OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

OpenCiv1 project is an open source rewrite of Civilization 1 Game designed by Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley in year 1991.

• The OpenCiv1 uses .NET 8 and Avalonia UI framework and is OS independent. It is currently compatible with desktops: Windows, Linux and MacOSX.
• The game logic is based on original DOS Civilization 1 game version 475.05 disassembly. The game is still very popular and easy to play. But the obsoletness of DOS or Windows 16-bit platform and the bugs that have never been fixed are hindering the popularity of the game.
• The news, discussions about this project and release news are published regularly on Civilization Fanatics Forum page.

The available code is not a full working copy of the game. To run OpenCiv1 you are legally required to own your own copy of the DOS Civilization game. This is the reason that not a single file from the original Civilization 1 game is included in this GitHub repository as they are copyrighted.

The part of the game assembly code is emulated with Virtual CPU, and the rest of the code has been rewritten from scratch until all of the code is replaced with new copyright free code. The other resources (like graphics, music and text) will also be completely replaced with copyright free resources before publishing the complete game.

The game is in working state, but you have to legally own the Original game (the .txt, .pic and .pal files have to be present).

Q: Why did you use C#, instead of C and x86 assembly in which the original game is written? A: I have chosen C# because it's platform independent, secure, flexible, managed, popular, modern and API rich language.

Q: Why does the OpenCiv1 differs, in some aspects, from the original Civilization 1 game? A: There are numerous reasons: To skip DosBox emulation, to avoid copyright violations by using original code, to add additional functionalities (online gaming, scalable HQ Graphics, HQ Audio, plugins), and to make it appealing to both old and young audiences.

Q: Will OpenCiv1 source code be identical to the Original Civilization 1 game source code? A: No. The OpenCiv1 source code does not contain any original source code. The rewritten code performs the same function but is completely different and under MIT license.

What will change in the new version:

• Porting to Razor platform (Web interface, online gaming),
• HQ Graphics and Audio (preserving the original spirit),
• Multilanguage and Multiplayer capability,
• Plugin capability.

What will stay the same:

• Original game rules and logic (except for established bugs),
• Overall look and feel of the original game.