Aurora is on version 2.5.0 C#, available at the Aurora Forums.

Contact Erik on the forum for a wiki account.

VB6 Aurora:Download & Install

From AuroraWiki
Revision as of 07:25, 15 December 2015 by Mor (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Download / Install

Aurora is released by Steve Walmsley, the developer. You can find and download the latest version at the Aurora Installation Forum.

Official installer

Its recommended to read the instructions carefully and follow them exactly. If something goes wrong, the best place to ask is at the forums. The game will not work with any other number format.

Details for version 6.21, copied from the forum
Important! Make sure you read these 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 from here http://www.pentarch.org/steve/AuroraInstall554.zip and unzip it. You will have four files called Aurora.CAB, Setup.exe, Setup.LST and AuroraUpdate554.zip

2) Run Setup.exe. This will run a standard (but old) Microsoft install program. Change the installation path to myDocuments or Desktop (ex. C:\Users\yourUsername\Desktop\Aurora). 

Important: If you are asked about overwriting any existing files with older files, make sure you KEEP the existing files

3) Unzip AuroraUpdate554.zip into the same directory and answer yes to overwriting Aurora.exe and Stevefire.mdb.

4) If you live in a country where the decimal separator is a comma, change your regional settings to either UK or US (where the decimal separator is a period) when playing Aurora. If you don't change this, you will get a LOT of errors.

5) Download the 6.21 update from http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Aurora620.zip and place the files from the .zip to the following folders: 

a) Stevefire.mdb and Aurora.exe into the installation directory, overwriting the existing files with the same names
b) a11.jpg, b20.jpg and M24.jpg into the Planetjpeg sub-directory
c) flag0390.jpg and flag0391.jpg into the Flags sub-directory

6) (OPTIONAL) Download http://www.pentarch.org/steve/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.

7) You will need to install the program from this website http://www.pcwintech.com/simple-shutdown-timer to safely get some missing .dlls that you will need. You can uninstall the program immediately after if you want.

8) You're all done and ready for your first game! Check the Tutorial section on the wiki for help getting started or visit the official Aurora4x forums.

Important: When using the installer, if asked about overwriting any existing files with older files, make sure you KEEP the existing files. This will happen about 10 times during the install.

Third-Party Utility

All-In-One installer and Portable Aurora is an utility that make it easier to install and run the game. You can download it from the Portable Aurora sub-forum.

System Requirements

Number format: If you are living in a country which uses the comma (,) for decimal separator, then while playing Aurora you have to switch the Regional Settings of your computer over to US or UK or another country that uses the period (.) as the decimal separator. In XP this is in the Control Panel.

Minimum resolution: The minimum resolution required is 1280x1024. 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-size windows (see main game menu).

  • Scrolling desktop. A program that extends the desktop beyond your screen can be found at http://360desktop.com/
  • In XP, something similar is already built in but it does carry a warning from Microsoft so you will have to decide if this is worth trying. Go to the screen where you set your resolution. Select the Advanced button and then select the Monitor tab. There is a checkbox which reads "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display". If you uncheck this box, you can set resolution to anything your graphics card can handle. If this resolution is higher than what your monitor can display, whenever your mouse pointer reaches the edge of your screen, the whole screen will scroll in that direction.

See Also

Retrieved from "http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=VB6_Aurora:Download_%26_Install&oldid=5074"