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I agree with most of the criticisms and indeed the praise for the game I have seen on the boards.
The difficulty and lack of flexibility in creating or disbanding fleets is most annoying. I lost a couple of planets not because I, the Emperor, or my space generals, lacked for ships - we just didnt know how to send them where they were needed! Also, I vehemently say 'hear, hear' to the criticism that we cant upgrade ships - something so beauuuuutifully handled, for instance, in that sadly neglected space epic - Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain! I would love there to be a new version of that! But that is straying from the point.
Not being particularly aggressive (or perhaps competent!) I am playing on the easiest level of the game and so far I have encountered three races and guess what? They all want to exterminate humanity! Even when I send them gifts! I grant you that a Hobbesian universe may obtain at greater levels of difficulty but at the easiest level? Arent there any other 'nice guy' galactic races out there besides mine? One of these races has the annoying habit of declaring war every few turns and then desisting. Very poor diplo AI here it seems to me.
Also, there seems no obviously counter-intelligence ability I can build up to keep my leaders for more than a few turns or preserve my technology. I cant think why these leaders, indeed, bother with the Terran Empire. Our sorry reputation for keeping our leaders safe and sound is such that they definitely diminish their life expectancy by suing for employment with us!
I think also that the font and various screens could have been more attractively and thoughtfully presented. Particularly, the extra level you have to get to on the planetary screens to see what is being produced! Whether you use AI or not, when you get to a certain number of planets the most important information you want immediately to access is what is in the production queue, n'est-ce pas?
Such irritations are obvious to all of us who are playing the game, from the outset, so in the long gestation of this game why werent they addressed? I could ask the more general question as to why games are so much buggier and less developed than they used to be, putting us the hapless customer in the unwanted and unwelcome role of post-release beta tester, but that again might be straying too far from this thread.
After all, this isnt just another space strategy game. It is the third in the series of the most important and innovative space strategy games ever devised. What computers were invented for! MOO1 and MOO2 set the standards by which any others are measured. I just dont think that enough resources were put into the quality assurance which is a special responsibility for anyone creating and marketing this game, this name. And I would like to know why!
HOWEVER, there is the hope of more patches and there are some mods on the forums I am eyeing with interest so maybe I can get from applying the patches and/or those mods devised by enthuisiasts, who seem to have more ingenuity and just sheer commonsense than the game's official programmers have hitherto displayed, finally a really worthy game. Even now I must admit that the game as it stands has at least one desired quality, that of 'just one more turn and I will go to bed.' I was up til two in the morning last night playing and I had to go work the next day! I will be playing it when I logoff from here!
And, lastly, there is always hope that in Master of Orion IV the mistakes of MOO3 wont be repeated.
Live long and prosper!
The difficulty and lack of flexibility in creating or disbanding fleets is most annoying. I lost a couple of planets not because I, the Emperor, or my space generals, lacked for ships - we just didnt know how to send them where they were needed! Also, I vehemently say 'hear, hear' to the criticism that we cant upgrade ships - something so beauuuuutifully handled, for instance, in that sadly neglected space epic - Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain! I would love there to be a new version of that! But that is straying from the point.
Not being particularly aggressive (or perhaps competent!) I am playing on the easiest level of the game and so far I have encountered three races and guess what? They all want to exterminate humanity! Even when I send them gifts! I grant you that a Hobbesian universe may obtain at greater levels of difficulty but at the easiest level? Arent there any other 'nice guy' galactic races out there besides mine? One of these races has the annoying habit of declaring war every few turns and then desisting. Very poor diplo AI here it seems to me.
Also, there seems no obviously counter-intelligence ability I can build up to keep my leaders for more than a few turns or preserve my technology. I cant think why these leaders, indeed, bother with the Terran Empire. Our sorry reputation for keeping our leaders safe and sound is such that they definitely diminish their life expectancy by suing for employment with us!
I think also that the font and various screens could have been more attractively and thoughtfully presented. Particularly, the extra level you have to get to on the planetary screens to see what is being produced! Whether you use AI or not, when you get to a certain number of planets the most important information you want immediately to access is what is in the production queue, n'est-ce pas?
Such irritations are obvious to all of us who are playing the game, from the outset, so in the long gestation of this game why werent they addressed? I could ask the more general question as to why games are so much buggier and less developed than they used to be, putting us the hapless customer in the unwanted and unwelcome role of post-release beta tester, but that again might be straying too far from this thread.
After all, this isnt just another space strategy game. It is the third in the series of the most important and innovative space strategy games ever devised. What computers were invented for! MOO1 and MOO2 set the standards by which any others are measured. I just dont think that enough resources were put into the quality assurance which is a special responsibility for anyone creating and marketing this game, this name. And I would like to know why!
HOWEVER, there is the hope of more patches and there are some mods on the forums I am eyeing with interest so maybe I can get from applying the patches and/or those mods devised by enthuisiasts, who seem to have more ingenuity and just sheer commonsense than the game's official programmers have hitherto displayed, finally a really worthy game. Even now I must admit that the game as it stands has at least one desired quality, that of 'just one more turn and I will go to bed.' I was up til two in the morning last night playing and I had to go work the next day! I will be playing it when I logoff from here!
And, lastly, there is always hope that in Master of Orion IV the mistakes of MOO3 wont be repeated.
Live long and prosper!
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