The Sky's the limit - a MOO3 Tachidi AAR - soundtrack by Nik Kershaw

Anguille · July 30, 2012, 09:04:21 AM

With all these space games coming out (including old ones on GOG), i've got the inch to start a single player game....my choice falls on MOO3 an old favorite of mine, which i play on my netbook which will allow me to continue the AAR even when i travel (my other option would have been Reach for the Stars).

I selected the Tachidi which are the race i've played the most, on medium difficulty (with all the Bhruic patches and some graphic mods, not sure which). Homeplanet is Juza. Senate Victory has been taken out....this is a wargame forum after all ;).

Martok · July 30, 2012, 10:12:05 AM

Well this should be different. Looking forward to more!

Anguille · July 30, 2012, 10:35:41 AM

Hi Martok!

We are lucky, Juza II (name will be changed), is a colony of the Phaigour, a friendly magnate race. We decide to colonize it...this additionnal population will give our empire a strategic boost in the beginning of our race to the stars.

Another good news is that we are in the Orion Senate...the bad news is that there's just us, the New Orions and some freaking Silicoids who happen to hate us...we still decide to send them a diplomatic proposal for an economic agreement...hopes are small though.

We ask our scientists to focus on physics (we want cruisers and fast!) and energy sciences...of course we won't neglect biology sciences...the forthcoming hydroponic farms are important to feed all these Tachidis....Tachidis eat...a lot!

Bison · July 30, 2012, 10:43:41 AM

Looking forward to more. I've never played MOO3.

Anguille · July 30, 2012, 11:10:40 AM

You're welcome Bison!

Juza II has been colonised...it will be renamed Phaigour Prime.

While we were sending a proposal to the Silicoids, they were preparing to impose sanctions on us...this isn't going to be a friendly relation... ???

but hey...this might be fun!

So let's have a look...they are not very far away but the way to the Silicoids is going through the core of the galaxy where the New Orions are located...we still have some time before we have some concrete physical contact with them. Meanwhile we will visit the rest of the arm of the galaxy we're in while building up our fleet.

Martok · July 30, 2012, 01:14:49 PM

Quote from: Anguille on July 30, 2012, 10:35:41 AM

We are lucky, Juza II (name will be changed), is a colony of the Phaigour, a friendly magnate race. We decide to colonize it...this additionnal population will give our empire a strategic boost in the beginning of our race to the stars.

That's a nice little bonus, all right. I can't remember, though -- how often do they show up in your own home star system? That's gotta be at least somewhat uncommon.

Quote from: Bison on July 30, 2012, 10:43:41 AM
Looking forward to more. I've never played MOO3.

You probably wouldn't have enjoyed it when it first came out! However, the game seems to have since gained a bit of a following (including our own Anguille and Jarhead), which was further helped when a number of (apparently) well-done mods were released.

Jarhead0331 · July 30, 2012, 01:21:28 PM

Very glad to see this AAR Anguille. Keep it up. Might just start a game up of my own now...

Anguille · July 31, 2012, 03:23:11 AM

Hi Jarhead! :)

@Martok...actually it's a huge bonus as it doubles the population of my empire. It is indeed uncommon and it's random.

To give some perspective, here's a zoomed out view of the galaxy.

The New Orions are right in the middle

My two core planets will produce a lot of colony ships....if we want to keep up with the Alien Nations, there's no time to waste...

Anguille · July 31, 2012, 03:29:55 AM

As you could see in my previous post, one of our task force has visited the Mentar system...we're happy there's no Guardian looking at the abandonned planets of the Psilons....lots and lots of great planets! We select all the potential colonies. As soon as they are produced, colony ships will directly go there (i do not play with automatic colonization but colony ships will aim automatically to the planets i select).

On Tachidi, the shipyards work hard to produce our first colony ships....some engineer thougth that we needed a new scout but we decide to scrap it...our two current scout task force are enough.

Martok · July 31, 2012, 05:15:55 AM

Quote from: Anguille on July 31, 2012, 03:23:11 AM

@Martok...actually it's a huge bonus as it doubles the population of my empire.

Trust me, I'm aware! That was a case of wry understatement on my part, which is difficult to get across using only text. :P

Quote from: Anguille on July 31, 2012, 03:23:11 AM

It is indeed uncommon and it's random.

That's kinda what I figured.

Although magnate races aren't rare in and of themselves, are they (just that it's rare for them to show up in someone's starting home system)? I seem to recall having run into a fair few of them back when I was playing the game.

Quote from: Anguille on July 31, 2012, 03:29:55 AM
As you could see in my previous post, one of our task force has visited the Mentar system...we're happy there's no Guardian looking at the abandonned planets of the Psilons....lots and lots of great planets!

Wait, the Psilons were one of the "dead" races in MOO3? I mean, I knew some of them had been eliminated by the ~~devs~~ Anterans (the Elerians, Darlock, Bulrathi, and I forget who else), but I thought the Psilons survived...?

Anguille · July 31, 2012, 08:04:28 AM

Quote from: Martok on July 31, 2012, 05:15:55 AM
Wait, the Psilons were one of the "dead" races in MOO3? I mean, I knew some of them had been eliminated by the ~~devs~~ Anterans (the Elerians, Darlock, Bulrathi, and I forget who else), but I thought the Psilons survived...?

Ah...i see you're paying attention 8)

Sometime, during the Dark Age, the Psilons seem to have moved away from their home system Mentar (actually i think it's the case for all the races). It is indeed possible to play them. On the other hand, you can find colonies of Elerians, Darloks, Gnolams, Alkaris, Bulrathis and Mrrshans...you just can't play them. And they are not in the original homeworlds either....

Anguille · July 31, 2012, 08:29:46 AM

We decide to lower the oppressometer a little bit...we don't want our people to start revolting. We also keep the budget's policy on "peace and prosperity" so 90% of the budget should go into building up the colonies and the DEAs (Dominant Economic Activities) of the different regions.

Galactic Cycle 6 (turn 4): the Silicoids declare war on us but we're not afraid.

On Phaigour Prime, an industrial DEA is almost finished, closely followed by a mining DEA....we're already in the red and we have another industrial DEA coming up on Tachidi (each uses 15 points of minerals per turn)...we do not have enough minerals to fulfill the needs of our industrial base...we need more mining DEAs...this will be our next task.

Anguille · July 31, 2012, 09:07:21 AM

On Phaigour Prime, two new mining DEA's will soon produce enough minerals for our industries on Tachidi.

Meanwhile, our scientists have created the first Hydroponic Farms which will be constructed wherever possible.

On Galactic Cycle 13.5 (turn 9), our scouting task forces explore 2 new systems: Cerva and Rhea. While Rhea proves to be uninteresting, we discover a colony of the Audrieh in Cerva....

Finally, our first colony ship is coming out of the shipyards and the first batch of colonists is moving to Mentar.

Anguille · August 02, 2012, 06:34:38 AM

Galactic Cycle 18.0 (turn 12)

We finally colonisied Mentar V. Meanwhile, mining and industrial DEAs continue to be built on Tachidi and Phaigour Prime. This will allow us to have a solid basis for our future plans of conquest and battles.

We also start to recruit spies for the internal defenses.

A government DEA is now planned on Tachidi to improve taxing and production. We also improve the shipyards capacities on Phaigour Prime so it will also be able to build colony ships.

Galactic Cycle 22.5 (turn 15)
A colony ship is sent to Cerva in order to bring the Audrieh into our Empire. Our investments in Physical science is finally bringing up some concrete results: 2 types of Mass Drivers will soon be available.

We finally have a leader helping us in science. The fact that he's not a bonus in diplomacy isn't a problem as we currently have noone to really talk to...

Anguille · August 02, 2012, 06:51:40 AM

Our scouts discover the old homeworld of the Klackons...the mytical Kholdan! The planets are not as good as in the Mentar system but it's a great system nonetheless leading to Orion...it's a key choke point.

In the Tromelai system we discover a colony of another magnate race...the Rhea. It's seems the Tachidis will be only part of a multicultural nation.

Last but not least, during the scouting of the Kawauka system, we discovered a wormhole leading to the end of the arm of the galaxy where the Silicoids are....we will attack them from both sides! Muahaha!