Posted on: October 16, 2010

factor-h

Games: 18 Reviews: 4

How Orion started...

Back to 1991: There was a Game played in BBSs through FIDONET. It was a multi-player game, usually a round a day. You connected to the BBS, called that Game, and made your moves, colonization, spying, combat or posts to some player to make a temporary alliance. This game was named ESTERIAN CONQUEST, with as little as 4 players, 9, 16 or 25 (with similar progression of star systems). I found a review of it in an old e-magazine at http://www.textfiles.com/magazines/BTN/btn032.txt Version 1.50 was being played and I ear about a PC-Game that was based on this BBS-Game. Some things could not be copied, others could be added. Same patterns, similar experiences, different tastes. Both games seem the same, but are not. ESTERIAN, becomes complex in it's simplicity. Orion 2 is more like CIV, simple in the complexity. Orion 1 in between, but lacking multiplayer. Each is unique in the same kind ESTERIAN started!

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Posted on: October 11, 2016

Hamstergamer

Games: 0 Reviews: 2

Good game, but massively overrated.

I hate to be that guy, but somebody needs to write a negative review about MOO. Should you buy or play it? Yes. Should you swoon over this game as the best 4X ever even today? Please. Main issues (MOO1 oriented) : - Boring defensive battles where nothing happens. Combat is based off the notoriously broken d100 system : if you have high defense and/or high shields (very easy to do), you take no damage. So you get 5 minute "battles" where both sides deal zero damage. - Random events completely dictate the game. Early game is purely RNG based because of the planets you get. Random events "industrial accident" and "depleted minerals" can turn your best planet worthless forever. You can lose the game on bad RNG at the council every 25 years because a bunch of factions you never met voted for a faction you never met. - Spiteful AI. The AI doesn't try to win, the AI tries to make the player lose, whatever the costs. Seen clearly at the galactic council when a faction you are at war with votes for your rival instead of abstaining just to make you lose, literally making its own faction lose with that choice. - Diplomacy abusing AI. The AI can attack and even conquer entire planets without declaring war. So every single AI faction attacks the player on sight, which is clearly not what they do with other AIs. If the AI behaved the same way towards other AIs which in turn reacted the way they react to human attacks by instantly declaring war, AI factions would be constantly at war with each other, which is clearly not the case. - Hit and run is broken. In MOO, you can flee a battle with your entire army WITHOUT ANY PENALTY WHATSOEVER. Obviously abusable to a stupid level. - Orion is irrelevant. You can only beat the guardian once it's so late in the game that it doesn't matter anymore. Experienced players just ignore it. From someone who didn't grow up with it, if you judge it by today's standards, it just feels in like a really broken precursor to Heroes of Might and Magic, not the ultimate 4X experience.

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Posted on: February 9, 2024

jrg599

Verified owner

Games: 160 Reviews: 2

Love the game. GOG version is bugged.

I love Master of Orion 2. I still own my original CD from back in the day, and still played it up until I got Windows 10 and it no longer worked. I was so stoked getting it on GOG. Unfortunately the game is unplayable. It loads in black and white pixels that barely resemble the intro, and when going to the menu, everything stays black and white and distorted, and none of the menu items or anything work when clicked on. Not Windows 10 (and I assume 11 as well) friendly. It just doesn't work.

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Posted on: April 27, 2010

gognyl

Games: 228 Reviews: 2

MOO 1 - best 4X game ever!

A little "story" about MOO1 : i played so many with this fantastic space strategy that, that at the end i beated the impossible level too :) If You like the genre, don't miss this out!!!

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Posted on: February 11, 2014

dualed

Verified owner

Games: 60 Reviews: 1

Performance

Sadly on OS X the CPU usage is ridiculously high. Why would a current CPU be utilized 100% for a game that was not even using the full performance of CPUs of its age. This makes the intended playing scenario of "a few rounds on the go" impossible as the battery of my notebook is quickly drained. On Windows CPU usage is among the more expected 0-2%.

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Master of Orion 1+2

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