MOO1 tactical combat

[vmxa]

I had a similar feeling about Moo3, but I can name at least one space game that was worse, Outpost.

I would add that once I applied Strawberry and some other fixes, Moo3 has some enjoyment. It is not a good game, but I have had many I removed the first day.

 

[plasmacannon]

MOO3?
I couldn't get over the lines (warp lanes).
Space is vast and empty, and it doesn't have lines all over the place.

They would have to eliminate those period.
And bring the travel times to the planets formally off those lanes to a number close to what they should be considering their distance, before I could even think of re-installing that game.
So, many disapointments in that game.

Maelstrom was another game I unistalled. It had a 3-d map, but, not the fun of MOO2.

 

[vmxa]

Ascendancy has star lanes way back in 1994 and was fun for the day. It still has one of the cooler sounds for blasting ships.

 

[plasmacannon]

Ascendancy has star lanes way back in 1994 and was fun for the day. It still has one of the cooler sounds for blasting ships.

I think one of the Star Control's had them too.
but, it took like 1 turn to travel between them, and never off of them.
With MOO3 it takes a few turns on them, and some 20-80 turns off of them.
It made scouting planets extremely time consuming.
Games were not won in a weekend.

 

[vmxa]

Yes, if you turned off the 5x win and went for conquest, it was a long game. Those 80 turns runs were not meant to be done as they just went to a star, no planets. As long as you stayed in the lanes, you had an arrive time of a small number of turn to the next system.

The runs for Xs was a different matter.

 

[plasmacannon]

For sound effects, I always like the Heavy Blast Cannon and Megabolt Cannon from MOO1.

In MOO2, you could tell by turn 200, or earlier, who was going to win the game.
In MOO3, I quit at turn 360, because, it looked like it would be turn 2000 before the game was over.
And the lack of information of helpful information was so bad.
How much does Empathy help? It doesn't say.

It wasn't targeted at a high school level for mass audiance appeal.
I remember reading words like caeses belias and thinking what the heck is that? or the several ship building structures with complicated names.
You couldn't just build a sb and start building the larger hulls, it took a new building for each of the new hull types. insane. MOO1 had 4, MOO2 had 6, MOO3 had 17 different hull types. just overly complicated. 8-10 would have been fine, with possibly another building upgrade like a Heavy Battlestation, or Super Star Fortress, something along those lines.

sorry, for the off-topic rant. I was so disappointed with that game. $50 for the game + $20 for the guide, down the drain.

The only way an excellent MOO4 will really be built, is if Atari pays Steve Barcia to work his magic and restore the good name of Master of Orion.

 

[vmxa]

I pretty much played Moo1 with no sound for the first 15 years. In Moo2 I like the Plasma Cannons, but I stopped using them after they nerfed them.

 

[plasmacannon]

As you might have guessed, felow Central Floridian, in MOO2, I liked the plasmacannons.
Even when, they increased the size (they really were too powerful then) I still put them on ships.

 

[vmxa]

I had lunch at Bob Evans on Lake Mary road today coming back from the Sanford mall. I prefer to use phasers and then switch to disrupter to deal with any shield issues on planets.

I had to go to the dos version on Win7 and use DosBox. Moo2 was fine in XP, but not Win7.

 

[Aabraxan]

I don't guess I ever played it before the nerfing, but I still like plasma cannons. Even modded phasors don't seem to tear up shields the same way PCs do. I'll often put a PC or two in the first slots on a ship, then stuff the rest of the space with Hv/AF phasors.

 

[vmxa]

You just do not get as many cannons as you use to, that is why I switched. Phasors are a 2000 and cannons are 3500. I take the plasma rifle to help with the invasions as I take the Ground Combat penalty.

I then go to disrupters as they can cut into all planets. As it is 4500 tech, I am about due for an upgrade.

 

[plasmacannon]

That would probably make more sence.
I have just used my missle ships more, up until I can construct new ships with plasma cannons.
Then, upgrade some of the missle ships too.

 

[scratchthepitch]

I have not played in a while, but I had a special fondness for enveloping plasma, especially the heavies. My main problem with them was they tended to over do things and zap ships which I just wanted to peal off the shields on so I could capture them. On the Antarian expedition at the end of the game, they could be a little weak, with those Antaran reflector shields an all, so I would upgrade to steller converters. But against the other alien races, plasma was the stuff, especially if I was greatly outnumbered and in a panic.