Unsupported CPU?

[Azaelus]

Quick technical query:

Just installed SMAC on my new machine: pentium 4 1.3GHz, all well above min system requirements... and yet as soon as I go to play the game, an error message pops up telling me my CPU is unsupported, and that I could play the game anyway but crashes may be possible. Even when I go to OK that message, the game still doesn't start up, and I'm left staring at the desktop.
Any idea how to get around this, or am I stuck for having a P4? I'm running the latest patched version. Cheers.

-- Azaelus

[Petek]

This question is answered in item 13 of the FAQ at the top of the page:

13) SMAC/X won't run under my Pentium 4, producing "Processor not supported" errors
A:Edit the Alpha Centauri.ini file so that it contains the following lines at the start of the file:
[PREFERENCES]
ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1

[Googlie]

Azaelus:

Don't know if your new rig came with WinXP, but I've been running a P4 for some time now, with WinXP, and here are a few notes:

You'll get the occasional freeze when you move a unit to the very top or bottom row of tiles. (not the turn you move it there, but the turn you want to move it away). the workaround is to have the "automatically save each turn" activated, and just load the last year's turn - then switch that rogue unit to "automatic' - the AI moves it quite happily away from the troubled tile.

And welcome back to the interceptor scramble bug. Disabling the wheelmouse in regular formats worked, but for some reason it's back again with the XP and P4 combo

With the P4 power you can experiment with some hairy custom-sized maps (try a 512 x 512 - and settle back for a week's play!!) as the processing power can handle the load quite well. - and if you want a slightly different experience, set a humungous map to 90% water and download and play aquatic versions of the smac and smax factions - get them here

G.