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Empire is a game that takes place in the past's
future. Huh? Well, like the original Flash Gordon, Empire
is set in the far future, but it's how the people of
the thirties thought it would be. The object of the
game is to build an Empire spanning many solar systems
by trading with starbases, destroying loads of marauding
pirates and braving many hazardous missions. Only then
can you start building a huge Frontier Shield to protect
your Empire for the rest of eternity. All this takes
place in a Galaxy consisting of a hundred solar systems.
Your spaceship is shown in the centre of the screen,
the background, and anything on it, scrolls and spins
by thrusting and turning respectively. Along the bottom
of the screen there are several gauges and indicators,
four of them are vertical water gauges showing the ship's
energy level, shield status, radiation level and temperature.
At the beginning of a game the energy and shield levels
are at maximum, but they soon deplete as the ship collides
with alien gunfire, planets or similar 'debris'. Run
out of energy and shields completely and it's time to
give up empire-building . . . the game ends.
The
temperature gauge rises as energy is expended in zooming
about and the weapon systems produce heat too. Care
has to be taken to ensure that the ship doesn't get
too hot -- if the temperature rises too high the ship
explodes. Incoming messages are displayed on the console,
and a stardate counter keeps track of gametime for you
in ten second units. Two direction finders aid navigation
-- the one on the left constantly points towards the
starbase, while the right hand one is used for plotting
courses. By selecting a map of the solar system, moving
a cursor to where you want to go and pressing the 1
key, the right hand direction finder comes into action
and you whizz straight across the local system without
hanging into any planets. Galactic travel is effected
in a similar manner, but the ship must have the appropriate
hyperspace add-on before long distance travelling becomes
viable.
Trade
is effected by bartering pods, small circular containers
used to transport cargo around the galaxy. These are
picked up by extending tow ropes from the ship and running
over them. Pods contain all sorts of useful things,
such as people and radioactive material. Unfortunately,
radioactive substances contaminate your ship and eventually
kill you, so it's advisable to get rid of the radiation
emitting pods as quickly as possible.
Pods
can only be traded at starbases. When a pod is dropped
outside a base, a rope extends, picks it up and drags
it in to the base's inner core. After relinquishing
a pod, the starbase allows your craft to dock and the
trading can begin if you possess a trade pass -- this
is given on completion of the first mission. A bald-headed
female appears at the bottom of the screen once the
ship has docked, and three pod symbols, representing
the starbase's ore, mineral and people resources, are
displayed along with a percentage which shows the base's
stock levels. You are then given four options: TRADE,
SAVE GAME, MISSION and PODS. The TRADE option allows
you to get extra pods, providing they're available,
and they can be collected from outside the base when
you leave. The starbase needs resources to produce new
equipment for your ship, and if the base is kept well
stocked, useful items flow in your direction allowing
your craft to be upgraded. Successful pilots can eventually
get a Wolf ship capable of carrying up to ten pods at
a time.
Selecting
the MISSION option after docking results in a message
being printed at the bottom of the screen informing
you of the next task in line. The first mission asks
you to rescue a princess who has been kidnapped and
carried away by some evil aliens. The PODS option allows
extra equipment pods to be collected -- if there are
any available.
The
Pods needed to keep a starbase well stocked are obtained
by flying down to the surface of a planet and searching
around. Calling up the System Map and using the cursor
to select a planet allows you to go planetside -- the
computer does the rest. Before landing a warp hole,
represented by a flashing box has to be found. Flying
into a warp hole changes the view into a 3D 'tunnel'
formed by wire frame squares that whizz towards you
and have to be flown through. Banging into a square
or missing one completely drains energy.
Landing
on the planet presents a 3D view of the surface, which
initially consists of nothing but trees. Moving along
at a constant speed, your ship can be steered left and
right to avoid obstacles. The accuracy of your flying
during the warp hole sequence affects how far into the
forest you land. Aerial mines have to be avoided or
shot after the forest sequence has been cleared, and
it is in this phase of the game that pods can be collected.
The left hand direction finder indicates whether there
are any pods in the vicinity, showing where they are
in relation to your ship by means of a triangular pointer.
Fly over a pod -- in this case represented by a pyramid
-- and it is automatically gathered into the ship's
hold.
A
pyramidal exit point is the route offworld -- it transports
you back to the warp hole.
Travelling
between the different systems involves negotiating an
asteroid belt -- this is unavoidable unless you have
a hyperspace pod. Each of the hundred different systems
is surrounded by an asteroid belt crammed with square
rocks that have to be avoided -- energy is lost each
time your ship bumps into one. To add to the problems,
some systems have been overrun by very fast alien ships.
Starbases in alien-controlled systems are not very useful.
However, if you manage to eradicate the alien Terror,
the Empire is able to reclaim the system and the rewards
are well worth collecting. A couple of systems have
been infected with the plague, and should you venture
into one you become contaminated, carrying the disease
wherever you go and becoming unpopular. There is an
antidote pod, but it has to be found . . .
As
you delve deeper into the game, it changes and presents
you with more aliens, different equipment and new ships
and starbases. After visiting all of the one hundred
systems, you're in a position to start buying the starbases
and constructing a Frontier Shield. This is built by
taking eight Frontier Generators to their destination
systems. Activate the eight when they're correctly located
and the galaxy becomes yours forever and ever.
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