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OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

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Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#5
post #3

Since this requires some files from the original Civilization how do people obtain legal copies of the game? It's not available on Steam or GOG (Or am I being hopelessly naïve by asking such a question?)

You go on eBay or similar site and you pay for a used copy on floppy or CD-ROM. Then using the appropriate tool you back those files up and use them for OpenCiv 1. Cheap, no. Convenient, no. But legal.

If you're lucky you stumble across it in a thrift store that wasn't paying particular attention and assumed it was a puzzle or a board game.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#6
post #3

Since this requires some files from the original Civilization how do people obtain legal copies of the game? It's not available on Steam or GOG (Or am I being hopelessly naïve by asking such a question?)

You go on eBay or similar site and you pay for a used copy on floppy or CD-ROM. Then using the appropriate tool you back those files up and use them for OpenCiv 1. Cheap, no. Convenient, no. But legal. If you're lucky you stumble across it in a thrift store that wasn't paying particular attention and assumed it was a puzzle or a board game.

So: Yes, hopelessly naive.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#7
> The game is still very popular and easy to play. But the obsoletness of DOS

Nothing obsolete about DOS when it comes to playing 2D games. Thanks to DOSBox and other emulators (FreeDOS is also not bad though) it is a fantastic OS (or virtual machine). DOS as a platform for (2D) games has never been better than it is today, on modern hardware running DOSBox.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#8
This is a cool project, but the author should note that they _are_ likely creating a derivative version of Civ1 here. It might look somewhat different, but that's clearly just 16-bit (?) intel opcodes in a slightly spicier form.

It's very unlikely this sort of approach will end up with a copyright-free codebase, though it might be useful as a source for a cleanroom approach. The author shouldn't be discouraged -- lots of other recompilation efforts work this was as well, but it's a muddy place to be.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#9
post #3

Since this requires some files from the original Civilization how do people obtain legal copies of the game? It's not available on Steam or GOG (Or am I being hopelessly naïve by asking such a question?)

I still have the floppies and manual in a box in the attic. Bit of a hoarder in that way I’m afraid.

Question then is do I need to find a floppy drive to obtain the files or can I get them elsewhere.

Of course who knows if the floppy’s still work. I remember having problems with my Star Trek 25th anniversary floppies around 1996ish, and today it’s 30 years later.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#10
post #9
post #3

Since this requires some files from the original Civilization how do people obtain legal copies of the game? It's not available on Steam or GOG (Or am I being hopelessly naïve by asking such a question?)

I still have the floppies and manual in a box in the attic. Bit of a hoarder in that way I’m afraid. Question then is do I need to find a floppy drive to obtain the files or can I get them elsewhere. Of course who knows if the floppy’s still work. I remember having problems with my Star Trek 25th anniversary floppies around 1996ish, and today it’s 30 years later.

I mean from a legal perspective, original media is the only recourse. But if we expand the options we're willing to avail ourselves of, there's a lot of high quality backups online.

So far as I know, Take-Two Interactive is extremely lenient, especially since they don't offer any way to purchase Civ1 or 2

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