protonscr

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

protonopen appid 17480Game compatibility - Unofficial
ValveSoftware/Proton#6800 · opened 2023-05-25 by Wedge009 · updated 2026-08-03 · 14 comments · github · game page · search this game
WWedge009 2023-05-25 github

Compatibility Report

  • Name of the game with compatibility issues: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
  • Steam AppID of the game: 17480

System Information

  • GPU: Radeon VII
  • Driver/LLVM version: Mesa 23.1.0
  • Kernel version: 5.19.0-41
  • Link to full system information report as Gist:
  • Proton version: 8.0-2

I confirm:

  • [x] that I haven't found an existing compatibility report for this game.
  • [x] that I have checked whether there are updates for my system available.

steam-17480.log

Symptoms

Overall the game works well but there seems to be a long delay, about two minutes, in the start-up. Observation of the process table shows RA3.exe running, but only after the delay does ra3_1.12.game show up and the title screen is displayed.

In contrast, Red Alert 3: Uprising (#6459) does not have the same issue, neither do Tiberium Wars (#1187) or Kane's Wrath (#477)

Reproduction

I simply ran the game under Proton 8.0-2 with no special commands. Concerned with the apparent lack of activity, I observed the process table manually.

Previous report was in #402, RA3 mis-labelled as RA3: Uprising.

BBlisto91 2023-05-29 github

The line of interest.

115176.592:0134:0144:err:wininet:open_http_connection create_netconn failed: 12029

I can gather from pcgamingwiki that this is because the game tries to fetch news from a EA server, but that service has been shut down long ago and so the game first continues when it hits the timeout.
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer:_Red_Alert_3#Speed_up_loading

WWedge009 2023-05-29 github

That certainly sounds like a possibility. I moved full-time from Windows 7 to Linux in January 2020, when the former's support was terminated, and I distinctly remember replaying C&C3 and RA3 in the year leading up to that (so 2019). The article describes 'late 2010s', so surely such service would have already been cancelled at time, yet I recall no such delay on start-up.

Still, I'll see if I can re-run RA3 on a Windows system to confirm. On the other hand, my original retail copy was eventually tied to (then-) Origin on advice from EA support when I had licence key issues. I regret that lock-in to EA's DRM, hence my re-purchase for Steam Proton. But I suppose it's possible that the Origin/EA copy may not be exactly the same as what is distributed on Steam.

WWedge009 2023-05-30 github

I just checked RA3 from both the EA application and Steam on Windows 7, and retested on Steam Proton on Linux too. Time between appearance of RA3.exe and ra3_1.12.game in the Task Manager or process table:

  • Windows: ~42 seconds
  • Linux: ~130 seconds

So the only question I have is why does it take so much longer to reach the time-out under Proton? But I'm satisfied with pinging-dead-server explanation, so overall I think Proton 8.0 does a great job for this game, along with the other three releases in this C&C3/RA3 generation.

BBlisto91 2023-05-30 github

I don't know how it works in the details but I'm guessing there's a difference in how it's implemented in Wine vs Windows.
Using Proton 8.0-2 i also time it to around 130 seconds ish. On Proton experimental it's instead around 34 seconds ish.
But using the modified exe linked on pcgamingwiki it starts immediately with both Proton versions.

WWedge009 2023-05-30 github

Good to know there may be an improvement with Proton development. The delay isn't inconvenient enough for me to be keen on trusting third-party sources just yet.

BBlisto91 2023-05-30 github

Ye thats fine. Was just trying it to confirm the issue.

Kkisak-valve maintainer 2023-08-10 github

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (17480)

Issue transferred from https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/7001.
@RobertoAlexis posted on 2023-08-10T03:29:57:

Compatibility Report

  • Name of the game with compatibility issues: Red alert 3
  • Steam AppID of the game: 17480

System Information

  • GPU: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display
  • Video driver version: Mesa 23.0.4
  • Kernel version: 6.2.0-26-generic
  • Link to full system information report as (Gist:) Gist
  • Proton version: Proton 7, Proton 8

I confirm:

  • [x] that I haven't found an existing compatibility report for this game.
  • [x] that I have checked whether there are updates for my system available.

Symptoms

When the game launch window appears, a message appears saying that directx 9 is not installed, even though it is. This happened after the steam client update.

Reproduction

Start the game but then when the loading window appears it closes with a message saying that directx 9 is not installed.
steam-17480.log

Kkisak-valve maintainer 2023-08-10 github

Hello @RobertoAlexis, looking at the details you shared, you have a Bay Trail generation Intel GPU. While mesa does provide some support for Vulkan on this generation of GPU, the support is incomplete and not spec-compliant. Unfortunately, that makes your hardware unsupportable by Proton.

Having written that, you might get lucky by setting the game's launch options to PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command% to tell Proton to use wine's DirectX to OpenGL translation layer, but that launch option also comes with a significant performance penalty and is not considered supported as well.

Jjulas23 2023-09-02 github

image

I have this issue running
Garuda Soaring Raptor (Arch Linux)
Kernel 6.4.12
Mate 1.26

With Ubuntu 23.04 was working perfectly. Now with Arch based system. Just got error asking to install at least 1 language pack. So I installed Ubuntu Mate 23.04 back, and the issue is still the same. The version earlier was running proton 8.0-2
Follow below the output of Steam:

(wine:1380176): GStreamer-WARNING **: 17:22:22.664: Failed to load plugin '/usr/share/steam/compatibilitytools.d/proton-ge-custom/files/lib64/gstreamer-1.0/libprotonmediaconverter.so': /usr/share/steam/compatibilitytools.d/proton-ge-custom/files/lib64/gstreamer-1.0/libprotonmediaconverter.so: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64
ERROR: ld.so: object '/FS/GAME/steam/ubuntu12_64/gameoverlayrenderer.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded (wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64): ignored.
wine: configuration in L"/FS/GAME/steam/steamapps/compatdata/24800/pfx" has been updated.
ERROR: ld.so: object '/FS/GAME/steam/ubuntu12_32/gameoverlayrenderer.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded (wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS32): ignored.
Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 24800
Steam_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561198021214249 [API loaded no]
ERROR: ld.so: object '/FS/GAME/steam/ubuntu12_64/gameoverlayrenderer.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded (wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64): ignored.
pid 1379257 != 1379256, skipping destruction (fork without exec?)

I play a lot this game, so I really want to resolve this issue

KkorewaChino 2024-03-20 github

Can't open stream data/mapmetadata.manifest.

FIle may be corrupted??? on fresh install.
image

Posting a support ticket just in case HT-76KF-YKQD-8NFF

KkorewaChino 2024-03-23 github

UPDATE: SAGE games (such as this one and Uprising) has this weird quirk where arguments followed by a path including a dotfile will result in the game refusing to launch.

Installing the game inside a dotfile, (e.g ~/.local/share/Steam) will cause the game to exit with the aforementioned error.

The workaround is to move the game somewhere else, like on another volume or folder outside of the Steam default directory.

WWedge009 2024-03-24 github

Installing the game inside a dotfile, (e.g ~/.local/share/Steam) will cause the game to exit with the aforementioned error.

That's a rather curious issue. I thought I had my own installations in that default directory, then I checked my primary machine and realised I'd moved Steam games into a separate disk with no dot-files in the mount path. Reconfirmed the game still works fine on this machine.

On a secondary machine I installed RA3 in the default location. Proton 8.0-5, no custom arguments. After showing the title logo, the game shuts down with no error messages or dialogues. Not sure if that's a confirmation of the aforementioned issue or a different one altogether.

Kkisak-valve maintainer 2026-05-19 github

Command Conquer Red Alert 3 LAN Mode Players can`t connect

Issue transferred from https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/9801.
@freezer255 posted on 2026-05-19T19:14:13:

The Game: Command Conquer Red Alert 3 LAN Mode STEAM VERSION,
The Problem:
The 1.13 Patch did remove offline play.But even with online connection LAN Play is not possible.
The firewall Ports must be open for Red Alert 3 LAN Play.
At the moment you open the firewall the Players can see each others but each Player sees himself Name twice in the player list.Every Player can create a Game but none can join.
If one tries to join The Error Message " Connection Timeout" appears

The WIFI Network connection is disabled and the LAN Connection is the only one enabled connection. Virtual Networks do not exist.

This Problem happens in SteamOS 3.7.24 on the steam deck with proton 11 beta ,proton 10 and all other proton versions.I
did install samba on the steam deck and we can play other LAN Games fine between steam deck and Cachyos PC.

This Problem also happens on CachyOS on two different Desktop PC`s on the latest build.

Each Player has an own different steam Account with the game purchased by himself.

WWedge009 2026-08-03 github

There's a regression in Proton 11 where custom scenarios and missions downloaded from the workshop are no longer found. Reverting to Proton 10 resolves this.

The same applies for #6459.

Proton versions

Launch options

Launch lines

Upstream links