This project, based on a game design by Ken Mayfield, ran from late 1997 to mid 1998. In general, it was a multiplayer real-time-strategy game set in the space lanes of the Fading Suns universe (an elegant science fiction  role-playing system created by Holistic Design ).It was being developed for Win95 machines with hardware acceleration and  made extensive use of 3D camera movement and variable view points to allow the player to manage a fleet of war ships and cargo vessels. The game was designed to have in depth tactical combat, computer moderated trade, and negotiation between both human and non-player characters and factions. The original version was also slated to support up to 50 players with multiple victory conditions and the ability to enter and leave a game in progress. 

Our publisher for Gunboat Diplomacy (officially dubbed "Starship Diplomacy" by marketing) was RipCord Games. In the end, we (Top Dog) were forced to walk away from project after design-vs-schedule conflicts lead to late payment, uncertain paychecks, and an unremitting pessimism about the viability of  producing a quality product in the time allotted. The death of this promising (and very cool) project was the last straw in a long series of set backs that resulted in Top Dog Software closing its doors on June 12, 1998. 
 

 
I was technical lead on this project and handled most of the architecture and entity management code. The former task was responsible for laying out the general structure of the program and making sure all of the parts integrated properly. The latter task included the combat code and the physics simulation for getting ships to move and react in a realistic manner. As the project progressed, I inherited responsibility for advancing and enforcing the client-server architecture. I also took over the low level AI and the system for issuing orders and actions to individual entities. Along the way I was able to assist with several areas of the design and also had more-than-enough opportunity to practice my scheduling and documentation skills. 

I also had an excellent opportunity to work on the design for this project; an area of game development which I hope to explore to greater lengths in the future. The design work, coupled with being technical lead, allowed me to produce many documents; some of which are available as writing samples.

After Top Dog closed it's doors, Hollistic took over development. Here are some screenshots from their extention of the project, approximately a year later.