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OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

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Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#31

Post by lstodd »

mmastrac wrote: post #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 -- lot…

It is very likely that no one cares if anyone cares about copyright.

If someone do in fact care, I'm sure someone else can organize an online donation for them tissues those who care can cry into.

Otherwise please accept that Civ I is effectively public domain.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#32

Post by wtallis »

j16sdiz wrote: post #30
caminanteblanco wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Owning the original game does not automatically grant you right to make or use in derivative works.

Not exactly, but under US copyright law there is a limitation of exclusive rights that grants the owner of a copy the right to make an adaptation provided "that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner". Unfortunately, the law doesn't specify what "adaptation" means, and I'm not sure the concept of an "essential step" stretches to cover modifying your program to run on a new OS decades after its original host platform has gone extinct.

Regardless, making such a modification for personal use only would be hard for a copyright owner to win a lawsuit over even if they could find out about it. But publicly distributing your derivative work like this is definitely violating the original's copyrights.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#33

Post by vintermann »

Macha wrote: post #13
haolez wrote: post #11

Can anyone give some hints on what made Civ 1 special compared to other classic entries in the franchise? Despite the nostalgia factor, of course.

Honestly it feels to me that Civ1 - Civ2 is the most direct upgrade in the series. Civ 2 was mostly just a better civ 1. From civ4 onwards, the series was a lot more willing to shake things up in its gameplay.

Civ 2 was without doubt a much uglier civ 1, though. Isometric graphics in win 3.11 wasn't a good bet.

Civ 1 had good pixel art (look at those mountains! Not to mention the intro), good colors (and more of them!) and clean iconography. For me the look was part of the magic, so I never got into Civ 2.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#35

Post by Joel_Mckay »

1313ed01 wrote: post #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.

86Box runs on modern MacOS, but is not very performant for games on ARM.

https://github.com/86Box/86Box

There are also patch sets available for modern PCs to support legacy MSDOS, and Windows 3.1/95/98/ME. Attempting to install/run on modern hardware will usually blue-screen without the workarounds. =3

https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#36

Post by boredhedgehog »

ixv0 wrote: post #26
yitchelle wrote: post #12

While not exactly the same, there is also https://www.freeciv.org/

Also worth mentioning is C-evo, even if it's not being developed further afaik http://c-evo.org/

C-evo development shifted to forks, New Horizons and Distant Horizon.

https://app.zdechov.net/c-evo/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/c-evo-eh/

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#37

Post by SL61 »

haolez wrote: post #11

Can anyone give some hints on what made Civ 1 special compared to other classic entries in the franchise? Despite the nostalgia factor, of course.

It's simple (both in terms of gameplay and graphics) and it's the fastest Civ game to complete a full playthrough. Later releases made the game slower and more complex.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#38

Post by antihipocrat »

Macha wrote: post #13
haolez wrote: post #11

Can anyone give some hints on what made Civ 1 special compared to other classic entries in the franchise? Despite the nostalgia factor, of course.

Honestly it feels to me that Civ1 - Civ2 is the most direct upgrade in the series. Civ 2 was mostly just a better civ 1. From civ4 onwards, the series was a lot more willing to shake things up in its gameplay.

I considered Alpha Centauri as the sequel, both in the continuation of Civ 1s final goal and the expanded gameplay.

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#39

Post by thih9 »

1313ed01 wrote: post #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.

> Nothing obsolete about DOS when it comes to playing 2D games.

Until you want better graphics, network, touch support, etc, etc.

Some people may not want that; and there are workarounds, even in dosbox itself; still, they are just that.

The page lists similar plans in FAQ: “To add additional functionalities (features) to the game (like online gaming, scalable HQ Grahics, HQ Audio, plugins, etc.).”

Re: OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1

#40

Post by thomasmarton »

I'm commenting this blindly so apologies if I'm wrong, but if it's possible I'd try and compile this against .NET Framework 3.5 instead of .NET 8.

A lot of people (myself included) have XP/7 machines for retro games like Civ1 and I'd personally love to use that machine instead of my modern one to play the game.

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