HELP! for the happy amateur

[Ajantaka]

When Vincent wrote to Theo: "I have a portrait of Dr. Gachet with the heart broken expression of our times" he was percipient for his time.  If he said this now it would be the befuddled density of our time.  We see this everywhere and a fine example is what game forums have become.  When I go to a game forum now I find that I rapidly become disoriented and lost, they are so large and complicated.  I seldom can pull myself out of this to post so I beg your indulgence for two posts.
         First, I play entirely for fun, and have since 1999.  I am not one of those who has to win on highest level with only one base and one arm tied behind my back.  Players comment all the time about how the Editor is awful and full of bugs; usually I am not even aware of the bugs they mention.  I have happily used the Editor for 15 years.  This all is just to let you know my very basic level of computer understanding.
       How do I install Yitzi' latest patch?  That is, what previous patches do I need to install first.  Do I need to do anything other than download the patches and open them?  Please remember that you are talking to a computer fool and speak accordingly.

Thanks for all help

[Yitzi]

When Vincent wrote to Theo: "I have a portrait of Dr. Gachet with the heart broken expression of our times" he was percipient for his time.  If he said this now it would be the befuddled density of our time.  We see this everywhere and a fine example is what game forums have become.  When I go to a game forum now I find that I rapidly become disoriented and lost, they are so large and complicated.  I seldom can pull myself out of this to post so I beg your indulgence for two posts.
         First, I play entirely for fun, and have since 1999.  I am not one of those who has to win on highest level with only one base and one arm tied behind my back.  Players comment all the time about how the Editor is awful and full of bugs; usually I am not even aware of the bugs they mention.  I have happily used the Editor for 15 years.  This all is just to let you know my very basic level of computer understanding.
       How do I install Yitzi' latest patch?  That is, what previous patches do I need to install first.  Do I need to do anything other than download the patches and open them?  Please remember that you are talking to a computer fool and speak accordingly.

Thanks for all help

To install my patch:
1. Download patch version 3.4.  It's a zip file, so you'll need to unzip it, after which just copy it into your Alien Crossfire folder.
2. I accidentally left some modified values in alphax.txt, so unless you want to play with the modifications, open up alphax.txt, and then:
2a. Find the line that says "8,       ; Drone rules code {1 to 63}" and change that 8 to a 0.  (If you don't change it, it will use variant rules that make certain clever approaches to drone management not work, but also make golden ages easier in very large bases; if you don't play on high difficulties, it probably won't be very noticeable unless you're trying to get golden ages at large bases.)
2b.  Find the line that says "0,       ; Bonus speed per reactor for copters {-128 to 127}" and change that 0 to a 2.  (If you don't change it, copters will be somewhat slower than in the unmodded game.)
3. You're ready to play.

[Buster's Uncle]

alphax.txt opens, edits and saves in Notepad, no problem.

[Ajantaka]

Thanks, both!

[Buster's Uncle]

  We're delighted to have you here.