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Daniel Nylander edited this page Aug 14, 2026 · 15 revisions

OpenCaptive Wiki

Current version: v1.1.126

OpenCaptive is a C/SDL3 reimplementation of Captive (1990) and Liberation: Captive 2 (1993) by Tony Crowther, originally published by Mindscape.

OpenCaptive is an actively developed, source-faithful reimplementation. Captive's original DOS startup, VGA presentation and Mission 0001 route selection are verified; arrival, orbit, landing and dungeon entry remain explicitly gated on original runtime evidence. Liberation's verified slices and remaining campaign boundary are documented separately. No original game data is distributed: assets are loaded from the player's own media and verified by SHA-256 content identity.

Install by platform

For players

For developers

  • Developer Guide — Code layout, build/test contract, contribution workflow
  • File Formats — PL5, ANM, RNC, ADF, ISO9660, ArcD, CTV, AmSp, x3g, VGM, Img, FNT, 8SVX, MIDI

Game reference

Reverse engineering reference

  • Captive Disassembly — Complete CAPPO.EXE v1.06 reverse engineering: PRNG, combat formulas, XP system, item database, map generation, viewport renderer, OPL2 audio, spawn system
  • Liberation Disassembly — Complete CD32 binary reverse engineering: city/plot generation, X3G/VGM/IMG/FNT/ANIM formats, 3D renderer, text expansion engine, NPC/shop/combat systems

Scope and provenance

Original media remains copyrighted and must be supplied by the player. The project verifies content hashes before loading assets. Do not add original game assets to issues, pull requests, release artifacts or this wiki.

Project links

Verification status

The current Captive verification path starts the player's original DOS files through CAPTIVE.BAT 1 in a normal DOSBox-X window. The real intro, Mission 0001 holomap, keypad input, target selection and FLIGHT PATH SET response are verified. ARRIVED AT DESTINATION, NOW IN ORBIT, LANDING SUCCESSFUL and the first-person dungeon transition remain gated until an original runtime capture proves them. The project does not replace those states with generated game data. Debugger and FIFO sessions are reserved for disassembly and frame inspection, not interactive play.

No synthetic planet, landing point, dungeon, status text, or fallback gameplay is accepted as parity evidence. The original runtime must visibly change state after ORBIT, reach the destination orbit, show the real white landing marker, and produce the original landed view after LAND.

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