Thanks for the link! :)

I gave this version a spin but didn't get very far since the division by zero error is still in that version.

Can't play it. I get the Brighthead Studios loading screen and then this error:

ERROR in
action number 1
of Create Event
for object obj_movie:

Error defining an external function.
at gml_Object_obj_movie_Create_0


Hope I don't need a GTX 1080 Ti to play it. ;-D

You get that when the video-renderer dll file is missing. Looks like your AV deleted it without warning. Try the second link I posted.
Are you serious?? Sorry. That should happen rarely only when aiming. But I really thought it was fixed in that version. That was the version we sent to reviewers.

Just after I posted this, I got the red screen and claxon bells courtesy of Norton. Thanks!

People still use Norton? I thought it was outlawed by the Geneva Convention.

We stopped developing "full" games after that. I never made another game that I made completely from start to finish. We focused instead on client work and also browser/mobile games, minigames, quizzes and stuff like that. Later I started doing freelance programming, not necessarily "games". By the looks of it 2018 will be the first year where my non-game work will exceed that related to gaming.

Will I consider starting up again? It is my hope that if/when I retire in a few years time I can do another complete game project. Find a team and work for them. I'm hoping I'll have a steady retirement income, so I can work on that without worrying about the finances of it (i.e. if I like a project join the team even if it means working for them for free).

Yes. Having worked in software QA before I wouldn't joke about bugs.

*Sigh* in that case, all I can say is that you should just restart if that happens. It should happen very rarely anyway. And the levels are short.

I'll try and dig out the dusty source code and fix it properly. And maybe add a better way of displaying cutscenes. But I really don't have free time these days, so it will have to wait for some time.

I live by my own laws.

people still use anti-virus software?

Why not work for yourself and make your own team or go solo? Plenty of options now for that. Also would you be in it to make money or to create something awesome if one was to be prioritized? :)

Sorry to hear about the troll and the commercial failure. Still why don't you make it available on itch.io, instead of dropbox it might get more visibility. Anyway I know that making games is hard. And to please users even harder. At least 50% of Birth of the Empire's one star reviews on google play is complaining that it's not in Russian...

I don't have much time to play now but I will definitely play it and and write some comments :)

What's with all the "sorries" from people? ;) This was supposed to be a happy story. Making that game was one of the best things that I did in my life.

It didn't sell well because it wasn't too good. And everyone and their mother was making indie games.

But itch.io is an excellent suggestion. I'll dig out the code to fix the div by 0 error if still there and the AV issue.

Wait a bit for the fixed version then. Maybe on itch.io.
Thank you for making me dig this out. Watched the review again, brought back some memories.