No sense of accomplishment

ACEofHeart · March 12, 2003, 10:41

Been playing for a week now . First without, then with some of MODS available.
And while you can use MODS to make the UI look better, make the AI more aggressive and give the TECHs more info, I fear there will never be any MOD or patch to make the end of a game really feel like any sense of accomplishment.
I really see why there's no Hall of Fame because they wouldn't be enough room to put all the names of planet Governors on one line.

Did they really think it was going to be an improvement on MOO2 when the player feels so detached ???
Games like CIV and Alpha Centauri altho needing patches still intially gave you a real sense of involvement in the final outcome.
While I don't hate the game (like the Star lanes) , It'll never stay on my hard drive the length of time it's predecesssor did.. !!
One final thought,, this seems more like it was an attempt to make Ascendency II than it was MOO3... anyone else feel that ?

moomaster · March 12, 2003, 10:48

I totally agree, MOO2 is ten times batter then MOO3, i thought it suppose to go the other way around.

Grumbold · March 12, 2003, 10:51

My sense of achievement has come from finally breaking the defences of some of the well defended planets, most notably the main New Orion homeworld. A lot of work is needed to make the game-end sequences fit the feeling of accomplishment that should come once the AI is stiffened up.

Don't really get you Ascendancy comment because the best bit of Ascendancy was the ship gadgets and turn based combat which was reminiscent of MOO1&2. Only the unaggressive AI is quite reminiscent of it.

ACEofHeart · March 12, 2003, 11:03

The way you traveled from Starlane to Starlane was VERY similiar in Ascendency..
The Diplomacy here is very similiar to Ascendency (cept for the screen) in how they talk and respond. (unintelligent comments)
The AI was very similiar ( almost non-existent)

I played Ascendency too for a long time before giving up on it ! So I'm not a quitter, just a realist..

Hydro · March 12, 2003, 11:31

I’m not sure yet. So far I’m exploring the game and enjoying its features. There seems to be a lot to find, and in some cases that is annoying since it should not be so obscure.

You are right that I don’t feel as personally involved as I did in SMAC, which is my all-time favorite game. But then, I never felt personally involved in Moo2 either, but loved it for the challenge and the options (like in Moo3, so far at least). At face value Moo3 has options, and perhaps too many of them.

I think Moo3 will succeed or not based on the patches. Right now the Senate victory seems hollow (too easy, or if not on the senate a surprise – I wouldn’t accept the ruling of some foofy senate I’d never heard of if I were a powerful empire on the galactic fringe…). I don’t know about the X victory, or conquer-the-galaxy option. That said, Moo2 seemed a bit hollow and I rarely finished a game (due to tedium) since for me the fun was surviving the early game. That is my hope for Moo3 – that the macromanagement innovations will allow more strategic decisions that (here is the important point) make a difference. I know I’ll feel more involved if there are rewards and consequences that flow from my policies. For me that is more important than a nifty “You Win!” movie at the end.

vmxa1 · March 12, 2003, 15:13

Well at least Moo3 is invoking a lot of mentioning of Ascendancy. Ascendancy II is suppose to be a MMO game, but I doubt it will ever get done.
The starlanes are reminesant of the game and the diplomacy is somewhat. I tend to think of Pax2 though as the tech is similar. But even Pax2 had a view of the planet and its structure as did Moo2. My guess is they looked at Pax2/Ascendancy/Star and SE.

Boris Godunov · March 12, 2003, 23:22

Is Pax2 any good? I've heard mixed things about it...

vmxa1 · March 13, 2003, 02:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
Is Pax2 any good? I've heard mixed things about it...

Well that is a tough one. It has a lot of micromanaging and a ton of tech. The game is not hard to grasp or play.
The spy stuff was broken IMO, but was not a big factor.
Combat is like SEIV. The game is real time.
I like it and play once in awhile, but it takes a lot of time and you need to keep an eye on the cities.
It works in XP for me.