I can't start new games

[GeneralTacticus]

A while ago, when had been playing a very succesful game as the Spartans, I tried to start a new game but the game wouldn't let me. I went through all the world setup screens and then when the Faction Select screen should have come up I just got the Spartans faction quote without the ability to go back or forward. I had to Ctrl+Alt+Del to get rid of it. Does anyone know what's wrong? (I tried re-installing it but it didn't work).

[Mongoose]

Which game are you trying to start and how are you trying to do it? Through axstart? My first thought is that you might have done something you shouldn't have done when you made the changes for AW.

[GeneralTacticus]

Which game are you trying to start and how are you trying to do it? Through axstart? My first thought is that you might have done something you shouldn't have done when you made the changes for AW.

I'm trying to start Alien Crossfire games, using the 'run Sid Meir's Alpha Centauri Planetary PAck' thing in the SMACX folder. I don't see what I might have done wrong with AW, since all I did was load all the custom factions and add them to the list.

[Mongoose]

Can you successfullly start a game of SMAC Classic through the PP?

[GeneralTacticus]

Yep, no problem there. So it's clearly a problem with Alien Crossfire. It doesn't affect loading games at all. The Wuick Start function also works, but I don't want to have to play every single game using the same settings.

[Mongoose]

Sounds like a problem in AlphaCentauri.ini. What OS have you? Maybe mail me your .ini file? I'll compare it with mine.

[GeneralTacticus]

Sounds like a problem in AlphaCentauri.ini. What OS have you? Maybe mail me your .ini file? I'll compare it with mine.

Er what are OS and the .ini?

[Mongoose]

OS = Operating System eg. Windows 98

AlphaCentauri.ini is a text file which contains configuration settings for the game. Under Win95, in Windows explorer, the .ini extension is plainly visible. Under Win Millenium, the extension is not visible, and it can be difficult to locate the file if you aren't used to using it.

[GeneralTacticus]

Ah! My operating system is Windows 98. Here is the .ini file.

[Mongoose]

Well, it's pretty much the same as mine, except for the sequence of the lines in the file. Don't think that should matter. Might be a difference in Version or OS. Yours has two lines that I lack:

Vehicle Groups=1527
Base Sort=0

No idea what these do.

I have an idea which ought to at least determine if the problem resides in this file or not. After saving as a backup somewhere other than in the main SMAC folder, delete the .ini file and see if you can start then. If you cannot, it is probably due to something in the factions part of alphax.txt.

Wonder if we can Googlie to give this some thought?

[Archaic]

This sounds exactly like a problem I once had. How many Custom Factions do you have loaded in your alphax.txt? Over 7 and the program vomits. Reduce the total number back to 7 or less.

[GeneralTacticus]

I tried reducing the number of custom factions to seven, but the only change was that it's now the Hive quote that pops up, not the Spartan one.

[Archaic]

Hmmm...well, try removing all those custom factions. If it doesn't work then, it's something completly different.

[Lefty Scaevola]

I had something like that happen once when I load the "Generic Faction" graphics for the Network Node. Have you done that?

[RedFred]

If all else fails, unistall/reinstall.