Imperium Galacticum

Imperium Galactum - the 1984 4X strategy game for Commodore 64 from
Strategic Simulations Inc.

Expand a star empire across 50 systems, tuning economy and fleets while
racing rival powers to the largest population in the cluster.

Core loop
- survey and colonize planets, adjusting agriculture, mines and industry
- invest IOs into tech, warships, transports, bases and traders
- send task forces to trade, raid, blockade or invade enemy systems
- compare total population when players call the game to determine winner

Systems and items
- agriculture / mines / industry - interlocking economy that feeds POP and IO
- traders - move food and ore between friendly worlds, vulnerable to raiders
- transports - carry colonists and armies for conquest and resettlement
- defense bases (SDF/PDF) - static planetary defenses that support ground combat
- custom warships - choose hull size and allocate points to PB, EN, MS, EV,
AR, AM and SP
- tech level - improves ship stats and lets you boost planetary environment
- guerrillas - resistance on conquered worlds that sabotage industry over time

Level design and feel
Single 20x40 grid star map dotted with color coded stars and planetary
systems. Interface feels like a detailed board wargame, with long, multi phase
turns and plenty of number crunching handled by the computer.

Why it is notable
- often cited as one of the first fully featured commercial 4X space games
- supports 1 to 4 empires with a mix of human and AI players on one machine
- deep economic model and ship design wrapped in classic early SSI presentation

Tips
- develop high environment worlds for food first, then use high resource
planets as mining hubs
- do not overspend on mines and industry if you lack population to run them
- early fast missile ships excel at killing unescorted traders and weak fleets

At a glance
Year - 1984
Developer - Strategic Simulations Inc.
Design and programming - Paul Murray - game development by Keith Brors
Graphics - In house SSI team
Music - None or minimal
Publisher - Strategic Simulations Inc.
Genre - 4X strategy
Players - 1 to 4 (hotseat)
Controls - Joystick in port 2 plus keyboard