Masters of Orion Redux

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Okay, so the younger generation might not remember this game series, but I certainly did. And it's being redone. And it's actually being redone RIGHT.

Early Trailer.

Take a look at their Voice Cast.

I think we have finally found a worthy successor to the game that was back at the dawn of the 4X genre.

[Dave]

Oh, I do recognize a few of those names from somewhere or other!

This does look like something to keep an eye on (even for a non-gamer like me).

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Steam Early Access not only nets you the new early access game, but also gives you access to MOO1 *AND* MOO2 (oh, and that other game that I don't recognize) along with it. Even if the new MOO is complete and utter garbage, it'd be worth not having to run my old copy of MOO2 through DOSBox and having it up on my Steam account.

[scantrontb]

Oh, I do recognize a few of those names from somewhere or other!

This does look like something to keep an eye on (even for a non-gamer like me).

there's only two that i DON'T recognize, Kat Cressida and the guy that plays the birdman.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Oh, I do recognize a few of those names from somewhere or other!

This does look like something to keep an eye on (even for a non-gamer like me).

there's only two that i DON'T recognize, Kat Cressida and the guy that plays the birdman.

*blinks*

'That guy that plays the birdman'...

Umm... that's Mark Hamill.

Please tell me you recognize him now...

[jwhouk]

I'm hoping that it's the Alkari Advisor scantrontb's talking about.

[scantrontb]

I'm hoping that it's the Alkari Advisor scantrontb's talking about.

YES, Yes that IS who I'm referring to. it didn't click with me as to HOW you could think i meant someone else, until i rewatched the cast video and saw that Hamill was playing a MUCH different version of an Alkari than the adviser, and to me he really didn't look like a bird the first time thru...

[Dave]

I'm hoping that it's the Alkari Advisor scantrontb's talking about.

YES, Yes that IS who I'm referring to. it didn't click with me as to HOW you could think i meant someone else, until i rewatched the cast video and saw that Hamill was playing a MUCH different version of an Alkari than the adviser, and to me he really didn't look like a bird the first time thru...

I have to wonder whether the developers of the game (original or reboot) were playing around with the phrase "bird-man of Alka'traz" in their heads at some point.

[scantrontb]

Oh, I do recognize a few of those names from somewhere or other!

This does look like something to keep an eye on (even for a non-gamer like me).

yeah, same here. i'll gladly WATCH somebody play it on youtube, but i haven't got the tactics, nor strategy enough to play those kind of games... i stopped playing Civilization 4 after i REPEATEDLY got nuclear bombed into oblivion all the while that my most advanced weapon was a flippin' CATAPULT!!! no matter on what difficulty level, nor civilization i started out as... blargh... currently I'm doing ...okaaayyy-ish, in my play-thru of Fallout 4, but that isn't really a "strategy and tactics" type of game either, so it kinda cancels it out...

[Alkarii]

And here I thought my screen name was just the result of misspelling an older screen name that was actually just a random jumble of syllables...

I never played that game. I don't even remember whether or not I actually heard of it.

I have just entered the Realm Where Normal Things Don't Happen.... Very Often...

(does anyone get that reference?)

[DinkyInky]

And here I thought my screen name was just the result of misspelling an older screen name that was actually just a random jumble of syllables...

I never played that game. I don't even remember whether or not I actually heard of it.

I have just entered the Realm Where Normal Things Don't Happen.... Very Often...

(does anyone get that reference?)

yeah, because it's not very old.

He thinks he's very pretty, and poses a lot with ego and swagger. Blonde pompadour and never takes off his shades.

The older one might have stumped the kids here, but I am not sure you are old enough to know where your reference was parodied from. Might be wrong of course.

[Alkarii]

It was from the Johnny Bravo episode that was a parody/tribute to The Twilight Zone.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Having played the game, here's my review:

The graphics are shiny, the voices are memorable, so as far as that goes, it's a good improvement on the original.

Diplomacy is one of those things they're still working on, however the AI does take into consideration your actions with respect to them and with respect to third parties. For example, if the humans and the sakra are at war, and you start engaging in diplmacy with the humans... those lizards aren't going to be happy about it. So, once it is done, it will likely be a straight upgrade to the original.

There's a tech tree now. This is a pretty big change. Back in MoO2, you had six different categories that you went down. Most of 'em had two or three choices, but you could only pick one (unless you had the very expensive ability 'creative' that let you pick them all, or the pretty hefty disadvantage 'uncreative' which randomly picked one). This has more of a Civ V-esque tech tree. However, some techs have a choice to be made (for example, fusion canon or fusion bomb), so there is a call-back. Overall, I like what they've done here. It means you can't 'dive' a tech as easily as you could in MoO2.

Having said that, telling you what things actually DO is something that hasn't really been implemented yet. So, for example, said fusion canon, at first glance, looks like it really SUCKS. It takes up more room, has less range, and less damage than the other weapons you have access to at that tech level. However, what it doesn't really explain very well is that it shoot six TIMES per 'round' (more on that in a bit) making its damage output FAR superior against targets without damage mitigation, and nearly worthless against targets that have damage mitigation.

You also can't queue up tech researches, although if you select a tech down the tree, it'll automatically set up all the prerequsite techs in a queue. But you can't then select a research to conduct following that. I'm actually okay with that, but YMMV.

Colony UI is pretty smooth. It got an overhaul so it looks shinier, but it's every bit as functional as the old one. There's hotkeys to scroll through your colonies without having to leave one and enter another, which is pretty darn convenient. There's also a way to select a focus on a national level, which made me do a snoopy-dance of joy (as will anyone else who had to deal with the micromanagement of MoO2). So I'll give this section a check-box under 'all of my yes'.

One downside, you can't sort planets by any relevant factors such as 'already colonized by those mean buttheads who don't like me'. Still, early access. Feature yet to be implemented.

Navigation is... very different. There's been a lot of nerdrage about this, but I actually happen to like it. Basically, in old MoO2, you have free-form travel system to system (although some systems have a stable wormhole that will send you to another system in one turn regardless of distance). Once you are in system, you blockade the whole system until evicted, which made it a PITA to defend without a lot of mobile defenses. In the new game, however, you have warp lines between systems you have to travel on. The entrance of a system can be a very valuable choke-point, and it takes one turn to go from any point in a system to any other point in the same system. You can only blockade one planet at a time per fleet. You also get a worker unit that can build static defenses at the point where a warp line hits a system. Early game, absolutely vital. Mid-game... they're basically speed-bumps. But they ALSO repair units stationed on them 20% each turn and permit you to upgrade obsolete systems on the ships, which means even after their weapons become popguns, they still serve a very valuable purpose as repair and refit stations.

Now Combat. This is the topic that generates the most nerdrage, and to an extent, I can completely understand why. The means of controlling your units is... very derpy. You cannot tell your long-range bombardment ship 'stay put and blow the hell out of anything that comes in range'. Noooo... he wants to just charge in with the other guys and get blown up for king and country. Well, no faulting his courage, but that's not what I want him to be doing. It is very clear that this is a section which is going to be getting a LOT of love. Furthermore, there's a lot of references in the scant documentation to turns, so it sounds like there's an underlying equation of turns to time in the real-time combat, meaning there MIGHT be a possibility of going turn-based combat. Which would be amazing. Or at least some way of controlling your units more precisely. Also, currently, swarm tactics are hellishly effective. Building large units was a major thing in MoO2, in this version however, you're better off making a squad of small units than a big unit. And, unfortunately, this only carries over into the macro-scale (a swarm of smaller units is better than a squad of bigger ones). I have a suspicion that is going to be fixed at some point as well.

Right now, the biggest complaint I have about the game is the lack of information conveyance. It isn't really clear what things do, which can cause some confusion and some really poor choices. This is also on the dev's 'to do' list, and it can't come fast enough. Having said that, if you're going to be changing the factors, waiting until they are in their final form before doing the feature documentation does save on revisioning the manuals.

Overall, it does feel like 'early access', however it also feels like it's going to be an amazing game in the 4X genre and I highly suggest anyone who was a fan of MoO2 to pick this up, if for no other reason than the free copy of MoO2.

[DinkyInky]

It was from the Johnny Bravo episode that was a parody/tribute to The Twilight Zone.

That's what I said...

[Alkarii]

Yeah, that part I got, but you said you weren't sure I'd know what was parodied.

I didn't see the original "man on the wing" episode, but I did see the version of it with Mr. Lithgow. His performance was much better than Shatner's, I hear.

[DinkyInky]

Yeah, that part I got, but you said you weren't sure I'd know what was parodied.

I didn't see the original "man on the wing" episode, but I did see the version of it with Mr. Lithgow. His performance was much better than Shatner's, I hear.

Lithgow is on par, but yeah, I rather liked the dramatic view of the black and white better.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Well, Master of Orion has gone through a few patches, so I thought I'd update again:

Combat management has become much easier. There's now two bars you can use to control movement. The first controls what your ship considers to be an 'optimal range'. So, if you tell it extreme, it'll try to keep its distance. Handy for your missile boats. The second one adjusts speed, and can be turned down to zero. Handy for taking on base structures without getting too close. Park at extreme range with enough anti-missile, and you can pound it into space debris. There's also an upgrade to being able to declare an entire fleet to move at the same rate, so your fragile little frigates can remain in the same anti-missile support radius as your heavier ships.

This gives much better control over your units in combat. Couple with the ability to pause at-will, this gives you most of your turn-based feel back.

The static defense buildings now properly upgrade with your tech, so you don't have a race that uses plasma tech still equipping their star bases with dinky little fusion popguns. This makes them much more viable as a defensive unit.

A couple more races have been unlocked, AND the racial customization is also in place. You cannot build a 'core' race back up with the customization method, there isn't enough points to go 'round, so going with a default race will give you more overall. However, if you are the type to min-max, there's some nice synergies you can snap up.

It's now easily shaping up to be just as good as MoO2 is, once they make some more improvements to the AI and straighten out a few things.