Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!think.com!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!udel!mmdf
From: PYC118@uriacc.uri.edu (Rasiel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: Empire v2.05 Gurus!
Message-ID: <43822@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Date: 6 Feb 91 01:29:31 GMT
Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu
Lines: 42

I never thought that a game this venerable would bag but when I went into
the editor and chose the 'sprinkle cities' option it guru'd with a 'software
error- task withheld'. I wanted to make a terrain-less world consisting of
city-islands only. By the way, I find that there is little difference between
choosing the 'Standard' and 'Expert' settings; I can beat them both just as
easily (even when playing against two computer opponents). I think that the
computer just has lousy strategies: 1) it never attacks you from the rear
therefore you never have to worry about anything except what's going on at
the front, 2) It seldom builds battleships, instead it builds quite a few
nearly useless aircraft carriers; battleships are definately worth building
and repairing when damaged. 3) Once Empire captures a city it doesn't try to
hold on to it very fervently, often leaving the troop transports laying
around the port of the city it captured (leaving them of course to an air
attack); it should instead immediately send it back to get more armies.
4) I don'tremember ever having seen a transport escorted by a warship or
air cover leaving them vulnerable, again, to your attacks.

I might as well go a step further and gripe a little about what I'd like
to see in a future update of this very addictive game:
1) One of the things that bugs me the most is that 'pieces' (or whatever
you want to call them) cannot occupy two spaces at once. While two ships
obviously wouldn't be able to in real life, there's no reason why a fighter
couldn't fly over an army. As a matter of fact, a few times a fighter will
run out of fuel because it has to run around an army or a ship.
2) While this is no fault of the game, it does get very slow towards the
200th turn. Sometimes the game goes so slow I can go get myself something
to eat before the turn is up. I wonder if it's faster on a 3000?
3) The game is missing some key pieces. Some sort of satellite would make
reconnaisance much easier and faster. Missiles could perhaps be launched
into enemy territory to soften them up. A bomber could have the same function
as a fighter with the exception that they'd be harder to shoot down and maybe
even some sort of air-transport to carry troops faster than sea-transports.
4) The overall strategy should be more unpredictable and the maps should
be bigger and also include different topologies (say an army couldn't cross
a mountain range or warships couldn't cross frozen seas, I dunno!)
5) Maybe the graphics could be improved (the sound thoug lousy is irrelevant)
and there should be a map of our own world so that I can have the pleasure
of single-handedly invading the hell out of Iraq! :)

Maybe I'm dreaming, heh, v2.05 came out way back in 1988 so I doubt they
have any plans to make improvements.
Rasiel, pyc118@uriacc