New Terrain Graphics?

[Jerh9e1k5]

Hi, I've had Alpha Centauri for about 2 yrs now but have always prefered to play civ3 because of the darker terrain graphics in AC. I've neer really sat down and played a serious game of AC, my eyes normally get strained out by then so I have to shut it off. I hope someone can reccomend a new terrain graphics set and maybe even some alternate graphics for the units and bases to match. Thanks A Lot!

Jerh9e1k5

[gwillybj]

Quite a while ago I found a "drab" texture.pcx alternate by someone known as "RGE". I just checked my bookmarked sites and I can't figure out where I got it, so I'm attaching it here. The zip is 149K. Don't unzip it directly into your SMAC folder unless you rename or move the original texture.pcx first! The is not the entire palette, just the texture.pcx file.

I'm thinking I saw an alternate palette.pcx somewhere, but I can't find it.

Another option is adjusting the Gamma Correction in the Audio/Video Preferences. This will not affect anything outside SMAC/X, because the value you choose is written into Alpha Centauri.ini.

For alternate base graphics, check the files section under the SMAC section here at Apolyton. Some of the Factions have different graphics. There are also two files with two different base graphics but no faction logos or portraits.
These sites have factions, many with alternate graphics.
Any of such pcx files can be copied and renamed to replace any of the original 14 factions. If you miss the original portraits, you can copy just the bases from another file and paste them over the original. The graphics program you use must support the pcx format. For example: MSPaint does not. JASC Paint Shop Pro does. Always save or rename the original first![list=1][*]Alpha Centauri Stuff[*]Alpha Centaury Argentina[*]The Network Node[*]The Chironian Guild[*]There used to be a place called Xenofungus, by TresXF, but the URL I have is long dead.[/list=1]

[Jerh9e1k5]

Thanks for the reply! Yes, I found the drab terrain text but those colours are still a little too dark. I'm looking for something that would resemble Civ3 graphics. Thanks a lot for the link. I was thinking perhaps I could use the paint shop pro feature "colorize" to change the colours without changing the actual image. I'm going to try that out once I get to my other computer, anyone else know where I can find some lighter graphics? I'm actually quite surprised that no one has had any trouble with this before.

[EternalSpark]

Pretty on-topic.

I download that drab thing, and I test it. I like it, but I like the old roads, rockiness, and fungus. So, I take the Drab Land, add UnDrab Things, and plop it in the game.

I like it for a while, but I'm not 100% on the ground color anymore. Its pretty nifty, but its not perfect.

I think for a moment. Ok, I dislike the normal Reddish Brown. the Drab Brown is better, but not that good, either.

I say "I know! Just make a solid brown!"

I work for 30 minutes or so, getting an actually decent brown. I put it in the game.

I attached 2 screenshots. The one on the left is the default, comes-with-the-game texture.pcx. The one on the right is my 'modification'.

[EternalSpark]

Or did I? attempt 2. Tried to edit my post, got some strange error.

[smacksim]

It might sound horrible, but I don't see the difference? Vive?

[EternalSpark]

I don't see the difference

Exactly. The best looking brown I could come up with, that took me a bit of time to find, became the same old reddish-brown that was originally in the game.

[GeoModder]

The only difference I can see, is that the fungus it's darkest patches look a bit more profound and larger.

[EternalSpark]

Well, the one change that did work - which I did seperately - was replace some of the orange bits of the fungus to a red.

[Mart]

I believe there should be gamma correction somewhere in the preferences. Have you tried that?