Master of Orion III (thoughts)

[Bires]

If there are enough ppl here that have thrown their life away with this game, we can discuss some points.

Questions, thoughts, sugestions, wagers on when/if Infrogrames will release the first patch to address missing mouse clicks and keystrokes, etc.

I got it today, and have played it (with a break for dinner) for about 5.5 hours.

So far, my biggest thoughts are

1. Can I adjust the combat speed?
2. Can I adjust the graphics resolution?
3. Why is it even when I set all my colonies so they run deficits, does my empire cash supply still increase?

Just initial quandries... I am yet to read the 140page manual.

[gear02]

Originally posted by Bires

3. Why is it even when I set all my colonies so they run deficits, does my empire cash supply still increase?


I haven't played this game very much, Xenosaga has consumed my time so far.

But I know how you feel about the colonies. I've tried setting my production real high and manually inserting stuff into the build queue (so I build good ships instead of the scout ships the computer keeps putting in).

From what I can tell, and from what I've read, it seems that the "viceroys" are taking over and resetting the values back to what they were. If you don't know, there are "viceroys" on each planet that handle the micromanagement so you don't have to. Unfortunately, you can't turn them off.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

[LPMiller]

1)Nope
2)Nope
3)Depends how you are doing it. If you are doing it in the finance screen, I dunno. If you are doing it individually, the AI will auto adjust to keep you from going too far into debt, and then over time set things back to normal. This is actually a good thing, as in previous games it was terribly easy to go massively into debt, where now you just don't have much good reason to get stuck in the red.

[apmiller]

I'm still trying to figure out how to add a ship to a fleet so I can continue to explore new worlds! Heck I can't even defend myself from attack! BAH!! Long learning curve on this indeed...

[gear02]

Originally posted by apmiller
I'm still trying to figure out how to add a ship to a fleet so I can continue to explore new worlds! Heck I can't even defend myself from attack! BAH!! Long learning curve on this indeed...

I feel your pain.

To think that I was waiting impatiently for this game...

<sigh>

oh well....XENOSAGA!!!!!

[Bires]

Originally posted by apmiller
I'm still trying to figure out how to add a ship to a fleet so I can continue to explore new worlds! Heck I can't even defend myself from attack! BAH!! Long learning curve on this indeed...

Design the ship in the shipyard
In the colonies economic menu (left side-scrolls up) click on military
Slide the military budget $$ to the right to give it some scratch.

One the ships are built, click on the shipyard, the fleets-and design / build a taskforce.

[Bires]

COPYING MUSIC FILES TO THE HARD DRIVE
You can also copy the music files to the hard drive to reduce CD ROM seek times and to increase performance on computers with older CD ROM drives. To do this, insert Disk 2 (PLAY CD) and open up explorer. Select the MUSIC directory and copy the contents to \Master of Orion 3\GameDataSets\Classic_01\GameAssets

[LPMiller]

Originally posted by apmiller
I'm still trying to figure out how to add a ship to a fleet so I can continue to explore new worlds! Heck I can't even defend myself from attack! BAH!! Long learning curve on this indeed...

Once a ship has been built, you can select any solor system that has the ability to construct ships, and click on create taskforce. This takes the ships out of storage and puts them into orbit. This will only work in solar systems that have materials processors built, etc.

[Bires]

So... you could basically have a huge, slow reserve fleet of frigates, colonize a planet in the middle of your enemies' empire, and a turn later, martial your entire new armada at your newly colonized planet?
That seems dumb. I am missing something here?

[LPMiller]

Originally posted by Bires
So... you could basically have a huge, slow reserve fleet of frigates, colonize a planet in the middle of your enemies' empire, and a turn later, martial your entire new armada at your newly colonized planet?
That seems dumb. I am missing something here?

Yes, most of what I wrote. The planet needs the ability to put ships in orbit, that usually requires things like the Materials Processor to be built first. So no, fresh colonies can't launch ships. Now, if one of your planets in that solar system can launch ships, then it doesn't much matter.

[Cantacuzene]

Gamespot basically reviewed the game and said it was mediocre.

[Bires]

Originally posted by Cantacuzene
Gamespot basically reviewed the game and said it was mediocre.

Having played it for three straight nights and more than 14 hours...I tend to aggree. The reviews said it was addictive-it is. It's addictive...but not really fun. MOO2 was great because it was big, but manageable.

MOO3 is much much larger-so large in fact that everything is a big jumble. So, enter the viceroys to manage things. ARGH!!!!!

BY MAKING THIS GAME SO COMPLEX, THE GAME PLAYS ITSELF! :angry: (What were they thinking?)

Man...EA screwed up the C&C games, and Infograms screwed up the Master of Orion games. What's next? (Maybe Ubisoft will try to make a Quake game...)



Also, I very much doubt the beta team actually existed. I remember those contests on the web to be part of the beta team...BS. There are A TON of grammar/spelling errors, missed mouse clicks, and broken animations.

Also...
Anyone else notice that some races ask you for research treaties every other turn or so...NO! I DON'T WANT A TREATY! TAKE THE HINT, LOSER, AND HIT THE STREET...YOU'RE BACK?!? NO! I STILL DON'T WANT A RESEARCH TREATY! PISS OFF, ALIEN WORM!

Now then...where was the NOLF2 disc...

[i6s1]

There is a bug that prevents the enemy AI from attacking you. Which means that the game is almost impossible to loose. This is a gamebreaking bug. If you're on the fence about getting the game, then wait for a patch.

[apmiller]

Originally posted by i6s1
There is a bug that prevents the enemy AI from attacking you. Which means that the game is almost impossible to loose. This is a gamebreaking bug. If you're on the fence about getting the game, then wait for a patch.

Heh...guess I don't have that bug in my game for I got wasted off the face of the whole stupid galaxy! BAH! Okay, so I guess I'll start a new game...sheesh. Don't attack anyone if you only have one ship...they get mad. But at least I'm starting to learn how to play it...well, sort-of.

[Bires]

...and I've stopped playing for now. I just waltzed through the game, grabbing up colonies left and right, attacking whomever I wanted, and, after 240 turns, was elected to the senate-no opposition AT ALL!

[LPMiller]

Originally posted by Bires
...and I've stopped playing for now. I just waltzed through the game, grabbing up colonies left and right, attacking whomever I wanted, and, after 240 turns, was elected to the senate-no opposition AT ALL!

Yeah, game needs a patch. AI is as bad as Heroes of M&M 4 was before the patch. They just bend over and take it.

[apmiller]

Okay so now I'm getting more into the MOO3 groove. A lot of light bulbs are going off the more I play it and now see why a patch is a good thing. Although they will attack my ships flying by they will not attack my planets. Even when I blow up a few of theirs. Hmmm...big sissies!