[HN Gopher] OpenCiv1 - open-source rewrite of Civ1
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       OpenCiv1 - open-source rewrite of Civ1
        
       Author : caminanteblanco
       Score  : 54 points
       Date   : 2026-03-28 18:22 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | tigerlily wrote:
       | > The game logic is Based on original DOS Civilization 1 game
       | version 475.05 disassembly.
       | 
       | Love more details on how this was done and the translation to
       | human-readable code.
        
       | indy wrote:
       | 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 naive by asking such a question?)
        
         | chocochunks wrote:
         | 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.
        
           | jstummbillig wrote:
           | So: Yes, hopelessly naive.
        
         | hdgvhicv wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | dvh wrote:
       | Time to pimp up my throne room
        
       | 1313ed01 wrote:
       | > 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.
        
       | mmastrac wrote:
       | 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.
        
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       (page generated 2026-03-28 23:00 UTC)