Patches - Getting SMAC/SMAX up to date - and then some

Greetings, fellow SMAC addicts.

If I had a dollar for every time I've spent all day/night downloading various patches, uninstalling, reinstalling and getting cross and playing Civ 2 instead, I'd be a rich as a Morganite.

Having looked at the forum downloads, and begun running SMAC v4, I'm still having trouble getting SMAX to work on Windows 7 (I think I'm missing something).

I'm hoping someone can help me out by posting the exact order that the various patches (official or otherwise) to get SMAC/X to work to a fairly balanced extent.

After that's up and working, I'm also hoping that you all can give me some input into the order in which I should consider, then download the various unofficial patches, custom factions etc. I've been playing SMAC for an incredibly long time - so I'd really like a few suggestions as to how to spice it up a little.

Thanks in advance - and looking forward to playing the various mods that people have worked hard on.

Welcome to CivFanatics and the Alpha Centauri forum!

The games will run on Windows 7, but might require some tweaking depending on your system's specific configuration. I suggest that you run any uninstall programs associated with the games and then manually delete any remaining game files. Best to start with a clean slate. Now follow the instructions given in this thread. (Ignore the stuff about Hamachi - that's for multiplayer.) These instructions don't mention what to do if you bought the game from GOG. If that's your situation, please post again.

After following the above instructions, you will have installed all the official patches, plus scient's unofficial patch. At this point, make sure that the game is running satisfactorily. If not, please post again and we'll try to help you to fix any problems.

I suggest that you now play a few games and make sure that everything is stable. Then, we can discuss other unofficial patches and whether or not you wish to install them.

Hope this helps.

Petek