A
PC wargame designed by
Mark Baldwin and released in
1988 by
Interstel. Players vied with one or more human/computer
opponents for
territorial control. Players captured cities scattered across preset or randomly generated
maps, and these cities could be used to produce a variety of
military unit types. While simple by today's standards,
Empire was
a true original and has clearly had a profound impact on the development of today's
strategic simulations.
History A cruise around the web reveals some interesting facts about Empire. It seems the earliest version was written for a mainframe by Peter S. Langston in 1972. This was apparently updated by several hands, including Walter Bright in 1978. Baldwin's version for Interstel is an update of this version.
On a personal level, I blew uncounted hours of my time playing Empire in college. I would dearly like to find a copy of the Interstel release, so if anyone has any leads, PLEASE contact me.