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A 4X turn-based strategy game from 1999 by Firaxis Games based around competing ideological factions colonizing an aggressive semi-sentient planet.

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2
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2answers
81 views

Can I raze a city after conquering it in SMAC (Alpha Centauri)?

As probably happened in history, I am on a rampage and intend to fully obliterate an opposing faction. As such, I do not want to have to garrison newly conquered cities, which gives me the choice of ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views

What do the round brackets mean on my unit's offense value in Alpha Centauri?

I'm about to build an Impact Skimship at one of my bases. Its values are listed as "(4)-2-4". Why is the offense value in round brackets?
4
votes
1answer
208 views

What causes ecological damage in Alpha Centauri (Alien Crossfire)?

I have been getting a lot of Ecological Damage in my cities for no apparent reason. I have all the base facilities that help Ecology and none of the ones that damage it (like a Genejack Factory). All ...
4
votes
0answers
55 views

Mind worm spam at endgame

I've been enjoying some SMAC recently and I've frequently been confronted by massive swarms of mind worms towards the end of the game. I presume that this is related to the "growth dream" you read ...
3
votes
1answer
113 views

Can I reset the "cheat flag" in Alpha Centauri?

A follow-up to this question. If I activate the scenario editor with Ctrl+K, the game remembers that I cheated. Does anyone know of a tool to reset this flag, or its offset in the save game file, ...
1
vote
1answer
251 views

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is crashing in the late game. Is it a resources problem?

I have been playing Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri since it came out, 20 years ago. I finally got around to playing on the hardest level. I am in the late game, just about the Gravship; it looks like I ...
2
votes
1answer
75 views

Can I de-rockify rocky terrain in SMAC

Is there any way to terraform rocky terrain in SMAC, so that it is no longer rocky?
5
votes
2answers
526 views

Why would I want to plant fungus in SMAC (Sid Meiers' Alpha Centauri)?

The answer to this question got me to thinking. When playing 4x games, I only ever play the faction which has an advantage in knowledge - which got me to thinking and asking this question For a ...
0
votes
0answers
125 views

How to modify Alpha Centauri Alien Crossfire?

This site gives some excellent information about how to modify various text files to tweak the original game. Is there a similar way to tweak Alien Crossfire? Update: For instance, it says: In the ...
4
votes
2answers
188 views

Can I change the difficulty level of a save game in Alpha Centauri?

I have just finished a great game of Alpha Centauri on Thinker level. The randomly generated map was great to play, and I would like to replay it on Transcend level. I have an early save game; is ...
3
votes
1answer
99 views

Does nuking ocean bases cause pollution?

I am very late game on a huge map. Some time back, I experienced a lot of pollution, many mind worm attacks and sea levels rising. I chose green politics and started building lots of tree farms, ...
1
vote
2answers
180 views

SMAC: Should I use Psi attack?

I am late game Alien Crossfire, attacking with gravitons aremed with string disruptor. Unfortunately, the others have gotten wise and are building everything AAA. In a way, that's good, as it is ...
8
votes
1answer
182 views

SMAC: Should I initiate flooding?

I have gotten into a rut: play university race up the tech tree build one thermal borehole per city when available, have hundreds of clean reactor formers, to raise land levels in preparation for the ...
2
votes
1answer
98 views

SMAC: (how) can I move all of my formers first?

I am in the late game, with lots of mind worm attacks, no matter how green I am. Often, when military units ask for orders, I tell them to skip this turn. Inevitably, I later move a settler to ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views

SMAC : how to zoom to/find a city?

Almost two decades now, and I never found this out. Even a hotkey FAQ doesn't help. At the start of a turn, I get a message "something awful happened at/near <city name>. I only ever play ...
8
votes
1answer
658 views

SMAC : Am I planting too many forests?

I have been playing SMAC on and off since it was released almost 20 years ago. Every few years, I play for a few months, then move on to something else, but I always come back. I think that I long ...
6
votes
1answer
205 views

How do forests grow in Alpha Centauri?

How many adjacent squares of forest do I have to plant before they will begin to expand? And is there a formula, such that the more adjacent forest squares, the greater chance of auto expansion?
7
votes
1answer
385 views

Do rivers cause eco-damage in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri?

Looking at a StrategyWiki page, I see that condensers, which cause rain, cause eco-damage. I can only presume that is because Planet prefers to be dry, or that rain causes plants which destroy fungus. ...
3
votes
1answer
145 views

How can I check whether a city Network Node has already been linked to an Alien Artifact?

One of the rules in Alpha Centauri is that each Network Node in a colony can only be used once with an Alien Artifact, to receive the research breakthrough. Other than keeping track manually of each ...
17
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0answers
336 views

What determines the direction a river takes in Alpha Centauri?

A river can never flow upwards, of course. But if there are multiple squares that the river could flow into, how does the game choose one?
5
votes
2answers
1k views

Alpha Centauri 1 link alien artifact to network node

I'm currently playing Alpha Centauri 1. I understand that you can link an alien artifact to a city that has a network node in it. I've got an alien artifact on a city. I can't find out how to link ...
7
votes
1answer
188 views

Am I not responsible for collateral damage?

In a recent play-through of Alpha Centauri I encountered some strange AI behaviour: As governor of the planetary council I lifted the atrocity ban. Then I allied with one faction and dropped a ...
9
votes
2answers
3k views

Where can I find the complete tech tree?

I've been playing my first game of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. While the game is fairly enjoyable, I haven't been able to get my head around the tech tree. The game doesn't appear to be able to show ...
6
votes
2answers
472 views

How come air units cause two drones even if they're in the home base?

In Alpha Centauri, with Social Engineering -5 Police states: two extra drones for each military unit away from territory. Why do I get two drones per air unit even if they're in the home base?
10
votes
3answers
1k views

Alpha Centauri (GOG version) is using up nearly 100% cpu

SMAC is overheating my Win7 64-bit, Core Duo 2.0Ghz, 4GB RAM machine and when I check the Task Manager after playing a few minutes (nothing major happens in the game, I just build my base and move the ...

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