787 lines
38 KiB
Plaintext
787 lines
38 KiB
Plaintext
Monotype is a trademark of Monotype Typography Limited registered in
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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and certain other jurisdictions.
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Arial is a trademark of The Monotype Corporation registered in U.S.
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Patent and Trademark Office and certain other jurisdictions.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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SID MEIER'S ALPHA CENTAURI PLANETARY PACK
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(c) 1999-2000 Electronic Arts. All rights reserved.
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README.TXT
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1/29/00
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-----------------------------------------------
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CONTENTS OF README.TXT:
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-----------------------------------------------
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1. CHANGES IN ALIEN CROSSFIRE VERSION 2.0
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Fixes
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2. CHANGES IN ALIEN CROSSFIRE VERSION 1.0
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Additions\Enhancements
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Fixes
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3. CHANGES IN ALPHA CENTAURI VERSION 3.0
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Additions\Enhancements
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Fixes
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4. CHANGES IN ALPHA CENTAURI VERSION 2.0
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Additions\Enhancements
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Fixes
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5. UNINSTALL INFO
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6. SINGLE PLAYER
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Improving Performance
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New features
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Complete Install
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Gamma Correction
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Windows NT
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CPU overclocking
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Movie Performance
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Additional Tweaks
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Troubleshooting
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7. MULTIPLAYER
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New Features
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Non-Simultaneous Multiplayer
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Restarting Multiplayer
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Voice over data Troubleshooting
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Voice link tips
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Known problems
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Troubleshooting
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Scenarios
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8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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-----------------------------------------------
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-----------------------------------------------
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CHANGES IN ALIEN CROSSFIRE VERSION 2.0
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-----------------------------------------------
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FIXES:
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· You can now airdrop units into your own bases.
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· The correct voiceovers for Alien Crossfire base facilities now play the
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first time you build them.
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· Pirates can no longer capture units that are defending a base.
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· Alien probe teams now use the correct art.
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· The Cyborg faction now correctly has the Technology Steal ability.
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· It is now possible to rescue a captured faction leader.
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· Base facilities no longer cost less than they should at Thinker and
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Transcend difficulty levels.
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· In some instances a Golden Age would not produce a population boom. It now
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does.
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· AXStart.exe will now switch to a resolution it supports.
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· The Sid and Brian factions can now be loaded in the Faction Editor.
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· Occasionally refugees from a captured base would appear at coordinates
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0,0. This is fixed.
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· The Maritime Control Center now grants a defensive bonus against naval
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units for player controlled factions.
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· Psi Artillery combat strength is now calculated correctly.
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· Some special abilities were not reflected correctly in automatically
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designed units.
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· The Right-click menu's version of airdrop now correctly uses movement
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points.
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· You can no longer have a pact brother support one of your factions units.
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· The 'Aliens capture your base' interlude now correctly displays, even if
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the base captured was obliterated.
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· All satellites can now be added to the build queue, even if currently in
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production.
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· Miscellaneous text fixes.
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· Base population no longer 'rolls over' when it reaches 127.
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· Native artillery units no longer get a 'hasty' penalty when attacking.
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· Drone revolts no longer can select aliens as new masters.
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· The Faction Editor now correctly updates bonuses on the Faction page.
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· The Faction Editor now correctly loads free units and free abilities.
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· The Faction Editor now correctly saves bonus technologies.
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· The Drone faction now correctly includes the Base Revolt ability of 75%
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· During a random game, if an Alien faction is selected, and there is
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another random slot, there will be two Alien factions in the game.
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CHANGES IN ALIEN CROSSFIRE VERSION 1.0
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-----------------------------------------------
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UNDOCUMENTED ADDITIONS:
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· Sea Borders: coastal bases now extend borders into the sea for all squares
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adjacent to the base. Nearby water bases do not affect these borders.
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· Detonating a fungal missile may now trigger native life forms from dormant
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spores. The higher the reactor level, the greater the number of spores.
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· Fungal Towers receive a 50% bonus when attacked, due to their ability to
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co-ordinate and direct native life forms in the vicinity.
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· A Progenitor faction controlling the Manifold Nexus receives +1 Research
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in addition to +1 Planet.
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· The Manifold Usurpers have a -1 Planet due to their intent to subvert the
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Transcendence process.
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· The Cybernetic Consciousness may steal technology when capturing a base,
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regardless of the rules preference set at the beginning.
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· The Data Angels now get any technology discovered by three other factions
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with whom they have an infiltrator.
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· Any units adjacent to a mind controlled base fall under the control of the
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probe teams faction.
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· The Dissociative Wave now works on offense.
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· The manual states that an alien may be in a submission pact and not affect
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a diplomatic victory; this is not true. For a human faction to win a
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diplomatic victory, both alien factions must be completely eliminated from
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the game, regardless of their Pact status.
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NOTE: Alien Crossfire now contains all the additions/enhancements
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and fixes to Alpha Centauri 1.0 that were contained in the
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downloadable updates, V2.0 through 4.0.
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ADDITIONS\ENHANCEMENTS:
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· Check out the new landmark: the Manifold Nexus, a ruined remnant of an
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extensive alien complex with a mysterious relationship to the Planet itself.
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The faction possessing the Nexus inside its territory enjoys an improved
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relationship with Planet (+1 on the Social Engineering scale).
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· You can now see AI player's social engineering settings.
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· Wheelmouse support implemented for most listboxes and when picking
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production choices.
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FIXES:
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· Singularity reactors now have 40 HP, so they are balanced in psi combat.
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· The AI no longer can use missiles beyond their designated range.
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· You can no longer use long-range fire via right-click when out of range of
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the target.
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· Automated formers no longer build bunkers prior to having the required
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technology.
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· The Self-Aware Colony now correctly halves maintenance.
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· The Space Elevator now correctly doubles mineral production when building
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satellites.
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· Units should no longer switch their home bases automatically.
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· The game no longer locks up when all players choose factions in a MP
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scenario that aren't present and END OF TURN is selected.
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· Airdropped transports no longer leave cargo behind.
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· You can no longer switch the AI's governor settings from the F4 screen.
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· If you zoom to a base from the F4 Base Operations screen, when you return
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to the F4 screen you can now use the PgUp and PgDn hotkeys to scroll the
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window.
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· Loading a map in the scenario editor after generating one now updates the
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minimap.
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-----------------------------------------------
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CHANGES IN ALPHA CENTAURI VERSION 3.0
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-----------------------------------------------
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The v3.0 update to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri includes several additions and
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enhancements, largely in response to customer feedback, as well as a more
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small fixes. A complete list of v3.0 changes is included below.
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ADDITIONS\ENHANCEMENTS:
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· Added a new landmark, the Borehole Cluster.
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· Overall game performance improved due to continuing code optimization.
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· Added your total Council votes to the bottom of the Comm menu.
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· Adjusted armor costs for air units.
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· Adjusted global warming algorithm to make "ecological death spiral" less
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likely. Added ALPHA.TXT controls for global warming.
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· ALPHA.TXT controls for maximum damage inflicted by artillery.
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· One of the cycling info displays now shows # of council votes.
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· New council proposals shown on datalinks for technologies which enable
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them.
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· Ctrl+Shift+W toggles fog-of-war preference.
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· Alpha Centauri.INI option to force preferences not to be reset whenever
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players start a new game at lowest difficulty level.
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"DontResetBeginnerPrefs=1"
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· A few new ALPHA.TXT options related to time limits & atrocities.
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· You can set "DisableOpeningMovie=1" to the alpha centauri.ini file to only
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disable the opening movie.
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· Added a right-click menu to base production screen so you can obsolete
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units, etc.
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· AI: The autodesigner no longer puts loads of armor on sea terraformers &
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sea colony pods.
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· AI: The Autodesigner will now put Deep Radar on artillery units.
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· AI: Governors won't build Genejack Factories or Punishment Spheres.
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· AI: Tweaked diplomatic AI to better understand certain situations and
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tricks. Among other things, AI will be more aware of situations where one of
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the parties has a significant advantage in weapons technology.
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· AI: Tweaked military AI to build somewhat less artillery.
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· AI: Improved AI understanding of global warming & solar shades.
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FIXES:
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· Planetary Governor now have packet sniffer access to all factions.
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· Dead factions no longer prevent a Planetary Governor veto.
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· "O" w/ supply crawlers now let you add to production.
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· The menu option for Automate Mag-Tubes now un-greys.
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· Square detail readout is now always correct.
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· Rovers can no longer retreat from combat onto a unity pod.
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· You no longer get "unable to allocate draw buffer" error message when
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dragging a technician onto the map in the base screen.
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· You can no longer start building two boreholes next to each other.
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· You can no longer enter 0< numbers in the custom map size.
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· Transcendent Thought breakthroughs no longer continuously loop.
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· Scroll bars for the "Give City" menu.
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· You now can't blame eliminated factions with probe team actions.
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· The Current Production at a base is now the top slot of the queue.
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· Randomizing a faction's social agenda now changes the faction profile
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information.
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· Single click on radio buttons preference now works
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· Units no longer can teleport off north edge of screen.
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· Using certain missiles no longer cause periodic hangs.
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· Planet busters now destroy sensor arrays.
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· New methods of sorting the F4 base screen based on resources, population,
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etc.
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· You can now frame other factions for your own probe team actions.
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· Isle of the Deep can no longer destroy a pressure dome in a sea base.
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· Specialty cursors (go to, patrol, etc) now have correct hot spots.
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· Accelerated start no longer causes some bases to be partially drawn on 1st
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turn.
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· A foil is no longer visible during the landing sequence if the player
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starts with one.
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· You can no longer regenerate unity pods by keeping a air unit overhead.
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· You can no longer upgrade Locusts of Chiron to Psi Choppers.
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· Moved "Pressure Dome" to top of base facilities display for easy
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identification.
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· Multiple orbital improvements can now be inserted into the build queue.
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· CTRL-F4 and CTRL-SHIFT-F4 now work (show credits and show version)
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· Cornering the global energy market now displays the correct year.
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· The AI no longer can add special abilities missiles.
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· The AI no longer can add AAA to transports.
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· Air units now will always execute a goto command.
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· Removed the message telling you to use "Ctrl+Shift+U" to upgrade units.
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· Sea units will no longer be transferred to land bases.
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· Mixing "police units" with "non-police" units no longer gives extra police
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protection.
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· Planet busters used by the computer player are now restricted by range.
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· Auto roads and mag-tubes now work better.
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· Version checking for multiplayer games that an NT machine hosts now works
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correctly.
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· Planes relocated by end of Pact no longer run out of fuel for no reason on
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the next turn.
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· The first time you open the save window, clicking on the folder icon for
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the up directory no longer saves the game.
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-----------------------------------------------
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CHANGES IN ALPHA CENTAURI VERSION 2.0
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-----------------------------------------------
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The v2.0 Update to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri includes several new features
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to enhance the Alpha Centauri gameplay experience as well as a host of small
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fixes. Most notably, v2.0 includes Hotseat and Play-by-email multiplayer
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modes. A complete list of v2.0 changes is included below.
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ADDITIONS:
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· HOTSEAT multiplayer mode is now available!
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· Play-by-email multiplayer mode is now available!
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· To start a hotseat game, select Multiplayer from the main menu and then
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Hotseat/PBEM. After setting up Planet, select a faction for each of the
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human players. Each player has an opportunity to select a password on their
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first turn to provide a level of privacy. Leave the field blank to bypass
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this feature. When a player ends their turn, a prompt will appear for the
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next player. If playing Hotseat, the next player should take over here. If
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playing PBEM, select Save and Exit. The game automatically exits, at which
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point you should email the resulting save game to the next player (as
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indicated on the last on-screen prompt). Most features of the game are
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identical to non-simultaneous multiplayer games. A notable difference
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however is Diplomacy, which can now takes place over several turns. After
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contacting another player, make your selections and hit End Transmission.
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When the other player's turn begins, the diplomacy window will appear with
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your proposal. Negotiations can take place over any number of turns.
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· You can now see the destination of a unit without selecting it. This
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option can be toggled under "Map" preferences.
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· You can now disable probe team "steal technology in the RULES section of
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ALPHA.TXT.
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· You can now release mind worms into wild using the "Turn Over Unit
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Control" option on the Action Menu.
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· You can now customize the map size when generating a random planet.
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· Probe teams are now "unflagged", meaning you cannot easily tell who
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controls the team.
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· Atrocities have been rebalanced to avoid abuse: (a) 12+ atrocities
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(depends on difficulty level) will cause all factions to declare vendetta
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(b) Nerve stapling becomes increasingly ineffective at particular bases the
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more you use it.
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· The Hive now has the "Immunity, EFFIC" ability; Hive never receives
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negative EFFICIENCY penalties.
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· Password security for multiplayer games.
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· Hardware 3D positional and EAX support added - Note: this can be disabled
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in alpha centauri.ini by entering ds3d=0 or eax=0. This also provides
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overall better performance and memory usage.
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ENHANCEMENTS:
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· You can now set waypoints for patrols using the spacebar. Press "p" key
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as usual to start patrol, then click-and-drag mouse to first waypoint;
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while still holding mouse button, press SPACE to set waypoint; you can then
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drag line to next point, etc. When you reach final destination, release
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mouse button.
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· Datalinks now show cost/preq of Abilities and Terraforming
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· Combat report text is now larger in 1024x768 resolution
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· "People" icons are now smaller for cursor in base screen "drag and drop"
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· Design Workshop: dark blue letters on dark background are now more
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legible
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· You can no longer name/rename landmarks near other people's territory.
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· Pact Brothers no longer offer map in tech trade (already gives map for
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free)
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· The world map now updates as new areas are explored, as opposed to
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waiting until the end of a turn.
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· Up to a 40% speed increase in TCP/IP performance.
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· Improved Caviar unit display performance.
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· Autoexploring AI with natives improved.
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· You can now automatically build roads to any square.
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· voice over data link now louder on receiving end.
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FIXES:
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· Map now correctly displays solar/mine/etc details at "standard zoom out"
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level.
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· Air Units are no longer influenced by travel rate of fungus and so forth.
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· Dragging air unit move: distance is now shown correctly
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· F4 screen "turns to go" now accounts for prototype cost
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· Clicking "end of turn" when a unit is active (but has already moved) no
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longer says, "all units have moved".
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· New unit changes are now correctly displayed when you go to Change Unit,
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then from there to unit design (where you Obsolete/Design/whatever) and
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then come back the change menu again.
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· When "continue with current/change to new/add to beginning of queue"
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warning is displayed after changing build command and if you pick "add to
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queue" it now adds the selected unit correctly (instead of always adding a
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Colony Pod).
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· Typo corrected when you hit the "Reset" button in Social Engineering
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· Squelch mode now prevents commlink requests as well as chats.
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· The host being killed in MP no longer prevents the remaining players
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from continuing.
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· Economic victory now functions correctly in MP.
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· Submitted AI factions no longer send probe teams against their
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captor.
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· Entering Social Engineering on first turn no longer strands the player.
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· Units magically teleporting to the north pole.
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· AI doesn't offer a human controlled faction's comm frequency to other
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human players in MP.
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· "15 secs to end of turn" doesn't print numerous times in MP.
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· The energy readout in the info window isn't double it's actual value in
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some instances.
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· On Citizen and Specialist Level you now get free minerals when starting
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a new base.
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· Time bonuses now charged to the correct player.
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· Hitting the END key in the Production Picker now adjusts the scroll bar.
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· Save MP games now preserves the Simultaneous Moves option.
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· The datalinks now displays the proper amount of nutrients produced by
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kelp farms.
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· Formers in Multiplayer can no longer be used to produce terrain
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enhancements in one turn.
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· Upgrading a unit under certain circumstances no longer creates free
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prototypes.
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· Attacking a mindworm on a Unity pod now explores that pod.
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· F4 screen's "turns to go" now accounts for prototype cost.
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· Drop-pod messages no longer broadcast to all players in MP.
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-----------------------------------------------
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UNINSTALL INFO
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-----------------------------------------------
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To uninstall Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri planetary pack, choose Add/Remove
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Programs from the Windows Control Panel and select "Sid Meier's Planetary
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Pack".
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-----------------------------------------------
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SINGLE PLAYER
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-----------------------------------------------
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IMPROVING PERFORMANCE:
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If you are experiencing performance problems, try some of the following
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tips:
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* Included in the Alternative Art folder on the CD-ROM is a Low Res Caviar
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folder. Copy the contents of this folder to the directory you installed the
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game to. The default is c:\program files\firaxis games\sid meier's alpha
|
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centauri. These files reduce the detail in the units, but can improve
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performance.
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* Reduce your resolution to 800 x 600, rather than 1024 x 768. This can
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greatly improve all game performance.
|
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* Disable the sound using the Audio/Visual Preferences menu.
|
|
* Disable map animations, sliding windows, and sliding scrollbars.
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* Enable the following preferences: Move Friendly Pieces Quickly, Fast
|
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Battle Resolution, Move Units with orders quickly, Don't Center On Units
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With Orders
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* Increase the amount of free hard drive space on the C: drive.
|
|
* Increase the amount of RAM in your system.
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NEW FEATURES:
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* Right click on a Pact Brother from commlink menu to end a pact.
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COMPLETE INSTALL:
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This install copies the entire contents of the CD-Rom to the hard drive. It
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requires 360 megabytes of hard drive space.
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GAMMA CORRECTION / "IF THE GRAPHICS SEEM TOO DARK":
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|
|
We've added a Gamma Correction feature to allow the customer to adjust the
|
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brightness of the palette without adjusting their monitor. It is accessible
|
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from any of the preference menus. The default value is 1.0.
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|
WINDOWS NT:
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|
Almost all features of SMAC should work under Windows NT 4.0. You'll need to
|
|
obtain NT Service Pack 3 or higher from Microsoft and install it, which
|
|
includes DirectX 3 or higher support. Note: Sound support under NT currently
|
|
requires us to use emulated drivers; this can in some cases produce poor
|
|
sound results, including static and sound breaking up.
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|
|
CPU OVERCLOCKING:
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|
|
If you experience random crashes and you are overclocking your CPU
|
|
(especially with AMD K-5 and K-6 processors), try returning your CPU speed
|
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to it's original setting.
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MOVIE PERFORMANCE:
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If your computer has problems playing some of the in-game movies, verify
|
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that you are not using any 16-bit real mode drivers for the CD-ROM drive.
|
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You can check this by opening the Control Panel and choosing the System
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settings. Under the Performance tab, there is a line for File System. This
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should read 32-bit. If it has anything else in that line, contact the
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manufacturer of your CD-ROM drive for updated Windows 95/98 drivers. If you
|
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still experience problems playing movies, try adding 'DirectDraw=0' to the
|
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Alpha Centauri.ini file in the install directory.
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ADDITIONAL TWEAKS:
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Once the game is installed, a file is created called "Alpha Centauri.ini".
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This file contains various settings and preferences for the game, but can
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also be edited by the user. The following commands will allow you some
|
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control over the look of various parts of the game.
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WindowsFileBox=1
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Settings this to 1 allows you to use the traditional Win95/98 file
|
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navigation dialog.
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MainFontSize=16
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You can increase or decrease the size of the font used throughout the game.
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DirectDraw=0
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Settings this to 0 disables DirectDraw. This disables the automatic window
|
|
resolution resizing during program launch.
|
|
|
|
Video Mode=800 or Video Mode=1024
|
|
This forces the screen resolution to either of these two sizes.
|
|
|
|
8BitMovieSound=1
|
|
This forces the sound quality to 8-bit from the original 16-bit. If your
|
|
sound card has DirectX compatibility issues, this may improve movie
|
|
performance.
|
|
|
|
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1
|
|
If the game crashes intermittently, try adding this line.
|
|
|
|
TROUBLESHOOTING - If your computer has problems playing the game (crashes,
|
|
returning to desktop, etc.), please try the following:
|
|
|
|
1. Reinstall DirectX 7. This can be found on the CD in the \DIRECTX7
|
|
folder.
|
|
|
|
2. Rename the SOUND.DLL to SOUND.DL_. While disabling the sound, it may
|
|
correct your original problem.
|
|
|
|
3. If you receive the message "CPU Not Supported", and you have a non-Intel
|
|
processor such as an AMD K-5, try to run the game anyway. Many AMD
|
|
processors show up as a 486 in verification tests, but if your machine is
|
|
'Pentium Compatible', it shouldn't be a problem.
|
|
|
|
4. Increase amount of free hard drive space on the C: drive, especially if
|
|
you have 16 or 32 megs of memory. Defragmenting this drive will also often
|
|
increase the amount of space available for Windows to use as Virtual Memory.
|
|
Also keep in mind that larger maps require more memory. Try a smaller map.
|
|
|
|
5. Let Windows handle your swap file size. This can be adjusted by running
|
|
the System Control Panel, selecting the Performance menu tab, then the
|
|
Virtual Memory button, and selecting "Let Windows manage my virtual memory
|
|
settings".
|
|
|
|
6. Update the Windows 95/98 drivers for your Video card, Sound card, and
|
|
Monitor.
|
|
|
|
7. When running the game you return directly to the desktop, you may not
|
|
have your monitor setup correctly. Try to manually set your desktop to one
|
|
of the resolutions the game supports (1024x768x8bit (256 colors) or
|
|
800x600x8bit). If you cannot manually set the resolution, you will need to
|
|
contact your computer's manufacturer for details on how to do so.
|
|
|
|
8. If you are using an TNT2 based video card (Hercules TNT2, Diamond Viper
|
|
v770, etc.) try setting your hardware acceleration to 0 in the system
|
|
control panel.
|
|
|
|
9. If the game's volume has changed since installing Alien Crossfire, try
|
|
setting those values in the audio/visual preferences.
|
|
|
|
10. Some Plextor CD-Rom drives have been reported to cause movies to stutter
|
|
when played off the CD. Contact Plextor for a BIOS upgrade which solves this
|
|
problem.
|
|
|
|
11. If you're experiencing crashes in the sound.dll, perhaps your sound card
|
|
is having difficulty supporting the Alien Crossfire's 3D Audio. Try setting
|
|
the EAX and DS3D entries in the 'alpha centauri.ini' file to 0.
|
|
|
|
12. Any 'Unable to allocate draw-buffer' errors most likely relate to
|
|
DirectX not being installed. Try reinstalling DirectX 7 from the \DIRECTX7
|
|
folder on the Alien Crossfire CD.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------
|
|
MULTIPLAYER
|
|
-----------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
NOTE: Encrypted MP saved game files from Alpha Centauri won't work
|
|
with Alien Crossfire.
|
|
|
|
NEW FEATURES:
|
|
|
|
* Change symbol next to faction name in 'commlink' menu to 'null' (zero with
|
|
a slash through it) by clicking on it to ignore all messages from a player.
|
|
|
|
NON-SIMULTANEOUS MULTIPLAYER:
|
|
|
|
A feature we added is non-simultaneous movement in multiplayer games.
|
|
Benefits of this mode include significantly less packet transmission (to
|
|
improve performance), the ability to execute diplomacy without your turn
|
|
clock running out, and the luxury to fine tune your bases while other
|
|
players complete their moves. Disable the Simultaneous Move option on the
|
|
Multiplayer Setup screen to use this feature. The game plays essentially
|
|
the same as the simultaneous move game, except when other players are making
|
|
their moves, you maintain control. Except for actually moving units, you can
|
|
access any base, any report screen, initiate or participate in diplomacy,
|
|
and many other actions.
|
|
|
|
RESTARTING MULTIPLAYER SAVES:
|
|
|
|
Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire both support the saving of multiplayer
|
|
games in order to play later. Have the host of the game save as in a solo
|
|
game. In order to restart, have that player host the game. On the main
|
|
Multiplayer Setup screen, under Type of Game, select load. Load that save,
|
|
have the other players select their factions and begin play.
|
|
|
|
VOICE OVER DATA TROUBLESHOOTING:
|
|
|
|
One of the features of Alpha Centauri is the ability to use a microphone
|
|
connected to your sound card for real-time voice communication during
|
|
multiplay games. Below are some troubleshooting techniques you may try if
|
|
you're experiencing difficulty using this feature.
|
|
|
|
VOICE LINK TIPS:
|
|
|
|
1. Before attempting to use the voice link feature in Alpha Centauri we
|
|
recommend testing the recording functionality of your sound card with the
|
|
Sound Recorder the comes with Win '98 / '95. If you can get that working
|
|
then the voice link will most likely work.
|
|
|
|
2. Keep in mind this feature is designed to work using as little bandwidth
|
|
as possible so quality will be marginal. However you should be able to
|
|
understand the person who is talking. If not, try experimenting with
|
|
microphone volume , mic placement, and speech volume. It may not be pretty
|
|
but it sure beats typing messages.
|
|
|
|
3. If you're unfamiliar with the Windows record settings here is how to
|
|
access them: First open up the "advanced mixer" by double clicking on the
|
|
volume control icon located on the Windows task bar (looks like a speaker).
|
|
If this icon is not present you need to enable it by opening the control
|
|
panel, multimedia properties and checking the "show volume control on
|
|
taskbar" checkbox. By having the volume control on the taskbar you can
|
|
adjust the settings while you're in the game.
|
|
Once the "advanced volume control" is showing - it looks like a mixer with a
|
|
number of sliders - look for a microphone slider. If you don't see it pull
|
|
down the options menu, look for a microphone check box and check it and hit
|
|
ok. This will add a microphone slider to your playback volume control. Make
|
|
sure that slider is muted, this will prevent feedback. Now pull down the
|
|
options menu and select recording and hit OK. From there you can adjust your
|
|
volume. Once again if you don't see the microphone slider for the record
|
|
volume control pull down the options and check the microphone check box.
|
|
|
|
4. Many sound cards come with a mic boost feature. While in the record mixer
|
|
pull down the menu and select "Advanced." Look at the mic slider. If
|
|
there's an "Advanced" button, hit it and look for a mic boost check box.
|
|
Experiment with it to get the best sound.
|
|
|
|
5. Use the voice link like a walkie-talkie. Press down and hold the '\' key,
|
|
talk and when finished let it up. Only talk in turns because the system is
|
|
half-duplex (It can't transmit and receive at the same time). Avoid using
|
|
it during the upkeep phase in multiplayer since during that time it's
|
|
possible to let up on the key and not stop the recording. You know it's
|
|
working when the games sounds stop. If the games sounds don't return after
|
|
letting up (during upkeep) then wait till upkeep is finished and press and
|
|
let up on the key again - the sound should return.
|
|
|
|
KNOWN PROBLEMS:
|
|
|
|
1. During the upkeep phase in multiplayer recording may get stuck causing
|
|
game sounds to stop. just press the '\' key till the sound returns.
|
|
|
|
2. General poor sound quality of voice over data.
|
|
|
|
3. We decided to leave game sounds on during voice link reception and
|
|
incoming messages can sometimes get garbled with voice stuff in the game.
|
|
|
|
TROUBLESHOOTING:
|
|
|
|
1. Some users may experience problems when playing Alpha Centauri using
|
|
America Online (AOL) as their connection to the internet. Please consult the
|
|
web page (www.firaxis.com) for updated information concerning this issue.
|
|
|
|
2. Modem TCP/IP games with more than 2 players may degrade game performance
|
|
on some networks. We will keep updated information on TCP/IP game
|
|
performance on our web page.
|
|
|
|
SCENARIOS:
|
|
|
|
There are a number of pre-generated scenarios provided with the game in the
|
|
'\scenarios' directory.
|
|
|
|
*The first three, labeled "1Explore", "2Build", and "3Conquer", are
|
|
tutorials designed to get beginners up and running with the game. *The
|
|
"Faction v Faction" folder contains three scenarios pitting a faction
|
|
against its archenemy; these may be played as single-player or multiplayer
|
|
scenarios.
|
|
|
|
*The three folders beginning with "MP..." are designed as balanced
|
|
multiplayer scenarios with defined goals and short time limits. Try them out
|
|
for a shorter, sharp, fun multiplayer experience!
|
|
|
|
*The last scenario, "SP--7 PlayerA" puts the factions arrayed around a
|
|
central continent in a struggle for territory.
|
|
|
|
Enjoy,
|
|
|
|
The Firaxis Games Team
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------
|
|
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
|
|
-----------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
I had a conversation some months back with Jason Coleman, Firaxis' Senior
|
|
Programmer, where he talked about the overwhelming importance of an entire
|
|
team's contribution to a game. At the time I agreed with him, but I only
|
|
fully realized what he meant once we were deep into Alien Crossfire. I had
|
|
an amazing experience working with everyone on this project, and it also
|
|
brought home how fortunate we are to have the kind of collaborative,
|
|
friendly, and open team environment here at Firaxis.
|
|
|
|
The lead programmer and lynchpin of the whole Crossfire effort, Chris Pine,
|
|
was the newest addition to the Firaxis programming team. Chris was full of
|
|
exceptional talent and promise, but there was some question as to whether we
|
|
had overextended ourselves (and him) by throwing him headlong into Brian's
|
|
code with little guidance and with his only professional experience
|
|
consisting of Alpha Centauri's report screens. Chris's schedule required him
|
|
to complete tasks at twice the estimated rate in order to have a prayer of
|
|
making our September ship date. The first month I watched, amazed, as he not
|
|
only met his goals, but exceeded them, allowing us to commit a team to the
|
|
expansion with full confidence of success.
|
|
|
|
Throughout this process, Greg Foertsch and Jerome Atherholt anchored the art
|
|
for all the additions: portraits, bases, icons, and all the other stuff
|
|
needed to fit the expansion into the game. Over time, Greg's exceptional
|
|
leadership and vision made him the natural choice as Art Lead on Alien
|
|
Crossfire. In addition to his organizational duties and oversight of all
|
|
things art, Greg lovingly crafted the new bases in the game. Greg also came
|
|
up with a ton of great game ideas during the design phase, many of which
|
|
were adopted wholesale for the final version. His partner in crime, Jerome
|
|
Atherholt, conceived and designed all the faction leader portraits, with the
|
|
same high quality and attention to detail he used on the original SMAC 7.
|
|
Jerome also found time from his new duties as Firaxis Art Manager to handle
|
|
many of the cool new map icons, including the Unity wreckage, the Spore
|
|
Launchers, and the Battle Ogres. He showed astounding patience in the face
|
|
of several 'group feedback sessions' on his initial designs, and the final
|
|
portraits are a testament to his exceptional painting skills.
|
|
|
|
Much of Alien Crossfire's detail and play balance came courtesy of Doug
|
|
Kaufman, a recent Firaxis hire but a 16-year game industry veteran. His
|
|
sagacious advice, support, and encyclopedic knowledge of all things
|
|
game-related proved invaluable, and Crossfire is a much richer product as a
|
|
result. Doug was part of the original team on Alpha Centauri, as well as Sid
|
|
Meier's Civilization II, Sid Meier's Colonization, and far too many other
|
|
games to list here. Doug was instrumental in keeping the vision of Crossfire
|
|
focused. Not only did he offer outstanding ideas, but he always had the
|
|
wisdom to ask "What are we trying to accomplish with this feature?" And when
|
|
I would wander into his office and say something like "Uh...do you mind
|
|
rewriting all of script.txt to reflect an alien viewpoint," he was up for
|
|
the challenge. When those thankless writing chores were done, he also
|
|
hammered out the manual in record time.
|
|
|
|
Several other Firaxians made their mark felt on Crossfire by lending their
|
|
art skills in between other projects. Rising art star Brent Alleyne came up
|
|
with the great alien character design, and then implemented it in 3D. He
|
|
also worked out quite a few of the animations and other necessary art, and
|
|
has been one of the fastest learners I've worked with. Rarely has a new hire
|
|
fit so well into an existing team as Brent. Mike Bazzell, animator of the
|
|
units in the original Alpha Centauri, graciously lent many of his evenings
|
|
and weekends to the new unit components. And when Brent's final alien design
|
|
was just too darn cool to keep the human 'look and feel' of the original
|
|
units, Mike uncomplainingly went about redesigning most of the old chassis
|
|
and modules. And last, but certainly not least, Steven Chao upheld the
|
|
glorious Firaxis intern tradition of producing outstanding work over the
|
|
summer, and was rewarded with a permanent staff position. Steve undertook
|
|
all the new icons in the game, handled many interface chores, and designed
|
|
the alien scout ships seen in the opening.
|
|
|
|
Jeff Morris, our office champion of just about every game he tries, designed
|
|
and programmed the faction editor. After mastering the intricacies of the
|
|
JACKAL library, Jeff also co-ordinated our testing effort with the skill and
|
|
experience of his five years in the game industry. As if those tasks weren't
|
|
enough, he also handled quite a bit of miscellaneous programming, including
|
|
the install and autorun, managed all disc duplication and distribution, and
|
|
kept our internal network running. He also kept track of our beta test team,
|
|
who provided some of the most valuable feedback of the whole process.
|
|
|
|
On the multimedia front, Producer Michael Ely, longtime friend and sounding
|
|
board, once again directed all the new movies and voiceovers in the game
|
|
with his cinematic eye and ear. Mike is an outstanding example of an
|
|
industry renaissance man, providing not only the movies, but also backstory,
|
|
blurbs, plot advice, and suggestions for avoiding cliché. He also penned the
|
|
new chapters in the web story seen at www.aliencrossfire.com. Somehow he
|
|
wedged all this in between his leadership duties on Sid Meier's Antietam and
|
|
the new, top-secret Sid project.
|
|
|
|
Dave Evans, the best all-around sound man in the industry, designed and
|
|
programmed all the sounds you hear in Crossfire, along with the ambient
|
|
music, movie effects, game sounds, and voice processing. Dave squeezed all
|
|
this in on a very tight schedule, even taking time to tutor me in the finer
|
|
points of field recording prior to a couple of Moxy Fròvous shows. Also
|
|
handling music chores for the movies was Jeff Briggs, our ever-versatile
|
|
CEO, President, and composer.
|
|
|
|
Last but not least on the development side were a pair of lifesavers: Brian
|
|
Reynolds and Senior Programmer Jason Coleman. Brian, of course, created the
|
|
original Alpha Centauri world and consented to let us play with it for a
|
|
while. Then, when time was at a premium, he stopped work on his OTHER
|
|
project to add in all the new missiles, the alien victory condition, and
|
|
some spruced-up AI. Jason helped out on several multiplayer and
|
|
library-related issues, also taking time away from his other projects. Many
|
|
thanks to both for their time and effort!
|
|
|
|
On the Electronic Arts side, we had outstanding support from the marketing,
|
|
production, and QA departments. Producer Hunter Smith kept us on the
|
|
semblance of a schedule, while Jonathan Harris and Chris Plummer whipped a
|
|
marketing program into shape. These three individuals possess an exceptional
|
|
grasp of games and the marketplace, and we were very lucky to be able to
|
|
work with them. Translations were headed up by two veterans from Alpha
|
|
Centauri, Christina Vollmer and Jean-Luc Chabrier. This pair stands head and
|
|
shoulders above all other translation teams I've ever worked with, for their
|
|
professionalism, commitment to quality, and technical aptitude. David
|
|
McCormick did an excellent job as QA Lead, ferreting out quite a few bugs
|
|
that were in the original product. He made the often arduous process of
|
|
playtesting from 3000 miles away go as smoothly as I could have imagined.
|
|
And of course we owe a huge debt to Bing Gordon, EA co-founder, Firaxis
|
|
booster, and Alpha Centauri fan, for his suggestions and support throughout
|
|
the entire design process.
|
|
|
|
Several other people at Firaxis supported or contributed directly to this
|
|
expansion, including Susan Meier, Master of Miscellaneous, Lindsay Riehl,
|
|
Director of Marketing and PR, Jennifer Bass, Director of Finance, Dan
|
|
Magaha, Webmaster, and Stephen Lee, web intern. And of course, to Sid Meier,
|
|
for teaching all of us how to make these god games in the first place!
|
|
|
|
In short, Alien Crossfire is a proud reflection of each team member's unique
|
|
talents and perspectives. Thanks to all of them for their time, creativity,
|
|
and good-natured personalities. By now this is a cliché for the gaming
|
|
industry, but I sincerely hope you have as much fun playing the game as we
|
|
had making it!
|
|
|
|
Tim Train
|
|
Hunt Valley, MD
|
|
August 25, 1999
|