DRAGON SUN SHIPPING
(25 August 2001, 15:19 | SMACX) Pre-orders for Dragon Sun, the second of three books in a mini-series Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri written by Michael Ely, have started to be filled -- it begins to ship nationally and internationally from the United States starting today. Numerous reports have been received by the Apolyton staff that both Amazon and Barnes & Noble sent out their first shipment of the title earlier this morning as have most likely other online and indeed offline realtors.
According to Amazon, the title will be available for full order as of Tuesday. B&N; is reporting that the book is in stock in their warehouses and should ship in 2-3 business days. Both outlets are currently offering a 10% discount on this new release. As previously reported, the third and final instalment in the series, Twlight of the Mind, is still on course for availability in February, 2002. - DanQ
PROGRESS IN VELOCIRYX`S GUIDE
(3 August 2001, 14:55 | SMACX) In our SMAX forums, Velociryx reports that the latest rounds of tweaks to his SMAX guide is complete. Velociryx stated:
Just wanted to say that I just finished with what I believe to be the last of the tweaks to the SMAX guide. The publisher and I have traded numerous e-mails and have been hammering the ol' gal into shape.... This last proof was very close indeed to what I envisioned, and there were only a couple of minor changes that needed to be made.
Having said that... It'll be soon.... Very soon now!
We excitedly await the update. - Imran
SMAC PATCH FOR LINUX
(14 July 2001, 21:11 | SMACX) Loki Entertainment has released the first patch for their Linux port of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack which contains both Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and its expansion pack, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire.
To update, simply download and install the Loki Update Tool available in Alpha, PCC, Sparc64 and x86 formats. Each weighing in a 2.8MB, this program will compare the list of updates available to Loki products to what Loki product(s) you have installed on your PC and present you the opportunity to download patches as need be. - DanQ
BUG REPORT FROM U. OF T.
(1 March 2001, 20:00 | SMACX) A University of Toronto student has discovered an interesting bug in Alpha Centauri, one that is also present in the expansion Alien Crossfire. Andrew Krupowicz emailed us the following report:
I've noticed there's another bug in SMAC (which also happens in Alien Crossfire), which affects both single and multi-player games: you can control the allocation of workers in an opponent's bases!
All you need to do is infiltrate another faction (or become its pactmate). Then open up the base reports screen (F4) and click on the citizens (not the name of the base). Continue clicking until all the workers have turned into doctor or empath specialists.
Consequences
AI: I tried this against the computer and hypothesized that it would reset its citizens back to the original setting. It didn't.
The lack of workers started a nutrient shortage, so the AI put a few workers back to work, but not all. Production & Energy collection were therefore crippled.
Humans: A human opponent who doesn't get a nutrient shortage type message may have one base, or several bases, crippled for an extended period of time unless s/he personally investigates every base.
Countermeasures
Clearly this is a bug and not a game feature, so my hope in bringing this to the attention of the SMAC community is to make this another cheat that must be officially "outlawed" at the outset of multiplayer games.
Krupowicz told us that he originally posted a note about this bug in the alt.games.firaxis.alpha-centauri newsgroup. - DanQ
NEW FAN SITE UNVEILED
(11 February 2001, 00:37 | SMACX) Whoever says that that nobody is opening SMAC fan sites anymore should see how well it goes over with the owner/webmaster of the newly launched Chironian Guild.
Announced to the Apolyton community in our forums just yesterday, it is already attracting considerable attention. See it for yourself! - DanQ
THIRTEENTH THUD ON G100
(11 February 2001, 00:26 | SMACX) In the 423rd installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire tumbles three spots and lands with a thud into 13th this week.
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! - DanQ
G100: LANDING IN AGAIN
(4 February 2001, 16:59 | SMACX) In the 422nd installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire lands in 10th spot on the countdown for the second time in three weeks.
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! - DanQ
G100: IMPROVED PERFORMANCE
(28 January 2001, 14:06 | SMACX) In the 421st installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire improves its performance by snatching 9th spot over its 10th place showing last week.
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! - DanQ
FAVORITE ALIEN CROSSFIRE FACTION
(26 January 2001, 09:55 | SMACX) After a ridiculous amount of time and 3590 votes, here are the results of our Favorite Alien Crossfire Faction poll