Red Alert 2 Unofficial 1.007 Patch
By Piscinex
Welcome to the Red Alert 2 Unofficial 1.007 Patch readme!
What is the 1.007 Patch? The 1.007 Patch is an expansive package of changes, updates, fixes and new content that uses the game's mod interface. The Patch is not designed to fundamentally change the key aspects of the game, it merely improves it. The name itself refers to the 1.006 Patch, the last version of Red Alert 2 to be released by EA, back in late 2001. 1.007 is the next step in the evolution of RA2. Scroll down for more detailed information and links to the other patch pages.
DOWNLOAD THE 1.007 PATCH LAUNCHER
Download Notes: Save the launcher to a place you will remember. The launcher can activate and deactivate 1.007 at will, and allows you to switch back to 1.006 instantly. No permanent changes are made to your copy of Red Alert 2. The launcher can also download updates and new content for the patch. Recent updates detailed below.
Latest Update
Key: Teal denotes rules changes. Yellow denotes map changes. White denotes general changes or bug-fixes. Major changes in italics.
The latest update occurred on 31st March 2008.
Changes:
1) Dog attack range and hit points slightly increased, but rate of fire very slightly decreased.
2) Tesla Trooper less damaging to infantry. Elite Tesla Trooper rate of fire decreased.
3) GIs and Conscripts slightly more effective against other infantry.
4) Nighthawks aren't so aggressive when finding targets, so you can actually load units into them if enemies are nearby!
5) Terror Drones more damaging to Miners.
6) Engineers no longer remove Ivan bombs on enemy units if they get shot by them (very weird bug).
7) Tesla Tanks can no longer damage walls.
8) Repair IFV rate of fire very slightly lower.
Previous Update
The previous update occurred on 10th March 2008.
Changes:
1) Oil Derricks and Civilian Airports have had their hit points dropped to 3210 (from 4000). They're still extremely tough, but now more urgently require your attention if under attack. It's still always better to capture a tech building if you possibly can.
2) Mind control-immune units (such as Dogs) are now immube to Psi-Wave again. I've decided it's more important for Dogs to be immune to Yuri than it was for Yuri to be able to hurt Tanya.
3) Allied Service Depot vehicle sale prices normalised at 75% (was 50%). Makes selling vehicles more of a possibility.
4) The Service Depot now covers all the same prerequisites as the Refinery. This means you can do some really cool Depot-first openings, and even miss out a Refinery altogether.
5) Engineers are back to costing $500. The other changes from the last update made raising their price a bit unnecessary.
6) IFVs (especially elite ones) have had their damages lowered in a few cases. This effects their damage to more heavily-armoured infantry and to some lightly-armoured structres and defences. You'll need to pop a GI inside to get that damage back, which seems a lot fairer.
7) The Flak Track's anti-ground weapon has had its damage raised considerably. It's now somewhat useful against infantry and light vehicles (it can almost go toe-to-toe with a vanilla IFV), rather than getting rolled by practically everything else in the game. Note its anti-air weapon is unaffected.
8) Tanya's base-killing power has been nerfed considerably. She now takes multiple C4 charges to take out many structures (for example, War Factories take 2, Construction Yards take 3, Oil Derricks and Aiports take 9). She's still a machine because of her high hit points and armour, but you get more a chance to counter her now.
9) Crazy Ivans and Tanyas can no longer place their explosives on bridge huts (hence you can't blow bridges with them).
10) Harriers, Black Eagles and V3s no longer erase wall sections.
11) Wall sections stretch further and can be placed further away from the base.
12) Lost Lake: derrick numbers cut down: derricks near the bases removed, derricks near the airports ditched (now it's just the airport on the islands), middle left and right derricks (near the gems) removed. Leaves 4 derricks total.
13) Depth Charge: derricks on middle island reduced to 2. Both walled.
14) Lake Blitzen: one derrick per island now (down from 2). All sandbagged off.
15) Golden State Fwy: middle left and right derricks removed.
16) Alaskan Oil Spill: derrick islands reduced to 5. All fenced/walled.
17) Arctic Circle: derrick numbers drastically reduced in line with Lost Lake.
18) May Day: fewer derricks (1 per cluster) and airports moved to more exposed positions. Island tech building is now an Outpost (to allow building there).
19) Wasteland: derricks removed (they were utterly extraneous).
20) Stormy Weather: corner derricks removed.
21) Breakaway: derricks near bases removed.
22) Deadman's Ridge: airports moved to plateaus between broken bridges (replacing the derricks there) and middle derricks below base ramps removed.
23) Meat Grinder: island derricks fenced off, airports near bases moved to peninsulas.
24) The above changes essentially remove all unneeded derricks from the game. Derricks now give a lot of money and every tech building, singly, is now important. Having three tech buildings in one place generally defeats the point of that so situations like that are now rare.
Patch Information
The 1.007 Patch consists of 3 main parts:
1) Piscinex's Rules: A set of changes designed to make the game more balanced, strategic and enjoyable. Find out more (including the list of changes) here.
2) Map Changes and updates: The patch adds all the Westwood Map Pack maps released by EA. It also adds many other player favourites including the Heck Freezes Over variations and YR to RA2 conversions. Find out more here.
3) Bug fixes, cheat prevention and performance increases: Fixes most soft-coded bugs and errors in the game, stops some cheats (including President IFV and "fog hack") and repairs some buggy animations that slowed the game down.
Click on the links above or at the bottom of the page to see more information. Additionally, a Player's Guide for the patch is available here.
Note
The 1.007 Patch also owes a large debt to the Capture Pack (created by Mooman, TQ and Cannis) and the Yuri's Revenge Unofficial 1.002 Mini-Patch (UMP).
The Capture Pack is an open community project that introduces extra graphics for stolen technology, mainly centrered on specific colour schemes for the Allied and Soviet sides. It has no effect on gameplay. Its homepage can be found here.
The Yuri's Revenge Unofficial 1.002 Mini-Patch is a community project that fixes numerous bugs in Yuri's Revenge for potential mod-makers to incorporate into their own projects. Some of the bug fixes used in the 1.007 Patch were lifted from this project. Its homepage can be found here.
Links:
Patch Readme - The page you are currently on: general patch readme and recent update information.
Piscinex's Rules - The balance portion of the patch: the patch's philosophy (why changes were made to RA2) and a non-technical list of changes.
Map Changes - List of changes made to maps.
Player's Guide - Quickstart strategy guide to playing effectively on 1.007.