Master of Orion (
MoO or
MOO) is a turn-based,
4X4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate". The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World...
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
computer strategy game released in
1993-Events:*March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY starts. The original name is Super Power.*Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game Mortal Kombat from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993.*The first use of motion control photography...
by
MicroProseMicroProse, as a corporation and brand name, has been owned by several entities since its original founding by Sid Meier and Bill Stealey in 1982, as Microprose Software.-Founding of MicroProse Software Inc.:...
on the
MS-DOSMS-DOS is an operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems and was the main operating system for personal computers during the 1980s. It was preceded by M-DOS , designed and copyrighted by Microsoft in 1979...
and
Mac OSMac OS is the trademarked name for a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
operating systems. The purpose of the game is to lead one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of
diplomacyDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war,...
and
conquestThe right of conquest is the purported right of a conqueror to territory taken by force of arms. It was sometimes considered a principle of international law until the early 20th century....
while developing technology, exploring and
colonizingSpace colonization is the concept of autonomous human habitation of locations outside Earth....
star systems. The game uses a
point-and-clickPoint-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button, or other pointing device...
interface as well as
keyboard shortcutIn computing, a keyboard shortcut or hotkey is a finite set of one or more keys that invoke a software or operating system operation when triggered by the user....
s to control the management of colonies, technology, ship construction, diplomacy and combat. The name is a reference to the Orion system, the game universe's conquerable homeworld of a mythical race that once controlled the galaxy.
Two sequels were created,
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares in 1996 and
Master of Orion IIIMaster of Orion III is a 4X turn-based strategy game and the third in the Master of Orion series. MoO3 was developed by Quicksilver Software and published by Infogrames on February 25, 2003.-Backstory:...
in 2003, as well as the
open sourceOpen source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to a software's source code. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations...
freeware
FreeOrion which is loosely based on the series. A prototype was developed under the name
Star Lords though it was only released as
freewareFreeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee.The opposite of Freeware is Payware.-History:...
in 2001 as part of the promotion for
MoO III.
Master of Orion was well received, and is a member of
GameSpyGameSpy, also known as GameSpy Industries, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current company...
's Hall of Fame and
GameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which purchased...
Greatest Games of All Time.
Development
Master of Orion is a significantly expanded and refined version of the
prototypeA prototype is an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category...
/
predecessorA predecessor can be:*Someone who, or something which precedes or comes before.*A predecessor vertex....
program Star Lords.
Steve BarciaSteve Barcia is a game programmer, game producer and entrepreneur, having founded the computer game developer Simtex Studios Inc. in 1988. The company released computer games such as Master of Magic, Master of Orion and Master of Orion II. Simtex went out of business in 1997.Following a corporate...
's game development company
SimtexSimtex was a video game developer established by Steve Barcia in 1988. It created a number of well-known turn-based strategy games for the PC, most notably the first two Master of Orion games...
demonstrated
Star Lords to
MicroProseMicroProse, as a corporation and brand name, has been owned by several entities since its original founding by Sid Meier and Bill Stealey in 1982, as Microprose Software.-Founding of MicroProse Software Inc.:...
and gaming journalist
Alan EmrichAlan Emrich is best-known as a writer about and designer of computer games, who coined the term "4X", contributed to the design of Master of Orion and Master of Orion 3, and wrote strategy guides for video games. Before the rise of computer games Emrich wrote about and designed board games and...
who, along with Tom Hughes, assisted Barcia in refining the design to produce
Master of Orion; and the game's manual thanks them for their contributions. Emrich and Hughes later wrote the strategy guide for the finished product. MicroProse published the final version of the game in
1994-Events:*1994 — Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*March – Online gaming service, VGOL formed*April — Interactive Digital Software Association founded ; IDSA founds Entertainment Software Rating Board *June 24 — The Computer Game Developers Association...
.
Reception
A preview by Emrich described the game as "the best that galactic conquest can offer", and summarized its type of gameplay as "
4X4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate". The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World...
", meaning "e
Xplore, e
Xpand, e
Xploit, e
Xterminate". Emrich and later commentators noted earlier examples of this genre, including
CivilizationSid Meier's Civilization is a turn-based strategy computer game created by Sid Meier for MicroProse in 1991.
The game's objective is to "...build an empire to stand the test of time". The game begins in 4000 BC, and the players attempt to expand and develop their empires through the ages...
in 1991, and
Reach for the Stars in the early 1980s.
Master of Orion is a member of both
GameSpyGameSpy, also known as GameSpy Industries, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current company...
's Hall of Fame and
GameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which purchased...
's list of the Greatest Games of All Time. In retrospective reviews, Jason Osborne,
Tom ChickTom W. Chick is an American television and movie actor, and independent journalist. His most prolific TV roles were as Oscar's lover Gil in the US version of The Office, and the hard-hitting reporter Gordon in The West Wing. As a writer, Tom has contributed to many current and past video game...
and Bruce Geryk regarded MoO as the standard by which turn based strategy games set in space are judged, although Osborne regreted the lack of a multiplayer option.
System environment
Master of Orion does not offer a multi-player mode, only contests against
AI-Technology:*Artificial intelligence, intelligence exhibited by any manufactured system, likely the most common usage*Adobe Illustrator, a vector-based drawing program by Adobe Systems**.ai , the file native file format used by Adobe Illustrator...
opponents on the user's computer.
The game was developed to run under
MS-DOSMS-DOS is an operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems and was the main operating system for personal computers during the 1980s. It was preceded by M-DOS , designed and copyrighted by Microsoft in 1979...
or
Mac OSMac OS is the trademarked name for a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
. Running the MS-DOS version on
Windows XPWindows XP is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, and media centers. The name "XP" is short for "eXPerience"...
can be difficult, but
DOSBoxDOSBox is an emulator which emulates an IBM PC compatible computer running MS-DOS. It is intended especially for use with old PC games. DOSBox is free software.-Features:...
emulatorAn emulator in computer sciences duplicates the functions of one system using a different system, so that the second system behaves like the first system...
supports the game.
LinuxLinux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed,...
users can also use DOSBox to run MS-DOS programs.
Gameplay
Master of Orion is a turn-based game in which players alternate actions and decisions with computer-controlled opponents. A
mouseIn computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
is needed, but hot keys can access many functions.
The main screen is a scrollable map of the galaxy; clicking on a star system makes the rightmost part of the main screen display information about the planet there. If the player has not explored the system, only the word "unexplored" appears; otherwise the panel shows the planet's current and maximum population; if the player has a colony there, it also offers controls to allocate the colony's output.
There is a separate space combat map, and additional screens for managing research, diplomacy and espionage. The diplomacy and espionage screen acts partly as a menu that provides access to screens about specific aspects. There is also a Planets List screen that can be used in managing an empire's economy.
Lockable sliders are used to allocate a colony's output between ship construction, planetary defenses, factory construction, ecology or research. Within each of these industry sectors,there is a fixed sequence of activities to which resources are allocated; for example defense effort will be used to upgrade existing missile bases if improved missile types have been discovered, then to build or upgrade planetary shields, and finally to build additional missile bases. The technology screen uses a similar set of lockable sliders to allocate research spending between the 6 technology areas.
Overview
The game begins with a single colonized homeworld and two scout ships that can be used to explore nearby stars. As the game progresses, new worlds are discovered, other races encountered, worlds colonized and wars fought. Despite their different backgrounds and homeworlds, all races possess legends of the
Orions, a master race that once controlled the galaxy, and their protected homeworld containing powerful secrets and technology. The homeworld is found in the Orion star system and is defended by a powerful robotic starship, the Guardian.
Victory conditions
Victory is gained either by eliminating all opponents or by being elected supreme leader of the galaxy at a meeting of the High Council. Elections are held every 25 turns after two-thirds of the planets in the galaxy have been colonized, and each empire's voting strength depends on its population. To be elected High Master, an empire's leader must gain at least two-thirds of all available votes, with
abstentionAbstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot...
s counting as a vote against both candidates. Some combination of conquest and diplomacy is usually necessary in order to gain such a large majority. Once a High Master is elected the player can accept the result or challenge it; the latter results in a "Final War" that is fought to the death between the High Master's supporters and the dissident.
Despite the game's name, conquering the Orion star system is neither necessary nor sufficient on its own to win the game. The planet in the Orion system is unusually large and extremely valuable, since
artifactsA cultural artifact is term used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, ethnology, and sociology for anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creator and users...
left by its former inhabitants give its conqueror some very advanced military technologies, one of which players cannot research for themselves, and a colony there will be four times more productive in research than on most other planets. Other races are also more likely to support the empire that holds Orion during High Council elections. In order to colonize Orion or capture its technology one must destroy the robotic Guardian warship, a feat that requires a large, advanced fleet.
Economics
All of a colony's outputs are based on its industrial
productionIn microeconomics, industrial organization is the field which describes the behavior of firms in the marketplace with regard to production, pricing, employment and other decisions...
, including research. All citizens are capable of industrial production, but are significantly more productive when assisted by factories. There is a limit on the number of factories a unit of population (notionally 1M individuals) can operate, but players can increase this by researching and building upgrades. The cost of upgrades rises rapidly unless the player first researches technologies that reduce factory costs.
Players can allocate a planet's industrial output to various combinations of: building or upgrading factories; building or upgrading a planet's shields and missile bases; research; spaceship construction; and
ecologyEcology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the interactions of these organisms with their environment....
(pollution control, terraforming, increasing population growth). A planet's output can also be transferred to the planetary reserve (
treasuryA treasury is any place where the currency or items of high monetary value are kept. The term was first used in Classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or many similar buildings erected in Olympia, Greece by...
), but with a 50% penalty.
The treasury can also be increased by scrapping ships or missile bases, by gifts from other empires and by random donations from non-playable mega-rich individuals. Its funds can be used to boost the output of other planets, subject to strict limitations, and to provide gifts to other empires.
The need to clean up pollution is a serious constraint on economic growth in the early game. Various technologies reduce the cost of cleanup to the point that pollution may not be a significant factor in later stages. Players must also pay maintenance costs for ships, missile bases and spies, which is financed by a percentage tax that is calculated by the software and applied to production at all colonies; players cannot control how this burden is allocated between colonies.
Planets
The software generates a map randomly at the start of each game; the player's only influence over the map generator is the ability to choose the size of the galaxy and the number of AI opponents. Star systems have at most one colonizable planet and a few have none. Planets vary in the following ways:
| Mineral wealth |
Productivity in factory, defense and ship construction |
| Ultra-poor |
33% |
| Poor |
50% |
| Normal |
100% |
| Rich |
200% |
| Ultra-rich |
300% |
- Mineral wealth dramatically influences a colony's industrial productivity when building or upgrading factories, building or upgrading defenses and building ships; it has no impact on the productivity of research nor of ecological improvements such as pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms . Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light...
control or terraformingTerraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth to make it habitable by terran organisms.The term is sometimes erroneously used more generally as a synonym...
.
- Habitability influences population growth rates: fertile planets increase growth rates by 50% and Gaia planets by 100%, while hostile planets halve them. There are seven normal and six hostile planet types; the various hostile types require increasingly advanced technology to colonize, which extends the exploration and colonization phases of MoO for much longer than in most 4X
4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate". The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World...
games. Hostile planets are the most likely to be rich or ultra-rich in minerals. All planets can be upgraded to Gaia class with the appropriate technologies.
- Size, which determines the planet's initial population capacity. This can be more than doubled by various kinds of terraforming.
- Artifact worlds contain relics of a now-vanished advanced civilization. These usually provide a free technology advance to the first empire that discovers the planet, and double the research productivity of a colony there. On Orion the conquering race receives four technology advances, and the research productivity of a colony there is quadrupled.
At the start of the first turn each player can see the locations of all other stars but only the planet in its home system. Each starts with one colony ship and two scouts.
Technology
The designers regard
technologyTechnology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment...
as the most contribution to a player's success. Advances can be acquired through research, trading, spying or conquest. Six technology areas can be researched to produce new advances:
- Computer
A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
s: spaceship systems that improve combat effectiveness; factory controls that increase the number of factories each colonist can operate; scanners that monitor the movements of other empires' ships and eventually can even "explore" planets remotely; and a weapon that can destroy other ships' computer systems. Computer technology advances also improve the effectiveness of spies in both offensive and defensive operations.
- Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking...
: reductions in the cost of building and upgrading factories; reductions in pollution; improved armor; and self-repair systems for ships.
- Force fields: protective shields for ships, planets and ground troops; devices that make it harder to hit the players' ships; and some special weapons.
- Planetology
Planetary science is the scientific study of planets, moons, and planetary systems, in particular those of the Solar System and the processes that form them. It studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants, aiming to determine their composition, dynamics, formation,...
: reductions in the cost of pollution control; colonization of hostile planets; terraformingTerraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth to make it habitable by terran organisms.The term is sometimes erroneously used more generally as a synonym...
, which increases the maximum population of a planet; the ability to increase populations more efficiently; biological weaponBiological warfare , also known as germ warfare, is the use of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, other disease-causing biological agents, or the toxins produced by them as biological weapons ....
s and defenses against such weapons.
- Propulsion
Vehicle propulsion refers to the act of moving an artificial carrier of people or goods over any distance. The power plant used to drive the vehicles can vary widely. Originally, humans or animals would have provided the means of propulsion, later being supplemented by wind power...
: increases in the range and speed of starships; some special weapons and combat systems. Range increases are particularly important in early colonization.
- Weapon
A weapon is a tool used to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack, self-defense, or defense in combat.Weapons can be as simple as a club, or as complex as an intercontinental ballistic missile, and include those that damage individual or group morale.-Prehistoric weapons:Very simple weapon...
s for use by ships, missile bases and ground troops.
If a ship uses a component from a particular technology area, further advances in that area reduce the cost and size of the component; this effect is called "miniaturization". When one has researched all of the technologies in an area of the tech tree, further research can discover "advanced technologies" in that area, which do not provide specific new capabilities but increase the miniaturization of ship components.
Players can research several technologies at the same time, controlling the allocation of research resources by means of lockable sliders on the Technology screen. Each research project returns "interest" on resources invested in it, using a formula that produces the greatest return if the project accounts for 15% of the total research budget. There is a small random element in the number of turns required to achieve an advance – it may take a few more or less than one would predict on the basis of simple arithmetic.
In each game each player is allowed to see a different random subset of the technologies at each level. On the other hand there are often alternative technologies that provide similar benefits. These features force players to adapt rather than follow the same favorite research strategy in each game. One can also make up for any important gaps by spying, technology trading or conquest.
Diplomacy
Master of Orion provides a wide range of diplomatic negotiations:
giftsA tribute is wealth one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance...
of money or technology; one-time technology trades; trade pacts that boost industrial output;
non-aggressionA non-aggression pact is an international treaty between two or more states agreeing to avoid war or armed conflict between them and resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations...
and
allianceAn alliance is an agreement between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, signed in 1373 between the Kingdom of England and Portugal, is the oldest alliance in the world which is still in force.-International...
treaties. Players can also threaten each other, declare war and arrange cease-fires Each AI player remember others' actions, both positive and negative, and while be unwilling to form a player that has broken previous treaties with it.
Spaceship design
Ships can be used to colonize planets, scout for planets worth colonizing, attack other races and defend against attacks. Only six ship designs can be used at a time; beyond that, a previous slot must be emptied and all ships of that class scrapped before a new class can be designed. Ships cannot be upgraded or refitted with new technology; the exceptions are discoveries that increase travel or scanning range, which automatically affect all ships.
There are four hull sizes; smaller sizes are harder to hit while larger ships can survive more damage and hold more components. There are eight types of components, each with different effects:
- Battle computers increase the chance of a beam weapon hitting and damaging a target
- Shields reduce the damage done by opponents' weapons
- Electronic countermeasures
Electronic countermeasures are a subsection of electronic warfare which includes any sort of electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems like IR and Laser. It may be used both offensively or defensively in any method to deny targeting...
reduce the risk of being hit by missileA missile is a self-propelled projectile used as a weapon. Missiles are typically propelled by rockets or jet engines. Missiles generally have one or more explosive warheads, although other weapon types may also be used...
s
- Armor determines the amount of damage a ship of a given hull size can withstand before being destroyed
- Engines power on-board systems, determine the speed of interstellar travel and a ship's maximum maneuverability during combat
- Combat maneuverability determines how fast a ship can move during battle and how hard it is to hit; maximum maneuverability is determined by the engine type used
- Weapons: missiles, beams, bombs and biological weapons (these reduce a colony's population without damaging buildings)
- Special systems which have varying effects: improve a ship's range or maneuverability; improve weapon accuracy or range; provide defensive, offensive, repair or sensing advantages; a few "special" weapons, some of which affect whole stacks of enemy ships; colony bases are also considered special systems
Space combat and invasions
Ships can travel to any star system within their range and combat always occurs in
orbitIn physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of one object around a point or another body, for example the gravitational orbit of a planet around a star....
over a planet - it is impossible to intercept enemy ships in deep space. All ships of the same class form a single stack, moving and firing as a unit. Players can control space combat manually or ask the software to resolve combat automatically. Battles are almost always decided by numbers and technology rather than by clever tactics. An attacker can bomb a planet during combat and, if it wins the space combat, can bomb more intensively immediately afterwards.
Invading an enemy colony without destroying all defending ships and missile bases will result in the loss of some or all of the invading ground forces before they land, and hostile planets can not be invaded unless attackers have technology that allows them to colonize an at least equally hostile type of planet. There are no specialist invasion ships; invading forces are drawn from the population of one or more colonies, which reduces the population of the planet(s) from which they are sent.
Invasions are depicted in
real-timeIn computer science, real-time computing , or "reactive computing", is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"—i.e., operational deadlines from event to system response. By contrast, a non-real-time system is one for which there is no deadline, even...
but players cannot control combat. Results depend on numbers, technology and (if one of the races involved is Bulrathi) racial ground combat bonus. Invasion is expensive, but usually provides worthwhile advantages if successful: the production capacity of any remaining factories,
plunderingLooting , to rob, sacking, plundering, despoiling, or pillaging is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe or riot, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
of technologies if enough factories survived the attack, and control over a new system that extends the range of the invader's ships. A successful invasion exterminates the previous inhabitants and the surviving troops form the planet's new population.
Races
Players choose to be one of 10 pre-defined races - one cannot create customized races. The Klackons and Meklar have different types of advantage in industrial production; the Sakkra have very fast population growth; the Psilons are the best at research; the Mrrshans and Alkari have different types of advantage in space combat; the Bulrathi are the best at ground combat; the Humans have advantages in trade and diplomacy; the Darloks excel at spying and sabotage; and the Silicoids can colonize even the most hostile planets without any research and are not constrained by pollution, but have slow population growth.
Typically races are very good in one research subject and below average in another. However, the Psilons are very good in all areas, while the Silicoids are above average in computers, which is useful for spying and sabotage, but are weak in all other research areas. The Humans excel in one area, and are good in two others. They and the Sakkra have no weak subjects.
Each race has a pre-defined initial relationship with each other race, and they gradually return to these relationships unless these are improved or damaged by events. Most races start with neutral relationships to most other races, except that each has an uneasy or in some cases belligerent relationship to one other race. The exceptions are the Humans, which initially have amicable relationships with all others, and the Darloks, whose espionage skills make them objects of suspicion to all except the Humans.
The races also have "personalities" which vary from one game to another when played by the AI. Their attitudes to other races can vary from honorable (reliable friend and unforgiving enemy) or pacifist to aggressive or
xenophobicXenophobia is a dislike and/or fear of that which is unknown or different from oneself. It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners or of people significantly different from...
. Each has a major policy objective which guides their research and economic management; for example militarists build combat ships as fast as possible and prioritize technologies which have military benefits, while ecologists put a lot of effort into pollution control and terraforming. Each race's behavior varies from one game to another, because in both attitude and policy objective each race has a most probable trait and two less probable ones, giving 9 possible combinations per race.
Random events
Master of Orion will sometimes produce random events which can be harmful or advantageous. These include discovery of ancient ships and technology, changes to planetary conditions that alter the planet's population or mineral richness, diplomatic blunders, changes to research, industry or treasury production, planetary rebellion, space
piracyPiracy is a war-like act committed by private parties that engaged in acts of robbery and/or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the...
and attacks by space monsters that can destroy colonies. Random events can be disabled by means of a cheat code.
Predecessor
Master of Orion is based on its predecessor game
Star Lords, often called
Master of Orion 0 by fans.
Star Lords was a prototype and never commercially released (its intro opens with "SimTex Software and Your Company present"). The crude but fully-playable prototype was made available as
freewareFreeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee.The opposite of Freeware is Payware.-History:...
in 2001, stripped of all documentation and
copy protectionCopy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, is a technology for preventing the reproduction of copyrighted software, movies, music, and other media.- Terminology :...
, in anticipation of the launch of
Master of Orion 3. Major differences between
Star Lords and
Master of Orion I include inferior graphics and interface, simpler trade and diplomacy, undirected research, a lack of safeguards to prevent players from building more factories than are usable and the use of transports rather than colony ships to colonize new planets. One feature of
Star Lords that
Master of Orion lacks is a table of relations between the computer-controlled races. The game is available for download on
FilePlanetFilePlanet is a video game download service that provides free game patches, mod files and media downloads to its users. FilePlanet was launched, and is run by, GameSpy, which is now a subsidiary of IGN, and is one of the most used video game download sites on the internet...
and the home page for
Master of Orion III.
Sequels
Two commercial sequels to
Master of Orion have been released,
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares and
Master of Orion IIIMaster of Orion III is a 4X turn-based strategy game and the third in the Master of Orion series. MoO3 was developed by Quicksilver Software and published by Infogrames on February 25, 2003.-Backstory:...
. The sequels are significantly more advanced in graphics and sound and feature large differences in gameplay, with some players claiming the original game remains the best version of the three.
FreeOrion is an
open sourceOpen source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to a software's source code. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations...
,
freewareFreeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee.The opposite of Freeware is Payware.-History:...
game inspired by
Master of Orion that has numerous similarities to games in the
Master of Orion series.
In 2008
StardockStardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998...
, the creators of the popular
Galactic CivilizationsGalactic Civilizations is a turn-based strategy computer game developed by Stardock and released in March 2003. The game is a remake of the vintage OS/2 series. An expansion pack entitled Altarian Prophecy was released in July 2004...
series, expressed interest in acquiring the rights to the "Master of Orion" series from Atari, Inc. and developing a fourth game in the series.
External links