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[blastradius14]

I did not have the flicker problem.

This is because your graphics card and monitor are compatible with the 50 something refresh rate that old games seem to like. Some people's video cards and monitors do not have this luxury, so we sometimes have to weasel around these problems.

The game runs on chance, a tank is most likely to take out a infantry; however, its like civ, where a phalanx can actually sometimes win defending from an armor.

This looks to be a more advanced version of an older game called Empire. This older game has the simpliest of GUIs, simply using letter to represent your different game pieces. It was probably written way back in the 60s or 70s, since my dad played it while he was in college. Anyone have any idea what i'm talking about or where to get this game??

[efthimios]

the Empire was from 78 IIRC. I had an early version (82-3?) and then an 87 version before the 3.11b of empire deluxe that I have now. Still one of the best games ever.

I remember playing this on an old (self-built) 386; as it took forever to build the game one was really committed to playing whatever was created.

Long story short, I've "rediscovered" this little gem. Probably have played about 200 games in the past year. It does take patience as one has to watch every little move of all of one's units. Tedious. On the other hand, it is a grand strategy game that one can keep in the background as one is pretending to do something else.

I think that the rights to this game have been bought by Killerbee which has made some improvements. To quote Abraham Lincoln who was, no doubt, quoting someone else: "If this is the kind of thing you like then this is the kind of thing you're going to like".

This was (I prehaps erroneously recall) revolutionary when it came out. While it may evoke comparisons to others, this is the grandparent of all of its ilk. Originally done in the 70s in a (obviously) text-only format for mainframes and later done with cutting edge graphics for PCs.

In sum, I find it a great bit of fun. It is not just a "Smash-em" as one has to balance one's current units in the field, production for individutal cities -- and how or whether they can contribute -- and playing the odds. When the enemy fighter elimitates a destroyer, cruiser and your "well protected" transport you scream "FIXED!"; when your fighter does the same thing you expect it. If you play long enough, chances are something really bad is going to happen; chances are that seridipity will favor you as well.

How do you get into it? the econfig asks for a password which you can only get from the manual. The manual is a .pdf file on the computer. The password is different every time. The password screen takes up all the space on the screen and cannot be minimised.

I can't read the manual to write the password cause the passwords is asking to be written!!!

P.S. Gah!

Use DOSbox to run the game and you can jump out via alt-tab.

BTW - I can run the game without being asked for a password, but the setup program wants a password.

[Mental_Myopia]

I had a bit of trouble "unlocking" the game with the password as well. When it prompts you for a password, simply hit the Windows button (the one between Ctrl and Alt). Now you can open and read your Empire manual. When you've found the word, click on the DOS in your taskbar to enter the password and return to the game.

As for the flickering, open the display properties inside the game and choose to run at 16 bit and 400x600 resolution. The trick is choosing a nonflickering display setting.

Hopefully this info is helpful. This is a fun game I remember from way back when, and I've always dreamed of finding it again!

When I try to start the econfig program, the password box already has a random capital letter in it. I can't delete this letter and it is interpreted as part of the password. So, I can't configure. Any ideas?

the capital letter is the first letter in the password.