-smac Activate SMAC-in-SMACX mod. Implies smac_only=1 config option.
-native Start game in fullscreen mode using the native desktop resolution.
-screen Start game in fullscreen mode using the resolution set in mod config.
-windowed Start game in borderless windowed mode using the resolution set in mod config.
These shortcuts are always available whether debug build is available or not.
Alt+T Show Thinker's version and options menu (use Alt+H when PRACX is enabled).
Alt+R Toggle tile information update under cursor if smooth_scrolling is enabled.
Alt+O Enter a new value for random map generator when scenario editor mode is active.
Alt+Enter Switch between fullscreen and windowed mode unless desktop resolution is used in fullscreen.
Ctrl+H Hurry current production with energy reserves when the base window is active.
These developer mode shortcuts are only available if Thinker is using debug build. Some of these options require extended debug mode.
Alt+D Toggle extended debug mode.
Alt+M Toggle verbose logging mode on debug.txt.
Alt+V Iterate various TileSearch instances for the selected map tile.
Alt+F Iterate various move_upkeep overlays.
Alt+P Set diplomatic patience for AI factions.
Alt+Y Toggle faction diplomacy treaty matrix display.
Alt+X Run pathfinding between two previous map tiles.
Alt+Z Print debug information for the selected map tile.
Shift+4 Toggle world site priority display for the legacy AI.
Shift+5 Toggle goals overlay display on the map.
Shift+* Toggle faction border display on the map.
As a general troubleshooting feature, all Thinker builds also include a custom crash handler that
writes output to debug.txt in the game folder if the game happens to crash for any reason.
Whenever an unit not owned by the planet tries to enter a fungus tile that is not occupied by anyone, the game may decide to randomly spawn mind worms. The base chance this happens is determined by the following formula. BaseFindDist is the tile distance to the nearest base owned by any faction and MapNativeLifeForms is the native life option enumerated from 0 to 2. Fungus tiles adjacent to bases, tiles containing magtubes or amphibious units entering land tiles from sea will never spawn mind worms. If the faction has Xenoempathy Dome, mind worms are always skipped at least for non-combat units. If the tile has a supply pod, this feature is skipped since the supply pod may spawn mind worms on adjacent tiles instead.
Min(32, BaseFindDist) + 10 * MapNativeLifeForms
This base chance is then modified by the following factors. These calculations are only performed using integers with the numbers truncating towards zero.
- If the destination is ocean divide by 2 (or 4 when rare natives).
- Having a road on the tile divides by 2.
- Native unit entering the tile divides by 2 (predefined prototype with PSI attack).
- If any previous land or sea unit (excluding planet-owned units) has entered the tile divide by 2 (or 4 when rare natives).
- Sensors divide by 4 when on adjacent tiles and by 2 when they are at two tile distance.
- All sensors in the range apply the effect separately. Base tiles count as sensors.
- If the base has GSP, in addition eight tiles near the base tile count as having a sensor.
This chance is then rolled against Random(100). If the chance is equal or less than the random number, mind worms will not appear. This may always be skipped if the other factors divide the base chance towards zero.
The game makes a distinction between major and minor atrocities which have different effects on diplomacy. Using planet busters is the only thing that counts directly as major atrocity. Minor atrocities are obliterate base, using nerve gas on non-alien factions, nerve stapling bases, and probe team genetic warfare. If UN Charter is lifted or there are sunspots in effect, other factions will not learn about committed minor atrocities, with the exception being that if they are directed against population considered being from another faction, that faction will always learn about the atrocity and want revenge against the opponent.
Every time a minor atrocity is committed, the game increments the variable for faction minor atrocities and checks the following condition. Difficulty level is a faction dependent setting enumerated from 0 to 5. As an exception nerve stapling bases that are assimilated or using nerve gas on non-base tiles will only increase minor atrocities once regardless of how many times it is committed.
MinorAtrocities > 4 * (8 - Faction->diff_level)
If this is true, a major atrocity will also be created for the faction which usually carries notable diplomatic consequences. For player factions on transcend difficulty the threshold is more than 12.
As an additional feature, this repository includes a script written in Python 3 that can be used to visualize any custom tech trees defined in alphax.txt. Techs are strictly aligned based on their level in the output to make it easier to visualize the research order. To use the script, first install dependencies.
pip install networkx matplotlib
Then plot any possible tech tree defined in alphax.txt to a png file.
./tools/techvisual.py -f techs.png /path/to/alphax.txt
Install dependencies to compile Thinker on Windows using CodeBlocks:
To avoid compiling issues, do not use the older MinGW toolkit version bundled with CodeBlocks. GCC versions older than 8.1.0 are not supported. After installing MinGW, new paths need to be entered in Settings > Compiler > Toolchain Executables for the default GNU GCC Compiler profile.
Another way to build Thinker on Linux platforms is to convert the CodeBlocks project file into
actual Makefiles and then compile them using g++-mingw-w64. A build script that does all these
steps is provided in tools/compile folder.
- First install dependencies:
apt install build-essential g++-mingw-w64-i686 - Clone cbp2make and compile it from sources.
- Install
cbp2makebinary on a folder included in the environment PATH. - Build Thinker:
./tools/compile/mingw-compile.sh - Get compiled binaries from:
build/bin/
Thinker's launcher program thinker.exe requires the original terranx.exe (game version 2.0) provided by GOG in the same folder, (3 084 288 bytes, SHA-1 checksum: 4b19c1fe3266b5ebc4305cd182ed6e864e3a1c4a). Using other official game binaries of the same version should also work. If an incompatible, modified binary is found, the mod will display an error message and close the game.
Thinker will not modify terranx.exe file on disk, so it can still be used to start an unpatched version of the game. Instead the mod will apply all of the changes at startup by patching the binary in memory. Also Scient's patch v2.0 changes are automatically loaded at startup.
Source file src/patchdata.h contains Scient's Patch v2.0 changes that are applied at game startup.
Using a separate script this file can be converted into IDA PatchByte commands that can be used to
transform the default terranx.exe into a patched version that will also load thinker.dll at startup.
When the unmodified GOG binary is loaded in IDA, use this script to create the IDA PatchByte commands:
./tools/idapatch.py < src/patchdata.h
At game startup, Windows will attempt to load thinker.dll from the same folder before the game starts. Note that Windows will terminate the process if any of the dll dependencies from the import table are not available. When thinker.dll is loading, it will attempt to patch the game binary image residing in the same address space before the actual game can start.
This way it is not required to write any of the actual patches to the exe file, instead they can be applied dynamically at runtime. Thinker also performs some sanity checks during patching, and it will close the game process with an error message if any of the checks fail.
Due to the simplicity of Thinker's loading method, OpenSMACX or the default terranx.exe can be patched manually in a hex editor to also load Thinker at startup.
Note that this combination of patches is not fully tested and some issues may appear due to the combination of these binaries. After patching, OpenSMACX binary will not start unless Windows can also load thinker.dll from the same folder.
- Open
terranx_opensmacx_v0.2.1.exe(or latest release) in a hex editor. - Replace any string
SHELL32.dllwiththinker.dll - Replace any string
ShellExecuteAwithThinkerModule - Move all exe and dll files to the same folder with Alpha Centauri.
Thinker should now start along with OpenSMACX. Thinker version should always be visible in the game version menu (Ctrl+F4). If this is not the case, Thinker did not start correctly with the game. Check if you are actually running the game binary with the imports patched as described above.