C&C Generals: World Builder: FAQ

Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour: World BuilderThis page lists frequently asked questions about the Command & Conquer Generals World Builder program.  If you have a question about the World Builder program that isn't answered here, you may wish to visit the Basic World Builder Tutorial pages, or post your question in our forums.

Frequently Asked Questions about World Builder:

 

 

How do I open the World Builder program?  Where is it located?

You can open World Builder through your start menu.  If you are running C&C Generals, the default shortcut for World Builder can be found in this menu: Start > Programs > EA Games > Command and Conquer Generals > World Builder.  If you have the Zero Hour expansion installed, you can launch World Builder by clicking the shortcut found at: Start > Programs > EA Games > Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour > World Builder.

If you have C&C Generals and/or Zero Hour installed as part of The First Decade of Command & Conquer or the Ultimate Collection compilation pack, this shortcut may not exist in your start menu.  If you cannot find the shortcut to World Builder as described above, you can try browsing to one of the following paths within My Computer:

  • C&C Generals: C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command and Conquer Generals\WorldBuilder.exe
  • C&C Generals Zero Hour: C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour\WorldBuilder.exe
  • C&C Generals with The First Decade: C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command & Conquer The First Decade\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals\WorldBuilder.exe
  • C&C Generals Zero Hour with The First Decade: C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command & Conquer The First Decade\Command & Conquer(tm) Generals Zero Hour\WorldBuilder.exe
  • C&C Generals with The Ultimate Collection: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Command and Conquer Generals\Command and Conquer Generals\WorldBuilder.exe
  • C&C Generals Zero Hour with The Ultimate Collection: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour\WorldBuilder.exe

 

Where are fan maps stored?  Where are the maps I create with World Builder saved?

Fan-created maps for Generals and Zero Hour are stored within special folders in your My Documents folder.

  • For C&C Generals:
    • My Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Data\Maps\
  • For C&C Generals: Zero Hour:
    • My Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data\Maps\

 

How do I add AI to my map so that it can be used with computer players in skirmish games?

Check out this tutorial written by gamemastax. Our Basic Tutorial also has some information about this.

 

How can I edit official Generals or Zero Hour maps?

Here are the steps necessary for editing official maps from C&C Generals or Zero Hour:

  1. Make sure you have FinalBIG installed. FinalBIG is used to open, edit, and extract files from .BIG files, which C&C Generals and Zero Hour use to store game information, including official maps. You can download it from Generals World by clicking here. After downloading the program, extract the contents of the compressed .zip folder to a location you desire, from which you can double-click the "FinalBIG.exe" program to run it.
  2. Run FinalBIG once you have installed it.
  3. Select "Open..." from the "File" menu and browse to the Generals or Zero Hour root folder.  See the paths listed in the "How do I open the World Builder program?" FAQ item for details of where this folder can be found.
  4. Within the Generals or Zero Hour folder, select the maps.big or MapsZH.big file (depending on whether you're looking for Generals or Zero Hour maps) to open it.
  5. If you want to edit a specific map, select the first file for map you wish to edit.  We will extract files for this map in the next step. (Maps have multiple files and are grouped together within a common folder of the same name.)
  6. Extract the files for the map(s) you wish to edit by selecting either "Extract" or "Extract All" from the "Edit" menu.  Extract the files to a temporary location of your choice (a folder on your desktop works).  If you are extracting a specific map, you will have to extract each file one-by-one as of the v0.4 version of FinalBIG.
  7. Move the folder(s) associated with the map(s) you extracted from the temporary location to the Generals or Zero Hour Maps folder within My Documents. For information on the location of this folder, see the Where are fan maps stored? item within our Generals FAQ.
  8. You should now be able to edit the official map(s) within World Builder.

Note:

  • To use your edited official map online you will have to open it in World Builder and delete the name of the map listed inside the Map Settings dialog, found by clicking "Edit Map Settings..." within the "Edit" menu. This is the name that indicates that the map is an official map, which prevents it from being transfered to other players and in some cases prevents it from even being recognized. Deleting the official map name solves this.

 

I am receiving an "Assertion Failure" message. What should I do?

Occasionally when using World Builder, you may receive an assertion failure message similar to the following:

ASSERTION FAILURE: !index_buffer->Engine_Refs(), C:\projects\ZeroHour\code\Libraries\Source\WWVegas\WW3D2\dx8indexbuffer.cpp, 171

Abort->exception; Retry->debugger; Ignore->continue

You should press the Ignore button if a message similar to the above one appears.  World Builder should in most cases continue operating normally.

 

Why do I receive a message that says "A value was out of range. Sorry." when starting World Builder?

This message usually indicates that settings within the WorldBuilder.ini file have become corrupt.  Specifically, it is most likely that the default map size has been set to a value that is too large for World Builder to handle.

The easiest way to solve this problem is by simply deleting the WorldBuilder.ini file.  World Builder will recreate a default version of this file the next time you open it.  Alternatively, you can open up the file, inspect it, and determine what values seem to be out of range.

The WorldBuilder.ini file can be found within your Command and Conquer Generals Data or Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data folder (depending on whether you're using the Zero Hour expansion or not).  These folders can be found directly within your My Documents folder.  So, for example, for Zero Hour the location of WorldBuilder.ini is:
My Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data\WorldBuilder.ini