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How to Install GeneralsX

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Felipe Braz edited this page Aug 17, 2026 · 1 revision

Prerequisites

  1. You must own a legitimate copy of the game. We build and test against the Steam version. Other retail releases may work, but are not officially supported.

    On macOS or Linux? This title is Windows-only on Steam. On macOS, Steam usually does not show an install option. On Linux, installation may be available via Steam Play/Proton depending on your configuration. See GETTING_THE_GAME_FILES.md for all supported ways to obtain game files.

  2. Copy the game data from your existing installation (for example, from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Command & Conquer Generals - Zero Hour) to a local folder on your Linux or macOS system. A recommended layout is:

    • $HOME/GeneralsX/Generals for Command & Conquer: Generals
    • $HOME/GeneralsX/GeneralsZH for Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour

Linux

  1. Install Flatpak for your distribution by following the official setup guide:

    https://flatpak.org/setup/

    Each Linux distribution packages Flatpak differently, so rely on the upstream instructions for installing the Flatpak tool itself.

  2. Download the Linux Flatpak release asset (GeneralsXZH-linux-flatpak.zip for Zero Hour, GeneralsX-linux-flatpak.zip for the base game) and extract it. Each zip contains a single .flatpak bundle at the root of the archive.

  3. Install the Flatpak bundle:

    unzip GeneralsXZH-linux-flatpak.zip
flatpak --user install -y ./GeneralsXZH-linux64-deploy.flatpak

    For the base game, use GeneralsX-linux-flatpak.zip and install ./GeneralsX-linux64-deploy.flatpak.

  4. Launch the game with Flatpak:

    flatpak run com.fbraz3.GeneralsXZH

    For the base game:

    flatpak run com.fbraz3.GeneralsX

  5. The Flatpak package auto-detects game data in the following default locations:

    • $HOME/GeneralsX/GeneralsZH
    • $HOME/GeneralsX/Generals

    If your assets are stored elsewhere, pass the path explicitly when launching:

    flatpak run --env=CNC_GENERALS_INSTALLPATH=/path/to/your/game-data com.fbraz3.GeneralsXZH -win

    The same CNC_GENERALS_INSTALLPATH override works for the base game package.

  6. The Flatpak bundle ships the required userspace runtime libraries (DXVK, SDL3, SDL3_image, OpenAL, FFmpeg, and related dependencies). You do not need to install those libraries manually on the host.

GPU Driver note: Vulkan support must be provided by your host GPU driver. For NVIDIA use the proprietary driver, for AMD/Intel use Mesa 21+. The Flatpak bundle does not ship GPU drivers.

macOS

  1. Download the macOS .zip file from this release.
  2. Extract the .zip and copy the app bundle into your Applications folder.
  3. Make sure your game assets are placed in the following locations:
    • $HOME/GeneralsX/Generals for Generals
    • $HOME/GeneralsX/GeneralsZH for Zero Hour
  4. Because the app is not code-signed, macOS Gatekeeper will initially block it. After the first launch attempt, go to System Settings -> Privacy & Security and allow the application to run.

Requirements

GeneralsX has been developed and tested primarily on the following environments:

  • Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (x86_64)
  • macOS 26 "Tahoe" on Apple Silicon (M1 / ARM64)

Other Linux distributions or macOS versions may work, but you may need to install additional dependencies manually. On some systems, certain libraries might need to be built from source.

Tested Platforms

Current development and test matrix:

Platform Architecture Status
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS x86_64 Working
macOS 26 "Tahoe" ARM64 (Apple Silicon) Working

Support for other platforms and configurations is possible but not yet officially tested.

Multiplayes features

  • LAN play - it's broken for now and we have a issue to work on that.
  • Online features - not implemented and planned for the future.

Known Issues & Limitations

For documented limitations and known bugs, check the issues page.

If you encounter problems while running the game, please open an issue and include as much detail as possible, such as:

  • Operating system and version
  • CPU architecture (x86_64 / ARM64)
  • Steps to reproduce the issue
  • Logs or terminal output (if available)

This information greatly helps us reproduce and fix issues.

Contributing

Contributions of all sizes are welcome.

If you are interested in helping with development, bug fixes, testing on additional platforms, or improving compatibility, feel free to open a pull request or start a discussion in the repository.

Even small contributions, such as testing, documentation improvements, or well-documented bug reports, are very valuable.

Credits

This project exists thanks to the Command & Conquer community and the many tools created around the game over the years.

Special thanks to everyone who has contributed time to testing, debugging, and development.

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