OpenCol takes apart Sid Meier’s Colonization — and finally fixes its water animation

By | October 10, 2026
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OpenCol, a fan reverse-engineering project for Sid Meier’s Colonization, has reconstructed the 1995 Windows release well enough to patch the original COLONIZE.EXE. Its most visible fix finally enables animated river currents and beach surf—frames that were present in the game but never switched on in the Windows version. The water-cycling patch leaves open sea, lakes, marsh and fog still, and adds a Game Options → Water Color Cycling toggle.

The patches are available from the win-patches repository or a browser tool that modifies a player’s own executable locally; no game file is uploaded. They require the updated 3.141 Windows build, so the unpatched Windows version included with current Steam and GOG releases needs MicroProse’s official update first. Other patches separate overlapping Colonopedia colonist icons, restore a hidden Picture Viewer, and shorten the introduction screens.

OpenCol has also published documentation on the game’s mechanics and file formats, tools for unpacking and rebuilding Windows and DOS assets, and an archive of 36 recovered fan maps. A companion win31-runtime project uses otvdm and Wine to help run the 16-bit Windows release on modern systems; players still supply their own game files. CivFanatics’ Blake00 has the fuller project roundup and discussion in the OpenCol forum thread.

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Play the new Civ7 “Game Of The Month” #31

By | October 4, 2026
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With the start of another month we will also let you start another GOTM! This time, we want you to play as Hikimo, Queen Of Wa, with Silla as civilization. The world is a standard size earth map with light disaster intensity. The game is set on Immortal level, and you need to win it via a Science victory. Interested in this challenge? Then get your savegame here and submit the winning savegame until November 1!

AI agents take on OpenCiv3 – with AI commentators calling the game

By | October 3, 2026
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What happens when AI models each get a civilization to run? Developer Edgar Arakelyan has introduced an OpenCiv3 environment that lets AI agents compete against one another, complete with public messages between leaders and two AI commentators following the action.

The project builds on OpenCiv3, the community’s open-source reimagining of Civilization III, and runs as a plugin for Scale AI’s AgentEnv Framework. Agents using Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini CLI can manage cities, choose research, move units, change governments, and declare war or negotiate peace through a set of game tools. They can also play against OpenCiv3’s built-in AI, while human players can join supported matches through a browser.

For spectators, there’s a live map, standings, replays, and a view from each civilization’s perspective. The AI casters, Max and Ada, provide spoken play-by-play and analysis, with captions and Twitch streaming support.

Interested in watching AI leaders bargain over borders—or challenging them yourself? See the announcement and demo and the GitHub repository for recordings and setup instructions.

Discuss on the forums

Civilization VII Update 1.5.0 Hotfix fixes late-game crashes and missing resources

By | October 1, 2026
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Firaxis has released a hotfix for Civilization VII‘s Update 1.5.0, focused on stability and performance. The patch is live now on Steam and consoles, arriving a little over two weeks after the big 1.5.0 update of September 15.

Switch and Switch 2 players will have to wait a bit longer: Firaxis says this hotfix needs additional Nintendo submission requirements, so it is coming at a later date. The current console-compatible Switch version stays available in the meantime, with full crossplay support with Steam.

Here’s what the hotfix addresses:

  • Stability and crash fixes, most notably in the late-game Modern Age.
  • Lag that could occur when using mouse and keyboard inputs simultaneously.
  • Missing Treasure Resources in the Exploration Age and missing Factory Resources in the Modern Age. A dev note explains that previously not all Treasure or Factory Resources were required to spawn in the random selection of age resources, but now they are — which should make certain Triumphs and Victories less frustrating to pursue.
  • Several minor resource issues on the True Start Location Earth map (“goodbye, mysterious Ocean Cocoa!”).
  • Softlocks that could prevent turn advancement in multiplayer games.
  • Elizabeth I fixes: her “The Annals” Memento now properly grants a Great Work slot to Unique Gold Buildings acquired through Syncretism, and incorrect “Out Of Range” warnings in the Trade Lens are gone.
  • A controller fix for focus issues when swapping between a Settler and a Settlement’s Production Menu after enabling the Radial Ruler map decoration.

Firaxis asks players who still run into problems after the patch to report them through the official support portal.

The full notes are on Steam. If you want to compare notes with other players on whether the 1.5.0 issues you hit are gone, the Civilization VII Update 1.5.0 thread is the place to do it.

Thunderfall’s New Game, Wonder Rails

By | September 30, 2026
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A little detour from Civilization 🚂 I’ve been building Wonder Rails, a cozy model railway you can watch, ride, or drive in your browser. The first world is free – no download or account needed.

Civilization at 35: the whole series in two minutes

By | September 27, 2026
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Happy Civtember, everyone!

Sid Meier’s Civilization turns 35 this month. The first game came out in September 1991, and we’ve all been saying “just one more turn” ever since. To celebrate, we made a short video that covers the entire series, from a single settler in 4000 BC to Civilization VII, in about two minutes.

https://twitter.com/civfanatics/status/2104341443791724850

This is an unofficial fan tribute, not affiliated with Firaxis or 2K.

Now over to you:

  • Which Civ was your first, and what hooked you?
  • Which game in the series is your favourite, and why?
  • What’s your best “one more turn” story?

If you enjoyed it, a like or share on X helps more Civ fans find the community.

Here’s to the next 35 years. 🎉

>> Discuss the video on the forums

Sid Meier’s Civilization I 35th Anniversary Celebration

By | September 27, 2026
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Five years ago we celebrated Civ’s 30th at CivFanatics and Firaxis has recently been celebrating Civ’s 35th anniversary but because they were more series focused we’ve decided to focus on the original game itself this time and do a new Sid Meier’s Civilization I 35th Anniversary Celebration before the month ends! Civ1 was the brilliant creation of Sid Meier that started it all, and kicked off a series and a genre that millions around the world still play and enjoy today! Similar to our previous big MoM, SMAC, CtP, Col & Civ2 anniversary celebrations we’ve put together a huge thread talking about all things Civilization 1 and take a look at what’s been going on in the Civ1 fan communities over the last few years covering fan patches/mods/scenarios, similar games, communities, remasters, videos & more! So pour yourself a cup of coffee/tea, sit back and enjoy the big read! And feel free to share your own Civ1 memories in our Sid Meier’s Civilization I 35th Anniversary Celebration Thread. 🙂

Cee One Vee – Civilization 1 Game Boy Advance port (with Windows release too)

By | September 25, 2026
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A year ago we posted about the Pocket Empires Civ1 demake for Game Boy Colour (which had a successful Kickstarter and is still under development) and now we’ve got a similar project by a different developer codename_B for the Game Boy Advance called Cee One Vee! Cee One Vee is a fan-made attempt to bring Civ1 to Nintendo’s 2001 handheld, with every menu and screen redesigned from scratch for the GBA’s tiny 240×160 display and D-pad controls. It’s also playable on desktop/web (& you can wishlist on Steam), with scored music, and future plans include multiplayer and even possible GBA-to-PC cross-play. Give the demo a try and let him know what you think! You can check it out on the CivFanatics forums here.