Old RTS game repackaged: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/

rms


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 4/25/2026 7:21 PM, rms wrote:

Old RTS game repackaged:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/ Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/

Already have it from GOG. :D

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:21:19 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> said
this thing:

Old RTS game repackaged: >https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/

It was a tempting deal, until I looked closer and realized it required
the EAPlay client, at which point I decided to pass on it entirely.
It's not as if I don't already own the game on CD-ROM and GOG anyway.
But had it been a 'stand-alone' (or as 'stand-alone' as any game on
Steam is) I would have definitely splurged and gotten another copy,
but EAPlay is such a negative-value that I avoid any games using it as
a rule.

Side note: the game has issues running on modern versions of Windows
too. Technically, it's not Alpha Centauri that is at fault, but the expansion... but since that's pre-installed, you run into it
regardless. This version suffers from the bug (so does the GOG
version).

There is an in-the-weeds description (and fix) to the problem detailed
here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nEy4iAdbME



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 21:47:36 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

Already have it from GOG. :D

Same here. You may have saved me a buck as I might have purchased this
without checking GOG first. :-P

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:21:19 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:

Old RTS game repackaged: >https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/

rms

*--

Screenshots look awful!

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 4/26/2026 5:53 PM, PW wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:21:19 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:

Old RTS game repackaged:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/

rms

*--

Screenshots look awful!

Well it is a 25+ year old game....

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 19:09:47 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 4/26/2026 5:53 PM, PW wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:21:19 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:

Old RTS game repackaged:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/

rms

*--

Screenshots look awful!

Well it is a 25+ year old game....

*--

I don't remember them looking like that! :-)

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 4/26/2026 7:46 PM, PW wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 19:09:47 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 4/26/2026 5:53 PM, PW wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:21:19 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:

Old RTS game repackaged:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/

rms

*--

Screenshots look awful!

Well it is a 25+ year old game....

I don't remember them looking like that! :-)

Not that bad for 640x480 pixel images on a 1920x1080 display. ;)

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Mon, 27 Apr 2026 07:05:06 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> said this thing:

On 4/26/2026 7:46 PM, PW wrote:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 19:09:47 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 4/26/2026 5:53 PM, PW wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:21:19 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:

Old RTS game repackaged:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/

rms

*--

Screenshots look awful!

Well it is a 25+ year old game....

I don't remember them looking like that! :-)

Not that bad for 640x480 pixel images on a 1920x1080 display. ;)

It's a tile-based 4X strategy game. It was never about wowing you
visuals anyway.

That said, even for its day "Alpha Centauri" wasn't what I'd call a
looker. Oh, it had its moments; its interface was sharp enough but the
tiles were dark and muddy. Compared to the Civilization games, it was
hard to make out what you were looking at. In that regard it often
reminded me of the original "Fallout"; too much detail crammed into a
too-dark color scheme and too-few pixels.

Sure, it got the job done, and there were times when it even managed
to impress, but on the whole it wasn't the best looking game even back
in 2000. It certainly hasn't aged as well as some of its
contemporaries.

But it was never the VISUALS that made "Alpha Centauri" so beloved.





--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:16:45 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote

Side note: the game has issues running on modern versions of Windows
too. Technically, it's not Alpha Centauri that is at fault, but the >expansion... but since that's pre-installed, you run into it
regardless. This version suffers from the bug (so does the GOG
version).

The simple solution is to just run the game in linux.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:21:19 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote

Old RTS game repackaged: >https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/

Here's a wiki for the game:
https://alphacentauri.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)