By the beginning of the 21st century many players had emerged with the computers necessary to colonize deep space. For nearly a decade, demand for great gameplay had outstripped modern market resources and the compatibility of software, and soon all the players had been forced to expand to find new games to colonize. As history has proven time and time again, unrestrained expansion inevitably leads to conflict.
Although each denizen of endless space, each lord of galactic civilizations, the wielders of the sword of the stars and seeker of ascendancy, is very different, all have legends of a master product that once ruled the PC. It is said that the devs of this software left behind a game that contained marvelous gameplay and wondrous workmanship, and guarded it with a great Copy Protection. The Loremasters and Grognards called it Master Of Orion, and it is written in legend and prophecy that he who masters MOO, will master the genre.
Have you ever wanted to rule the stars? To have a grander empire than was ever seen by civilization or on Alpha Centauri? Then this is the thread for you!
Games:
I'll start with the modern era:
[img]http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/90024-sword-of-the-stars-windows-front-cover.jpg[/img]
My favorite of the modern 4x franchises, it comes the closest in many ways to getting the feel of the Grandmaster. Best story of any one on the market at the moment, combat is a bit hard though. The sequel no longer sucks, either.
[img]http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/87759-galactic-civilizations-ii-dread-lords-windows-front-cover.jpg[/img]
It's... okay. Combat is out of your control though, the story is a bit silly and if you think the jokes in Borderlands are bad, you'll hate this guy.
[img]http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/260153-endless-space-macintosh-front-cover.jpg[/img]
[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Star_Ruler_cover.jpg[/img]
These are supposed to be good, but as I've never tried them, I cannot really comment.
The Good Old Days.
DOS was the golden age for this genre, no ifs ands or buts. All the truly golden ones are here.
[video=youtube;AdXeApNvWEs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdXeApNvWEs[/video]
Ascendancy introduced many modern concepts, such as a branching tech tree to the genre. It also allowed multi-turn battles, unlike the rest of the genre.
But of course, what we're all here for is this:
[video=youtube;Gg_dnfOg7B8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg_dnfOg7B8[/video]
This spawned the Genre. All the ideas on it are in some way derived from it. It is the measure which all others are compared against.
It went on to create a sequel, that may be better remembered than the original
[video=youtube;jnoKw0PxugQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnoKw0PxugQ[/video]
Which was followed by an unconscionable horror which I will not remind anyone of and was not heard from ever since.
Until now:
[video=youtube;XOpsvRtmb-w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOpsvRtmb-w[/video]
Where to get the games:
All modern are on the Steam Store
MOO can be found here:
[url]https://www.gog.com/game/master_of_orion_1_2[/url]
I've created a thread a few years ago about the genre but unfortunately those are not that popular. Threads about individual games is usually preferred but still, I love the 4x genre. Star Ruler 2 is my recent acquisition and absolutely unique.
I try playing MOO2 multiplayer with my friends all the time but they keep getting bored before we can finish a single match, does anyone want to play sometime?
Well, I play at times but I'm not a good player. Played mp once with a friend but he quit as well. I would like to play from time to time, just chilling and conquering the galaxy.
How to make Master of Orion sound awesome:
It's not that well known, but MOO could be made to support Gravis Ultrasound - which was probably the best soundcard of it's time, hands down. The effect of the quality is incredible, making a 94 game sound like something from 1996. With the advent of the enhanced Ultrasound patches for dosbox.... well, with those, the intro sounds like the trailer for MOO:CTS.
Step one - download the MOO patch for Gravis, which can be found here:
[url]http://www.patches-scrolls.com/master_of_orion.php[/url]
Follow the instructions in the Readme - despite the odd filename, it will open with a text editor. You'll need to run the install function in DOSbox - refer to the manual for MOO if you have difficulty.
Step two - Gravis patches:
You will need the following files - they're legal, just their license conflicts with dosbox's.
[url]http://www.dosgames.com/forum/about10574.html[/url]
Put the desired version in your MOO folder and rename to something 5 letters or less.
Set this name as the path for Gravis, along with you favored drive letter when mounting MOO's folder. Check your dosbox config - gus should be true, and the address should match that of what MOO's installer is set to.
3-Running the game:
After mounting MOO, CD to your ultra folder and run ULTRAMID. Once this is set, CD to the folder where ORION.EXE is and run MOO normally and enjoy the vastly improved sound.
[QUOTE=Jeep-Eep;48034005]My favorite of the modern 4x franchises, it comes the closest in many ways to getting the feel of the Grandmaster. Best story of any one on the market at the moment, combat is a bit hard though. The sequel no longer sucks, either.[/QUOTE]
Is it actually good now, though, or is it just not bad?
I hope Remaster of Orion ends up not being as bad as the unspeakable mess
[QUOTE=elowin;48066000]Is it actually good now, though, or is it just not bad?[/QUOTE]
It's reasonable. Not the best by any means but still worth playing with the new End Of Flesh expansion.
[QUOTE=Jeep-Eep;48066283]It's reasonable. Not the best by any means but still worth playing with the new End Of Flesh expansion.[/QUOTE]
can you play it without crashing by turn 50
[QUOTE=Pigbear;48066311]can you play it without crashing by turn 50[/QUOTE]
Yes, for quite some time.
[I]Star Ruler 1 / 2[/I] and [I]Endless Space[/I] are both pretty awesome games.
ES is more of a traditional 4X being turnbased, whereas SR 1/2 are realtime and are somewhat similar in overall gameplay to [I]Sins of a Solar Empire[/I] but with more focus on empire management, addition of design-it-yourself equipment, and combat that can actually kill ships in a reasonable amount of time.
[t]http://i.imgur.com/Pjl5Kh4.jpg[/t]
[t]http://i.imgur.com/vuSBffg.png[/t]
ES has a beautiful aesthetic and probably one of the best looking and functional UIs out there, which it shares with the fantasy sequel/spinoff [I]Endless Legend[/I] (an awesome game in itself, one of the best titles of 2014).
[t]http://i.imgur.com/PDE7Cdg.jpg[/t][t]http://i.imgur.com/SE3kML6.jpg[/t][t]http://i.imgur.com/rxMepUM.jpg[/t]
SR1.
[t]http://i.imgur.com/iUl7KuX.jpg[/t][t]http://i.imgur.com/Tj9Xtsm.jpg[/t]
SR2
Star Ruler 1 and 2 let you place thrusters on planets and turn them into battleships, which is excellent. The combat is really in-depth with the game's newtonian motion and subsystem damage. You can, for example, use a tractor beam in SR1 to yank enemy defense satellites out of their orbit, or use oversized cargo ships to dump orbital bombardment satellites right next to enemy worlds while draining its resources. The second game incorporates more traditional 4X mechanics like planetary buildings similar Galactic Civilizations, and significantly improves the game's strategic AI and streamlines fleet management.
[url=http://gameaudiofactory.bandcamp.com/album/endless-space-soundtrack]ES[/url] and [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7QWCYT2Lhs]SR1[/url] have nice soundtracks, too.
Star Ruler 2 is super great.
Eternal Space is really boring, though. Completely uninteresting imo.
I like Endless Space but it's really easy to get completely steamrolled in that game imo
[quote][img_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/Tj9Xtsm.jpg[/img_thumb][/quote]
My processor just had a panic attack
Holy crap, somebody but me played ascendancy
It's basically inferior to other games at the time for a good many reasons, but it's atmosphere and character keeps me coming back to it frequently
Plus, it's the only game I know of that doesn't have a human faction
[QUOTE=Jeep-Eep;48066331]Yes, for quite some time.[/QUOTE]
since when? Last time I played it about a year ago it would crash so often it was unplayable
[QUOTE=TheTalon;48067403]My processor just had a panic attack[/QUOTE]
It's a [I]very[/I] well optimized game. That screenshot is from the beta and I only experienced minor slowdown when I had several hundred thousand ships on-screen at once.
In the normal course of a game, you're unlikely to make such stupid huge fleets of tiny ships unless you're doing it as a joke. It's much more viable to build smaller fleets of larger support ships.
Endless Space is great but like RearAdmiral said, it's easy to get your shit wrecked.
In my games I either get destroyed, or do the destroying. There is always one faction that ends up steamrolling another and it's only a matter of time before they get to you and it's hard to manipulate 2 strong factions into fighting each other
Personally, I couldn't get into Sword of the Stars (2). I found the interface to be just abysmally bad, the load times and turn processing times were annoying long and the lack of a tutorial in a game which uses very few normal mechanics was just a complete killer.
I want to try it because the combat looks neat and the races are cool, but Star Ruler 2 offers the neat combat and races wrapped up with a more comprehensible UI and has tutorial.
Ascendancy looks really good for an old win95/dos title. should i give it a spin?
[QUOTE=Ownederd;48067594]Ascendancy looks really good for an old win95/dos title. should i give it a spin?[/QUOTE]
Totally. It has a lot of ideas and features that are unique to this day. Just don't play it without the AI patch; the AI in the original game is braindead.
Alternatively, a re-release is available on iOS which completley overhauls the interface, fixes the AI, and generally makes the game way more enjoyable. It's the best way to play it IMO
[QUOTE=Saber15;48067567]Personally, I couldn't get into Sword of the Stars (2). I found the interface to be just abysmally bad, the load times and turn processing times were annoying long and the lack of a tutorial in a game which uses very few normal mechanics was just a complete killer.
I want to try it because the combat looks neat and the races are cool, but Star Ruler 2 offers the neat combat and races wrapped up with a more comprehensible UI and has tutorial.[/QUOTE]
I gave SOTS2 a fair try a couple months back and it's just a mess. It still has crashes, the UI is still one of the worst UIs I've ever seen, and the mechanics (at least, what I could understand of them beneath the awful ui) felt really finicky. I'm certainly not planning on ever touching the game ever again.
[QUOTE=Saber15;48067567]Personally, I couldn't get into Sword of the Stars (2). I found the interface to be just abysmally bad, the load times and turn processing times were annoying long and the lack of a tutorial in a game which uses very few normal mechanics was just a complete killer.
I want to try it because the combat looks neat and the races are cool, but Star Ruler 2 offers the neat combat and races wrapped up with a more comprehensible UI and has tutorial.[/QUOTE]
Forget SoTS2. If you can possibly get it refunded do so. They released it in a broke ass, piss poor state. Pretty much on the scale of the new Batman game. They pledged to fix it, and to work tirelessly to fix it, and they put patch after patch out for a few weeks, but then just stopped, and ceased to touch it again, leaving it a crippled mess, but gave it a wheel chair with a bum wheel. Just don't bother. Even on a Solid State and 16GB of RAM it runs like a Pre-Alpha. Actually it reminds me of the Doom 3 alpha leak in terms of performance
The first one is far, FAR superior as a game. Buy it and its expansions, you won't be sorry
[QUOTE=junker154;48064180]Well, I play at times but I'm not a good player. Played mp once with a friend but he quit as well. I would like to play from time to time, just chilling and conquering the galaxy.[/QUOTE]
Add me on steam, we should play sometime.
If anyone else wants to play feel free to add me, the more the merrier.
Distant Worlds: Universe is good shit. It has a Star Trek mod with about 30 races too.
[QUOTE=SeamanStains;48069756]Distant Worlds: Universe is good shit. It has a Star Trek mod with about 30 races too.[/QUOTE]
Agreed, the lack of Distant Worlds: Universe in the OP is quite sad, as it is a fantastic game.
[QUOTE=SeamanStains;48069756]Distant Worlds: Universe is good shit. It has a Star Trek mod with about 30 races too.[/QUOTE]
Maybe you could write a detailed description for me to add? I've not got any first hand experience with it, ES or SR, and I would appreciate some insights.
Endless Space is one of the loveliest games I've ever played, it does lack depth to a certain degree but it is absolutely beautiful in terms of its design.
Just the UI itself is such a pleasure that I'd almost recommend buying it for the UI.
Not to mention the ost is amazing.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu-zLip6tkI[/media]
[QUOTE=Mrfantasticool;48073042]Endless Space is one of the loveliest games I've ever played, it does lack depth to a certain degree but it is absolutely beautiful in terms of its design.
Just the UI itself is such a pleasure that I'd almost recommend buying it for the UI.
Not to mention the ost is amazing.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu-zLip6tkI[/media][/QUOTE]
Maybe when I can get the space situation on my hard drives under control I'll download it - I think my brother has it on the shared account...
[QUOTE=Mrfantasticool;48073042]Endless Space is one of the loveliest games I've ever played, it does lack depth to a certain degree but it is absolutely beautiful in terms of its design.
Just the UI itself is such a pleasure that I'd almost recommend buying it for the UI.
Not to mention the ost is amazing.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu-zLip6tkI[/media][/QUOTE]
I find that to be true of Endless Legend too - It is an amazingly creative game, which is so cool, but it isn't a particularly deep or enjoyable one. I play it and pay for it to bask in the creativity on show, but I don't find myself playing it endlessly like Sword of the Stars, Distant Worlds: Universe and, (more similar to EL) Age of Wonders III
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