SMAC Patch Problems and XP

[Silver14]

Having recently dug up my old SMAC CD I thought I would start playing this again. Which I can but only the raw install V1.0. Patching it seems to be a problem but at least I can play. I was hopeing for some understanding of problems I'm running into with the patches.

With the raw install in the default directory on startup I get a black screen with two black buttons which I am guessing is the same error I get with the V4.0 patch.



I can click on the left "button" and the game seems to work ok from there with the raw install.

When I downloaded the V4.0 patch from Firaxis on startup I get a legiable message:



If I click 'Ok' or 'Cancel' for that matter the game just closes up.

When I try to install the XP patch with either the V1.0 SMAC or V4.0 SMAC I get this error:



I figure this may be less a SMAC error then something with the OS. Is there something else I need to install, or a service that is required? Anyone know the means of getting the XP patch to work? I figure if I can install it the game will work fine, and patched.

I have a P4 CPU 3.06gh 800b with hypertrheading enabled. Running XP Pro w/SP2.

[Illuminatus]

From the topped Frequently Asked Questions thread:

34) Q: When launching Alpha Centauri. I receive the error message "CPU not supported". My computer has a Pentium 4 or newer CPU.

A: 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.

[Silver14]

Thanks.

I did poke around the FAQ but missed that part. I should have used the 'find' function for CPU. I'm still at a loss as to why the XP patch won't run but I guess it doesn't matter much.

You can delete this thread if you wish.

Thanks!