Master of Orion IV

[JudgeDredd]

Well - I have officially completed my first ever 4x game to a conclusion. Take that as you will.

I played with 3 AI on a medium system.

I was super strong on combat but didn't actually get to use it...I managed to win by watching who had the most votes on the "galactic council" and when I thought the time was right, I bribed the Humans with most of my credits to vote for me.

A few turns through the game and another galactic council meeting was held. Myself and the Humans were up for election. I had paid the Humans a bribe to vote for me, which they did with the biggest chunk of votes between all 4 parties. The other two AI factions abstained and I voted for myself, pushing me over the requirement level and booyaka...I ruled the galaxy. Game over.

I liked it. I agree it's quite simplistic at present - but it is locked to normal difficulty (or average - can't remember). I got the feeling it was borrowing heavily from Civ though...not just in presentation, but in how it "leads" you. And it definitely has the "one more turn" vibe going on.

Still - it's well presented and I enjoyed it - and as I said - it's the first time, EVER, I have completed a 4x game. It's definitely along the right tracks.

[JudgeDredd]

Meant to say - in terms of combat, I really had nothing to do - at least in this game. All I had to do was fight off some pirates occasionally. And most of them were taken out with my sentry bases.

I was building up a big armada. I had a fleet 16k strong and the next closest was the humans with 12k. I was going to try and get one of the AI to help me attack the Humans, but as I had already invested all my money into bribing the Humans to vote for me, I didn't want to risk that...but had the bribe not worked out in them voting for me or me winning, I would definitely have tried to get another faction to help me take them out.

Also I found Morale to be a paint to manage. Early on, there's a tech (I think it's government buildings) that helps with morale...but I don't think I came across another tech to help with that until a few turns before I won. I regularly had strikers on my planets. I eventually got civilian transports built and was able to ferry one or two pop onto another world I had conquered.

[Anguille]

Small patch released  :D

Notes about our first patch

Please remember that our game is still in development, some changes may be subject to further review. We are eager to get your feedback! Some of the things that we are testing are:

•Improvements in the AI.
•A more varied galaxy in terms of planet classes and mineral richness (please remember to randomize the seed to try different generated galaxies).
•Balance adjustments for a more hardcore experience.
•Scale and speed adjustments in tactical battles to make room for a bigger playfield.

See the full list of changes:

General

•Added flag checkbox to un-colonized planets.
•Fixed soft-lock in victory/defeat popup.
•Fixed soft-lock in Planet Review.
•Fixed issue on fleets visibility after Share Charts.
•Fixed Fleet Icon visibility when different fleet hull sizes are docked in the same navigation node.
•Fixed Fleet Icon in the Galaxy map when fleets depart to an anomalies.
•[Ship Design] Fixed exploit that allowed to create fully loaded ships paying as empty ships.
•Fixed issue with Galaxy Generator (Orbital distribution).
•Turn limit indicator removed in path to victory when Excellence Victory disabled.
•Now the Game acknowledges that it can't store save games and popups a warning.
•Fixed freeze when demanding a Colony at the same time as asking for a vote in the Galactic Council.

Balance •[Galactic Council] Changed trigger condition from all races knowing both candidates to all races knowing each other.

•[Galactic Council] Implement a minimum turn for triggering galactic council.
•[Balance] Galaxy ages are now more different from each other (MoO2 style).
•[Balance] Large and Huge planets chances slightly increased in the Galaxy Generator.
•[Balance] Changed BC progression and starting structures upkeep.
•[Balance] Costs for Ship Upgrade and Buyout increased.
•[Balance] Command Points exceeded changed from 10 to 20BC.
•[Balance] Marine barracks now give +5% Morale.
•[Balance] Capitol morale bonus reduced to 25% (from 30% ).
•[Balance] AI Opening now end at turn 1 (AI performs better with this restriction).
•[Morale] Taxes start affecting morale with 1BC per population.
•[Morale] Race base morale now starts at 100%
•[Balance] Removed the cohesive trait from races that used it (it improves AI's colonization and defenses as they play in a more pack style).
•[Balance] Biome chances modified in the Galaxy Generator.

AI
•[AI] Changes in Production: removed order in production rating, top priority production bypasses global ETA limit, added the worker income bonus to structures scoring, avoid idle production in colonies while trade goods is not available, colony ships changed priority from top to high.
•[AI] On full defense, disabled below high priority to engage targets.
•[AI] Lowered priorities for pirate bombardment and engaging.
•[AI] Added conditions to Demand Evaluation. Will now reject demands that demand more than 1 colony, or a colony in a system with more colonies.
•[AI] Added fatigue after a demand is accepted: FATIGUE_DEMAND. Now set in 25 turns.
•[AI] Added ship upgrade (ship refit)
•[AI] Bug fix for military retreat.

Tactical •[Tactical] Fixed FX for Torpedoes.

•[Tactical] Fixed Anti-Missile Rockets.
•[Tactical] Optimization for defensive weapons.
•[Tactical] Proton Torpedo exception fixed!
•[Tactical] Added one more ring on the big battlefield grid.
•[Tactical] Tweaked scales for ships now contemplates pirates.
•[Tactical] fixed the big battlefield limits.

UI
•[UI] Tweaks for alternative multiline tooltip. Modifiers rows support multiline now.
•[UI] Fixed black squares appearing on the interface.
•[Techtree] Updated all technology images.
•[UI] Added max population on known planets and planet tooltip.
•[UI] Fixed issue with colonies list docking when the player had around 20 colonies or more.
•[UI] Fixed strike population on colonies text fields.
•[Ship Design] Disable models and decals for Pixel Ships in Ship Design.

Diplomacy
•[Diplomacy] Fix Memory Rebuked line on some rejected demands.
•[Diplomacy] Share Charts will only be asked to civilizations with whom I have enough disposition, and know at least 3 stars I don't know

Multiplayer

•[Multiplayer] Fixed issue when Player 1 upgrades ships, Player 2 can observe Player's 1 fleet info block on the left bottom corner.

Localization
•[Localization] Ships module update.
•[Localization] Updated "Thanks for participating in the Early Access" message.
•[Localization] Changed Language Detection to set English or Russian Language.
•[Localization] First recommendation added in all Welcome descriptions.
•[Tooltips] Changed Low and High gravity tooltips.

SFX

•[SFX] Warp sounds added.
•[SFX] Notification sound updated.
•[SFX] Placeholder explosion sounds updated.
•[SFX] Added new Galactic Council theme.
•[Music] Restart Music during Audience if the AI changed disposition

[JudgeDredd]

I noticed a bug (don't see it in the fix list) where striking workers still add to the output when you put them in research

[bobarossa]

I noticed a bug (don't see it in the fix list) where striking workers still add to the output when you put them in research

That's because we scientific types can't stop doing science, even when we're upset!

[Grim.Reaper]

You can pick up for $16-20 at Kinguin....not a bad deal if remotely interested....

http://www.kinguin.net/category/24771/master-of-orion-collector-s-edition-steam-cd-key/

[RedArgo]

Wow, that's a heck of a deal.  How can they afford that?

Downloading now

Thanks Grim.Reaper

[tgb]

That looks too good to be true.  Is this legit?

[Grim.Reaper]

I use kinguin quite a bit...never an issue.

[Huw the Poo]

Yeah I've used Kinguin a few times without issue, too.  It's a marketplace for key resellers.  Some people think it's a moral grey area, but the keys are legit; just pay attention to what you're buying as some keys are region locked to Russia or wherever.  Kinguin also claim to have a buyer protection thing which you pay a tiny fraction extra for, which means if there's anything wrong with the key they'll get your money back.  I haven't had to invoke that myself.

[JudgeDredd]

Yeah I've used Kinguin a few times without issue, too.  It's a marketplace for key resellers.  Some people think it's a moral grey area, but the keys are legit; just pay attention to what you're buying as some keys are region locked to Russia or wherever.  Kinguin also claim to have a buyer protection thing which you pay a tiny fraction extra for, which means if there's anything wrong with the key they'll get your money back.  I haven't had to invoke that myself.

I've used them myself a couple of times with no issue - however that buyer protection thing always concerned me...why would there be something wrong with my key?  ???

[Huw the Poo]

Dunno...I suppose it's in case the key isn't accepted by Steam for whatever reason...not sure why that would be though.

[JudgeDredd]

I was always wary of that. Of course, the draw for a bargain was great than the concern   ;D

[Grim.Reaper]

Dunno...I suppose it's in case the key isn't accepted by Steam for whatever reason...not sure why that would be though.

Since it is a marketplace of keys from all kinds of sellers, I imagine it is difficult for them to validate every single seller's keys will work without issue.  So I think Kinguin offers the buyer protection as an option if you don't want the hassle of dealing with a failed key, they will just take care of the issue for you...usually the protection is just a handful of pennies so typically worth it because the overall price is still way cheaper than other places.  The only time I don't use it is if the game is very cheap in the first place.

Luckily, never had an issue to even worry about it:)  Between cdkeys.com and Kinguin, I make most of my purchases because of typically having the best prices by a wide margin.

[Huw the Poo]

usually the protection is just a handful of pennies so typically worth it because the overall price is still way cheaper than other places.

Yeah exactly, which is why I always buy it despite never needing it.  Kinguin is awesome. O0