Table of Contents

Introduction
Requirements and Files
Playing Conquest 2
Postscripts

Introduction

Conquest 2 is the second version of the semi-abstract wargame "Conquest".  By "semi-abstract" I mean that this game occupies a niche between totally abstract/symbolic games such as Chess or Go and realistic/historical games such as the Panzer General or Squad Leader.  Risk might be considered a semi-abstract war game just as Monopoly might be a considered a semi-abstract economic game.  My reason for writing the Conquest games is simply that I've always enjoyed playing semi-abstract games (that is, when I'm not indulging in more complex strategy games).  The first version of Conquest was a turn-based game and suffered from slowdowns as it redrew the map and shaded occupied territories.  I retained the simple fractal-displacement map drawing routine from Conquest but took pains to make the processing faster and more transparent.  Conquest 2 is not quite a real-time game but each turn is timed for both the human and computer players.  I added music and sounds to this version and made the map scroll horizontally and wrap around to simulate a globe.  In short, Conquest 2 is a little closer to my ideal "beer & pretzels" game and a definite evolutionary step up from the first Conquest game.
 
 

Acknowledgments

Conquest 2 was written in Euphoria, using the SDL and SDL_Mixer libraries.
Conquest 2 is distributed as freeware and must include the original documentation and source files if copied.
SDL was written by Sam Lantinga and is distributed under the GNU Lesser Public License.
For more information about SDL visit the official website http://www.libsdl.org

This game is totally free but if you create an improved or mutated version of it please acknowledge me:
Mark K. Akita in the documentation and/or the "About" screen.
 

Requirements and Files

I've tested Conquest 2 on PCs ranging in speed from 333mhz w/128mb RAM to 1.2ghz w/512mb.  Play should be appreciably faster or slower on machines outside that range, though I'd arbitrarily suggest 200mhz as a minimum speed, and the more RAM the better.
Conquest 2 runs in SVGA 800x600 16-bit color graphics.

The following files are included with this Conquest2 package:

README.TXT - this file in plain text form
README.HTML - this file in HTML form
SDL.DLL - The SDL dynamic link library
SDL_MIXER.DLL - The SDL_Mixer dynamic link library
SDL_WRAP.EW - The Euphoria wrapper include file for SDL
SDL_MIXR.EW - The Euphoria wrapper include file for SDL_Mixer
CONQUEST2.EXW & CONQUST2A.EXW - The source files.
CONQUEST2.EXE  - The binary executable program file.
BITMAPS - a folder containing images used by the program
AUDIO - a folder containing sounds and music used by the program

Playing Conquest 2

The Main Screen

The starting screen for Conquest 2 has a column of star buttons on the left hand side and a row of control buttons on the bottom.

Let's start by talking about the star buttons.  There are six star buttons of different colors.  Next to each of the star buttons is a row of stars to indicate what kind of player will be controlling that color's armies:
1 white star means that this color will be under human control, using the mouse.
1 colored star means that the color will be under computer control, and the computer will play very defensively.
2 colored stars means that the color will be under computer control, and the computer will play very aggressively.
3 colored stars means that the color will be under computer control, and the computer will play a mixed strategy.
No stars (blank) means that color will not be playing.
Only 1 of the players may be human.  It is possible to run a game with all computer players if you just want to observe.  It's also possible to turn all the colors off, but that would make for a very dull game.

The control buttons are where you go after making your player selections using the star buttons.  The music button on the far left will toggle music on or off.  The sound button on the far right will toggle sound effects on or off.  The Play button will take you to the Battle screen and start the game.  The Quit button exits the program.
 

The Battle Screen

The battle screen for Conquest 2 is where all the action takes place.  The map view may be scrolled left and right by moving the mouse pointer to the left or right edge of the map.  The map may also be scrolled using the left or right arrow keys on the keyboard. The map is divided into territories marked by boundaries.  Each territory appears on the map as a star with a number above it. The number shows how many armies are in the territory.  Each territory may have a maximum of 32 armies occupying it.  Every seven seconds, the computer will add 1 army to each territory. The color of each star shows which player controls it.  The white/gray territories are neutral countries.  The neutrals may build armies for defense, but never attack or conquer neighboring territories.  To attack a neighboring territory, you must have at least 2 armies in the territory you wish to attack from.  Move your mouse pointer over the territory you want to attack from then click the left button.  A colored arrow will appear over the territory to indicate that you're attacking from that point.  You can now select the neighboring territory that you want to attack or move to.  The neighboring territory must be adjacent, sharing at least one border with the territory you're moving from.  Position the mouse pointer over the destination, and click the left mouse button to launch your attack.  An arrow will appear beneath the territory you're attacking.  You can move armies from one of your territories to another by the same method as attacking.  You may not move or attack a territory that already has a move or attack designated.  Moves and attacks take place every seven seconds during the "build" period.  A territory under attack will not get an army during the build phase.  An attack will typically take out 2 or 3 defending armies but can inflict more or less damage.  If an attack is successful then the territory will change colors.  In general the computer players are not very smart, but they are faster allowing them to make lots of (random) moves in the allotted time.  Remember to reinforce your territories that border those controlled by the other players.  You can press the Esc key at any time to quit the battle and return to the main screen.

That's it, in a nutshell

There are still a lot of things that I'd like to do for an encore.  A Linux version of the Euphoria SDL wrappers is in the works so I may likewise try a make a Linux port of Conquest 2.  The next version of Conquest might include more "real world" elements and take a big step away from the "abstract" side.  Adding other factors such as diplomacy, espionage or a more detailed combat model might make for a more interesting game.  Unlike the first Conquest (in the interest of speed) the randomly generated relief map is used only as a background and doesn't affect the game-play at all.  It just looks cool.  The use of a hexagonal map overlay and coloring the map border to indicate ownership of a territory was another huge concession to processing speed.  I made lots of major and minor design tweaks to streamline the game for timed play.  I think the timed move system is definitely more challenging than the turn-based system of yore.  There have been more comprehensive geopolitical/military simulations written but they often suffer from poor playability.  I'm also trying to keep Conquest (and all my games) distinct and original rather than re-inventing great games like Risk, Diplomacy, or Empire.

Thanks for playing Conquest 2.  Please let me know if you like this Euphoria/SDL game or have suggestions for the next Conquest or make your own modifications to the program!

Send comments & feedback to mkakita@earthlink.net