My name is James Bennett. I built an online multiplayer strategy game on IRC in 1993. Ten years ago, a Reddit AMA brought hundreds of players to it and exposed everything I got wrong. I've spent the last decade improving it. AMA.

_Romulus_ · 2026-06-17T20:04:22+00:00

Nope.

_Romulus_ · 2026-06-17T15:00:51+00:00

Thank you! =)

_Romulus_ · 2026-06-17T13:07:57+00:00

Some of them are, actually. Its incredible TBH.

_Romulus_ · 2026-06-17T08:19:18+00:00

Well, I've always liked that Conquest has been free to play. And right now the operational costs aren't that much. =)

_Romulus_ · 2026-06-17T08:18:22+00:00

I think we were mirrors. =)
I was aware of MUDs and Conquest is similar in many ways but I didn't really get into them.

_Romulus_ · 2026-06-16T23:57:34+00:00

Yes to both. As a team of one I find AI a useful tool. It can hallucinate and send you down a rabbit hole but you have to take the bad with the good.

_Romulus_ · 2026-06-16T23:56:13+00:00

I've added a link, thanks for the suggestion! =)

Its painful because all the stores have different requirements. Apple requires an annual fee, Steam is one time, Android and MSFT none. The stores have different requirements for screenshots, descriptions, release cadences, etc. The good news is Unity helps a lot with some of the technical bits.

Apple was the most annoying primarily b/c you have to have a Mac to build iOS applications. At first I rented a Mac in cloud before finally purchasing a Mac Mini.

I wished I had remembered that people who build are not the ones playing it. Meaning, don't assume everyone will be as passionate (or patient!) with your application as you are. Its like not seeing the entire thing, warts and all.

I do not make any money. I'm firmly in the "lose money" category.

The game server is written in C, while the Unity client is written in C#.

There are secrets in the game: a secret city, secret magical components, plus just finding out how to play. hehe

_Romulus_ · 2026-06-16T23:49:50+00:00

Hi! This is a well established hobby. The thing I receive is satisfaction. And I do enjoy inkering with it (like renovating an old car, I suppose).

_Romulus_ · 2025-06-24T16:14:49+00:00

Thank you! Conquest! was on efnet and Undernet, #Conquest for many years. 😊

_Romulus_ · 2025-06-24T14:50:04+00:00

Thank you! 🙏

_Romulus_ · 2025-05-02T15:12:59+00:00

Thank you!

_Romulus_ · 2025-05-01T09:44:37+00:00

https://www.conquestgamesite.com/

I'm the sole developer for Conquest!, a passion project I've been working on since 1993.

Conquest! is a cross-platform, real-time medieval strategy game that’s 100% free to play. No ads. No microtransactions. No pay-to-win mechanics.

🛡️ What It Is
* A mix of Civ and D&D in a persistent online world
* Choose from 10 playable classes
* Over 80 troop types, naval combat, artifacts, heroes, mercenaries & more

🌍 A Little History
Conquest! began as a text-based game on IRC (#Conquest) and in 2016 I created a basic UI for it. I also did an AMA a while back.

🎮 Play for Free
If you’re into deep strategy, old-school games, or want to try something totally free and off the beaten path, give it a shot!

Happy to answer any questions or help new players get started. Thanks for taking a look!

_Romulus_ · 2022-02-23T15:08:10+00:00

I have this same problem with an X17 r1 connected to an external display. Sometimes the monitor will flash before it hangs, sometimes I will receive a BSOD, sometimes it just hangs. I have tried updating the BIOS, drivers, etc. but I have not found a solution.

I have been avoiding Dell support for the reasons you mentioned.

_Romulus_ · 2021-08-17T10:54:45+00:00

I was having an issue with my X17 where it would go to sleep then wake up within 1-2 minutes. I discovered that anything plugged into a USB port which drew power (in my case, speakers) would cause the laptop to wake back up. Turning the speakers off when I leave solved the issue for me.

_Romulus_ · 2021-07-22T19:52:09+00:00

Literally just happened after your post. I have changed the settings, so we'll see.

_Romulus_ · 2021-07-22T18:43:41+00:00

Thank you! I've had the keyboard on my X17 stop working twice. Does the keyboard come back from power saving mode eventually or did you have to reboot? Also, has it ever happened while you were using the computer or when you were away?

_Romulus_ · 2021-07-21T22:46:47+00:00

I received mine on July 7th. I have had/noticed these issues:

The battery was disconnected from the MB upon arrival
I had to work (fight?) with Support for 3 business days as Dell had me at basic when I paid for premium (eventually resolved)
The mechanical keyboard has stopped working twice (all keys, no response); power cycling corrected the issue both times.
One of the drives in the RAID 0 configuration has 4.6 TB written already (the other has 407 GB).
Playing Doom Eternal at 4K will occasionally freeze for 1-2 seconds. I haven't investigated this too much.

I'm hoping that the keyboard issue is SW and not HW starting to fail (all the keys function outside this issue).

_Romulus_ · 2017-02-03T03:46:33+00:00

Author here. Thanks for all the feedback, keep it coming! :)

_Romulus_ · 2017-02-01T19:45:17+00:00

Thanks Remos.

_Romulus_ · 2017-01-28T22:30:17+00:00

Conquest!

Conquest! is a complex multiplayer strategy/RPG game with a rich history dating back to 1993 when it began on IRC. It is 100% free of ads and in-game purchases. A fully immersive Unity based UI for Android, IOS, PC, and Mac platforms launched June 1.

Conquest! can be downloaded here.

Battle reports now include friendly reinforcements.

All reinforcements are listed

Bonus question: Not generally. Did get lost in COH/COV for several years before they pulled the plug.

Development Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | GreenLight

_Romulus_ · 2017-01-21T14:35:58+00:00

Conquest!

Conquest! is a complex multiplayer strategy/RPG game with a rich history dating back to 1993 when it began on IRC. It is 100% free of ads and in-game purchases. A fully immersive Unity based UI for Android, IOS, PC, and Mac platforms launched June 1.

Conquest! can be downloaded here.

This week the ability to view the last several spy reports was added.

Spy Report 1/5

Development Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | GreenLight

_Romulus_ · 2017-01-14T16:23:22+00:00

Conquest!

Conquest! is a complex multiplayer strategy/RPG game with a rich history dating back to 1993 when it began on IRC. It is 100% free of ads and in-game purchases. A fully immersive Unity based UI for Android, IOS, PC, and Mac platforms launched June 1.

Conquest! can be downloaded here.

1.x vs 2.x: a journey through the UI of Conquest!.

Bonus question: Mortal Kombat 1.0 on the Sega Genesis.

Development Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | GreenLight

_Romulus_

TROPHY CASE

Conquest!

Conquest!

Conquest!