Imperialism (game)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Imperialism'' is a
turn-based strategy Strategy video game is a major video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, the strategy genre is most commo ...
game for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and
Apple Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
computers, developed by
Frog City Software Frog City Software, Inc. was an American video game developer based in San Francisco, California. The company was founded in 1994 by Rachel Bernstein, Bill Spieth and Ted Spieth, acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2003, became part of the 2K ...
and published by
Strategic Simulations Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and publisher of over 100 games from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994 (though the brand was in use until around 2002). The company focused on computer wargames then lat ...
in 1997. In ''Imperialism'', the player is the ruler of a 19th-century country and aims to become ruler of the world by conquest or by vote. ''Imperialism'' was followed by '' Imperialism II: Age of Exploration''.


Gameplay

There are two ways to play ''Imperialism'': in a fictional, randomly generated world, or in a historical scenario. In the first case, the player selects one of seven "great powers" and starts ruling in 1815, a year considered by many historians the beginning of the 19th-century era in the real world. The goal is to be voted world ruler by a two-thirds majority in the "Council of Governors", in which all
provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Canad ...
governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
of the world convene once in a decade. Governors in "minor nations" tend to vote for great powers that have favored their country in trade and diplomacy, whereas governors in great powers vote for strong military powers. If no two-thirds majority is ever reached, the game continues until the year 1915, when the power with the largest number of governors behind it wins the game. Although victory is determined by the Council of Governors, the game score is determined by how much a player has built, including the size of a Great Power's military, workforce, transportation network, merchant marine, diplomatic standing and number of provinces controlled. Empire building can be achieved either through diplomacy or through conquest. In either case, the empire must have a solid economic grounding, which is established by the exploitation of the country's resources (wood, ore, etc.), by industry (for example, turning raw materials iron and coal into steel) and by trade. In the historical scenarios, the player chooses a European power - available are
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, and, depending on the period chosen,
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
and
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
, or respectively
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. The game starts not in 1815 but either in 1820 (apparently so that France isn't too weak at the start of the game), in 1848, the year of revolutions, or in 1882, at the start of the arms race that eventually led to
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The end of the game is still the same, except that in the third scenario (1882) the Council of Governors does not convene until 1915. ''Imperialism'' is entirely turn-based. Each turn, players make their decisions in five screens: the map screen, where "specialists" (prospectors, engineers, etc.) are put to work, and military orders are given; the transport screen, where transport capacity is allocated; the industry screen, where production is determined and workers are trained in various ways; the trade screen, where offers and bids for the next trade session are determined; and the diplomacy screen, where diplomatic decisions are made. As the game progresses the players will also be given the option to buy Research. Research can allow increased production of some raw materials, or allow for military upgrades, or in some cases render parts of the navy fleet obsolete. When all the players click the "End turn" button, the orders are processed. Turn-based trade sessions, diplomacy sessions (the acceptance/declining of treaties) and battles follow. Battles too are turn-based, and they can be either fought by the player or left to the game AI. Naval battles are always handled by the AI. In
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
mode, at most 7 players can play together over a network. Games can be played over a LAN or the Internet. ''Imperialism'' offers a tutorial mode and five levels of game difficulty. Game editors and mods have also been published to create new scenarios, such as a world map.


Economy

In ''Imperialisms economic model, states control production and engage in trade. To produce anything, raw materials are needed. These can be bought on the world market, or gained by exploitation of resources in the player's country. For instance,
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
can be obtained by exploiting forests. It can subsequently be transformed into
lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
in a lumber mill. Lumber can be used to expand internal transport, to increase factory output, or for producing merchant ships and warships. It can also be processed further into furniture, which is used to recruit new workers, but more commonly is sold on the market to produce revenue. Timber can also be processed into paper, which is used to train workers for higher levels of productivity, and then educate them so that they can serve in more advanced military units. Paper is also necessary to train expert workers as specialists (i.e. prospectors, engineers, miners, ranchers, farmers, foresters and oil drillers). Often a Great Power will buy raw materials (such as timber) from a Minor Nation and sell the refined goods (furniture) back to the same or another minor nation, generating revenue as well as improving diplomatic relations. From the start of the game, Great Powers compete to be the favored trade partner of resource-rich minor nations, using trade subsidies and various forms of diplomacy.


Diplomacy

In the ''Imperialism'' diplomacy screen, various treaties can be proposed to other countries, and war can be declared on them. Also, trade subsidies may be offered. These increase the prices paid for a country's export goods and decrease the price the other country pays for the player's exports, making trade more profitable for the other country and thus more likely. The treaties which may be proposed are: * Non-aggression pact. Only possible between great power and a minor nation. When a minor nation is attacked by another great power (they never attack each other), the minor nations will request help from any power with which it signed a non-aggression pact. If the request is honored, the minor nation joins the great power's empire. * Alliance. An alliance can only be forged between two great powers. When any of them enters a war, the allies are asked to wage war as well. * Request to join an empire. Minor nations will voluntarily join the empire of any power that has been sufficiently kind to them in the past (lots of trade, financial grants, a pact). * Peace treaty. * Declaration of war. This is the only treaty which may not be refused (although no minor nation will ever refuse a non-aggression pact). Before a Great Power can reach a trade agreement with a Minor Power, the Great Power must build a Trade
Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...
in the Minor Power. Before the Great Power can sign a treaty with a Minor Power, the Great Power must build an
Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...
in the Minor Power. The money required to build Trade Consulates and Embassies is significant, especially early in the game, when the player's revenue is limited. All Great Powers automatically possess Embassies with each other at the beginning of the game. Great Powers can encourage closer relationships with Minor Powers and each other with subsidies and grants of cash. Building Diplomatic power can be key to winning the game. When a Great Power is in an alliance with another Great Power or has signed a non-aggression pact with a Minor Power, the Great Power is expected to go to war if the other Power is attacked. In the case of two Great Powers that share an alliance, if one Great Power starts a war, the other Great Power is also expected to go to war. If a player decides not to honor an alliance or non-aggression pact, the player's Great Power loses diplomatic standing and may find it harder to negotiate alliances in the future. Negotiating a separate peace instead of waging total war will also break an alliance, with the same effect on a Great Power's diplomatic standing as if the Great Power had refused to go to war in the first place.


Compatibility

Although the program was written for Windows 95, it can be run under other versions of Windows using the Windows Compatibility Wizard and a change of screen resolution to 640 x 480 for complete stability. The
GOG.com GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt, based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through i ...
edition runs under Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8. Strategic Simulations Inc. also published a Macintosh version of the game, which runs on System 7 and MacOS 8. The game also runs on
Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
with occasional crashes.


Development

''Imperialism'' underwent several name changes during development, such as ''Sphere of Influence'', ''Age of Industry'' and ''Sid Meier's Industrialization''. Since 2004
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...
holds the copyright.


Reception

According to former members of
Frog City Software Frog City Software, Inc. was an American video game developer based in San Francisco, California. The company was founded in 1994 by Rachel Bernstein, Bill Spieth and Ted Spieth, acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2003, became part of the 2K ...
at Sidecar Studios, ''Imperialism''s commercial performance was unexpectedly strong. In December 1998, Barry Brenesal of CNET Gamecenter called it a "sleeper hit" and "extremely successful for a turn-based strategy title". At the time, he noted that it was "still selling and has even topped the 100,000 mark." Sidecar's staff noted that ''Imperialism'' outsold the "original sales goal more than seven-fold", and reached sales surpassing 300,000 copies by 2007. ''
Macworld ''Macworld'' is a digital magazine and website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG. History ''Macworld'' was founded by David Bunnell and Cheryl Woodard (publishers) and Andrew Fl ...
''s Michael Gowan wrote, "While it lacks tactical realism, this sim provides strategy buffs some compelling management challenges."


References


External links

*
''Imperialist Forum''
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814074111/http://s1.zetaboards.com/Imperilist/index , date=2011-08-14 1997 video games 4X video games Classic Mac OS games Computer wargames Fiction set in 1815 Fiction set in 1915 Grand strategy video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Strategic Simulations games Turn-based strategy video games Ubisoft franchises Ubisoft games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in France Video games set in Germany Video games set in Italy Video games set in the 1900s Video games set in the 1910s Video games set in the 19th century Video games set in the Russian Empire Video games with historical settings Windows games Frog City Software games