Warnings
- The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view and isometric 4X and TBS game.
The game received the Alien Crossfire expansion in October 1999, and the two were bundled in the Planetary Pack compilation in April 2000.
On modern systems, the game suffers from compatibility issues, which can be alleviated by using PRACX for stable rendering and widescreen/windowed mode support. The unofficial patches also bring numerous fixes for gameplay itself.
General information
- Throughout the article, the common abbreviations are used to differentiate the base game from the expansion: SMAC denotes Alpha Centauri, SMAX denotes Alien Crossfire.
- alphacentauri2.info - Active Alpha Centauri modding, patching and multiplayer community.
- Civilization Wiki - A detailed wiki for all Civilization games and their spin offs
- Apolyton Civilization Site's Alpha Centauri section - A huge forum dedicated to all Civilization games and their spin offs.
- GOG.com Community Discussions
- GOG.com Support Page
Availability
Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
Retail |
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The game will run without the CD if you have performed a full install. SecuROM DRM otherwise. |
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GOG.com |
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Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack. |
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Origin (unavailable) |
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- A free demo version is available from GameFront: Windows, Mac OS.
Version differences
- Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack includes the base game and the Alien Crossfire expansion.
Monetization
Type |
Notes |
Expansion pack
| The expansion pack includes 7 new factions, 2 of which are alien which bring their own gameplay differences, as well as new units, structures, technologies and a faction editor. |
One-time game purchase
| The game requires an upfront purchase to access. |
DLC and expansion packs
Name |
Notes |
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Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire |
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Essential improvements
In-game general settings.
In-game advanced settings.
Patches
- For the original Alpha Centauri release, install the Alpha Centauri v4.0 update and then the XP Compatibility patch.
- For the original Alien Crossfire release, install the Alien Crossfire v2.0 update (English, French, German) and then the XP Compatibility patch.
- For the Planetary Pack or EA's Laptop Pack, just install the XP Compatibility patch.
- For the Japanese version, install the Japanese 1.01 patch.
Unofficial patches
- The unmodified game is filled with exploits and prone to crashing. The patches below will fix the vast majority of crashes and bugs.
- Yitzi's patch (SMAX only) - built on kyrub's SMAX patch and scient's patch (see below), and contains even more fixes as it was developed for a longer time. The correct download order is v3.5 and then v3.5d.
- kyrub's patch (SMAC, SMAX version not recommended) - aimed primarily at improving AI performance but also fixing some bugs. The SMAX version has only minor AI improvements and is superseded by Yitzi's patch.
- scient's patch (SMAC and SMAX) - fixes bugs, crashes and exploits and includes text file improvements.
Recommendation
Install Yitzi's patch for SMAX and either kyrub's or scient's for SMAC.
Notes
- Yitzi's patch breaks backwards compatibility for
alphax.txt
. Old scenarios that require a custom version of that file require manual changes. This will not be a concern for most users. Some newer scenarios make use of Yitzi's patch, however.
- The patches' AI improvements do not make the AI too hard for new players, and instead aim for a reasonable level of challenge at "Librarian" difficulty. Tweaks mostly involve teaching the AI how to perform sufficiently well without cheating.
PRACX
PRACX is an open-source modified graphics renderer for Alpha Centauri with a number of stability improvements and features. For Alien Crossfire, it is intended to be used with Yitzi's patch.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
- It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.
Save game data location
System |
Location |
Windows |
<path-to-game>\saves[Note 3] |
macOS (OS X) |
$HOME/Library/Application Support/GOG.com/Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/saves |
Mac OS (Classic) |
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Linux |
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Video
In-game audio/video settings.
Edit configuration file[citation needed]
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- Go to the installation folder.
- Open
Alpha Centauri.ini .
- Add
DirectDraw=0 under [Alpha Centauri]
- The game will now run at the desktop's resolution
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Input
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
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Surround sound |
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Subtitles |
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All voiced dialogue except advisor clips is subtitled in the interface. |
Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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EAX support |
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EAX support was added with 2.0 update[2] |
Royalty free audio |
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Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
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French |
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Retail only. |
German |
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Retail only. German text/audio/video files have to be copied over from the retail version. Due to game values and display texts being in the same file, many unofficial patches will overwrite German retail files. |
Italian |
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Retail only. |
Japanese |
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Retail only. |
Spanish |
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Retail only, download |
Network
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Issues fixed
The game hangs
AMD/ATI compatibility
The GOG.com store page recommends using Catalyst 13.4 or earlier, but the game also works with 14.x.[citation needed]
Alt-Tab not functioning
- Applies to the GOG.com distribution only.
Disable compatibility shim[4]
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- Open a command prompt as administrator.
cd <path-to-game>
sdbinst -u goggame.sdb
Notes
- If problems occur by removing the shim, it can be restored with
sdbinst goggame.sdb using the similar process.
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Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
DirectDraw |
6 |
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Executable | PPC | 16-bit |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows | | |
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macOS (OS X) | | | |
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Intel support only available in the 2013 GOG release. |
Linux | | | |
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Alpha workstation support is also included. |
Mac OS (Classic) | | | |
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Modifications
Using SMAC/X Mod Manager[citation needed]
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Allows the installations of mods for the game.
- Source code of the mod manager can be found here
- Download the latest non-Python version of the program here.
- Extract the content of the archive to an easily accessible folder (not to the
<path-to-game> )
- Run
SMACXLauncher.exe .
- Go to options tab and
<path-to-game> . Allow the mod manager to make a backup.
- Put mods into the mods directory. Make sure to follow the instructions located in the text file in the mods directory
- Enable them with the launcher by moving them to the right and clicking Apply.
- If multiple mods are enabled, mods further down the list override any files that are also shared by mods earlier in the list.
To remove mods:
- Launch
SMACXLauncher.exe .
- Move unwanted mods to the left.
- Click Apply, then force.
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- Allows the content of the original game to be played in the SMAX engine.
- Source code for the latest version can be found here
- Allows SMAC to take advantage of the bugfixes and unofficial patches for the SMAX engines
- Allows the use of mods that are designed for the SMAX engine.
- An AI improvement mod for Alien Crossfire.
- The developer of the mod recommends the use of PRACX and smac-in-smax with this mod.
- Increases challenges in singleplayer due with AI improvements and many gameplay enhancements.
- Includes the Scient patch v2.0.
- May not be suitable for new players due to increased difficulty
- Network multiplayer is not supported[5]
- Some custom scenario rules in "Edit Scenario Rules" menus are not fully supported.
- Overhauls many game mechanics.
- Includes AI improvements, rebalanced factions, additional map sizes (80x160 and 128x256), and other tweaks.
- Compatible with the Scient unofficial binary patch v2.0 and higher, and expected to work with the PRACX unofficial binary patch.
- Open-source engine recreation for Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire.
- Source code can be found here
- Project still in alpha.
System requirements
Windows | Mac OS (Classic) | macOS (OS X) | Linux |
Windows |
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Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
95, 98 | |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 133 MHz
| Intel Pentium 200 MHz |
System memory (RAM) |
16 MB |
32 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
60 MB | |
Video card (GPU) |
2 MB of VRAM | |
Mac OS |
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Minimum |
Operating system (OS) |
7.6 |
Processor (CPU) |
PowerPC 603 180MHz |
System memory (RAM) |
32 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
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macOS (OS X) |
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Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
10.6.8 | |
Processor (CPU) |
1.8 GHz | |
System memory (RAM) |
512 MB |
1 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
2 GB | |
Notes
References