Empire (1973 video game)

Empire
Industry	Video games
Founded	1973
Founder	John Daleske
Headquarters	United States
Area served	Worldwide (via PLATO system)
Products	Empire (computer game)

Empire is a computer game originally developed for the PLATO system in 1973. It is recognized as one of the earliest networked multiplayer arena shooter-style titles and potentially the pioneering networked multiplayer action game.

Gameplay

In this game, players command starships by inputting commands to alter their course and fire weapons, using either degree headings or clusters of keys. The visuals are rendered on a 512x512 monochrome vector display, enhanced by downloadable custom character sets for graphical representation.

The main goal is to achieve galactic domination over 25 planets involving four factions: Federation, Romulans, Orions, and originally Klingons—later renamed Kazari due to copyright issues. Each faction begins with three neighboring home planets, each hosting 50 armies; neutral planets are defended by 25 independent armies. The game supports up to 30 simultaneous players, divided into teams with a maximum of 15 members each.

Starships vary by faction: Orions are swift but lightly armed; Romulans possess powerful weaponry but have slower ships; Federations and Kazari strike a balance between speed and firepower. Weaponry includes phasers, which deliver immediate cone-shaped damage, and photon torpedoes that explode after a delay, allowing opponents to evade or detonate them strategically. Upon destruction, players respawn at a friendly home system controlled by their team.

Although an action-oriented game, Empire incorporates strategic pacing elements: travel between star systems can require several minutes, and planetary bombardments may last up to ten minutes. Matches often extend over hours or even days as players rotate in and out. Intense combat demands rapid typing skills—up to 20 keystrokes per second.

Due to PLATO terminals connecting via slow 1200 baud lines, screen updates could lag by one to two seconds during heavy action. Players had control over the timing of their screen refreshes within certain limits, enabling tactics such as "hyperjumping," which involved deliberately delaying updates. Torpedo positions updated continuously whenever any player refreshed their screen, adding layers of tactical complexity through limited real-time information and timing strategies.

Fuel consumption added another strategic layer; ships used fuel rapidly at maximum speed but could refuel near friendly planets. This mechanic encouraged tactical positioning—defenders orbiting planets could unleash torpedo salvos but risked concentrated attacks from opponents employing hyperjump tactics. Such dynamics fostered intricate strategic interplay.

The PLATO system allocated CPU resources based on user activity ratios; therefore, players often logged in early and remained idle to secure higher CPU priority during gameplay, resulting in better responsiveness than less strategic users.

Empire IV introduced additional strategic depth by emphasizing planetary conquest through army production, territorial expansion, enemy planet bombardment, and multi-front troop movements while defending against up to three rival teams.

History

The initial iteration, Empire I, was developed in Spring 1973 by Iowa State student John Daleske as part of coursework. Silas Warner contributed support by providing disk space on the PLATO system. This version was a strategic turn-based game accommodating up to eight players managing governments with ships, industry, and budgets. Players balanced finances to construct ships, maintain industries, supply raw materials, and engage in trade. As one of the earliest online multiplayer games, Empire I predated the more common two-player or single-player formats of the time. It was eventually deleted and replaced by Empire II, although Warner later revived it under the name Conquest.

Developed in Fall 1973, Empire II shifted towards tactical gameplay where players controlled starships firing torpedoes. Warner favored the original version and with Daleske's permission resurrected it as Conquest. Early versions were manually handwritten due to limited access to printouts at remote computing facilities.

In late 1973, Daleske rewrote the code in an intense 36-hour session, producing Empire III by early 1974. This release improved internal physics calculations and centered the player’s ship on the tactical display. It supported up to seven teams with fifty players plus an additional "rogue" team option. Minor updates have maintained this version's availability on the Cyber1 PLATO system.

A major overhaul occurred in 1976 led by Chuck Miller and Gary Fritz alongside Daleske and Jim Battin. By 1977 they launched Empire IV, which introduced live player chat functionality. In 1981 Steve Peltz created a tournament edition enabling annual team competitions frequently won by the Orion faction.

Between 1978 and 1985 users logged roughly 300,000 hours playing Empire on PLATO at UIUC’s Computer-based Education Research Laboratory (CERL). As of 2013, it remains accessible on Cyber1.org.

Empire inspired numerous derivatives including Trek82, Trek83, ROBOTREK, Xtrek, and Netrek. Robert Woodhead adapted it for Apple II as Galactic Attack, with permission from Miller and Fritz.

The PLATO version of Conquest (based on Empire I) continued into the late 1990s on NovaNET systems. In 1982 Jef Poskanzer developed a VAX/VMS port named Conquest.

References