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Gooberman32
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be patient MoO is not as far away as you think(well as i think at least)
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kalbear
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Better, updated graphics. Truly, this is a huge thing. The interface looks like a great version of some of the better *nix GUIs.
Fleet model that actually has tactical interest - building the biggest, meanest ship doesn't matter nearly as much as how you use it and maneuver it. The corollary to this is that things like picket ships, fighters, missiles, carriers, bombing ships are all useful throughout the game.
Ground combat is more than 'mine are bigger and better than you are'. Combined forces mean something. So does strategy. So do which targets you choose.
Spying revamp - spies now can virtually cripple an opposing government. There's a reason to play them now.
Tech: tech is interrelated, diverse, with multiple paths that are non-repeating (like MOO 1 was).
Diplomacy has been heavily changed. Treaties now can occur in very deep levels, with exchanges, offers, counteroffers, subterfuge, disinformation...much more you can do. Including the Orion Senate, which includes Antarans from the get-go. You start the game being a puny race compared to the might that is the New Orions, and the senate can actually make life easier or harder for you. Want peace throughout the galaxy? How about economic sanctions? No spies? These are rules you can pass.
Governments have subtypes, and you can switch between them. Unrest, slavery, police states...all there at a touch. Leaders are back as well, except now they help your whole empire...for a price. Fortunately, there's hundreds of the suckers, so you'll have plenty to choose from.
Planet maintenance is much closer to the more user-friendly, easy to see at a glance and easy to update Moo1 interface. No more automated factories and robo-miners. Now it's building types of work-related areas in places on the planet that suit (or don't suit) them. Want to farm in the mountains? Go right ahead. Similar to ascendancy, actually...
And on that note, the star travel has been heavily changed. Starlanes are the primary means of transportation. Ships have infinite fuel and can go anywhere - but starlanes are much faster. Wormholes and 'normal' travel are also in, but are uncommon or slow. This allows for chokepoints, wormholes to be interesting again, defensive strategies to work out better...you name it.
Aliens are no longer humans in fuzzy suits. They have alien goals and agendas. They're also highly customizable, much more so than MOO2 was. And the artwork and sounds for them are killer.
A deep storyline with a rich background, based in some of the better sci-fi storytelling out there. Similarly, there's an actual PLOT to the game, that you can discover.
Each system can have up to 8 planets, with their own moons, asteroid belts, and ridiculous amounts of specials. Sentient planets, hostile microbes, pharmacopieas...planets also appeal differently to different races. A gorgeous verdant world to Humans might be too hot and oppressive for Trilarans, for instance.
Great multiplayer options. Hotseat, Real-time, Turn-based.
Finally, it's HUGE. Up to 256 stars.
Honestly, it takes most of the better features from every space-based 4X game and improves and integrates them into one monumental game.
AND THAT, my friends, IS WHY I DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT'S BEEN CUT. Because ya know, I didn't cover everything up there, and not nearly in depth like I could have. And that's still a ridiculous feature set.
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kalbear
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In Moo2 (I'm presuming you played that?) the tech tree was only varied if you specifically chose a different tech at a specific level. In other words, if you pick robo-miners, you didn't get power armor (unless you stole/traded for it). But the choice was always there, every single game, at the same level.
Moo3 is much more like Moo1 in this regard. At the beginning of every game, techs are chosen randomly that will never be seen by your race. You'll never get the chance to even look at them. Furthermore, tech levels are randomly modified slightly, so that the level at which you get advancements isn't always the same - though that's only within a few tech levels.
Oh yeah - also like Moo1, you can be researching multiple tech fields at the same time. And you should be, because tech fields overlap in dependencies. Want imperial university? Well, you'd better study up in economics and mathematics. That sort of thing.
The Orion Senate: Moo3 starts out with a large majority of the races in contact with each other and in a group called the Orion Senate. This is run by the current rulers of the galaxy, the New Orions. The New Orions are Antarans from Moo2; they succeeded in conquering everyone, basically, and did some...well, some pretty nasty things to the races they subjugated.
They start the game with all tech known. Fortunately, they're not looking to expand and rule; they're happy on their relatively inaccessible world, secure in the knowledge that the rest of the universe wouldn't dare oppose them. And early on - heck, later on, they're right. From all reports, they are bad mofos. And if you piss them off, chances are you'll piss off the rest of the senate with them. There's also the possibility that you can make a sweet deal with them for their favor, and get hundreds of turns farther in the game. It's up to you.
Speaking of the senate, this is that group of races that can pass laws that affect everyone in the game. You can always choose to ignore it, but that causes emnity and diplomats don't like you as much...you get the idea. If you've played games like SMAC where they had the ability to vote on melting polar ice caps, this is the kind of power that the senate can have.
Automated Factories and Robo-Miners: Hmmm...you haven't played Moo2, have you? Those were factory upgraded you could get in the tech world. In Moo2, it worked very similarly to Civ (and if you haven't played that...what are you doing in these forums?) - you built one in your city, and that was that. Well, that makes sense for a city-building game...but it doesn't make sense that building 'automated factory' worked happily for an entire planet. Instead, in Moo3, you have mining, manufacturing, bioharvesting, government, military and research areas on your planet that you build, and tech upgrades like auto factories improve them.
I do believe hotseat is still in; if it's not, that's not all that sad, really - it's better in turn-based or real-time.
Hope that helps. If you haven't played Moo2 yet, I suggest you go order it and play it for a while. It doesn't work on Win2K/XP, but does on 95/98/ME, and is about $5-$10. It's a great game.
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Gooberman32
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Are you a beta tester Kalbear?
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kalbear
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I believe that MOO2 allows for something on the order of 72 planets on HUGE. That's off the top of my head and could easily be wrong, however.
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kalbear
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Sorry, I meant 72 stars. 5 planets per star, max.
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06-01-2003 10:42
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