Having trouble installing on XP

[17n0n72]

I can't install my Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire on my computer. I have Windows XP, have gone to their website to download a supossed fix and it still gives the same error message (not enough memory?). any help out there?

[Skanky Burns]

No idea. Fwiw it installed fine on my XP machine.
Maybe you have run out of h/d space?

[Barinthus]

Same here, Skanky. I'm sick of that error message everytime I load the game (this game is not supported by your cpu but you may proceed if you wish... or something like that), although.

[vmxa1]

Can you capture the screen of the msg and post it? I have been thinking of getting this game again and I have XP PRO.

[17n0n72]

I've got plenty of space. The patch i installed said it was supposed to fix the "not enough memory" problem but it hasn't.

[Method]

It works fine for me, I'm running XP pro.

[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.

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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.

[17n0n72]

hey, thanks for the info...i thought i tried this before and it didn't work but it works now....great game

[Kaboth]

Glad to help I rather wish someone would just sticky a post like this. I seem to have posted this stuff about 3 times within the last month

I myself did not know what to do on XP once upon a time so I know how frustrating it can be trying to get it to work.

[Skanky Burns]

Well, you post in its entirety is now a part of the topped FAQ. Not that I think it will decrease the frequency of threads like this, but we can point to it so much easier than having to write it out each time.

[Kaboth]

Nice work

[Barinthus]

Most of the time people who ask this questions are often brand-new to this forums, I would suppose. So telling them to search or go over there isn't exactly that welcoming. Provide them with a link they can go to themselves is good although.