Alpha Centauri 2

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri & Alien Crossfire => Modding => Bug/Patch Discussion => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2015, 01:48:59 AM

Title: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2015, 01:48:59 AM

I hear that W10 won't run SMACX.

Yitzi?  Is there any way, any way at all you could investigate fixing that?  It would be an INSANELY popular fix that would get thousands and thousands looking at your patch, you know.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Dio on August 01, 2015, 04:02:38 PM

This issue appears to arise after a few new versions of Windows are released.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2015, 04:18:58 PM

Yeah - comes as no surprise; In suddenly think I know why GOG had a sale last weekend.

Thing is, a W10 fix would be really good for the community...

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: BlaneckW on August 02, 2015, 08:27:56 AM

windows 10 might be a flop as a result of such issues anyway.  It doesn't add anything significant.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Eadee on August 02, 2015, 10:29:22 AM

Quote from: BlaneckW on August 02, 2015, 08:27:56 AM

windows 10 might be a flop as a result of such issues anyway.  It doesn't add anything significant.

Oh come on... its not that bad...
I mean... it... it... it adds...

...uh...

... a second numeral digit to the Name of the OS? Thats something! xD

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: BlaneckW on August 02, 2015, 11:10:52 AM

I dream of ReactOS merged with Linux

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Yitzi on August 02, 2015, 08:50:11 PM

Quote from: BUncle on August 01, 2015, 01:48:59 AM

I hear that W10 won't run SMACX.

Yitzi?  Is there any way, any way at all you could investigate fixing that?  It would be an INSANELY popular fix that would get thousands and thousands looking at your patch, you know.

Unfortunately, it's very likely that figuring out why it doesn't work would require digging into Windows 10 in a not-allowed manner.

Can Windows 10 run it in compatibility mode?

Although the list of W10-compatible games does include it, so that would imply that it might work but bugged, in which case it could probably be fixed if I upgrade to W10.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 02, 2015, 08:54:59 PM

Petek says GOG claims its version runs on W10, but not that it will necessarily survive future W10 updates.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Yitzi on August 02, 2015, 10:47:03 PM

Quote from: BUncle on August 02, 2015, 08:54:59 PM

Petek says GOG claims its version runs on W10, but not that it will necessarily survive future W10 updates.

Sounds like it probably uses deprecated stuff, and I don't think that can be viably fixed via .exe modding.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2015, 12:18:52 AM

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=551242 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=551242)

Quote from: Petek;13929664

Has anyone gotten SMAC or SMAX to run on Windows 10? If so, please post here and describe which version of SMAC or SMAX you used (original release, Planetary Pack, Laptop collection, Sold-out Software, GOG or something else) and which, if any unofficial patches (scient, Yitzi, Kyrub, something else) you had installed. If you tried to run SMACX on Windows 10, but weren't able to do so, please provide the same information as requested above. I recently read that older games (such as most versions of SMACX) that use DRM might be causing problems with Windows 10.

Several gamers have had problems running the game on Windows 10. If the problem is widespread, the future of SMACX looks bleak unless we can find a workaround. Thanks.

Anyone interested in poking around?  This is potentially VERY important...

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: DrazharLn on August 19, 2015, 01:27:54 AM

Lxndr in the PRACX thread had the GOG version of SMACX running in Windows 10 when PRACX was disabled.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Lxndr on August 20, 2015, 09:45:41 PM

I can confirm it is running for me in Windows 10, but PRACX causes it to crash.

(I also had trouble running it from disc, but GOG is fine)

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2015, 11:19:14 PM

Quote from: Recon Rover;13942818

At first it didn't work for me on Windows 10.

Windows prompted me to install Directplay and the game began to work as normal.

I am running Yitzi's latest patch and a no-cd.

*This is a GOG version I bought awhile ago.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=13942818&postcount=7 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=13942818&postcount=7)

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: DrazharLn on August 29, 2015, 11:50:09 PM

Who knows what they're actually running: GOG SMAC doesn't need a no-cd crack.

DirectPlay story might be useful, though.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Doux2222 on November 02, 2015, 09:01:47 PM

Perhaps this has been reported already, but I would like to state that SMAC/SMAX work fine under Windows 10 for me!

I have the Mastertronic DVD, and I think I had to install DirectX 9.0c for it to work. Also, I had to remove dplayx.dll since it gave an error, but I don't recall if it was a patch/custom dll or if it was present all along... Also, I had to disable high-DPI scaling (but this is because I use DPI scaling).

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: DaveFairhall on November 05, 2015, 01:44:24 PM

I still can't get either to work on w10 and from what I can see any fixes / workarounds are soon blocked by a ms security update. A patch disabling the sysdrv.sys check would seem to be to only way forward as this is what is stopping the game running.
 

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: abc123 on December 26, 2015, 06:47:45 AM

Quote from: Recon Rover

At first it didn't work for me on Windows 10.

Windows prompted me to install Directplay and the game began to work as normal.

I can also verify that the original SMAC runs on Windows 10. :)

I just happened to be visiting a relative with a new Win10 system and couldn't resist trying it. Since the original SMAC doesn't have DRM, I just copied the game folder to the new computer. (And deleted it after the testing.)

The "Install DirectPlay?" dialog came up for me as well. Alas this Win10 system does not yet have speakers, so I couldn't hear anything. But the video clips in the game look fine, it also saves and loads game files without any problem.

I'm happy that this is one less thing to worry about if I need to upgrade to Win10.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: mikecody on January 23, 2016, 12:51:51 AM

I am running a legacy version of SMAC (1.0i, dated 4 January 1998), and it does run on Windows 10.  When it opens, a blank screen with two long skinny unlabeled boxes comes up, if I click on the left one the game starts (clicking on the right one shuts it down).  However, when I attempted to update to the 4.0 version from this site, i received a message about noncompatibility with my system with options to quit or go on, when I choose go on the game ends.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: DrazharLn on February 26, 2016, 02:34:41 PM

You can try running the patch in compatibility mode, but the easiest fix is probably to use the GOG version.

https://www.gog.com/game/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri (https://www.gog.com/game/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri)

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Mablir Dorlig on April 30, 2017, 11:38:53 PM

Any update on this as I am really struggling with Windows 10 & Installing SMAC & SMAX - I've tried removing SecuROM but I'm afraid I am a technophobe

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: gwillybj on May 02, 2017, 04:48:57 AM

@Mablir Dorlig:

I use Win10 Pro, and I got it running after a couple of hiccups.
It runs fine after the Anniversary and Creators' Updates.

---

It should install if you right-click "setup.exe" on the CD (not "autorun.exe") and select "Run as administrator". That usually works.

If that doesn't do it, right-click "setup.exe" again, click "Properties" then the "Compatibility" tab, and select "Compatibility mode". Select "Windows 98 / Windows ME", click "Apply" then "OK". Again, right-click "setup.exe" and select "Run as administrator". That usually works.

In either case, be sure to click "No" when it offers to install DirectX 7 if you already have it or a newer version.


You will need to install the "SMACx_Win2000&XP_Compatibility_Update_v1.03f ("XP patch")" (found here (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=13) at alphacentauri2).


Then there is Yitzi's unofficial patch (now version 3.5d) that fixes a dumptruck-load of bugs and adds many new options. That's here, too.
You will need the 3.5 patch (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=346) for the changed text files and the 3.5d patch (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=352) for the newest "terranx.exe".


After you get it running, you might notice five "missing" sound files. BFG was nice enough to fix them and upload the new files here (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=128). It's just nice to have the game complete :).

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Mablir Dorlig on May 03, 2017, 11:26:45 PM

Thanks - Got SMAC working - will try SMAX tomorrow :)

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Mablir Dorlig on January 10, 2018, 04:29:13 PM

Dear All - Thanks for help and apologies for the delay in getting back.

I've still not managed to get SMAX working but I did manage to get Yitzi's Patch working - this was a bit bizarre in itself - I had to unistall SMAC & SMAX and then re-install with patches but without Direct ?.x then installed both of Yitzi's patches for SMAC & SMAX. First time I run SMAX it told me I needed to run as an administrator and then crashed, after re-booting it's worked fine except it hangs when I'm loading saved games from SMAC/SMAX - never mind I'm happy  :danc:  :D  :P

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: bvanevery on February 22, 2018, 04:47:14 PM

Cracked GOG version has always worked fine on Windows 10 for me.  I'm not using it to pirate, I'm using it because I've bought the game twice in the past already and don't feel I owe something more for it.  Also if I committed to paying for the game again, I wouldn't be willing to delete it off my drive when I get disgusted with it.  Which has happened numerous times over the past 10 years.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: mikecody on October 28, 2018, 09:50:58 PM

I am running the GOG version now and it has been running fine until recently. I am running Windows 10 Home, Version 1803, OS Build 17134.345 with 8 gig RAM, AMD A6-5200 APU. Recently I have been having a problem when well into a game the computer plays its turns then simply shuts down the game, no error messages or anything. I am attaching a save file from one of these games if anyone is interested in seeing if it works on their machine.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: bvanevery on October 28, 2018, 10:13:03 PM

If it ran fine on Windows 10 before, I presume only 2 possibilities:

1) The update to 1803 has created a bug.  You'd want to do the usual drill of updating your BIOS and graphics device drivers.  You might also consider rolling back to the earlier release.  1803 created a serious audio latency on one of my ancient 10 year old laptops, so I had to do that.  Fortunately I have the Professional verison of Windows 10, owing to old licenses when I upgraded once upon a time, so I can delay Microsoft's evil machinations for 16 months.  That's under the Advanced options for Update if you have the Pro version.

2) You have changed your play style somehow, or otherwise arrived at a new circumstance in the game, that you haven't previously been in.  In this case the bug was always there, you just didn't happen to do anything to trigger it.

The bug I always expect to crash a game, has to do with your Interceptors trying to fly out to prevent an attack.  If you have enemy aircraft attacking your stuff, with Interceptors in interception range, try Disbanding your Interceptors or moving them far enough away that they won't intercept.  This has pretty much always been my problem in recent years of playing the game.

Historically, another survival drill on my part, has been to turn off Secret Project movies.  I've seen them all a gazillion times, so it's not really a sacrifice for me.  Some game instability was definitely attributable to that on my system.  YMMV.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: DrazharLn on October 29, 2018, 10:35:06 AM

Try using scientist or Yitzi's patch. This sounds like a bug in smac.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: Vidsek on October 30, 2018, 10:14:15 AM

   I've had the same type of sudden crash playing on Yitzi's patch with some text mods of my own.  Couldn't be certain if my alterations were to blame or not.  However now I'm leaning toward a bug in SMACX, perhaps the one bvanevery mentions (I've had the movies turned off forever).

  In my case, watching the action in Omniscient View with the Scenario Editor showed it happening during one of the AI factions' moves when they were attacking one of my land or sea units in one case, and when it was attacking another AI faction in another.

  One thing I discovered was that if I went back to a save three or so turns before and did some things differently so that the moves/attacks turned out different, the crash would not happen, or would happen in a different part of the turn.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: vonbach on November 04, 2018, 07:44:19 AM

It works for me but the videos stutter its annoying.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: bvanevery on November 04, 2018, 09:21:38 AM

I think I had video tearing with the Spring 2018 update of Windows 10.  I have not had previous problems and didn't change the drivers, nor did Windows change them out from under me.

I also had audio stuttering, really bad, on 2 different laptops.  That, I proved it was due to the Spring update.  I rolled back to an earlier release, since I have the Pro version and can do that readily.  Then I turned off updates for another 16 months.  I am hoping that the Fall 2018 update will fix something, and that the bugs in that will be shaken out by Spring 2019.  At which time, I'll try going forwards again.

The audio stuttering issue was completely independent of the specs of the machine.  You could have a rocket of a machine and still get the stuttering, because Microsoft really screwed something up in the innards.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: ars_belli on January 27, 2019, 05:50:54 PM

This was driving me insane until today.  I've experimented with three different versions and now they are all working on up-to-date Win 10 Pro.  I hope that this helps someone else!

0. Install directory: I installed everything to subfolders of C:\SMAC\ to avoid Win10's "secure" behaviour concerning the C:\Program Files\ and C:\Program Files (x86)\ folders.

1. SMAC only
    1a. GoG install
    1b. scient v2 patch
    1c. terran.exe > Properties > Compatibility > Win XP SP3
    1d. PRACX v1.11 install
    1e. AlphaCentauri.ini > DirectDraw=0 and DisableOpeningMovie=1
Everything works in-game, but when playing SP videos you need to press Esc to exit an infinite loop!

2. SMAX
    2a. GoG install
    2b. Yitzi 3.5 patch
    2c. Yitzi 3.5d install
    2d. terran.exe > Properties > Compatibility > Win XP SP3
    2e. PRACX v1.11 install
    2f. AlphaCentauri.ini > DirectDraw=0 and DisableOpeningMovie=1
This seems to be fine...

3. CD install of v4 SMAC (from early 2000s, I don't remember the precise CD I have)
    3a. terran.exe > Properties > Compatibility > 256 colour mode
    3b. terran.exe > Properties > Compatibility > Disable full-screen optimisation
    3c. AlphaCentauri.ini > deleted ForeceOldVoxelAlgorithm line from [Alpha Centauri] since it's already under [Preferences]
    3e. AlphaCentauri.ini > deleted DirectDraw=0
DO NOT USE AlphaCentauri.ini > DirectDraw=0 on this version -- this will render the entire game inoperable!
This doesn't obey AlphaCentauri.ini > DisableOpeningMovie=1 but opening movie plays fine (as do SP videos).

So the best result I had agrees with the consensus that SMAX + Yitzi's 3.5d patch work fine, with a few compatibility tweaks. 

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: bvanevery on January 27, 2019, 06:44:15 PM

Well that's good information about results.  I would note that at least with my version of GOG, "C:\GOG Games\Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri" is the default directory, so there are no "Program Files" security issues.  I always use DirectDraw=0.  I've got Secret Project Videos turned off.  I don't know if that's necessary anymore, but once upon a time a long time ago, it seemed to prevent some lockup problems.  I suppose I could try turning it back on and seeing if I suffer any ill effects.  I've just seen those videos so much lol.

Lately I've been suffering a "stutter" between turns.  Like the AI is taking a long time to resolve something, and I get the Windows spin-wait icon thingy.  But it resolves in a few seconds and the game doesn't crash.  This behavior is somewhat new and makes me wonder if some Windows 10 update has caused it.  At least it is not a fatal error, I just have to be patient for a few seconds.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: DrazharLn on January 27, 2019, 11:05:37 PM

Thanks for posting your notes :)

Pracx v1.11 should cause the value of DirectDraw to be irrelevant. Are you sure it makes a difference for you once pracx is installed?

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: ars_belli on January 28, 2019, 10:30:25 PM

Quote from: DrazharLn on January 27, 2019, 11:05:37 PM

Thanks for posting your notes :)

Pracx v1.11 should cause the value of DirectDraw to be irrelevant. Are you sure it makes a difference for you once pracx is installed?

DirectDraw=1 (and PRACX v1.11) only creates a difference when the Secret Project films are enabled, in which case the resolution temporarily changes to 800x600, then appears to revert to normal when the film is playing, after which the map is visible during the look-how-awesome-your-faction-is-monolith scene.

I'm quite happy to disable to SP videos, which appear to be the cause of most Win 10 bugs.  There's no change using DirectDraw settings to the gameplay itself...

In fact, the only PRACX issue I had was with the installation from my old SMAC CD, where it did strange things to the default factions (e.g. Gaian faction with Univ buildings).  Since I now have the GoG version I can play that instead.  (At 1200x900 resolution, PRACX is a life-saver -- no more stretched text and blurry graphics!)

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: DrazharLn on January 29, 2019, 11:44:02 AM

That's interesting, thanks :)

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: ars_belli on March 10, 2019, 03:53:03 PM

It might be obvious to everyone else, but in AlphaCentauri.ini does the fourth digit control Secret Project movies?
Preferences=10101011111000011101110110100110
appears to turn them off for me, which prevents mid-game crashing in Win. 10.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: bvanevery on March 10, 2019, 07:54:23 PM

There's no reason a particular bit position would be "obvious".  Nor do you need to control these bits by adjusting them manually.  Use the GUI menus in the game.  If it's different before and after, then yep, that's the bit.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: timesquare on January 11, 2023, 03:24:23 PM

This is very helpful information, thank you for sharing it. Recently, a friend and I have been trying to solve the compatibility problem of his PC with Windows 10, and it didn't work out. Maybe it's because we don't have the necessary knowledge with him. When I installed Windows 10 on my pc, I didn't have any problems. I even installed Windows 10 key Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/GetComputerHelp/comments/y17yo3/where_to_get_a_windows_10_key/) to make sure that the system is genuine and not used on more devices than allowed by the terms of the license agreement. However, I'm sure with your help we will be able to work it out and resolve the compatibility issue.

Title: Re: Windows10 compatability - patch?
Post by: BFG on February 14, 2023, 04:52:08 AM

Did you try installing from the original CD?  I discovered when I tried to do that recently that I could not get it to install because the installer requires Flash and Flash has been deprecated.  I bought the GOG version for all of $1.50 as a result.