Nope. I think they were two different guys. Anyway, its not really relevant as the scenario does not involve the phantom menace period. Everybody hates that. The scenario starts about 2 years before episode IV. But for your info, here are some excerpts from the unofficial encyclopedia.
Darth Sidious. This Dark Lord of the Sith was the driving force behind the Trade Federation, during the time it tried to subjugate the world of Naboo. He had control of specific elements of the Galactic Senate, and put in motion an intricate set of schemes to take control of the galaxy. He had trained his apprentice, Darth Maul, and was ready to bring his plans to fruition when Chancellor Valorum dispatched two Jedi Knights to Naboo to negotiate a settlement. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi thwarted his initial plans, and forced him to send Darth Maul after the pair. Meanwhile, Sidious continued to manipulate the Neimoidians, pushing the situation at Naboo as far as he could. When Queen Amidala returned to Naboo to deal with the situation herself, Sidious saw his carefully laid plans fall apart as the Neimoidians were defeated and the planet freed of its blockade, and Darth Maul was killed in battle by Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Palpatine served his homeworld of Naboo, as well as thirty-six other inhabited planets, as a Senator in the Old Republic, and was instrumental in the rise to power of the Trade Federation. A student of the Dark Side of the Force who trained on Korriban, Palpatine used his political savvy to develop alliances with other power-hungry individuals to begin his own bid for power. He used the Trade Federation - with its cowardly Neimoidian leaders - to force the Old Republic to see its stagnant ways. After manipulating his Queen, Amidala, to call for a vote of no-confidence in Supreme Chanceller Valorum, Palpatine put himself at the forefront of the coming elections. In a vote which was based on sympathy for Naboo and the many alliances Palpatine had forged, he was voted to replace Valorum at the age of fifty. While remaining unobtrusive and often helpful, Palpatine manipulated the Old Republic until it began to crumble from within, at which time he took control and named himself Emperor. As Emperor, the supreme ruler of the Empire. A student in the ways of the Dark Side of The Force. He was a xenophobe, though he used aliens when it suited him. Through his use of the Dark Side, he gained a large body of knowledge on the use of clones to become virtually immortal. The fresh supply of new bodies ensured that the destructive power of the Dark Side never killed him.
[This message has been edited by kobayashi (edited July 28, 2001).]
