please help me!

[fleeda]

Hi!

I have a wierd problem. I have been in contact with EA support but they seem uncapable to help me, though I feel it propably is a very easy problem to fix.
My problem is that
When I start a new game, everything is fine. But when I save that game and quit, and later load it to continue playing, THEN the SCENARIO EDITOR mode automatically kicks in.
I mean, the problem is the big red letters telling me I have CHEATED in the alpha centauri score window. The reason is the Scenario EDITOR Mode once started, SMAC consider me as a cheater. If I knew why the scenario mode activates by itself when I load a saved game, maybe I easy could fix it, alter the settings so it will not start (as long as I don´t press Ctrl+K). I have looked in the manual and in menues in the game but nowhere I find information about this. I get the impression that it even sholdn´t be possible to start the game with scenario mode activated. Could you please help me?
By the way. This problem is with SMAC version 4.0 and SMACX 2.0. The game works normal when I play SMAC version 1.1 or whatever it´s called.

[Lord Nword]

Maybe a reinstall if you haven't already tried that.

[fleeda]

I have tried that. But I still think it might help. Cause I do believe it has worked long time ago, like the first time I installed it or something like that...

[Darsnan]

Re: please help me!

Originally posted by fleeda

When I start a new game, everything is fine. But when I save that game and quit, and later load it to continue playing, THEN the SCENARIO EDITOR mode automatically kicks in.

You mean your actually able to stop yourself from playing an entire game at one sitting?

Originally posted by fleeda
I mean, the problem is the big red letters telling me I have CHEATED in the alpha centauri score window. The reason is the Scenario EDITOR Mode once started, SMAC consider me as a cheater. If I knew why the scenario mode activates by itself when I load a saved game, maybe I easy could fix it, alter the settings so it will not start (as long as I don´t press Ctrl+K). I have looked in the manual and in menues in the game but nowhere I find information about this. I get the impression that it even sholdn´t be possible to start the game with scenario mode activated. Could you please help me?
By the way. This problem is with SMAC version 4.0 and SMACX 2.0. The game works normal when I play SMAC version 1.1 or whatever it´s called.

OK, so if I understand the replies correctly you have already tried a reload and it hasn't fixed your problem? If so have you tried setting up a multiplayer game, saving off, and then seeing if the the same problem exists when you open the multiplayer game? Also, how about a game generated by another player's machine (i.e. a completely seperate edition of the game). Finally, what language version do you have( although I don't think it makes any difference, why I am just trying to analyze all the possibilities here)?
The answers to the above questions might help you narrow down the issue your experiencing. Hope it helps!


D

[Lord Nword]

Another thing to try would be to start a hotseat game with just one player... My guess is that you can't start Scen Editor in the middle of any multiplayer game... Not sure though.

[Petek]

Other things to try:

* Rename your Alpha Centauri.ini file, start a new game and save it. Reload the save. Did this fix it?

* Can you post a game save so that we can see if the same thing happens on another system?

[fleeda]

Thanks for the tips everyone! If I understood you all right, I think i have done everything you suggested, without any good resuslts. Here I attach a savefile, so you nice people could check if the savefile do the same to your system, I mean that the Scenario Editor kicks in when you load the game save file.

[fleeda]

Here is the text from my Alpha Centauri.ini file:
Is there any document that tells what every number means? Could it work to change anything?

[PREFERENCES]
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=0
[Alpha Centauri]
ds3d=1
eax=1
FastUnitAnim=0
SmoothUnitAnim=0
MainFontSize=16
InterludeFontSize=16
DisableOpeningMovie=0
Prefs Format=12
Difficulty=1
Map Type=0
Top Menu=3
Faction=5
Preferences=10111011111000011101110110110110
More Preferences=1110100111000101101000
Semaphore=00000000
Announce=111100001110101001
Rules=1101000001110
Customize=0
Custom World=0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
Time Controls=1
Faction 1=CYBORG
Faction 2=PIRATES
Faction 3=DRONE
Faction 4=ANGELS
Faction 5=FUNGBOY
Faction 6=CARETAKE
Faction 7=USURPER
Latest Save=d:\program\multimedia\SMAC\saves\Cha Dawn of the Planet Cult, 2111
Latest Scenario=
WindowsFileBox=0


BTW, is it possible that I do something wrong when installing?

[BlackCat]

I have the planetary pack (smac 3.0 / smacx 2.0) and cannot run the save with smac but i works fine with smax 2.0.

I'm a little confused - how has you got roze into smac ? Have you in any way fiddled with setup files ?

About reinstall - did you uninstall - remove any leftovers and then installed ?

[fleeda]

I found this ot a SMAC site: I remeber I did this some years ago... Maybe it will work... Why do not ea or firaxis any information about this!?

HOW TO INSTALL THE v.4 PATCH
- 1st install SMAC from CD
- 2nd call SMAC and start a new game, make minumim 2 turns.
- Exit SMAC
- Expand the patch 4 file to an empty directory
- Secure that the old files are not set to "read only", therefore you may easy call the DOS command "attrib -r *.*" in the SMAC directory.
- Copy now the expanded files of the patch over the old files in SMAC directory.

[fleeda]

Blackcat: Yes I removed all leftovers.

ANd I have SMACX 2.0 and SMAC 4.0. I have not made anything with the setup files...

[Petek]

I loaded your .sav file into my version of SMAX. It worked fine. The scenario editor didn't start and my score didn't show cheated. I also saved the game again and reloaded. Still no problem.

I also replaced my Alpha Centauri.ini with the one you provided. I had to change

ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=0

to

ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1

to get the game to work. I suggest that you also make the same change and see what happens. What Operating System is on your PC? If it's Windows 2000 or XP, you should download and install the compatibilty patch from here:

http://www.firaxis.com/downloads_product.cfm?product=1,2,7

Hope this helps.

[fleeda]

I have already tried that. But maybe I will try it again. Now I am going to install everything from the beginning and try to install the v4 patch in that special way described some posts before this. I wonder, should I install Alpha Centauri v.1.1 from EA classics CD or Alpha Centauri v.4 from orginal CD? The v.4 CD installation doesnt need any patch it seems. At other hand it feels like more natural to install that one and not v.1.1... But if I install v.1.1 and than add the v.4 patch, will that game be the same as it would be if I installed everything from the v.4 CD?

[fleeda]

I installed ALpha Centauri v1.0i from my EA classics CD. Then I played some turns closed it down, and pasted the v.4 patch files into the smac folder. And now I do not have any problem with scenario editor attacks or "cheated" statements. But I have not yet dare to install Alien Crossfire and it´s v.2 patch. But I guess I will do that soon. Hope it still works fine after that...

[Barinthus]

hang in there, fleeda! Hope you will be able to resolve your woes.