I can get this game to install and launch, but it does not run properly or at
all.
I have:
Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope AMD64 Alternate
Wine 1.1.18
Cedega 7.1.1
Sid Meier?s Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire CDs (Sold Out version)
The game is best played with the expansion pack, Alien Crossfire. Alien
Crossfire and Alpha Centauri are both available in linux versions, if you can
find them.
There are official patches for the game
http://www.firaxis.com/smac/downloads.cfm.
Googlyboogly has datalink patch too,
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=291246.
These fixes have helped solve Alpha Centauri with other systems/OSs, but I
haven?t had success so far:
1)
alpha_centauri.ini
Navigate to Firaxis Games => Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri =>
alpha_centauri.ini
change the line
Code:
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=0
to
Code:
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
If this line is not present, add it, if you are having problems.
2)
alpha_centauri.ini
Navigate to Firaxis Games => Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri =>
alpha_centauri.ini
change the lines
Code:
ds3d=1
eax=1
to
Code:
ds3d=0
eax=0
This will eliminate some sound effects which can throw the user out of the game
at the end of turn.
2)
Move the Firaxis Games folder to C:\
Some older games have difficulty running in other locations, even in C:\Program
Files, I read.
3)
Change Windows Compatability.
I have read different accounts of this, one stating use Windows 95, another
stating use Windows 2000.
4) Popuiate alpha_centauri.ini
The game needs to be run once, even to the CPU not supported crash, if this
occurs, in order to populate the alpha_centauri.ini file. For your information,
here is the content of my file:
Code:
[]
[Alpha Centauri]
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
ds3d=0
eax=0
MainFontSize=16
InterludeFontSize=16
Prefs Format=11
Difficulty=4
Map Type=2
Top Menu=0
Faction=3
Preferences=10111011111000011101110110110110
More Preferences=1110100111000101101000
Semaphore=00000000
Announce=111100001110101001
Rules=1101000001110
Customize=1
Custom World=2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
Time Controls=1
Latest Save
Latest Scenario
5) Compatability Pack
I tried to do the following in linux, but it didnt work for me, but you might
find it useful. I installed winetricks onto my system to help me install the
.net framework that is required to get the windows application compatability
pack to run.
> 1 - Install the game as normal (note that it appears in the Game Explorer!)
> 2 - install the update4 patch (available around the web) - note:
right-click
> and "run as administrator"
> 3 - install the xp/2000 compatibility patch (available around the web) -
> note: right-click and "run as administrator"
> 4 - set the executable to run as administrator (right click on program,
> select properties, then security). Note, the compatibility modes are not
> used.
>
> At this point the XP community fixes the .ini file and everything is ok. On
> Vista, note that the key .ini file is empty, this won't be populated
until
> the game runs once and it crashes in TERRAN.EXE
>
> 5 - install the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 and run the
> Compability Administrator with admin privleges (right-click and select
"run
> as Administrator"), note: there is a pre-installed Alpha Centauri fix
but it
> does not work under Vista
> 6 - create a new Application Fix in the Compatibility Administrator, select
> the "terran.exe" file in the Alpha Centauri folder as the key
file.
> 7 - Alpha Centauri requires the following Compatibility Modes to run:
> APITracing
> Win95
> 8 - Run Alpha Centauri from the Compatibility Administrator. This will
> generate a "CPU not supported" msg and populate the .ini file
before it
> dies.
> 9 - manually edit "alpha centauri.ini" file as follows:
> change line: ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=0
> to read: ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
> note: since the .ini file is inside the "program files"
super-security area,
> it cannot be edited directly, even by an administrator. Instead, save to
the
> desktop and then drag-and-drop into the folder to save the changes.
>
> 10 - the game should work correctly under the Compatibility Administrator
> now. the drawback is that it asks for the location every time.
>
>
>
> For a permanent fix, do the following
>
> save the Compatibility Administrator application fix file as "Alpha
Centauri
> in Vista.sdb" in the default game location (c:\program files\firaxis
> games\sid meier's alpha centauri)
>
> 1 - Start a command prompt by: StartOrb - programs - accessories - command
> prompt
> 2. Type: sdbinst "C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Alpha
> Centauri\Alpha Centauri in Vista.sdb" (note the double quotes are
> required)
>
> this installs the sdb file into the system so whenever the game is run, it
> will use the appropriate compability modes.
>
> it should run correctly from the Game Explorer now!
6) Display
Set it to 256 colours
7) Mouse
> scroll mice - particularly those that come with some special monitoring
software. If your mouse comes with some "microsoft mouseware de-luxe"
software or similar try uninstalling it and if it helps get a newer version or
scrap it. If possible see if you can find some old mouse with no scroll button
and try that one.
8) Run in windowed mode:
> You can put this line in the [Alpha Centauri] section of the Alpha
Centauri.ini file...
>
> DirectDraw=0
>
> What it does is force Alpha Centauri to run at your desktop resolution...
It looked a bit funny in the default videomode (the layout of the bottom bar
looks odd, most noticably), but works pretty good in the 1024*768 videomode...
9) In case you are a windows user and just want it to work, try these:
> inability to handle modern processors there are extra steps as well. Here
are my steps: 1 - Install the game as normal (note that it appears in the Game
Explorer!) 2 - install the update4 patch (available around the web) - note:
right-click and "run as administrator" 3 - install the xp/2000
compatibility patch (available around the web) - note: right-click and "run
as administrator" 4 - set the executable to run as administrator (right
click on program, select properties, then security). Note, the compatibility
modes are not used. At this point the XP community fixes the .ini file and
everything is ok. On Vista, note that the key .ini file is empty, this won't
be populated until the game runs once and it crashes in TERRAN.EXE 5- install
the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 and run the Compability
Administrator with admin privleges (right-click and select "run as
Administrator"), note: there is a pre-installed Alpha Centauri fix but it
does not work under Vista 6- create a new Application Fix in the Compatibility
Administrator, select the "terran.exe" file in the Alpha Centauri
folder as the key file. 7- Alpha Centauri requires the following Compatibility
Modes to run: APITracing Win95 8- Run Alpha Centauri from the Compatibility
Administrator. This will generate a "CPU not supported" msg and
populate the .ini file before it dies. 9- manually edit"alpha
centauri.ini" file as follows: change line: ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=0 to
read: ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
> note: since the .ini file is inside the "program files"
super-security area, it cannot be edited directly, even by an administrator.
Instead, save to the desktop and then drag-and-drop into the folder to save the
changes. 10- the game should work correctly under the Compatibility
Administrator now. the drawback is that it asks for the location every time. For
a permanent fix, do the following save the Compatibility Administrator
application fix file as "Alpha Centauri in Vista.sdb" in the default
game location (c:program filesfiraxis gamessid meier's alpha centauri)
> 1 - Start a command prompt by: StartOrb - programs - accessories - command
prompt
> 2.Type:sdbinst "C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Alpha
Centauri\Alpha Centauri in Vista.sdb" (note the double quotes are required)
this installs the sdb file into the system so whenever the game is run, it will
use the appropriate compability modes. it should run correctly from the Game
Explorer now! I hope that helps anyone trying to get this great old game to run
Mark
32bit / 64 bit:
> The installer is 16 bit, which means the installer won't run under x64.
> The best way to handle it is find someone with WinXP 32-bit, install it,
copy the directory to a flash drive, and then copy them back to your x64 machine
(SMAC doesn't need any registry keys, oddly enough).
10)
Bad disk:
> The crash is probably from a bad install source - this happens VERY
frequently with pirated versions of the game.
11) Run terran.exe directly
Navigate to the game?s folder and double click the terran.exe file (or
terranx.exe in alpha centauri alien crossfire) in order to launch the game
directly, rather than from a menu
12) in-game options menu
Disable resolution changes and set no movies to be played
13) API tracing
There is some issue regarding this, I cant track it down at the moment.
