Description of Empire: Wargame of the Century
Here is the video game “Empire: Wargame of the Century”! Released in 1987 on DOS, it's still available and playable with some tinkering. It's a strategy game, set in a turn-based, wargame and war themes and it was released on Amiga, Apple II and Commodore 64 as well.
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
Wesbat 2024-02-20 0 point DOS version
Great game!
For the DOS version I used DOSbox and entered the keymapper (^F1) and removed the F10 key from the mapping, thus preventing hitting it by mistake. You can still open the production map using the menu.
Yo-Yo 2023-07-12 1 point DOS version
Re: The F10 / Production Map bug playing Empire with DosBOX: You CAN continue your game... I can't say I know what exactly gets the simulation going again, but I've done a mix of everything, and sooner or later something works! Hit alt+tab, hit all the F keys, hit pause/break (twice), hit ctl+alt+del, go make popcorn, etc... One of these (or some combination of them) has worked for me all three times that I've tempted F10 fate. Be patient, and be persistent.
UPDATE: Just be patient. The solution for me was to search out this thread, write the above comment, and alt+tab back to the game. Everything's working again and my 149th step to total victory may continue!
SKIRTED 2023-03-31 0 point DOS version
Even under DosBox the game freezes after pressing F10. All other keys work fine.
memememe 2022-11-21 1 point
i played this game before civilization was available
when civilization published, i said to myself, this game looks like an upgrade to empire, nice
WatTheHal 2021-10-18 2 points
I love this game! I loved it when I purchased it new many years ago, and even have the original disk and documents (but the box didn't survive). Now I'm playing the IBM PC version using DOSBox.
There is one quirk that grognards should be aware of: the random number generator is somehow related to the passage of time. If you attack without any pause, it is not uncommon to see (for example) all six armies (on a transport) each lose the engagement, in rapid succession. The trick is: patience! You must wait a random number of "blinks" between each attack in order to get "real" randomness.
Other than this sad challenge, it's really a great, quick, and "splendid little war."
DocZ 2020-05-04 -3 points DOS version
I want to play this so bad! I've not played this in years BUT it will not run on my 64bit system! There has to be a workaround for this? I trued playing at the command prompt too, nothin...
Evanstonsktr 2019-03-09 0 point DOS version
As of 2/22/2019, according to GoDaddy, the domain name "strategicdomination.com" has expired and whatever was available at that Web site is no longer available. The Facebook group cited by Neverlose still exists (3/9/2019) but is not very active. The Web site of Walter Bright, classicempire.com, the original author of Empire Wargame of the Century, is still running (03/2019), and the forum there has suggestions on how to run Empire on more modern versions of Windows.
Delta 2018-09-17 2 points Apple II version
I remember long nights playing this, and how us Apple II folks were annoyed by the one Amiga guy - cause he could name his ships and cities manually, and we could not.
But it was all good. Let me relive my college days of 1982 playing Rogue and Empire on the university VAX mainframe.
Keo 2018-03-17 0 point DOS version
The downloads of the "Dos Versions" of these available here aren't working on PCs. I just tried.
Although you can play online, hitting F10 freezes & ruins your game, which I found out after saving it then hitting F10 to see my production map. Nice to learn this little factoid...on turn 219.
So, you can play it online, don't/can't rely on "game saves" and the function keys. Use only the keyboard's usual keys like an old typewriter would have. You CAN use the keypad for movement, at least.
Don't use the function keys, just the in-game mouse and menu, and keys like "m" for movement mode. Use the menu to get your production map that way. Keep in mind that you have no reliable backing-up the game if there's an issue of any kind; otherwise, I'm hoping the 3rd game is the charm, given the many issues the online version has. Thanks to the folks for making even a very picky version of it available, at least. It sure brings back the nostalgia of the times when this really WAS "The Big Computer Wargame."
neverlose 2014-10-01 0 point DOS version
You can play this game online and multi-player goto strategicdomination.com - Also, join the facebook group Empire: Wargame of the Century so you can keep up with strategy and meet other fanatics of the game.
whirlwindm 2014-05-28 2 points DOS version
WARNING! Highly addictive. You think the primitive graphics is a turnoff? Just don't make the mistake of actually playing the game. One of the few games that made me stay up all night.
Plankton_Lord 2014-04-16 2 points DOS version
I used to play this all weekend when I was in the Army in Germany. I just couldn't get enough.
hangur 2014-03-18 0 point DOS version
I used to be very addicted to this game in its heydays, but now there is Sid Meier's Civilization Series and I play this instead.
samsami83 2013-02-04 1 point DOS version
This is the best game ever made.
Killerbee's EDIE is almost the same but for Windows.
I love that, too!
Sam 2012-05-30 0 point DOS version
Fabulous game! Thank you 'My Abondonware' for providing it to me.
Manimal 2011-02-23 0 point DOS version
I found other versions of this game on the net, but nothing can replace the original. Thank you for keeping this game available.
zombparadox 2010-04-16 0 point DOS version
I've been looking for this game for YEARS unable to find a copy, when i used to own several on floppy disk, and had a backup copy of the manual which was needed for the password feature in the game to make sure the game wasn't pirated.
I can't believe to have finally found it here, awesome :)
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Download Empire: Wargame of the Century
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DOS Version
Amiga ROM
- Year: 1987
- Publisher: Interstel Corporation
- Developer: Northwest Software
Apple II Version
- Year: 1987
- Publisher: Interstel Corporation
- Developer: Northwest Software
Commodore 64 Version
- Year: 1989
- Publisher: Interstel Corporation
- Developer: Northwest Software
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