The Altera Centauri collection has been brought up to date by Darsnan. It comprises every decent scenario he's been able to find anywhere on the web, going back over 20 years.
25 themes/skins/styles are now available to members. Check the select drop-down at the bottom-left of each page.
Call To Power 2 Cradle 3+ mod in progress: https://apolyton.net/forum/other-games/call-to-power-2/ctp2-creation/9437883-making-cradle-3-fully-compatible-with-the-apolyton-edition
Though the game is out of print technically, it has been re-released at least twice in bargain collections. The 'Laptop Collection' released in the US in 2003 is notable for bundling SMAC, Smax, and 3 other games for under $30.00.
48) Q: Can a surrendered faction sneak attack you?
A pacted faction may accidentally attack you if your units are stacked with another pact-mate with whom they are at war. This applies to 'regular' pactmates and submissive pactmates equally.
Great job re-uniting all the Q/A Illuminatus, and feel free to delete this post if you like (incorporating these answers or not).
Actually, this will serve a purpose. Additions added, credits to you also added.
SMAC/X FAQ | Chiron Archives The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. --G.B.Shaw
I've been looking on eBay (UK) recently, as the 'Laptop Collection' doesn't seem to be available at retail here and anyway, as far as I can tell it doesn't include 'printed' manuals and/or tech tree charts? Correct me if I'm wrong.
The 'Planetary Pack', which contains SMAC and SMAX, does though by the looks of it (also not available in the shops).
I got an original SMAC from eBay with printed manual and chart recently at a great price, but the Planetary Pack fetches really fancy prices here in the UK.
Of course, it's easy to get a [ahem] full version of SMAX if you know where to look, for free, although even that needs a No CD patch as there doesn't seem to be any 'clone' versions.
Last edited by FullMetalJack; November 22, 2005, 16:36.
Just an idea - why not lock the "The SMAC/X FAQ: COMMON QUESTIONS and their ANSWERS" - Top this thread or a similiar, and when some of us either by accident or luck writes something sensible, then move/copy it to the other ?
I know it may give people with ability to "blink" the lock a little more work, but cleanup would be a lot easier - just lock the old comments/corrections thread and start a new.
I seriously doubt, no matter how big letters used, that people can be prevented from "abuse" the Q/A thread.
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Originally, the first FAQ was intended to be built by user submissions. However, since it was forgotten by moderators it was soon beyond repair.
The FAQ was reconstructed from usable part from the previous one. By leaving the thread open anyone can add further submissions directly.
This FAQ will be used as intended. However, if Q/A is abused again, this time thread will be cleaned immediately.
SMAC/X FAQ | Chiron Archives The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. --G.B.Shaw
Great job putting this FAQ together and eliminating the extraneous material. I have a number of comments (mostly nitpicks!), as follows. My comments follow the bolded Comments.
And of course, I'll appreciate any comments on my comments.
10) Q: How do I get SMAC/X to run in a higher resolution/window?
A: Edit the Alpha Centauri.ini file and add 1024 to the Video Mode headings, e.g., Video Mode=800 or Video Mode=1024 forces the screen resolution to either of these two sizes(800 x 600 and 1024 x 768 pixels, respectively) . It isn't possible to run SMAC/X in anything other than a full screen.
Comment: Add the following information to the end of the answer: You also may add the line DirectDraw=0 to Alpha Centauri.ini (and remove any Video Mode= lines). This setting will force the game to run at your native Windows resolution.
12) Q: How do I become a SMAC/X master?
Comment: Recommend changing this question to "Where can I buy the most recent version of Vel's Strategy Guide?"
16) Q: In SMACX, I see a bunch of drones in the base screen. When I change to the "Psych" view from the "Resources" view to see where the drones are coming from, they aren't there. The base doesn't riot, even though it displays extra drones.
What is going on?
A: This is probably the largest bug in SMACX. There is no solution other than to review the Psych screen or to go to the F4 screen and select "Citizens". Otherwise, you cna just wait for drone riots and correct the situation after the fact. In some people's opinion, this bug alone makes SMACX unplayable and they prefer to stick with original SMAC.
Comment: Some of the remarks in the answer are simply the opinion of the author. Recommend changing the answer to:
A: This is a known bug. The only workarounds are either to review the Psych screen or to go to the F4 screen and select "Citizens". Otherwise, you can just wait for drone riots and correct the situation after the fact.
22) Q: I get a huge fungal bloom despite of not producing any ecodamage. Why?
A: In the late game, when you complete "The Voice of Planet", you trigger "The Growth Dream, which kills most of the other lifeforms on Planet". (You trigger in terms of game mechanisms. In the story line, you start The Voice of Planet right at the moment when the Growth Dream happens.) This causes fungus to grow, with all the consequences (=Mind Worms etc.) you normally get from a . This is a part of the game, you can only avoid it when you refuse to win by Transcendence. [/QUOTE]
Comment: The above answer contains two typos (something left off at the end of the sentence that begins "This causes the fungus to grow ..." and the final [/QUOTE] is unnecessary). Also, the answer strongly implies that you get Mind Worms from the VOP fungal blooms. I thought that Native Life no longer appeared after the VOP was built. Am I misremembering? Perhaps this isn't all that important, since most players usually transcend the next turn.
23) Q: How many nutrients can I get from a land square?
Comment: Isn't there some way to remove the extra spaces in the answer? I think this has come up before.
2) Q: Where can I find patches for SMAC/X?
27) Q: What are the latest patches for SMAC/X, and what is changed by the patch(es)?
Comment: Questions 2 and 27 are redundant and should be combined.
31) Is there a way to tell if a Alien Artifact has been connected to a network node? I find it a real pain not knowing which city to send an artifact to.
Comment: A line needs to be inserted above this question and a "Q:" added after the question #.The question also needs to be bolded to be consistent with the others.
33) Q: Is there anykind of mod-swapper available to swap between the alternative factions? I mean something you could just load diffrent faction packs with or compile your own coctail from diffrent faction pacs i.e. 2 faction from the alpha, 3, from beta, 1, gamma etc...
Comment: This question should be edited to make it more clear and correct typos/misspellings. Suggestion:
33) Q: Where can I find a mod-swapper to help with swapping alternative factions?
Also, the answer to this question has a typo (replace "sanario" with "scenario").
34) Q: Is there a way to increases what you get from a base upgrade, like upgrading it so that century preserve gives a slightly greater eco bonus?
Comment: The meaning of this question is unclear. Perhaps it should be changed to
34) Q: Can Centauri Preserves be modified to grant a larger eco bonus?
(The answer is still "No".)
13) Q:SMAC/X won't run under my Pentium 4, producing "Processor not supported" errors
35) Q: When launching Alpha Centauri. I receive the error message "CPU not supported". My computer has a Pentium 4 or newer CPU.
Comment: Questions 13 and 34 are redundant. Suggest deleting #13 since #35 has the correct error message and more detailed instructions for fixing. Also suggest that, in any case, the question/answer is moved closer to the beginning of the FAQ since this really is the most frequently asked question.
36) Q: What does this update do?
Comment: It's not clear to what update this question refers. The last sentence of the preceding answer? In any case, the question seems to be redundant since updates and their effects have already been addressed previously.
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.
Comment: The above paragraphs follow the answer to question #37, but appear to be misplaced. Looking at the original FAQ, they are part of the answer to question #36.
39) Q: Is it possible to create predesigned units with Fusion, Quantum or Singularity Reactors?
A: No, their is no parameter for this, aparently its a stupid oversight on Firaxisi's part
Comment: Correct typos/misspellings and remove "editorial" and speculative comments as follows:
A: No, this is not possible.
43) Q: Is there a possibility to let units go from a seabase to an adjacent landtile without the need of a transport ship in the base?
A: Yes, a landgoing unit can move from a seabase to an adjacent landtile without the need of a transport ship if there is a friendly (from pact partner or your own faction) unit standing on the target tile.
44) Q: Is there a possibility to let units go from a seabase to an adjacent landtile without the need of a transport ship in the base?
A: Also units with amphibious pods can of course move freely.
Comment: Questions #43 and #44 are the same. One question should be deleted and the two answers combined.
"The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
-- Kosh
Regarding the extra spaces, my html knowledge doesn't cover creation of such tables, so we'll have to wait until some with time and will cleans the html table.
SMAC/X FAQ | Chiron Archives The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. --G.B.Shaw
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