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Master of Orion 3 (PC)

GENERAL INFORMATION

GENRE/STYLE

Strategy/Empire-Building

RELEASE DATE

25/FEB/03

ESRB RATING

TEEN, Blood and Gore, Violence

DEVELOPER

Quicksilver Software Inc.

PUBLISHER

Infogrames Interactive, Inc.

ALSO AVAILABLE ON

Macintosh, http://www.gamerdna.com/game/master-of-orion-3-ibm-pc-compatible-1, http://www.gamerdna.com/game/master-of-orion-3-ibm-pc-compatible-1-2

TRAITS (member-attributed "LIKES")

THE SETTING #USES

PLAYING AS #USES

PLAYING AGAINST #USES

HOW IT'S PLAYED #USES

GENERAL TONE #USES

DESCRIPTION

After a six year break, Master of Orion returns to PCs in its third incarnation. This 2003 version of the classic empire-building game expands upon many of the factors that made the original and its first sequel so popular, offering bigger maps, a greater variety of ships, and a more robust tech tree. Large galaxies can hold over 250 different star systems that contain as many as eight planets each. Individual planets themselves may support multiple moons, offering lots of space and resources for new colonies. The game also features advancements in artificial intelligence, especially concerning diplomacy and combat tactics. Many of the alien races and themes familiar to veterans of Master of Orion and Master of Orion II return in this edition.

Breaking from tradition, ship combat occurs in real-time here, though in a manner designed to integrate naturally with the rest of the turn-based gameplay. Unlike most straight RTS games, the Master of Orion 3 players' battlefield influence is more strategic, less tactical. Instead of the continuous quick-click direction and redirection of individual units, the player may rely on the AI of individual ship captains to make good tactical choices, each according to its particular situation. Command adjustments and new orders may also be given in the heat of battle, as needed. Each ship has its own experience and statistics that affect its individual performance, but ships group together into task forces and it's at this level of organization that most orders are given and executed. Players head into battle with fleets that may consist of many task forces.

Since the early stages of the game's design, Quicksilver's vision was to retain the style of the classic MicroProse games while adding more thorough governing options and bringing a deeper level of detail to the many different aspects of galactic conquest. The player sets the empire's basic policies and goals in the game, then a legion of AI governors helps ensure that these are properly implemented at all levels of exploration, production, and warfare. Though designed to be a rare necessity, detail-minded gamers can also choose to micromanage nearly any individual aspect of the empire. Players thus take customized control of the actions and affairs of diverse planets, ships, and personnel that might flourish across an interstellar realm spanning many parsecs. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Master of Orion 3 (PC)

GENRE/STYLE:

Strategy/Empire-Building
RELEASE DATE:

25/FEB/03
TOP TRAITS:

Galactic Conquest, Turn-based strategy, Empire management
DESCRIPTION:

After a six year break, Master of Orion returns to PCs in its third incarnation. This 2003 version of the classic emp... more

players 47

followers 1

#4052

POPULARITY: PC PLATFORM

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LordXenophon played Master of Orion 3 on 02/JAN/13

“I ran out of fish to fry. The lizards are next.”

created 03/JAN/2013

Riiiiiight

“I have hundreds of war ships in his only star system and dozens of troop ships ready for invasion. This is his response.”

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 31/DEC/2012
Views: 70
Votes: 4

created 31/DEC/2012

MrVista360 was the last to comment - 4 months ago...

“Look! It is the Congress presently in action!”

Mishy was the last to comment - 4 months ago...

“Wooo! Pissing off the guys with greater military!”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - 4 months ago...

“More likely he was hoping I would die laughing. Fortunately, my empire also has all the medical tech.”

SH4D0WZ0MB1E was the last to comment - 4 months ago...

“Maybe he thought you were bluffing and called you on it?”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - 4 months ago...

“I don't believe so. I'm pretty sure he just called me reckless and powerful.”

HitGirl was the last to comment - 4 months ago...

“Is he begging you to let him embargo you?”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - 4 months ago...

“Nommo ambassadors always grovel, even when they declare war. That's their idea of how diplomats should behave.”

Svoboda was the last to comment - 4 months ago... show previous hide previous

“There's something fishy about this guy.”

Absurd Bookkeeping

“Just when I thought I was unstoppable, I suddenly lost the game due to bankrupcy. This happened while I had a treasury balance so large, I could have paid off America's national debt with my reward...”

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 22/AUG/2011
Views: 404
Votes: 6

created 22/AUG/2011

QueenFred was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“You taxed all the money out of the economy and locked it up in the treasury. There's nothing left for the people to spend, so everybody is bankrupt. You need to give everybody a subsidy so they can all buy new suits and get the economy going again.”

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Your game has allocated only 32 bits for the storage of your AU balance and it looks like there's no error routine in case you manage to save up too much money. I guess they just assumed nobody could be good enough to save up that much money.

The error is caused by the way numbers are stored in computers. One of your 32 bits is not used as a number, but designates the number as positive or negative. The other 31 bits total up to 2,147,483,647. Save up one AU more and it rolls over to that +/1 bit and becomes a negative number, at which point every AU you save makes the number even more and more negative until you get it low enough to roll over again and become positive. It's when it rolls over from negative to positive that the bankrupcy is detected and your game ends.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Funny how I see only 2 comments and I have 11 alerts about people posting here. Spam-killer bots again?”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“QueenFred's idea won't work, because giving too much money to planets just causes the excess to come back as gifts from planets. I'll have to do it by cutting taxes or spending tons of money on useless research.

Thanks for the exact number, Svo. That will be helpful.”

13xforever was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“My two comments has disappeared two minutes later. I think gDNA is doing maintainance or something.

Anyway, I basically said the same thing as @Svoboda. That's a technical limitation of the game and there are no patches that fix this problem, so you'll have to keep your balance under 2147483647 AU.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“The two of you disagree by 1 AU, but I think I can work around that.”

13xforever was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“@LordXenophon 2147483647 is 0x7fffffff, add 1 and you got 0x80000000 which is -2147483648”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“OK. That's what Svo said. Now you agree.”

TamaraLane was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Maybe you game has just taken to doing math like real politicians do? (Actually I agree with Svo & 13)”

LordXenite was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Too many numbers for my taste at the moment ;)”

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“You don't have to read all the numbers. I can sum it up, thus:

1 + 1 = -1

1 -1 = 1”

TamaraLane was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Hence why politicians always spend more than they bring in according to their math, this is the only way to have positive cash flow (into their pockets)”

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Or into their districts, at least.”

QueenFred was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Svo's summary disturbs me more than the original math.”

Silkwhisper was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“You should spend more on spy maintenance. James Bond needs more cars.”

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“And taser-phones.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago... show previous hide previous

“Spy maintenance is fixed. I can't change it.”

Trailblazer Class Scout

“Now that I have all the technologies I was looking for, I can finally build the ultimate versions of each of my ships. These are final designs. I might design a few more classes for reasons of...”

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 20/AUG/2011
Views: 177
Votes: 2

created 20/AUG/2011

Santa Anna Class Transport

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 20/AUG/2011
Views: 91
Votes: 3

created 20/AUG/2011

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago... show previous hide previous

“I'm naming my ship classes alphabetically and I'm on my fourth time around the alphabet. I could just as easily have had to come up with a name starting with X, Q or J.”

Ragnarok Class

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 20/AUG/2011
Views: 99
Votes: 3

created 20/AUG/2011

Ark

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 20/AUG/2011
Views: 156
Votes: 4

created 20/AUG/2011

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago... show previous hide previous

“I think the Seal of Approval goes "thump!"”

Patrol Tender XXII

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 20/AUG/2011
Views: 91
Votes: 3

created 20/AUG/2011

The Ultimate Starbase

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 20/AUG/2011
Views: 188
Votes: 4

created 20/AUG/2011

Death Star

“I finally have the last bit of technology I need to build the ultimate attack ship. This Death Star has the largest possible size of the most powerful gun in the galaxy.”

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 20/AUG/2011
Views: 197
Votes: 3

created 20/AUG/2011

MrVista360 was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Curious, what PC game is this? Obviously it is Star Wars but what title? Is it a resource hog? Or can a normal Joe play it with a XPS? And not a liquid cooled I7, 16 Gig, DG35EC Intel Motherboard..blah..blah...blah....”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“It's not a Star Wars game. It's Master of Orion 3. I just chose to call my planet destroyer a Death Star.

This is an older game, so it thinks my Pentium IV is awesome. You need a lot of memory (at least a gigabyte!) or it will crash. The other system requirements are even lighter.

The toughest requirement is actually in your own head. This is a very hard game to learn how to play. Most people can't do it, so the game was very unpopular. You can spend days and days building your empire and thinking you're doing just fine, only to suddenly realize that a mistake you made on or before turn 1 is going to cost you the game.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“I actually used to play it with only 1/2 a gig of RAM. It only crashed if I tried to open the planets screen (which loads certain details of every planet int he galaxy all at once).

If you play on a slower computer, it's just, well, slower. Large battles get bogged down in a ton of lag, but you can still control them well enough to win.

The official requirements are Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, Pentium II 300MHz Processor, 128MB RAM, 800MB Hard Disk Space, 8X CD-ROM Drive, DirectX compatible 800x600 at 16-bit color Video Card, DirectX compatible Sound Card, DirectX 8.1, mouse, and keyboard. However, as I mentioned, you need more memory than this if you're going to play a large galaxy and expect to open the Planets screen without crashing.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“You're also going to want more hard disk space than this if you're one of those people who never delete a saved game. The ever-growing save folder is not included in the disk requirement.”

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“You only need 3 interceptors if Darth Vader is flying one of them.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Darth Vader is not in my technology tree.”

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Of course not. He's a leader. Look for him in your high council.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“I have Larogo Rarara and Loknar.”

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“That first one has an awesome name for a cheerleader.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Are you thinking of making another cheerleader-with-a-gun blaster in CoH and naming her "Miss Rarara?"”

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago... show previous hide previous

“No. One cheerleader with a gun is enough. Maybe a sonic blaster.”

Orbital Planet Destroyer

“For the first time in all the years I've been playing this game, I finally got the Stellar Converter technology. I can finally build a Death Star of my very own! I can also build the white...”

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 05/FEB/2011
Views: 341
Votes: 8

created 05/FEB/2011

Bonemane was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“Build. Play. Conquer.

Know no pain. Have no mercy.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“So that's a "no," then?”

Bonemane was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“@LordXenophon

Its a huge yes. Build it and make sure it has a cannon that shoots clones of Adam Sandler at people.”

MrVista360 was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“Don't honestly know the game enough to say yes or no. But it seems to me the traditional planet type Death Star has some SERIOUS architectural design flaws, three meter holes and all.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“Oh, I'm definately building Death Stars, but they'll be at the core of a huge fleet.

This screenshot is the white elephant - an Orbital Planet Destroyer. Orbitals are for protecting the planet from space attacks. For some reason, I can build a Planet Destroyer as an orbital, but the only planet which will be in battle when this station comes into play will by my own planet, and the same planet which this station orbits.

Not only that, but the only time you ever see the "destroy planet" option is after you have successfully attacked an enemy planet with a Planet Destroyer in your fleet.

This is basically a weapon which can never be used for its primary mission, and even if it could, it would just destroy its own planet.

So? What reasons might there be to build such a device?

1: It's funny.
2: I've never done it.
3. Emperor Palpatine would do it.”

Jonis212 was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“Do it! :D ”

CountSpatula was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“I bet it can still blow away an enemy ship in one shot.”

LordXenite was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“Oh... wow... that whole game was a white elephant as far as I was concerned, but I'm glad you enjoy it still. :) ”

LadyLakshmi was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“It's a scuicide doomsday weapon, but if the game is realistic enough, it will sure keep your planet under control.”

Jonis212 was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“@LadyLakshmi lol, really will.”

TamaraLane was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“Grats on your assured instantaneous self destruction! Most of us have to work for years to destroy ourselves...”

Svoboda was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“The hard part is getting the crew to fire it, knowing that they will die in the explosion as they wipe out their own families.”

TamaraLane was the last to comment - over 2 years ago...

“Depends on their family....”

Cannonbull was the last to comment - about 1 year ago...

“Hitler would have given the order to fire it, in the end.”

Svoboda was the last to comment - about 1 year ago... show previous hide previous

“That's hardly a good reccomendation.”

LordXenophon played Master of Orion 3 on 03/MAY/10

“ On turn 688, the last world of Bolar fell to the Tklon Republic. Bolar, an empire of the Grendarl, was once Tklon's strongest ally. At their peak, they controlled over a third of the galaxy....”

created 03/MAY/2010

The Fall of Bolar

“On turn 688, the last world of Bolar fell to the Tklon Republic. Bolar, an empire of the Grendarl, was once Tklon's strongest ally. At their peak, they controlled over a third of the galaxy....”

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 03/MAY/2010
Views: 203
Votes: 1

created 03/MAY/2010

The Fall of the New Orions

“On turn 595, the last planet of the New Orions fell to the Tklon Republic. Conquering the rest of the galaxy will be easy.”

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 22/FEB/2010
Views: 234
Votes: 3

created 22/FEB/2010

The Fall of Orion IV

“On turn 986, the Tklon Republic broke through the Orion lines and landed 5 armadas of transports on Orion IV. At first, the ground battle went well, with an initial beachhead of 4 regions. However,...”

Added by: LordXenophon
Date: 19/FEB/2010
Views: 362
Votes: 2