MOO3 Project Update

[Zealot]

Originally posted by Stormhound
(And how could I possibly get tired of Minnesota? I've never been there in my life.)

Uh, I thought you were in Minnesota before moving to NJ!
Where were you before then?

[Stormhound]

Missouri. Not too bad, you were only two states too far north.

And I'm now in NJ to be with the woman I love. The things we do for women...

[Docfeelgood]

Anyway to put that in english so us third grade drop outs can understand what the hell was just printed?

[Zealot]

Originally posted by Docfeelgood
Anyway to put that in english so us third grade drop outs can understand what the hell was just printed?

In ingrish: MUU 3 r0x!

[Zealot]

Originally posted by Stormhound
Missouri. Not too bad, you were only two states too far north.

I knew it! I knew it started with 'Mi', followed by double letters!

Originally posted by Stormhound
And I'm now in NJ to be with the woman I love. The things we do for women...

The things game designers can do with the money they must be earning...
Ah well, I'm sure you deserve it!

[child of Thor]

I've followed stuff here and on the delphi boards and associated sites and i'm pre-pledging my purchase of Moo3 when it comes out,that's before i read any reviews or 'let the dust settle' on its release.Why? well i can afford it and Its the way Quicksilver as a company(and Stormhound )have conducted themselves since the begining.Having been burnt by Activision and the 'Call to Power' games(which are much better games now due to loyal fans), and recently the Civ3 thing, i was beginning to feel that the market trend was to shaft your customers and take their money
Thank you Quicksilver and Stormhound i'm sure your company will be around for a long-time

[pchang]

Grass is greener

Upon closer inspection it turns out that life as a game designer is not nearly as lucrative as I thought it might be (especially when you consider the hours you have to put in).

I too, will be buying a copy when it comes out. Just don't do one of those limited edition designer box type of things. I won't fall for that one twice.

[Stormhound]

To answer several in one...

Actually, I took a 1/3 pay cut to become a designer from my previous career as a mainframe programmer. And I wasn't earning east/west-coast bucks before that cut. I'm not exactly poverty level either, but if money was the issue I'd still be programming. Games are in my blood. Just ask the woman who just got umpteen boxes of gaming stuff dumped in her house.

QS has been around almost 20 years, and yes, I imagine it'll be around a while longer. At least I certainly hope so.

The "limited edition" thing is entirely an Infogrames decision, and no, I didn't buy Civ3 LE. I rarely buy anything LE. (And yes, I had to buy a copy to play it, no freebie.)

[paulmagusnet]

Moo3 update

Good Job. I like very much what you say has been doon for IFPs. (this is not a new concept by the way).

I tried to register to be a beta tester but the function would not work on the site.

One thing missing from most 4&5x games is a real difference in how political systems evolve and operate. Effectively, a democracy and a dictatorship function the same way in CIVs, with just a few value modifications.

Communitarian style systems evolve from a particular philosopy and market/individualist systems from an entirely different line. A serious flaw in CIVIII tech advancement is that there are so many speedbump and orphan technologies. Philosophy is a process that opens or closes many doors, not a historical placemark.

What about external politics? Can you become part of/form a Federation(UN style), be elected to meaningful postions and vote on policy; or be absorbed/absorb by a empire and take part in its conflicts? (cf Empire of the Fading Suns).

I have a very 'Sim City' orientation and I hate it when the game ends, I mean, all that work and so little to show for it. To some extent this is addressed by the 'Hall of Fame' idea, which needs expansion to include more meaningful data and commentary about what you accomplished, but this is still kind a shadow reward. I like the idea of a continuous universe with always someting new to do or learn or improve. It would be nice to have some kind of legacy that can persist from game to game that grows or changes over time.

Again, it is so very nice to see that QS is working to make a real advance in the Moo3 gaming experience. Those who are disapointed in CIVIII have a simple and effective solution: return the product for a refund. I would but since I can only get pirated copies in Russia, that pleasure is denied me. Although I critisize CIII exensively, its only becaue I care about it and expected more from a 21st century 3rd generation product. There is worse out there, just buy or borrow a copy of Merchant Prince II and you will appreciate how, dispite its many flaws, much CIII does do well.

How is the Moo3 tech tree, or hopefully tech forest. I understand you have general and applied technology (cf EFP), how about production experience and depth of knowledge. Knowing is not the same as doing, and the must be serious depth in production and quality allowed. This brings about real strategic choices about investment, ie, its real bad when you're the best buggy whip maker and suddenly everyone is moving to horseless carriages.

Anyway, thanks again for your effort. I can't wait for the end product.

For those who can't wait, try rails accross america or that new age of trade game.

[LordEd]

Alpha Centauri allowed you to continue playing after the game had been won. This allowed those of us who are 'builders' to put every improvement in every city and max out the terraforming of each and every tile... If this is the way you wish to play, then hopefully the same option could be given in MOO3.

Conversely, if you are about to finish the game, really screw up your empire and cause a civil war! That should provide additional playing time.

[Master Marcus]

Stromhound, LordEd has a point here: is it possible to win a MoO3's game when facing a civil war tearing apart your great empire at the end? Or will the civil war coding be more active by mid-game ?

[Stormhound]

Yes, it would be possible to win under those conditions...assuming you hadn't disabled victory conditions that don't depend upon your empire's size. There's at least one victory condition which could, in theory, be completed by an empire with only a single planet.

[Zealot]

OCC is in MOO3! Whoohoo!

[moomin]

OCC was in Moo2 as well.

[Zealot]

Originally posted by moominparatrooper
OCC was in Moo2 as well.

Err... well, if you started with Average tech, with just one opponent, in a huge galaxy, it might be possible for you to get most of the technology to build some ships and conquer Antares.
But it's still a really long shot, because the AI could expand fast enough to win by the coucil - he votes for himself, and since you will have a puny number of votes, you will certainly lose.

So I don't know if we can really consider OCC in MOO2.

BTW, do you know anyone who has been successful in MOO2 with OCC?