UCB Empire Version 0.9.24 - Update for Version 1.2 Players
So you want to try the New Empire Huh?
Okay, I have written this document with YOU in mind! Welcome to the University of California at Berkeley's Empire! (From now on called UCB Empire). There are a whole bunch of changes in the game since we last played, so I need to bring you up to date.
Our OLD EMPIRE game was Version 1.2 - written way back in the 70's by Peter Langston, when he was going to College like we are! But Empire has come along way since then - and what many have considered the REAL EMPIRE was released in 1985 - containing the final version of Peter Langston's Empire game. It still is considered the Standard. But in 1986 the computer brains at Berkeley decided to play around with the Source Code and create their own enhanced version of the game. Hence Berkeley Empire was created....
Changes from Version 1.2
(Please keep in mind that these are only a FEW on the changes - you're going to have to read the Manual and use the INFO command to get a REAL good idea on what you should read up on - DON'T depend on this list to tell you everything you need to know)
There is an announce command - this command sends a Telegram to EVERYONE in the game - and you can make an announcement to the World.
In the OLD game - you simply dug up ORE and sent it to the Shell, Defense, etc. factory to have it processed into something else (make guns, shells, etc).
But in the NEW game - sectors are a lot more complex. For one thing curtain sectors CAN'T even PRODUCE until your country has reached a given TECH level. These sectors are currently:
Shell Factories (need at least 20 TECH) Gun Factories (need at least 20 TECH) Petroleum Plants [ for Airplane Fuel ] (need at least 20 TECH) Uranium Mines (need at least 40 TECH)
Other sectors can produce normally, even though your TECH level is still 0. Keep in mind that you CAN DESIGNATE the ABOVE sectors - but they won't produce until you reach the desired TECH LEVEL.
Also, it takes more Materials to make 1 Unit of a finished product. By this I mean that to make approximately 1 SHELL at your shell factory, you'd have to have: 3 Dollars (in the treasury), 2 LCM, 1 HCM, and at least 20 TECH Level.
LCM is Light Construction Materials, HCM is Heavy Construction Materials, and I discussed the TECH Level problem (above). To fully understand this concept - please see info Products and info Sector-types.
FORTS - have been improved. It used to be in OLD Empire that you had to use the DEFEND command to say which sectors you wanted to DEFEND with the guns from your fort. But in the NEW Empire - your forts will fire on ANY enemy attacker as long as the attacker is within the guns' range when the attack was made. Hence - no more DEFEND command.
FOOD - In the OLD Empire you didn't have to worry about it - the people fed themselves. But in the NEW Empire - there is a new sector designation called a for agribusiness. These are farms that make food and you have to transport that food to other sectors that don't grow food or those sectors will starve. **NOTE** that in the FERTILITY rating in the CENSUS report - only those with HIGH Fertility ratings can successfully grow food. If the FERTILITY rating is in the 10-30% - BE CAREFUL - they may not be able to grow enough food to sustain even themselves! Food is also a great Commodity to SELL (hint,hint!)
WEATHER - There ISN'T ANY! (no more rainy days :-) Although judging from the way Berkeley has been improving the game - it won't be long till they do fix it. Can you imagine what weather will be like if they update it like the did the planes! Thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos, etc. BUT FOR NOW - THERE IS NO WEATHER - Atmosphere is stuck at 0 - clear days!
NEXT UPDATE (how will I know when it is supposed to Happen?) - EMPIRE will always tell you when the NEXT UPDATE is scheduled by using the VERSION command. VERSION will also tell you how much food will grow per-update and also things like - how much food you people eat per update - etc.
MAP CHANGES - in the OLD Empire you could move u)p, l)eft, r)ight, d)own, etc - but now you have to move in DIAGONALS - you'll get used to it - the world is set up like this so the game can handle more SECTORS per world. Basically means that the MAP display is more condensed - and you'll be able to see more sectors on a MAP display than ever before.
A few new SECTOR-DESIGNATIONS have been added:
BASICS INDUSTRIES MILITARY / SCIENTIFIC
. sea d defense plant t technical center
^ mountain i shell industry f fortress
s sanctuary m mine r research lab
/ wasteland g gold mine n nuclear plant
- wilderness h harbor l library/school
c capital w warehouse e enlistment center
p park u uranium mine ! headquarters
COMMUNICATIONS * airfield FINANCIAL
+ highway a agribusiness b bank
) radar installation o oil field
j light manufacturing
# bridge head k heavy manufacturing
= bridge span % refinery
PLEASE! Fully READ the info Sector-types
I haven't got time to go through all of them - but I will point out a few of them that might be unfamiliar to you.
PARKS - these are special because they convince your people that they should ENLIST and go out and fight for you! Lots of fun - gotta have one of these to keep the ENLISTMENT rate high.
URANIUM MINE - I forgot to add this above with the other Commodities - with the Commodities FERTILITY, OIL, GOLD, MINE - there is also URANIUM. Uranium is the most UNCOMMON natural resource and hence those that have a deposit of it should be careful to guard it well. When URANIUM is dug up it becomes radioactive Matter - you then deliver the Radioactive Matter to the Nuclear Plant and have it converted into - you guessed it - NUKES! Be aware, however, that you must have a HIGH Tech level to make nukes - and it is going to take you a LONG TIME to get to this point.
REFINERY SECTORS: These are where the OIL you make is turned into PETROL(-eum) for your various AIRPLANE needs. Planes run on PETROL and the refinery sectors make PETROL out of OIL. You then have to deliver the PETROL to your Airports for use...
LIBRARY/SCHOOL: Obviously your people aren't very smart :-) As it is your going to need to educated them. Education will increase CROP yields and also help with TECHNOLOGY. see info education.
World Updates
In the OLD EMPIRE - updates weren't handled in a FAIR way. If you created a 0% FORT before you logged out of Empire - it would REMAIN a 0% FORT until you logged back into Empire - and if your on a LONG weekend that could have meant that you would be WIPED OUT!!!!
In the NEW EMPIRE - updates are handled by an independent program called the Transaction Manager. This program runs independently of EMPIRE and runs at 4 hours intervals, updating the game constantly. That means that you enemies will be updated just as often as you ARE - and may make them think a little more carefully about attacking you. The CURRENT update times are:
2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm (In the local time zone)
NO OTHER UPDATES ARE POSSIBLE - except at these times. What is updated is all Mobility, Food Production, Shell & Factory Production, Ship Plane and Sector Efficiency, and EVERYTHING that update used to do. (hence there is NO Update Command). Everyone is updated at the SAME TIME!
Other Things That Might be of Interest
Terrorists! - (real trouble makers, but great for setting on your enemies - they blow up things and convert followers!)
SHOOT - it is now possible to SHOOT your civilians (captured enemy ones) or your own :-) God knows why you would but... sometimes the conquered people are REAL radical and it DOES become necessary
SELL - you can sell your goods on the OPEN Market - and set PRICE MULTIPLIERS so that your enemies HAVE to buy at a BIG mark up - but your friends can still buy your good cheap!
Okay - you've been waiting for it - so here it is! The new line of Ships, Planes and Nukes for Empire: The Ships
$$$ lcm hcm tec def spd vis spy rng fir
350 20 10 40 30 50 10 4 1 1 patrol boat
200 25 15 0 10 20 15 2 0 0 fishing boat
550 25 25 20 60 30 20 3 1 1 minesweep
1100 25 35 20 80 35 20 4 3 2 destroyer
2200 40 30 70 30 25 2 3 2 2 submarine
4000 40 40 50 40 25 60 3 0 0 tanker
3000 40 50 40 100 30 30 5 6 3 heavy cruiser
600 60 40 0 50 25 35 3 0 0 cargo ship
2000 50 50 120 20 10 80 4 0 0 oil derrick
4400 70 65 60 80 30 35 8 2 2 aircraft carrier
4000 55 65 50 127 30 35 6 8 4 battleship
1500 60 30 120 15 40 15 5 0 0 fishing trawler
4000 90 60 320 30 40 1 3 0 8 nuclear sub
1200 40 40 70 30 30 30 2 0 0 landing ship
2500 40 40 220 20 70 17 5 0 0 hydrofoil
6000 80 30 280 20 30 20 10 0 0 radar center
food civ mil sh gun pln dst pet oil
30 0 10 10 2 0 0 0 0 patrol boat
100 30 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 fishing boat
25 0 25 60 2 0 0 0 0 minesweep
80 0 80 40 4 0 0 0 0 destroyer
25 0 25 25 4 0 0 0 0 submarine
200 30 5 0 0 0 0 990 990 tanker
100 0 120 60 6 0 0 0 0 heavy cruiser
900 50 50 300 50 0 900 0 0 cargo ship
300 80 80 0 0 0 0 0 200 oil derrick
180 0 350 350 4 8 0 500 0 aircraft carrier
300 0 200 100 8 0 0 0 0 battleship
120 25 5 0 0 0 100 25 0 fishing trawler
500 30 30 25 4 8 0 60 0 nuclear sub
300 0 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 landing ship
20 60 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 hydrofoil
60 0 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 radar center
The column headings have the following meanings:
money required to build it
light construction materials required to build it
heavy construction materials required to build it
technology required to build it
defensive armament of the ship
the distance/mu for moving (in relative units)
how visible the ship is, (relative units)
how far the ship can see, (i.e. how good the communication equipment is), again in relative units
twice the distance the guns can fire, (assuming a high technology level)
the number of guns the ship can fire at once
the amount of food the ship can carry
the number of civilians the ship can carry
the number of military the ship can carry
the number of shells the ship can carry
the number of guns the ship can carry
the number of planes the ship can carry
the amount of gold dust the ship can carry
the amount of petrol the ship can carry
the amount of oil the ship can carry
the amount of lcms the ship can carry
the amount of hcms the ship can carry
Note that some ship differences are not listed in these tables.
Only fishing boats and fishing trawlers accumulate food by fishing.
Only oil derricks accumulate oil at sea.
Only destroyers will drop depth charges, and only destroyers can see and fire at submarines.
Only submarines can fire torpedos.
Only destroyers and heavy cruisers can lay mines.
Only minesweeps can reclaim mines from the sea.
Only nuclear submarines can carry nuclear missiles.
Only aircraft carriers can launch and retrieve air strikes.
Only cargo ships can carry lcms (1400) and hcms (900).
See also : Server