I need your guys' help. I'm trying to track down a specific game that I used to play back in the 90s. Here's what I remember:

It was shareware.

It was either on 3.1 or win95.

I believe it was real time.

You could colonize planets and build defenses.

Graphics were 2d with the 256 colour palette.

The entire space used a coordinate system.

When you passed by enemy ships, your ship would fire automatically.

Hmm. There are many which could fit the description. Imperium Galactica comes to mind or Pax Imperia 1 or maybe 2

I've been looking for the last couple of hours. Those two I've looked at and it's not them.

Keep the suggestions coming. Like pasta, one will stick to the wall.

Warpath? (though I don't remember the weapons firing automatically)

This might help in your search: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_4X_video_games

YES!!!!!!!!

This is the one. How the hell did you remember that?

Yay :)

I got the shareware version on the cover disc of a magazine years ago (I think... sometime around 2000 - 2004, must have been the '97 version because it worked in Windows XP), and recently someone posted about it in a 'forgotten games' thread here on GOG, with a link to the dev's website.

There are buttons to enable automatic defense, if I remember correct (never used them because I nuked out the enemy ships with atomic bombs).