Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn — Web Port

A from-scratch remake of the classic Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn (1995) by Westwood Studios that runs directly in your browser. Game rules, stats, and damage tables are transcribed from the original GPL v3 source released by Electronic Arts.

▶ How to play

Online: once this branch is merged to main and GitHub Pages is enabled for the repository (Settings → Pages → Source: GitHub Actions), every push deploys the game to https://<user>.github.io/<repo>/ automatically — tests run first, then it ships.

Locally: no build step, no dependencies — you just need a browser and any static file server:

cd Testeipad
python3 -m http.server 8000

Then open http://localhost:8000/game/ — main menu → SKIRMISH → pick your faction, enemy AI difficulty, starting credits, and map seed → START GAME.

ES modules can't load over file://, which is why the one-line server is needed. macOS ships python3, so the command above works out of the box on a Mac.

Playing on iPad

Open the same URL in Safari on the iPad, then Share → Add to Home Screen — the game installs as a fullscreen landscape app. Touch controls:

Gesture	Action
Tap own unit/building	Select
Tap ground / enemy (with selection)	Move / attack
Drag from empty ground	Box-select
Two-finger drag	Pan the camera
Long-press (with selection)	Attack-move
Bottom command bar	Stop, attack-move, deploy, harvest, repair, sell, pause
Tap minimap / sidebar	Jump camera / build & place

Mouse & keyboard controls

Input	Action
Left-click / drag	Select unit / box-select
Right-click	Move, or attack the enemy under the cursor
Right-drag	Pan the camera (arrows & screen edge also scroll)
A + click	Attack-move
Ctrl + click	Force-attack the ground
S / D / H	Stop / Deploy MCV / send harvester to work
R / X	Repair / sell the selected building
Ctrl+1–9, 1–9	Assign / recall control groups
P / M	Pause / mute
F2–F4, F6–F8	Save / load (3 slots, localStorage)
Sidebar	Click to build; click READY item to place it (ghost shows legality)

Using the original graphics, sounds and videos

EA released Tiberian Dawn as official freeware in 2007, so the original assets are legally downloadable — they just aren't committed to this repo. To upgrade the placeholder art to the real 1995 sprites on your machine:

1. Download the freeware game (any one of these official community mirrors):
   • CnCNet: https://cncnet.org/command-and-conquer → Download (installer with game files)
   • C&C Community: https://cnc.community/tiberian-dawn/how-to-play (installer + optional campaign-video pack)
   • CNCNZ: https://cncnz.com/downloads/tiberian-dawn-downloads/ (original GDI/Nod freeware ISOs)
2. Locate the game files — you need the .MIX archives (CONQUER.MIX, TEMPERAT.MIX, ideally also the sound MIXes; mount an ISO or unzip the installer to find them).
3. Import them:

   pip install pillow          # once
   brew install ffmpeg         # optional: converts original sounds and videos
   python3 tools/cnc/import_assets.py /path/to/the/game/files

The importer decodes the Westwood formats (MIX archives, SHP sprites with LCW/XOR compression, 6-bit palettes, and — via ffmpeg — AUD sounds and VQA videos) and writes web-ready sprite sheets to assets/original/. The game automatically prefers those over the placeholders on the next reload. assets/original/ is git-ignored: the freeware assets are for local play and are not redistributed through this repo or the GitHub Pages deployment.

What's implemented

• Deterministic sim core at the original's 15 ticks/sec: same seed + same commands ⇒ identical game (save/load resumes bit-identically; tested)
• Original stats and combat math: UDATA/IDATA/BDATA unit tables, CONST.CPP weapon table, warhead-vs-armor percentages, damage * modifier >> 8
• A* pathfinding (octile, no corner cutting, infantry pass through trees)
• Full economy: tiberium growth/spread, 28-bail harvester cycle, power grid with low-power penalties
• Base building: tech tree, pay-as-you-go build queues, placement rules, MCV deploy, sell/repair, defense towers
• Skirmish AI with faction build orders, attack waves, three difficulty tiers
• Fog of war (shroud + fog, per house), victory/defeat with match stats
• Synthesized WebAudio SFX (no copyrighted samples)

Project layout

game/            ← the playable web game (plain ES modules, zero dependencies)
  src/sim/       ← deterministic, headless game logic (runs in node for tests)
  src/render/    ← canvas rendering (reads sim state, never writes it)
  test/          ← node --test game/test/*.test.js  (150+ tests)
assets/          ← generated placeholder sprites & sheets
original_source/ ← EA's GPL v3 C&C source (reference only; not compilable)
engine/          ← earlier C++/SDL2 port attempt (frozen, kept as reference)
tools/           ← asset generators (Pillow) and legacy build scripts
legacy/          ← retired demos (single-file HTML prototype, terminal demo)
docs/            ← REBOOT_PLAN.md (roadmap), PROGRESS.md (dev log), screenshots

Development

node --test game/test/*.test.js   # the whole sim test suite

The sim (game/src/sim/) never touches the DOM, all mutation flows through commands.js + gameTick(), and determinism is enforced by tests — see docs/REBOOT_PLAN.md for the architecture and roadmap, and docs/PROGRESS.md for the iteration-by-iteration development log.

License

Game rule data derives from the C&C Tiberian Dawn source released under GPL v3; this project follows the same license. Command & Conquer is a trademark of Electronic Arts. This is a non-commercial fan remake; you should own the original game (available in the C&C Ultimate Collection).