MoO IV by FIRAXIS

In particular, I won't even consider buying a 4X that doesn't offer a rich ship design and detailed tactical combat. These two were Moo2's best assets.
The SotS series has both rich ship design and detailed tactical combat -- far more detailed than MOO for instance, or anything else out there at the moment.

It also features randomized tech trees and colony management that isn't a micromanagement nightmare.

IMHO it's the closest thing to a spiritual successor to MOO 1 out there right now. And something called the Ultimate Edition just came out wherein you can get both SotS and the two expansion packs in a single bundle for a good price. Here are some links to it on GamersGate and Steam.

http://gamersgate.com/?page=product&what=view&sku=DD-SOTSU
http://store.steampowered.com/app/25860/

It should also be available at Paradox Plaza.
http://www.paradoxplaza.com/
 
The SotS series...
IMHO it's the closest thing to a spiritual successor to MOO 1 out there right now. And something called the Ultimate Edition just came out wherein you can get both SotS and the two expansion packs in a single bundle for a good price. Here are some links to it on GamersGate and Steam.
Hmm... From what I gather, this game doesn't offer much in terms of empire management, and while I don't want too much MM, I still want some economic and diplomatic depth. And the reviews I've read are so-so at best...
 
Hmm... From what I gather, this game doesn't offer much in terms of empire management, and while I don't want too much MM, I still want some economic and diplomatic depth. And the reviews I've read are so-so at best...

I think what SoTs dev team did was focus mostly on the tactical combat aspect of the game which is the best part. The strategic game is pitifully limited. That may be because of having a relatively small budget and short development schedule. From reading their forums and development info, it looks like they had to strip out a lot of the most common 4x features for the sake of saving time & money.
 
I would disagree with the statement that the strategic game is pitifully limited. If you only played the original I can see how you'd come to that conclusion. The game has gotten a lot more involved since then, however, on all levels -- without getting bogged down in micromanagement hell like MOO2, I might add. Trade, piracy, espionage, diplomacy, accelerated victory options, and nearly all other standard 4X features are now in the game.

One thing that SotS does not do, however, is baby you and hold your hand. If you want to figure out how the game works, where to find all these options and how to make use of them, you have to dive into the game and start experimenting. Either that, or you can look at the wiki and the forums as well. The more you dig in, the more the game rewards digging in. If you give it a half-hour tour, you won't see much. This is one reason why the reviewers have tended to be lukewarm on it in the past.
 
Hello. Glad to see signs of life here. :)

I would definitely buy a Moo4, no matter who designed it, provided it was true to the spirit of the original games (Moo and Moo2).

And I would KILL for a MoM2... :cry:

Amen to that! I would sooner want to see MoM2 than MoO4! Moo 1 and 2 were brilliant, but MoM was just pure genius. Now there's a sequel I'd pay tons of money to play.

Failing that, SMAC/x 2 anyone? :D
 
I think we will get a SMAC2 and not all that far from now. He has done Pirates and Colonization and Railroad sequels, so it is about due.
 
It would have to be designed to be almost exactly like the original MOO1, with obvious graphics buffs but still the 2d style fighting, nothing like a 3d shooter in combat or anything like that. No... it would not be better.

The fixing of the bugs and smarter AI would be the best changes, as well as changes to the random nature of the elections, which can turn a great game into an unwinnable final war with no notice at all whatsoever. Those are really the only things wrong with the game, in a lot of ways it is almost perfect. I know maybe you might think its crazy but a reskinned MOO1 would be far-far-far superior than something where someone tried to design something new, as it invariably will almost certainly be inferior in gameplay and replay value to the original MOO. Its that good. Yes, I'm serious.
 
I would be very surprise to hear that. In any event I would prefer Brian Reynolds to be involved.
 
I would be very surprise to hear that. In any event I would prefer Brian Reynolds to be involved.

Blech. I'd rather Soren Johnson and Jon Schafer be involved. Reynolds can help write the backstory though.


And I think Atari still owns MoO.
 
Yea, Atari still owns the rights. They were trying to sell them at one point.

IF someone eventually makes a MOO4, and IF is based it mostly on MOO2 with improved graphics, and IF it includes LAN and Online multiplayer capabilities, then, yes. I'd buy it. Alot of IFs.

With MOO3 alot of us were shafted on quality, for a buck, so, we are very critical of the imposters that follow.

MOO2 had qualities that the Remakers seem to keep shying away from.
So, listen up developers, IF you tell us again that you are remaking MOO, and you fail to include the following, then, it isn't MOO.

1) Custom Races - with several common sense race picks.
2) Customized Ships - meaning, we decide how many of each weapon we want on the ship, not, how it looks,
3) Tactical combat - we contol where each ship moves to. NO AI controlled Movies.
4) Customized weapons - so, we can choose how to prepare each ship for battle.
5) Options for different Map sizes - MOO was famous for its smaller maps that could be played in a weekend. Not everyone wants to be on the same game for months or years.
6) Turn based - obvious, but, someone may read this and still try to make it real-time, and call it Like-MOO.

Small improvements are welcome:
1) You could add a deselect button to the race picks, so, each game will have the option to exclude that Pick for us and the AI. Such as No Creative.
2) You could add a deselect to game setup, so we can exclude wormholes, or Minor 1 planet Races.
3) Civ 4 has No tech trading/Brokering options. These are good as well.
4) You could add a deselect button, so, we could vary the Research tree length. MOO2 had 7 levels. Some of these new ones have 20 or 30. Some players may want those lengthy games, others may want to stay more true to MOO. Figure out a compromise.
5) Simple names are easier to remember. I installed MOO2 on my 9 year old niece's WinXp and Win7 Laptops.

Always remember, whenever, there is a decision to be made to chose between a User or AI controlling something in the game, give us the option in game setup to chose which way we want to set it up.

Stick to these simple ideas, and you could be as famous as Steve Barcia and make a great game that is still being talked about.
 
Fireaxis is on my sh.. list because of Civ5. My expectation that they can design a game without making massive design errors at every turn has been severely shaken. So no, I don't want them near any other classic franchise games.
 
I am not that harsh on them, but I understand the sentiment. C5 needs work, though I have not tried the game with the lasstedt patch yet. Likely will just be a bandaid.
 
Fireaxis is on my sh.. list because of Civ5. My expectation that they can design a game without making massive design errors at every turn has been severely shaken. So no, I don't want them near any other classic franchise games.

Well put. Firaxis is in a death spiral in my opinion thanks to 2K Games. :(

I would love to see a properly done MOO IV though. :)
 
Well a year and 3 months later and the hope for a MoO4 is a smoldering ember on the tip of the wick of a snuffed out candle.

Wish someone would've picked up the gaunlet. :(

JosEPh (Keeper of The Roll Call)
 
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