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Forum Overview
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Master of Orion 1-2-3
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by jeep 03/04/2003, 12:11pm PST |
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Senor Barborito wrote:
Tom Chick's criticisms regarding the game were flat-out misplaced. Nearly every thing he complained about not being able to do (figure out formations, get his build orders put through the pipe, etc.) I was able to do within two minutes of encountering the necessary portion of the game (fifty and five minutes in, respectively for those two). The other game thinks his keyboard should be taken away.
However, what Zebco said about MOO3 is true. It looks like ass, many decisions operate at a high level of abstraction while others are fine-grain, and there is little solid visible linking between the two. The UI is inconsistent and bewildering.
I had to fight with the interface a bit, but I was able to get what I wanted done, too, with an exception: one planet decided to build a troop carrier and I couldn't delete it from the queue.
Anyway everything about the design and layout sucks. It reminds me of that Moon Project game, and I was trying pretty hard to forget that. Also, it compares negatively to both of the previous ones. It took everything I didn't like about the second one and made that the whole game. It has all but one of the design flaws of 1602 AD with even worse graphics.
I think the reason both 2 and 3 are lesser games than the first one regardless of shitty layout is pretty simple: going planet-by-planet in a game about conquering star systems is impossibly tedious, and I even kind of like tedious (I am still playing Colonizaiton, after all). It's no big deal in the first one to put missile bases on each system and upgrade them periodically, but to have to sit there and worry about whether each individual planet has sufficient defenses is ridiculous. You go from "does this colony on the MAIN MAP have 10 missile bases? OK, time to move on." to "Ok navigate down 3 levels of shitty animated map motion to see the defenses of each planet in the system...does it have defenses, does it have ships, does it have the right things in the build queue?" Everything about the system fit in a 3x3inch window on the right of the screen in the first game, I never needed the spreadsheet colony controls that were even in that one. This game you don't have a choice, you have to flip through every planet and they weren't smart enough to have any of the data centrally located or accessible. It's like trying to "play" the first windowed version of Lotus 1-2-3. It was a flaw in the 2nd one, it's just piling bad onto worse here.
Traveling from star to star for navigation? The whole point of the old game was to build up your empire and then cherry-pick systems out from under your opponents to undermine their resources.
Anyway, the control and information layout is pure genius if anyone is interested in building an unhackable interface for real-life military systems, you could just slap it onto a terminal on every piece of military hardware we put in the field. They wouldn't even need logins, just 12 months of training. What kind of enemy PBI could figure out how to work this thing under fire? Seriously, though, it's too convoluted. I want to play a game, not sit through some rotten designers' idea of how much the future of tech support is going to suck.
Ah and I got into the Shadowbane beta finally. It's like a bizarre realtime Neverwinter Nights with a giant helping of lag...and another shitty interface. At least I haven't fallen through the sky yet.
/jeep/ |
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Initial impression: a) Tom Chick an idiot, b) Zebco completely right by Senor Barborito 03/03/2003, 12:50pm PST 
Re: Initial impression: a) Tom Chick an idiot, b) Zebco completely right by Bokonon 03/03/2003, 12:57pm PST
Tom Chick hated Deus Ex, 'nuff said NT NT by Senor Barborito 03/03/2003, 1:02pm PST
So do I, heh N/T NT by Bokonon 03/03/2003, 1:10pm PST
Good to see you here, btw. by Senor Barborito 03/03/2003, 1:33pm PST
I think he came to see my sperm -nt- NT by Entropy Stew 03/03/2003, 2:05pm PST
WELL, WHERE IS IT?! N/T NT by Bokonon 03/03/2003, 2:28pm PST
In every post made to this site. In the heart of every child. In the gayetc -nt- by Entropy Stew 03/03/2003, 3:22pm PST
Re: Good to see you here, btw. by Bokonon 03/03/2003, 2:28pm PST
Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by Alternate789 03/03/2003, 3:43pm PST
Re: Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by Bokonon 03/04/2003, 1:24am PST
Re: Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by curst 03/04/2003, 8:19am PST
Re: Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by Ice Cream Jonsey 03/04/2003, 1:39pm PST
Re: Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by Bokonon 03/04/2003, 4:01pm PST
Re: Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by Bill Dungsroman 03/04/2003, 4:06pm PST
Re: Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by Bokonon 03/04/2003, 4:10pm PST
Re: Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by Ice Cream Jonsey 03/04/2003, 4:51pm PST
Re: Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by Bokonon 03/04/2003, 5:32pm PST
Re: Even if you go serious, make sure Gibbs still does interviews (N/T) by curst 03/04/2003, 5:54pm PST
SB's Dream Game by Mr. Palomar 03/04/2003, 11:40am PST
SO. FUCKING. ACCURATE. by Senor Barborito 03/04/2003, 11:56am PST
Re: SO. FUCKING. ACCURATE. by Jhoh Creexul 03/04/2003, 12:47pm PST
Re: SB's Dream Game by Bananadine 03/04/2003, 12:04pm PST
Game sucks anyway by jeep 03/04/2003, 12:11pm PST
Re: Game sucks anyway by Senor Barborito 03/04/2003, 9:40pm PST
Re: Game sucks anyway by foogla 03/05/2003, 4:47am PST
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