Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!samsung!olivea!tardis!udwarf.tymnet.com!carl
From: carl@udwarf.tymnet.com (Carl Baltrunas & Cherie Marinelli 1.0.4a)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Empire Builder
Message-ID: <0B010003.mz19da@udwarf.tymnet.com>
Date: 12 Mar 91 03:30:32 GMT
Reply-To: carl@udwarf.tymnet.com
Organization: Catalyst Art
Lines: 47
X-Mailer: uAccess - Mac Release: 1.0.4a


In article <ingemar.668685301@stuart>, ingemar@isy.liu.se (Ingemar Ragnemalm) writes:
> ajauch@bonnie.ics.uci.edu (Alexander Edwin Jauch) writes:
> >I have recently happened on to a discussion of Empire Builder here.  What's
> >up with this?
> >I have played a commercial game on the Mac called Strategic Conquest and
> >although version 3.0 is good, there is a game called Empire on the PC that
> >is even better.  I am hoping that Empire Builder is the Mac port of Empire.
> >Can anyone confirm this?
> >Thanks in advance.
> 
> *ALL* these games are ports of the old VAX/VMS game Empire. (I think that is
> the original source for the game. Am I right?)

I cannot confirm Strategic Conquest, but after seeing the first post, I pulled
out the comp.binaries.mac archive of EmpireBuilder Demo 1.6.1 and tried it out.
It is indeed a port (or complete re-write) of the game for the VAX/VMS and the
prior PDP-11 and PDP-10 FORTRAN versions of the game EMPIRE.  I spent many many
weeks/(months?) playing the game on a DEC-10 and often spent entire weekends
doing nothing but playing a single game started late Friday night.

It has been spruced up a bit, the Mac interface is nice, it also accepts keypad
movement commands and some other keyboard commands as well as the mouse commands.

Improvements it could use would be the ability to redefine the command keys, as
some of us die-hards from EMPIRE keep trying to use the QWE-ASD-ZXC keys for the
movements described on the keypad 789-456-123 keys. If Chris wants suggestions,
I'll be willing to contribute.

It also has the ability to define your own parameters and you own vehicles for
combat so you can change the game to make it more challenging.  THIS IS GREAT!
(But I think it doesn't work in the Demo - I haven't tried yet.)

I also ran into a bug on my IIx having to do with an illegal index of some sort
which caused the game to loop forever in a dialogue-box loop so I had to reboot
the machine but that's a side story and not germain to the initial question.  I
haven't played many of the Mac games, but considering the effort for the port
and the interface, I think it's well worth the $25 ($15 student) price.  As soon
as I get a chance, I'll probably be sending in my $$).

-Carl


Carl A Baltrunas - Catalyst Art
Cherie Marinelli - Bijoux
Internet: {carl or cherie}@udwarf.tymnet.com
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