Fan Patches, Mods and Guides for SMAC/SMAX

A small guide to modifications for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire, as well as links to strategy guides and FAQ's

List of Mods

IF YOU ARE NOT USED TO GITHUB, YOU FIND THE INSTALLER IN THE "RELEASES" SECTION OR IN THE BODY OF THE POST

Most users will want just Scient's patch and just PlotinusRedux's UI stuff until you want a difficulty challenge,

Alpha Centauri Unofficial patch by Scient[github.com]
PATCH


Install this first. This fixes bugs with yields for probe teams, farming, and several other issues that were never officially addressed.

PlotinusRedux's GUI improvements and renderer for SMACX[github.com]
UI

This allows better UI scaling, resolution and windowed options, and other modern features that didn't exist in 1999.




Other Mods



Induktio's SMACX Thinker Mod[github.com]
PATCH

An alternative to the Scient patch, with both includes its fixes, and makes the AI much better at terraforming and base improvements. DO NOT INSTALL THIS AND SCIENT. It won't work.

GLSMAC[github.com]
UI
A third party port of the game to a modern renderer. Standalone from the other mods. Not feature complete, but super neat.

Brandon's Growth Mod[forums.civfanatics.com]
PATCH

Makes the default AI much much better at scaling up like a human player would. Standalone. If you're looking for a challenge, this will give you one. Prepare to hate the Hive more than ever.

Translation Patches

German/Deutsche by solsocog[smacx.de]

Please comment on this guide with others you'd like to see added.

Strategy Guides

GameFAQs Page[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

On the off chance you didn't already think to check there.

Dream Focus' Guide[civilization.fandom.com]

Good information on things like ideal starts, the theory of Infinite CIty Sprawl, terraforming, and social dynamics.

Vel'Smax's Guide[web.archive.org]

All text, but explains detailed breakdowns on how mechanics are calculated. PDF format.

DOS 486's Faction GUides[dos486.com]

How to get more out of your favorite faction, once you have one.

Please post any additional resources you would like to see added in the comments below.

[Grancor]

Thank you very much for these links my friend.

I installed the Alpha Centauri Unofficial patch by Scient, the PlotinusRedux's GUI improvements and renderer for SMACX and the German/Deutsche by solsocog.
Everything works fine and in the coming days I'll start a new run of this legendary game after 24 years.

Thank you again and best regards!

[Xeve]

idk why steam don't just manage the packages themselves and sell install/update bundle that they scrub, rather than having to buy it and tinker w/patching/config files ourselves. I'd have paid 2-3x what they want for a functional maintained version. Instead I returned the 5$ unmaintained broken install that crashed at launch.

[cheney214]

I restored the game by removing the latest Win 11 update. I hate Microsoft sooooo much.

[cheney214]

HELP! I'm running Windows 11, and since an update a week or so ago, this game crashes right after selecting base landing. It was running fine until stupid Microsoft changed something a week ago. I play via Steam. Yes, I've done the earlier changes necessary to turn off Direct Draw and Opening Movies.

[Jellyroger]

game crashes repeatedly....if directshow is the problem then know that directshow has been replaced by mediaplayer.....reverting back to directshow may cause unexpected problems....

[grodysattva]

@tiriss crashing is very rare, you might have something up with your setup and directshow. If nothing else, delete the directory and start over with JUST Scient and JUST Plotinus

[tiriss]

How about a straight forward guide / step by step procedure from steam on getting the thing to run for more than 2 turns. Not 150 comments of individual people who took 30 different patches and settings to bandaid this piece of crap release to get it to work. I've troubleshot for 5 hours + and none of the various settings or patches keep it from crashing every 2-3 turns.

Not your fault... it is steams for releasing this junk and just teasing people who wanted to play it.

[burtod]

just installed and played thinker mod and the gui and render mod together. they both worked beautifully together.

[GuuGals]

My firewall keeps triggering for the download of Alpha Centauri Unofficial patch by Scient apparently has a Trojan?

Is this a false trip or is this a new development which is bad and not good? I really wanted to try SMAC again but obvs the default version steam has is uh. Shit.

[Valsung]

so I'm able to get the game up and running - on Steam with Launch options - using both Thinker Mod, & PRACX. there are two 'superficial' issues I'm running into though. First, the GUI is way too small. I'm running the game 2560x1440 (max resolution my laptop supports), second issue is that I'm essentially 'forced' to toggle Windows scaling to 100% in order to get the game to display without cropping most of the screen. Now, I'm sure that there is no solution to the GUI issue, considering the resolution I'm running at, but at the very least, is there a known steam launch option that can automatically change windows scaling to 100% when the game runs, and change back to the desired scaling option when the program closes?