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- - OT: MOO3 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=33796)

I saw MOO3 in a store the other day. I know before I had to stop going to this forum, there was a lot of disappointment in this game. I was wandering with the few patches and mods I've seen for this game if it's worth picking up. What do you guys think? Would I be wasting $20 buying this game? Also, if I do buy it, where's the best source for mods & patches?

Dissapointment is a huge understatement. YES you would be wasting your money if you paid any money at all for MOO3. The game is not worth toe jam or even the effort to collect it.

Some people claim that if you apply a bunch of patches -- not just the official patches from the developer but several independently developed enhancements -- that MOO3 is now playable and even a 'good' game. This depends on your liking the new style of 4X game that it is supposed to be, of course. Sort of a 'sim empire' where you let the AI make most of the decisions and only tinker with some higher level controls.

Ok, thanks. I'll keep my $20 and buy something else.

<---- Defender of ( patched and modded ) MoO3

Like the Baron says, it's nothing like Space Empires, or even MoO2; it's very special, and far more epic than all the competitors, I'd say. It does include all the 4x traits, it's just more..abstract? You got budgets, development plans and viceroys that all take part in developing your colonies( you can also go down and do it yourself, but that's sort of much work with hundreds of planets in late game ). Instead of sending single ships around, you assemble them in 'task forces', etc.

In short, it's a far more 'realistic' game, as if you're actually giving orders and having other people carrying them out, instead of overseeing every tiny detail of what's happening. And whatever else can be said about it, it definitely has the best colony and economy system I've ever seen in a 4x game, one I'd love to see adopted into SE.

To my knowledge, most of the disappointment with the game came from the crazy amount of bugs/issues upon release, and that most people expected MoO 2 with a graphics update( i.e. a typical sequel ), instead getting a new and different game. It's got some almost-game-breaking bugs without the mods and exe hacks, though.

Best colony/economic system? Where you just build a couple of boring "regions?" No thanks.

That's not how it works. Each planet has a number of regions, depending on its size. Each of those regions has a mineral value, an organic value, a population limit, a population growth rate, an unrest value, a 'condition' value, a majority race( decides race modifiers ), and much more. In other words, regions are sort of like colonies in Space Empires, just in MoO you have several of these on each planet( i.e. just like on earth where you have some areas which are better for mining/farming and such; that's what these regions represent ).

Each region can take two 'DEAs' and a number of 'improvements'. These DEAs are basically like facilities in Space Empires; for instance, a Mineral DEA requires an amount of workers and will produce minerals depending on the region's Base Mining Efficiency, the improvements built in the region, and alot of other factors. You have other DEAs like Industry( basically SE's spaceyard ), Bioharvesting, Research, etc.

In addition to this you also have other facilities that are not built for any specific DEAs, and offer all sorts of benefits. Take System Stock Exchange, for instance, which increases all taxes gathered in the solar system by 10%, etc. The tax income is even decided by how much of the population is employed.

So yeah, I think it's an amazingly well-thought-out system.

The best description I ever saw for MOO3 was on the official QuickSilver forums back when the game first released.

It was described as "MOO3 is a turd...with corn in it".

And that was a very apt description at the time.

I TRIED to like it. But unlike SE5, it received very little official post release support. I honestly cant speak to the mods and unofficial 'patches' that were released. I know enough people like Raapys have claimed that the game is not only playable but fun to actually make me consider picking it up every now and then (the local EB had it for $9.99 for a while).

But then I remember that description...a turd, with corn it...and I come to my senses and dont buy it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Maybe some day I'll be jonesing for a space conquest fix enough to actually take the plunge again. SE5 has been a major disappointment for me, but I at least have hope that it will eventually be fun.

Quote:

Raapys said:
That's not how it works. Each planet has a number of regions, depending on its size. Each of those regions has a mineral value, an organic value, a population limit, a population growth rate, an unrest value, a 'condition' value, a majority race( decides race modifiers ), and much more. In other words, regions are sort of like colonies in Space Empires, just in MoO you have several of these on each planet( i.e. just like on earth where you have some areas which are better for mining/farming and such; that's what these regions represent ).

Sounds like a good economic system to me. Where are all the patches anyway, (both official and unofficial) required to make the game better? I was given a copy of MOO3 ages ago and never bothered to try it.