The good news: I am releasing Imperia on sourceforge.net!!! The bad news: Sourceforge seems to be having some issues with uploading files over the last day or so. I am trying everything, even using  FileZilla to upload wih SFTP protocol, but the uploads keep timing out. I hope to have the upload take one of these times, however, before I go to work, so we’ll see. If the file is not in the Imperia V.225 Setup Files folder, please be patient – the uploader is being nasty!  No more bad news… file is now LIVE!!! ENJOY!!!

Anyway, the project page is at http://sourceforge.net/projects/imperia/ which will have the latest screenshots and readme’s.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am still working on converting the resolutions, and everything is done except for the planet screen. This means that people with anything lower than 1920 X 1080 can launch and see most of the screens, but depending on their screen size it may be unplayable due to not accessing the edict panel on the far right. I am still working on it, but everything else is done that I wanted to get in for this first release so I wanted to have it out there for the people who can play fully.

I will also add a quick documentation guide this evening. For now, here are the basics:

• ESC – exits the game
• SPACE – starts new game on title screen
• M – enables mission range overlay on quadrant screen
• C – enables colonize range overlay on quadrant screen
• T – enables trade node overlay on quadrant screen (red = system trade hub, yellow = sector trade hub, green = empire trade hub)
• N – disables all overlays
• For quadrant map – hold down the right mouse button and pan in the direction you want the map to go. Zoom in/out using the mouse wheel. (Zoom to cursor is something I will put in eventually, but its not a priority). Hover over a system to view side-bar details (depending on what you know,  of course!) Left-click to enter the system screen. Left-click the ASTROGRAPHY button in the bottom button bar to return to the quadrant screen at any time.
• For system view – right click on a planet to go directly to the planet screen. Left click to open the planet summary. From there, you can enter the planet screen by clicking on the button on the panel. Hover over a character name in yellow to get a tooltip with basic information; left-click to open the character interaction window. Right click on any non-planet space to return to the quadrant screen.
• For planet view- right-click anywhere on screen to return to system view. Click on the tabs to the left of the planet information display to open up a submode. The modes from top to bottom are:
• DEMOGRAPHIC – Shows population migration, unrest and population trends, and desirability factors. Informational only.
• ECONOMIC – 2 sub modes: cash flow shows projected cash flow for the next turn, sector info shows output, profit/loss per item, and total profit/loss. Also shows subsidys for government and unemployment.
• PRODUCTION – 2 sub modes: primary display on right shows manufacturing and agriculture sectors, with output, employment, sector level, wages being paid, and the ‘desirability rating’ to the right of the slash following the wages. The higher this number, the more desirable in absolute terms this sector is to pops. The secondary display shows the government sector, science sector, service sector, and unemployment rate. The right side shows designation information, trade info, and stockpiles for food and materials.
• INTEL – 2 buttons here – you can set up an intel network and stop adding to it with the toggle button here. You will also be able to connect directly to your Intel Prime (not enabled yet). When you have available informers, you will recieve an alert on the Alert Bar in the quadrant view. To assign informers, start a conversation with a character on that planet and click ‘Assign Intel Assets’. Your Intel Prime will actually assign assets based on what they think is best for that level of character; you do not have direct control. If your informers discover something, you will see that information on this panel. You can then blackmail a character by going to their screen and selecting the new ‘Blackmail’ option. All intel choices are in black.
• You also set planet-level edicts here. To set up an edict, simply click on the edict. It costs 5 ADM to execute an edict, but you can right-click out of the screen at any time without losing the ADM. From here, the edict screen shows up, with the basic information on the top, the edict ADM chain in the middle, and your influence pools on the bottom. To create a valid edict, you must assign enough ADM among your planet, system, sector, and empire levels, along with sufficient materials if needed. Once you have done this, a green checkmark will show on the upper-right corner that you can then click to enact the edict. You may also add one type of influence from your influence pools by clicking on the arrows. The results of your proposed edict will show as as estimated amount for each ‘part’ of the edict that different administrative groups are shouldering. Please note that it costs 1.5 ADM for each system ADM used, 3 ADM for each sector ADM used, and 6 ADM for each Imperial ADM used. It gets very expensive to have your empire capital shoulder the load! There is also some inefficiency with materials should you require their use as well. To cancel an Edict, click on the pending Edict in the Planetary Edicts Pending panel below the available Edicts. It costs 3 ADM to cancel an Edict. If needed, arrows will appear for you to page up/down to show additional Edicts. This system works identically for System Edicts.
• You may interact with a character by left-clicking on their name if it is in yellow. It costs 1 ADM to interact with a character (0 ADM if they are on New Terra, your capital) regardless of any action you take with them!
• The Intel screen can be accessed by clicking on the ‘Intel Ministry’ button in the lower button bar. To scroll between pages, press  PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN. There are 2 pages of planet information in this release. To jump to the planet screen, left-click on any planet line.
• Right now, you ‘win’ if you can attain 90% empire-wise Popular Support, or if you survive 60 years. You may lose to a coup anytime your PoSup drops below 30% – a check is made each turn, with the percentages increasing as your PoSup drops. At 5%, you automatically lose!
• There is currently no save feature. Iron man only. 🙂

That should be enough to at least get you around the interface. Have fun, and much more to come! (And lower-resolution fans, don’t worry – the next release will have full resolution support on all screens!)

I’m hoping there aren’t many crash bugs, but if there are, could you please add a comment with the error message on this post? I will add more bug tracking functionality on SourceForge later but this will do for now. Please do not send logic-bugs, just crash bugs for now. Thanks!

-Steve