2 Dec 2002

This version of Galactic Empire has been played by my family and friends for over 10 years now. We originally found it on the Commodore 64 (C-64) on some public domain diskettes that my dad purchased. When the IBM/PC compatible computers became popular, I ported the C-64 basic based game over to Microsoft's Quickbasic and compiled it. I've tweaked the game a bit to make it easier for us to play and to give a few more options (like saving, taking a player out mid-game, etc) but we have left the original game in, how the odds are calculated, how long it takes to get from one star to the next, etc. Just hit ? at any prompt in the game to get a menu. This version still has the line numbers in it, just because there was no reason to change it over to a procedural type of code.

You will find my latest compiled version here, along with the Qbasic source I used to compile it and also the original C-64 BASIC source that I have. I don't remember if I had modified that code any back when we were playing on the C-64.

I don't know who originally created this. It isn't in the source, and we don't have our original diskettes from the C-64 anymore. If you can let me know, so that I can give credit where credit is due, please email me at the link below.

I'll update this page as we continue to tweak this game. Please keep in mind, I'm not a programmer, but I did learn BASIC on the C-64 from my dad and from typing in games and programs in from magazines.

Current things on my todo list: Random production upgrades and bonus armies to speed up the game as it progresses (ala the board game Risk), short game mode where each player can select a star until all are taken (ala Risk). If you have suggestions, feel free to email me, no guarantees that they will be incorporated :)

16 Nov 2005

I received my first email pertaining to this page (and I intially put this online almost 3 years ago) and it was about someone porting this game over to the PSP and found me via Google. I'm glad to see there are other fans of this little known game and excited to see some new things going on. Christopher's website about the PSP port can be found at http://www.phantomtech.info/Lua/. More to follow about this port as Christopher updates me.

25 May 2006

Christopher just emailed me an update about http://www.phantomtech.info/Lua/GalacticEmpire/, he has released his first version of the PSP port with single player support. Multiplayer is on his to-do list. The screenshoots look awesome, time to dust off the PSP and give this a whirl.

18 April 2007

I should have thought of this sooner, but I've added a link to a screenshot at the top of this page. That's just in case you were looking for some version of GE and a screenshot is the best way to describe what this game is about :)

I've also decided to brush up on my php skills and port this game over to the web, mainly so my family and I can play via web and don't have to be physically together. More info about this as it develops, so check back.

26 Feb 2015

Well, so much for me updating, real life, etc, ain't gonna happen. However, I am adding a clear text link at the bottom for the modified source, and put it into the gal.zip. I got a request today for it, had to install dos box, put QB45 into it, and load up the source. Btw, the game runs fine in the latest dosbox, just speed up cycles in dosbox to get the pacing right.