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Master of Orion seriesTUTORIAL: Master of Orion 3 Tropical Mod - patched & confirmed, Windows 7 x64 - (47 posts)(47 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 14, 2012
high rated
For the three people out there who want to get this game working in some kind of a playable fashion, I just wanted to post that it IS doable with the gog version, and how to do it. This is not that complicated if you are not afraid to go poking around in the application directory.

First: I downloaded the "Tropical" mod from here: http://www.moo3.at/mods/ - If there is a later/better version of tropical, I'd love to hear about it - I just literally got to doing this this morning and didn't poke around too hard to find the mods. Presumably this also works with "Strawberry" and "Vanilla" as well. I'm currently not vouching for the quality of the patches as I am just checking them out myself, but how to get them installed.

WARNING: the only thing that WILL NOT WORK is windowed mode. There's nothing currently that can be done about this unfortunately as windowed mode runs in some kind of weird 16-bit mode that does not play nice with 64-bit windows. This is literally the only problem.

Steps:
#0: Download Moo3 from Gog and the mod of your choice from the mod site, above.
#1: Install Moo3.

#2: Back it up! Just copy the whole install directory and paste it right back into the gog directory. It'll back up everything into "Master of Orion 3 - Copy" - this is much easier to restore than from the install.

#3: Extract the mod package to its own directory and DELETE moo3.exe - we won't be using it, but rather the GOG (drm-free) moo3.exe. THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you don't delete the pre-modded executable you will be starting over.

#4: Copy the contents of the mod directory into your Moo3 directory. All of it. Make sure you click "yes" to the copy confirmation and to REPLACE the original files.

#5: Run Moo3Patcher.exe - this is what will apply the patches to the GOG moo3.exe.

- this next step is critical -

#6: Underneith the patch window is a window That says "Moo3DLL.dll" - there's an install button next to it. press it. If it can't find the file, browse to the Moo3DLL.dll file in the moo3 directory. This is from the mod files. You want this.

#7: Some tedium: You have to manually patch in all the patches you want in the window above - just click on it and hit 'patch'. If it is successful, it'll say so in the status column. If it's not successful, make sure you did step 6 (only an issue for the ones that say "Yes" in the dll column), and that in the bottom window it's pointing to the Moo3.exe file to patch. There must be a typo in the patcher database because on one patch (forget which) this has an extra "\" in the directory string and it needs to be re-pointed to the Moo3.exe file.

#8: Apparently patching in SenateVictory breaks Allied Victory, and vice-versa. if you patched in AV first. You just need to "unpatch" Allied victory, and then "repatch" it. Oh well. Pick one.

#9: DO NOT PATCH IN WINDOWED MODE. Don't say I didn't warn you.

If you follow/ my instructions you should be able to get every patch in with the exception of the SV/AV which are exclusive for some reason.

Enjoy
-Aperion
Posted July 15, 2012
Also, I strongly recommend downloading and installing the "1024x768 MOD II: Battle At Aruspex" graphical mod, also hosted at the same site as above. it makes much better use of the screen real estate and is generally a better experience overall. Install this after 'tropical". It's not a patch, just extract and overwrite.
Posted September 06, 2012
This is great, thanks a lot. I just did this and have only one small problem. After building the relevant ship platform, I have to wait a round to put the higher level ship in the build queue. This is a problem when you have over 700 planets!. I have to scroll down the Planets and find those with an empty build queue to build the required ship after the next round starts. eg you should be able to build Battleships once the Automated Assemby Module is built if the tech is researched but I have to wait a turn. Do you know what to do to fix this?
Thanks again
avatar
apierion: For the three people out there who want to get this game working in some kind of a playable fashion, I just wanted to post that it IS doable with the gog version, and how to do it. This is not that complicated if you are not afraid to go poking around in the application directory.

First: I downloaded the "Tropical" mod from here: http://www.moo3.at/mods/ - If there is a later/better version of tropical, I'd love to hear about it - I just literally got to doing this this morning and didn't poke around too hard to find the mods. Presumably this also works with "Strawberry" and "Vanilla" as well. I'm currently not vouching for the quality of the patches as I am just checking them out myself, but how to get them installed.

WARNING: the only thing that WILL NOT WORK is windowed mode. There's nothing currently that can be done about this unfortunately as windowed mode runs in some kind of weird 16-bit mode that does not play nice with 64-bit windows. This is literally the only problem.

Steps:
#0: Download Moo3 from Gog and the mod of your choice from the mod site, above.
#1: Install Moo3.

#2: Back it up! Just copy the whole install directory and paste it right back into the gog directory. It'll back up everything into "Master of Orion 3 - Copy" - this is much easier to restore than from the install.

#3: Extract the mod package to its own directory and DELETE moo3.exe - we won't be using it, but rather the GOG (drm-free) moo3.exe. THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you don't delete the pre-modded executable you will be starting over.

#4: Copy the contents of the mod directory into your Moo3 directory. All of it. Make sure you click "yes" to the copy confirmation and to REPLACE the original files.

#5: Run Moo3Patcher.exe - this is what will apply the patches to the GOG moo3.exe.

- this next step is critical -

#6: Underneith the patch window is a window That says "Moo3DLL.dll" - there's an install button next to it. press it. If it can't find the file, browse to the Moo3DLL.dll file in the moo3 directory. This is from the mod files. You want this.

#7: Some tedium: You have to manually patch in all the patches you want in the window above - just click on it and hit 'patch'. If it is successful, it'll say so in the status column. If it's not successful, make sure you did step 6 (only an issue for the ones that say "Yes" in the dll column), and that in the bottom window it's pointing to the Moo3.exe file to patch. There must be a typo in the patcher database because on one patch (forget which) this has an extra "\" in the directory string and it needs to be re-pointed to the Moo3.exe file.

#8: Apparently patching in SenateVictory breaks Allied Victory, and vice-versa. if you patched in AV first. You just need to "unpatch" Allied victory, and then "repatch" it. Oh well. Pick one.

#9: DO NOT PATCH IN WINDOWED MODE. Don't say I didn't warn you.

If you follow/ my instructions you should be able to get every patch in with the exception of the SV/AV which are exclusive for some reason.

Enjoy
-Aperion
Posted September 22, 2012
One should make this topic sticky, this is really useful!
Thank you apierion!
Posted September 23, 2012
avatar
apierion: #7: Some tedium: You have to manually patch in all the patches you want in the window above - just click on it and hit 'patch'. If it is successful, it'll say so in the status column. If it's not successful, make sure you did step 6 (only an issue for the ones that say "Yes" in the dll column), and that in the bottom window it's pointing to the Moo3.exe file to patch. There must be a typo in the patcher database because on one patch (forget which) this has an extra "\" in the directory string and it needs to be re-pointed to the Moo3.exe file.
Thanks for the GoG MOO3 exe tips apierion :)

On this point #7 do you know which are good to patch and which are not? I guess it depends on which version of Tropical you are running and so far this is a list of mods that have been indicated as 'incompatible' in the Moo3 Patcher program that i know about, so they are ones to NOT patch into the GoG Moo3 exe:

1. FighterSpeed
2. GalaxyConfiguration
3. MissileSpeed
4.Orbitals
5.QueueMultiplier /(marked as 'incompatible' in Tropical V1.3.10)
6.StarlaneEvent /(marked as 'incompatible' in Tropical V1.22Complete)
7.SystemDefenseTF

Where not comented they are marked as 'incompatible' in both V1.22Complete and V1.3.10.

You also have the general rule of never patching 'WindowMode' into the game as you mentioned.

As i'm new to this, one of the big frustrations is the difficulty to find the latest versions of Mods and also good information on what is a good 'safe' mod list to play with, for example in the (presumably?) later V1.3.10 version, that introduces a 1024x768 screen but also a bug that causes some tabs to 'hang' which freezes the game for around 30 seconds each time!

So getting good information on what mod packs work well would be really helpful, OR maybe the best way is to build it all yourself? Any advice for all this would be greatly appriciated.
Posted September 27, 2012
Fantastic! So you know, there is a newer version of Tropical and Vanilla, and Chocolate is also avail, all here: http://www.mediafire.com/?bab6i5ezwj6u1

Also, if you have missing .DLL errors from the patcher, instal the very latest version from here: http://bhruic.dyndns.org/patcher/downloads.php

That one took me a bit to figure out ^_^
Post edited September 27, 2012 by The_Alchemyst
Posted October 08, 2012
The latest Tropical v1.3.10+1.3.11update is not quite ready yet i feel. So i prefer to stick with the older v1.22 Complete edition (which requires the re-patching to use the non cd checking GoG Moo3.exe as outlined by the OP).

To add to apierion's tips i'd add you need to do a little more work also (as i have found out). Bhuric's pathces are not the only patches the Tropical (or Strawberry or Vanilla even!) mods add to the Moo3.exe so you need to check the readme file of which ever mod you want to get working with your GoG version.

Then look to apply ALL the same patches for that Mod version, so you need to also look for Gerra's mods as well as any other used in which ever mod version you decide to go with. It can be a slow process as it is pretty easy to 'break' things and if so you'll start to get the dreaded 'Direct X' errors (which more or less means starting the process over!).

So once you have installed your GoG Moo3 game, make a complete copy of that and keep it seperate away from the main install directory (i put mine on another hard drive partition).

Then you can start the paper-work research on seeing what mods you need to find to re-build the no-cd checking GoG version to the same level as the original Mod's version.

I've posted a number of links in the 'Useful Moo3 Sites' thread to find most of the stuff you might need.

Currently i'm using Vanilla v1.5 as a base to rebuild a Tropical-like GoG based Moo3.exe on. It's a slow process as i'm also modding the game and testing as i go!
Posted January 02, 2013
Thank you all for the useful info!
Posted February 09, 2013
Sorry for the noob question but my poor English makes difficult for me to find on game community boards and comprehend the difference in Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate and Tropical...

Could anyone give me some advice please: I don't want any user-made stuff, only to improve original game, get rid of bugs and issues, maybe enhance graphics (resolution and colors). What set of mods should I choose? Should I download Bhruic-Gerra, Gofur-Haruspex separately or something from it is already included in Straw-Van-Choc?

Thanks in advance.
Posted March 26, 2013
I downloaded and applied the Tropical mod V1.21 from www.moo3.at. I used most of the mods/fixes, and was hit by what I'm assuming is the "slow tech" bug, though, I had applied the fix for it. This is slightly amusing, since I did play this game when (with in a year) it came out, and never experienced this bug.

I've seen posts for newer versions of the Tropical mod, I'm wondering if I should seek these out, or just not apply that fix from version 1.21?

Does anyone know of a current working mod set with the gog version of Moo3 in mind?
Posted April 01, 2013
the 1.22 has some bug fixes for tropical 1.21
all the mods work whit the GOG version as far as i know
just keep the gog exe and applay the bhruic patches and only after bhruic applay gerra
applaing a bhuric patch after a gerra patch can kill the exe
if you wish to play in a window mod you need to set the color of the desktop to 16 bit
set the speed of opening the menu to fast thers abug in the game (from day 1) that hangs the game wen you open a menu on normal speed

to Visvald
vanile is bugfix only
but Strawberry is better, it has some fixes that are not stricly bugs
gofur is in Strawberry just add Haruspex

Chocolate and Tropical are true mods chiging the way you play

you can find the files in
http://www.mediafire.com/?bab6i5ezwj6u1


avatar
Chargeit: I downloaded and applied the Tropical mod V1.21 from www.moo3.at. I used most of the mods/fixes, and was hit by what I'm assuming is the "slow tech" bug, though, I had applied the fix for it. This is slightly amusing, since I did play this game when (with in a year) it came out, and never experienced this bug.

I've seen posts for newer versions of the Tropical mod, I'm wondering if I should seek these out, or just not apply that fix from version 1.21?

Does anyone know of a current working mod set with the gog version of Moo3 in mind?
Post edited April 01, 2013 by danielboro
Posted July 23, 2013
Strange thing, but in my case only Tropical ver. 1.21 is working properly. In case of Vanilla, Strawberry and Tropical 1.22 - patcher is crashing, giving a missing dll's messages. What's more, Battle at Aruspex crashed the game directx surface error...
Posted December 28, 2013
Does this work for Mac? How about Windows 8? I tried to install Birth of the Federation onto Win 8 on my mac, and have nothing but problems, since minimum resolution is 1024X768 I think.

So how will this work for me?
Posted March 12, 2014
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PAK: Strange thing, but in my case only Tropical ver. 1.21 is working properly. In case of Vanilla, Strawberry and Tropical 1.22 - patcher is crashing, giving a missing dll's messages. What's more, Battle at Aruspex crashed the game directx surface error...
I am having the same issues. Every time I try to run the patcher, I get a "can't start because can not find MFC71.DLL" error. I am slightly familiar with what this error entails but I can find NO information on this even though the problem has happened to many people.

They just have no solution or link to some site to download .dll files. Lol, no thank you.

So, since I am sure some people have had to run into this issue trying to patch the mods, can I get some help please!! :-)
Posted March 12, 2014
avatar
PAK: Strange thing, but in my case only Tropical ver. 1.21 is working properly. In case of Vanilla, Strawberry and Tropical 1.22 - patcher is crashing, giving a missing dll's messages. What's more, Battle at Aruspex crashed the game directx surface error...
avatar
Darkeus: I am having the same issues. Every time I try to run the patcher, I get a "can't start because can not find MFC71.DLL" error. I am slightly familiar with what this error entails but I can find NO information on this even though the problem has happened to many people.

They just have no solution or link to some site to download .dll files. Lol, no thank you.

So, since I am sure some people have had to run into this issue trying to patch the mods, can I get some help please!! :-)
I managed to solve this out. First, I dl'ed those missing dll's (in my case there were two of them) - just google them and for sake of security install them manually (in winxp - copy them into system32 folder iirc). Second - I realised that I was trying to use older version of those mods. In mediafire sort those files by the date of the modification and download the latest. I managed to run the latest tropical without a problem. Some additional info can be found here:
http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=6576.30
But be warned - work on those mods apparently was stopped, but they are not fully stable. I was playing with tropical and strawberry, iirc, and later in the game crashes (directx layer error) started to occur when browsing the colony list (in my case it was when I had 20 or 30 colonies). I didn't found any remedy and stopped playing.
Post edited March 12, 2014 by PAK
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Master of Orion seriesTUTORIAL: Master of Orion 3 Tropical Mod - patched & confirmed, Windows 7 x64 - (47 posts)(47 posts)
(47 posts)