Colonization Map Editor 0.1.0

The map editor that shipped with Sid Meier's Colonization for DOS (MicroProse, 1994), running natively on today's systems — no DOSBox, no emulator.

It is built from a reconstruction of the editor's own source (mapedit-decomp, compiled byte-for-byte against the original MAPEDIT.EXE), so it behaves as the 1994 editor did: same screens, same keys, same menus, and the same .MP map files. Given the same keystrokes, this release writes files byte-identical to the original running under DOSBox-X (open and save, painting, undo, fill mode, Find Continents, a new map).

Downloads

macOS 11 or later, Apple silicon and Intel	mapedit-0.1.0-macos.zip — Colonization Map Editor.app
Windows 10/11, 64-bit	mapedit-0.1.0-windows-x64.zip — mapedit.exe + SDL3.dll

Linux: build from source (cmake -B build && cmake --build build, needs SDL3).

You need

Your own copy of Colonization for DOS (GOG or Steam). The editor reads the game's art, fonts and palette from its folder and saves maps there; none of the game is included. The first time, it asks for the folder (the one with VICEROY.EXE) and remembers it — or drop the program into the game's folder.

Back up your maps: like the original, the editor saves over the .MP file it opened.

Notes

• macOS: the app is signed but not notarized. The first time, right-click it and choose Open.
• Loading one of the shipped maps and saving it rewrites a few hundred bytes of forest codes. The original editor does exactly the same (it converts an older encoding on load).
• Keys and mouse are the original's: Shift+left click paints, Shift+right click picks up; arrows/number keys move the cursor, Space paints, Backspace picks up; Alt opens the menus; Z/X zoom.