https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=41349
Bug ID: 41349 Summary: Alpha Centauri desktop resolution reset on switching between windowed and fullscreen mode. Product: Wine Version: 1.9.18 Hardware: x86-64 OS: Linux Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: major Priority: P2 Component: -unknown Assignee: wine-bugs@winehq.org Reporter: neutrino_sunset@hotmail.com Distribution: ---
Alpha Centauri (GOG version), probably the best strategy game ever created. As far as I've seen so far it runs the same in wine on Ubuntu 14.04 (Mint 17.3 x64) as it does on Windows (Win7 x64).
A problem that is common to AC on both Windows and wine though is that it is a full screen game which can neither alt tab to desktop nor run in windowed mode.
There is a procedure described here http://www.gogwiki.com/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Alpha_Centauri#Restoring_Alt.2BTab...
...that purports to re-enable alt-tab in Windows. I have tried this in Windows and not managed to get it to work (as other users have also reported).
There is also an open source graphics engine enhancement patch by PlotinuxRedux linked to from here http://alphacentauri2.info/wiki/Installation
...which among other enhancements enables adjusting the fullscreen resolution and enablement of windowed mode switching via alt-enter.
Patch link PRACX.v1.08.exe alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14308.0;attach=18278
This does work in Windows and currently appears to be the only reliable way of running Alpha Centauri and still being able to access the desktop.
However this does not work under wine. The patch installs fine and the graphics improvements all function correctly, but when pressing alt-enter to switch between windowed and full-screen mode the original desktop resolution is not restored and instead the fullscreen resolution is left in place. Tested with WinXP and Win7 versions.
If running AC at the desktop resolution that would not be a problem, but my desktop resolution on a MacBook is 2880x1900, in full screen Alpha Centauri needs to be run quite low 1024x768 because its ui doesn't scale at all and is unreadable at high res. Switching out to windowed mode results in the fullscreen resolution of 1024x768 being applied to my desktop, which is unusable.
It would be really nice if this classic game could made to run well on Linux, and this issue of leaving the fullscreen resolution in place on alt-enter to windowed mode seems like it might that be a significant issue that could affect other programs too.