C&C: The First Decade for free

[Wyrm]

EA is doing an anniversary promotion right now and as a result, you can get the original C&C for free from Fileplanet. As far as I know, it's the same as what's included on the release version you can buy in-store. The download is a zip which contains .iso files, so either burn them to CDs or use Alcohol/DaemonTools. Also, dialup beware, it's a 1.2 GB file.

Here's the link:
http://www.fileplanet.com/180464/180000/fi...Game-(Complete)

[Nystul]

I bought The First Decade package a year or two back for 20 or 30 bucks, and considered it quite a value. 6 games plus several expansions, most of which were major titles when released. Most of the multiplayer support is long gone, but it is a pretty nice collection for people who like single player RTS and don't need the absolute cutting edge of graphics and complexity. Of course, the C&C games kind of fit in that "If you hate one, you probably won't like the others" category.

[Archon_Wing]

Holy crap that's a long line.;)
*Sits there waiting around.*

[Concillian]

Of course, the C&C games kind of fit in that "If you hate one, you probably won't like the others" category.

What I remember most about the C&C games was the fact that they consistently made up for lack of UI by giving the computer unlimited resources. I still played several of them, but it's kinda lame when you realize that a single harvester load fills up any and all storage capacity they have for tiberium.

[Wyrm]

Small update: apparently it's only C&C Gold that's free, not the entire First Decade package so no Red Alert or others. Still, can't beat the price.

Holy crap that's a long line.

Depending on the time of day and which server something is on, non-paying members can wind up waiting a rather long time. I've had some d/ls that with no wait time and some with almost an hour.

Heh, that's nothing. I had to d/l it twice because the first time I tried it failed with less than 50MB to go.

[Maitre]

I bought The First Decade package a year or two back for 20 or 30 bucks, and considered it quite a value. 6 games plus several expansions, most of which were major titles when released. Most of the multiplayer support is long gone, but it is a pretty nice collection for people who like single player RTS and don't need the absolute cutting edge of graphics and complexity. Of course, the C&C games kind of fit in that "If you hate one, you probably won't like the others" category.

I still have the discs from those original releases. The first time I saw C&C played was freshman year of college when we ran LAN games on our floor in the dorm. I still remember the cries of hatred echoing down the hall when my roommate's APC stopped in the middle of an opponents base, discharged 5 engineers who took over the construction yard, refinery, war factory, barracks and the next closest structre, which would then simultaneously disappear beneath the sell cursor on his screen.
I think the hate, for me at least, really came in when Generals was released. I felt that the look and feel of that game was really different than the previous titles and it really lost my interest. Each game had a little bit of its own feel, RA: revisionist WWII with cheap spy movie overtones including the comic explosions (tseeeeeeeeeeeeeer -- ka-Barzh-buh); TS: with the futuristic hovertanks, walking battleunits, and rampant evil AI; RAII: cartoonish graphics and unit sounds, especially in the expansion's "rescue hollywood" mission; Generals: annoying swivelling visual frame with limited range and tons of obstructions, with difficult to control units.
Enough wasted space. Two final comments: I'm still impressed with the "get" of James Earl Jones as the GDI commander in Tiberian Sun, and in the Allied cutscene ending for RAII:YR, I'd go with Lt. Eva, but YMMV.

[NiteFox]

Far Cry and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time are available for free too, however the fact that:

A) They're supported with an extremely annoying ad system
B) You have to be a US citizen, or lie about being a US citizen to get them
C) Both are available for a low enough budget price to make shelling out a few measly bucks a good thing

ensures I won't bother digging up the links. Even if it is on the same page as this freebie offer: Ground Control. For the cost of downloading it, whatever that may be in each case.

[Archon_Wing]

Small update: apparently it's only C&C Gold that's free, not the entire First Decade package so no Red Alert or others. Still, can't beat the price.

Depending on the time of day and which server something is on, non-paying members can wind up waiting a rather long time. I've had some d/ls that with no wait time and some with almost an hour.

Heh, that's nothing. I had to d/l it twice because the first time I tried it failed with less than 50MB to go.

Ah, there's no ability to resume broken downloads?:oThe internet is evil.

I tried playing it and the display seems completely screwed up. Part of the top of the screen is at the bottom.

[Wyrm]

I tried playing it and the display seems completely screwed up. Part of the top of the screen is at the bottom.

I couldn't run it at all until I installed the patch that's mentioned in the .doc file inside the zip. Running in 95 compatability mode makes it runs just like I remember it did way back when.

I miss right-clicking.

Far Cry and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time are available for free too

Eh? I remember something about SoT being available for free if you sign up for a paid Fileplanet subscription, but I haven't heard anything about Far Cry, unless it's not a Fileplanet deal you're talking about? Far Cry is still selling for $10 in the Ubisoft store too (didn't bother checking SoT since I have it already for PS2 and that's not the type of game you can play with a keyboard/mouse setup anyway). Edit: nevermind, found them.

[Archon_Wing]

Yea, I already installed the patch to no avail.