Anyone played the new Masters of Orion?

[AgPete]

I loved the first games and have always been a big fan of the Microprose strategy games. In the frenzy for OOTP an CM, this game may have been forgotten but I'm curious if anyone has picked up the new version? Your early thoughts on it?

[andy m]

this should be enough to get your teeth into:

http://www.gonegold.com/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=011360

persist with it all the way through, there is a good balance of posi and negative viewpoints.

[AgPete]

Thanks Andy. Wow! One person said the complexity of MoO3 made Hearts of Iron look like a child's game. I think I'll have to wait at least a week before reading a good critique of the game. I'm tempted to buy it for the weekend.

[andy m]

i am quite lucky in that it's not out in the UK till March 7 so i am not able to rush out and buy it just yet :)

the comments that lead me to believe i will enjoy the game are those that say it is more of a 'macro' rather than 'micro' management, that you oversee your empire rather than decide how many people on the planet Zarg must go visit the dentist on Tuesday October 9.

[A-Husker-4-Life]

MOO3 sounds like a very complex game, I likey... I'll have to go and buy it.....

Thanks for the link....

[Tarkus]

Guys, check the MOO will be out in a week thread. The game is not getting great reviews.

http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5616

Tarkus

[Coffee Warlord]

There's also a brief thread about it in the PC/Console game forum here. Has a couple links to Even More Reviews.

Personally, the first MOO was probably my favorite game....ever, 2 was very good. After reading all the various reviews, I am actually not buying it.

[sachmo71]

I will not touch for quite some time. Bad AI is hard to patch, especially in a complex game where the user will rely on AI to help run an effective empire.

[Sporkimata]

I bought it first thing Wendsday. I really like the game a lot so far. I do think its an aquired taste. The combat graphics are pretty crappy for todays comps, and watching two scout ships fight is like watching paint dry.
It seems to have a lot of depth, and I like that in a game. I need some more time to really get a feel for it.

[Fonzie]

From what I've read so far, it's arguable that reading the flame-fests in the Infogrames MOO3 forum may be more entertaining than playing the game. And it's $50 cheaper.

[daedalus]

I was actually reading that thread last night. From the way the people who play and like it make it sound, it sounds a lot like it has an element that Anrhy and Ben have been asking for from the sport games for awhile. You make a growth setting for a particular planet type and when you colonize one, the planet is then developed according to that plan. Sounds nifty.

The other parts sounds like they may need a bit more scrutiny before more informed opinions can be formed.

[daedalus]

It does sound like the Beta Tester Tutorial is an absolute must, though.

[Sporkimata]

Yeah, the development plans are very important. They are something that I think will make the game great, theres just so little info on them. One downfall of this game will be its utter lack of documentation.

[andy m]

Originally posted by Tarkus
Guys, check the MOO will be out in a week thread. The game is not getting great reviews.

i have seen as many good as i have bad, it really does seem to be the sort of game that you have to play to find out if you like it or not.

[Bonegavel]

I've been following MOO3 since it was announced and, while waiting, I found Galactic Civilizations (probably from somebody on this board). GalCiv employed a paid beta which, according to what i've read, really shaped the game nicely. My plans were to buy MOO3 immediately and wait for reviews of GalCiv and now it seems that it will be the other way around.

Late last year, we had a thread on MOO3, and I remember Bee being concerned about the delay and what it meant for the game as a whole. It seems, from reports and reviews, that the game was indeed in trouble, and, possibly continues to be.

After sifting through the slew of reviews, seemingly equally divided between "greatest game ever" and "dog", my biggest concern revolves around the fact that the player is relegated to clicking the Next Turn button. Some may enjoy this, but, if I wanted to just click a button, I could watch the television.

As always, I will probably purchase the game, play it for a few weeks, and shelve the game; never to return again. Galactic Civilizations, on the other hand, looks to have a lot of replayability. It is customisable (ships, random events, dialogue, etc.) and the idea of its Metaverse allows you to download computer AI scripts based on other players. To me, this is a godsend. We all have played games where you figure out the AI routine and the game is never the same, or you wind up imposing house-rules on yourself (can you say FOF?). In addition, it looks like there is a separate and unique AI routine for each of the major races. If you are interested, I recommend going to www.galciv.com and sifting through the material there. It looks very impressive.

[Qwikshot]

www.gamesdomain.com did not give MOO3 a favorable review, in fact, they said it was so deep it warrants getting the strat guide. I'm just going to save my pennies for CM4.

[AgPete]

Thanks for pointing out that review Qwikshot. I was almost ready to buy it but after reading that, I am now thinking about waiting for more reviews after people have had more time to try it. I happen to be one of those dorks that as the review puts it "has a fetish for spreadsheets." :D So I may be the kind of person that would enjoy this. I'm disappointed to hear that the viceroys are on auto-pilot for everything. :(

[Blade]

Originally posted by AgPete
I'm disappointed to hear that the viceroys are on auto-pilot for everything. :(

From what I hear, you can turn the vice-roys off, it is just a thirty step process...

[AgPete]

I just checked Gamespot.Com and they have a review up now for this game. They gave it a 6.7 out of 10! :eek: I've read some of their reviews before and 6.7 is a bad score. :(

[Fonzie]

Originally posted by AgPete
I just checked Gamespot.Com and they have a review up now for this game. They gave it a 6.7 out of 10! :eek: I've read some of their reviews before and 6.7 is a bad score. :(

I've been amazed at how the reviews for this game are all over the map. Some people love it, some people absolutely hate it. Its precisely this type of "your mileage may vary" game that screams for a demo. Unfortunately, it seems as though there will be no such thing to help us decide whether or not to purchase this game. :(

[Blackadar]

From what I've seen, the only good reviews were the first ones done - before the game was even released. That suggests that:

1. Either they were paid to write a positive review
2. They rushed through the game without playing it very much

The other, post-release reviews, have all be decidedly mediocre.

[Thomkal]

Does anybody here that has the game want to do a dynasty on it for us fence sitters? Since apparantly there's no demo, it might help the rest of us get a look at the game.

[Bee]

Originally posted by Blackadar
From what I've seen, the only good reviews were the first ones done - before the game was even released. That suggests that:

1. Either they were paid to write a positive review
2. They rushed through the game without playing it very much

The other, post-release reviews, have all be decidedly mediocre.

That's exactly what I've noticed as well.

I decided to wait to buy it. There are too many other good games out right now or coming soon that I know I'll enjoy, why take a chance on something like MOO3.

[Blade]

I actually broke down and bought it. It is exactly like they say...it is a learning cliff rather than a learning curve! There are definitely some things they could have done better, but I am definitely enjoying the game nonetheless. I have toyed with doing a dynasty, but I am not sure I know the game well enough yet...

[Abe Sargent]

Arrived in the mail yesterday and I played last night. Spent about six hours on it last night and I have a good sense of scouting and colonizing strategy. Less diplomatic strategy. No clue about technological advancement. I had to take, I kid you not, TWENTY MINUTES out of my day to figure out how to dispatch a ship that's been built. "Shipyard Menu?" Nope. "Fleets Submenu?" Nope
"Planet Military Menu?" Nope. And the manual spends all of three or four pages per major category. really, who wants four pages on all of combat? I eventually figured out that IF you single click on the system where the fleet was built, you can then deploy a task force which takes you to the screen where task forces can be built.

Some of the major tabs have a close button you can click. Others require you to use the ESC key. The interface in very counter-intuitive and inconsistent.

I have yet to participate in a battle.

My experiences thus far - ugh.

-Anxiety

[Blade]

I really used the different message boards for my learning, as the manual and in game reference stuff is not that good.

[WSUCougar]

In case anyone is interested, GoGamer has the game for $29.90.

http://www.gogamer.com

[Swaggs]

I'm so thanful for you guys. I picked this game up today (literally picked it up off the shelf) at EB today and almost bought it, but thought I remembered seeing a thread about it on FOFC. Now that I've read it, I'm very happy I didn't make the purchase.

Is this game similar to the Sid Meier game (Alpha Centauri, I believe?)? I liked it a lot and was thinking MoO sounded a little like it.

[daedalus]

Only in the sense that they are both 4X games.

Gameplay-wise, they're quite different.

GalCiv, on the other hand, is SUPPOSE to be closer to a Civ-In-Space kind of deal. I haven't tinkered with it yet so I can't comment on quality.

[A-Husker-4-Life]

I like the game it's self but the documentation is very poor... I mean you have to double-click the sun to get out of the plant view, I did see anything about that in the books... Oh well, its still a good game and I guess only 5 people worked on it, so it could be worse....

[Fonzie]

Originally posted by A-Husker-4-Life
Oh well, its still a good game and I guess only 5 people worked on it, so it could be worse....

My understanding was that five people worked on the art team, not the total development team. Could be wrong, though.

In any event, someone on the MOO3 boards mentioned that Amazon is also offering it for $29.99.

I don't think I've ever seen a new release drop that quickly in price. :eek: