Hiya! I'm trying to remember the name of a game; I've scoured the web for several months without luck so far.
Genre
The game is a 2D RTS with a space combat/colonization theme. It's somewhat like EV Nova but much earlier and far more simple.
Era
This was either a DOS game or early Windows (3.1 or 95?). I would have played it around the year 2000, but my family was not at the forefront of computing technology lol.
Look
Quite simple, mostly flat graphics. Very much in the time of lots of grey borders, windows, and rectangular buttons with sharp corners. I think the spaceship had three different coloured status bars: magenta, blue, and yellow. Yellow was related to resources, and blue and magenta were shields and energy?
Gameplay
Basically the game is a race to colonize the galaxy and wipe out everyone else. I believe there are four factions, including humans, each with a unique spaceship design. You fly your spaceship around to various quadrants (in real-time - there's no "jumping" between systems), and there are planets you can either mine, colonize, supply, or engage in trade. Some planets are empty, and others have alien species.
You could also buy weapons for the ship, including energy weapons and nukes if you want to wipe out a planet and colonize with your own species. I think planets could be friendly, neutral, or hostile depending on some randomness and how interacted you with them, which would change whether the planet would fire at you or let you trade. I also think you can collect income from your colonized planets, but also have to re-supply your colonies with resources.
Hopefully somebody knows what game I'm talking about. Thanks in advance!