OpenSE4 0.6.1

OpenSE4 is an open-source engine for Space Empires IV Deluxe. It plays the classic game on your own installed copy of Space Empires IV Deluxe and contains nothing from the original game.

OpenSE4 is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the game's publishers.

What changed since 0.6.0

A maintenance release. The game plays exactly as 0.6.0 does.

• Build fix: OpenSE4 builds without warnings with Visual Studio 2022 again. Players are not affected: the downloads are built with MinGW, which 0.6.0 also used.
• Docs: the multiplayer documentation now gives the network protocol's version history correctly.

0.6.1 and 0.6.0 play together over the network and by e-mail (both use protocol 4), and they read each other's saves (save format 6). Saves from 0.5.0 and earlier can't be loaded.

For everything new in the 0.6 series, see the 0.6.0 release notes: computer players brought closer to the original's fleets, budget, scrapping and base building.

Downloads

File	For
OpenSE4-0.6.1-windows-x86_64-setup.exe	64-bit Windows 10 and 11: the installer
OpenSE4-0.6.1-windows-x86_64.zip	64-bit Windows 10 and 11: the same programs to run from any folder
OpenSE4-0.6.1-linux-x86_64.tar.gz	64-bit Linux with glibc 2.34 or later (Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 35, RHEL 9, SteamOS 3 and newer)
OpenSE4-0.6.1-SHA256SUMS.txt	SHA-256 checksums of the three downloads

Every download holds three programs:

• the game (opense4);
• the dedicated server for network and play-by-e-mail games (opense4-server);
• a data checker (opense4-datacheck).

Libraries, our own fonts, the manual and the lessons are built in. The game needs a GPU with Vulkan or OpenGL 3.3.

Running it

• Windows: run the installer, then start OpenSE4 from the Start menu, or unpack the zip and run opense4.exe. Neither is code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may warn the first time ("More info", then "Run anyway").
• Linux: unpack and run ./opense4, or run ./install-desktop-entry.sh once to start it from your desktop's application list.

The game looks for a Steam install of Space Empires IV Deluxe. See README.md for other locations and command-line options (opense4 --help).

Known limitations

As in 0.6.0:

• This is still an early build, marked as a pre-release.
• Smaller differences in how the computer players play are still being measured. They fight more decided battles away from colonies, take fewer enemy colonies, and have about one ship fewer at turn 50. They also explore a little less in the first 25 turns.
• Windows builds are tested in CI and under Wine. The executables aren't code-signed.
• In network and e-mail games, every battle is resolved strategically, as in the original.

License

OpenSE4 is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later. The Noto Sans fonts are under the SIL Open Font License. THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt in each download lists the bundled libraries and their licences.