PRACX v1.10 Release

[PlotinusRedux]

I had the mini map problem before PRAX, I didn't know PRAX was causing it for some people.  I'd have to get it working properly without PRAX first to isolate what about PRAX is exasperating the issue.

A missing Icons.pcx update will cause all kinds of wrong looking things, like what Neville posted, but it wouldn't cause a crash like you're experiencing, Lxndr.  You're probably running into a Win 10 incompatibility that I really am going to get to at some point.

[Buster's Uncle]

Say, Mr. sequel-of-Plotinous,

Hey Yitzi - would fixing the no-tabout junk introduced in the GOG version so users of it don't have to find and implement the workaround be outside the scope of this project?  I'm guessing that would be a popular feature, so good for the community, good for the patch project and good for you...

Way outside.  It might be viable for PRACX, though.

?  The only reason I'm aware of for people needing to tab out is to take screenies, so I suppose he has a point that it's a graphics issue...  ISTR the reason's something about compatibility, so if you're working on W10 compatibility anyway...

[Yitzi]

Say, Mr. sequel-of-Plotinous,

Hey Yitzi - would fixing the no-tabout junk introduced in the GOG version so users of it don't have to find and implement the workaround be outside the scope of this project?  I'm guessing that would be a popular feature, so good for the community, good for the patch project and good for you...

Way outside.  It might be viable for PRACX, though.

?  The only reason I'm aware of for people needing to tab out is to take screenies, so I suppose he has a point that it's a graphics issue...  ISTR the reason's something about compatibility, so if you're working on W10 compatibility anyway...

It's not a graphics issue per se...but it deals with the program/system interaction, which is something I would guess PlotinusRedux probably knows how to handle, and I don't (at least not yet).

Also, PlotinusRedux, apparently changing the file name from terranx.exe to something else enables alt-tab, so that might help you figure out how to change it.

[DrazharLn]

Plotinus and I found the fix for that a while ago. I think he included a little script in the installer to fix it (you just have to run a windows command with appropriate arguments).

[Buster's Uncle]

  Is that in a changelog or instructions or anything?  I haven't had a look.

[DrazharLn]

The PRACX installer should do it automatically. The GOGwiki also has instructions here: http://www.gogwiki.com/wiki/Sid_Meier's_Alpha_Centauri#Restoring_Alt.2BTab_support

[Lxndr]

A missing Icons.pcx update will cause all kinds of wrong looking things, like what Neville posted, but it wouldn't cause a crash like you're experiencing, Lxndr.  You're probably running into a Win 10 incompatibility that I really am going to get to at some point.

I had a feeling, but I figured I'd cover all my bases.

[justinlee999]

Is there any way to disable the Tab button for windowing the game? I'd like to alt+tab without having it windowed every time I do it.

[xerkon]

Hey, PlotinusRedux!  Registered here just to say Thanks for such an awesome patch!  Makes playing SMAC easier than ever!   

[Nevill]

PlotinusRedux,

Is it possible to enable mouse wheel scrolling in the add unit/technology windows in map editor (the one that open by Ctrl+F1/F2 etc)? Currently it zooms the man in or out, but does not scroll the menu.

[Doux2222]

Thanks for an AWESOME patch!

I have two issues, that might be known already but I just arrived here:

1) The mini-map rectangle does not move with my scrolling. I can, however, click anywhere on the map and the rectangle will re-center there. Sometimes the rectangle disappears altogether.
2) My movies don't play (f.i. intro movie at start of game).

I am using Yitzi's patch 3.4 w/ PRAX 1.06, and tested the above two problems by using the [PRAX] disable=1 line in the .ini.

Again, thanks for all the great work!

[valmanwe]

First of all thanks for making this great mod, I'm now spoiled with right-mouse map scrolling. I also noticed the minimap rectangle disappearing and behaving oddly but honestly it barely even registers for me while playing so the issue is easily ignored.

I wanted to share my experience with PRACX since problems with the movies seem to be common, and after much headache-inducing trial and error I found a solution that gets (got) them working for me (temporarily) on XP SP3.

At first I had no issues with movies, then one day for no discernible reason (no hardware changes or anything that should mess up an SMAC installation) I start to have issues; for some reason it started taking ~3 minutes just to load the intro movie, and even then it had no video most of the time, just sound. In the course of troubleshooting I switch back and forth between my native desktop resolution and 1600x1200 (I play in 4:3 so the movies aren't stretched); for some reason doing that a few times (changing res, load game, exit, change res again, repeat) jogs something loose and gets the movies working again, with no long load times. If you are unlucky enough to be having movie issues, try my trick and see if it does anything for you.

Scratch that, after a week or so of problem-free operation the problem is back, and my trick doesn't work now. The first time this happened it actually started working again after I loaded up vanilla SMAC (without PRACX); the next time I started SMAX+PRACX it worked flawlessly. That trick doesn't help now either. I even tried disabling DEP for the playuv15.exe; no help.

Incidentally the intro is fine (albeit still taking ~3 minutes to load instead of starting instantly as it normally would) if I go directly into windowed mode at the welcome screen, however in-game performance is very poor in windowed mode (everything is sloooow).

Guess I'll check back in if it starts working again! It is rather maddening.

[alphabeta]

This is very cool.

One small issue I noticed (using Yitzi's w/pracx 1.06).  When you start the game, it goes into full screen, no problem.  Then you press tab, it reinitializes the display and goes into window mode.  The problem:  it ignores/resets Windows 7's (dunno bout other versions) color calibration, setting it back to default.  This also happens if you start the game and just quit while still in full screen mode - the display re-inits and the calibration is lost.

This does not happen with the original non-pracx'ed game, or with pracx set to disabled via the ini (and DirectDraw=0).

I've tried various things, trying to use the video driver's color correction, some utilities to make it stick, etc, but none seem to work properly.  After running, it becomes necessary to load up the Control Panel applet and re-do the calibration or cycle it through Color Management.

Not a big deal, obviously.  Just a minor pain.  If you can't narrow down why the display cycling seems to grab ahold of Win's settings, maybe you could just put an ini option to start the game in windowed mode and not do the init/cycle at all?  I wouldn't mind that option anyways, hehe.

Thanks for the work, it's very cool to see new stuff like this!

[DrazharLn]

Not a big deal, obviously.  Just a minor pain.  If you can't narrow down why the display cycling seems to grab ahold of Win's settings, maybe you could just put an ini option to start the game in windowed mode and not do the init/cycle at all?  I wouldn't mind that option anyways, hehe.

Are you sure that PRACX doesn't already have an option to start in windowed? It would be in PRACX's config file, not the standard .ini, if I recall correctly.

Unfortunately, PlotinusRedux isn't very active at the moment, so I wouldn't hold your breath for a new release. The source code is available to make any of these changes yourself, though.

[alphabeta]

Are you sure that PRACX doesn't already have an option to start in windowed? It would be in PRACX's config file, not the standard .ini, if I recall correctly.

Unfortunately, PlotinusRedux isn't very active at the moment, so I wouldn't hold your breath for a new release. The source code is available to make any of these changes yourself, though.

I gathered, but I thought I should at least report the issue.

I've read through this and other threads, and looked at the files included with the mod, I don't see any PRACX config file.  There's just the additional lines in the alpha centauri.ini file, and I see no option there for starting in windowed mode.

I'll have a look at the source code, found since you mentioned it being available.  Course, I havent updated my Visual Studio since 2005 lol... but we shall see!