I started writing the Conquest program in 1989. At the time, I did not even own a computer, so I wrote the program source code using a pen and paper. In 1990, I bought my first computer (a 25 MHz 386 with 2 MB of RAM!) and transferred the program. I released the first version of Conquest (for MS-DOS) in this year. Surprisingly, the code that I had written on paper worked with only a few modifications!

Conquest ran exclusively under MS-DOS from 1990 to 1995. The DOS version does not require expanded memory, so it still runs under Windows with no special requirements. I released the first version of Conquest for Windows in 1995, however I also started my PhD in Electrical Engineering this year, so Conquest "slept" until fall of 2001 (but I was able to complete my degree). I tend to program more like an electrical engineer (I track what happens in each of the registers) than a professional software program, so Conquest still has a pretty basic interface (no flashy graphics, but few crashes and fairly complex computer opponent logic). The latest versions of Conquest for Windows have improved graphics over the earlier releases, but I spend more of my time on the computer opponent algorithms.

I converted Conquest to run on Windows CE platforms in 2001 because I think the game fits well into the commuter life-style (you can play a game on a train, bus, or airplane). I had to trim many of the functions that are in the latest version of the desktop Conquest for Windows, but the core algorithms are there. If you register one version of Conquest, you can use the other versions as well.

While Conquest has been out, I moved from Boston (4 years) to Washington (3.5 years) to Dayton, Ohio (5 years) and now to London, United Kingdom. In the future, I hope to continually improve the Conquest program (it been out for over 10 years now) and complete a new game based on the old "Lords of Conquest" that will hopefully be able to run Conquest maps.