So, this isn’t my usual kind of article on haxed. In fact I haven’t been writing on here so frequently. I figured that I could better use my time than simply recording everything I do. More time for learning, discourse, and meditation. However, when it comes to one of my all time favourite games C&C Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour, I think I am going to make a big exception. Many people will remember trying to install this game on windows 7, and windows xp. It’s not that much fun – mainly because the engine has huge graphics problems, and, the game is zoomed in so much it is almost unbearable. Here is a guide that will help you get the best out of C&C Generals.

This guide will show you how to get these kind of results, 1920×1080 (And up to 4k if you desire). Which you will note are pretty spectacular mainly due to the efforts of the authors of gentool and the probar mod.

1920×1080 to 4K Resolution, Maximum Zoom in and Zoom Out, unlock 30 fps to 100fps+, performance tweaks and more.

What you will need is gentool. The official site can be found here. Apparently the gentool doesn’t work with the latest steam release, and was designed for origin. However if you obtain genpatcher, another community tool designed to make installing gentool and probar easier, it will be able to replace the direct8 dll necessary to unlock high resolution, extended cameraheight, and unlimited FPS. I play on 75fps to 100 fps, however you may note; and this is quite frustrating – in single player skirmish mode the engine is locked to 30FPS.

There is actually a really simple solution to this, use network mode. It seems that the way the games simulation is designed for single player has a static fps ticks clock, it means that if we doubled FPS we only double game speed. For network play, there is some additional complication with the synchronisation of players, and therefore it is possible to unlock the game to much, much higher FPS, 100FPS and beyond.

Unfortunately gentool patcher itself made it so that you only get +100 camera height in network and online play. However I found a way so that players can play both network and possibly online play too, a modified EXE released by the creator of gentool, tucked away on the forums. The reason why the cameraheight is limited in network and online play is the creator of gentool was concerned about cheating, i.e. one player having a significant advantage over the other. The solution to this was to create an exe that was altered, this would mean that if someone is using it, the others players in the network match or online match would also need the exe. So no cheating, because nobody can have an advantage or play without having the same camera height. The modified exe makes it so that the file C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Command & Conquer Generals – Zero Hour\Data\INI\Gamedata.ini is honoured.

Here is a copy of my modified GameData.ini, you can place it in the above directory to increase cameraheight in skirmish, online and network play. Just remember, you also need gentools modified exe, for the overrides to be honored by gentool.

something like the following values are good:

Fixing Zoom (Edit values in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Command & Conquer Generals – Zero Hour\Data\INI\Gamedata.ini GameData.ini)

CameraHeight = 600.0
MaxCameraHeight = 800.0
MinCameraHeight = 120.0

For your ease, I attach my GameData.ini. Also note, for some people the path may be different to place the file; also check C:\Users\adam\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data if you don’t get the expected results.

Download my GameData.ini Configuration

It’s probably better you configure it yourself by editing the file and changing the above referenced lines. Now, that’s the zoom fixed. You will also need to install the gamebarpro and the modified exe. For ease I include all of the necessary files in this zip. But you can find them all on the gentool and genpatcher official forums!

All Necessary Patches (for steam/origin release of C&C Generals Zero Hour)

The above link I compiled all of the different patches I’m using to achieve the results you can see. You can just google the filenames in the archive though, as its understandable you probaly want to download directly from the author/official community sites!

A breakdown of All C&C Patches Zip File
1. CnC_Gen_Gamedata.zip – misc probably not needed tbh
2. ControlBarProZH_V1.2_1920x1080.zip (available from gentool site, or by using genpatcher). Genpatcher will install controlbarpro and gentool.
3. GenPatcher 2.08.zip (auto installer for most recent version of gen patcher+Controlbar).
4. GeneralsZH104MODEXE.zip (Modified EXE for Zoom on Network/LAN/Online Games) note this will only work with the other players if you all use same exe.
5. GenTool_v8.9.zip (latest release of gentool)

Since 4 makes people feel pretty uncomfortable (its an exe, could be dangerous exe), here is official link to the gentool site (the author) of gentool; http://www.gentool.net/download/executables/GeneralsZH104MODEXE.zip

I also included
6. finalbig04.zip and finalbig040b.zip, these are the BIG editor for C&C. Not needed. You can ignore it but if you want to edit/mod the game yourself these are necessary.

I’ve been spending less time modding sins of a solar empire II, I actually have about 15 mods I have authored for that game with several thousand subscribers, which surprised me. Nowadays I’ll be spending a bit more time with CNC and Retro games. But I haven’t given up my sins 2 modding yet either!

So all in all, here is a pretty good summary of everything you need.

OPTION A. Genpatcher 2.08.zip (installs gentool latest v8.9) and also installs controlbarprozH. It should give you option what resolution you want i.e. 1920×1080 or 4K.

OPTION B Alternatively you can install gentool and controlbarprozh seperately, however, I could not get gentool/controlbarpro to recognise my installation as legit. It’s because the steam installer for zero hour is newer than the latest release of gentool it seems.

Install Gentool.v8.9.zip (drop dll in main game path) C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Command & Conquer Generals – Zero Hour, and install the controlbarprozh seperately, also installed to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Command & Conquer Generals – Zero Hour.


After you have done either A or B, you will also probably want to use the effects/animation lag fix. Someone actually released a big file to patch it, which I did not use but its included in the ultimate zip pack above named 0PatrioLagFix.big. The method I use to fix is by editing the options.ini file in C:\Users\adam\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data

Change options.ini as follows to fix patriot missile lag, which is pretty severe because of the FX animations/particle effects and the general weakness of the zero hour engine.

Fixing Severe FX Lag (add to bottom of C:\Users\adam\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data\Options.Ini)

DynamicLOD = no
ExtraAnimations = no
HeatEffects = no
MaxParticleCount = 100 

Come to think of it, I think that’s probably why the game in default vanilla zoomed in so much, so that not too much is rendered on screen, but, with all these changes, you can very happily run 1080p or 4k no problems, and im telling you it plays like a completely new game, especially with the controlbar. The old images are all blurry and just generally unpleasant.

I remember as a kid multiple times attempting to fix zoom, resolution, and the other myriad issues for this game and was generally unable to completely get it working nice as I remember playing it older machines. Frankly though Zero Hour was just a temperamental game even in the year 2000. To think this game is almost 25 years old and can play this well is miraculous.

I hope this helps others, enjoy! 😀 I am so happy to get this game working again nicely and hope you will be too! 😀

So, I know its not my usual article but I know folks will find this useful who perhaps are less technical and need to get the full lowdown on how to achieve this.