OpenPax 0.1.0

The first release of OpenPax, an open-source engine for Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain. It plays the game on modern Windows, macOS and Linux with no emulator or compatibility layer.

OpenPax comes with none of the game. You need your own copy from GOG; OpenPax imports its art, sound, movies and data on first start.

This is an early release: expect rough edges, and please report what you find.

What's in 0.1.0

• The full single-player game: galaxy generation, colonies, economy, research, ship design, fleets, combat, diplomacy, espionage and computer players, following the original's rules and numbers. The same seed gives the same galaxy.
• Native builds for Windows (x64), macOS (Apple Silicon) and Linux (x64).
• Widescreen and high-resolution displays: the game draws sharp at any window size, and nine of its screens use the extra width. The art is upscaled 2x, with a modern font for the interface.
• Multiplayer over the LAN or online through a lobby, with chat and a ready check, and a self-hostable lobby server (lobby-server/).
• Optional fixes for the original's bugs. Each is a separate setting, all off by default.
• Mods: art and data packs, new technologies, ship designs and planet types, and rule changes in C#. A host's mods are sent to the other players in the room automatically. Three sample mods ship with it, off until turned on in Options:
  • Simple Combat: no battle screen. Fleets fight on their own over a few days, weighing firepower, shields, mines, ECM, drones and crew experience, and besiege planets from orbit. The game never stops for a battle.
  • Bounty: credits for every enemy ship your fleets destroy. The modding guide's first example.
  • Arsenal: a new beam weapon, a stronger shield, an orbital farm, crystalline worlds and a premade cruiser, as data only.

Getting started

1. Download the bundle for your system below and unpack it.

   • Windows: OpenPax-0.1.0-win-x64.zip, then run openpax.exe.
   • Linux: OpenPax-0.1.0-linux-x64.tar.gz, then run ./openpax.
   • macOS (Apple Silicon): OpenPax-0.1.0-osx-arm64.tar.gz. The app is not signed by a known developer, so run ./prepare_mac.sh once from the unpacked folder, then open OpenPax.app.

2. On first start, point OpenPax at your copy of the game, either:

   • an installed copy (the folder holding Pax Imperia.exe), or
   • GOG's offline backup installer, setup_pax_imperia_2.0.0.12.exe, from your GOG library. OpenPax reads it directly; there is no need to run it.

   The small GOG Galaxy installer holds none of the game and will not work; OpenPax tells you if you pick it.

3. The import converts the game once, into your user folder (a few minutes). Then the game starts.

The modding guide is in docs/modding/ inside the bundle.

Known limits

• Only the GOG release of the game is supported (build 2.0.0.12). Other copies are refused with a message saying why.
• Macs with Intel processors are not supported yet.
• OpenPax cannot play online against the original game, only against other OpenPax players.
• The Windows and macOS builds are new and have had little testing on real machines.

Source

The bundles include FFmpeg (LGPL libraries, and a GPL movie converter built with x264). The exact FFmpeg and x264 source archives they were built from are attached below as source-…; see THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md.

License

OpenPax is free software under the GPL-3.0. Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain was developed by Heliotrope Studios, and the game and the Pax Imperia name belong to THQ Nordic GmbH. OpenPax is a fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Heliotrope Studios, THQ Nordic or GOG.