Master of Orion III

Master of Orion III

FAQ/Strategy Guide
By: Zhaneel
zhaneel69@hotmail.com
=============================================================================

Table of Contents

Version History [1-1]
Notes [2]
   Personal Notes  [2-1]
   Acknowledgements [2-2]
Introduction to the Game [3]
   For Players new to the Series [3-1]
   For Players of MOO2 [3-2]
Starting a New Game [4]
  The Main Menu [4-1]
    Game Options [4-1a]
  Choosing a Race (including customization) [4-2]
  Game Settings [4-3] 
Playing the Game [5]
  Your first couple of Turns [5-1]
  The Viceroy and You [5-2] ***
  Colonizing and Expanding [5-3] ***
    Development Plans [5-3a] ***
  All those tabs! [5-4] ***
  Spying [5-5]
  Task Forces [5-6] ***
  Victory [5-7]
Combat [6] ***
  Custom Ships [6-1] ***
  Space Combat Task Forces [6-2] ***
  Ground Combat Task Forces [6-3] ***
  Options before Combat [6-4] ***
Stats, Techs, and Numbers [7]
  Preset Race Modifiers [7-1]
  Magnate Race Modifiers [7-2]
  Initial Diplomacy Modifiers [7-3]
  Antaran X Benefits [7-4]
Multiplayer [8]
  Creating/Joining a Multiplayer Game [8-1]
    LAN Games [8-1a]
    IP Games [8-1b]
    GameSpy Games [8-1c]
  Playing a Multiplayer Game [8-2]
FAQ [9]
Mods and Links [10]
Copyright Info [11]

*** PLANNNED SECTION
===============================================================================

Version History [1-1]

Version 0.6
    * Updated FAQ portion, incorporated List of racial modifiers, moved some FAQ 
questions to appropriate sections, created sections for Starting a Game, Playing 
the Game, Combat, Multiplayer, Stats and Links.  Posted while sections are 
incomplete as requested.
Version 0.5 (3/3/03)
    *First version.  Contains on basic questions and some thoughts and opinions 
on game play and advice.  Lots of planned places for more information.

===============================================================================

Personal Notes [2-1]

I have not yet beaten the game.  I have played a couple of different races and 
galaxy settings. As such, I still don't have any notes on how to win the game at 
this point in time.  However, what I do have is some good general tips, some of 
the common questions from the official board, the GameFAQs board, and some other 
fan boards I have visited.  I plan on extending this FAQ and adding some more of 
the technical behind the scenes details and hints and tips as they come up and 
come to my attention.

I have chosen to use [#-#] as an easy way for people to find the section they 
are looking for.  Something I personally hate in other FAQs is the inability to 
search for information easily.  This work is copyrighted by me, and is only 
able to be displayed online at  and 
.  If anyone wants to contact feel free to e-mail me 
.  I will not reply to flames, "I hated this game", "You 
are stupid" or other juvenile responses.  I appreciate any corrections, both 
regarding grammatical and informational errors.  If you have a tip that you want 
included, go ahead and send it.  I promise to acknowledge you.

Acknowledgements [2-2]

I would like to thank my husband who preordered the game for me for Valentine's 
Day 2003.  I would also like to thank Clan Orko for turning me on to the MOO 
series in the first place.  I would also like to thank the hardworking 
programmers, design team and quality assurance testers at Quicksilver and 
Infograms for providing the game.  Finally, the people who post both questions 
and answers on the board have been great.  I tried to make sure to give credit 
where credit was due.  If you think I didn't credit you, let me know.

===============================================================================

Introduction to the Game - Thoughts and Overview [3]

For Players new to the Series [3-1]

Master of Orion III is a turn-based strategy (TBS) game.  This means you will 
have a turn to do a certain number of things, deal with repercussions of past 
choices and plan for the future.  Some things will take many turns to complete 
and some things will happen the next turn. 

You are playing a higher power controlling a galactic empire.  You start with 
one colony and a few simple ships and you want to nurture you empire into the 
best that is out there.  Either by killing all the competition or convincing 
them you really are the best.  There is another way to win: By finding five 
secret Antaran X technologies, but this is generally pretty hard to do and 
takes a long time.  There is a lot of neat backstory that is worth reading for 
any player, but it doesn't really affect gameplay all that much.  Your main 
opponents will be the New Orions, who start out technologically advanced and 
have control of the senate.  There will be other races vying to become the most 
technologically advanced, but they are more on your level.  This does not mean 
you should ignore them, only know that they should generally be below you.  Use 
them and abuse them to gain colonies, technology and money to help in your 
overall fight.

For Players of MOO2 [3-2]

While this is Master of Orion III, and therefore follows Master of Orion I 
and II, it is not the same as either one of them.  Just like there were tons of 
changes in both looks and gameplay between MOOI and MOOII, so are there between 
MOOIII.  Those of you going in and expecting to find a more graphically pretty 
version of MOOII with some updates are going to be disappointed.  This game is 
a completely new game, and should be treated as such.

The team at Quicksilver wanted to redesign MOO for many reasons.  I'm not going 
to pretend I know all of them.  However, one thing that was high on their list 
was to really have a view of controlling a galactic empire.  This is no easy 
task.  A galactic empire has billions to trillions worth of population to 
consider yourself with.  You could have anywhere from 1 to 150 systems, which 
can have 1-8 colonized planets.  This generally doesn't happen, as you don't 
want to colonize everywhere, but you can easily have 100 colonized planets in 
late game.  Do you really want your later turns to take over two hours to 
complete as you try to view each planet and give them orders?  I sure don't.  
So, Quicksilver introduced the Viceroy and gave the players the option to 
automate much of the play.  Which is representative of how an empire should be 
run.  Each colony shouldn't need the emperor's individual attention.  Only the 
ones having problems, the newly acquired ones and special production centers 
should see regular visits from the Emperor.

Many of the interfaces have changed.  There is no more corny Galactic News 
Network announcements (for good or ill).  Your scientists and spies no longer 
graphically tell you what they have discovered.  There is the Situation Report 
(SitRep) instead.  While this gives lots of good information, many people 
complain that it is too abstract and they lost the feeling of connection with 
their people.

You can no longer specifically choose what technology you want to research.  
You have to set goals (a little like Alpha Centari Blind) and just hope you are 
going down the right path.  And you no longer get specific information about 
how these technologies will affect your colonies in their description.  This is 
not necessarily a bad thing, as you have the general idea and the emperor 
wouldn't understand every piece of technology his scientists discover in 
reality.  I realize many players want this information in statistics, and I 
will endevour to find and post those.

I personally found the backstory very intriguing and I thought it was a neat 
way to connect all three games in the MOO series.  Some people disagree and 
think it sucks to have the mystique of the races removed and to know about the 
genetic experimentation, but I think it's a good thing.

===============================================================================

Starting a New Game [4]

The Main Menu [4-1]

When you first load the game (after watching the pretty cinematic) you have a 
couple of choices.  Obviously you can dive right in and start a new game [4-2] 
or you take some time to setup the options.  Once you've played a game, it is 
from this screen that you can load an old game or just start a new one with all 
the same settings as the last.  You can also start a multiplayer [8] game from 
this screen or quit the game.

Game Options [4-1a]
Here you can set your Music, sound and graphics preferences.  However, something 
very important are the Reminders.
Reminders: I personally think the incorporation of the reminders is a good 
idea.  It helps me return to reality as this game is easy to lose oneself in, 
just like its predecessors.  And they are pretty unobtrusive in the game.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Choosing a Race and customizing [4-2]

The first thing you have to do when you start a new game is pick your race.  
See below [Section 7-1] for information on each specific race.  Every race has 
inherent settings that you cannot change or choose from the customization 
screen.  Some races also don't allow certain customization choices.  In 
addition, each race will also have a set of planets that are "perfect" or the 
special spot.  This is also not changeable. But each race does have a little 
description and a box that tells you the four highlights of that race's 
strengths and weaknesses.  The four strengths and weaknesses are adjustable.  
Just click on the customize race button.  This will take you to a screen where 
you can change the different bonuses your race will have.  Since each race was 
already customized, changing those options will either take points or give you 
points to spend elsewhere.  You can start the game with points left over, and it 
will translate into a percentage increase of your score.  You cannot, however, 
start the game with negative points.

Once you have your race and any customization, you can just start the game now 
right?  Well, no not quite.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Game Settings [4-3]

It is in your game settings that you can adjust how hard or easy or what style 
of game to play.

If you like lots of random events (good & bad) go ahead and choose a high 
frequency of Specials.

Picking how many enemies is an important choice.  Too few and you will have 
trouble finding allies, but many have less wars and easier colonization.  Too 
many and you will be fighting from the get go, but you are more likely to have 
more friends.  This is also coupled with how large of a galaxy you choose.  Keep 
in mind the New Orions do not count in the number of enemies, so there will be 
X+1 computer opponents.

The turn length is important. If you have unlimited turn length, you're 
budgeting will be a little off as each turn is roughly 1.5 cycles, which makes 
no sense to me, but whatever.   If you have a set turn length you may find 
yourself with not enough time to complete all actions in a turn.  I recommend 
unlimited for beginning player to get used to the interface and setup.

The difficulty level is important as it sets the intelligence of the AI.  I have 
only played on Easy, but I'm a wimp and prefer to win.

The number of combats per turn is unclear to me at this time.  I don't know if 
they mean you can only have 6 space combats per turn, or if the number includes 
all space and planetary and ground.  I suspect it means # of space combats, 
other combats are included in that number.  The combat turn length in only for 
space combats.  I find the default of 10 min to be plenty of time.

The size of your galaxy will have a major effect on your game.  The Armed 
galaxies have a core and then edges.  The edges are not in the senate and are 
harder to colonize as they are farther apart.  The core, however, will be 
crowded and easier to scout.  The Clusters are more circular, which means more 
ways to get around and more back-end entrances to enemy territory.  Each galaxy 
type also has a max # of stars.  They are not in smallest to largest order, they 
are sorted by type, then size.  

I think a medium cluster with 6-8 opponents on easy, few specials, unlimited 
turn length, six combats per turn, and 10 minute combat limit is a good beginner 
setup.

TIP (from Micky Murgo): To get a feel for practice controlling your planets 
really well, start in a small cluster galaxy with 8+ opponents.  Sounds hard 
doesn't it?  At least on easy, not really.  Generally you will out tech everyone 
and will be able to get powerful ships sooner.  In addition, if you start as a 
member of the Orion senate you can get lots of treaties (which boost your 
economy and research) and alliances.  You also don't have as many star systems, 
but you can colonize by taking over other races planets, to get some of their 
specials and use it against them.  Because you are dealing with so few planets 
(overcrowded game) you can really get to know the ins and outs of dealing with 
planets while not worrying about overexpanding.

===============================================================================

Playing the Game [5]

NOTE: This FAQ will not be a repeat of the manual.  Please, please, please do 
yourself (and me) a favor and RTFM!  And the Readme.txt.  The Master's Notes are 
also somewhat helpful and don't forget about the in game encyclopedia.

Your first couple of turns [5-1]

When you start a game you will have one planet with a decent population, a 
couple of DEAs, 2 scout ships, 3 system defense ships and a colony ship.  I 
recommend sending your 2 scouts to the closest systems for scouting and 
colonizing any green or special spot in your home system with the colony ship on 
your first turn.  I also recommend setting your tech preferences up [#-#], 
setting the rest of your DEAs for you home planet [See FAQ for info on each type 
of DEA, to be moved], setting your finances [#-#], recruiting your first spy 
(EXPENSIVE, leave 100 AU free) [5-5] and a couple of Devopment Plans [#-#].  If 
this is your fist game, however, just do the scouting and the colonizing and 
reading the Master's Notes.

After your first turn you will have a lot of time to wait.  I try to have 
another colony or system colony ship out inside of the first 10-15 turns 
(depending on population growth and industry).  I always move my scouts to 
another system ASAP.  If I run into a Guardian, I take control of the combat and 
retreat to save my Scout.

General Tips: 
*Only colonize Green or Sweet Spots for your first 30 turns.  Unless there is a
    Magnate Colony, in which case, grab it!!!!  Even if it is Red.
*Make a system defense ship as your first military project in all new systems 
    (override Viceroy).
*Set Migration to all of your new colonies until they are at 5-7 population and
     growing on their own.
*Watch your food (minerals too if playing Mekklar, Cynoids, or Silicoids) to 
     make sure your population isn't starving.
*Decide what techs to concentrate on.  If you are a member of the Senate,
     Physical Sciences and Energy will help you keep a Military edge, while 
     Social and Econ will help you keep a diplomatic/trading edge.  If you are 
     not a member of the Senate, Concentrate on Social and Econ to improve your 
     expansions as fast as possible.
*If you are a member of the Senate, try to get Econ and Research Agreements with 
     as many other races as you can.  While your finances will suffer a little
     at the beginning, in the long run you will come out ahead.  And they are 
     less  likely to attack you.  Don't bother with the New Orions.
*Watch your spending.  You don't gain interest on a balance, like the manual 
     says, but you do get charged interest for a deficet.  I prefer keeping a 
     small (-30->100 AU) negative balance because I'm still earning +60 from the 
     last turn and only getting charge 3-4 AU each turn, which is worth it to me 
     to have more funds for research and grants.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Spying [5-5]

Spying is a very important part of MOO3.  Other empires will spy on you, which 
means they could steal valuable technology or destroy buildings or kill your 
leaders.  Conversely, you can spy on them and do the same thing.  I will discuss 
offensive spying, then defensive spying.  But first, some general tips.

If start of as a member of the Orion Senate, start training spies immediately 
and never stop.  You have contact with a large number of races and they will 
start sending spies against you as soon as you become more powerful than them.  
If you start training spies immediately, you will always have some available to 
you for offense and defense.  If you do not start off as a member of the Orion 
Senate, I suggest waiting until around turn 20 to start training spies.   This 
saves you money, which can be spent on planetary improvements and colonization, 
but still gets you started in time to have spies when you do make contact.  
Again, once you start training spies, don't ever stop.

Offensive Spying [5-5a]

In order to spy on other empires, you must already have contact with them 
[Section #-#].  You must also have trained spies.  Head to the Personnel tab, 
the Spies subtab and look at the righthand side.  This side consists of two more 
subtabs.  Active and List of Spies.  The Active tab will list the empires where 
you have active spies and how many you have in each empire.  The "List of Spies" 
is just that, and where you activate spies for duty.  In order to activate a 
spy, select the spy by their name and look at their stats.  There will be a 
"Insert Agent" button, which will expand out to allow you to choose which empire 
to attack.  The Spy will attempt to enter the Empire during the next turn.  If 
they succeed the following turn they will attempt their mission.  If they fail, 
they will keep trying.  When entering they can be caught and then you have to 
wait to see if they come back or die.  If the enter they will continually try to 
sabtage the enemy.  You will get updates on their progress in your SitRep, 
yellow stuff near bottom.  You can pull an agent back at any time by going to 
the Personnel Menu and Selecting the Empire and "Recall Agents" button.

There are 6 different Types of Spies, who have different missions.

Military: These spies will sabotage building fleets, shipyard buildings and 
ground troop support buildings.
Diplomatic: These spies will sabotage
Scientific: These spies will either steal tech or sabotage research efforts.
Political: These spies will try to assisinate any leaders the enemy has.
Social: These spies will create unrest in colonies to slow down production.
Government: These spies will blow up government buildings of the enemy.

Defensive Spying [5-5b]

Other empires blowing up your buildings?  Terrorizing your citizens?   You can 
protect yourself.  If you have unassigned spies, they will attempt to protect 
your citizens and catch spies.  You can also catch spies by increasing your 
oppresometer.  But be careful, your population may resent having you invade 
their personal space and become unhappy.  Consider increasing your spending 
toward unrest to prevent production falling.  After the spies are caught, reduce 
your oppressometer, if over maximum.  Some people recommend keeping your 
oppressometer at max at all times, but I think that can reduce research and you 
don't have to do it all the time.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Victory [5-7]

You can be victorious several ways, depending on what settings you chose in the 
setup.

If you are the sole empire active, and all others (including the New Orions) 
have surrendered to you, you win.  This is something you cannot turn off.  You 
must be very combat oriented to be able to win this way.

If you are elected to the Senate as President, you win (Dipolmatic Victory).  In 
order to do this, you have to have a balance of combat and diplomacy.  If you 
have this victory marked, however, you can lose if some race other than the New 
Orions is elected.  So, make sure to get in the Senate fast and prevent this 
from happening.  Work on discrediting your strongest opposition and making 
allies out of the weaker races.

If your empire finds all five of the lost Antaran Xs (and researches them, I 
think) you can win.  In order to do this, you must send out Expeditions.  You do 
this from the Victory Tab.  Once there, there is a subtab for the Antaran 
mission.  You have to click to send an expedition.  The computer will take ships 
from your reserves pool until it decides it has enough and sends out the 
expedition.  I think it is a good idea to wait until you have a large number of 
ships in reserves before hitting this, because otherwise you might lose valuable 
ships.  Many people recommend waiting until you have a large number of 1-2 
rounds of upgrades obsolete ships to put into reserves.  That way those ships 
are doing something useful and your newer ships won't have anyone dragging them 
down.  Some people recommend putting research labs on your ships, so that when 
they find an X they start researching it as they carry it back to your empire.
NOTE: You can still search for the Xs without this victory condition.  And it's 
a good idea, as you get many benefits from the Xs (see section #-# for more 
info).

===============================================================================

Combat [6]

===============================================================================

Stats, Techs, and Numbers [7]

Preset Race Modifiers [7-1]
From the OrionSector Encyclopedia Mod.  Which they got from the spreadsheets.

HUMAN  
Max Oppressometer  3 
War Tolerance  -1 
Research Efficiency  105% 
Senate Effectiveness  115% 
Relations Bonus  +25% 
Casus Belli Bonus  +6% 
Ground Combat Initiative  +30   

EVON 
Max Oppressometer  3 
War Tolerance  -1 
Research Efficiency  105% 
Senate Effectiveness  115% 
Relations Bonus  +25% 
Casus Belli Bonus  +6% 
Ground Combat Initiative  +30   

PSILON  
Max Oppressometer  3 
War Tolerance  -1 
Research Efficiency  130% 
Senate Effectiveness  115% 
Relations Bonus  +25% 
Casus Belli Bonus  +6% 
Population Growth Penalty  10% 
Ground Combat Initiative  +30   

MEKLAR 
Max Oppressometer  6 
Manufacturing Efficiency +40% 
Ground combat Initiative  +10 
Ground Combat Accuracy  +20 
Uses Bioharvest Output 50% and Mining Output 50% to Feed Population   

CYNOID 
Max Oppressometer  6 
Manufacturing Efficiency  +40% 
Ground combat Initiative  +10 
Ground Combat Accuracy  +20 
Uses Bioharvest Output 50% and Mining Output 50% to Feed Population   

SAKKRA  
Max Oppressometer  6 
Polution Tolerance  +25% 
Population Growth Bonus  +10% 
Ground Combat Initiative  +10 
Ground Combat Attack Strength  +20   

RAAS  
Max Oppressometer  6 
Polution Tolerance  +25% 
Population Growth Bonus  +10% 
Ground Combat Initiative  +10 
Ground Combat Attack Strength  +20   

GRENDARL  
Max Oppressometer  6 
Polution Tolerance  +25% 
Population Growth Bonus  +15% 
Ground Combat Initiative  +10 
Ground Combat Attack Strength  +20   

TRILARIAN  
Max Oppressometer  7 
Ground Combat Initiative  +20 
Ground Combat Evade  +30   

NOMMO  
Max Oppressometer  7 
Ground Combat Initiative  +20 
Ground Combat Evade  +30   

IMSAEIS  
Max Oppressometer  4 
Ground Combat Initiative  +20 
Ground Combat Attacks  +1   

EOLADI  
Max Oppressometer  4 
Ground Combat Initiative  +20 
Ground Combat Attacks  +1   

SILICOID  
Max Oppressometer  4 
Population Growth Penalty  25% 
Mining Effeciency  +40% 
Ground Combat Armor  +20 
Ground Combat Hit Points  +2 
Uses Bioharvest Output 0% and Mining Output 100% to Feed Population   

KLACKON  
Max Oppressometer  4 
Population Growth Bonus  30% 
Ground Combat Initiative  +10   

TACHDI  
Max Oppressometer  4 
Population Growth Bonus  35% 
Ground Combat Initiative  +10   

ITHKUL  
Max Oppressometer  6 
War Tolerance  +1 (More likely to have war declared) 
Senate Effectiveness  60% 
Ground combat Initiative  +10 
Ground Combat Rally Chance  +2 
Ground Combat Rout Chance  +2 (Less Routs)

/////////////////////////////////////////
Magnate Race Modifiers [7-2]
From the OrionSector Encyclopedia Mod.  Which they got from the spreadsheets.

AJADAR - Protoplasmic  
Max Oppressometer  4 
Ground Combat Rating  3 
Ground Combat Hit Points  +4   

ALKARI - Avian  
Max Oppressometer  4 
Ground Combat Rating  3 
Ground Combat Initiative  +40 
Ground combat Evade  +60   

AUDRIEH - Plant  
Max Oppressometer  3 
Polution Per Population  25% 
Ground Combat Rating  5 
Ground Combat Evade  +30   

BRYE-EHTS - NonCorporeal  
Max Oppressometer  6 
Ground Combat Rating  4 
Ground Combat Initiative  +30 
Ground Combat Evade  +60   

BULRATHI  
Max Oppressometer  5 
Mining Efficiency  +10% 
Ground Combat Rating  7 
Ground Combat Initiative  +20 
Ground Combat Attack Strength  +20 
Ground Combat Armor  +10 
Ground Combat Hit Points  +2 
Ground Combat Morale  +2 
Ground Combat Rally  +2   

DARLOCK - Metashifters  
Max Oppressometer  6 
Senate Effectiveness  85% 
Ground Combat Rating  3 
Ground Combat Initiative  +30 
Ground Combat Attack Strength  +20   

ELERIANS  
Max Oppressometer  5 
Unrest per Region  -30 
Ground Combat Rating  3 
Ground Combat Initiative  +10 
Ground Combat Accuracy  +10 
Ground Combat Evasion  +10 
Ground Combat Rally  +4   

GNOLAM  
Max Oppressometer  5 
Trade Level  +1 
Space Port Efficiency  +20% 
Trade Efficiency  +20% 
Ground Combat Rating  3 
Ground Combat Initiative  +10 
Ground Combat Rout  +2   

MRRSHAN  
Max Oppressometer  6 
Military DEA Efficieny  +40% 
Ground Combat Rating  4 
Ground Combat Initiative  +30 
Ground Combat Accuracy  +40 
Ground Combat Evade  +10 
Ground Combat Morale  +4   

PHAIGOUR - Fungal  
Max Oppressometer  4 
Military Maintenance  85% 
Population Growth Bonus  15% 
Ground Combat Rating  3 
Ground Combat Initiative  +10 
Ground Combat Evade  +120   

RHEA - Gargantua  
Max Oppressometer  4 
Ground Combat Rating  9 (Best) 
Ground Combat Attack Strength  +20 
Ground Combat Armor  +10 
Ground Combat Hit Points  +2 
Polution Per Population  200%   

///////////////////////////////////////////
Initial Diplomacy Modifiers [7-3]

Here is the list of initial starting relations.  This is how YOU see the races.  
Of course, it also works in reverse.  If there is no modifier, the starts off as 
neutral (0).  So, all humanoids are neutral towards each other.  (note: Thanks 
Thranxes)

New Orions, -20 every race. 
Harvestors, -150 every race except new orions, -10

(NOTE: Apply above to all below)

--Humanoid--, -38 Geodic, -60 Cybernetik, +50 Ichthytosian, +14 Insectiod, +30 
Saurians,  
--Etherian--, +40 Geodic, -65 Cybernetik, +40 Ichthytosian, +14 Saurian,  
--Geodic--, -38 Humanoid, +40 Etherian, -80 Cybernetik, -64 Insectoid, +30 
Saurian,  
--Cybernetik--, -60 Humanoid, -65 Etherian, +38 Geodic, +38 Ichthytosian, -14 
Saurian 
--Ichthytosian--, +50 Humanoid, +40 Etherian, +38 Cybernetik, -140 Saurian 
--Insectiod--, +14 Humanoid, -64 Geodic, -24 Saurian 
--Saurian--, +30 Humanoid, +14 Etherians, +30 geodic, -14 Cybernetik, -140 
Ichthytosian, +24 Insectiod

Example: You are playing Psilions (Humanoid).  There are the New Orions, The 
Harvesters, the Cynoids, the Silicoids and the Klakkon in your universe.  Your 
starting views on these races would be as follows:

New Orions: -20
Harvestors: -150
Cynoids (Cybernetik): -60
Silicoids (Geodic): -38
Klakkon (Insectoid): +14

Ow... this would be a very hard game with that many races hating you at first.  
You would want to cultivate a relationship with the Klakkons immediately, to 
raise your relations and get some treaties.  Then you would probably want to 
gift the Silicoids to raise them until you can start getting treaties, etc. 

Unless you are just out to kill everyone, in which case it doesn't matter.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////
Antaran X Benefits [7-4]
NOTE: Must be found AND researched for benefits.

  From Tentacle on the boards:
  Antaran X 1: Social Structure
   -Reduces Unrest by 7 in ALL regions 
   -Lower Heavy Foot of Government by .75
   -Raise Oppressometer upper limit by 1

  Antaran X 2: Antaran Outlook
   -Raise Oppressometer upper limit by 1
   -Increase Space Port taxes by 20%
   -All spy abilities increase by 1

  Antaran X 3: Scientific Approach
   -Increases Population Research effects by 1
   -Increases Overruns by 10 in all cases
   *From Freekill

  Antaran X 4: Genetics
   -Increase Luck for ALL leaders and spies by 10
   -Population growth +25%
   -Reduce terraforming costs by 20%

  Antaran X 5: Antaran Mystery Solved
   -Improves Mining, Bioharvesting, and Manufacturing by 20%
   -Reduces Pollution by 50%

===============================================================================

Multiplayer: [8]

This section is to help people setup those Multiplayer games as the manual is 
next to useless.  There are 3 different ways to play this game over the 
internet: LAN (local Area Network), IP (One player hosts and others join) and 
through GameSpy (GameSpy lists the games).  The two easiest are LAN and GameSpy.

Creating/Joining a Multiplayer Game [8-1]

LAN Games [8-1a]
LAN means that you and all other players are on the same Local Area Network, 
connected through a hub or switch.  You do not have to be connected to the 
internet to play this way.  Generally used when friends get together for a LAN 
Party or two friends bring their computers together for a weekend.  One player 
creates the game, and the rest of the players join.
For the Creator: Select LAN as your option, then hit create game (First box).  
Fill in your Player Name and you Game name, then hit create again (second box).  
Wait for players to request to join and allow them.  You'll see a list of the 
players in the third box.  When everyone has joined, hit Launch.  Everyone picks 
their race and the creator picks all the Game settings (universe size, specials, 
etc.)
For the Players: Select LAN as your option.  Wait for the Creator to create the 
game.  You should see it listed in your third box.  Click on it, fill in your 
user name and hit "Request Join."  The creator will accept or deny your request 
and then (if accepted) you'll be able to chat with the other players until the 
game is launched.  Pick/customize your race and wait for the Creator to set all 
the settings.

IP Games [8-1b]
I haven't gotten this to work.  All comments welcome!

GameSpy Games [8-1c]
There are two ways to create and find games through GameSpy.  You must have 
installed GameSpy Arcade in order to use the games hosted using this method.

Using GameSpy Arcade:
Start up GameSpy Arcade.  DO NOT LAUNCH MOO3.  Once you've logged in, pick 
Master of Orion III from your list on the left.  This should bring up a listing 
of the current games and from here you can join a game or create one.  You can 
even password protect your games through this method if you want.  Once everyone 
is in a game room and marked ready, the creator can launch the game, which will 
cause MOO3 to load and bring you directly to the multiplayer screen.  DO NOT 
change any settings or back up, or you will lose the connection to the game.  
Just wait until the creator launches again from here to be able to pick your 
race.  The Creator will be in charge of the game settings.

From in the Game:
I haven't been able to join a game through the server listing, but I'm behind a 
firewall and didn't have the arcade installed at the time of testing.  Comments 
Welcome!!

Playing a Multiplayer Game [8-2]

The only thing I'm putting here is THE CHAT BOX.  It is hidden up a the top of 
your display, under your summary area.  It is a small dropdown tab that you 
can't see unless you are looking for it.  Find it, expand it down and chat that 
way.  You cannot chat between turns and the scrolling is broken (IMO).  And the 
box is very small.  But at least its something.  The chat box will be on top of 
all your tabs/menus, so you will have to close it occasionally.

How you chose to do a multiplayer game is up to you.  If you want to play 
cooperatively, make sure to both be in the Orion Senate.  It is the only way to 
gaurentee the ability to have communication from the beginning.

===============================================================================

FAQs: [9]

*What are the different DEAs and what do they do?

Quicksilver wanted to encourage diversification and balance.  So each region can 
only support 2 DEAs (and a Spaceport DEA).

Each DEA increases the effeciency and amount of different points you can gain.

Farming DEAs make more food, which feed your people.  They are best in Plains, 
Fertile (Lush) and Green areas.

Minings DEAs make more minerals, which supply your industry.  They are best in 
Mountains.  I don't think biodiversity matters, but I could be wrong.

Industry DEAs use minerals and help make more production points.  They also 
increase your efficiency for making military and planetary installations.

Military DEAs help reduce unrest and will fight invaders.  You must have a 
military DEA to build any military infrastructure, such as a Mobilization 
Center.

Government DEAs help reduce unrest.  You need these to be able to build a system 
seat or any other government based planetary infrastructure.

Recreation DEAs reduce unrest.  They benefit from biodiversity, IIRC.

Research DEAs produce test tubes, which increases your efficiency for research 
spending to make Research Points (RP).

Spaceport DEAs (which you can't choose to build) trade with other planets 
spaceports and general revenue (AU).

/////////////////////////////////////////////////
*What is the best race?
  My first response is it depends on what type of game you want to play.  Choose 
a race based on that.  If you want to out research everyone, pick a race strong 
in research (or make one).  The Psilons are a good choice without  
modificatioins.  If you want to have a race that will just out expand everyone, 
pick the Klakkons.  If you want to never worry about food, give the Silicoids a 
try (they only eat minerals, so expansion could be slow and be aware that a 
diplomatic victory will be hard) or the Meklar or Cynoids (they eat half food 
and half minerals).  If you want a diplomatic victory, try the Humans or Evons.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////
*Why aren't I getting interest on my treasury balance?  
  This was an errata in the manaual.  For a full list of the errata in the 
manual, read the README.TXT file or see section [#-#] of this FAQ.

////////////////////////////////////////////////
*How do I turn off the Viceroy?
  You can turn off the Economic AI in each, individual planet screen.  This will 
prevent the Viceroy from resetting your economic sliders as well as filling 
anything into the queue.  I believe this also prevents him from decided which 
DEAs to build.  However, you cannot prioritize your DEA build orders, other than 
through Development Plans [#-#].

//////////////////////////////////////////////////
*I just got Hydroponic Farms [or other DEA improvement], how do I build them?
  You can't.  The DEAs and Viceroy will get around building these improvements 
as the money (via the economic slider) is available.  Also, your development 
plan will influence which improvements are built first.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*What do the three classifications of the regions mean?
  In the Planets Screen, there is a development tab where you can see a break 
down of each region.  The first Picture by a region is an indication of terrain.  
There are 3 types: Mountains, Broken and Plains.  In general, farms do best on 
Plains, farms and mines do okay on broken, and mines do best in the mountains.  
However, the manual indicates that certain races will have benefits that change 
this general rule.  The second icon is an indication of the biodiversity.  The 
greener the leaf, the more diversity.  Biodiversity will help with farming, 
research and (maybe) mining.  The third listing is an indication of how fertile 
the land is, ranging from barren to lush.  The more fertile the land, the better 
the farming is.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*What are the planetary Specials?
  You can find them in the README.TXT file on your hard drive or on the 2nd CD 
of the game.  I will include a listing later.
NOTE: You can import a mod from  to mod 
your encyclopedia to include the planetary specials and the racial modifiers.  
The current version is v2.0. 

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*What do I do about Unrest?
  There are several things that cause Unrest and several solutions.  You can 
find out specifically what is causing your unrest in the planet's demographic 
tab, and the Unrest Subtab.  Lets look at the different types of unrest and how 
to solve them.  

  Empire Unrest: This is most often caused by a Heavy Foot of Government (HFG), 
which is defined by your oppressometer (found in the Empire Tab) and racial/tech 
modifiers.  If it is set too high, your citizens get annoyed about being watched 
so closely.  Another cause of Empire-wide unrest is high Empire-wide taxes.  The 
setting for the taxes is found in the Finance tab, and the [blank] subtab.  A 
seldom cause is a recent government change.  A final cause could be you have 
violated a law passed by the Orion senate (if you are a part of the senate), 
which can cause unrest.

  System Unrest: Caused by too high of a system tax or pirates.  You can change 
the system tax in the Empire tab.  Pirates will plague your system if you have 
more colonies than ships.  In order to get rid of the unrest start building a 
system defense ship, usually pretty cheap.  You can also move an old task force 
to the system until the ship gets built to keep those Pirates at bay.

  Colony Unrest: Caused by too high a colony tax, decrease it to help (found on 
the planet screen).  Also, if you have a certain level of military funding 
designated (through the Finance Tab) and you are spending more than the allowed 
funding on military (yes, including colony ships) the colony will have unrest.  
You can also build recreation, military and government DEAs to reduce unrest.  
Building military units (infantry, etc.) may also help, especially if the colony 
is shared between you and another race.  Finally, if you are working your 
colonists too hard (dark red spending bars) they become unhappy.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*Why does my planet keep building out of date plans?
  Even though you've marked the ship design obsolete, the viceroy had still 
already planned to build ships, many turns in advance.  So, if you want to make 
sure there are no obsolete ships being built, mark the design obsolete.  Then go 
through every planetary military queue and delete the old ships out and put in 
your new one.  Or let the viceroy chose after you've cleared out the queue and 
hit the turn button.  Or mark the design obsolete many turns before you want 
that design to stop building, depending on the number of planets you have.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*What does the whole tech tree look like?
  It is different for each race and I don't have a full listing yet.  Look for a 
future FAQ.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*Why did they kill off my favorite race?
  I don't know.  They felt like it?  It made a good story?  Regardless, there is 
a chance to find a colony of these old races that you can use as forced labor or 
Magnate Colony.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*How do I make contact with other races?
  You must have a full colony within two starlanes of one of their colonies.  If 
you are a member of the Orion Senate, you automatically have contact with all 
other members of the Orion Senate.  But you will lose these contact if you leave 
the Senate or are kicked out.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*How do I get rid of opponent spies in my empire?
  You have two options: Increase your oppresometer (found in the Empire Tab), at 
the risk of making your population unhappy and causing unrest.  You can also 
have spies unassigned, who will automatically defend your empire.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*Why did the race I already had a trade agreement as for another one?
  They are either improving the treaty or re-upping it to make sure they don't 
lose that income.  Its worth your while to check on these and instigate them on 
your own.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*What do the different colors on the sliders mean?
  They are a representation of how efficiently your money is being spent.  A 
green, for every AU you spend you get a production (or research) point.  At 
yellow, its 2:1.  And the oranges and reds are worse.  This information can be 
found in your manual.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*What can I do with my old ships?
  1) You can scrap them for some money, which can use for one time grants or 
extra funds.
  2) You can send them to your new colonies to help fight pirates while your 
colonies build their first system defense force.
  3) From ThrawFett (on the boards): I just thought of a cheap way to get X's. 
Put all military ships (not troop, colony, or outpost) into Task Forces. Put a 
lot of cheap ships (or use obsolete) in reserves and send your expeditions. This 
will let you get rid of obsolete ships while sending out strong expeditions. 
Also, the computer randomly selects military ships from the reserves when it 
creates an expedition. To keep a ship 'safe', just put it in a task force.
  NOTE: You cannot refit older ships as in MOO2.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*I've built tons of Research DEAs, but I'm not researching any faster. What 
should I do?

  Research DEAs don't produce research in of themselves.  They produce Test 
Tubes, which increase the efficiency of your research spending.  You must fund 
the research using your economic sliders.  This will produce Research Points 
(RPs) which will go towards your projects.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*How do I defend against spies? (thanks to dakgm for most of these tips)

Set the Oppression meter to maximum (after you make your first contact) and 
leave it there for the entire game. In the Victory tab, you can see the rating 
of your oppression as "Heavy-footed government". The higher the number, the 
better your defense. You will also have high unrest, so be prepared to counter 
it beforehand (increase spending against unrest in the finance tab). 
 
Start making spies on the very first turn and never stop. When you meet the 
first race, you're already prepared. You have a screen full of spies to use as 
defense if necessary. In the Victory tab, check what rating your opponent has 
for heavy-footed government. Send your spies in when the rating is low. They are 
never prepared for the results! Then extract your spies and prepare for the 
counterattack. 
 
While you are doing all of this, research all of the spy tech. The spy tech is 
mostly in the Biology and Social schools. There's also some scattered in the 
Mathematics school. All the spy tech has an icon with a looking glass in the 
picture. 
 
You can always tell when the opponent is trying to send in spies. Watch for a 
message in the Sitrep. The message will either say your spies killed one of 
their's, or it will say your spies are putting the squeeze on all captured 
spies. This is your clue. 
 
If you kill spies, it will tell you who sent the spies. There is no political 
message like in MOO2 where you can tell them to stop spying, but there is a 
message that does the exact same thing. Go into the screen and "Threaten" the 
race that is sending spies. This will usually cause them to stop (unless your 
race is weak in military), but it can lead to war. 
 
Remember to always keep the Oppression meter at maximum. This irritates your 
population and helps to find the spies.  But if you have it at the max from the 
beginning, your population does get used to it over time. 
 
If you're sending in spies in large numbers to enemy territory, before long, you 
will usually get a leader that is really, really helpful for spies. 

Another helpful idea is to send it multiple spies at once.  You are more likely 
to get in at least one to do some damage.  Always extract them the turn after 
they do damage.  Don't leave them there to die.

Finally, look at the stats on each of your spies.  High Luck spies are better 
sent out than low luck.  High Cloak means that your spy will be able to hide 
easier.  This helps in getting the spy into a mission and back out again.  High 
Dagger is a representation of how likely the spy is to get away if captured.  
Finally, there is Loyalty.  This is how loyal the spy is to your empire.  Low 
Loyalty spies can be double agents!  It is a good idea to retire low loyalty 
spies before they cause you damage.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
How do I initiate Ground Combat:

1) Make Infantry/Marines/etc. at a System that has a mobilzation center or your 
home system.

2) Make a Troop Ship to have in reserves.

3) Go to "Ground Force Creation" from the Galaxy screen in the system you are 
wanting to pull troops from.

4) Create an army of your choice from your Infantry/Marines/etc. according the 
rules provided.

5) Click Create Force, which will take you to your space task force creation 
screen.

6) It will pull as many troops ships as it needs for all of your army.  I tend 
to just click accept.

7) The next turn your Troop Task force will come up.

8) Send it to the system you want to invade.  There should be no enemy ships in 
the region, and I prefer to have a military task force there while I'm invading.

9) When you transport arrives, you will have to choose the following when the 
combat screen comes up:

System Combat: Control Combat/Assualt Planet [if no ships in system, you will 
get an auto victory]  NOTE: You must control the combat here to be able to land 
troops

Planetary Bombardment: Control Combat, again you must control here if you want 
to land troops.
Go ahead and bombard at this point if you feel like it, to reduce the ground 
forces on the planet.  Then choose one of the following: Land Troops or Land all 
Troops

Land Troops will land one of your armies.  Land all Troops will land all (duh).  

At this point, the troop transport that were carrying those troops will disband 
and head to the delay box.

Ground Combat Scheduler: I think at this point you can either let the AI handle 
it or do it yourself.  I prefer doing it myself.  And from here you can start 
debating the points of how to run the combat.

See pages 138-140 for the Planetary bombardment and Ground Combat screens and 
info.

===============================================================================

Mods and Links [10]

http://www.orionsector.com ages/mods/
This has a ton of mods available.  I personally really only like the 
Encylcopedia mod, so that the planetary specials and the race info is easy to 
have at hand.


===============================================================================

Copyright Info [11]

Copyright 2003 Dawn Burnell (Zhaneel)
 
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, 
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed 
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web 
site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation 
of copyright.

This is an unofficial FAQ and has been in no way sponsored by Infograms or 
Quicksilver.

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