Galactic Conquest 4K – II

Updated for the Java4K 2013 tiny games contest. Original entry in the 2012 contest.

The year is 4096 and all hell just broke loose. Xenophobia got the upper hand, and now all races in the known galaxy are at war. Cruisers are cruising, lasers are blasting and aliens are screaming. There is no surrender, only extermination or victory!

(Click on game for focus) You need Java installed to play this game. You may use the button below to get it.

Note: this game is playable online as a Java Applet. This means that you may have to install Java to play it. You can also download my entire 4K game collection in one convenient Windows installer (no Java required) here.

Instructions:

• Left click = select single star (with nothing selected) or move ships from selected star(s) to this star.
• Drag with left mouse button down = select multiple stars.
• Right click = change number of ships to move from each selected star (all, half, one). If you move one or half of the ships, the current star will stay selected (deselect by clicking in empty space).
• Mouse over an owned star to see its current infrastructure and build project (ship or starbase).
• C key = toggle mouseover star as collection point. New ships move to collection points automagically.
• S key = build star base at mouseover star.
• H key = toggle visibility of balance of powers history graph.

Tips:

• Ships move 50% faster between owned stars (because of fancy warp accelerator technology), use this to your advantage.
• Production speed of ships and star bases depends directly on the infrastructure level of the star (i.e. 10% infrastructure = only 10% production speed). Keep your well-developed stars safe!
• You can support one starbase for each 5 stars conquered (one is free). A starbase provides powerful stationary defense, and a 50% production bonus. While building a starbase, the star does not produce ships however.
• Try to capture chokepoints and enforce these with starbases. Set chokepoints as collection points to reinforce them automatically.
• Be sure to leave some defenses at stars in the second line in case the AI slips through.
• Higher difficulty means that the AI acts more quickly and produces ships faster. Impossible is really impossible :-)
• Choose action game for a quick battle that requires fast reflexes; choose an epic game for a slow, lengthy fight.