The SMAC/X FAQ: COMMON QUESTIONS and their ANSWERS

[MarkG]

you asked for it so....

ATTENTION: please read the rules in this post before posting here. Particularly rule #3 is violated too often (probably because this rule was apparently dropped in the Civ3 forum).

Rules of posting on this thread:
1) You must post a common question.
2) The subject could be anything smac related
3) You must also post the answer to it. If you have a question that is not in this FAQ and you're looking for an answer, please post a new thread in which you ask the question, don't post your question here (if you do, it will be deleted, and (only) if you're lucky someone will repost it in a new thread for you and answer it there).
4) Each question must be numbered and unless you post an addition to an existing point (add the number of the point you're referring to if this is the case), you must post with a new number. So if #25 is the last question, you must number your point #26 (this makes for easy referring when someone asks the question outside this thread).
5) Corrections on the answers should not be made, only additions (e.g. dont try to correct other people, just add your perspective). (The best way to deal with incomplete/incorrect information is to email/PM the person who posted the question and discuss it privately - the person in question can edit his answer if needed).
6) Let's try and keep the answers fairly short, if it's a very 'big' subject with many different aspects or opinions, find/post a seperate thread about it and link to it from here.
7) This thread is for answering common questions, not for discussion! Irrelevant posts will be deleted without warning.

Since we're trying to help people locate the info they need fast (while relieving the regulars of having to answer the same questions over and over again), it's important that this thread remains relatively short (not *too* short of course, then it won't contain the info people need), otherwise it would take too much time to locate the info and people will start their own threads anyway. So rules #1 and #6 are particularly important.

[Marid Audran]

1) Where are some general sites of SMAC/X interest?
A: Try Apolyton's SMAC/X section at:

http://apolyton.net/smac/

Therein you'll find news, game specifics, strategies, files, modification tools, hall of fame challenges, files and fiction.

Also worth a look is Firaxis's homepage for SMAC/X at:

http://www.firaxis.com/smac/

Amid columns of general interest is in-depth background information on the factions, concept artwork of the xenofungal native life, and the uploaded version of the episodic "Journey to Centauri" story by Michael Ely, chronicling the disintigration onboard the Unity during the final days prior to Planetfall.

2) Where can I find patches for SMAC/X?
A: Firaxis's homepage contains all up-to-date patches for SMAC/X, including the add-on Borehole scenerios, alternate color scheme, and patches for the mac version of SMAC.

http://www.firaxis.com/downloads_allfiles.cfm

3) Where can I find Alien Crossfire?
A: Alien Crossfire is out of print, and Electronic Arts, who controls distribution rights, has yet to re-issue it. Used copies may be found in retail shops and specialty outlets, or on Ebay (including the short lived SMAC/X bundled Planetary Pack). Online, British supplier Softwarefirst.com still ships SMAX copies worldwide.

http://www.softwarefirst.com/Product.asp?WebRef=10081089

The Macintosh version of SMAX can be found and sold here:

http://www.aspyr.com/mini-sites/smacx/

4) How do I create new factions?
A: The alpha.txt and alphax.txt files detail the mechanics of this process. The Faction Editor included in SMAX streamlines the process (but is buggy). opening the faction specific .txt files manually alters stats and descriptions. Custom factions in SMAC must replace one of the original seven under the #FACTIONS heading in the alpha.txt file. Custom factions in SMAX go under the #CUSTOMFACTIONS heading in the alphax.txt file. In both cases the faction should be listed twice and seperated with a comma.

5) Where can I find some new factions?
A: http://www.networknode.org contains an archive of indepedantly created factions, faction creation tools, tutorials, and other resources for customization.

6) Help, my custom factions locking up my faction-selection screen!
A: Make sure your factions are installed in the proper locations in the alphax.txt file, and you're following Faction Editing and translation guidelines (See Question #4). The game may potentially freeze if you have more than 7 custom factions enabled. Additionally, if you delete a custom faction which was used in the LAST game you started (and is thus list in the Alpha Centauri.ini file) the game will choke when starting. Deleting the Alpha Centauri.ini file may solve this. Sometimes SMAX can't stomach manual edits of custom faction files, in which case it is better to confine your creation to the Facedit program. If a custom faction loads cleanly in Facedit (no Terranx crashes), it should load smoothly in the game.

[Marid Audran]

7) I'm having trouble running SMAC/X under Windows 2000.
A: This thread should troubleshoot your problem for you (thanks to Googlie):

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40093&highlight=Windows2000+problem

8) I'm having sound problems with SMAC/X; scratchiness, static, feedback, looping, etc.
A: The most common cause with a SoundBlaster card is the surround sound program EAX. Try adding the lines EAX=0 and DS3D=0 to the top of your Alpha Centauri.ini file. This fixes sound issues approximately 75% of the time, with the minor side effect of making the alien sound somewhat dulled. You may also try downloading latest sound compatibility drivers, especially with later versions of Windows. Turning the software sound acceleration down to 'basic' from inside the DirectX DXDIAG tool is another option.

9) Why does the progenitor music play with all the new SMAX factions?
A: The ambient music used in SMAC/X is located in the fx folder in your SMAC directory. They are the .amb files; sset1.amb is for the Spartans, gset1.amb for the Gaians, and so forth. There is no new ambient music for the SMAX factions and the progenitor music (aset1.amb) plays for all of them (a bug in the expansion includes the Believers while under SMAX). If you wish to use ambient music from the original seven factions for the new factions, back up the aset1.amb file and replace it with a copy of one of the other .amb files, properly renamed. It's not a direct translation of the same ambient music, but it is close.

10) How do I get SMAC/X to run in a higher resolution/window?
A: Edit the Alpha Centauri.ini file and add 1024 to the Video Mode headings, e.g., Video Mode=800 or Video Mode=1024 forces the screen resolution to either of these two sizes(800 x 600 and 1024 x 768 pixels, respectively) . It isn't possible to run SMAC/X in anything other than a full screen.

11) How do I disable the opening movie?
A: Edit the Alpha Centauri.ini file and change the line DisableOpeningMovie=0 to 1.

12) How do I become a SMAC/X master?
A: Popular opinion varies wildly, but the consensus almost unanimously votes Christopher "Velocyrix" Hartpence as the guru of this area. Reputable strategy connoisseur, SMAC/X enthusiast, published author and aspiring game designer, he has produced four versions of his infamous SMAC Strategy Guide, the latest of which is sold on Greatunpublished.com at:

http://www.greatunpublished.com/bookstore/author.php3?accountID=GRTU00118

Version 4.0 of Velocyrix's SMAC Strategy Guide incorporates SMAX into his foundation of game theory. Earlier freeware versions (SMAC only, still a plethora of information on strategy and mechanics) can be found at the Chironian Guild (an excellent site unto itself) at:

http://smac.ask-klan.net.pl/eng/database/guides/velguide.htm

[Chowlett]

13) SMAC/X won't run under my Pentium 4, producing "Processor not supported" errors
A:Edit the Alpha Centauri.ini file so that it contains the following lines at the start of the file:
[PREFERENCES]
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1

(Correct me if I'm wrong, of course)

[Chowlett]

14) Is anyone up for a Multiplayer game?
A: You bet! Check the Ac-MUltiplaying Forum (http://apolyton.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=101) for:

Tau Ceti's PBEM tournament
Several Googlie specials
Folk wanting to play however you like

[Adalbertus]

15) What do all those abbr. mean?
Here is a small collection of them:
AA - Alien Artifact
CC - Cybernetic Consciousness
CDF - Citizens Defense Force
CP - Colony Pod
grr - grr (common expression of anger)
HGP - Human Genome Project
HSA - Hunter-Seeker Algorithm
ICS - Infinite City Strategy/Sleaze/... (Found as many bases as possible, don't care too much for development)
IoD - Isle of Deep (the water mindworms)
MCC - Marine Control Center
ME - Merchant Exchange
MP - Multiplayer
OCC - One City Challenge
ODP - Orbital Defense Pod
PB - Planet Buster
PBEM - Play by e-mail
PK - Peacekeeper
>pop< - Fungal Bloom
PTS - Planetary Transit System
RTS - Real-Time Strategy game
SP - Single player, or Secret Project
TBS - Turn-Based Strategy game
ToE - Theory of Everything
UoP - University of Planet
VW - Virtual World
WP - Weather Paradigm

Edit: Added abbreviations.

[DilithiumDad]

16. In SMACX, I see a bunch of drones in the base screen. When I change to the "Psych" view from the "Resources" view to see where the drones are coming from, they aren't there. The base doesn't riot, even though it displays extra drones. What is going on?

A: This is probably the largest bug in SMACX. There is no solution other than to review the Psych screen or to go to the F4 screen and select "Citizens". Otherwise, you cna just wait for drone riots and correct the situation after the fact. In some people's opinion, this bug alone makes SMACX unplayable and they prefer to stick with original SMAC.

[Blake]

17) How do I deal with ecodamage?

The short answer is every Tree Farm, Hybrid Forest, Centauri Preserve and Temple of Planet built after the first fungal <pop> increases the clean mineral limit at every base by one. Each fungal pop also increases clean minerals by one.
So you should force a pop ASAP by raising a bases mineral production above 16, then build lots of treefarms. Forcing a pop really is critical to getting the ecodamage reducing effect from treefarms.

18) Whoa! My ecodamage just skyrocketed! why?
Atrocities cause ecodamage. The exact amount for nerve stapling and nerve gassing is unknown. However for launching a planet buster or tectonic missile the ecodamage at every base is increased by the equivalent of producing 5 more minerals. This can be offset by building 5 Centauri Preserves for every PB you intend to launch. (you can sell the CP's and rebuild them)

19) What are some ecodamage terms?
<pop> - This is when fungus spreads, the first few are accompanied by a Book of Planet message. It's also referred to as fungal bloom.
Clean Minerals - The amount of minerals you can produce before ecodamage at a base. Also known as clean mineral limit or clean mineral threshold.

20) Where can I find more about ecodamage?
For almost everything you ever wanted to know about ecodamage read this column:
http://apolyton.net/misc/column/175_ecodamage.shtml

[Method]

21) Can a Monolith Disappear?
Yes. Every time a unit visits at a monolith, it has a 1 in 32 chance of disappearing.

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58656

[Adalbertus]

22) I get a huge fungal bloom despite of not producing any ecodamage. Why?
A: In the late game, when you complete "The Voice of Planet", you trigger "The Growth Dream, which kills most of the other lifeforms on Planet". (You trigger in terms of game mechanisms. In the story line, you start The Voice of Planet right at the moment when the Growth Dream happens.) This causes fungus to grow, with all the consequences (=Mind Worms etc.) you normally get from a <pop>. This is a part of the game, you can only avoid it when you refuse to win by Transcendence.

[Adalbertus]

23) How many nutrients can I get from a land square?
I think this already has been posted somewhere by somebody else, but I think it was more fun to test it myself. It was tested in the scenario editor. And so it is to calculate:

First, you get 0 nuts from an arid square, 1 from moist and 2 from rainy (including the raininess effect from condensors).
Then add 1 for a farm, and also if in jungle. If there is a nutrient bonus, add another 2. Then you'll have a number between 0 and 6.
Multiply this number by 1.5 and forget decimals, if you have a condensor on the square.
Do the same if you have soil enricher in the square.
Before the discovery of Gene Splicing (i. e. before restriction lifting), a nutrient special or a condensor lift the restriction for their square, otherwise you cannot get more than 2 nutrients per square.
For those who don't like to calculate, the table with the experimental values:<br>
<table CELLSPACING=0 border=1>
<tr><td> &nbsp; </td><td>plain</td><td>F</td><td>S</td><td>C</td><td>FC</td><td>SC</td></tr>
<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><td>arid </td><td> 0 </td><td> 1 </td><td> 1 </td><td> - </td><td> - </td><td> - </td></tr>
<tr><td>moist </td><td> 1 </td><td> 2 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 1 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td></tr>
<tr><td>rainy </td><td> 2 </td><td> 2/3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td></tr>
<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><td>arid/nut </td><td> 2 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> - </td><td> - </td><td> - </td></tr>
<tr><td>moist/nut </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 9 </td></tr>
<tr><td>rainy/nut </td><td> 4 </td><td> 5 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 10 </td></tr>
<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><td>arid/jungle </td><td> 1 </td><td> 2 </td><td> 3 </td><td> - </td><td> - </td><td> - </td></tr>
<tr><td>moist/jungle </td><td> 2 </td><td> 2/3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td></tr>
<tr><td>rainy/jungle </td><td> 2/3 </td><td> 2/4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 9 </td></tr>
<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><td>arid/jungle/nut </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> - </td><td> - </td><td> - </td></tr>
<tr><td>moist/jungle/nut </td><td> 4 </td><td> 5 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 10 </td></tr>
<tr><td>rainy/jungle/nut </td><td> 5 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 9 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 9 </td><td> 13 </td></tr>
</table>
plain - no terrain enhancement
F - Farm only
S - Farm + Soil Enricher (the scenario editor allows also soil enricher without farm but I don't think it works inside the game)
C - Condensor
FC - Farm + Condensor
SC - Farm + Soil Enricher + Condensor.
nut - nutrient bonus.
If an entry has two numbers, x/y, then x is pre-restriction lifting, and y after. I didn't look at Soil Enricher before restriction lifting because Gene Splicing is in the research path for Enricher. The fact that condensors are available before restriction lifting through the Weather Paradigm secret project is one of its major strengths.

The most one thus can get from a normal square (without special luck) is 6 nutrients.

EDIT: some corrections and beautifications thanks to MariOne and Straybow.

[tonic]

24) How can you starve a base to death?

By reducing the base size to one and then building a colony pod.

[CoffeeBreath]

And how do you reduce a base pop size to 1? :)

[gwillybj]

CoffeeBreath asked:
25) And how do you reduce a base pop size to 1? :)
One way is to make as many citizens Specialists as is necessary so no Nutrients are being gathered outside the base square. As turns pass, you will be informed by yourPsych Chaplain:
Our citizens are starving at $BASENAME0! Factories abandoned by hungry workers.The base will eventually have only one citizen, which you eliminate by producing a Colony Pod.

If you feel bad about starving them, another option is to reduce Nutrient production only enough to stagnate growth, then produce only Colony Pods, hurrying them if possible, and send them off to boost other bases' population or establish new bases elsewhere.

Still another option is to convoy nutrients to another base or bases.

Of course, you could combine any or all of these methods to reduce the population even more rapidly.

[Raion]

Great, I will try that line in Alpha Centauri about the
"Does not support this processor".

Let you know later, as I uninstalled it. After that error message. Running a Celeron processor, and never could get it to work.

Thanks!

Like to include it on the new computer. Should run fast now.

Wrote Firaxis about it, but never received a replay back, but, now feel kind of foolish.

You have made my day!!!!!

Back later, to confirm that!!

Now for Alpha Centauri II and whatever!!

:D

[Raion]

Finally got both to run (Alien Crossfire and Alpha Centauri) except it may help to start off in the right video mode. Not sure exactly yet, as I applied the Windows 2000/XP patch to the game, and finally it started.

Here is the Alpha Centauri.ini file as ended up so far for my system where the CPU reports not being supported:

[Alpha Centauri]
ds3d=1
eax=1
FastUnitAnim=0
SmoothUnitAnim=0
MainFontSize=16
InterludeFontSize=16
DisableOpeningMovie=0

[PREFERENCES]
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
Video Mode=1024



This seems to be slightly different than from what I remember, but since new Sound Blaster Live and new computer with Windows 2000 Professional with the patch for the game (I may try and uninstall that patch as it may not be needd -- multiplayer would only work with others with the patch), the game finally launched.

I wait a second or two before getting rid of the error message by clicking the 'Okay' command button, because the error message still comes up.

But right now, with the updated smacx2.exe patch and the SMAC_Win2000&XP_Compatibility_Update_v1[2].03f.exe patch, the game (both SMAC/Alien Crossfire) finally worked.

:D
:dance:
:band:
:good:

If the reply is in the wrong section, then sorry.

Works better than before.

[Raion]

Works both ways also with Windows 2000 Professional. Don't actually need the:
SMAC_Win2000&XP_Compatibility_Update_v1[2].03f.exe patch

So far.

[knowhow2]

Where cam i find the no crack (no CD-crack) download?

[CEO Aaron]

Originally posted by knowhow2
Where cam i find the no crack (no CD-crack) download?

Here: http://googlie2.tripod.com/rynnsgallery/id8.html

[Fazdaar]

How do you look at a person's save file? I've tried clicking on them, but a blank folder comes up.

[jhous]

Addition to FAQ #13

I had the same problem (new system, new pentium P4, WinXP). I applied all the patches including the "ini" file fix and it didn't help.

What worked for me (in addition to all patches and the "ini" fix) was applying the "no CD" crack (the one that allows you to play the game [Alien Crossfire] without a CD in the drive.

You still get the CPU error message but now you can say "okay" and it will proceed with the game (before it just dumped me back to the desktop).

Alien Crossfire has the "Safedisc" protection on it (that's what requires you to have the CD in the player). Get one of the safedisc remover programs (I used "Safedisc Annihilator.....it's free, readily available and easy to use....do a "Google" search for it).

;)

[jhous]

Addition to FAQ #13

I had the same problem (new system, new pentium P4, WinXP). I applied all the patches including the "ini" file fix and it didn't help.

What worked for me was (in addition to patches and the "ini' fix) applying the "no CD" crack (the one that allows you to play the game [Alien Crossfire] without a CD in the drive.

You still get the CPU error message but now you can say "okay" and it will proceed with the game (before it just dumped me back to the desktop).

Alien Crossfire has the "Safedisc" protection on it (that's what requires you to have the CD in the player). Get one of the safedisc remover programs (I used "Safedisc Annihilator.....it's free, readily available and easy to use....do a "Google" search for it).

[laurentius]

Is there any news on SMAC 2/ Brians other projects?

[CEO Aaron]

Since Brian Reynolds has left Firaxis and created his own company (Big Huge Games) and created his own title (Rise of Nations), any effort at developing a second Alpha Centauri game is going to be at the hands of some other developer. For more information about Big Huge Games and their projects, go here:

http://www.bighugegames.com/

[CEO Aaron]

Q: What are the latest patches for SMAC/X, and what is changed by the patch(es)?

A: The latest patch for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is version 4.0, and can be found here:

http://www.firaxis.com/downloads_detail.cfm?file_id=1

The latest patch for Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire is version 2.0, and can be found here;

http://www.firaxis.com/downloads_detail.cfm?file_id=19

The precise nature of the changes applied by each patch are expounded upon on the above links. Yes, it is counter-intuitive that the base game and the expansion use separate versioning numbers, but we didn't make it that way. Sorry.

Q: If I have the expansion, do I need both patches?

A: No, downloading the SMAX 2.0 patch will update both gameplay modes.

Q: Can you explain how maintenance costs were altered by the SMAX 2.0 patch?

A: In prior versions of Alien Crossfire, base facility upkeep was incorrectly computed at Thinker and Transcend Difficulty. At Thinker, base upkeep was reduced to 2/3 it's correct value, so a Hologram Theatre (for example) would only require 2 ECs in upkeep. At Transcend, base upkeep was reduced to 1/3, so the same Hologram Theatre would only cost 1 EC each turn. Once the SMAX 2.0 patch is applied, all upkeep costs are identical at all difficulty levels, and match those in the online documentation.

Q: What about the XP compatibility patch?

A: You can get that here:

http://www.firaxis.com/downloads_detail.cfm?file_id=60

For users of Classic SMAC, the update implements the Golden Age Boom and Base Maintenance fixes introduced to SMAX in the 2.0 update. For SMAX users, this update only fixes problems running the game and playing multiplayer games on WinXP and 2000 systems.

[Azedalis]

Is there a way to tell if a Alien Artifact has been connected to a network node? I find it a real pain not knowing which city to send an artifact to.

[gwillybj]

Azedalis asked (Question #33?):
Is there a way to tell if a Alien Artifact has been connected to a network node? I find it a real pain not knowing which city to send an artifact to.
There are two ways:
[list=1] With the Alien Artifact the active unit, press {G} (go to base). The list that appears is all of your bases (and your pact-mates') on the same landmass (or on the shore of the same sea if aboard a transport, in which case the transport must be the active unit). Any with an Unlinked Node will be so indicated, and you can easily select where to send the Alien Artifact. IIRC, if you built The Universal Translator, it, too, will be indicated.
If your monitor resolution is 800x600, you can look at the facilities listed in the Base Operations Status {F4}. All (linked) nodes will be so indicated.[/list=1]

[Commander Jace]

Is it possible to load missiles on to a transport?

"Missile Boats":evilgrin:

[Chaos Theory]

Answer 34?:

You can only load missiles (and other air units) on a unit with the carrier deck ability, which is only allowed on naval transports, and becomes available with Nanometallurgy, which is late-game.

Incidentally, you can pair the carrier deck ability with the deep pressure hull to make a submarine that can launch jets...

[laurentius]

Is there anykind of mod-swapper available to swap between the alternative factions? I mean something you could just load diffrent faction packs with or compile your own coctail from diffrent faction pacs i.e. 2 faction from the alpha, 3, from beta, 1, gamma etc...

[The Big Mc]

Is there a way to increases what you get from a base upgrade, like upgrading it so that century preserve gives a slightly greater eco bonus?

[CEO Aaron]

No. And please read the introduction of this thread, where it says that if you post a question, also post the answer. Thank you.

[Skanky Burns]

I have problems with the game under Windows XP

Originally posted by Kaboth
When launching Alpha Centauri. I receive the error message "CPU not supported". My computer has a Pentium 4 or newer CPU.

Answer
You will need to modify a line in the Alpha Centauri.ini that is located in the game folder. To do this:

Double click on My Computer
Double click on the C: Local Drive (your Hard Drive or the drive that the game is installed to)
Double click on the Program Files Folder
Double click on the Firaxis Games Folder
Double click on the Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Folder]
Double click on the Alpha Centauri.ini File (The file looks like a read me text file with a little gold symbol on it).

Once the file is open in Notepad, change:

ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=0

to

ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1

Be sure to save your changes, then run the game. You may still receive the error message. If it occurs, click OK and the game will load fine.

If you are Installed Sid Meier's Planetary pack then their will be no Alpha Centauri.ini File initially. Upon attemping to play the game and
clicking ok despite CPU being unsupported the ini file will be produced. Then simply change the ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm to 1. Or if necessary copy ini file from original SMAC.

ALSO download the patch that helps XP:

Alpha Centauri (PC) PATCH - Update for XP.

Question
What does this update do?

Answer
This patch will attempt to locate your installation of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, and defaults to that location, if found. If the patch cannot locate Alpha Centauri, it will default to C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

In this situation, you should ensure the patch installs to the directory that you have installed Alpha Centauri into.

This patch is a Windows 2000/XP compatibility update, to allow users of Windows 2000 or XP to run Alpha Centauri. It is not required for users of Windows 95, 98, or ME. However, users with these operating systems may will need to install this patch if they wish to play multiplayer games with other players who have installed this patch.

There is a known issue with sounds skipping on Windows ME machines. This should not affect the game stability.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I didn't need the XP compatability patch on my machine. I've never encountered not enough memory though. If it helps I run a P4 1.7 Ghz, 256 MB SD-RAM, 64 MB Geforce 2 and 40 GB hard disk space.

The latest patches need to be installed before the compatability patch can be also. But if your running planetary pack you should be at SMACX 2.0 already from memory.

[Polaris9485]

Where can I find Alpha Centauri for Mac??? Is it just hopeless?

[Chaunk]

38. Help! I suck at SMAC! What can I do?

Go to http://www.civgaming.net/smac/academy.shtml and learn! See also question 12 for more informative sites.

[iamyiddish]

What ability flags do what in the #units (predesigned units, worms/native, battle ogres, etc) table inside alpha/alphax.txt?

from left-to-right:

10000000000000000000000000 Dissociative Wave
01000000000000000000000000 Soporific Gas
00100000000000000000000000 Slow (-1 Move, unused in game)
00010000000000000000000000 2X Police
00001000000000000000000000 Repair
00000100000000000000000000 Nerve Gas
00000010000000000000000000 Heavy Transport (+50% cargo capacity, also Unused)
00000001000000000000000000 Trance
00000000100000000000000000 Blink Displacer
00000000010000000000000000 Clean Reactor
00000000001000000000000000 Artillery
00000000000100000000000000 Trained
00000000000010000000000000 Fungicidal
00000000000001000000000000 Polymorphic Encryption
00000000000000100000000000 Empathic
00000000000000010000000000 Antigrav Struts
00000000000000001000000000 Comm Jammer
00000000000000000100000000 AAA
00000000000000000010000000 Carrier
00000000000000000001000000 Deep Pressure Hull
00000000000000000000100000 AIR superiority
00000000000000000000010000 Drop Pod
00000000000000000000001000 Amphibious
00000000000000000000000100 Cloaked
00000000000000000000000010 Deep Radar
00000000000000000000000001 Super Terraformer

As of right now, I have no idea how to change the reactor setting for 'predisned units'.

[Impaler[WrG]]

Q: Is it possible to create predesign units with Fusion, Quantum or Singularity Reactors?

A: No, their is no paramiter for this, aparently its a stupid oversight on Firaxisi's part :(

Q: Is it possible to predsign and use units that use armor/weapons/abilites that are set to DISABLED in other parts of the Alpha?

A: Yes and they will work, the player will NOT be able to use the disabled weapon/armor/ability in the workshop after geting the predesigned unit, they will be able to build ONLY the predesigned unit adsactly as its described in the Alpha.

[Petek]

Q: I can't install SMAC on a PC running Windows XP. Setup.exe hangs when I try to do so. Can I fix this problem?

A: Try running the XP Program Compatibility Wizard on Setup.exe or run setup.exe in Windows 98/Me Compatability mode. See the following link for instructions on how to do so:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gethelp/appcompat.asp

[Qwerty88]

Originally posted by laurentius
Question 35:
Is there anykind of mod-swapper available to swap between the alternative factions? I mean something you could just load diffrent faction packs with or compile your own coctail from diffrent faction pacs i.e. 2 faction from the alpha, 3, from beta, 1, gamma etc...

In SMAC you can: Load the factions by using the LOAD function when selecting the factoin your playing as and typing the name of the faction; or you can edit the Alpha.txt file under the line #FACTIONS to the 7 factions you want; or change the name of the factions you want to the default faction names (GAIANS, HIVE, UNIV, ect.) For SMACX you can simply add the 7 factions you want in the alphax.txt file under the line #CUSTOMFACTIONS or load them in the sanario editor, save them, and click 'add faction to game'. Also in SMACX if you wanted to have 3 sets and switch factions back and forth frequently you could replace the 7 original factions with set , the 7 new factions with set 2, and add set 3 as the custom factions.

[Qwerty88]

39? What ability flags do what in the #units (predesigned units, worms/native, battle ogres, etc) table inside alpha/alphax.txt?

Note that for alpha.txt you cannot use the Dissociative Wave or the Soporific Gas special abilities and to delete the first to zeros.

41? Is it possible to predsign and use units that use armor/weapons/abilites that are set to DISABLED in other parts of the Alpha?

Though the player cannot use the disabled armor/weapon/ability they can revese engineer the unit to get other units with that armor/weapon/ability

[Xiab'ed]

What is SMAC v5.0 ?

The XP/2000 Compatability patch on the firaxis site also patches SMAC to version 5.0. FYI.

[...] the patch also introduces the dodgy drone display bug into SMAC, as well as fixing a few other bugs.
(answer from Chaunk)

[Enigma_Nova]

Q. Is there any way to spectate over a game of SMAX?
A. Watch an open-password PBEM:
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=116127

NOTE: must have SMAX at hand to download and view files.

[GeoModder]

Q. Is there a possibility to let units go from a seabase to an adjacent landtile without the need of a transport ship in the base?

A. Yes, a landgoing unit can move from a seabase to an adjacent landtile without the need of a transport ship if there is a friendly (from pact partner or your own faction) unit standing on the target tile.

[Qwerty88]

Q. Is there a possibility to let units go from a seabase to an adjacent landtile without the need of a transport ship in the base?

A. Also units with amphibious pods can of course move freely.

[smacksim]

Originally posted by laurentius
Is there anykind of mod-swapper available to swap between the alternative factions? I mean something you could just load diffrent faction packs with or compile your own coctail from diffrent faction pacs i.e. 2 faction from the alpha, 3, from beta, 1, gamma etc...

One is being developed by me right now in DOS (Fileswatter (http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118060)) which is generalized for any game or application . There are other mod-swapping utilities around for the various civ games, including Modswapper and Civswap. I believe these are fairly specific to those games. To my knowledge no-one has done any work on this for Shell Scripts (linux) or Applescript (mac), both of which are substantially easier to work with for this sort of thing. Come by the Fileswatter thread and lend a hand.

Also, I believe this thread is for asking AND answering questions, so only post your questions when you've had them answered elsewhere and can provide a summary.

[logic_error]

Q: What kind of production or growth bonuses does the AI get?

A: When you are playing on X DIFF, the computer gets production penalties/bonuses as follows (assuming +/- 0 INDUSTRY):

Where X =

Citizen - 130% of normal cost
Specialist - 120%
Talent - 110%
Librarian - 100%
Thinker - 80%
Transcend - 70%

What that means is that when you are playing at, say, Citizen level, you need 10 nuts or mins to complete a row in the box, but the AI needs 13.

Similarly, if you are playing at Transcend level, you need 10 nuts or mins to complete a row in a box, but the AI needs just 7.

(Originally written by Googlie)

[Lord Nword]

Q: Are there any ways to take screenshots without the colors being wacked up?

A: Yes, two good ways to do this are:
1. In the Alpha.INI file, add the follwoing line:

DirectDraw=0

This allows you to take a screenshot during the game, then exit the game, and paste into a graphics program.

However, when this is used, you can not see anything when you Alt+Tab out of SMAC/X. I.E. you can't read instant messaging windows when this line is in the Alpha.INI file.

2. Alternatively, you can run the graphics program while running SMAC/X. Take the screenshot as usual. Then, Alt+Tab to the graphics program and paste. Initially, the colors might look distorted, but once you quit SMAC/X, the colors are fine.

-----

Could someone detail the Probe Rating bug, please?

[Shadowlord]

Actually, you can change the color-depth back to normal while SMAC/SMAX is running, and it will continue to work just fine. I actually made a program some time ago to automate doing just that, but never posted it anywhere (I had written it for friends originally). It just runs terran.exe and then uses one of the windows API functions to restore the display settings to normal (which means the display color-depth, mostly, but it also changes the gamma back, at least on some machines).

I've attached a zip file to this post which contains two EXEs, one which waits 30 seconds after starting terran.exe before changing the color-depth back to normal, and one which waits only 1 second. There's a (very short) readme too.

You can use it with Alien Crossfire if you rename the EXEs (there's no way to tell this to run terranx.exe instead of terran.exe, so you have to rename them). There would probably have been four EXEs if I had had Alien Crossfire when I wrote this, but I didn't, and I don't want to hunt for the source in HD backups now.

[#endgame]

Question 35:
Is there anykind of mod-swapper available to swap between the alternative factions? I mean something you could just load diffrent faction packs with or compile your own coctail from diffrent faction pacs i.e. 2 faction from the alpha, 3, from beta, 1, gamma etc...


Originally posted by smacksim

One is being developed by me right now in DOS (Fileswatter (http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118060)) which is generalized for any game or application . There are other mod-swapping utilities around for the various civ games, including Modswapper and Civswap. I believe these are fairly specific to those games. To my knowledge no-one has done any work on this for Shell Scripts (linux) or Applescript (mac), both of which are substantially easier to work with for this sort of thing. Come by the Fileswatter thread and lend a hand.

Also, I believe this thread is for asking AND answering questions, so only post your questions when you've had them answered elsewhere and can provide a summary.

In assisting Smacksim with his Aldebaran2 mod, I got a bit carried away and wrote a generic modswapper for SMA(C/X), called ModMan, which replaced fileswatter in the Aldebaran2 package.
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118976

[epsilonx]

Originally posted by CEO Aaron
Q: What about the XP compatibility patch?

A: You can get that here:

http://www.firaxis.com/downloads_detail.cfm?file_id=60

Anyone have this patch handy? Seems I can't get to any download links at firaxis.com anymore.

[Lord Nword]

Originally posted by epsilonx

Anyone have this patch handy? Seems I can't get to any download links at firaxis.com anymore.

I googled and took the first result which appeared valid:
http://dlx.gamespot.com/pc/sidmeiersalphacentauri/moreinfo_2896776.html

I can't test it since I don't have XP :)

[epsilonx]

Thanks! I had done a Google search but after checking the first few unfruitful links, I ran out of time.

[Xian]

Originally posted by Marid Audran

10) How do I get SMAC/X to run in a higher resolution/window?
A: Edit the Alpha Centauri.ini file and add 1024 to the Video Mode headings, e.g., Video Mode=800 or Video Mode=1024 forces the screen resolution to either of these two sizes(800 x 600 and 1024 x 768 pixels, respectively) . It isn't possible to run SMAC/X in anything other than a full screen.

look it

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=127263

[Elhoim]

Do you know where to find a no-cd crack for version 2.0? Thanks!

[Lord Nword]

Originally posted by Elhoim
Do you know where to find a no-cd crack for version 2.0? Thanks!

http://smac.2be.cc/tools.html

Near the middle of the page.

[Elhoim]

Thanks!

[paramir]

the link in wuestion number one for the official website has changed, if that could be edited that would be good.

[Petek]

Q: When I try to install SMAC, I get the message "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications." How do I fix this?

A: Copy the file autoexec.nt from your C:\WINDOWS\REPAIR folder to C:\WINDOWS\System32.

(Note: This problem is apparently caused by installing XP SP2.)

[mountrain]

I did the ini thing and it says the same message. I press ok and after that I can play up to 1 hour. Then my monitor shuts down and computer is still running. Could someone help me with this problem if they can.

[Chaos Theory]

1 hour exactly? Maybe you have some odd incompatibilities with "Power Management".

[mountrain]

Not exactly an hour 30-70 min.

[Vlad Antlerkov]

For what it's worth (and since I couldn't get the patch from either Firaxis or the site Lord Nword linked to), MarkG seems to have mirrored all the patches. :b: As evidence, I present the top right sidebar on the <a href="http://apolyton.net/smac/">main page</a>. :cute:

[mountrain]

Im sorry to have botherd you, i got it all fixed. The problem was in my computer not in the game. It had a bad fan inside so it overheated. The game works well, now good night.

[Kirov]

QUESTION: Can I use this thread to ask for help, chat, spam or prove in any other way that understanding even the most basic instructions in English is beyond me?

ANSWER: No. This thread is for posting questions along with their answers only. If you don't know the answer, start a new thread in the General forum.


Sorry I couldn't resist, but I'm really tired of reading casual chatting here. Why the idea of this thread is so hard to understand?

[Silva]

Is there any mod/patch to chenge the color scheme, for making it more pleasant?

[Silva]

Is there any mod/patch to chenge the color scheme, for making it more pleasant?

Thanks.

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by Silva
Is there any mod/patch to chenge the color scheme, for making it more pleasant?

Thanks.

Here is the Drab SMAC color scheme. Pink fungus is now rust colored, as well as some other basic color changes. Other than that I haven't heard of any color scheme changes.


D

[ashbery]

How do you get higher resolution.What is the file.

[mabb]

:( Hi,
I have DL the XP patch but still can not install AC. What am I doing wrong?
MAB:
blush: sorry, I posted this in the wrong forum

[Leon Trotsky]

¿Can a surrendered faction sneak attack you?

Yes. At least happened to me.

¿Could it happen that a faction voted for you as supreme leader, only to defy the will of the Planetary Council?

Again, yes.


Not that thrilling, but that's all I can remember now...

[mabb]

OK, I found the .ini file for AC but do not have a 'forceoldvoxelalgorithm=1 line....
Am I in wrong file?
Mabb
PS thanks for any help.

[Kloreep]

There may not be a line like that initially. I'm not an expert on AC, but from my experience with .ini files you should be able to just add it in.

[Gray_Lensman]

Originally posted by Adalbertus
23) How many nutrients can I get from a land square?
I think this already has been posted somewhere by somebody else, but I think it was more fun to test it myself. It was tested in the scenario editor. And so it is to calculate:

First, you get 0 nuts from an arid square, 1 from moist and 2 from rainy (including the raininess effect from condensors).
Then add 1 for a farm, and also if in jungle. If there is a nutrient bonus, add another 2. Then you'll have a number between 0 and 6.
Multiply this number by 1.5 and forget decimals, if you have a condensor on the square.
Do the same if you have soil enricher in the square.
Before the discovery of Gene Splicing (i. e. before restriction lifting), a nutrient special or a condensor lift the restriction for their square, otherwise you cannot get more than 2 nutrients per square.
For those who don't like to calculate, the table with the experimental values:<br>
<table CELLSPACING=0 border=1>
<tr><td> &nbsp; </td><td>plain</td><td>F</td><td>S</td><td>C</td><td>FC</td><td>SC</td></tr>
<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><td>arid </td><td> 0 </td><td> 1 </td><td> 1 </td><td> - </td><td> - </td><td> - </td></tr>
<tr><td>moist </td><td> 1 </td><td> 2 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 1 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td></tr>
<tr><td>rainy </td><td> 2 </td><td> 2/3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td></tr>
<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><td>arid/nut </td><td> 2 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> - </td><td> - </td><td> - </td></tr>
<tr><td>moist/nut </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 9 </td></tr>
<tr><td>rainy/nut </td><td> 4 </td><td> 5 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 10 </td></tr>
<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><td>arid/jungle </td><td> 1 </td><td> 2 </td><td> 3 </td><td> - </td><td> - </td><td> - </td></tr>
<tr><td>moist/jungle </td><td> 2 </td><td> 2/3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td></tr>
<tr><td>rainy/jungle </td><td> 2/3 </td><td> 2/4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 9 </td></tr>
<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><td>arid/jungle/nut </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 6 </td><td> - </td><td> - </td><td> - </td></tr>
<tr><td>moist/jungle/nut </td><td> 4 </td><td> 5 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 10 </td></tr>
<tr><td>rainy/jungle/nut </td><td> 5 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 9 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 9 </td><td> 13 </td></tr>
</table>
plain - no terrain enhancement
F - Farm only
S - Farm + Soil Enricher (the scenario editor allows also soil enricher without farm but I don't think it works inside the game)
C - Condensor
FC - Farm + Condensor
SC - Farm + Soil Enricher + Condensor.
nut - nutrient bonus.
If an entry has two numbers, x/y, then x is pre-restriction lifting, and y after. I didn't look at Soil Enricher before restriction lifting because Gene Splicing is in the research path for Enricher. The fact that condensors are available before restriction lifting through the Weather Paradigm secret project is one of its major strengths.

The most one thus can get from a normal square (without special luck) is 6 nutrients.

EDIT: some corrections and beautifications thanks to MariOne and Straybow.


This is an excellent summary of nutrient production... Is there a similar study done on Minerals and Energy?

[GeoModder]

Too many extra variables for energy, me thinks. (like Merchant Exchange and your econ rating)

[SilentMage]

Question: I recently upgrade Windows XP to SP2. I tried loading SMAC but this comes up: terran.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

SMAC worked fine prior to the upgrade: I had the SMAC XP patch installed and made the ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1 change for it to run.

And now it doesn't want to run anymore -- I just get that message above. I tried the noCDcrack but that didn't fix anything. Any suggestions?

[Illuminatus]

ATTENTION: please read the rules in this post before posting here. Particularly rule #3 is violated too often (probably because this rule was apparently dropped in the Civ3 forum).

Rules of posting on this thread:

3) You must also post the answer to it. If you have a question that is not in this FAQ and you're looking for an answer, please post a new thread in which you ask the question, don't post your question here (if you do, it will be deleted, and (only) if you're lucky someone will repost it in a new thread for you and answer it there).


-----------
Luckly the new FAQ is almost ready.

[DanQ]

This thread has been closed and detopped.

A new version will be started in the coming days -- thanks in advance for your patience.

-------
Dan; Apolyton CS