Aurora, “the Dwarf Fortress of 4X games,” is a micromanager’s delight. But installing the free download of Aurora 5.54 can be a little tricky, as there are steps to be performed after the installer program has run. First, unzip the AuroraInstall554.zip file. You will have four files called Aurora.CAB, Setup.exe, Setup.LST and AuroraUpdate554.zip. Please note there is a zip file in the zip file, and it has a very similar name to the “parent” zip. Second, execute the setup.exe program. This will run a standard Microsoft install program, installing to the default C:Program FilesAurora directory. Important: If you are asked about overwriting any existing files with older files, make sure you keep the existing files! These files are DLLs and shared files used by other applications, and you always want the newest version. Do not overwrite if the installer says you are about to overwrite a new file with an older version. Third, one of the files in the original zip file is *another* zip file, called “Auroraupdate554.zip”. Unzip the files in THIS zip file, then copy them over the directory you installed Aurora into. Answer “YES” if asked to overwrite. If you get errors during install, or if the game fails to launch, the best place to ask is at the game’s forums, where developer Steve Walmsley and dedicated players can help.
How-To