Higher screen resolution or windowed mode for Alpha Centauri?

Sorry for the necro thread...

I'm now having the same issue with SMAX not being able to get full screen. It's really odd... I installed it a year ago on my windows 7 64bit machine, ran the patch and everything was fine. I just set up a fresh install on some new ssds with the same os, re-installed and ran the patch, but it's not giving me the full screen res. I've tried editing the ini file with the DirectDraw=0 as shown above but it's not working...

Any ideas?

Thanks,
 
Sorry for the necro thread...

I'm now having the same issue with SMAX not being able to get full screen. It's really odd... I installed it a year ago on my windows 7 64bit machine, ran the patch and everything was fine. I just set up a fresh install on some new ssds with the same os, re-installed and ran the patch, but it's not giving me the full screen res. I've tried editing the ini file with the DirectDraw=0 as shown above but it's not working...

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Hi Aphellyon,

Welcome to CFC and the Alpha Centauri forum!

Here are some tips to make the directdraw command work:

1. Make sure that the command appears in the [Alpha Centauri] section of your ini file. It should look something like this:

[Alpha Centauri]
DirectDraw=0

2. Delete any video mode= commands from the ini file.

3. Does "ssd" stand for Solid State Drive? If so, that should be OK. I just copied my SMAX installation to such a device and directdraw worked fine. Check that you're editing the appropriate ini file, though.

4. I've seen one or two instances in which the directdraw command didn't work. It probably was due to an incompatible monitor or video card. Is your card nVidia, ATI or something else? What is your native screen resolution in Windows?
 
Hi Petek,

I actually got the directdraw=0 working late last night... I had to set the axstart.exe to run as admin to get it to run at native desktop res. Turns out, my native res (1680x1050), wasn't what I was playing the game at on my previous install. I had it set to 1024x768 using the "Video Mode=1024" command. Thing is, when I play the previous install (I just got some ssds and have my system set up for dual boot... so I have access to both SMAX installs running the exact same os and hardware), it switches to 1024, but somehow manages to go full screen. When I run the game on my newer install, it forces 1024 but I get black bars on both sides (no full screen). I'm guessing this is some kind of video card settings thing but haven't been able to figure it out yet. My gpus are Nvidia, by the way.

Oh, I had a couple of other questions regarding the ini and game folders... I notice that the game seems to install in 2 different places (i'm running win7 64bit)... in the c:/Program Files (x86) folder and in the c:/users/aphellyon/appdata/local/VirtualStore/Program Files (x86) folder. What's the difference between these two locations and should both contain ini files?
Also, what does the "WindowsFileBox=" command mean? Mine is set to 0 but i've seen others set to 100.

Thanks for your help.

EDIT: issue solved... WOOT! Had to go into the Nvidia control panel, under display, adjust desktop size and position and selected "use my display's built-in scaling"... default was "use nvidia scaling with fixed-aspect ratio". Now I can play at 1024 with no black bars. At any rate, playing the game at my native res of 1680 was interesting, but i got tired of squinting at the game's control panel.
 
Hi Petek,

I actually got the directdraw=0 working late last night... I had to set the axstart.exe to run as admin to get it to run at native desktop res. Turns out, my native res (1680x1050), wasn't what I was playing the game at on my previous install. I had it set to 1024x768 using the "Video Mode=1024" command. Thing is, when I play the previous install (I just got some ssds and have my system set up for dual boot... so I have access to both SMAX installs running the exact same os and hardware), it switches to 1024, but somehow manages to go full screen. When I run the game on my newer install, it forces 1024 but I get black bars on both sides (no full screen). I'm guessing this is some kind of video card settings thing but haven't been able to figure it out yet. My gpus are Nvidia, by the way.

Oh, I had a couple of other questions regarding the ini and game folders... I notice that the game seems to install in 2 different places (i'm running win7 64bit)... in the c:/Program Files (x86) folder and in the c:/users/aphellyon/appdata/local/VirtualStore/Program Files (x86) folder. What's the difference between these two locations and should both contain ini files?
Also, what does the "WindowsFileBox=" command mean? Mine is set to 0 but i've seen others set to 100.

Thanks for your help.

EDIT: issue solved... WOOT! Had to go into the Nvidia control panel, under display, adjust desktop size and position and selected "use my display's built-in scaling"... default was "use nvidia scaling with fixed-aspect ratio". Now I can play at 1024 with no black bars. At any rate, playing the game at my native res of 1680 was interesting, but i got tired of squinting at the game's control panel.

Glad to hear that you've got the game running the way you like.

The VirtualStore folder has to do with Windows 7 security. Programs aren't allowed to write to the usual Program Files folder to prevent exploits. That's about all I know about it, except that you shouldn't have to fiddle with it.

Setting WindowsFileBox=1 will cause certain dialog boxes, such as Load Game, to display as regular Windows dialog boxes instead of the custom SMACX-specific ones. The advantage is that you can use all the other dialog box features that aren't present in the custom boxes. If WindowsFileBox=100 works, then I guess the program just reads the first bit.
 
Glad to hear that you've got the game running the way you like.

The VirtualStore folder has to do with Windows 7 security. Programs aren't allowed to write to the usual Program Files folder to prevent exploits. That's about all I know about it, except that you shouldn't have to fiddle with it.

Setting WindowsFileBox=1 will cause certain dialog boxes, such as Load Game, to display as regular Windows dialog boxes instead of the custom SMACX-specific ones. The advantage is that you can use all the other dialog box features that aren't present in the custom boxes. If WindowsFileBox=100 works, then I guess the program just reads the first bit.

Yea, me too. Time for me to visit planet and tame me some mindworms. (I wonder if Sid has any plans for a future Alpha Centauri game... man that would be nice)

Thanks again for the info bro.
 
Thanks for the direct draw fix, it makes the game look awesome at 1680x1050 but is there any way to make it more alt tab friendly? or any way to run it windowed?

I usually like having websites or even guides running in a browser while I play but I'm too cheap for 2 monitors :(, whenever I try I can't see any other window behind Alpha Centauri.
 
Hello

For some strange reason, my alpha centauri.ini file is empty. Is this normal? If not, would someone kindly their .ini file text to copy onto mine. I run SMAX.

Many thanks.
 
As you probably know, an Alpha Centauri.ini file should be created the first time you start the game. If your ini file is blank, the "real" ini file may be located elsewhere. You can test your ini file by adding to it the lines

[Alpha Centauri]
DirectDraw=0

If your ini file is the active one, the resolution should change the next time you start the game.

If you're running Windows 7, look in

C:\Users\(user name)\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Firaxis Games\Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri

The name for your path may differ depending on where you installed the game. If that doesn't help, search your hard drive for files named Alpha Centauri.ini. If none of this helps, please post again.
 
I have Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack version 2.0.2.23 and I'm trying to work it on Windows 7 on 1440*900 resolution or at least without changing my Windows resolution.

It does not enter the game anyway unless I set screen resolution to 800x600 on Windows 7 settings.

I have tried adding

DirectDraw=0

or

Video Mode=1024
DirectDraw=0

or

Video Mode=1024

lines under [Alpha Centauri] to Alpha Centauri.ini file on installation folder but none helped.

There was no folder of the game under C:\Users\(user name)\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\
I tried creating one and adding/editing both Alpha Centauri.ini files also but it didn't help.

I have seen mentions of patches to make it work but links did not work and I couldn't find them.

Please help
 
Last edited:
IIRC, the Planetary Pack doesn't come with the most recent official patches. You can find them here. Install them and see if that helps. You might have to uninstall everything and do a clean install.

If this doesn't help, please post again.
 
One more thing I wonder, now there's black boxes on bottom left and right, is it possible to make those parts show more of the map ?
 

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