I got the game working. Without the CD in the drive, with FoxAhead's 64-bit patch, and a couple of other annoying issues fixed.
And I've got as far as colonizing Centaurus. BUT, I have the following problems with Centaurus:
(1) I cannot build Colonists OR Engineers on Centaurus itself. Having used all my Colonists to build cities (3 of which survive, 1 of which got killed off by the aliens at once before I could rush-buy its first defensive unit), I have no terraforming units over there: no way to irrigate, mine or transform the terrain.
(2) I have a surplus of leftover Engineers on Earth, which I can send there through Starports... once I have rush-built a Starport in each Centauran city, which I have done.
(3) However... and this is a BIG However... I cannot do the same with Colonists. Attempting to send a Colonist, built on Earth, through the Starport to Centaurus, gives me a message that "none of your other cities have Starports".
One of the future technologies, of course, makes Engineers obsolete, so it's no longer possible to build Engineers on EITHER planet.
But... Colonists are supposed to be the replacement for Engineers, and are supposed to make Engineers obsolete once you can build them (my build orders got upgraded in every city that had them). BUT, I can't build Colonists on Centaurus itself, AND I can't send them through from Earth because for some reason the game is not recognising that they can use a Starport in a city on Earth to teleport to a Starport in a city on Centaurus.
(important issue: it is to the cities that I need to send them, to irrigate and mine around them so that the cities can grow. Whether or not "native transport" is even possible - I do not see the command to build a teleporter pad, but even if it exists - it would be useless since it only takes me to the corresponding square on the other world, not to the actual cities I have built, which would still be without what they need.)
The obvious solution would seem to be, not to get rid of any of my spare Engineers on Earth, because they *can* be sent through Starports to Centaurus... BUT, since I can't build any more, I will eventually run out of them?!? And they're mostly busy, irrigating, mining and terraforming around my newer Earth domains, my core heartlands no longer have any Engineers in, since all the cities in them are now fully grown, all the lands fully upgraded, and no more pollution being produced...
Is this a problem with one of the patches, or with the base game (I don't remember it being a base-game problem)? And how is it fixable, if at all? How do I make a terraforming unit of any kind either (a) GO to Centaurus from Earth, or (b) BE PRODUCED on Centaurus?
And I've got as far as colonizing Centaurus. BUT, I have the following problems with Centaurus:
(1) I cannot build Colonists OR Engineers on Centaurus itself. Having used all my Colonists to build cities (3 of which survive, 1 of which got killed off by the aliens at once before I could rush-buy its first defensive unit), I have no terraforming units over there: no way to irrigate, mine or transform the terrain.
(2) I have a surplus of leftover Engineers on Earth, which I can send there through Starports... once I have rush-built a Starport in each Centauran city, which I have done.
(3) However... and this is a BIG However... I cannot do the same with Colonists. Attempting to send a Colonist, built on Earth, through the Starport to Centaurus, gives me a message that "none of your other cities have Starports".
One of the future technologies, of course, makes Engineers obsolete, so it's no longer possible to build Engineers on EITHER planet.
But... Colonists are supposed to be the replacement for Engineers, and are supposed to make Engineers obsolete once you can build them (my build orders got upgraded in every city that had them). BUT, I can't build Colonists on Centaurus itself, AND I can't send them through from Earth because for some reason the game is not recognising that they can use a Starport in a city on Earth to teleport to a Starport in a city on Centaurus.
(important issue: it is to the cities that I need to send them, to irrigate and mine around them so that the cities can grow. Whether or not "native transport" is even possible - I do not see the command to build a teleporter pad, but even if it exists - it would be useless since it only takes me to the corresponding square on the other world, not to the actual cities I have built, which would still be without what they need.)
The obvious solution would seem to be, not to get rid of any of my spare Engineers on Earth, because they *can* be sent through Starports to Centaurus... BUT, since I can't build any more, I will eventually run out of them?!? And they're mostly busy, irrigating, mining and terraforming around my newer Earth domains, my core heartlands no longer have any Engineers in, since all the cities in them are now fully grown, all the lands fully upgraded, and no more pollution being produced...
Is this a problem with one of the patches, or with the base game (I don't remember it being a base-game problem)? And how is it fixable, if at all? How do I make a terraforming unit of any kind either (a) GO to Centaurus from Earth, or (b) BE PRODUCED on Centaurus?
