Empire Classic (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Empire is a 4X
wargame
created in 1971 by Peter Langston, taking its name from the Reed College
board game of the same name
. In 1973, Empire resurfaced under the name Civilization on an HP2000 minicomputer
at Evergreen State College. The game was written in interpreted BASIC
and utilized extensions to the operating system. When the host computer was retired, the source code
to Civilization was lost. Subsequently, two other authors each independently wrote a new version of the game, both named Empire.
The game is turn-based, with players giving orders at their convenience, and in some versions then executed simultaneously by the game server at set intervals ranging from a few hours to once per day. The game world consists of "sectors", which may be designated as agricultural, industrial, etc. There are dozens of unit types requiring a variety of raw and manufactured materials for their creation. "Blitz" games may last a few hours, typical games a few months, and some larger games up to a year.
's 1971 version was developed while he was on staff at Harvard University
using Bell Labs
UNIX
and the C programming language
on a PDP 11/45.
Derivatives of this program include:
on an HP3000 and released to the HP3000 Contributed Library. It is also known as Empire Classic, or alternatively as HP Classic Empire and HP Empire Classic.
In 2003, the game was ported to the C++
programming language for the Linux
operating system, and a subsequent Java client/server version was produced.
4X
4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate." The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World...
wargame
Wargame (video games)
Wargames are a subgenre of strategy video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical accuracy.-History:The genre of wargame video games is derived from earlier forms of wargames...
created in 1971 by Peter Langston, taking its name from the Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
board game of the same name
Empire (strategy game)
Empire is a turn-based strategy game of industrial development and military conquest. Empire is played on large maps with off-set squares that display one or more continents and feature various resource squares. The game has undergone several incarnations and ongoing development...
. In 1973, Empire resurfaced under the name Civilization on an HP2000 minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
at Evergreen State College. The game was written in interpreted BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
and utilized extensions to the operating system. When the host computer was retired, the source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
to Civilization was lost. Subsequently, two other authors each independently wrote a new version of the game, both named Empire.
The game is turn-based, with players giving orders at their convenience, and in some versions then executed simultaneously by the game server at set intervals ranging from a few hours to once per day. The game world consists of "sectors", which may be designated as agricultural, industrial, etc. There are dozens of unit types requiring a variety of raw and manufactured materials for their creation. "Blitz" games may last a few hours, typical games a few months, and some larger games up to a year.
Peter S. Langston version
Peter LangstonPeter Langston
Peter Langston is a computer programmer who wrote and distributed for free several games for Unix systems in the 1970s, including the original version of Empire and the program "Oracle" upon which the later net-wide Oracle was modeled. He is also an experienced jazz, rock, and folk musician.In...
's 1971 version was developed while he was on staff at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
using Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
and the C programming language
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
on a PDP 11/45.
Derivatives of this program include:
- Xerox Development Environment (XDE) Empire on XeroxXeroxXerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
computer workstations - BSD Empire
- PSL Empire
- PC Empire by Gordon Storga for DOSDOSDOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
- Amiga Empire for the Commodore Amiga
- PC Empire by Gordon Storga for DOS
- Wolfpack Empire
Ben Norton version
This version of Empire was written in 1984 in PascalPascal (programming language)
Pascal is an influential imperative and procedural programming language, designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a small and efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring.A derivative known as Object Pascal...
on an HP3000 and released to the HP3000 Contributed Library. It is also known as Empire Classic, or alternatively as HP Classic Empire and HP Empire Classic.
In 2003, the game was ported to the C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
programming language for the Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system, and a subsequent Java client/server version was produced.
See also
- Classic EmpireClassic Empire (computer game)Empire is a turn-based wargame with simple rules, conceived by Walter Bright in 1971 based on various war movies and board games, notably Battle of Britain and Risk. In the game, each player starts with one city in an unexplored world, and uses the city to build armies, aircraft, and various...
- EmpireEmpire (strategy game)Empire is a turn-based strategy game of industrial development and military conquest. Empire is played on large maps with off-set squares that display one or more continents and feature various resource squares. The game has undergone several incarnations and ongoing development...
, the board game that inspired this video game