At last I found the spirit of Master of Orion 3

[krait23]

Shame its hiding behind the name Space Empires IV...
Yet this game is more of a Master of Orion 3 than QSes product will ever be...

http://www.ina-community.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=271440

Check this thread out for some opinions.

When we finally get a patch for the QS game, I will detach myself from the assumption that it is a Master of Orion game and give it another shot because I see a lot of potential in it for a good game. But the current product is complete crap, and even if it is patched to work good (fixed diplomacy, ship design, building queues, combat, race setup, and most importantly rightclick ingame stats/feedback and whatever else I forgot about) it will be more like 'Orion Imperium' than 'Master of Orion'. I can't put a finger on why exactly, but somehow that which I envision as the working QS product reminds me a lot of the way old game 'Imperium'. Back in its day I liked that game so I guess I will like this MoO3 if its sufficiently patched.

But until then I will be playing SEIV which gives at least me the feeling of playing a MoO game.

Lata
Krait

[Jamski]

Fooled me with the thread title

-Jam

[Stuie]

Re: At last I found the spirit of Master of Orion 3

Originally posted by krait23
I can't put a finger on why exactly, but somehow that which I envision as the working QS product reminds me a lot of the way old game 'Imperium'.

Funny, I was reminded of a cross between Imperium and another GDW game, Traveller 2300 (not the role-playing aspect, but the way the stars are linked and the whole first contact plot). I think the star lanes are part of it, kind of like the "jump routes" in Traveller.

[vmxa1]

I like SE just fine. I did start to find the fun in Moo3 last night and finally broke away after 2AM.
I have been enjoying it, that is not to say it is the greatest game ever, but only that I have bought many that were worse.

[kalbear]

SE 4 was miserable compared. Talk about techs that have no life...or a piteous AI. And MM hell...ugh. Or the wacky 'fly across the universe in two turns trick' with repair modules and the one-use engines...

Now that was a disappointing buy.

[ArmaGeddin]

SE4 is good for a short time only. I played it for a while, but the ship design and tech tree were way to thin.

[General Ludd]

The only things in SEIV that I miss in MOO3 are race biographies and PBEM. Other then that, if you are complainging about bad graphics and poor AI, SEIV is a million times worse. It does, however, have a hell of alot of micromanaging.

[krait23]

Well at least in SEIV the AI will attack you

Anyway, if you really love MoO3 you will probably not like SEIV. But it is a good alternative if you DON'T like MoO3.

My main beefs with MoO3 are the lack of micromanagement and the lack of ingame feedback/documentation. Call me a control freak if you want to, but personally I don't get a lot of fun out of clicking the turn button while the AI does my job, and I can't even really tell how good a job it does because I get no numerical breakdowns whatsoever on production, research and stuff.
Then there is the poor ship design and the realtime, pauseless combat.

The lack of feedback and ship design issues will hopefully be brought up to the standards of MoO2 with a patch, but I assume the lack of micromanagement and the realtime combat are going to stay, and I am no fan of either.

SE IV has none of these 'problems', and the AI has been improved a lot with player mods. I think it is the game for those who loved MoO2 and are disappointed in MoO3. Others may or may not like it (if you hate micromanagement its definitely not for you).
Graphics arent any better than MoO3, the galaxy and system view is actually worse while I like the menues and fluff a lot better. But I give a rats ass for graphics as long as the game is good. Which to me is true for SEIV, but not for (unpatched) MoO3.

Someone mentioned somewhere that MoO3 is the exact opposite of MoO2 in terms of game progression. The fun (at least for me) in MoO2 was to build up my empire slowly (in realtime terms) and efficiently, until I had a very solid basis, and then proceed to eventually win the game. Early-medium game is great, but endgame gets tedious. In MoO3, the early-medium game is tedious because its more the AI then the player the builds up the empire. Supposedly it starts to be fun in late game when you already have a large empire. I never got that far because that is not how I want to play a Master of Orion game. Why don't they start people out with an empire in place anyway if this is true.

Its kinda the same for me in soccer managers. I start out in a low division and eventually lead my team to championship over long years of assembling a good squad and keeping healthy finances. Once I have made it though, it starts to get boring, just like it would be boring to me to start in the highest division.

Anyway, to sum it up if you don't like MoO3 you might wanna try SEIV. Otherwise consider yourself lucky that you don't really need an alternative...

Lata
Krait