# Alpha Centauri: Alien Crossfire... win XP help? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpha-centauri-alien-crossfire-win-xp-help/358138 "2006-05-25T06:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpha-centauri-alien-crossfire-win-xp-help/358138/1 "2006-05-25T06:01:01Z")
I have an old copy of the Planetary Pack, which is quite neat, as I remember. A day or so ago, I decided to install the sucker yet again. After also downloading and installing the updates to SMAC and SMACX as well as the windows XP fix, I played the game from the autorun menu and tried to select Alien Crossfire. Lo and behold, it crashed out to the desktop after a bit of a song and dance. However… then I noticed that there was a specific icon for alien crossfire on the Planetary Pack cd, so I created a shortcut to it and, also, disabled my Gforce graphics card in favor of using the old onboard card that came with my Dell. Wheeeeee! It worked, and I was able to play alien crossfire for a good few turns, with the movies working. The sound, however, had a very weird ‘echo’ effect going. Meanwhile, for no reason I could determine, the sucker crashed a few turns into play, after about 10-15 minutes. After that, I can’t get it to work anymore. It goes without saying that I have no idea why it even worked in the first place, let alone how to replicate that. Anybody else have any idea or suggestions? Thanks much for your time and attention! (Oh, running win xp with service pack 2) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpha-centauri-alien-crossfire-win-xp-help/358138/2 "2006-05-25T10:08:50Z")
See the “Windows XP Note” on [this Alpha Centauri page](http://www.firaxis.com/games/game_detail.php?gameid=7). ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpha-centauri-alien-crossfire-win-xp-help/358138/3 "2006-05-25T10:09:57Z")
(specifically, the INI edit if you haven’t tried that) ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpha-centauri-alien-crossfire-win-xp-help/358138/4 "2006-05-25T13:27:46Z")
Thanks, tried that though, no love. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpha-centauri-alien-crossfire-win-xp-help/358138/5 "2006-05-28T19:31:46Z")
Just so that, if people do a search for this on the Dope, they might find a better answer: I have duplicated my previous ability to play the game. On my machine, I did this by switching to an old onboard graphics card that came built-in with my Dell. I disabled all compatibility options except turning off advanced text options. All in all, it seems to be working fine. Hope that helps anybody else who’s having a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alpha-centauri-alien-crossfire-win-xp-help/358138/6 "2006-05-28T23:26:03Z")
Alpha Centauri’s a great game. I like the darker tone it has, compared to Civ.