Master of Orion 2 unofficial patch

Does anyone know how to allow for disabling Ship Initiative for patch 1.50.18.1? The last patch I was using was 1.50.14, and I modified the ORION2.cfg file to include:

strict_combat_sequencing = 0;

That does not seem to work for 1.50.18.1

Edit: I seem to have figured it out. I kept testing it with a saved game that I'm assuming retained the original parameters loaded when I started the game. New games do not seem to have ship initiative enabled.

Note: If launching the game using O2M, the game runs ridiculously slow. I'm talking as slow as it would run on a computer from the era of MOO2's 1996 release. Is that normal or intentional? Otherwise, if I run the game using the shortcut created from the 1.50.18.1 patch it runs as fast as you'd expect using a modern PC.

 

Yes, it was intentional. But you can edit the DOSBox configuration at any time, the file it's fully commented. Before launching the game, click DOSBox Configuration, look for cycles=30000 and set it to cycles=auto, then save the file. Then the game will run faster. Some DOS games may not run properly if the emulation runs too fast so this speed was fine-tuned to work well for all DOS games, but MOO2 doesn't need have such a limitation so maybe I'll change the default behavior in a future release.

 

Thanks for the reply. Here's another question: do you know why when using the 1.50 improved mod (with or without +picks) none of my fleet's ships seem to have shields? Every time I enter combat I notice no shields in the portraits of my ships and all damage is consistent with having no shields. Even doomstars are taking more damage than they otherwise would without using the 1.50 improved mod. If I use the standard mod, shields are up and tactical combat is normal.

Edit: Never mind. I think I answered my own question.