Master of Orion-Reboot

[Sepiche]

Way more important to me is an interesting and useful tech tree than one that provides you with tough choices. I would like both but interesting and useful beats choice every time, for me. So that remains to be seen. I despise "+1 range to ballistics weapons" or "+1 ship hp" tech trees. So very, very boring.

I only got a couple of tiers into the tech tree, but all the items I got so far are tangible items, not stat increases... neutron beams, auto factories, biospheres, etc. Very close in design to MOO2 here.

And let's face it, most people played with Creative and those that didn't made the exact same choices in the tech tree, game after game after game. Only those playing for variety would change it up a little, but that's like intentionally playing "sub-optimally" which is fine (I do it too) but less about tough choices and more about intentionally weaker choices.

Hehe, Yeah that was definitely my preferred play style. Creative was just too much of a boost!

[GreenGoo]

I'll just point out that Moo2's tech tree was completely unbalanced and after a few patches was just differently unbalanced.

That was never an issue for me.

[Grifman]

I've always like starlanes, warp points, etc. It adds additional strategy. There may be a system with little or no redeeming features except that it controls nodes to several other systems so I may want to seize and hold it if for no other reason. It makes holding certain systems more valuable.

[ydejin]

Next, the research tree. I think this is a fairly major change that will sadden some people, but they've done away with the hard choices of the MOO2 research system and have switched to a more traditional tech tree, with each new tech unlocking 2 new items. What's in the game currently looks like the full tech tree, but it's obviously in need of balancing and tweaking still.

Way more important to me is an interesting and useful tech tree than one that provides you with tough choices. I would like both but interesting and useful beats choice every time, for me. So that remains to be seen. I despise "+1 range to ballistics weapons" or "+1 ship hp" tech trees. So very, very boring.

Some of the techs unlock a list of technologies where you get all the techs listed, but some of the unlock several technologies where you need to pick one of the technologies from a list of techs. So for example Anti-Matter Fission requires you to decide if you want an Anti-Matter Drive (Combat Speed Bonus +60% and Travel Speed 3) or Anti-Matter Bomb to attack planets with. Warp Fields allows you to choose either Pulars (Damage 13, Range 40) or Lightning Field (a defensive field which has a chance to destroy in coming missiles, torpedoes or fighters). Xenology allows you to either build Alien Management Centers which help assimilate captured enemy populations or Alien Psychology which gives you an overall boost to foreign relations. Advanced Construction either gives you Fighter Bays or Battle Pods (which increase a ships systems capacity).

It looks like most of the techs give you everything listed, but maybe 25% of them force you to make a choice.

Disclaimer, I haven't actually played it, but I did plunk down the $49.99 for it, so I'm looking through the tech tree right now. I might have time to play a real game with it when I get home from work tonight.

[GreenGoo]

Neat, thanks for the info.

[Tampa_Gamer]

Have they said how ground combat will be modeled? That was one of the aspects of MOO3 that I actually liked (you essentially built up your "army" to consist of different types of units - infantry, armor, special forces, mechs, etc.). It was loosely based on the Kohan army design approach. If nothing else, I would hope they take a look at Distant Worlds for another ground combat that doesn't bog things down too much.

[Sepiche]

Have they said how ground combat will be modeled? That was one of the aspects of MOO3 that I actually liked (you essentially built up your "army" to consist of different types of units - infantry, armor, special forces, mechs, etc.). It was loosely based on the Kohan army design approach. If nothing else, I would hope they take a look at Distant Worlds for another ground combat that doesn't bog things down too much.

I haven't read any developer posts, but from what I see in the game currently it looks like they're sticking pretty close to the MOO2 formula. Planets are defended by buildings that grow defenders over time, and assaults are done with transports containing troops.

I also liked that part of MOO3 as for some reason I like organizing my troops. I think it's one of the reason's I like Ageod's games so much.

[Daehawk]

Always preferred many of the elements of MOO over MOO2.

[ydejin]

Have they said how ground combat will be modeled? That was one of the aspects of MOO3 that I actually liked (you essentially built up your "army" to consist of different types of units - infantry, armor, special forces, mechs, etc.). It was loosely based on the Kohan army design approach. If nothing else, I would hope they take a look at Distant Worlds for another ground combat that doesn't bog things down too much.

I'm at work now, so I can't double check by running the game. But I'm almost positive I saw a mech-like unit in the tech tree. There are definitely various technologies to buff your marines.

I am sad that the starting races don't seem to be quite as rich as they used to be. Didn't the Bulrathi, for example, have a ground combat bonus and the Alkari have a fighter bonus? Well they don't anymore. The Mrrshan did some to have some sort of a combat bonus. The Bulrathi bonuses looked really boring.

Possibly the Alkari's don't have a fighter bonus because fighters aren't as rich in the game. There are definitely fighter hangers and bomber hangers, and I believe I saw heavy or super-fighter hangers. But didn't you used to be able to design your own fighters? Can't remember if that was MOO1 or MOO2.

Always preferred many of the elements of MOO over MOO2.

+1

[Sepiche]

But didn't you used to be able to design your own fighters? Can't remember if that was MOO1 or MOO2.

In MOO2 your fighters and bombers just automatically used the best equipment you had, but in MOO1 the smallest ship size was basically a fighter you could design.

I did notice on the race selection screen there are 3 traits listed for each race. I'm not sure if those are just a summary of how the race plays, or if those will eventually become linked to stats, but that's what I'm hoping to give a little more uniqueness to the races.

[Max Peck]

Heh, the "official" MOO wiki disavows MOO3:

Announced on 9th June 2015, Wargaming.net, Master of Orion is a restart of the Master of Orion series, authored by NGD Studios from Argentina. Following in the footsteps of its grand ancestors (with the exclusion of Master of Orion 3), it is set for a 2016 release - giving everyone the ability to test their skills in crafting an interstellar empire and dominating all who oppose them - or failing miserably and watching as their people fall prey to stronger opponents.

[Daveman]

I took the plunge, for reference I loved MoO and it's simplified slider system. While I played a lot of MoO2 I didn't like that it went with a more detailed planet upgrade path (I'd done that to death with Civs by that time) and thought the tactical combat/ship design was a chore once you reached the mid-game. I've not played any MoO game for a long time. I've not done any deep reading into what this game does differently, just dove in.

I'm what feels like mid-game through the tech tree in a small sized galaxy. I'll confirm what's been said about the tech tree, most offer several upgrades (like a new weapon, planet upgrade, shield upgrade or any combination thereof) but some offer you a choice. One is a choice of Battle Pods (an expensive upgrade that lets you fit more stuff in ships) or Fighter Bays (I believe the tech said the fighters are automatically upgraded to your best weapon/shield/engine). Some techs are simply passive bonuses to your population growth, counter-intelligence, etc. Random things I like:

1. So far, it's doing a good job of capturing a lot of the MoO atmosphere. GNN news, lots of personality when talking to other leaders, etc. Presentation is excellent and the graphics are nice. I've seen two random news events, both beneficial to me... my homeworld has twice had it's mineral level upgraded by geologists. I can only assume bad things can happen too.
2. When you get a new ship tech upgrade it first prompts you to upgrade the existing ship designs, and lets you know what the incremental cost increase will be. Looks like any planets building those ships will switch over to the new design which might increase the build time. Existing older ships can be upgraded when in a system with a Star Base at a money cost.
3. There are worker-like space ships you build that construct off-planet improvements. Mining asteroid fields, building defensive stations at jump points, etc. Deeper tech options seem to include having these ships convert gas giants into useable planets and so on.
4. Planet pollution is handled in an interesting way. Seems that as a planet produces stuff it's pollution percentage will increase (adjusted by pollution reducing upgrades) until at high levels you're prompted that in X many turns the planet will "downgrade". I take that to mean a Terran planet will become Arid or something. To reduce pollution a planet needs to stop producing and instead work on clean up. You can choose to resume production later, or will be prompted to change production once the pollution level is back to 0%.

I'm not sure if there's an option I'm missing somewhere, but when I select "tactical" combat the only control I have it choosing formations for groups of ships (which appear to group up based on size or design?) and the speed at which things play or pause. I'm not sure if there's more to it, or if this is still a work in progress. It all looks nice, but disappointing so far unless I'm missing something.

Ship design seems interesting, but there's one aspect I can't figure out. Weapons have a cost in price and space. There are usually several upgrades that modify these... point defense makes them smaller, heavy mount more expensive and costly, etc. You also have the option of choosing which arc(s) they fire from but I haven't noticed any change in cost or space. If there's a reason to choose forward only vs. 360deg I haven't seen it. Maybe there's an accuracy or range penalty?

I've carried out one planetary attack. First there was a tactical combat between my fleet and the planet's Star Base + Missile Battery. The Missile Battery appears floating in space along the Star Base vs. being on the planet. Once they were destroyed, I had options to bomb the planet or invade (a few turns later once my troop transports arrived).

Bombing brings up a menu showing how many bombs you have to drop and how many buildings, civilian population and defending troops were on the planet. I had 10 bombs, which I assume was based on how many bombs were on my ships. There's an option to drop all your bombs at once if you don't care what they do, or you can slowly drop bombs, seeing what targets on the planet get hit and stop early if you want. I did 3 turns of 10 bombs each, in that small sample it seems you most likely destroy civilians or buildings while the armies are harder to hit. Sometimes a bomb does nothing.

When my troop transports showed up, I had an invade option. When I chose it, there was a simple menu showing my 10 armies vs. 8 defenders. It was over pretty quickly and if they showed the relative combat upgrades/strengths I didn't see it. Armies were gradually killed off but I was either lucky or had much better tech... I wiped out his armies and only lost 1.

[Daveman]

OK, the "tactical" combat controls are in there, it's just very simple and I was forgetting to try right-clicking. If you click-drag a group of ships you're given a few formation options. With a group or single ship selected, you can right-click on the screen or targets and they'll move to that location or attack that specific ship. I've been able to do some simple maneuvers, like send my fast ships in while keeping the larger ships in the back, firing at a distance. You could also have ships move toward the enemy through asteroids for cover and so on. Nothing really complex but you do have some degree of control. Leaving the AI on during tactical battles pretty much means the ships just charge each other and have at it. All orders can be submitted while paused.

Unfortunately, your ships all start clumped together, and the tactical battlefield isn't all that large so you don't have a lot of time or room to maneuver. There's also no UI information on weapon ranges, shield facings... hopefully things that can be improved on.

[Max Peck]

Unfortunately, your ships all start clumped together, and the tactical battlefield isn't all that large so you don't have a lot of time or room to maneuver. There's also no UI information on weapon ranges, shield facings... hopefully things that can be improved on.

When you select a ship/group, you'll see icons for their weapon systems. If you float the cursor over a weapon icon, you'll see some information about it and the firing arcs are shown on the tactical display.

[Daehawk]

took the plunge, for reference I loved MoO and it's simplified slider system. While I played a lot of MoO2 I didn't like that it went with a more detailed planet upgrade path

Thats exactly me. I loved MOO1 more than MOO2 simply because it was over complicated. I preferred the sliders too. I also liked the wat transferring population from planet to planet was and how ground combat played out.

First there was a tactical combat between my fleet and the planet's Star Base + Missile Battery. The Missile Battery appears floating in space along the Star Base vs. being on the planet.

Dont like the sound of that as much. I like my missiles on planet. Maybe it could give you two types. One for space and one for ground combat.

I never liked the buildings on planets in the second now...there just wasn't good feedback on them or something for me. In the first game I could build 40 missile bases and I knew that was a good number for defense .

To reduce pollution a planet needs to stop producing and instead work on clean up.

You cant do work and do pollution control at the same time like the first two games? The only time in those when I had to stop production it was to upgrade my planet in some way.....shield, population ...

[Max Peck]

To reduce pollution a planet needs to stop producing and instead work on clean up.

You cant do work and do pollution control at the same time like the first two games? The only time in those when I had to stop production it was to upgrade my planet in some way.....shield, population ...

There are planetary improvements you can build that will mitigate pollution (including a high-tech option to eliminate it completely), but if it starts to get out of hand then there is a production action to clean it up.

[Daveman]

Thanks for the pointers on tactical combat info. It is all there, just kind of buried. Overall I'd say I'm OK with what they've done. I just wish there was more time/room to setup before a battle.

As far as pollution goes, unless you've got a large pop, mineral rich planet and have ignored pollution-reducing improvements, you can go on producing a long time until you start to see any warnings. Once you do, you have a few turns to try and mitigate that before suffering damage, but at some point you will want/need to switch the planet to cleanup, which does preclude building anything else for the duration. Planets will generally clean up in 5-6 turns. It's not something that's turned up as a real problem in my games until mid-game on my higher-production planets.

I've played 3 games so far, all small size with 3 AIs, and while I know the only difficulty right now is "average" the biggest complaint I have is that the AI is extremely passive. My first game, the Mrrshan expanded aggressively and seemed to be the dominant force. I saw them fighting with the others AIs and take a few planets but they all left me alone while I built up and eventually went on the warpath. No one was a challenge. 2nd game was much the same.

My 3rd game I saw a faint glimmer of action. Fairly early (I had 3 planets, just got Class I shields) I butt heads with the Psilons and beat them to colonizing a system between us. He kept a fleet in the neighboring system roughly equal to my own. On the other side of my territory I was being raided/blockaded by pirates. It was a minor nuisance and the Psilons had been behaving so I sent my fleet to deal with the pirates. When they were almost there the Psilons demanded payment which I refused and then they declared war. They attacked the system I'd beaten them to and started bombing it since they didn't have any troop transports.

I should have kept going but I was annoyed so I took a save game from right before that and left my fleet there instead. There was a cold war as our fleet strength kept going up and up (mine from tech upgrades, he seemed to just be adding more small ships to his) but he never attacked. I let that game go on late to see some of the late-game tech but nothing ever happened the whole game. I had 15 planets in my rough 1/4 of the galaxy. The Psilons and Bulrathi had 3 planets, the Mrrshan 2. There were plenty of sub-standard planets out there, some nicer ones protected by space monsters which at least the Psilons could have dealt with... but they all did very little.

When my Stellar Converter/Death Ray equipped Doom Star and Titans started rolling them up they were all still in early game tech. The Mrrshans didn't even have shields. It's only 3 games but... the AI is really lacking.

[Max Peck]

Agreed, there is lots of work for them to do to improve things like AI, the tactical interface, racial differentiation, documentation, etc, but the bones of the game seem solid to me. I don't think it will ever have the depth I expect from Stellaris, but I expect it will turn out to be a decent iteration of MOO.

[GreenGoo]

Getting around to watching more promo videos now. I'm finding the voice over cast video a little off putting. I don't expect my voice over talent to sell me on the video game mechanics, spirit and history of the game. Voice over acting is pretty far removed from the mechanics of a game, so unless they are all serious gamers, why on earth would they have an opinion, let alone a strong one on the game itself?

It's a case of being too aggressive selling me the game, and it makes me wary.

There is no question they have a lot of talent doing the voices. Hell, the budget for voices alone seems like it would outstrip the entire budgets for the first and second games together.

[Jeff V]

Hell, the budget for voices alone seems like it would outstrip the entire budgets for the first and second games together.

Not a good sign since turning off the sound is the first thing I do when setting game configurations.

[GreenGoo]

Hell, the budget for voices alone seems like it would outstrip the entire budgets for the first and second games together.

Not a good sign since turning off the sound is the first thing I do when setting game configurations.

Playing without sound is not common.

[Jeff V]

Playing without sound is not common.

I listen to other things when I play. Always have, ever since the days when sound was annoying beeps and buzzes.

[tgb]

Should we add sound in videogames to The List?

[Jeff V]

I have better things to do with my ears than listen to noise that doesn't add anything to the enjoyment of a game. Sometimes I listen to music. Sometimes I listen to the TV. Sometimes I listen to audiobooks. Sometimes I listen to my wife bitch about me sitting around playing games.

[GreenGoo]

I have better things to do with my ears than listen to noise that doesn't add anything to theenjoyment of a game.

That has never been true, but is less true today than at any time previously. I have 2.1 speakers at home for a reason, and wish I had 5.1.

That *you* don't enjoy the noises games make is not a surprise, but again, I wouldn't say it's the norm.

And that's not even covering games where sound is an integral and necessary part of the game. I.e. games that transmit information via sound (not talking about spoken word here). But from what you've written over the years you aren't much for the more visceral gaming experiences.

Shrug. I don't care how people play the games they play. That's their deal and that's fine. Some people are happy enough with resolutions that never exceed 480. That's fine too. Just don't expect me, or most people, to be happy with the same.

All that said, I find voice overs for "leaders" in strategy games to be mostly an unneeded distraction, mostly because we're not at the point yet where I can delude myself into believing they are a living entity. They are algorithms to overcome, and not much else. I'm quite certain I skip by them in Moo2, if possible.

The GNN announcer could be cool though.

[Jeff V]

In strategy games, sounds have always been repetitive and distracting. The only exception was Tiller's games, and as good as the music was, after awhile I just didn't need to hear it anymore. Since turning off the sound, I found I spend a lot more time playing the game, I don't get tired of it as easily. And that leads to playing games longer which in turns meaning spending less money on new games.

[Daveman]

I wish Michael Dorn would talk a little faster, and the Alkari advisor's squawking is really annoying. Haven't tried the other races yet. Your advisor really only says one thing ("Excuse me your excellency" or something like that) but he/she says it every time a pop up appears or when you choose a new technology. That gets repetitive.

I do turn off the music, but the sound effects for combat are nice and I wouldn't want to miss those. Dialog with other races in the diplomacy screen is well done.

[Jeff V]

Dialog with other races in the diplomacy screen is well done.

Can they be turned off? I'd much rather read what they have to say, it's likely much faster.

[baelthazar]

I have better things to do with my ears than listen to noise that doesn't add anything to the enjoyment of a game. Sometimes I listen to music. Sometimes I listen to the TV. Sometimes I listen to audiobooks. Sometimes I listen to my wife bitch about me sitting around playing games.

You go to parties and ask the host to turn down the music, don't you?

Actually, I understand your point, as some strategy games have the same damn noises every time you click on anything. My limited exposure to this EA version of MOO is right on the line between being fun and annoying. Alan Tudyk does an excellent job as the Psilon adviser (his voice is alien, high-pitched, and overly exuberant). But after he says "I do not know how they accomplished this research without me" for the fifth time, your nerves start to grate a bit. Right now, I am a bit more forgiving because this is still in EA and they *may* be still taping extra voice acting. But it has the potential to get old, I suppose.

That being said, I can't imagine watching a MOO battle without the "pew pew pew" of lasers. What's the point!?

I still anticipate Stellaris being a much more interesting game, but who knows when that one will release. Slitherine/Matrix has an interesting one coming later this month, Polaris Sector, so keep an eye on that too.

[tgb]

I've been testing Polaris Sector and will have a bit to say about it once it's released and the NDA is lifted.

[baelthazar]

Dang... you are Matrix/Slitherine's MVP beta tester!

I am surprised the NDA is still in effect for Polaris Sector, given that there have been several Let's Play videos released. Not sure how you enforce an NDA after allowing major press coverage like that.

[tgb]

Dang... you are Matrix/Slitherine's MVP beta tester!

I am surprised the NDA is still in effect for Polaris Sector, given that there have been several Let's Play videos released. Not sure how you enforce an NDA after allowing major press coverage like that.

There's definitely been a lot of Slitherine action the last couple of months, that's for sure.

I had the same question, and the way it was explained to me, the difference is that Slitherine can control the message in an authorized pre-release Let's Play. In fact, I was told that if I wanted to do a Let's Play I would need to clear the content with the marketing department.

Which makes sense

[Jeff V]

I have better things to do with my ears than listen to noise that doesn't add anything to the enjoyment of a game. Sometimes I listen to music. Sometimes I listen to the TV. Sometimes I listen to audiobooks. Sometimes I listen to my wife bitch about me sitting around playing games.

You go to parties and ask the host to turn down the music, don't you?

The parties I go to these days, volume of music is not the issue. Turning down the volume of kids screaming on the other hand...

Hopefully battles can auto-resolved so I don't have to watch them. That gets tedious, too. In Gal Civ 3, I watch approximately 1 battle every third game I play. IIRC, MOO had more player input on tactical battles, but just like the Total War games, unless auto-resolve is simply terrible, I'd bypass this as much as possible.

[Max Peck]

I have better things to do with my ears than listen to noise that doesn't add anything to the enjoyment of a game. Sometimes I listen to music. Sometimes I listen to the TV. Sometimes I listen to audiobooks. Sometimes I listen to my wife bitch about me sitting around playing games.

You go to parties and ask the host to turn down the music, don't you?

The parties I go to these days, volume of music is not the issue. Turning down the volume of kids screaming on the other hand...

Hopefully battles can auto-resolved so I don't have to watch them. That gets tedious, too. In Gal Civ 3, I watch approximately 1 battle every third game I play. IIRC, MOO had more player input on tactical battles, but just the Total War games, unless auto-resolve is simply terrible, I'd bypass this as much as possible.

There is an option to "simulate" (auto-resolve) the battles, although it has annoying *Bang* *Bang* sfx as each ship is destroyed.

[Max Peck]

The devs have posted a Steam community update with links to some Let's Play videos, Twitch streams, community guides, the game wiki, and subreddit, if anyone is interested in such things.

[Max Peck]

Build 40.13 patch notes:

Spoiler:

Notes about our first patch

Please remember that our game is still in development, some changes may be subject to further review. We are eager to get your feedback! Some of the things that we are testing are:

• Improvements in the AI.
• A more varied galaxy in terms of planet classes and mineral richness (please remember to randomize the seed to try different generated galaxies).
• Balance adjustments for a more hardcore experience.
• Scale and speed adjustments in tactical battles to make room for a bigger playfield.

See the full list of changes:

General

• Added flag checkbox to un-colonized planets.
• Fixed soft-lock in victory/defeat popup.
• Fixed soft-lock in Planet Review.
• Fixed issue on fleets visibility after Share Charts.
• Fixed Fleet Icon visibility when different fleet hull sizes are docked in the same navigation node.
• Fixed Fleet Icon in the Galaxy map when fleets depart to an anomalies.
• [Ship Design] Fixed exploit that allowed to create fully loaded ships paying as empty ships.
• Fixed issue with Galaxy Generator (Orbital distribution).
• Turn limit indicator removed in path to victory when Excellence Victory disabled.
• Now the Game acknowledges that it can't store save games and popups a warning.
• Fixed freeze when demanding a Colony at the same time as asking for a vote in the Galactic Council.

Balance

• [Galactic Council] Changed trigger condition from all races knowing both candidates to all races knowing each other.
• [Galactic Council] Implement a minimum turn for triggering galactic council.
• [Balance] Galaxy ages are now more different from each other (MoO2 style).
• [Balance] Large and Huge planets chances slightly increased in the Galaxy Generator.
• [Balance] Changed BC progression and starting structures upkeep.
• [Balance] Costs for Ship Upgrade and Buyout increased.
• [Balance] Command Points exceeded changed from 10 to 20BC.
• [Balance] Marine barracks now give +5% Morale.
• [Balance] Capitol morale bonus reduced to 25% (from 30% ).
• [Balance] AI Opening now end at turn 1 (AI performs better with this restriction).
• [Morale] Taxes start affecting morale with 1BC per population.
• [Morale] Race base morale now starts at 100%
• [Balance] Removed the cohesive trait from races that used it (it improves AI's colonization and defenses as they play in a more pack style).
• [Balance] Biome chances modified in the Galaxy Generator.

AI

• [AI] Changes in Production: removed order in production rating, top priority production bypasses global ETA limit, added the worker income bonus to structures scoring, avoid idle production in colonies while trade goods is not available, colony ships changed priority from top to high.
• [AI] On full defense, disabled below high priority to engage targets.
• [AI] Lowered priorities for pirate bombardment and engaging.
• [AI] Added conditions to Demand Evaluation. Will now reject demands that demand more than 1 colony, or a colony in a system with more colonies.
• [AI] Added fatigue after a demand is accepted: FATIGUE_DEMAND. Now set in 25 turns.
• [AI] Added ship upgrade (ship refit)
• [AI] Bug fix for military retreat.

Tactical

• [Tactical] Fixed FX for Torpedoes.
• [Tactical] Fixed Anti-Missile Rockets.
• [Tactical] Optimization for defensive weapons.
• [Tactical] Proton Torpedo exception fixed!
• [Tactical] Added one more ring on the big battlefield grid.
• [Tactical] Tweaked scales for ships now contemplates pirates.
• [Tactical] fixed the big battlefield limits.

UI

• [UI] Tweaks for alternative multiline tooltip. Modifiers rows support multiline now.
• [UI] Fixed black squares appearing on the interface.
• [Techtree] Updated all technology images.
• [UI] Added max population on known planets and planet tooltip.
• [UI] Fixed issue with colonies list docking when the player had around 20 colonies or more.
• [UI] Fixed strike population on colonies text fields.
• [Ship Design] Disable models and decals for Pixel Ships in Ship Design.

Diplomacy

• [Diplomacy] Fix Memory Rebuked line on some rejected demands.
• [Diplomacy] Share Charts will only be asked to civilizations with whom I have enough disposition, and know at least 3 stars I don't know

Multiplayer

• [Multiplayer] Fixed issue when Player 1 upgrades ships, Player 2 can observe Player's 1 fleet info block on the left bottom corner.

Localization

• [Localization] Ships module update.
• [Localization] Updated "Thanks for participating in the Early Access" message.
• [Localization] Changed Language Detection to set English or Russian Language.
• [Localization] First recommendation added in all Welcome descriptions.
• [Tooltips] Changed Low and High gravity tooltips.

SFX

• [SFX] Warp sounds added.
• [SFX] Notification sound updated.
• [SFX] Placeholder explosion sounds updated.
• [SFX] Added new Galactic Council theme.
• [Music] Restart Music during Audience if the AI changed disposition

[Max Peck]

Early Access Phase 2 Feature and Content Details

Greetings Explorers,

The development team at NGD Studios is hard at work on the next phase of Early Access, and we’re excited to share the first details of the new content and features that will be introduced.

New Features/Content
Here’s what will be brand new for Early Access 2:

• Three new races: Klackon, Meklar and Terran Khanate
• One new victory condition: Technological
• New feature: Custom Races
• Support for Mac OS X 10.6 - 10.11 (Snow Leopard - El Capitan)
• Additional language support

Changes to Existing Features/Content
In addition to new features and content, we are planning balance and usability updates for the following:

• Tactical Battles
• AI
• EA 1 races: Alkari, Bulrathi, Human, Mrrshan, Psilon and Sakkra
• Ship Design

We’re still in the process of locking down the exact timing of this update, but we wanted to share some of what’s coming. We’ll have more details on the new features and content, as well as the changes to existing features and content once we’re closer to the next phase of Early Access.

Thanks for playing, and please be sure to keep the feedback coming!

[El Guapo]

Way more important to me is an interesting and useful tech tree than one that provides you with tough choices. I would like both but interesting and useful beats choice every time, for me. So that remains to be seen. I despise "+1 range to ballistics weapons" or "+1 ship hp" tech trees. So very, very boring.

I only got a couple of tiers into the tech tree, but all the items I got so far are tangible items, not stat increases... neutron beams, auto factories, biospheres, etc. Very close in design to MOO2 here.

And let's face it, most people played with Creative and those that didn't made the exact same choices in the tech tree, game after game after game. Only those playing for variety would change it up a little, but that's like intentionally playing "sub-optimally" which is fine (I do it too) but less about tough choices and more about intentionally weaker choices.

Hehe, Yeah that was definitely my preferred play style. Creative was just too much of a boost!

In MOO2 I eventually stopped picking creative. By the end my default build was Low Gravity and a couple other minor drawbacks, and then taking the max research and production (and maybe food?) bonuses (+2 / +3 per citizen, or whatever it was). Generally I found that you didn't really need every tech in a group, you really just needed to be at a more advanced tech level than your opponents, and you needed to be able to produce a ton of ships.

Plus you could fill in any significant gaps by trading and/or stealing tech.

[Jeff V]

In MOO2 I eventually stopped picking creative.

I always picked "Uncreative" for the challenge of not knowing how the tech path was going to pan out. I always picked whatever the mind control race was for the imagery, though -- that would keep them from being randomly selected in the game, and I hated having planets capitulate without a fight.

[Max Peck]

Response to Feedback: Upcoming Changes to Master of Orion

Spoiler:

Greetings Explorers,

Be warned: this is a very long post.

Since Early Access began on February 26th, you’ve provided consistent thoughtful feedback about the direction we’re going with Master of Orion. We’ve been reviewing your feedback with NGD Studios to ensure that it is considered with every potential change or addition we will make between now and release.

To that end, we have the first of what we are calling “Feedback Response” articles. The aim of this piece is to give you an idea of some of the changes we’re planning based on your feedback. We can’t commit to specific timelines for anything at the moment, but we want to make sure you have visibility on what we’re looking to do.

Please note that not every single change we plan to make is mentioned here. If you see something missing from the list, there’s a good chance we’re considering it, it’s just that we’re not ready to talk about it.

Balance/AI
This is an important focus for us as it impacts most if not all game systems. Without solid balance and a strong AI, things begin to fall apart. If we were to prioritize the content of this article, you could probably consider most of the topics in this list as the highest priority.

• Late-game pacing is sluggish, so we are planning to improve that—especially providing interesting things for players not focused on the Conquest victory condition
• Research comes a little too easy right now, resulting in technologies being unlocked far too quickly; we will make adjustments here to make unlocking a technology feel more like a milestone and to reduce the frequency at which ship designs and ship weapons/systems become obsolete
• We’re working on making pirates more interesting, giving more options for interacting with and engaging them, as well as the ability for them to expand
• Some racial perks are not as valuable in multiplayer (i.e. those that affect diplomacy), so we are making changes so that they are more impactful
• Biomes are not unique enough at the moment, so we are planning to add more variation and also potentially provide new bonuses (i.e. Morale) based on the biome
• Races are not distinct enough, so we are planning to improve this through more interesting perks/traits
• Miniaturization will be introduced; all hail making things smaller!
• Improvements will be made to diplomacy AI to allow more positive interaction between AI races, including basic treaties, alliances and diplomatic council votes
• BC income will be adjusted so that it remains an option for speeding up expansion (or strengthening a fleet) but does not trivialize it

Tactical Battles
At the moment tactical battles have a strong core implementation, but usability is a big issue. A major focus for this feature is improving the control the player has over the action in the battle, as well as more information on what’s happening.

• We will be changing it so that each tactical battle starts paused by default, allowing you to get a feel for the surroundings and the battlefield to begin planning your tactics
• Formation bonuses will be introduced that provide bonus effects to certain ship types for flying in formation
• Civilian ships will be added to the battlefield, so use caution when moving them around the galaxy along with your combat fleets
• A retreat option will be introduced at the intro screen as well as during combat (note: some technologies/structures/specials may potentially prevent retreat from being possible for all ships)
• We are evaluating options for more control over specials and weapon systems, as well as weapon overlays to give more clarity on what’s going on

Ship Design
Customizing your ships and fleets is integral to the tactical battles experience and makes the arsenal of your empire distinctly yours. To that end, we want to make it easier for you to customize your ships, as well as provide more clarity in what you are doing, and finally to reduce the negative impact the auto-update feature has on your designs.

• We will be updating the ship design interface
• Ship designs and ships already built will no longer be linked, meaning when you scrap a design you will not have to scrap the ships
• The character limit for ship names will be increased
• Default AI behaviors will be added (Range, Aggression, Focus, etc.)

Usability / Interface
The feedback we have gotten is that the user interface is already in a good place. However, we agree that certain areas could use some touch-up.

• We are taking a pass on the information available and plan to increase the number of tooltips across the entire game, as well as improve their quality

Diplomacy
The AI needs to better use treaties and the diplomacy system as a whole. We will also adjust the effects declining certain proposals has on disposition, as some of them affect relations too negatively.

• We will provide better feedback on the diplomacy screen, including how racial traits and other bonuses are impacting relations
• AI will be improved to propose more intelligent exchanges, such as tech for tech
• Certain actions have too much impact on diplomatic relations and will be adjusted (i.e. share charts currently has far too negative of an effect if rejected)
• We will improve on “emperor traits” (commonly referred to as biases) and how they act in diplomacy and view other races’ actions within the game

Colony Screen
Our main goal here is to provide additional polish, make more information available, and expand functionality on certain elements.

• A scrollable structure list will be introduced to complement the visual display of structures on the planet
• Preset and customizable build “templates” will be introduced to make late-game expansion less cumbersome
• We will be enabling the production queue by default
• The ability to drag multiple population at a time will be added (all to the right of the one selected, except those on strike or other races)

Build Screen
The build screen will see improvements based on changes we’re making to other areas of the game (including general keystroke/mouse functionality), but there are some changes specific to this screen as well. They mostly focus on ships and making what you’re doing and getting from them more clear.

• Command Point and Upkeep costs will update to reflect the number of ships being produced
• We will allow you to specify the quantity of ships to produce if more than one, rather than only having the single or 5x options
• Civilian transports will be made much cheaper and it will be clearer that they are “rental” and will disappear once you move the population to a planet
• Detailed ship combat stats will be added to the build menu

Empire Screen
While it’s primarily intended to be a macro-level management screen, we have seen feedback that certain micro-level options would be nice to have here. We’re also planning to add more clarity and sortable columns for Morale and Pollution.

• A heading will be added to the Morale column and a Pollution column will be added
• A per-colony production buyout button will be added
• We will improve the flagging feature by allowing you to not only name your flags, but also define new flag types
• It will be possible to redistribute population within a colony from this screen

Research Screen
While research speed has already been touched on, there are other changes we’re planning for the tech tree to make progression more interesting and rewarding. We will also improve information on certain tooltips within the tech tree.

• We are considering a concept of building upgrade technologies to give early buildings more longevity in the game (i.e. Automated Factory II)
• Tooltips of weapons will be improved to provide full clarity on their effectiveness
• We are considering adding weapon mods (Heavy, Envelopment, etc.) to the tech tree as researchable technologies
• Jump Gates will be moved to an earlier spot in the tech tree to improve early and mid-game movement
• Shield upgrades will be expanded, and we will introduce additional weapon options for ships

Galaxy Screen
The galaxy view is beautiful, but we want it to be functional for you too. To that end we are making adjustments to better provide information on colonies, ships and other entities at-a-glance.

• We are planning to increase the quantity of wormholes to make exploration more exciting—“Where is this going to take me?”
• We are planning to increase the information around the planet to display things like trade goods, pollution cleanup, etc. as icons
• We are experimenting with a slow / limited navigation option outside of starlanes, unlocked via mid-game technology
• Radar lines will be introduced to show maximum visibility range of ships, monsters and planets
• The ability to see the weapons/modules of a ship when hovering over its icon in the fleet window will be added
• Population display will be changed to show both the current and maximum population of a planet
• Icons will be added next to fleets that convey what they are doing (i.e. guarding, blockading, constructing something)
• Civilian ships will be changed to not trigger the threatening fleet notice
• The star systems near the core of the galaxy will be made easier to see
• A rally point option will be added for military ships/fleets

Game Settings / Setup
Less confusion and more options are the big themes for our pass on game settings / setup at the moment.

• The galaxy (or “big bang”) seed will be randomized by default each time you begin a game, rather than starting at 0; you will still have the option of setting this manually or using the random button, but we want to reduce the confusion over galaxy options for newer players
• We will introduce a “Game Speed” option that determines how fast or slow things progress (e.g. production, research, colony growth)
• We plan to allow the use of different text and audio localizations (i.e. Russian text, English audio)
• It will be possible to disable GNN while still getting important updates
• The ability to disable Unstable Warp Lanes will be added as an advanced setting
• VO options will be expanded so that you can disable advisor VO while keeping other voices on

Miscellaneous
Below are some of the things we’re working on that would impact multiple areas of the game, or do not fit into a specific category outlined above.

• Additional functionality (such as right-click) to exit out of screens will be added
• A subtitles option will be added for screens that include VO to ensure information is not missed for hearing-impaired players
• Colorblind options will be added to game settings
• A user-defined chess clock-style turn timer will be added for multiplayer
• An explanation of the Galactic Council will be added and displayed when it is founded
• Special resources will be better explained
• We will be adding the ability to open certain UI elements after you end your turn in multiplayer

It’s important to stay engaged with the community during Early Access, so we intend to communicate changes like this whenever possible. Providing feedback on games can sometimes feel like a one-way street, and we want you to know we’re listening.

Thank you for playing, and please keep the feedback coming. You’re helping us make Master of Orion the best it can be.