Alpha Centauri on Vista 64 SP2

[Soran]

Hi,

I have tried the suggestions from the older threads, but they don't seem to help. I am hoping perhaps someone would have other suggestions.

What I am trying to do is to get SMAX to run on Vista SP2. Here is what happens:

- no problem with installation from planetary pack CD at all
- no problem with patch to SMAX 2.0
- no problem with XP/2000 compatibility patch

So far so good. Now, when I run terranx.exe "as administrator", the splash screen with the needle jet appears, there is some activity in the CD drive, and then the program silently quits.

When I try running SMAC by running terran.exe "as administrator", the screen blinks and it quits silently. No splash screen, no CD activity.

In both cases, the game doesn't get far enough to create the configuration file "alpha centauri.ini". I have downloaded a copy and put it in the game directory anyway, and included

ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
DirectDraw=0

I have tried fiddling with the different compatibility mode settings, as well as the Microsoft Application Compatibility Manager. They don't seem to make any difference.

I don't have any computer running XP here anymore, so it would be a real shame if it wouldn't run on Vista 64.

[Petek]

Howdy Soran!

Welcome to Apolyton. It sounds like you've tried most of the tips in this post, but have a look anyway. Also, you might try uninstalling, applying SMAC patch 4.0, then the XP/2000 compatibility patch, and then SMAX 2.0. Our FAQ suggests that SMAC 4.0 isn't necessary, but it might be after all. Finally, if none of these suggestions help, try a fresh install with SMAC 4.0 and SMAX 2.0, but not the XP/2000 compatibility patch. In some cases the compatibility patch hurts rather than helps. Please post again if none of these suggestions help.

Petek

[Soran]

Thanks for the reply. I will try to include as much detail as I can, hopefully this information will be useful to someone else as well.

Platform: Windows Vista 64 SP2 Business

1. Unpatched Planetary Pack Install

Most attempts end with the game silently quit after showing the splash screen and CD drive activity.
alpha centauri.ini is not generated.

terran.exe and terranx.exe "run as administrator".

Compatibility Mode
Vista                           splash + CD + silently quit
Windows 95                      terran.icd has stopped working
Windows 98/ME                   terran.icd has stopped working
Windows NT4 SP5                 please insert correct CD
Windows 2000                    splash + CD + silently quit
Windows XP SP2                  splash + CD + silently quit
Windows Server 2003 SP1         splash + CD + silently quit

2. Planetary Pack + SMAC 4.0 patch

Most of the time the game silently quits. alpha centauri.ini is not generated.

terran.exe "run as administrator".

Compatibility Mode
Vista                           silently quit
Windows 95                      terran.exe has stopped working
Windows 98/ME                   terran.exe has stopped working
Windows NT4 SP5                 silently quit
Windows 2000                    silently quit
Windows XP SP2                  silently quit
Windows Server 2003 SP1         silently quit

3. Planetary Pack + SMAX 2.0 patch

Most of the time the game silently quits after showing the splash screen and CD drive activity.
alpha centauri.ini is not generated.

terranx.exe "run as administrator".

Compatibility Mode
Vista                           splash + CD + silently quit
Windows 95                      terranx.icd has stopped working
Windows 98/ME                   terranx.icd has stopped working
Windows NT4 SP5                 please insert correct CD
Windows 2000                    splash + CD + silently quit
Windows XP SP2                  splash + CD + silently quit
Windows Server 2003 SP1         splash + CD + silently quit

4. Planetary Pack + SMAC 4.0 patch + SMAX 2.0 patch + XP compatibility patch

Most of the time the game silently quits after showing the splash screen and CD drive activity.
alpha centauri.ini is not generated.

terran.exe "run as administrator".

Compatibility Mode
Vista                           silently quit
Windows 95                      terran.exe has stopped working
Windows 98/ME                   terran.exe has stopped working
Windows NT4 SP5                 silently quit
Windows 2000                    silently quit
Windows XP SP2                  silently quit
Windows Server 2003 SP1         silently quit

terranx.exe "run as administrator".

Compatibility Mode
Vista                           splash + CD + silently quit
Windows 95                      terranx.icd has stopped working
Windows 98/ME                   terranx.icd has stopped working
Windows NT4 SP5                 please insert correct CD
Windows 2000                    splash + CD + silently quit
Windows XP SP2                  splash + CD + silently quit
Windows Server 2003 SP1         splash + CD + silently quit

Any thoughts? Does anyone have experience getting it work under Vista 64 or 32? Most of the previous posts did not specify whether they are using 32-bit or 64-bit version of Vista.

[Petek]

I didn't realize that you had the Planetary Pack (PP). The PP, when installed, patches SMAC to v4.0 and SMAX to v2.0. So the only patch that's not installed is the Win 2K/XP patch. This patch is needed only for SMAC, so if you intend to play only SMAX, it isn't needed (and as I mentioned, some found that the game runs only if this patch isn't installed).

I found a thread on another forum (post #10) in which someone reported success with installing and playing the game under Vista 64-bit. Here are some other suggestions that have worked in the past:

1. Disable User Account Control.
2. Disable anti-virus and anti-malware program(s).
3. Disable your firewall.

If none of these work, then I suspect a conflict with your video card or drivers. If necessary, update your drivers and/or try different video settings (resolution, colors, etc.).

Hope this helps. If not, please post again.

Petek

[Soran]

Thanks for your reply, Petek.

I have done a fresh reinstall of Planetary Pack again to give it another go. I skipped all the other patches this time, and I have turned anti-virus, firewall and UAC off as advised.

When I launch terranx.exe, the splash screen appears, the CD drive screeches and then the game silently quit. Here is the error that appears in the Event Viewer:

Faulting application TERRANX.ICD, version 0.0.0.0, time stamp 0x385e91ff, faulting module TERRANX.ICD, version 0.0.0.0, time stamp 0x385e91ff, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x001f7e90, process id 0x1394, application start time 0x01cabbd6cedb7608.

The video card driver is up-to-date, and Vista is fully-patched.

I have tried running at 1024x768 at 16-bit colours as well, same thing. The video card is Nvidia Quadro FX 570M.

[Soran]

Just for the heck of it, I tried running terranx.exe in safe mode as well, mainly to rule out video card driver incompatibility. The game crashes just like before, with the same error in error log.

[Petek]

In the error message that you posted, I think (but am not certain) that it's pointing to a problem with process 1394. Since process ids are dynamic (i.e., change over time), generate a new crash, and find the value of "process id 0x????" in the log. Then open Task Manager and look on the Processes tab for a PID with that value. If possible, disable the process, reboot, and see what happens. (I recommend disabling the process via the windows interface instead of just killing it in Task Manager, but I don't know how to do so in Vista. If necessary, I can tell you how to do it in XP. It's probably the same or similar.)

Petek

[Petek]

After thinking some more, process 1394 is probably the ID assigned to SMAX. If so, you won't find it in Task Manager and so it won't be of any help.

Petek

[Soran]

Yeah, I am pretty sure the process ID including in the error log corresponds to SMAX.

[Petek]

Well, not too many more ideas.

1. Does your system have any non-standard hardware devices? If so, you could disable them and see if that has any effect.

2. I know that you booted into safe mode. Have you used msconfig? That may allow you to disable more services to see if one of them is causing a conflict.

3. Perhaps this is a DirectX problem. I seem to recall that Vista uses version 11, but that it's possible to install v10, and also keep v11. If so, that might be worth trying.

Petek

[Soran]

Thanks again for your reply, Petek.

This is probably a dumb question, but how do you keep different versions of DirectX in the same OS installation? How can I find out whether I already have multiple versions of DirectX installed already?

When I ran dxdiag, it says DirectX 11 is installed.

[Petek]

I must've been thinking of something else. Google seems to show that DirectX 11 incorporates earlier versions and selects the appropriate one. Anyway, I have one other suggestion. It's not supposed to be discussed openly on this board, so I'll send you a PM. It probably won't help, but there's always a chance.

Petek

[Soran]

For future reference, the issue is still outstanding. If anyone has success getting SMAX running on Vista 64 SP2, we would love to hear your experience.

[scient]

The problem is ancient copy protection on newer system. I had same problem on win7 x64 (close enough to vista x64) where ACX wouldn't start. Recommendation is to find no cd with protection removed (still need cd in drive or mount disc image) or snag unofficial patch which also has protection removed.

[Petek]

@scient,

Soran tried the unofficial patch (info was exchanged via PMs), but it didn't help.

Petek