Galactic Empires for Networks (Gen) is a Swiss Multiplayer Game (1984–2000) that is still playable today after more than 40 years. It was developed in several steps by three first-generation ETH computer science graduates: Peter Vrkljan, Jochen Walz, and Peter Leikauf. They wrote a network-capable real-time strategy game between 1984 and 2000, starting from a simple Apple II program.

Starting point was a game called Galactic Empire, distributed on a 5¼-inch floppy disk by the US company Keypunch Software as part of a compilation titled "Strategy Simulations" for the Apple II. Keypunch was notorious for selling software it didn't own. The game allowed up to 20 players to colonize a randomly generated galaxy: conquer planets, produce spaceships, and dominate the universe. There was no graphical interface; players had to mark their planets by hand on matrix printouts. Peter Vrkljan, then an ETH student, reprogrammed the game in 1984 in Pascal on the Apple II – with graphics, a moving universe, and around 1,500 lines of code.

From the very beginning, Galactic Empires was a multiplayer game that encouraged real-world communication and social interaction. It was turn-based: each player entered their commands one after another, a process that often took more than 10 minutes per round. The goal was to conquer as many planets as possible and produce spaceships. A player who owned roughly 50 percent of all ships in the universe won automatically.

The game went through three distinct development stages. First, in 1984, Vrkljan created the Apple II version as a local multiplayer game with a shared keyboard. Compared to the original, he added graphical representations of planets, a radar function, standing fleet orders, and automatic game termination when one player became overwhelmingly dominant.

Second, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Walz developed a DOS version in Turbo Pascal and experimented with network solutions via serial ports – long before the internet. They even built hardware and a network driver for the Apple II in 68 bytes.

Third, in 1995, Walz and Leikauf built a LAN-capable version: Walz programmed the Windows client in Visual Basic, while Leikauf wrote the server in Java.

In the year 2000, Walz brought the game online. He created a website with registration, information, and a download option. Leikauf wrote the networking software for the internet connection. On November 26, 2000, the first intercontinental real-time session took place, connecting Vienna, Zurich, and San Francisco.

Today, Walz is proud that the network game, originally developed for Windows XP, runs on all subsequent versions through Windows 11 without any modifications.

Galactic Empires for Networks has a long and interesting development history. The game was a publicly accessible, globally playable multiplayer game available on the internet at least from the year 2000 on. It was ahead of its time in many respects: real-time network play, ELO ranking, AI robots, and a spectator mode. And as Walz writes: "Galactic Empires is still around – almost unchanged for decades, but still running."

See also: A comprehensive article on Galactic Empires for Networks, including interview excerpts with the developers, by Beat Suter – https://chludens.hypotheses.org/3229