A Tutorial by Zeke
Updated: 9/12/22
It is a technique used to fix most problems caused by installing mods incorrectly to Zero Hour.
Most mod installation problems are caused by leftover files from other mods, or other files that get added to the folder by mistake. Doing a clean reinstall ensures that none of these broken/leftover files are left.
When you get "technical difficulties", or if you get a mismatch while playing online, after installing a mod, do this.
NOTE: Please read through the whole guide before doing anything. Otherwise, you’re gonna have a bad time.
1. Uninstall all mods currently installed. (if the mod didn’t come with installer/uninstaller, just skip ahead to step 2)
2. Uninstall Zero Hour.
3. Delete the leftover Zero Hour game folder in "Program Files", “Program Files (x86)”, or wherever you installed Zero Hour. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Optional: Delete the “Zero Hour Data” folder in your “Documents” folder as well.
4. Reinstall Zero Hour.
NOTE: Disable your UAC, or install ZH outside of “Program Files”, to make sure windows doesn’t block the installation.
5. Update Zero Hour to v1.04. You can download the patch from the GenTool Website. (“The First Decade” or “The Ultimate Collection” users don’t need this)
6. Download and run GenPatcher, then “Apply Fixes”
7. Run the game to make sure it works.
NOTE: For The Ultimate Collection users, GenPatcher will create new shortcuts that will bypass the Origin launcher. Use those instead of starting Origin
8. Install mod
Optional: Use GenLauncher
NOTE: Only ONE mod can be installed at a time. If you wish to install multiple mods go here for tips on how to do so.
9. Install mod patches (if any)
10. Play
This process has to be done EXACTLY BY ORDER.
If you accidentally skip or mess up in any of the above steps you'll have to START AGAIN FROM THE BEGINNING or else it won't work.
PROTIP: After reinstalling, make a copy of your ZH folder, this will act as a backup. That way, whenever your ZH breaks, you can just copy your backup instead of going through the clean re-installation process every time.
Normally this file is auto-generated the first time you run generals before applying any patches, but because most people immediately patch their ZH to v1.04 (and because finding a no-cd crack for ZH v1.0 is hard if not impossible), people these days need to add this file in manually.
Usually, people find an options.ini file online, but there are times when installing someone else’s options.ini file causes an error because of the differences in hardware.
NOTE: If you used GenPatcher, this issue should already be fixed
So the safest method is making your own file using this method:
original post by rtsking117
Make sure you have the “correct” version of DirectX installed. DirectX 8.1 is not a version of DirectX which comes shipped with Windows. You need to install DirectX 9.0c (which apparently contains it) manually:
This will resolve the missing DirectX library issue for C&C Generals, C&C 3 Tiberium Wars, C&C Red Alert 3, C&C 4 Tiberian Twilight, and their expansions, as well as the Battle for Middle-earth series (original post by Plokite95).
NOTE: If you used GenPatcher, this issue should already be fixed
Self-explanatory.