SMAC will not run on my machine under ANY circumstances. Help!

[ChampionHyena]

For the life of me, I cannot get SMAC to run. I've tried reinstalling it, I've tried patching it, I've tried using that compatibility dealie for Windows 2000/XP, I've tried using the No-CD crack, I've edited my Alpha Centauri.ini (for ds3d AND eax AND ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm AND VideoMode), I've run it in 256 color mode in 800x600 AND 1280x768 resolution, and there are probably other steps I've tried but can't remember. Nothing will run.

When I start terran.exe, I get the standard "Your cpu is not supported" schtick, inasmuch as I use a Pentium 4. Then, one of two things happens. If I've got the ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm set to 0 in the .ini file, it kicks me back to the desktop then and there regardless of what I do. If ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm is set to 1, I get Windows telling me that "terran.exe has encountered an error and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience" followed by an option to send MS an error report.

My .ini file follows:
[Alpha Centauri]
MainFontSize=16
InterludeFontSize=16
ds3d=1
eax=1
FastUnitAnim=0
SmoothUnitAnim=0
[PREFERENCES]
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
VideoMode=1024

HELP MEEE.

[Darsnan]

There are several instances of what you refer to described in the SMACX FAQ Thread . Hopefully one of these will solve your problem. Also, I didn't see you specifically state that you have the SMAX 2.0 patch, as this could be the solution as well. Hope this helps.


D

[fender]

I don't know if this will help or not, but mine has always worked fine and I've never had any mention of a video mode in my .ini

Maybe try getting rid of that. That's my only suggestion.

[ChampionHyena]

Well, I combed through the FAQ thread before I came here, and that's why I posted instead of just following the FAQ. None of those solutions seem to work, and I don't have the SMAX 2.0 patch inasmuch as I do not have Alien Crossfire installed. Should I find the expansion pack in this Wide, Wide World of Internet, I'll install it and see if there's a difference, but I've got the most recent SMAC patch and it's done nothing for me. Likewise, removal of the video mode line hasn't helped either. I do appreciate the help, though.

[Petek]

In your original post, you stated:

"I've tried using that compatibility dealie for Windows 2000/XP"

Does this mean that you installed the WinXP/2000 compatibility patch? Or did you try running the game in Win95 compatibility mode?

Whichever one you did, try the other.

Another possibility is a problem with your Alpha Centauri.ini file. Try substituting the following one for yours:

[Alpha Centauri]
ds3d=1
eax=1
DirectDraw=0
FastUnitAnim=0
SmoothUnitAnim=0
MainFontSize=16
InterludeFontSize=16
DisableOpeningMovie=1
Prefs Format=12
Difficulty=5
Map Type=0
Top Menu=0
Faction=4
Preferences=10111011111000011001110110001110
More Preferences=111110101111011111010100
Semaphore=00000000
Announce=111111111011111111
Rules=1100000001110
Customize=2
Custom World=4, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
Time Controls=1
Faction 1=GAIANS
Faction 2=HIVE
Faction 3=UNIV
Faction 4=MORGAN
Faction 5=SPARTANS
Faction 6=BELIEVE
Faction 7=PEACE
Latest Save=
Latest Scenario=
Main Volume=127
Voice Volume=85
Music Volume=63
SFX Volume=95
WindowsFileBox=0

[PREFERENCES]
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
Video Mode=1024

[Senethro]

I've a friend with the exact same problem as has been described here. In a year of tinkering and reading apolyton no progress has been made. If you come up with a solution please post it.

[Kaboth]

You said you'd upgraded your SMAC version to the latest version. Just for your reference that should be version 4.0.

It is possibly however unlikely that some background problems could be interfering with the running of SMAC. I know when I got Service Pack 2 for XP my Starcraft CD would no longer be read untill I closed my Zonealarm firewall. Particularly try closing antivirus and firewalls but also non-essesntial programs through running msconfig and task manager. Its a long shot but you never know.

Also you never mentioned if you'd done a complete install I have and mine works. I also have the forceoldvoxel change and the Windows XP patch (But I think I didn't need that for just SMAC ONLY for SMACX)..

If you keep reading this post, I'll try and do a reinstall myself tomorrow in a seperate directory and report step by step how I did it.

[Engineer77]

Thanks Petek for your post. I replaced my ini file with yours and although it gave the same error message initially i was able to get the game running.

I have an original P4 1.4GHz dell running win XP. I ran all the patches and had the same symptoms as Champion Hyena. Thanks for you help.