Galaktikon 1995
A downloadable game for Windows
By combining strategy, simulation, and adventure into one seamless experience, Galaktikon plots ten empires against each other in a futuristic struggle to conquer the universe.
This is a DOS abandonware game from 1996. Previously released as shareware bundled with Doom and packaged by Pacific Imagitec on CD-ROM in 1996.
NEW: Added DOSBOX shortcut for convenient execution on modern windows platforms.
You and (up to) three friends each assume the role of a supreme commander who's empire is automated by a vast computer system. Armed with the products of an economy you design, you must lead your populous against a horde of unpredictable aliens who's actions are based on yours. The game's natural escalation takes each empire through stages of exploration,colonization, research, trade, anarchy, galactic warfare, aftermath,and peaceful utopia.
Galaktikon's command screens allow you to easily access a hundred planets, a half million starships, and profits in the billions. Control 20 customizable fleets as you engage pirates, attack planets and space stations, explore moons and discover artifacts. In addition to eight 3-D action sequences, there are advanced options and a powerful map maker to insure that each game is a unique and challenging experience.
The game is deep and complex and, therefore, requires reading the documentation to fully comprehend. The documentation is included in the installer. You can also download it seperately as a text file for reference as GKONDOCS.TXT.
NOTE: The 3D wire-frame graphics combat system is not a well balanced addition to the tile-based logic and provides little improvement to the experience. It was an experiment that created janky gameplay. It can be disabled by un-selecting 3D-COMBAT in the Preferences Menu.
Download
Install instructions
*** Known issues with DosBox emulating the clicking of a PC speaker: Game audio gets stuck in loop when exiting the Target Trainer. Quickly select another menu option by clicking with mouse to silence it.
If this is too annoying you can run the no-audio version using the included batch file: GKON-NoSound.bat
Comments
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Holy crap, I was worried I'd imagined this game. I played this so much in school, I absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for posting it!
I have a lucid dream where I coded a video game 30 years ago in C that was based on ai ..... thanks for reminding me that this actually happened.
thank you for posting this. This game was quite fun and addictive, and it dissapeared for the longest time. This is the only site i've found on the internet that confirms it indeed existed
I believe the game was released in an alpha state and never patched. the difficulty is so unbalanced I have never once been able to survive to mid-game.
If anybody ever becomes aware of a workaround / way to fix / cheat let me know.
You can find me on reddit u/wahchewie
thank you for this
thanks for taking an interest in my first C game project from 30 years ago.
You are correct in describing the entire game as an alpha-gameplay experiment that wasn't a 100% success, as i mention in the blog.
as for cheating, just select an 'easier' galactic map setup:medium map, more planets, uncheck advanced aliens. spend all your time collecting artifacts from moons for the first half hour of game play. launch 20 fleets to accomplish this. do not go to war with more than a couple aliens at a time...and use espionage. lots of espionage and propaganda to collapse the large enemy empires!
This game is super hard. I have beat this game many times, but then again i designed it ... :)
Not in a million years thought I'd write to the person that designed it. Galaktikon was something that once every couple of years would enter my head, because i loved the art style and planet view, but that i got my butt kicked every time was a hook and made me want to find more info and eventually beat it.
I really think something simple but modernised with the same retro art style would fill a hole in the $20 steam section. There is nothing like the art style and planet viewer you made here.
After Decades I finally won a game just before. so that was satisfying, thanks for your tips.
There is actually a lot of tips strategies and decisions that are needed to survive and this is the only place on the internet where Gkon exists! I think if people are interested and give it a go you may have to put up a guide section!
Stay away from large galaxies like I did! oh boy. You're not beating a group of civs that have 10 planets each.
Thanks for what you created and your response Harntrox, this was a great nostalgia trip.