PC Retroview: Master of Orion II

[Murky]

Find out why MOO2 is still one of the best 4X games of all time.

This review is a little dated but goes into enough detail to explain why MOO2 is so good.

Whoever owns the license is sitting on an untapped goldmine. All they would need to do is assign a development team to remaster MOO2 to uprade it's graphics, AI and multiplayer performance and it would easily eclipse any other game of the genre on the market today.

 

[vmxa]

I am not buying many game lately, but I would buy a revised Moo2 or Moo1.

I would be happy if they could make it nearly the same as the original with improved graphics. It could be 2D or maybe 3d in some things. Maybe fix one or two of the bugs.

They could even do what Test Of Time done. They make it so you could play with the original graphics or some updated ones and some continuation of the game.

Not going to happen, but it would be a nice training tool for some company. Take some students and hire them as interns to do it. Not much invested, so they could sell it on the internet to get the money back.

 

[Murky]

I am not buying many game lately, but I would buy a revised Moo2 or Moo1.

I would be happy if they could make it nearly the same as the original with improved graphics. It could be 2D or maybe 3d in some things. Maybe fix one or two of the bugs.

They could even do what Test Of Time done. They make it so you could play with the original graphics or some updated ones and some continuation of the game.

Not going to happen, but it would be a nice training tool for some company. Take some students and hire them as interns to do it. Not much invested, so they could sell it on the internet to get the money back.

I would like to see it done as professionally as possible but it could be done on a lower budget than most games in development today.

 

[Aabraxan]

I don't think a remake of either MOO or MOO2 is very likely, if at all. And after the disaster that was called MOO3, I sincerely doubt that a MOO4 is very likely. Even though I don't buy that many games, I'd very likely buy a remade MOO or MOO2.

Regardless of what happens with future development of the MOO franchise (should there be any), and without ever having played the original MOO, I certainly think both should be on the "required reading" list for TBS developers. I was hooked on MOO2 from the first game I played. It has all of the elements I really look for in a new game.

 

[vmxa]

A number of attempts at making Moo have gotten quite a ways down to the road, but none finished so far.

 

[Murky]

A number of attempts at making Moo have gotten quite a ways down to the road, but none finished so far.

Most of the attempts to remake MOO2 where not made by a game company but by individual hobbyist. Free Orion is not really a MOO in any real sense. They borrowed the name but other than being a 4x space game it isn’t anything like Master of Orion I, II or III.

The best we have right now is someone who knows the low level code to moo2 really well and has produced some good patches that make it more enjoyable for multiplayer. http://lordbrazen.blogspot.com/

There are also some good mods but there's hasn't been a successful remake of MOO2 so far.

 

[vmxa]

There was a running window version of Moo1 last year, but now the site is gone.

 

[Murky]

There was a running window version of Moo1 last year, but now the site is gone.

The problem with 3rd party developers attempting to remake moo is copyright infringement. The owner of the license is the only one who can legally decide to make use of it even if it is abandonware.

 

[vmxa]

That is true, but not really a concern, if you are not making a commercial venture. He was going to be giving it away and I do not see the owners of Moo1 spending money coming after him for the few people that would have gotten the game.

Now if you tried to sell it, that is another story. Also if the party is in another country, it becomes a lot more work and cost to go after them. It is a moot point as no one as managed to do it so far.

I suspect that Moo2 would probably be too late for the owners to take action. The fact that the mods have been out in the public domain for so long acts as an infrigement that was not defended. IOW they have defacto grant a right of way or to say it another way they have lost the copyright.

 

[Murky]

The problem with going the freeware or opensource route is that it will likely suffer from lack of funding and clear direction. Freeware can still infringe on a copyright if it's too much like the original.

The best option would be for the license holder to grant permission to a well funded game development team for commercial distribution.

 

[OrionRebirth]

Im currently working on developping a new orion game based on Master of Orion 1 and Orion 2 series. If you are interested in joining the team or following up the project please visit my site: www.orionrebirth.com

 

[Aabraxan]

Welcome to CFC, and good luck, OrionRebirth!

 

[vmxa]

Have you touch bases with the two others working on remakes? Check here: http://forums.atari.com/forumdisplay.php?f=224

 

[Zeraan]

Have you touch bases with the two others working on remakes? Check here: http://forums.atari.com/forumdisplay.php?f=224

I'm one of the two mentioned. You can see my game from the link in my signature. I personally prefer to work alone (aside from art/sound) on the development of the game. But I can give some tips and advice about developing 4X games.

A word of warning, this is a big undertaking. I've been working on my game for over a year now, and I've just managed to nearly finish the galaxy screen part of the game. I'm a professional software developer, and I work on this in my free time, so I'm not an "amateur hobbyist". The biggest problem you'll face is not the 2D/3D engine that you choose to use, or technical challenges, or time, but rather, motivation.

Motivation is a big thing for this kind of game because it's not "fun" from the beginning, like other games. in other games, you can start shooting up enemies or move around in the world from the beginning. In this, you generate a galaxy full of stars, but that's it. Nothing to do. You add empires, but then they still do nothing. You add ships, at last! something to do, but then they just move around. The game only gets fun in the late development stage because finally most of the gameplay mechanics are implemented that makes it fun.

I believe that this is the reason why so many remakes of 4x space games fail, so if you watch out for this, and plan accordingly, you can succeed!

 

[Murex003]

I have only played MOO2, and MOO3. MOO2 was awesome, but MOO3 was a waste of my money. I still play MOO2 to this day.

I would love to play a remake or another version similiar to MOO2.

 

[Sleestak]

There is such a thing in US law as trademark abandonment. This is why Xerox buys ads in Publishers Weekly imforming editors that "xerox" is not a verb. If Xerox made no effort to do this someone could claim that Xerox has abandoned their trademark and say their non-Xerox copiers xeroxed things.

Coca-cola makes similar efforts, though I'm from a part of the country where all carbonated soft drinks are "coke".

With Free MOO and Java MOO, you just might be able to make a case for trademark abandonment. However, the copyright is still good, and that's a lot harder to get around. I wonder if some geek coalition would develop MOO 4 in secret, make an ooffer for the copyright posing as a strange, slightly-obsessed fanboy, and get the rights for just a few thou. Could happen.

 

[RaiddinnRZ]

MOO1 and MOO2 are still being sold, at least by GOG.com, if I am not mistaken.

If that is true, then the right of somebody to profit from the Orion franchise is still intact.

Given that, you are rolling the dice if you clone Orion.

Raid

 

[neilkaz]

I have only played MOO2, and MOO3. MOO2 was awesome, but MOO3 was a waste of my money. I still play MOO2 to this day.

I would love to play a remake or another version similiar to MOO2.

Agreed completely, although I did play lots of MOO1 but I don't really remember how to play that, but I do play MOO2 lots again since finding the game on GoG.

I never finished a game of MOO3 it was such a disappointment after MOO2 !

All the 3 MOO games are sold on GoG and work instantly with one icon click for Win 7 thanx to coming with DosBox.

.. neilkaz ..

 

[vmxa]

MOO1 and MOO2 are still being sold, at least by GOG.com, if I am not mistaken.

If that is true, then the right of somebody to profit from the Orion franchise is still intact.

Given that, you are rolling the dice if you clone Orion.

Raid

Still being sold by several including Atari last I knew. Yes all they have to do is find out and have a lawyer send you a cease and desist order. That will come with a request to be paid all the sales todate.

I was talking to the owner of a CD store in the late 80's when ABK sent him a cease for selling the Ruby and the Romatics CD that was not lic by ABK (Alan B Klein). He had sold maybe 8 copies. This was in Orange County Ca town of Westminister.