The Orion Sector Review

[Arnelos]

Originally posted by Master Marcus
Stuie, I think by "Civ III oil", the revs mean the overbalanced power "brought" by tanks for a civ at war against other(s) that doesn't have the resource, so sticked with units much less powerful ( cavalry and less ). The gap is effectively easily unbalanced in your favor if you discover oil many turns before your opponents, but way less than MoO2's creative pick or Alpha Centauri's copters and specialists.

Unbalanced it may be, but it's also highly realistic. Civs/nations without a reliable source of oil have great difficulty keeping their war machines dependent on oil running in wartime (Japan during WWII anyone? ).

The gripe I have with Civ3's strategic resource system is not that oil (for instance) is so critical (that's the way it SHOULD be), it's that a democratic civilization (for instance) has the ability to sit on the world's oil supply and prevent ANY oil from reaching your civilization. To be more realistic (and less unbalanced), the game could have allowed players to buy oil "off of the black market" or somesuch at inflated prices. No country has ever realistically been capable of preventing another from gettting ANY oil (even Japan in WWII had at least some oil, though they were critically short) For instance, units that require oil could be twice or even three times the shield cost if you don't have a source of strategic oil, but they shouldn't be IMPOSSIBLE to build.

The other problem with oil in Civ3 was that you could put a tank anywhere on the board beyond your supply lines if it had been constructed while your empire had a source of oil. To be evil and more realistic (and to make paratroopers and marines with helicopters more important in the late game), mechanized infantry, tanks, and modern armor should only be allowed to MOVE and attack (but not defend, they can always defend) if their current location is linked by road network to your source of oil Now THAT would add some real strategy to the game in terms of oil and force people to use industrial/modern foot units when they can't reach a place with a reliable supply of oil for a tank rush

But I digress... this is off topic.

[Stuie]

Returning to the topic.....

The third reviewer (DeadDireWolf) has been added to the Orion Sector review. I was happy to see that his list of games played is more in line with my experiences (no, I never played Robosport).

[CharlesBHoff]

Well I than happy that they arenot make than game where you need than hi power graphic card. I have than Gateway computer built in 2000 with than built-in Intell graphic card with 4 meg of ram with 191 meg of memony. Sound it might run on my system. Like game which have than steep learning curces.

[OmniDude]

Great review. Especially with the addition of the walkthru (A typical game )

Gave me a better idea of the feel than any of the other reviews. One drawback though:

Now I'm somewhat SCARED of receiving the game
I have wife, kids and a pretty timeconsuming job to attend to.... ...ah well, I'll start warning them all right away. And unlike Asmodean, I have some sick leave to draw on...

(a bit) More seriously though: A friend of mine have a funny, but not entirely strange criterion for judging the gameplay quality of strategy games: Is this too much like going to work?
This review got me wondering.......
..but only whether I'll reach the stage of actual playing, before Christmas, given the pockets of time available to me.....

God, I'll make you a deal: Eliminate my need for sleep and I promise you I'll give up life at 65, come to Heaven and fix your data integrity probs for you. You obviously have some of those, since my Mom is dead and Saddam is still alive...

[Master Marcus]

Originally posted by Stuie
Returning to the topic.....

The third reviewer (DeadDireWolf) has been added to the Orion Sector review. I was happy to see that his list of games played is more in line with my experiences (no, I never played Robosport).

and just to incite people to read carefully DeadDireWolf's comments about the AI planetary management: Infrastructure, and the 2 build queues...very detailed - he's almost saying: you can let the AI handle the DEAs zoning, the colony's Econ, and the planetary building queue; the player should keep control of the military queue according to the specific gameplay style because the AI seems to emphasize alot ground troops and system defense ships ( but that's perhaps of the global military plan of the reviewer, more defensive than "total war"?)..... quite revealing on how to play the firsts games....

[billybaruch1]

It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.

Hey, OmniDude, that quote from Mark Twain... can you point me to where that came from? I wonder whether it was a book or an article... if you can recall, I'd appreciate it.

[CharlesBHoff]

Originally posted by Master Marcus


and just to incite people to read carefully DeadDireWolf's comments about the AI planetary management: Infrastructure, and the 2 build queues...very detailed - he's almost saying: you can let the AI handle the DEAs zoning, the colony's Econ, and the planetary building queue; the player should keep control of the military queue according to the specific gameplay style because the AI seems to emphasize alot ground troops and system defense ships ( but that's perhaps of the global military plan of the reviewer, more defensive than "total war"?)..... quite revealing on how to play the firsts games....

England try to retake the Brittery area of French from the Germany force in 1942 and got they *ss kick by the Germany. Ike is critized by some for being for not invadeing
occuprate French in 1943. I believe Ike make the right decivion by waiting for 1944. Unless you are so overweilking strong the best thing you can do before planning on going to war is built your defense to protect your planet from attack.

[OmniDude]

Billybarouch1,

It's great isn't it? I have to admit that I just stumbled upon the quote and was struck by it. I am by no means a Mark Twain connaisseur (though I'd like to be after checking him out some more...).
Having looked around a bit, I've tracked down the quote to a book, MARK TWAIN IN ERUPTION: Hitherto Unpublished Pages About Men and Events. Edited by Bernard DeVoto. 402 pages. Harper
The book is from the 40's so don't expect it to be easy to track down.

[billybaruch1]

OmniDude,

Thank you! I'll look for it. To me it means... I don't know what it means. But I want to learn.

Here's a tidbit for you. Someone told me the name "Mark Twain," which we all know as the pseudonym of Samuel Clemens, was/is also a term describing a riverboat's passage to a certain mark right in between the dangerous shoals on either bank. This was the spot the pilots aimed for when currents were pushing them one way or the other.

[OmniDude]

Billy,

to me it means: how wierd that among those that get the attention of the world there are so many people doing bungee jumping, parachuting, mountainclimbing, riverrafting, extreme drug experimenting, speed driving and whathaveyou, whereas people who truly put their money where their mouth is and stay true to whatever moral values they pretend to hold, are rare and generally deemed uninteresting/undervalued.

edit: fixing grammar