<s>
Xconq	B-Application
is	O
an	O
open-source	B-Application
computer	B-Application
strategy	I-Application
game	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
multiplayer	O
video	O
game	O
was	O
first	O
posted	O
to	O
comp.sources.games	B-Architecture
on	O
9	O
July	O
1987	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Xconq	B-Application
is	O
released	O
as	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
software	I-License
under	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
GPL-2.0-or-later	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
a	O
straightforward	O
clone	O
of	O
Empire	B-Application
,	O
later	O
versions	O
included	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
define	O
rulesets	O
for	O
different	O
kinds	O
of	O
games	O
,	O
first	O
using	O
a	O
Forth-like	O
syntax	O
,	O
then	O
a	O
more	O
powerful	O
version	O
based	O
on	O
Lisp	B-Language
syntax	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
ported	O
to	O
other	O
computer	O
systems	O
,	O
including	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
Amiga	B-Device
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Xconq	B-Application
is	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
portable	O
and	O
re-definable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
default	O
ruleset	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
Empire	B-Application
,	O
but	O
the	O
ruleset	O
,	O
graphics	O
,	O
and	O
maps	O
can	O
be	O
altered	O
to	O
represent	O
different	O
time	O
periods	O
and	O
strategic	O
scales	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Example	O
rulesets	O
provided	O
with	O
the	O
game	O
include	O
Napoleonic	O
strategy	O
,	O
Beirut	O
guerilla	O
fighting	O
,	O
World	O
War	O
II	O
grand	O
strategy	O
,	O
and	O
Godzilla	B-Device
destroying	O
Tokyo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stan	O
Shebs	O
started	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
simple	O
Empire	B-Application
clone	O
in	O
1986	O
,	O
initially	O
using	O
Curses	B-Device
for	O
its	O
interface	O
,	O
then	O
adding	O
an	O
X10	B-Operating_System
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
posted	O
this	O
version	O
to	O
comp.sources.games	B-Architecture
in	O
July	O
1987	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
used	O
a	O
map	O
based	O
on	O
squares	O
rather	O
than	O
hexes	O
,	O
and	O
supported	O
multiple	O
players	O
by	O
exploiting	O
X	B-Operating_System
's	O
capability	O
for	O
a	O
single	O
program	O
to	O
open	O
windows	B-Application
on	O
multiple	O
displays	O
,	O
although	O
it	O
accepted	O
input	O
from	O
only	O
the	O
player	O
whose	O
turn	O
it	O
was	O
;	O
other	O
players	O
could	O
not	O
even	O
scroll	O
their	O
map	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
this	O
first	O
version	O
included	O
support	O
for	O
three	O
rulesets	O
(	O
the	O
"	O
standard	O
"	O
Empire-like	O
game	O
,	O
a	O
Napoleonic-era	O
game	O
,	O
and	O
ancient	O
Greeks	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
they	O
were	O
defined	O
by	O
C	O
structures	O
and	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
compiled	O
in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shebs	O
switched	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
use	O
hex-based	O
maps	O
,	O
added	O
a	O
postfix	O
language	O
to	O
define	O
the	O
ruleset	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
when	O
a	O
game	O
started	O
,	O
and	O
changed	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
interface	O
to	O
allow	O
all	O
players	O
to	O
interact	O
simultaneously	O
;	O
these	O
versions	O
were	O
numbered	O
2	O
,	O
3	O
,	O
and	O
4	O
,	O
but	O
were	O
not	O
released	O
widely	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
addition	O
of	O
an	O
X11	B-Operating_System
interface	O
written	O
by	O
Chris	O
Peterson	O
,	O
version	O
5.0	O
was	O
posted	O
to	O
comp.sources.games	B-Architecture
(	O
as	O
"	O
xconq5	O
"	O
)	O
in	O
June	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Macintosh	B-Device
port	O
was	O
developed	O
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
work	O
had	O
started	O
on	O
version	O
7.5	O
,	O
there	O
has	O
been	O
little	O
development	O
since	O
2004	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
last	O
CVS	B-Application
commit	O
made	O
in	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
