Did they really ruin the map in the bottom-right corner in SMAC v5 or am I missing something?

[jez9999]

OK so I've been playing SMAC version 4.0 for quite a while now, and it was only when I checked out kyrub's patch that I realized that they released a version 5.0 which was supposed to be a 'Windows XP update' or something; but they changed some graphics stuff as well, for some reason. The sound is slightly different too. I can live with everything except for the map in the bottom-right. I just want to check with others about this. When I generate a 'tiny' sized map, I get the same kind of small map display in v4 and v5:

map1.png

However, when I generate a larger map, the game obviously has to resize it to fit in the same amount of 'small' map window space. With v4, this is what I see for a 'standard' size map:

map2.png

A bit fuzzy maybe, but visually pleasing to me, and I can see what's going on. The fuzziness kind of fits the atmosphere of the game, anyway. Now, here's what I see for v5:

map3.png

WTF is this? They've obviously changed the interpolation algorithm they're using to resize the map. This is ugly as heck, some of the base squares are rectangle, most are missing some borders, the orange one is missing all borders, and what has happened to the Spartan one? A red top border? lol... is this by design or is there a setting I can change to get the v4-style map back? If not, there's no way I'll be "upgrading" to v5.

[Petek]

What's the date/time stamp on the terran.exe that's causing this problem?

[jez9999]

It's kyrub's version, linked here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?6redidk4z42h1mo

[Petek]

I see what you're saying. Same things happen in SMAX v2.0. I don't know of any way to change it. Do you have the line

DirectDraw=0

in the [Alpha Centauri] section of your ini file? If not, you might try adding it (and remove any video mode=xxxx line, if present). It won't remove the graphical artifacts, but it might increase the resolution at which the game runs and make the effects less noticeable.

Some reasons to prefer v5.0 over v4.0 (in addition to the advantages of the scient/kyrub unofficial patch):

1. Fixes bug with certain factions (Hive, Morgan) not being able to pop boom via Golden Ages.
2. Fixes bug with facility maintenance costs at higher difficulty levels.
3. Fixes bug with the above-mentioned DirectDraw command.
4. Removes the requirement to have the CD in the drive when starting the game.

I noticed this change in the graphics many years ago and it doesn't bother me. Your mileage may vary.

[jez9999]

Bothers me. After I'd played a game for a while I took a glance at the map and saw a messy bunch of vaguely-coloured globules, instead of a nice map with squares on it. Whoever made the decision to change that map should be shot.