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Freeciv
Original author(s)Peter Unold, Claus Leth Gregersen, Allan Ove Kjeldbjerg
Developer(s)The Freeciv project
Initial release5 January 1996; 29 years ago (1996-01-05)
Stable release
3.1.4 / 3 January 2025; 2 months ago (2025-01-03)[1]
Repositoryhttps://github.com/freeciv/
Written inC, Lua, JavaScript
Engine
  • Simple DirectMedia Layer
  • GTK
  • Qt
Edit this at Wikidata
Operating systemUnix-like, Windows, more
Available in33 languages (some incomplete)
TypeTurn-based 4X strategy video game
LicenseFreeciv: GPL-2.0-or-later[2]
Freeciv-web: AGPL-3.0-or-later
Websitehttps://www.freeciv.org https://www.freecivweb.com

Freeciv is a single- and multiplayer turn-based strategy game for personal computers and web browsers inspired by the proprietary Sid Meier's Civilization series. It is available for most desktop computer operating systems and available in an online browser version.[3] Released under the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later,[2] Freeciv is free and open-source software. The game's default settings are closest to Civilization II in gameplay, units, and the isometric grid. However, with a lot of multiplayer games being played in longturn communities, rulesets and additional variants have evolved and advanced beyond the original ruleset. Freeciv is playable online on various public and private servers.

In a typical game ruleset, players take the role of tribal leaders in 4000 B.C. who must guide their peoples through the centuries. Other rulesets may offer scenarios where the game begins in a certain era of history, or a custom ruleset may even be selected with a science fiction setting.

Over time, new technologies are discovered, which allow the construction of new city buildings and the deployment of new units. Players can wage war on one another or form diplomatic relationships.

The game ends when one civilization has eradicated all others or accomplished the goal of space colonization, or at a given deadline. If more than one civilization remains at the deadline, the player with the highest score wins. Points are awarded for the size of a civilization, its wealth, and cultural and scientific advances.

Design

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By design, Freeciv server is a Game Engine that plays custom created rulesets. This means it is not limited to a single kind of game. Rather, the engine can play a potentially infinite number of programmed games, which are called rulesets. Thus, there is no single or definitive Freeciv game: as a Game Engine, Freeciv can play many different games. For example, the Freeciv server can play an exact replica of Civilization I just as easily as it can play a replica of Civilization II. Freeciv bundles and allows access to many modern rulesets that the community has contributed to the open source ecosystem. By default, Freeciv plays with a bundled ruleset similar to Civilization II that has improvements and balance changes imported from Civilization III and other versions of the series. However, many players select more modern rulesets collaboratively crafted by the open source community. Enthusiasts often state these modern rulesets have refined and evolved the original Civilization series in the direction the original fanbase wanted, before the franchise focused changed direction toward expanded appeal to greater mass consumer audience to drive higher sales, and divided out features and content into separate sales of DLC (downloadable content) in order to maximize profits.

In game setup, one or several players act as game administrators to configure the game rules and settings. Typically modified settings are:

  • Number of players required before the game can be started. The maximum number of players is 126 in the latest version of Freeciv.
  • The map size, where the maximum map size is 2,048,000 map tiles
  • Starting level of technological era, and ease and pace of technological development
  • Whether there should be computer (AI) controlled players
  • Whether (AI controlled) barbarians will randomly attempt invasions of player settlements
  • How continents and islands are generated and distributed over the map
  • Map topology (rectangular or hexagonal tiling; whether it wraps horizontally and/or vertically)
  • How close cities can be built to one another
  • Various diplomatic rules and restrictions
  • A plethora of other major and minor adjustments and settings, if desired.

There are two ways a player can play a game of Freeciv.

  • A player can navigate with the browser to a Freeciv website, and click to start a new game or select a current game to enter.
  • Alternatively, if playing on a downloaded PC program, they must start up a Freeciv client and connect it to a Freeciv server. Initially, the server is in pre-game phase; in this phase, clients can connect and game configuration parameters can be changed. At some point, the server may be ordered to start a game; in response, it creates game players (nations) and the game map, and assigns every player to either a Freeciv client or a computer player, as specified by the configuration. From that point on, the game will run until it ends or is terminated; the server can never get back into pre-game state. The user can also start a game directly from the client: this automatically starts a Freeciv server, connects to it and starts the game.

Features

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Simplified Chinese in version 2.1

Freeciv's graphics system is configurable: one can select the original map display in overhead mode (like in Civ I).[4], or Isometric mode (like in Civ II and III) and optionally hexagonal tiling (like in Civ V and VI). Some Freeciv forks also offer a 3D display, currently only available in web-based [browser] clients. Whichever mode is selected, the look-and-feel can be further customized by selecting from alternative sets of graphics (called a tileset). These tilesets are contributed and offered by Freeciv's open source community. Sounds can be replaced as well. 

Freeciv supports human-to-human multiplayer gameplay and artificial intelligence (AI) computer players. The game is turn-based, but in Freeciv the default configuration lets human players to move simultaneously. AI players time their moves to be at end-of-turn boundaries.

Under the current releases, AI players will engage in an algorithmically oriented, rules-based diplomacy.

Current versions feature a map editor that can create new scenarios, as well as edit the map currently being played. Basic scripting is available with Freeciv.[5]

Ports and variants

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In 2025, Freeciv is most often played on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web browser, smartphones, and tablets.

  • For Windows, Mac, and Linux, the native desktop client can be found at https://www.freeciv.org/download.html
  • Online play can be done via browser at https://www.freecivweb.com or smaller sites whose availability may vary.
  • Smartphones and Tablets - Can play via web at sites such as above. Reductive versions can be downloaded for Android.
Dawning fanfare

There are different clients available SDL, GTK+ (version3) and Xaw3D[6] A Qt client was added in version 2.5. The Freeciv interface is available in over 30 different languages.[7] The addition of Gaelic was covered on BBC TV.[8]

HISTORY AND PLATFORMS Originally developed on IRIX, Freeciv has possibly been ported to more different operating systems than any other game: it is distributed with many Linux distributions, offers installers for Microsoft Windows and macOS, and has been known to run on MorphOS, Solaris, Ultrix, QNX, OS/2, Cygwin, AmigaOS, AROS, RISC OS, Maemo, ZETA, SkyOS, various BSDs, and smartphones and tablets running Android.

Freeciv is available in the PortableApps format.[9]


Freeciv-web

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Freeciv-web is the online playable version of Freeciv (https://www.freecivweb.com[10]). A fork of the Freeciv project, it has translated the desktop game engine to be played online by web browser. It has an improved user interface, improved isometric graphics, and competitive multiplayer rulesets. Freeciv-web introduced several new features, such as more advanced features and adjustments for multiplayer games, improvements for longturn games, play-by-email support[11]. Freeciv-Web can be played for free online, and supports playing the game on any real-world map location by choosing a map using Mapbox, which is not available in commercial games in the genre.[12] Freeciv-Web offers Civilization I, Civilization II, and a default ruleset based on a hybrid intended to incorporate the best features of Civilization II and [Civilization III]. However, the most popular rulesets are advanced versions of these, intended to realize, optimize, and fulfill the direction, features, and inherent promise the genre was believed to originally be aiming for, prior to the era of massive commercialization, DLC, and the era of style over substance. As of March 2025, the most advanced rulesets fulfilling this goal of 'manifest destiny' are the highly popular MP2 rulesets; with versions 2.0 "Avant-garde", 2.1 "Brava", 2.2 "Caravel", and 2.3 "Dragoon".

Freeciv-web is currently hosted at https://www.freecivweb.com, and has been in continuous operation since 2017. The Freeciv-web server was at play.freeciv.org until March 2018, then moved by a group of volunteers to freecivweb.org[13], before settling at https:/www.freecivweb.com in March 2025. Freeciv-web can be played online at freecivweb.com.[3] All the features required to play a full game of Freeciv are in place. Multiple varieties of the game are offered: single-player, multiplayer free-for-all, play-by-email and longturn.

The proposal to create a web-version of Freeciv was made 6 April 2007 on the Freeciv mailing lists, and documented on the Freeciv.org wiki.[14] Freeciv-web was originally spearheaded by Andreas Røsdal, and is now maintained by several Freeciv developers on GitHub.[15][16]

Freeciv-web is free and open-source software. The Freeciv C server is released under the GNU General Public License, while the Freeciv-web client is released under the GNU Affero General Public License. Freeciv-web supports human-to-human multiplayer gameplay and artificial intelligence (AI) computer players. Its features are similar to the Freeciv C client, although not all of the user-interface has been ported from the C client yet.

fciv.net

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Screenshot of Fciv.net of a trireme unit
Screenshot of Fciv.net 3D version

Fciv.net is a web-based variant of Freeciv which focuses on 3D graphics. It uses the Three.js 3D engine.[17] As of February 2025 the site is not working.

Freeciv21

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Freeciv21 is a fork of the Freeciv project originally started by volunteers within the Longturn.net community, with the intention of modernizing the code and the client interface, and adjusting the software more to the needs of their Longturn.net variant.[18][19] The server is focused on the one-turn-perday format, and does not feature single player, real-time multiplayer, or PBEM. As of January 2023 the platform is in late developing stage, and offers [longturn] games playable on a downloadable private client crafted to the proprietary protocols of the forked FC21 server.

freecivx.net

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Screenshot of Freecivx.net

Freecivx.net is a free-to-play singleplayer variant of Freeciv which focuses on 3D graphics and the older freeciv.org rulesets. It uses the Three.js 3D engine and OpenAI for AI/LLM chat in-game assistance.[20] Freecivx has a Java client and server in development.

Longturn variants

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Longturn is a game format which allows large numbers of players from around the globe to participate in a game, by having the game proceed at a pace of one turn per day. While on the surface this seems like a slow pace, enthusiasts report that the dimensions of diplomacy, military strategy and tactics, economic planning, and trading are opened and expanded in a way that fully realizes the true potential of the game genre. It's quite typical for players to enjoy an hour of play in each turn, per day.

WHERE TO PLAY LONGTURN There are two prominent communities for Longturn games: 1. https://www.freecivweb.com - Playable online for free right from the browser; 2. (LT.net) Freeciv21, which is playable from a downloaded client supplied by that organization.

History of the Longturn genre

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Greatturn Earth World rendering – match GT05

Freeciv Longturn is a specialized large-group-multiplayer-online-strategy variant of Freeciv featuring daylong game turns with large amounts of human opponents per map, allowing for optimal timing to build up strategic plans and readapt them to the circumstances of each turn. Matches can last anytime from a few weeks to months, and commonly involve 20 to 30 players in each one.[21]

Longturn's first game, now called LT0, started around 2004 on the Polish Civilization fanpage civ.org.pl and is now conducted at Longturn.net. It was decided that the game is a bit too slow-paced, so a new "3X movement" ruleset was devised – basically, all units had their movement points and vision radius tripled.[22] As of December 2022, the latest game was LT76.[23] Changes to settings or rulesets are discussed in the Longturn forum.[24] and, recently, Longturn Discord server where the community is currently centered. There is ongoing development of a few non-standard rulesets specifically adjusted for longturn multiplayer games, diverging from the rules of the original Civilization which was created as a single-player game.

Greatturn was a similar concept on another server.[25][26] Freecivweb.com[3] also offers longturn games (more than fifty have been played before mid-2021) with a multiplayer ruleset which is documented in great detail.[27]

Power of Planets – Earth (formerly known as GaCivs) is a free-to-play MMO-RTS variant based on FreeCiv. The ruleset was devised to support long-term time-based gameplay instead of turn-based strategy.[28]

History

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At the computer science department at Aarhus University, three students, avid players of XPilot and of Sid Meier's Civilization, which was a stand-alone PC game for MS-DOS, decided to find out whether the two could be fused into an X-based multiplayer Civilization-like strategy game.[29] The students—Peter Unold, Claus Leth Gregersen and Allan Ove Kjeldbjerg—started development in November 1995;[30] the first playable version was released in January 1996, with bugfixing and small enhancements until April.[31][32] The rules of the game were close to Civilization, while the client/server architecture was basically that of XPilot.[33]

A Freeciv game with full world map revealed (Freeciv version 1.11.5, GTK+ client, tinydent tileset, islands map generator)

For the developers, Freeciv 1.0 was a successful proof of concept, but a rather boring game, so they went back to XPilot.[34][30] Other players and developers took over; they made the game available on many other operating systems, including Linux, Solaris, Ultrix, AmigaOS, and Microsoft Windows. Linux distributions started to include Freeciv.[35]

The main development goal remained to make a Civilization-like game playable over the Internet, with participants on different continents, even when connected with 14400 bit/s modems. Freeciv achieved this by using an asynchronous client-server protocol: during each turn, human users play concurrently, and their actions are sent to the server for processing without awaiting the results. This kept the game playable with network latency up to a few hundreds of milliseconds.[citation needed]

In 1998, computer players were added;[36] they could soon beat newcomers to the game with ease, using only minor forms of cheating. Computer players are implemented directly in the server; they do not play concurrently with human players, but separately, in between turns.

The game grew in popularity. A public server was installed on which games could be played around the clock; it retained the games and published a post-game analysis webpage with per-player statistics and an animated map replay.[37][38][39]

Subsequent 1.x releases improved the GUI, improved the gameplay, optimized playability over poor connections, and added many small features. Over time, the winning strategy proved to be city smallpox, i.e. sprawling the map with many small cities as fast as possible; whoever could develop fastest would win the game, and growing and developing individual cities was not worthwhile.[40]

In practice, from around 2002, experienced players would form teams at the start of the game; a fork of Freeciv included specific features for team play.[citation needed]

Version 2.0, released in 2005, introduced several important changes. AI players could not engage in diplomatic relationships with human players. New team playing features and advanced diplomacy made cooperative gaming more attractive. Adjustments to various costs and benefits put an end to the dominance of the city smallpox strategy that left many of the game's features unused; developing one's empire now necessitated a careful plan for city development, including the use of trade routes and phases of rapture, in which city populations grow quickly, under relatively peaceful conditions. As a result, multiplayer games were almost always played in teams and typically took longer to finish when compared to 1.x games.[41] Version 2.2.0 included a map editor, termed Civworld. It can create new scenarios, as well as edit the map currently being played. Basic scripting is available with Freeciv, but is not available in Civworld.[42] Version 2.3 increased the limit of players from 30 to 126. Between version 2.4 and version 3.1 macOS was not supported, but returned in March of 2023.[43] As of version 2.3, Windows versions older than Windows XP SP3 are no longer supported.

In 2006, TCP and UDP port number 5556 was assigned to Freeciv by IANA.[44] In 2017, after being hosted on Gna! for 15 years, Freeciv moved its source repository to GitHub.[45]

Reception and impact

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In 2000, CNN placed Freeciv among the "Top 10 Linux games for the holidays".[46] In 2005, in an O'Reilly article on "Open Source Mac Gaming", Freeciv was recommended.[47] In 2008, APC named Freeciv among the "Top 5 best (free) open source games".[48] Linux Format selected it as "HotPick" in April 2010 and in October 2014.[49][50]

Freeciv was described as an example in The Art of Unix Programming by Eric S. Raymond.[51] Studies and courses have used Freeciv as a platform for experimenting with the design and programming of intelligent agents.[52][53][54][55][56]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Freeciv homepage". Project news. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b "copying". github.com/freeciv. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Freecivweb.com". The Freeciv-web Project. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  4. ^ "a review on Free Games Net (1998)". Free-games-net.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
  5. ^ "Freeciv Editor Page". Wikia. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  6. ^ "Debian – Package Search Results – freeciv-client-".
  7. ^ "Freeciv – Translations". Wikia. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  8. ^ BBC Naidheachdan (11 September 2011). Freeciv now available in Galic. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Freeciv Portable". PortableApps.com. 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  10. ^ https://www.freecivweb.com
  11. ^ "Freeciv-web play-by-email". The Freeciv-web Project. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Freeciv-web real-earth map". The Freeciv-web Project. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  13. ^ "Freeciv project news". Freeciv.org. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Freeciv web client documentation on freeciv.wikia.org". The Freeciv Project. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  15. ^ "freecivweb.com main github repo". freecivweb.com. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  16. ^ "Freeciv-web on github". The Freeciv-web Project. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  17. ^ "FCiv.net December 2022 showcase". 19 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Freeciv21". GitHub.
  19. ^ "Welcome to the Freeciv21 manual — Freeciv21 Manual".
  20. ^ "FCiv.net December 2022 showcase". 19 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Longturn website".
  22. ^ "Longturn introduction page".
  23. ^ "Longturn games list".
  24. ^ ""No more polls" – Longturn forum". Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  25. ^ "Greatturn presentation page". Archived from the original on 17 May 2014.
  26. ^ ""Under New Management" – Civland Freeciv Forum". 10 September 2014. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  27. ^ "Freecivweb.com Multiplayer II: Caravel, Game Manual". Archived from the original on 29 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Power of Planets – Earth". itch.io. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  29. ^ "Freeciv:In the Beginning". Freeciv.wikia.com. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
  30. ^ a b "Freeciv founded 20 years ago today!". Archived from the original on 10 February 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  31. ^ "Freeciv 1.0a source code (1996); see DESIGN". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  32. ^ "Freeciv 1.0k source code (1996); see CHANGES". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  33. ^ "restsquared.blogg.se - Freeciv roads". restsquared.blogg.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  34. ^ Wen, Howard (21 November 2001). "Building Freeciv: An Open Source Strategy Game". Linuxdevcenter.com. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
  35. ^ "freeciv_2.2.1-1_changelog". Retrieved 18 May 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  36. ^ "README.AI (r4421)". Archived from the original on 3 September 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  37. ^ "Pubserver". Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  38. ^ "old snapshots of civserver.freeciv.org (archive.org Wayback Machine)". Archived from the original on 10 October 2006. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  39. ^ "old snapshots of pubserver.freeciv.org archive (archive.org Wayback Machine)". Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  40. ^ Houk, Philip A. (2004). A Strategic Game Playing Agent for FreeCiv (PDF) (Technical report). Northwestern University. p. 21. NWU-CS-04-29. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2022.
  41. ^ "Freeciv – Freeciv". 1 March 2005. Archived from the original on 1 March 2005. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  42. ^ "Freeciv Editor Page". Wikia. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  43. ^ "Freeciv 3.1-beta1 change log". Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  44. ^ "Service Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry". IANA. January 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  45. ^ Freeciv project at Gna! (archived 3 March 2017)
  46. ^ Lee Anderson (20 December 2000), "Top 10 Linux games for the holidays". CNN. Archived 6 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  47. ^ Robert Daeley (2005), "Open Source Mac Gaming". O'Reilly Media, Inc. Archived 16 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  48. ^ Sbarski, Peter (21 January 2008). "Top 5 best (free) open source games". APC. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  49. ^ Linux Format 130, April 2010, p. 72
  50. ^ Linux Format 189, October 2014, p. 65
  51. ^ Eric S. Raymond (2003). Case Study: Freeciv Data Files. faqs.org. chapters 6+7. ISBN 0-13-142901-9. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  52. ^ Ashok K. Goel; Joshua Jones (2011). "Metareasoning for Self-Adaptation in Intelligent Agents" (PDF). Metareasoning – Thinking about thinking. Yale Social Robotics Laboratory. Chapter 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  53. ^ Patrick Ulam; Joshua Jones; Ashok K. Goel (2008). "Combining Model-Based Meta-Reasoning and Reinforcement Learning for Adapting Game Playing Agents" (PDF). Georgia Tech. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  54. ^ Ian Watson; Damir Azhar; Yachu Yang; Wei Pan; Gary Chen (2005). "Optimization in Strategy Games: Using Genetic Algorithms to Optimize City Development in FreeCiv" (PDF). The University of Auckland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2013.
  55. ^ Brian Schwab (2009). AI Game Engine Programming. Course Technology. pp. 234–240. ISBN 9781584506287.
  56. ^ T. Lau (1999). "CSE 590AG: Applications of Artificial Intelligence". University of Washington. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
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