Command & Conquer: Mental Omega

A guide for Mental Omega mods for Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge.

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Description

　This guide will show you how to install and download Mental Omega, along with additional information on running Mental Omega on Steam. It will also track your playtime for Command & Conquer: Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™, as well as provide tweaks for AI and more.

Disclaimer: I am not associated with Mental Omega; I simply want to share how to do so. Please backup your files before following this guide to avoid any future unwanted errors.

About

　Command & Conquer: Mental Omega, formerly known as Mental Omega: Almost Perfect Yuri's Revenge, is a mod for Yuri's Revenge. Its goal is to reimagine and revamp the game by introducing new units and features, effectively serving as an unofficial expansion pack for the original game. which in my personal oppinion better than Yuri revenge it self!

　,
　Mental Omega 3.3 features four distinct sides, each with 3 subfactions of their own. Each of these subfactions has its unique units, support powers, buildings and heroes. All of the information on the factions' features has been included in this section. Also available is additional information on the capturable neutral tech buildings, tech vehicles and the stolen technology units.

Download

　First, you need to download four files: the mod itself, its patch, and the soundtrack files, which are divided into two parts. You can download the mod from two different sites, such as:

Website	Link
Official Site	https://mentalomega.com/index.php?page=download
Moddb	https://www.moddb.com/mods/mental-omega

Note: Please comment if the link is removed, or simply search for it on Google. Isn't it easier to find mods these days?

Installation

　After downloading all the files, please extract them into your Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™ game folder, whether it's located in the Steam folder or any other location you have set.

If you're unsure how to find the file location, follow these instructions:

　1.　First, open your library and locate your Red Alert 2 Yuri's Revenge game.



　2.　Right-click on it and select "Manage" > "Browse Local Files." Your file explorer will immediately open to the game folder. In case you use a different operating system, please switch to Windows.



　3.　Extract all the files inside the folder, remember to backup first before proceeding. Also extract the first files, then replace it with the patch files.

Note: If you notice that your game cover is different, I'll explain it in a later section. Of course, yours will have the default Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™ cover art.

Known Issues

Can't Launch

󠁧󠁳　Assuming you have followed the Mental Omega install instructions correctly, the current solution to the launch failure issue (as of March 17th) is to replace Syringe.exe. In my case, I only needed to replace gamemd.exe.

　To obtain these files, I can't provide you with a link since it was officially handled by the mods through their official Discord. If you are experiencing issues, please join their Discord server using this link[discord.com].

Black Screen

　If you are able to run the Mental Omega launcher and you encounter a black screen when starting a game, please change your render setting to CnC-DDraw and restart the launcher. if not try other setting.



For further assistance with errors, please join their official Discord server[discord.com].

If you had no issue, have fun!

Take a look of my screenshot for Mental Omega mod:

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Extra

　Is it over? No, comrade general, it has only just begun. If you notice one of my screenshots that has custom artwork, I will explain how to do it here, along with other things you may be interested in.

Custom Artwork

　First, if you want to change your game cover and background artwork on Steam, you need these three following files. You may only need a PNG format file, especially for logo files, or JPEG for non-transparent images.

Since I don't need to upload the artwork myself, here's an easier example:

• Artwork image[moapyr.fandom.com]
  
• Background image[c4.wallpaperflare.com]
  
• Logo image[mentalomega.com]

How to change Steam library artwork:

• Artwork
  
  Right-click on "Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™" in your Steam library. Select "Manage" > "Set Custom Artwork."
  
  
• Logo & Background
  
  Click the game in your library, then right-click on the background. Choose "Set Custom Background" or "Set Custom Logo."

Simply choose the files with the images I provided, or you can use any image you have.

Final Look:

• Artwork
  
  
• Logo and background
  

Steam Overlay and Playtime

　For an unknown reason, the Steam overlay doesn't work with the vanilla Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™ game, but it works perfectly with Mental Omega mods, including their main menu and in-game. If you want to play Mental Omega and still have your playtime recorded, here's how to do it:

　-　Right-click on "Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™" in your Steam library, then click on "Properties."

　-　Under the "General" tab, click on "Set Launch Options."

　
　-　In the launch options, add the following command:

"D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Command & Conquer Red Alert II\MentalOmegaClient.exe" %command%

Or any location of your mental omega executable files.

"Your path" %command%

Edit :
　If the overlay isn't counting your playtime or still isn't working, as reported by DragonZ, you can try his suggestion by changing the path to one of the clients inside Resources folder as:

"<GamePath>\Resources\clientdx.exe" %command%

"<GamePath>\Resources\clientogl.exe" %command%

"<GamePath>\Resources\clientxna.exe" %command%

Now launch the game

　Close the window and launch the game. It doesn't matter which game you play, as long as this launch option is there, it will open Mental Omega instead of Red Alert 2 or Yuri's Revenge.

　Now, whenever you play Mental Omega, your Steam will show you as playing Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™, and the playtime will be automatically updated on your Steam profile.

This will allowe you to screenshot the game, here take a look of my Mental omega screenshot.

Is the AI cheating in this mod?

　If you're wondering whether the AI in Mental Omega is cheating or not, the answer is yes. The game has a feature where after a bot is able to build one building, they immediately receive a bonus or a money multiplier. The AI may seem dumb, but if you're a casual player like me and don't enjoy wasting time or spending hours on games, here's a guide to make the AI lose its cheating ability. I do some research that the AI does has same starting money as the player but theres a catch.

　This method only works when you use Mental AI settings in skirmish. Since I can't find the default values in the files, I edited the MentalAI.ini file to revert them as close to default as possible. So, after you tweak these files, please check the Mental AI option.

AI Difficulties Settings

　Due to my curious ash who wanted to know how the AI work, the game is playable with 50k starting gold. It's completely impossible to play skirmish with 5k starting goods since the AI will spam multiple enemy and air units before you even have the chance to build specific buildings. Here's a way to fix your frustration:

　-　First, you need to find a file named "MentalAI.ini" in your Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™ folder. Please create a backup if you want to revert this to default.

　-　Open the "MentalAI.ini" file and search for "General." It will show this:

[General]
TeamDelays=100,500,1000
AIVirtualPurifiers=50,24,12
AIHateDelays=8,8,8
MultiplayerAICM=4800,2400,1200

　Now, I don't want to give misinformation, but I'll share what I know about these lines of code. For this line, you have "AIVirtualPurifiers," which is actually used by the AI to multiply their money by 12x for easy and 50x for hard difficulties. Then, for the "MultiplayerAICM," it is used by the AI to determine the amount of money they will earn after building. The values suggest that from right to left, they represent hard, medium, and easy difficulties. So, if you set it to easy, the bot will gain an extra 1200 funds out of the blue, imagine get multiplier after that, whew. .

　-　To change their behavior to be more like Yuri's Revenge and if you hate the AI technically cheating, delete all the values or code under "General" and replace them with this:

[General]
TeamDelays=2000,2500,3500
AIVirtualPurifiers=0,0,0
MultiplayerAICM=0,0,0
TotalAITeamCap=30,30,30
AlliedBaseDefenseCounts=20,10,6
SovietBaseDefenseCounts=20,10,6
ThirdBaseDefenseCounts=20,10,6

　All the custom values I've put are actually the same as Yuri's Revenge, so the AI will work like Yuri's Revenge AI instead of the cheating Mental Omega AI. They will behave like normal when you do this, and they will start to sell buildings if they can't build miners or other important buildings.

Mental AI

　I'm not particularly savvy with programming, but it appears that the AI has the capability to produce units and buildings simultaneously across all of their production structures. This enables them to bypass the build limit for heroes and epic units. However, there are ways to prevent this.

For other tweaks, you will also find these lines of code:

; Multiple Basic Factories

[GAPILE]
AIBuildCounts=2,2,1

[NAHAND]
AIBuildCounts=2,2,1

Change it like this:

; Multiple Basic Factories

[GAPILE]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[NAHAND]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

Change all of them to 0.

Or if you wonder how i set my MentalAI.ini file, here :

; Mental Omega APYR 3.3 Toggle
; Game Option = Mental AI Boost
; Enables the AI to became less aggresive like yuri revenge version. -R

[GlobalControls]

[General]
TeamDelays=2000,2500,3500
AIVirtualPurifiers=0,0,0
MultiplayerAICM=0,0,0
TotalAITeamCap=30,30,30
AlliedBaseDefenseCounts=20,10,6
SovietBaseDefenseCounts=20,10,6
ThirdBaseDefenseCounts=20,10,6

; Multiple Basic Factories

[GAPILE]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[NAHAND]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[YABRCK]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[FABARR]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[GAWEAP]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[NAWEAP]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[YAWEAP]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[FAWEAP]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[GAAIRC]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[GAHPAD]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[NAAIR]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[YAAIRF]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[GAYARD]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[NAYARD]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[YAYARD]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

[FAYARD]
AIBuildCounts=0,0,0

　This trick only works for skirmish. I haven't tried it in the campaign because I'm not into cheating there. And hey, if you're planning to play online against others, make sure to switch back to the default settings. If you run into issues on CnC Net, just swap out your files with the Mental Omega installer again.

Well, that's how you fix the AI if you are more casual. Have fun!

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Spec Test

　These are the two hardware setups I used to test the mods. Both systems worked fine for me after 　extracting the files. As long as your OS is up to date, it should be fine, unless your system lacks some files such as DLLs or any important files for running an application. I used both with Windows 10. one is a PC, and the other is a laptop. If you're wondering about my specs, here's the list:

PC 01

Operating System

OS	Detail
Windows 10 HOME	64 Bit, Version 22H2.

Spec

Name	Detail
CPU	Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M
RAM	16 GB DDR4

PC 02

Operating System

OS	Detail
Windows 10 PRO	64 Bit, Version 22H2.

Spec

Name	Detail
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8GB
RAM	16 GB DDR4

Disclaimer

 ⓘ　This guide, covering anything related to Command & Conquer including Mental Omega mods, websites, and all associated entities, is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by EA or ARES. "C&C" and all related names, graphics, and concepts are the property of EA. Some of these resources are included in this guide for the purpose of fair use, transformative work, and commentary. No copies of any copyright-infringing material are distributed through this website. If you find content that you believe infringes on your intellectual property rights, please contact me.

End of the page

Well, that's all for now, I guess. If you like this guide, give it a thumbs up and favorite it. If you don't, just downvote it and let me know what you dislike about it.

For other sponsored content, I've created a Steam games or software review. Please consider following my stupid curator.

[bradley20.1994]

hey dose anyone know how to modify the ai for campaign?

[仰望星空]

mo玩家特有的无处不在（喜）

[カミル]

i would recommend just make copy of the red alert 2 yuri revenge, renamed it to mental omega and just paste everything (the mod and the patch )you download to the mental omega folder. This is better for those that play red alert 2 yuri revenge using cncnet, as they will auto update, so separate both the yuri revenge and mental omega folder. This works best for me , as im playing both game.

[Dai]

This should help Steam users who can't run Mental Omega:

It is recommended by the Mental Omega support on their discord to add Mental Omega as a non-Steam game then point to then point it to the "<MO folder>\Resources\clientdx.exe".It is now mandatory to use the updated Syringe.exe file from the Mental Omega discord. You just need to replace the old file with the new one and you're all set!

Alternatively you can add the game to Lutris if you are on Linux. I will link to the thread where I post the setup guide: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2229850/discussions/0/4427688515461593232/#c560232479281188311

[Evan]

Hi thankyou for your instrutions but I cant seem to get the game to lauch from steam, I have used the right location I think but I have to go within the game files in order to play, I would very much like to play and take screenshots aswell as have steam playtime..... Im still trying,

[MEGALOVANIA]

everytimeI tried start a new campaign, it'll load for a while then crash and automatically back to the launcher. Any idea what might caused this?

[Eichizen]

So I tried the Mental Omega client link for launching so I can have my playtime detected again but when loading a campaign or save game, the game will launch and then CTD.

I see there are three more launch setting, is it only one of them or do I have them all in the launch settings via Steam?

[[IgelFIEND]]

For ones who heppen to be idiots as me some hints that helped me:
- check that you downloaded exactly the game, not just a patch (in case of patch only there is an error with refering to ico file)
- for overlay and etc.: whole game directory has read only attribute and when you trying to run it Steam asks to re-run in admin mode. Looks like this is a cause of missing overlay. In my case helped Steam restart with admin priveleges.

[SteelRonin]

Terrible, that is why i hate mods. Extracted everything in the folder, the correct order too, and nope, a window to install netframework, I did it and nothing, game doesnt launch and close inmediately.

[Rens Agatha ⁧【レンス】]

You got the same issue as me, You may wanted to join their official discord, They give me the ".exe" file for that then it worked