About
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC), with its Alien Crossfire expansion, is a 4X strategy game the project's author describes as possibly the best in its genre, though it has become difficult to run on modern systems. GLSMAC is an unofficial, open-source reimplementation of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and its Alien Crossfire expansion using OpenGL and SDL2, currently at version 0.3+ with basic multiplayer support (hosting, joining, and lobby). It requires a legally owned copy of the original game and expansion, since it loads their original images, sounds, and other assets rather than shipping its own.
How it differs from the original
The graphics engine and network code are fully rewritten from scratch, while models, images, movies, text, lore, factions, and game rules (tech trees, unit types, etc.) are intended to stay identical to the original. Random map generation, AI, and some UI elements are recreated rather than copied, and its network protocol isn't compatible with the original client, so the two can't play together over a network.
Getting started
Download a release build for 64-bit Windows or Ubuntu and run it; on first launch, it prompts for the path to your existing Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri installation.
Known limitations
- compatibility: Network multiplayer is incompatible with the original SMAC client.
- platform: OpenGL problems on macOS currently cause crashes.
- gameplay: Monster AI is different from the original due to unavailable source code.
Media
Additional notes
- Policy
- The maintainer states they don't use AI-generated code themselves and reviews AI-authored pull requests to the same standard as human-written ones.