy.com
--->
online.the3rdage.net

2

servserv.generals.ea.com
--->
http.online.the3rdage.net

3

gamestats.gamespy.com
--->
shatabrick.com