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On and off, I've been writing a role playing type game in C++ for a while now. It started as a small project to build a relational SQL database for my Amiga computer (initially in C), and then I felt like building a game to use the database.
The database project went very well with full support for SQL1 and growing support for SQL2. I ported the code to the Windows platform (in 1996), which proved to be a fairly simple process as I had only used ANSI and POSIX compliant functions. I next added a C++ call interface and improved the internal housekeeping. I continue to improve the database 'tzdb' as I use it in the game and it's very stable in use.
My professional DB experience has been with Oracle, Sybase and Informix (also IMS) so I've used the best bits of the internal design of these in my database. I started with Sybase as my model (the first I used at work) which means my database does not have record level locking, but I have a plan for adding this in a coming release.
In the game Struggle for Empire you have just inherited The Holy Terran Empire and find the task of ruling far more complex than you've imagined. You interact with other characters and issue edicts, commands and instructions through a character/text driven interface (I'm adding a GUI at the moment).
There are a (growing) number of empires (as you discover more of the Galaxy) and there are NPC (non-player characters) with whom you can interact, some work for you others work for other empires. You may become allies with other empires or enemies, depending on their dispositiion to you. As you (or your units) interact with NPCs their dispositiion to you will change depending on how friendly and helpful you are.