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Original Engine Reference — digital archaeology of the original engine

A reference encyclopedia documenting the original Westwood isometric engine for the Command & Conquer titles Tiberian Sun, Red Alert 2, and Yuri's Revenge exactly as it is — its INI logic, tags, mechanics, and formulas.

This section is not about reTS usage or modding (see For modders) and not the project's story (see the Devblog). It documents the original game engine as-is — the way ModEnc does for the community.

Last verified against the publication workflow and current reference catalog: 2026-07-16.

What makes this different​

Every entry published here must be binary-verified. It describes only the version coverage established by the underlying study; pending versions and incomplete systems stay unpublished.

Reverse-engineering treats Tiberian Sun, Red Alert 2, and Yuri's Revenge as equal first-class targets — because these are one engine evolved across the three releases, a system is reversed from whichever release carries it most completely (often the latest, but Tiberian-Sun-first where TS is the richer implementation that later releases pared down), then reconciled against the others. Each entry then states, on its own terms, whether all three were separately confirmed, confirmed divergent, or are not yet checked. Never assume a claim carries across games unless that entry's version-coverage line says so.

Publishing gate

A system receives an entry only after it is fully reversed, implemented, oracle-tested, and closed as complete. Each claim then receives an independent skeptic pass whose job is to falsify it. Unsupported statements are removed, not softened into guesses.

Published entries​

The catalog below is generated from the section tree itself, so it is always current — every card links a system area; each entry's card states its own version coverage.

How it's organized​

  • By engine system — combat, movement, economy, object/world, AI, presentation, …
  • Per entry — the behavior, the relevant INI tag(s)/flag(s), the formula where one applies, cross-version notes (TS / RA2 / YR differences), and a verification confidence.

The goal: an accurate, approachable encyclopedia of how the original engine works — useful to players, modders, and anyone curious about the machinery underneath.

Accuracy & corrections​

Every entry traces to reverse-engineering of the retail binaries — the binary is the sole source of truth here. Community references (wikis, forums) are used only to corroborate, never as the source. We document only systems we have fully reverse-engineered and reimplemented, each claim is checked adversarially before it ships, and where a finding differs from long-held community understanding, it's because the behavior was verified directly against the game's own code.

We hold this section to a higher bar than the rest of the site precisely because this community knows these games deeply. If you spot something wrong or incomplete, please open an issue — corrections are re-verified against the binary, and well-founded ones are exactly how a reference like this earns trust.