Cheats/Bugs

Every game has bugs of some kinds. Perhaps surprisingly, Red Alert has loads of minor bugs, despite being one of the most popular computer games of all time. Some bugs can be used to cheat in the game and some of these are outlined here.

HOWEVER, I would like to point out that I DO NOT condone cheating of any kind. If you do it against the computer in a Skirmish or mission game then the only person you are cheating is yourself. If you cheat in a multiplayer game against another human then you will probably become one of the most hated...

If you know of any bugs/cheats in Red Alert then please email me with a description of it. Thanks. -RaZor


The Secret Ant Missions
To access the hidden giant ant missions, hold down the left Shift key on your keyboard, and then right-click on the speaker above and to the right of the Options menu. Counterstrike CD required.

Tesla Tanks in Skirmish
Then you enter Red Alert, click on the New Missions bar. Then, click on the mission The Legacy Of Tesla. Build all the required buildings until you can build the Tesla Tank. Then abort the mission. Now click on Multi-player Games. Select Skirmish Mode. After you start a game, you should be able to build Tesla Tanks.

Queen Ant
On the last Ant mission (very hard to get to!), save your game and then load up a "build - a - base" mission. Sell a couple of buildings and you will hear "New Construction Options". You will be able to build a queen ant. *THIS HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE UNTRUE*

Build 2 Tanks At Once
With this cheat, you can build two units at the same time. Build about 5 war factories. Build a tank and at the very last second, switch primary buildings. Then build the unit and switch primary buildings again and then build another tank. *THIS HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE UNTRUE*

Unlimited Aircraft
To build unlimited aircreft, start building the airfield and the aircraft. Then, cancel the airfield and continue building aircraft.

Mine Detection
To find out if mines are near your base, build a structure. When it is finished don't deploy it. Slowly sweep the WHITE outline of the structure around your base. If one of the squares in the outline turns red, you have found a mine. (Don't wander to far away from your base or the whole outline will tern red)

Sub Detection
You can find enemy subs by selecting a naval unit such as a transport and moving the cursor over the water areas on the map (not the main screen). If you get the red icon for attack, then there is a submarine there.

Speeding up the slower units
Cruisers and other naval units can move at the same speed as a transport if grouped together and then placed in formation (press 'F' while grouped). The Minelayer and ground vehicles also can be grouped together with a faster unit and placed in formation, although this is not as noticeable because the minelayer isn't particularly fast.

No need To Store Ore
Whenever you start building a structure or unit the money for it comes from any stored ore before draining your cash resources. However, if you cancel the building you will be refunded the cost so far in cash no matter what was used to pay for it. So there is no real need for silos.

Long Range Grenadiers/Rocket soldiers
Grenadiers and Rocket soldiers can throw(fire) all the way across the map. First build a bunch of grenadiers or rocket soldiers. Force fire on the terrain just in front of your grenadiers. When their little arms are up in the air, just about to throw the grenade, fire somewhere else farther than their range. These grenadiers can be as deadly as cruisers once you perfected the moves. This takes practice.

The end Credits
When you click on the Westwood Icon in the upper left side of the screen it plays the credits.

Tesla Tank Structure
Build a Telsa Coil and a Mammoth Tank. When they are both completed, decide where you are going to place the Coil. Tell the Mammoth Tank to got there. Just before the Tank gets there build the Coil. The Mammoth Tank will drive right onto it! Now you have a Telsa Coil structure with AA and AG missles, 2 120mm cannons and self-healing heavy armor! The only downside is that once the tank moves off, (usually by accident) you cant get it back on. Also, you cant repair the coil until the tank is off. - Thanks to PuMa for submitting this bug.

Remote naval repair
A naval unit can be repaired by telling it to return to a naval yard or subpen. While it is docked for repair, if you order it to attack a spot out of range it will move to get in range but will continue repairing on the way! - Thanks to GrimNuker for this bug.

Free money
During a single player game, if you are running out of ore, simply save the game and then reload it. The ore will magically re-appear.

Free Sonar Pulse
Well, sort of sonar pulse. you can find enemy subs by selecting a naval unit such as a transport and moving the cursor over the water areas on the map (not the main screen). If you get an 'I can't move here' icon then there is a submarine there.

England/France bug
England and France have a disadvantage rather than an advantage in Multiplayer games. England is supposed to have an armour increase but in fact they have a 10% armour decrease. Similarly France has a 10% decrease in their Rate Of Fire.

Cruisers can fire at subs
It is possible to make a cruiser defend against submarines by telling it to force fire at a square near to the enemy sub. Since the Cruiser shells are inaccurate they can often 'accidentally' hit the nearby submarine and destroy it! Also putting a cruiser in guard mode can make a cruiser fire at subs and other enemy naval units automatically.

Stuck infantry
When you sell a structure you sometimes get infantry for free. These men walk out of the building as it is sold, but sometimes walk out of the top of the building and stand on top of a wall or ridge. At this point the wall cannot be sold and the infantry cannot be moved.

Walk on water
Infantry can literally walk on water. Put an LST (LST = Transport) by the shore and an infantry unit nearby. Tell the infantry to enter the transport, but just before he enters, move the LST away from the shore. The man will continue to walk on the water. You can then tell him to enter the LST again, and move it away just before he enters. This way you can get infantry to move anywhere on water, including getting a spy into an enemy subpen which is surrounded by cliffs. Note that if you try this trick with a land vehicle, it will sink!

No need for Tech Centre/Service Depot
When you have built a Soviet tech centre you can sell it and still keep all the extras it brings (such as Mammoth tanks). However, if all your weapons factories get destroyed then you will need to build a new tech centre before you can build Mammoth tanks. This trick also works for Allies but they lose the GPS. You can do a similar thing with the Service Depot.
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