Aurora is on version 2.5.1 C#, available at the Aurora Forums.
Contact Erik on the forum for a wiki account.
Download & Install
The latest official version of Aurora can be found on the official forums. Installing it has a couple quirks, but is usually not too painful.
Installation needs to be done in a few steps, typically. (When in doubt, look at the pinned posts in the installation forum, go through them in order of their version number, and follow the instructions.)
- Get the most recent full install file, and install it.
- Get the most recent main-version (vx.x.0) patch. Delete the file AuroraDB.db from the installation folder, and replace it with the version in the patch.
- Get the most recent (vx.x.x) patch. Delete the file Aurora.exe from the installation folder, and replace it with the version in the patch.
If the most recent version is a main version, then the second and third steps can be done together.
For example, as of October 2024, the most recent full installer is v1.13.0, and the most recent main version is v2.5.1. So you would download the v1.13.0 full installer and install it. Then you'd download the v2.5.0 patch, and use that to replace the AuroraDB.db file. Lastly, you would download the v2.5.1 patch, and use that to replace the Aurora.exe file.
When v2.6.0 comes out, you'll still use the v1.13.0 installer, but you'll replace both AuroraDB.db and Aurora.exe with the versions from the v2.6.0 patch file.
System Requirements
Basic Requirements
Operating system: Microsoft Windows, however, people have managed to run it under Wine on Linux.
Minimum resolution: Many windows are of a fixed size, and will display very poorly on screens that are too small. You want a minimum width of 1440 pixels for C#, or 1280 pixels for VB6. A higher resolution or multiple monitors will allow you to see more windows at once. If your display doesn't support this, there are ways around it, provided your video card supports a higher resolution than your monitor/display. You can also play with slightly 'reduced height windows' (see main game menu).
Number and Date Formats
There are two common issues with Aurora installation that cause headaches for many players, especially in continental Europe. Basically, if you're not in blue on this map, these issues will likely affect you.
The code of Aurora depends heavily on the number format you use for your computer. Steve's from the British Isles, and uses normal British numbering formats (e.g., 9,876,543.21 is just under ten million). This is baked deeply into the game's code for handling all kinds of numbers, and this code will break with different number formats. If you have a different number format on your computer, Aurora will be virtually unplayable, since numbers will get multiplied or divided by several orders of magnitude in all kinds of weird places.
Similarly, the date format for "long date" should be set to "d MMMM yyyy". This is less important, as it's mostly a display issue (the default format in some places adds the day of the week, which makes the date too long to see in certain windows).
These are known issues, and unlikely to ever be patched. As such, if you want to play Aurora, you need to make sure you're taking care of these issues.
Background Info
Patches
Steve uses a simple numbering system for patches. The first number is for large game updates, the second is for database updates, and the third is for code updates. Since the game is saved into the database, a database update will delete all of your saved games. As such, all patches with a new middle digit(e.g., v2.5.0) are not savegame-compatible. Code updates do not break saves, so those patches (e.g., v2.5.1) are savegame-compatible with the previous patch.
VB6
Aurora comes in two main versions, the modern C# version and the original VB6 version.
The old VB6 version of the game has not been updated since 2015, but the installers are also available on the official forums, in the VB6 Aurora Installation sub-forum. The last version is version 7.10 - you will need to use the full installer for v5.54, and then apply the v7.10 patch.
Instructions for installation are largely the same as C#, but there's more potential issues to consider.
| Installation instruction for any version 5.54 up to 7.10 |
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1) Install version 5.54, see lengthy instruction bellow. 2) Go to the Aurora Installation Forum. Download the latest patch, and save the file to your desktop or another easily accessed area of your computer. 3) To apply the patch, unpack the patch file and copy the files into the game folder as follow:
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| Installation instruction for version 5.54 |
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| Its recommended to read the instructions carefully and follow them exactly. Aurora is written in an old language and therefore uses an installation program from the late 1990s. If you don't follow the instructions you will end up with a series of errors, usually 3061 then 3265 then a series of 91s. If that happens, uninstall and re-install and follow the instructions carefully.
1) Download AuroraInstall554.zip and save the file to your desktop or another easily accessed area of your computer. Extract the .zip file you just downloaded, you should get four files called 2) Install Aurora, by running
3) Update the game, by unziping
4) (OPTIONAL) Download UpdatedRaces.zip (29MB) and overwrite the races in the Race directory. This updates the racial pictures and prevents errors when viewing the sample game Steve included. 5) You will need to install the program from this website to safely get some missing .dlls that you will need. You can uninstall the program immediately after if you want. 6) If you've followed all these steps, you're done and ready for your first game! Check the Tutorial section on the wiki for help getting started or visit the official Aurora4x forums. |
| Using Portable Aurora |
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| Portable Aurora, is a third-party package that make it easier to install and run the game. It includes the game and a wrapper that automate some technical aspects of running it, and several graphics sets.
Portable Aurora use no installer for the game. Simply extract the archive file to a folder somewhere and run the game from within the folder. You can download it from the Portable Aurora sub-forum. |
See Also
- Aurora Installation Forum latest files and support.
- Troubleshooting
- Quickstart for Beginners tutorial.