Master of Orion III manual

[JonahFalcon]

Good news - it's substantial, and will probably be thick. It's 140 pages (I'm ignoring the credits and blank pages at the end) of information, with plenty of graphs and lists.

In other words, the Strategy Guide is supplemental, not necessary.

[Main_Brain]

Good manuals are thick :=)

[Alexfrog]

while the manual covers many aspects of gameplay well, and does an excellent job on the backstory, it really does NOT have much in the way of details regarding many aspects of the game.

Note: all my comments are from a version of the manual which was originally printed to go with the release....if they reprinted the manual, some things may have changed/been added.

For example: It does not mention racial abilities except in a general, short paragraph description of each race....and that isnt gameplay details, its flavor. It does not even discuss various racial abilities such as talkking about any special abilities of the races, and details on diplomatic relations between the races, nothing on what types of planets each race likes, and not even a list of the various races abilities, like what DanQ did for the humans in the apolyton reveiw part 2.

It has no details on the points cost associated with race customization of various abilities (which differs by race...but it doesnt even MENTION it except to say that you can custm a race).

It doesnt even mention/describe the various abilities possible for customization, such as bioharvesting, mining, manufacturing, research, diplomacy, etc.....all those ones with Poor/Average/Good/Superior ratings (or equivalent)

It has no list of technology's/applications, no list of weapons/other military advances. It merely has an overveiw of what the tech fields are.

It has no list of planetary specials, no information on the various magnate (unplayable) races in the game.

It gives no gameplay details of the specifics of how much it helps your production for a world to be "mineral rich" or "poor" or whatever.

It does a good job of describing how to play the game, how to navigate the interface, how to DO stuff in the game...

It does NOT give details which would be necessary for any strategic development.

The strategy guide gives more, but itself is extremely lacking.


The only good source of strategy info will come from online FAQs after the game comes out, and playing the game oneself / creating these charts and figuring out the formula's for oneself....

And yes, this is based on my having read the manual.

[Grumbold]

Well it sounds like the manual does most of what you might expect. If only some methodical guy like Emrich could be persuaded to do a proper strategy guide now that the feature set is complete

[Tyranthraxus]

Maybe the guy who did Vel's SMAC guide could step in...

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Tyranthraxus
Maybe the guy who did Vel's SMAC guide could step in...

I think we could find him.

ACK!

[JonahFalcon]

What exactly do you want? The Encyclopedia Britannica? My needs for a manual are that it tells you how to play.

I don't need in depth stats.

I don't need the formulas or algorithms.

I don't even need the tech tree - especially when the game comes with an online "civilopedia".

I don't need Falcon 4's loose-leaf notebook manual - just a book that tells me how to play. Period.

[booje]

Well I'm an old tyme gamer and ah rememba waaay back in the early 90's that SOME games came with thick manuals that were chock-filled with everyting, charts, stories, diagrams....

Not to compare apples and oranges but "NeverWinter Nights" has a GREAT manual plus they give you a little map!

The manual for "Age of Wonders 2" is also pretty good.

[Pallidyne]

I don't neccessarily need help with the numbers it has to crunch, but for a strategy game it would be nice to have some substance beyond story and interface.

If there isn't more than that, then they killed trees for no reason.

-P

[Tyranthraxus]

Kinda new here. Actually I've been new here since 2001. Check the side bar.

Anyway, I saw a picture of the MOO3 manual. Looks like it's the same size as the one for Pool of Radiance. The manuals for Age of Wonders 2 and Icewind Dale 2 were about 75% bigger. The strategy guide for MOO3 has more pages.

Sorry but I can't find the URL for the picture.

[wildman45]

Here you go !

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by Tyranthraxus
Maybe the guy who did Vel's SMAC guide could step in...

Vel is working on his own game.
Look at the Candle'Bre section.

[Lizard Wizard]

Originally posted by Tyranthraxus The manuals for Age of Wonders 2 and Icewind Dale 2 were about 75% bigger.

Actually, I happen to have the Icewind Dale 2 manual right beside me, and judging by the picture posted above I'd say they have about the same number of pages and page dimensions are comparable (but I think MOO3's pages are a bit taller). It's a bit hard to tell with the perspective the exact relation, but there's no way IWD2 is 175% the size of MOO3.

Also, I just checked the page count: Jonah said MOO3 is 140, IWD2 is 147 (also omitting credits, index, contact info).

[vovan]

Wildman, how come the table and the kyboard on your pic look a lot like that on Gooberman's? You wouldn't happen to know the person who took the other one?

[Gooberman32]

Oh yeah... samish mouse pad and keyboard...