What's the attraction?

[zsozso]

And then it crashes the moment I make planetfall, with the following error:

X Error:  BadMatch
  Request Major code 66 ()
  Error Serial #527
  Current Serial #530

Any ideas?

That's exactly the X-bug I was referring to. It does not happen to me anymore using recent X versions.

[RJPugh]

The game has a unique atmosphere, and a story that somehow pulls you in. It reminds me of the old board games that Avalon Hill used to make, and those are still quite playable. I personally don't care that it's an older game. Sure, there are technical issues to make it run, but so far I haven't encountered a show stopper (well, I did when I tried to run it via Wine in FreeBSD, but that's another issue). SMAC/SMAX isn't old... it's classic!

Note that my all time favorite computer game is Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind, and it's pushing seven years old. I enjoy "vintage" games, since most newer games leave me cold. They may be beautiful to look at, but the game play tends to either be flat, or it's a rehash of stuff that's been done before and generally done better. Because of that, I generally opt out.

[vyeh]

Welcome, RJPugh!

Have you been playing SMAC/X since it came out in 1999?

[RJPugh]

Welcome, RJPugh!

Have you been playing SMAC/X since it came out in 1999?

Hello, all! I started playing SMAC around 2001. I remember reading the reviews when it first came out, and being intrigued, but I had other interests at the time and didn't play it right away.

I found a copy of the original SMAC in a bargain bin; it turned out to be $15 very well spent. I found the game daunting at first, but I got over that in time. The game just grew on me. I expanded to SMAX when I acquired a copy of Planetary Pack on ebay about four years ago.

[dididave]

Why play it?

It is an engaging story, multiple ways of ending it, there is a difficulty level and faction to suit everybody, it rewards you for spending time on it and it doesn't give me a headache like many 3D games too. Dungeon Keeper is still one of my favourite games too, just because something is old, doesn't make it obsolete. I still play Rainbow Islands on my my mobile phone and it still the perfect platform game. Some things cannot be surpassed.

[wshwe]

And it is too for sale.

http://www.mastertronic.com/productS...oductLabelID=1

I'd be wary of buying any game from Mastertronic. The Civ 3 Complete I bought from them has horrible copy protection.