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Master of Orion

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Re: Master of Orion

#31

Post by syntheweave »

seanwilson wrote: post #20

Are there any games like Civilization and Master of Orion where the number of units and choices in the later game don't get so overwhelming? I usually lose interest at this point but enjoy the early game. It's not the same kind of game or as grand in scale, but I really enjoyed Into the Breach because each turn you only have a limited number of choices and units each turn, and each choice feels important.

The most streamlined "4X-ish" I know of is the wonderful Slipways:

https://slipways.net/

However, it achieves this by eliminating the combat, the opponent AI, and ways to revise your decision-making, instead making it more of an economic logistics puzzle with immense numbers of dependencies to consider on every turn, which makes some players used to having a build strategy to exploit and an enemy to beat up accuse it of being "not a game", always a good sign that you're on to something new and different.

It's originally a PICO-8 game, which gives some idea of how compact it is. You can still play that version right now: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=30978

Re: Master of Orion

#32

Post by pavlov »

chongli wrote: post #27
seanwilson wrote: post #20

Are there any games like Civilization and Master of Orion where the number of units and choices in the later game don't get so overwhelming? I usually lose interest at this point but enjoy the early game. It's not the same kind of game or as grand in scale, but I really enjoyed Into the Breach because each turn you only have a limited number of choices and units each turn, and each choice feels important.

I usually lose interest at this point but enjoy the early game. I suffer from the same problem. I love these games. I've played Civ 1-5, Alpha Centauri, Master of Orion 2, Master of Magic; all quite extensively. Every single time I get bogged down in the late game. I automate my bases/cities/planets with all of the available automation options and then try to wrap things up as quickly as I can but it always takes lon…

I feel the same way.

It might be fun if the goals of the game turned upside down when you're winning. The AI players surrender and you're the newly crowned Galactic Emperor, congratulations! Everybody works for you.

Now comes the second half of the game where you try to keep your empire together while it decays into bureaucracy. In a thousand years, a Hari Seldon appears and you have to decide whether to exile him...

Re: Master of Orion

#33

Post by bombcar »

rhn_mk1 wrote: post #9

It's an amazing game, but it also shows how useful modern UI affordances are. A star system for scroll wheel support.

I wonder if you could map scroll wheel to arrow keys in dos box.

Re: Master of Orion

#34

Post by Pxtl »

TIL that the the term 4X was coined by a guy who thought

> that Civilization‘s inclusion of global warming as a threat to progress and women’s suffrage as a Wonder of the World constituted some form of surrender to left-wing political correctness

... ick.

Re: Master of Orion

#35

Post by Pxtl »

seanwilson wrote: post #20

Are there any games like Civilization and Master of Orion where the number of units and choices in the later game don't get so overwhelming? I usually lose interest at this point but enjoy the early game. It's not the same kind of game or as grand in scale, but I really enjoyed Into the Breach because each turn you only have a limited number of choices and units each turn, and each choice feels important.

Imho, that was the charm of Orion 1 - it was flawed about it of course, but the basic ideas that

1) You didn't have to manage individual buildings, they were just priority bars on planets...

2) Ships of the same class stacked.

meant that scaling up the empire wasn't the kind of tedious nightmare we see in more civ-style 4X games. Sadly Moo2, while a superior and more polished game than Moo1, moved away from this innovation into more conventional construciton and ship management.

Re: Master of Orion

#36

Post by mlindner »

syntheweave wrote: post #31
seanwilson wrote: post #20

Are there any games like Civilization and Master of Orion where the number of units and choices in the later game don't get so overwhelming? I usually lose interest at this point but enjoy the early game. It's not the same kind of game or as grand in scale, but I really enjoyed Into the Breach because each turn you only have a limited number of choices and units each turn, and each choice feels important.

The most streamlined "4X-ish" I know of is the wonderful Slipways: https://slipways.net/ However, it achieves this by eliminating the combat, the opponent AI, and ways to revise your decision-making, instead making it more of an economic logistics puzzle with immense numbers of dependencies to consider on every turn, which makes some players used to having a build strategy to exploit and an enemy to beat up accuse it…

I watched the trailer for the game, but when a selling byline is "still be done in time for lunch" I immediately go "no thanks". I want games that are engrossing and suck me in for hours at a time, not toys that can be picked up and dropped at a moments notice "on the go".

Re: Master of Orion

#37

Post by Pxtl »

thriftwy wrote: post #12

Civilization, Master of Orion, Master of Magic and Alpha Centauri are the four 4X gems. Unfortunately they don't seem to make those anymore.

Yes they do. The Civ series is still ongoing, Galciv and Stellaris have taken over for MOO, Distant Worlds came out this year. Only Master of Magic doesn't get the same kind of love as Civ and MOO.

There's even a darned good FOSS implementation of Civ5 called "Unciv" that I got extremely addicted to.

Re: Master of Orion

#39

Post by Dwedit »

dingleberry wrote: post #23
hyperpl wrote: post #2

Probably my favorite 4X game ever made. Been playing as the Darloks for the past 6 months on Impossible but looking to switch to another fun race to play. Any suggestions?

darlocks can be fun tho, you can win without having any fleet. just spy, sabotage missile bases to 0 and then send troops.

Their ships still shoot down your troops. Then you get bombed into nonexistence. Trying to take a planet without a fleet there won't end very well.

Re: Master of Orion

#40

Post by Andrew_nenakhov »

I have once played a hot seat game of Moo2 with two friends. I had an increased production race, one friend had an improved science race, and second one had silicoids on steroids - he picked all kinds of maluses to get eating rocks and surplus birth rate.

... and he wiped the floor with both of us, silicoids are OP, please, nerf.

Great games and happy memories from childhood. Moo1 was better in feel, but moo2 was better at actual gameplay.

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