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
Amazing Games. Many Cheats. Such Wow.
