[MoO] Master of Orion 2 unofficial patch

[kwahraps]

much obliged
thank you

 

[Rocco.40]

 

[kwahraps]

@Rocco or anyone else : as I'm not familiar with the VDC mod, is there a way to find out what specifically had been changed (tech tree, picks, weapons, etc.)?
I looked on the Orion Nebula, there were some highlighted parts of what's in the game, but not much on the actual specifics.
Is there a manual or a readme.txt document that explains the differences in VDC versus 1.50/ICE-M/ICE-X/etc.??

Thank you.

 

[Rocco.40]

vdc has an extensive excel sheet that documents changes. it is part of your downloaded pack and can be found in 150/mods/vdc/docs

 

[kwahraps]

vdc has an extensive excel sheet that documents changes. it is part of your downloaded pack and can be found in 150/mods/vdc/docs

that makes sense
thank you

 

[Depth386]

Hi guys, in case anyone out there enjoys my Depth Mod, I have updated it for Moo2 v 1.50.15

In your Moo2 folder, under \ 150 \ mods \ create a folder named "depth" and unzip all files there
Move the file "map_d3_5.cfg" from \ 150 \ mods \ depth \ to destination folder \ 150 \ mods \ maps \

It is intended (but not totally necessary) that the Depth Mod be used with the Depth Map file.

Enjoy!

 

[Rocco.40]

Hi guys, in case anyone out there enjoys my Depth Mod, I have updated it for Moo2 v 1.50.15
[...]

cool!
1 small, but important error:
> combat.lbx = 150\COMBAT.LBX; # Added greyed WAIT button.
needs to be
> combat.lbx = 150\lbx\COMBAT.LBX; # Added greyed WAIT button.
otherwise the mod won't load.


edit:
ok, played a few turns;
i like your help file, seems like lot of effort went into it.
also like ships not being able to outrun missiles in combat.
more feedback to follow...

 

[kwahraps]

Hi guys, in case anyone out there enjoys my Depth Mod, I have updated it for Moo2 v 1.50.15

In your Moo2 folder, under \ 150 \ mods \ create a folder named "depth" and unzip all files there
Move the file "map_d3_5.cfg" from \ 150 \ mods \ depth \ to destination folder \ 150 \ mods \ maps \

It is intended (but not totally necessary) that the Depth Mod be used with the Depth Map file.

Enjoy!

As Rocco pointed out, will you make this change and upload again?
I'm not sure I trust myself to edit the appropriate file, because I'm happy enough knowing everything works fine the way it is now!

I've gone back and forth between ICE-X and VDC, because they both have features that I really like.
VDC in particular has a different view of the tech tree with particle beam and damper field available.

What separates your mod from the others???
Or why should I consider playing it?

Thank you.

 

[Depth386]

cool!
1 small, but important error:
> combat.lbx = 150\COMBAT.LBX; # Added greyed WAIT button.
needs to be
> combat.lbx = 150\lbx\COMBAT.LBX; # Added greyed WAIT button.
otherwise the mod won't load.

...
What separates your mod from the others???
Or why should I consider playing it?
Thank you.

Rocco: Many thanks for picking out that error. Sorry I threw a copy of combat.lbx into that folder for it to launch on my PC. I have fixed it and so here is Depth Mod v5.01

Kwahraps, if I were to summarize this mod, I think the greatest features would be the following:

Accelerated Gameplay
-Smaller fleets (command points are 1 / 3 / 6 / 10 / 15 / 28) This makes tactical battles in the mid and late game much less tedious because fleets rarely get up to like 100 ships.
-Less planets overall if you use my map too. Makes empire management quicker unless you're super late game and using planet construction and/or terraforming.
-Somewhat accelerated gameplay in terms of number of galaxy map turns. Production is quicker.
-Enabled "melee" mode so you can retrofit multiple ships or build multiple transports/freighters and buildings in 1 turn. You should be producing Trade Goods most turns and stockpiling both money and production.

Balance
-More balanced improvement in the "space per command point" as you go up in ship size.
-Consitent ratios of equipment space to the strucutre/armor durability of the ship.
-More incentive to use some normal beams in some situations, heavy beams are +150% size.
-Significant maneuverability advantage for smaller ships late game. Contrary to Rocco's statement, there is some potential to be out-running missiles and torpedoes but it's not game breaking in most situations.
-Planets are a little harder to wipe out with bombardment. This makes invasions and ground combat a little more meaningful, as well as bio weapons and stellar converters.
-Beams are often harmless to planets with shields making bombs, torpedoes, and bio weapons more necessary. There is a deliberate exception for Heavy Death Rays at point blank, especially with HEF or Ordnance Leader Skill.
-Slightly rebalanced race customization. Also altered stock races to comply with this, and made sure every single race has a niche for people who enjoy "minmax" style & crazy Federations/Unifications.
-No housing, but populations grow faster. More balanced cloning center.
-Customized planetary population maxes and food outputs resulting in better balance of food techs and pollution techs. I wish I could make population eat 2 or 3 food instead of 1 for further improvement in the food area, but it's something.
-Slightly reduced incentive to build everything everywhere (No 5RP from a Research Lab or 5IND from Automated Factory for example, just the +1 / population bonuses)
-Highly customized (and in my opinion balanced) tech tree including several antaran techs. Spatial Compressor, Reflection Field, Damper Field and Death Ray are all in there.
-More balanced spy techs and ground combat techs.
-More durable fighters and missiles, you can actually have return flights and second launches of fighters in some battles.
-More reasonable balance of command point techs and warlord bonus because a basic star base ("space dock" in my mod) gives +2.
-Balanced stealth / detection on galaxy map. A little bit of immersive realism, you can't see ships coming at you faster than light with default starting techs.
-Occasionally there are situations where you actually don't want all your ships in 1 "ball of death" fleet. I wish I could improve this further.
-Artemis System Net is actually a bit scary even late game. It destroys ships outright, % chance to hit is equal to the command points.
-Stellar Converter is useful but not something you just spam all over your fleet.
-Taking the planet Orion does not break the game in terms of the tech rewards you get.

Other Fun Stuff
-More immersive ship names (though I warn you they're cheesy, except the Human naval ship names)
-Shields have been changed so they don't often reach a point where in combat they're showing full thickness after taking damage. I wish I could alter the number for full shield thickness to be shown instead.
-Ship sizes make more sense relative to the graphics if you consider them as 3D objects. (1 Doom Star is ~64 Frigates, takes 4x4 on combat map but imagine it's a sphere)
-Avenger has no Computer but uses Maulers and Special Weapons so it doesn't matter. Theme-cute
-A few of the space monsters have a shield.

Confessions
-Battle Pods are still pretty awesome despite a massive nerf. It gives just +10% Space and increases cost a fair bit.
-Tractor Beam has been placed with Neutron Blaster to try to prevent the deadly combination of those two, but it still happens with tech trading, spying, or tech gains through conquest. It's also sometimes a key tech in the late game.
-Armor techs are usually still pretty awesome.
-Leaders that enhance ground combat ratings are kind of broken (overpowered) because the multiplier cannot be changed.
-Leaders are often too easy to hire and pay their maintenance cost.
-I wish transports would carry 1 armor/battleoid unit and 3 infantry instead of just 4 infantry and then I wouldn't be forced to make battleoids an early tech, armor and battleoids could be more powerful in such a scenario.

 

[kwahraps]

OK, so I unzipped and moved all the files into folder path 150/mods/depth, but when I run my install-macosx launcher, the game does not appear.
Do I need to add an 'enable' line in the enable cfg file???

 

[Depth386]

...path 150/mods/depth, but when I run my install-macosx launcher, the game does not appear.
Do I need to add an 'enable' line in the enable cfg file???

Sorry I do not know Mac, I am doing this in Windows. I have run DosBox in Windows XP, 7, and 10 and I have done the 1.50 series of launchers in Windows 7 and 10.
Could you perhaps describe the process for you to install any other mod? Such as DAB or VDC.
I wonder if anyone else here could help if they have Mac too.

I find I have to close & restart the launcher when I add a new file/mod that it should detect. At least in Windows.

 

[Rocco.40]

if you use Launcher, then there should be no need to manually edit 'enable.cfg'.
- did you copy files into correct folder? eg not into /launcher/patch/150mods but into /150/mods?
- make sure that you haven't both the previous depth500.cfg and this new depth501.cfg installed, because that will cause a conflict for Launcher.

- cause could actually be that in cfg, the lbx paths are named "150\mods\depth\SHIPNAME.LBX;"
but with the new version the folder name has become "Depth501".
as a result, lbx-es cannot load
> try renaming folder from Depth501 to depth

edit-
I noted that in the depth501.cfg, lbx-es that are not used are written as "newgame.lbx = 0;"
it is not good practice to null lbx-es that you don't use, since "=0" is not the same as "do nothing". rather it will null lbx-es that are required for the patch to function correctly and should be loaded.
specifically nulling:
newgame.lbx = 0;
estrings.lbx = 0;
eventmse.lbx = 0;
will cause problems, but really no lbx should be nulled unless there is a specific reason to do it.
likewise, build.cfg = 0; and main.lua = 0; will disable the functionalities of build queue list loading and scripting, so these lines should also be removed from the mod.

pls don't take all this as negative criticism on the design of your mod, just as feedback on how to make it function properly... modding is somewhat complex after all and these are a few pitfalls that need to be avoided.

 

[kwahraps]

Thank you, Depth and Rocco.
I will try that when I get home.

I'm pretty sure I downloaded the Depth501, then threw it in the .15 folder with the launcher application, file path : patch\150\mods.
I named the folder Depth501, because that is what was written.
However, when I opened up the Depth501.cfg, I noticed there were different _ID names.
If the _ID was 'Depth' does that mean the folder with the mod needs to be named 'Depth'???

I will have to check about the Depth500.cfg file.

Thanks again.

 

[Patine]

@Depth386 and @Rocco.40 Say, this patch looks awesome! But, maybe you have a solution for another problem. I still own the game as a physical CD-ROM. I haven't gotten Windows 8 or 10 to even acknowledge the disk's existence, because it's on a 16-bit format. Is there anyway around this VERY big impediment?

 

[Rocco.40]

@Depth386 and @Rocco.40 Say, this patch looks awesome! But, maybe you have a solution for another problem. I still own the game as a physical CD-ROM. I haven't gotten Windows 8 or 10 to even acknowledge the disk's existence, because it's on a 16-bit format. Is there anyway around this VERY big impediment?

strange, i have physical cd-rom as well, and win8.1-64 reads it just fine. can't help you there. perhaps someone else can give a pointer?

 

[kwahraps]

Renamed the folder 'depth'.
I have the Depth501.cfg file and got rid of Depth500.cfg.

No dice.
I run the launcher and the standard set of mods that came with 1.50.15 are always there.

When I boot the launcher, it crashes when I select Game or Mods Directory from the Tools menu.
I would imagine that might be an issue.

I know I have mixed up folders in the past, but this might be beyond my comprehension.
@Rocco : any chance you could include this version in the next update? or add it to the existing one and re-release? I guess I could try deleting and re-installing everything.

Thoughts?

 

[Rocco.40]

here's a complete pack with depth's mod wrapped in:
http://moo2mod.com/patch/MOO2-1.50.15-r2.zip

(released only here, not on moo2mod, etc)

 

[kwahraps]

here's a complete pack with depth's mod wrapped in:
http://moo2mod.com/patch/MOO2-1.50.15-r2.zip

(released only here, not on moo2mod, etc)

Thanks Rocco.
Before I attempt this, what should exactly be in the C://hard disk folder path?

Seems like I have 150/mods in there and patch/150/mods in the file I download.

What conflicts should I be looking for?

 

[kwahraps]

I opened up your r2 version.
Ran the launcher and it prompted a Steam install.
Started up and still see the same list of mods. No depth.

I'm thinking I have conflicts in the C:harddisk path.
Would it be advisable to delete the 150/mod folder in the C:harddisk path?
Then run the launcher to install again?
Or does it only install the one time???

 

[Rocco.40]

almost sounds like you have two MOO2 installs.
so did you accept standard Steam settings, or did you manually change paths?

you could try delete entire /150 folder from your moo2 dir and then install again.