exodium README

The project's README from github.com/tvollstaedt/exodium. As one markdown file: README.md.

Exodium

Exodium

A cross-platform launcher for the eXoDOS collections. Browse, download, and play DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 9x, and ScummVM games on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Latest release License: MIT Platform Built with Tauri Rust + TypeScript

Browse view with the collection shelf, cover-art grid, and a download in progress

Quick start

  1. Download the latest release for your platform: Windows (.exe) · macOS (.dmg) · Linux (.AppImage) · all downloads
  2. Install and launch - see Installation for platform notes.
  3. Pick a games folder in the setup wizard - this is where downloaded games are stored.
  4. Browse and play - hit download on any game; it streams from the eXo torrents and launches in the emulator it was configured for.

A tribute to eXoDOS

Exodium would not exist without the extraordinary work of the eXoDOS project and its creator, eXo. Over many years, eXo and the eXoDOS community have painstakingly collected, configured, and preserved over 9,000 DOS games, each one pre-configured to run out of the box. The result is an irreplaceable archive of gaming history.

Exodium is a frontend client for that collection. It does not host or distribute any game files; it uses the eXoDOS torrents that you seed yourself. If you find value in Exodium, please consider supporting the eXoDOS project directly at retro-exo.com.

What it does

eXoDOS ships with a Windows-only LaunchBox frontend and requires downloading the full ~500 GB torrent to browse the catalogue. Exodium replaces that frontend with a small native app for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Available now

Compatibility note: DOS and Windows 3.x games run under the bundled DOSBox Staging, ScummVM games under the pinned ScummVM build Exodium fetches for them. A handful are tuned for DOSBox-ECE specials such as 3dfx Voodoo settings or the GunStick light gun and may look or behave slightly differently than under the original Windows eXoDOS setup. Windows 9x games need DOSBox-X or 86Box, which Exodium fetches with your first Windows 9x download.

Planned

Screenshots

Game detail panel for DOOM with cover art, metadata, and language variants

Game detail panel with description, metadata, and one download size per available language.

Media gallery lightbox showing a magazine ad, with a thumbnail strip below it

Per-game media gallery. Flip through original box scans, magazine ads, and in-game shots.

Downloads sheet with three games in progress, peer count, and sharing status

Several games download at once, straight from the eXoDOS torrents, with the peer count and how much you have shared back.

Installation

Download the binary for your platform from the latest release.

macOS

Because Exodium is not yet signed with an Apple Developer ID, macOS Gatekeeper will block it on first launch with "Exodium is damaged and cannot be opened". To bypass this, run the following once after dragging the app to Applications:

xattr -cr /Applications/Exodium.app

This removes the quarantine attribute that macOS adds to downloaded files. The app is otherwise unmodified - the binary itself is built and distributed directly from this repo's CI pipeline.

Linux

Install the .deb (Debian/Ubuntu) or run the .AppImage directly (any distro). The AppImage needs chmod +x first.

Windows

One installer is provided: Exodium_<version>_x64-setup.exe (NSIS). It is currently unsigned, so Windows will block it by default. Trusted code signing is planned for a future release. (Releases up to v0.8.3 also shipped an .msi; it was dropped because the auto-updater delivers NSIS updates, and Windows cannot cleanly update an MSI install with an NSIS installer.)

Install: NSIS .exe + Unblock-File

  1. Download Exodium_<version>_x64-setup.exe.

  2. Open PowerShell and unblock the downloaded file:

    Unblock-File "$HOME\Downloads\Exodium_<version>_x64-setup.exe"

  3. Run the installer normally. SmartScreen may still show a warning - click "More info" → "Run anyway".

If Unblock-File is unavailable, right-click the .exe → Properties → tick "Unblock" at the bottom of the General tab → OK.

If downloads are stuck at 0%: check %APPDATA%\Exodium\logs\exodium.log for error details. Firewall issues are one possible cause - allow both "Private" and "Public" networks for Exodium under Windows Security → Firewall & network protection → Allow an app through firewall.

Tech stack

Layer Technology
Shell Tauri v2 (frameless window, decorations: false)
Frontend SolidJS + TypeScript + Vite
UI Components Ark UI headless (@ark-ui/solid)
Backend Rust
Database SQLite via rusqlite (WAL mode, pre-built and shipped with the app)
Torrent librqbit with selective file downloads

Development

Prerequisites

DOSBox Staging is downloaded automatically by init-dev. No manual installation needed.

First-time setup

pnpm install

# Download thumbnails and the DOSBox binary (one-time, ~2-5 GB depending on language packs)
pnpm run init-dev

pnpm tauri dev

init-dev is idempotent - already-downloaded files and existing thumbnails are skipped. Use --force to regenerate thumbnails. Data is cached at ~/.exodium-dev/ (override with XDO_DEV_DATA=/your/path).

Language pack options:

pnpm run init-dev --glp     # German Language Pack (~23 GB)
pnpm run init-dev --slp     # Spanish Language Pack (~3.8 GB)
pnpm run init-dev --plp     # Polish Language Pack (~800 MB)
pnpm run init-dev --all-packs

Useful scripts

Command Description
pnpm tauri dev Start the app in development mode
pnpm run init-dev First-time setup: DOSBox binary + thumbnails
pnpm run get-dosbox Download DOSBox Staging binary only
pnpm test Run frontend tests (Vitest)
pnpm run test:all Frontend + Rust tests

Regenerating the game database

The pre-built SQLite database (metadata/exodium.db.gz) ships with the app. To regenerate it from the bundled XML sources:

cd src-tauri
cargo run --example generate_db
gzip -k ../metadata/exodium.db

Project structure

exodium/
├── src/                    SolidJS frontend
│   ├── api/tauri.ts        Typed invoke() wrappers
│   ├── components/         GameCard, GameDetailPanel, SearchBar, WindowFrame, ...
│   ├── pages/              Intro, Setup, Library
│   └── stores/             games, downloads, thumbnails
├── src-tauri/
│   └── src/
│       ├── examples/       generate_db build tool (not shipped)
│       ├── commands/       Tauri commands (games, setup, updates)
│       ├── db/             SQLite schema + queries
│       ├── import/         LaunchBox XML parser
│       └── torrent/        librqbit download manager
├── metadata/               Bundled XML sources + pre-built DB (.gz)
├── scripts/
│   ├── init-dev.sh         First-time dev setup
│   └── gen_thumbnails.py   Resize + rename box art from XODOSMetadata.zip
├── manifest.json           Update-check manifest (torrent infohashes + thumbnail pack info)
├── thumbnails/eXoDOS/      Shortcode-keyed game thumbnails (gitignored, generated by init-dev)
└── torrents/               .torrent files for every collection

Support

Found a bug or have a question? Open an issue - include exodium.log from the app's log folder (Settings → Open log folder) for download or launch problems.

If Exodium is useful to you, consider donating via GitHub Sponsors or Ko-fi. Donations go toward OS code-signing certificates (Apple Developer ID, Windows signing) so the install warnings on macOS and Windows can go away.

License

MIT - see LICENSE.

Exodium does not include any game files, ROM images, or copyrighted eXoDOS assets. All game data is downloaded via the official eXoDOS torrents.

exodium (tvollstaedt/exodium)

Searching Database…

332 ·GitHub
Exodium
What is this?Exodium is a cross-platform native frontend for the eXoDOS DOS game collection, letting you browse and stream over 9,000 preserved DOS games without downloading the full ~500GB torrent upfront.
Is this a game launcher, or does it include the games itself?It is a launcher and frontend only - it streams individual games on demand from the eXoDOS torrents you seed yourself, and does not host or distribute any game files.
How do I install and start using it?Download the release for your OS (Windows .exe, macOS .dmg, Linux .AppImage or .deb), install it, then use the setup wizard to pick a games folder - after that you browse the catalogue and hit download on any game to stream and launch it.
Do I need to install DOSBox or ScummVM myself?No - DOSBox Staging, the pinned ScummVM build, and (for Windows 9x titles) DOSBox-X or 86Box are all fetched automatically by Exodium, so nothing is installed separately.
Are the installers ready to use without warnings?Not fully - macOS Gatekeeper blocks the unsigned app on first launch and needs a manual quarantine-removal step, and the Windows NSIS installer is also unsigned so SmartScreen shows a warning; proper code signing is planned but not yet done.
What happens with Windows 9x games, which need a different setup than DOS games?Windows 9x titles do not run under DOSBox - Exodium boots a real Windows 95/98 environment via DOSBox-X or 86Box, which it fetches automatically on your first Windows 9x download.
Does it support ScummVM-based games too?Yes, eXoScummVM titles each run on the exact ScummVM build eXo originally pinned them to, with a picker for edition, sound hardware, and subtitles.
Why build Exodium instead of just using the original eXoDOS LaunchBox frontend?The original eXoDOS frontend is Windows-only and forces you to download the entire ~500GB torrent before you can even browse; Exodium replaces it with a small native app for Linux, macOS, and Windows that streams games individually.
What extras does Exodium show beyond just launching a game?Each game comes with manuals, box scans, screenshots, ads, and preview videos pulled straight from the collection's archives, plus a theme player that streams its music and doubles as a jukebox in Browse.
What are similar projects?Ridge-Racer-Collection, gow3_pc, OpenEmu, widemelon, chinese-dos-games, hearthstone-linux-gui, rayburst, mame
Which topics is it in?solidjs, games, torrent, retro, launcher, appimage, linux-app, emulation, retrogaming, emulator, p2p, tauri
Creator
tvollstaedt
Size
209.5 MB
Stars
332
Updated
CommitOct 13Releasev0.15.3Oct 11
Age
6mo
Commits · 90 Days