MOO1 strategy

[Father Beast]

those wiith just moo2, go away.

I have been playing the glorious MOO again, but I suck at it.

Even when playing on average, I seem to get stomped. like now, I'm playing as sakkra, small galaxy, 5 opponents, and I have 3 colonies with the furthest one under constant attack by the klackons or the silicoids. I have a slight edge in construction tech, and that makes me able to shrug off the hordes of invadres come to slay my colonists. But I can't seem to get these guys out of my skies! my fleet is too wimpy to get rid of the orbiters.

is there some strategy I should use to get ahead on this game? it seems there are some people who win at impossible regularly, but I can't seem to hack it.

I mean, at the higher difficulty levels, within 50 turns it says the silicoids are taking over with 6 systems colonized!

[pchang]

Concentrate all your research on one tech at a time. You need to advance your missile tech and build missile bases so that your planets become impervious to attack. Then, you can concentrate on developing planets one at a time. Then, build a up a battle fleet to take over one planet at a time.

[Father Beast]

WOW!!!

I managed to come from behind and win the election to master!

Got to do this again with another race.

as the sakkra, I was able to stave off invasions by outbreeding the invaders. they were never able to send enough troops to take over. by the time their bombardment equipment got effective, I was able to finally get the out of the sky.


anyway....


When I start a game, I generally divide my tech between construction, planetology, and propulsion, with a BIG emphasis on propulsion. I find if I can get my ships where they are needed fast, it makes a big difference. also helps get me out in the galaxy faster, since I'm often stuck where I would have to settle that ultra poor world just for a stepping stone. my colony ships are so expensive at the start.
Construction and planetology help get factory costts and waste down, and planetology gets me access to those inferno worlds that are often rich.

so, Pchang, you reccomend going for a single tech? and weaponry at that? since I'm not so good, I guess I can't knock it. in early game, it seems to take so long to build a single missile base....

got to try it, especially when I'm getting smashed. this slow expansion kind of bothers me. I had one game where I was just minding my own business, when the rest of the galaxy elected the other guy master!!!!! that was on simple, and I ended up conquering anyway, but it's very annoying!

so, pchang, do you regularly win on impossible?

[ravagon]

Originally posted by Father Beast

When I start a game, I generally divide my tech between construction, planetology, and propulsion, with a BIG emphasis on propulsion. I find if I can get my ships where they are needed fast, it makes a big difference. also helps get me out in the galaxy faster, since I'm often stuck where I would have to settle that ultra poor world just for a stepping stone. my colony ships are so expensive at the start.

so, Pchang, you reccomend going for a single tech? and weaponry at that? since I'm not so good, I guess I can't knock it. in early game, it seems to take so long to build a single missile base....

I think you've pretty much got it down.
As well as the vitally important nuclear/sublight drives, you want to focus on, ideally getting to one of the improved robotics techs and one of the pollution reducers. Get to this point, along with a couple of controlled environ techs and you should be set. Building missile bases early on is, I think, a waste of vital funds.
I can win most of the time on impossible using similar tactics but this is in a huge galaxy so my perceptions may be a little clouded
Also I'd recommend staying away from planetary shields until you're ready for them. Being forced into building a shield before any defensive bases is not fun

[DaveV]

If I have some habitable stars within range of my colony ships, I'll split my homeworld production points as 50% eco, 25% ind, 25% ships. New colonies get a quick reinforcement of about 20% of their potential population (if possible, people who weren't working factories). Once their industrial production is better than 3 factories/turn, I'll put a couple clicks into defense and one click into ships.

Once I've colonized all the stars I can reach (except ultra poor), I'll put a couple clicks of every planet into defense, one click into ships, and the balance split between industry and research. All planets build the most expensive huge ship I can design; I upgrade the design with every new construction, propulsion, or weapons tech. If I see an invasion force coming, I'll switch production to the best ship the planet can produce in time. Planetary defense ships always emphasize low-tech missiles. Shoot them at the enemy, they back away. Meanwhile, your planetary missile bases are pounding away.

I'll try to set up the cheapest trade route with all the aliens, except for Erratics (I figure they'll declare war eventually, so I just spy for techs against them). Once relations improve enough, I go for a Non-Agression pact. If relations really improve, I'll crank up the trade. I'll trade for key techs (scatter pack missiles, improved robotic controls, terraforming, controlled environment). I always keep a few clicks in spying, just to keep track of the other races' techs. Spies hide if I'm not at war, steal tech if at war. I try to invest enough to keep two or three spies active against races from whom I'm trying to steal tech.

On tech, I'll usually dial back one click on all techs, and split the extra between the racial weakness and computers (to make my spies more effective). I'll steal computer tech first for the same reason.

Once my production has built up to the point where I can actually build some ships, I'll start expanding. I try to control the airspace above a planet, strip away its missile bases, then invade with a huge number of troops from several planets. I love looting techs from captured factories.

I don't win every time at impossible: the AI production bonuses are sometimes insurmountable, and the random events can sometimes just kill me. An awful lot depends on starting position. Also, my race is a big factor in the game difficulty. Klackons, Humans, Psilons, Darloks, Sakkra, and Silicoids are the easier races for me (in roughly that order); Mrrshans seem to be the hardest.

If you don't have the strategy guide, try to find it! It ruins the mystery of the game to some extent, but it has a wealth of information.

[Father Beast]

Wow! big load of good info.one question, though...

Originally posted by DaveV
On tech, I'll usually dial back one click on all techs, and split the extra between the racial weakness and computers (to make my spies more effective). I'll steal computer tech first for the same reason.

by "racial weakness" do you mean the spot each race is lousy at? I thought each race had a strength. like the sakkra would be strong in the planetology area. What do you mean on that anyway?

[Father Beast]

OK, I found an html strategy guide at:

http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/moo/moostr1.html

it references a number of things I hadn't heard of, like the klackons have lousy propulsion tech. I always wondered why I had trouble getting decent propulsion tech with them....

thanks for all the help, dave. going of to read....

[DaveV]

FB - from page 63 of the game manual:

Alkaris are weak in Force Fields
Bulrathi are weak in Computers
Klackons are weak in Propulsion
Meklars are weak in Planetology
Mrrshan are weak in Construction
Silicoids are weak in everything but Computers

[pchang]

At the beginning of the game, your research output is low, so I only research 1 tech at a time, but I switch which tech I research to get what I need most at that point. Since you were facing numerous invasions, I recommended building missile bases and getting improved missile techs

[aaglo]

Originally posted by pchang
At the beginning of the game, your research output is low, so I only research 1 tech at a time...

...this is VERY ESSENTIAL in my opinion.

BTW, I think that MOO1 and the precessor Starlords will never leave my HD . Nor will MOO2...

[Father Beast]

Originally posted by aaglo

...this is VERY ESSENTIAL in my opinion.

BTW, I think that MOO1 and the precessor Starlords will never leave my HD . Nor will MOO2...

err... Starlords? it's available from Jon sullivans page, but I haven't played it. is it kind of like MOO?

[rexer]

[vmxa1]

Wow, I can't believe others are still playing MOO. I played everyday for the first two years, now I still get in a game every month. I last played on impossible level, but normally play Hard on a small universe (fast game). I prefer the klackon. Games always come down to a point where you must servive a stretch of heavy attacks. It is so easy (usually) to beat the attacks with missile bases. If you get a decent missle for that period, you can put up one small ship with a 5 pack and drive them back while the bases beat them to death. If they come with 4 or more stacks, you may need a second small ship. I like to stay at war with everyone if my planets are buffed out, make peace if I am building a new planet. Then you get the point where the vote can end the game, so you may need to get peace with someone to stop them from voting. By the time I get my 5th or 5th planet the game is a lock. I like to leave Orion alone until I have learned all of the tech and stole the rest, so I can get new stuff. Moo2 would not allow that style as they will go after Orion. In larger map you need star gates to defend all of you planets or go around busting their fleets. Once you get High Energy Focus you can build attack fleets to take over and hold planets. The tech tree can be handled may ways, but I often like to start with extra in Planetology until I get a + pop and Propulsion to increase range. After that I want Construction. Once I get all of a tech I swithc it down to a mim, except Construction (want to have more room in ships and lower cost). In a small map it is all about location. A start with two good planets close is key. If I can get a terran or Ocean and a Jungle near by at the start I am off and running.

[Urban Ranger]

I found the Klackons the best to play in MoO, followed by Meklors, Psilons, and Alkaris.

My priorities for early research are Planetology, Construction, and Computers. I tend to keep Force Fields low. The first two have techs that allow me to reduce spending on eco, construction lets me build factories cheaper and computer lets me build more factories per population. In other words I concentrate on boosting my production. Klackons are superior in that aspect since with +1 prodution their workers are as good as factories, so I don't have to spend money on factories on a planet until the pop is up to full, or at least close to it.

Planetology also lets me to house more colonists on planets, which of course leads to more production

In the beginning I rely on missile bases to fend off attackers (unless I play the Alkaris) and concentrate on maxing out production.

Also if I can't find a single colonisable planet within 3 parsecs of my home planet I'd start over. It's too much of a hassle to wait for longer range fuel cells.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger

Also if I can't find a single colonisable planet within 3 parsecs of my home planet I'd start over. It's too much of a hassle to wait for longer range fuel cells.

I didn't think this was actually possible - ie: thought the game was seeded such that there is always an available/colonizable planet at the start for your first colony ship.
In all of the games I've played I don't think I've ever had a situation where I couldn't immediately build a colony.

Personal favourites are the psilons. Not necessarily because they're the best race for me but rather for deniability to the AI. Whenever I run up against them as an AI race its generally an unpleasant experience ...