SMAC and Alien Crossfire work for me on Ubuntu 13.04 and 14.04. Do the following:

1. Download the installer (the patch isn't needed, the installer is already 2.0.2.23)
2. Install play-on-linux, sox and 7zip: sudo apt-get install playonlinux sox p7zip-full
3. Run play-on-linux and allow it to finish updating itself
4. Install -> search for alpha centauri -> choose the install file
5. Follow the prompts to install everything

Now if you want to play over a LAN, you need to install DirectPlay.

1. Select Alien Crossfire on the list in play-on-linux
2. Click 'configure'
3. Go to 'install components'
4. Choose and install DirectPlay

Now network (TCP/IP over DirectPlay) should work and you can play on a LAN.

Also, you probably want the fullscreen resolution to be a native resolution and not 1024x768. So:

1. On play-on-linux, with Alien Crossfire selected, click 'open directory'
2. Right-click on Alpha Centauri.ini and 'open with notepad'
3. Under [Alpha Centauri] put a new line: DirectDraw=0
4. Save and close

Now you should be able to run fullscreen with a nice resolution. Sometimes you have to start the game and alt-tab out and back in, to get the graphics to fill the screen. I had to use ctrl-alt-down and then alt-tab back into the game before everything worked right.

Good luck!
Leslie

Sadly, I spoke too soon. Alpha Centauri keeps crashing on my Ubuntu 14.04 computer. I'm running a few games to try and narrow down the problem. It happens with both SMAC and SMACX.

I suppose this is useless to anyone without the source code, but here's a crash report:

Unhandled exception: page fault on read access to 0x029affff in 32-bit code (0x005f956d).
Register dump:
CS:0023 SS:002b DS:002b ES:002b FS:0063 GS:006b
EIP:005f956d ESP:0032fbce EBP:00000149 EFLAGS:00010602( R- -- DI - - - )
EAX:00000001 EBX:00000032 ECX:00000001 EDX:00000032
ESI:029affff EDI:02a082ef
Stack dump:
0x0032fbce: 0032fbfc 009436d8 009436d8 00300206
0x0032fbde: f5000000 01080091 00300000 01080000
0x0032fbee: 05560000 022b0000 36d80000 fc8c0094
0x0032fbfe: 71900032 36d80047 05580094 12d20000
0x0032fc0e: 055802a1 95c20000 052602a6 01230000
0x0032fc1e: ffff0000 f500ffff 007e0091 00000000
Backtrace:
=>0 0x005f956d in terran (+0x1f956d) (0x00000149)
0x005f956d: repe movsb (%esi),%es:(%edi)
Modules:
Module Address Debug info Name (149 modules)
PE 400000- a0f000 Export terran
PE 3550000- 355b000 Deferred dpnhpast
PE 10000000-100e1000 Deferred sound
PE 5df00000-5df16000 Deferred dpwsockx
PE 5e080000-5e0bb000 Deferred dplayx
ELF 76aed000-76ffe000 Deferred i965_dri.so
ELF 7b800000-7ba4b000 Deferred kernel32<elf>
\-PE 7b810000-7ba4b000 \ kernel32
ELF 7bc00000-7bcc8000 Deferred ntdll<elf>
\-PE 7bc10000-7bcc8000 \ ntdll
ELF 7bf00000-7bf03000 Deferred <wine-loader>
ELF 7c4be000-7c4f5000 Deferred libtxc_dxtn.so
ELF 7c5f5000-7c600000 Deferred libpciaccess.so.0
ELF 7c6e9000-7c6f8000 Deferred libdrm_radeon.so.1
ELF 7c6f8000-7c700000 Deferred libdrm_nouveau.so.2
ELF 7ca04000-7ca26000 Deferred libdrm_intel.so.1
ELF 7ca26000-7ca44000 Deferred libcgmanager.so.0
ELF 7ca44000-7cad5000 Deferred libgl.so.1
ELF 7cbcd000-7cbe6000 Deferred libnih.so.1
ELF 7cbe6000-7cbf9000 Deferred libudev.so.1
ELF 7cbf9000-7cc06000 Deferred libdrm.so.2
ELF 7cc06000-7cc1e000 Deferred libxcb-glx.so.0
ELF 7cc1e000-7cc37000 Deferred libglapi.so.0
ELF 7cc37000-7cc54000 Deferred libgcc_s.so.1
ELF 7cd1b000-7cd24000 Deferred libogg.so.0
ELF 7cd24000-7cd50000 Deferred libvorbis.so.0
ELF 7cd50000-7cec8000 Deferred libvorbisenc.so.2
ELF 7cec8000-7cefc000 Deferred libflac.so.8
ELF 7cefc000-7cf6e000 Deferred libsndfile.so.1
ELF 7cf6e000-7cfdd000 Deferred libpulsecommon-4.0.so
ELF 7cfdd000-7d02c000 Deferred libpulse.so.0
ELF 7d02d000-7d037000 Deferred libnih-dbus.so.1
ELF 7d037000-7d03e000 Deferred libxcb-sync.so.1
ELF 7d03e000-7d042000 Deferred libxcb-present.so.0
ELF 7d042000-7d049000 Deferred libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so
ELF 7d050000-7d146000 Deferred libasound.so.2
ELF 7d147000-7d14b000 Deferred libxcb-dri3.so.0
ELF 7d14b000-7d152000 Deferred libasyncns.so.0
ELF 7d152000-7d15c000 Deferred libwrap.so.0
ELF 7d15c000-7d167000 Deferred libjson-c.so.2
ELF 7d167000-7d16a000 Deferred libxshmfence.so.1
ELF 7d16a000-7d197000 Deferred winealsa<elf>
\-PE 7d170000-7d197000 \ winealsa
ELF 7d197000-7d2af000 Deferred oleaut32<elf>
\-PE 7d1b0000-7d2af000 \ oleaut32
ELF 7d2af000-7d2cf000 Deferred mmdevapi<elf>
\-PE 7d2b0000-7d2cf000 \ mmdevapi
ELF 7d2cf000-7d2d5000 Deferred libxcb-dri2.so.0
ELF 7d2d5000-7d2d8000 Deferred libx11-xcb.so.1
ELF 7d2d8000-7d2dc000 Deferred libxdamage.so.1
ELF 7d566000-7d628000 Deferred crypt32<elf>
\-PE 7d570000-7d628000 \ crypt32
ELF 7d628000-7d665000 Deferred rsaenh<elf>
\-PE 7d630000-7d665000 \ rsaenh
ELF 7d665000-7d700000 Deferred msvcrt<elf>
\-PE 7d680000-7d700000 \ msvcrt
ELF 7d700000-7d723000 Deferred iphlpapi<elf>
\-PE 7d710000-7d723000 \ iphlpapi
ELF 7d723000-7d754000 Deferred ws2_32<elf>
\-PE 7d730000-7d754000 \ ws2_32
ELF 7d754000-7d76e000 Deferred wsock32<elf>
\-PE 7d760000-7d76e000 \ wsock32
ELF 7d76e000-7d772000 Deferred libgpg-error.so.0
ELF 7d772000-7d78a000 Deferred libresolv.so.2
ELF 7d78a000-7d78e000 Deferred libkeyutils.so.1
ELF 7d78e000-7d7d9000 Deferred libdbus-1.so.3
ELF 7d7d9000-7d84d000 Deferred libgcrypt.so.11
ELF 7d84d000-7d85d000 Deferred libtasn1.so.3
ELF 7d85d000-7d869000 Deferred libkrb5support.so.0
ELF 7d869000-7d86e000 Deferred libcom_err.so.2
ELF 7d86e000-7d89e000 Deferred libk5crypto.so.3
ELF 7d89e000-7d95c000 Deferred libkrb5.so.3
ELF 7d95c000-7d9f4000 Deferred libgnutls.so.26
ELF 7d9f4000-7da39000 Deferred libgssapi_krb5.so.2
ELF 7da39000-7daa6000 Deferred libcups.so.2
ELF 7daa8000-7daca000 Deferred imm32<elf>
\-PE 7dab0000-7daca000 \ imm32
ELF 7daca000-7dafd000 Deferred uxtheme<elf>
\-PE 7dad0000-7dafd000 \ uxtheme
ELF 7dafd000-7db03000 Deferred libxfixes.so.3
ELF 7db03000-7db0e000 Deferred libxcursor.so.1
ELF 7db0e000-7db1f000 Deferred libxi.so.6
ELF 7db1f000-7db23000 Deferred libxcomposite.so.1
ELF 7db23000-7db2e000 Deferred libxrandr.so.2
ELF 7db2e000-7db39000 Deferred libxrender.so.1
ELF 7db39000-7db3f000 Deferred libxxf86vm.so.1
ELF 7db3f000-7db43000 Deferred libxinerama.so.1
ELF 7db43000-7db4a000 Deferred libxdmcp.so.6
ELF 7db4a000-7db4e000 Deferred libxau.so.6
ELF 7db4e000-7db70000 Deferred libxcb.so.1
ELF 7db70000-7dca4000 Deferred libx11.so.6
ELF 7dca4000-7dcb7000 Deferred libxext.so.6
ELF 7dcb9000-7dccb000 Deferred libavahi-client.so.3
ELF 7dccb000-7dcd9000 Deferred libavahi-common.so.3
ELF 7dcdb000-7dd65000 Deferred winex11<elf>
\-PE 7dcf0000-7dd65000 \ winex11
ELF 7ddcf000-7ddf8000 Deferred libexpat.so.1
ELF 7ddf8000-7de33000 Deferred libfontconfig.so.1
ELF 7de33000-7de5b000 Deferred libpng12.so.0
ELF 7de5b000-7de6f000 Deferred libz.so.1
ELF 7de6f000-7df0f000 Deferred libfreetype.so.6
ELF 7df33000-7df70000 Deferred winspool<elf>
\-PE 7df40000-7df70000 \ winspool
ELF 7df70000-7e055000 Deferred comdlg32<elf>
\-PE 7df80000-7e055000 \ comdlg32
ELF 7e055000-7e09a000 Deferred dsound<elf>
\-PE 7e060000-7e09a000 \ dsound
ELF 7e09a000-7e0c4000 Deferred msvfw32<elf>
\-PE 7e0a0000-7e0c4000 \ msvfw32
ELF 7e0c4000-7e0ec000 Deferred msacm32<elf>
\-PE 7e0d0000-7e0ec000 \ msacm32
ELF 7e0ec000-7e164000 Deferred rpcrt4<elf>
\-PE 7e100000-7e164000 \ rpcrt4
ELF 7e164000-7e279000 Deferred ole32<elf>
\-PE 7e180000-7e279000 \ ole32
ELF 7e279000-7e32e000 Deferred winmm<elf>
\-PE 7e280000-7e32e000 \ winmm
ELF 7e32e000-7e413000 Deferred opengl32<elf>
\-PE 7e350000-7e413000 \ opengl32
ELF 7e413000-7e546000 Deferred wined3d<elf>
\-PE 7e420000-7e546000 \ wined3d
ELF 7e546000-7e5ae000 Deferred ddraw<elf>
\-PE 7e550000-7e5ae000 \ ddraw
ELF 7e5ae000-7e6a6000 Deferred comctl32<elf>
\-PE 7e5c0000-7e6a6000 \ comctl32
ELF 7e6a6000-7e7b3000 Deferred gdi32<elf>
\-PE 7e6b0000-7e7b3000 \ gdi32
ELF 7e7b3000-7e8fa000 Deferred user32<elf>
\-PE 7e7d0000-7e8fa000 \ user32
ELF 7e8fa000-7e969000 Deferred shlwapi<elf>
\-PE 7e910000-7e969000 \ shlwapi
ELF 7e969000-7eb85000 Deferred shell32<elf>
\-PE 7e980000-7eb85000 \ shell32
ELF 7eb85000-7ebeb000 Deferred advapi32<elf>
\-PE 7eb90000-7ebeb000 \ advapi32
ELF 7ef5b000-7ef68000 Deferred libnss_files.so.2
ELF 7ef68000-7ef74000 Deferred libnss_nis.so.2
ELF 7ef74000-7ef8d000 Deferred libnsl.so.1
ELF 7ef8d000-7ef96000 Deferred libnss_compat.so.2
ELF 7ef96000-7efdc000 Deferred libm.so.6
ELF 7efe8000-7f000000 Deferred version<elf>
\-PE 7eff0000-7f000000 \ version
ELF f7349000-f734e000 Deferred libdl.so.2
ELF f734e000-f74fd000 Deferred libc.so.6
ELF f74fd000-f7519000 Deferred libpthread.so.0
ELF f7535000-f753e000 Deferred librt.so.1
ELF f753e000-f76f0000 Dwarf libwine.so.1
ELF f76f2000-f7714000 Deferred ld-linux.so.2
ELF f7714000-f7715000 Deferred [vdso].so
Threads:
process tid prio (all id:s are in hex)
00000008 (D) C:\GOG Games\Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri\terran.exe
0000003a 0
00000039 0
00000038 0
00000031 1
00000030 1
0000002f 0
0000002e 0
0000002d 1
0000002c 15
00000029 0
00000027 0
00000026 15
00000025 0
00000024 0
00000009 0 <==
0000000e services.exe
0000001e 0
0000001d 0
00000014 0
00000010 0
0000000f 0
00000012 winedevice.exe
0000001c 0
00000019 0
00000017 0
00000013 0
0000001a plugplay.exe
00000020 0
0000001f 0
0000001b 0
00000021 explorer.exe
00000023 0
00000022 0
00000032 dplaysvr.exe
00000037 0
00000036 0
00000035 0
00000034 0
00000033 0
System information:
Wine build: wine-1.6.2
Platform: i386
Host system: Linux
Host version: 3.13.0-30-generic

I removed DirectDraw=0 from my .ini file and haven't had a crash since. So that may have been the problem. My other two computers seem to work fine with this setting though.

I played a few years ago on wine (12.04 with wine 1.4) and it worked pretty well. Played a few games with other players on macs. However, there definitely was a tendency to crash and the sound was pretty glitched. Personally, I was never able to completely solve the issue even with the directdraw workaround. Hard to test because it happens fairly infrequently (but enough to irritate me!) :/

I'd love to be able to use the pure Linux version that was released by Loki in 2001. Hopefully with the new Linux support we could see GOG releasing a version for us. That would make me very happy :)

As I recall, activating widescreen support over the DirectDraw=0 setting was also bugged on windows.

All the unofficial patches for SMAC / SMAX have that bug fixed.

http://www.gog.com/forum/sid_meier_s_alpha_centauri_/unofficial_patches/post1

I recommend the newest "SMAC 444 patch" by kyrub for SMAC and the "Unofficial patch PLUS" by kyrub for SMAX.

I have not tested them on wine tough.

Hope that helps,

Oga23

Got a disk from UK and it works for WINDOS 7. No problems. I kept all my old books and charts. Back to sleepness night.