General Question

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Please may you suggest a computer to play old school Alpha Centauri 1 and 2?

Asked by RedDeerGuy1 (24986points) December 25th, 2023

Or a way to play on my Samsung Galaxy s23 smartphone?

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

6 Answers

Zaku's avatar

Unless you enjoy frustration (?), I suspect you really don’t want to try to play a computer game like that on a smart phone.

AC 1 sys reqs: Intel Pentium 133 CPU (200 MHz is recommended), 16 MB RAM (32 MB is recommended), 4x CD-ROM drive, Windows 95.
Graphics support for SVGA only. (DirectX 6.0 and a 2 MB video memory required). The game supports 1024×768 or 800×600 resolutions, both in 256 colours.
Keyboard and Mouse required.

Troubleshooting etc: https://dosdays.co.uk/topics/Games/game_alpha.php

I would say, try running it on whatever computer you have, via the program DOSbox.

I don’t know that there exists an Alpha Centauri 2, does there? (See for example, this article: https://www.pcgamer.com/come-on-firaxis-where-the-hell-is-alpha-centauri-2/ ).

You might be interested in GURPS Alpha Centauri , or in this thread about it .

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@Zaku Alien Crossfire is the expansion game. I thought that it was part 2. My bad.

Zaku's avatar

Ok. System requirements for that seem to be pretty much the same – it even requires the original game.

However I think I was wrong about DOSbox. Looks like it’s built for Windows 95 (or Mac OS 7.6).

Which means it might just run in later editions of Windows or MacOS too, particularly in compatibility mode. Have you tried running it? What OS version are you running?

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@Zaku None. I only have a smartphone. I would wonder what computer that Is compatible?

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Sounds like you need to find a 20 year old computer.

Zaku's avatar

Ok, I did more research.

The system requirements to run on Windows, are practically any Windows computer from the last 25+ years or so. Windows 11 not guaranteed, but probably also could work. Specifically:

System: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
Processor: 1.8 GHz
Memory: 512 MB RAM
Graphics: 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 9.0c
Storage: 2GB
Other: Requires a monitor that supports a minimum resolution of 800×600

You can get both games in one package, for about $6 US, currently $1.50 US, here:

https://www.gog.com/en/game/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri

Further instructions to get the latest patch etc, can be found here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/4Xgaming/comments/6fnig1/instructions_how_to_install_fully_patched_alpha/

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.

This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.

Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther