Differences Between GOG and scient or kyrub Versions of SMAC/X?

[Petek]

GOG issued a new patch for their release of SMACX. Following are some comments:

1. If you had previously downloaded SMACX, but did not apply the instructions posted at CFC for manually patching the game, then go here, select the option to redownload the game, click on the Alpha Centauri icon and download the Universal Update (2.0.0-> 2.0.2). Install the update and you should be good to go.

2. If you did follow the instructions to manually patch the game, then you may have to uninstall it before applying GOG's patch. Do so and then go to the same location as above. Download and run the Windows Installer.

Installing this patch will overwrite any existing files named terran.exe and terranx.exe in the GOG Games folder, as well as the other files installed by Yitzi's patch. If you installed any other patches (scient, kyrub, Yitzi) you may wish to rename or backup these files for later use. Disclaimer: None of the unofficial patches have been thoroughly tested with GOG's release of SMACX. You might get unexpected results, although I haven't noticed any specific problems.

[Kilkakon]

Thanks for letting us know, Petek. So what does the GOG patch do?

[Petek]

Thanks for letting us know, Petek. So what does the GOG patch do?

Briefly, the most recent GOG patch installs all the changes made by Firaxis when they released SMAX v2.0. The prior patch from GOG updated terranx.exe to v2.0, but omitted changes to other files (including, but not limited to, cyborg.txt and drone.txt).

[Kirov]

Briefly, the most recent GOG patch installs all the changes made by Firaxis when they released SMAX v2.0. The prior patch from GOG updated terranx.exe to v2.0, but omitted changes to other files (including, but not limited to, cyborg.txt and drone.txt).

Thanks for the info. So just to make sure - we still need the Xp update, right?

[Petek]

Briefly, the most recent GOG patch installs all the changes made by Firaxis when they released SMAX v2.0. The prior patch from GOG updated terranx.exe to v2.0, but omitted changes to other files (including, but not limited to, cyborg.txt and drone.txt).

Thanks for the info. So just to make sure - we still need the Xp update, right?

Shouldn't be necessary. GOG-SMAC reports v5.0, which is the version # of the XP update. I very carefully told GOG that they needed to reapply the XP update after the SMAX 2.0 update. It appears they did so.

[Earthmichael]

So is any patch needed after the GOG 2.0.2 install, before or after applying the Scient patch?

[Petek]

So is any patch needed after the GOG 2.0.2 install, before or after applying the Scient patch?

Applying the most recent GOG patch should result in both SMAC and SMAX being fully (officially) patched. You apply any of the unofficial patches at your own risk. From GOG's Alpha Centauri forum:

About unofficial patches:

We don't normally test to see if unofficial patches or mods work with a game due to the fact that they are, well, unofficial . A word of advice: we won't hinder you in trying out mods or unofficial patches but we can't help you if they break your game. I would advise making a separate install for experimenting with unofficial mods or patches. I hope you understand .

If you use any of the unofficial patches with GOG-SMACX, I suggest that you rename the unofficial executable to something such as terranx_scient.exe and run that file to start the game. Installing GOG-SMACX makes numerous changes to the registry that reference terran(x).exe.

[Earthmichael]

If you use any of the unofficial patches with GOG-SMACX, I suggest that you rename the unofficial executable to something such as terranx_scient.exe and run that file to start the game. Installing GOG-SMACX makes numerous changes to the registry that reference terran(x).exe.

Will it cause problems if I do the opposite approach, rename the gog version to Gog_terran(x).exe?  That in fact, is what I have always done with the scient patch.  I am just wondering if I have messed something up by doing this?

[Petek]

Will it cause problems if I do the opposite approach, rename the gog version to Gog_terran(x).exe?  That in fact, is what I have always done with the scient patch.  I am just wondering if I have messed something up by doing this?

I don't know. Besides altering the registry, GOG has added several new dlls to their version of the game. None of these modifications have been publicly documented. I've found only one difference in using a renamed exe: If you start either game using a file named other than terran(x).exe, then alt-tabbing is not disabled.

[magic9mushroom]

I've noticed when booting up the GOG version that certain of the Alien Crossfire changes were backported into vanilla Alpha Centauri.

- Golden Ages can produce popboom (I've read that this didn't happen in vanilla, although this may have been a bug)
- Manifold Nexus and Borehole Cluster exist on random maps (although Unity Wreckage and Fossil Ridge do not, and none of the new landmarks exist on The Map of Planet)
- Text in some Datalinks entries is the Alien Crossfire version (e.g. description of +3 PROBE mentions that you are immune to "standard Probe Teams" which is the Alien Crossfire wording to account for Algorithmic Enhancement; Self-Aware Machines mentions N-Space Compression); however, the Alien Crossfire entries themselves don't exist, and other Datalinks entries are still the vanilla version (e.g. Hunter-Seeker Algorithm).