zjorz on 3/8/2019 at 09:55

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As a long term Terra Nova SFC fan I wanted to start playing this game again. Setting up the game was easy, but finding out about a lot of details turned out to be a lot harder. Information is scattered over multiple sites and hard to find. I hope I can help newcomers by creating this topic.

Where to buy:
GOG: (https://www.gog.com/game/terra_nova_strike_force_centauri)
Steam: (https://store.steampowered.com/app/368600/Terra_Nova_Strike_Force_Centauri/)

Additional official content:
Patch 1.09: (https://www.patches-scrolls.de/patch/4169/7/)
Demo 1: (https://web.archive.org/web/19990422115908/http://www.lglass.com/p_info/tn_hi/download.html)
Demo 2: (https://archive.org/details/TerraNovaStrikeForceCentauriDemo)
(Both demos contain missions not in the original game)

Manual
Battle Guide
Download page: (https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=459.0)

Fanmade content:
Operation Stone Henge scenario (StoneHng.zip)
Demos converted so they can be installed by copying into the TNOVA folder (TNdemos.zip)
Mission Selector Utility (Missions.zip)
Modified Death Cutscene for Nikola (NikDie.zip)
Download page: (http://jasonwilliams400com.startlogic.com/snor/weeds/Terra_Nova/)

Terra Nova world editor
High res objects mod
Download page: (http://strikeforcecentauri.altervista.org/files.html)

Sound swap fix for soundblaster 16: (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45416&page=4&p=2032562&viewfull=1#post2032562)

Other interesting links:
Former Looking Glass website: (https://web.archive.org/web/19990422124656/http://www.lglass.com/p_info/tn_hi/index.html)
Interview with Dan Schmidt (production director on Terra Nova): (http://www.permanent-beta.net/interviews/2015/3/17/terra-nova-strike-force-centauri-interview-dan-schmidt)


Setup
The GOG and Steam version of NTSFC are completely setup and patched to 1.09, so you wont need to read this. This is for people that installing a CD version or installing a demo.

Sound
The best sound card TNSFC supports is the Sound Blaster AWE32. I'm not exactly sure about the details, but you can get the same quality sound by enabling the official soundfont in windows. Doing so will replace standard windows general midi with a much higher quality sound. The most user friendly way of doing so is by installing virtualmidi synth and enabling the soundfont file. Use virtualmidisynth to load the soundfont file and you are ready for installing the game.
Virtualmidisynth: (https://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/virtualmidisynth)
AWE32 soundfont (the file you need is "8mbgmsfx.sf2"): (http://vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=14&menustate=58,55)

Installing the game
The best way to play TNSFC is by using dosbox. I personally found it difficult to use and used the dosbox frontend Dosbox Game Launcher for a more user friendly experience. This way I didn't need to figure out all the command lines.
(https://www.dosbox.com/)
(http://members.quicknet.nl/blankendaalr/dbgl/) (requires java 64bit)

Since there are numerous dosbox variants I'm not going into the specifics of using dosbox step by step this info can easily be found online. I'm only going to mention the important steps.

There is an easy way to create a no CD installation. You just need to copy all cd content to a folder on your HDD. After that you can run the setup from that folder. It will create the "TNOVA" game folder in that exact location during the installation. Since al the game content is on the HDD, you can choose "minimal installation" during setup. This saves hard disk space. There is no real reason to choose the max install size since the game won't load any files from the CD drive. This also works for a CD image.

To enable the maximum sound quality you need to set sound to "Soundblaster 16" during the setup. For music you have to select "General MIDI". Dont worry if the setup says Roland SCC-1 after clicking it. According to the manual this is supposed to happen.

To patch the game (does not apply to the demo versions) to version 1.09 you just have to copy "__FF.exe" to the game folder and overwrite the existing file. The new file can be used to start the game. After this you are ready to start the game.

In game options
TNSFC uses 2 resolutions for the game. The game menu, base screens and videos run at 640x480. The ingame resolution is 320x200 by default. This can be increased to 320x400 trough the options menu (press O). The "ground detail" is set one setting below the maximum, so be sure to change that to "excellent". The game remembers these settings for each save game. You need to change them each time you start a new game.

Thats it. Good luck, and have fun playing!

ngarry243 on 24/8/2020 at 11:12

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Wow, I can't even imagine that there are still loyal fans of this rare game:rolleyes:

ngarry243 on 27/8/2020 at 08:03

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Interesting answer!:D

jenny_swift88 on 22/3/2021 at 08:29

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Yes, it's the love of a lifetime)

bassoferrol on 25/11/2022 at 21:12

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Bienvenido al foro.
Saludos desde Ferrol.