Imperialism (game)
Encyclopedia
Imperialism is a turn-based strategy
game for Microsoft Windows
and Apple Macintosh computers, developed by Frog City Software
and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
(SSI) in 1997. In Imperialism, the player is the ruler of a 19th century country, and must build an empire. Imperialism was followed by Imperialism II: Age of Exploration
.
governors 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, 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 the 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 exploitation of the country's resources (wood, ore, etc.), by industry (turning raw materials such as iron and coal into steel) and by trade.
In the historical scenarios, the player chooses a European industrial power (depending on the scenario, Great Britain
, France
, Prussia
, Germany
, Austria-Hungary
, Sardinia
, Italy
, Russia and the Ottoman Empire
are available). 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
. 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; the trade screen, where offers and bids for the next trade session are determined; and the diplomacy screen, where diplomatic decisions are made.
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 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.
where the state controls production and engages 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 country. For instance, timber
can be obtained by exploiting woods. It can subsequently be transformed into lumber
in a lumber mill. Lumber can be used to expand internal transport, increase factory output, or for producing merchants and battle ships. 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 the educate them so they can serve in more advanced military units. Paper is also necessary to recruit 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.
The treaties which may be proposed are:
Before a Great Power can reach a trade agreement with a Minor Power, the Great Power must build a Trade Consulate in the Minor Power. Before the Great Power can sign a treaty with a Minor Power, the Great Power must build an Embassy 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 others 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.
The Imperialism CD has an extensive collection of sound effects, original music and animation. The sound effects include sounds of battle, the sound of a telegraph and noises associated with occupations such as mining, farming, logging, construction and ranching. The music is classical in nature, resembling 19th century chamber, orchestral and martial music.
Because the game is written for 16bit systems the walkaround is only usable for the 32bit version of Vista.
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
game for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Apple Macintosh computers, developed by Frog City Software
Frog City Software
Frog City Software was a computer game developing company which focused on strategy games, opened in 1995. Frog City Software was a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive until they closed it in 2006....
and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
(SSI) in 1997. In Imperialism, the player is the ruler of a 19th century country, and must build an empire. Imperialism was followed by Imperialism II: Age of Exploration
Imperialism II: Age of Exploration
Imperialism II: Age of Exploration is a turn-based strategy computer game developed by Frog City Software and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1999. It is the successor to the 1997 game Imperialism...
.
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 provincialProvince
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
governors 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, 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 the 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 exploitation of the country's resources (wood, ore, etc.), by industry (turning raw materials such as iron and coal into steel) and by trade.
In the historical scenarios, the player chooses a European industrial power (depending on the scenario, Great Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, France
France in the nineteenth century
The History of France from 1789 to 1914 extends from the French Revolution to World War I and includes:*French Revolution *French First Republic *First French Empire under Napoleon...
, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Russia and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
are available). 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
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
, or in 1882, at the start of the arms race that eventually led to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. 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; the trade screen, where offers and bids for the next trade session are determined; and the diplomacy screen, where diplomatic decisions are made.
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
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
. Naval battles are always handled by the AI.
In multiplayer 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
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
have also been published to create new scenarios, such as a world map.
Economy
Imperialisms economic model is a kind of mercantilismMercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
where the state controls production and engages 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 country. For instance, timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
can be obtained by exploiting woods. It can subsequently be transformed into lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
in a lumber mill. Lumber can be used to expand internal transport, increase factory output, or for producing merchants and battle ships. 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 the educate them so they can serve in more advanced military units. Paper is also necessary to recruit 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 a 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 in the Minor Power. Before the Great Power can sign a treaty with a Minor Power, the Great Power must build an Embassy 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 others 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.
Technical
Although the program was written for Windows 95, it can be run under other versions of Windows. During installation under Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista, the user will receive an error message that Imperialism is not written for "Windows NT" and the install will abort. The Windows Compatibility Wizard must be used to enable the installation program to run. The Windows Compatibility Wizard must then be used again to enable Imperialism itself to run. Imperialism is stable under Windows 2000, Windows XP and Vista, but it requires a change of screen resolution to 640 x 480 for complete stability. In some instances, users with multiple hard drives will need to copy the contents of the CD to their D: hard drive to do the installation, because the install program can only install from Drive D:.The Imperialism CD must be in the computer's CD-ROM for Imperialism to run; however, there are mods that enable the user to run Imperialism from a hard drive alone.The Imperialism CD has an extensive collection of sound effects, original music and animation. The sound effects include sounds of battle, the sound of a telegraph and noises associated with occupations such as mining, farming, logging, construction and ranching. The music is classical in nature, resembling 19th century chamber, orchestral and martial music.
Because the game is written for 16bit systems the walkaround is only usable for the 32bit version of Vista.
External links
- The Daily Imperialist : a news site for Imperialism games
- Imperialism.Fr : a French site for finding players and organizing online game
- GameFAQs
- Imperialist Forum : A forum dedicated to the Imperialism Series and currently in the process of an Imperialism remake