First impressions of MoO3
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:51 am
Unlike most of you, i had never played MoO3, until yesterday.
Wow. I'm not sure if i've every seen a game that give a more complex, confused, and overwhelming first impression that wasn't made of ascii characters.
Information is everywhere, but it's not obvious what is important, or what much of it means. "Unrest level 2"? Out of how many levels? I'm told one planets has a "magnate civilization" special, but nowhere can i find out what specific specials do. I have over 20 ground combat battle plans, but no hard information on what the differences are.
The documentation is woefully inadequate. The manual is half novel, and most of the rest is seems like surface stuff. The in-game version is "searchable" but apparently only recognizes a few words. It didn't find "magnate" or "specials".
I'd read a good deal about it, but really i didn't think it would be this bad. It (at least at first) feels like a simulation of running a large, badly organized empire where none of your underlings will talk to you.
I'm going to try to play through a whole game or 2 to see what i can learn. At the very least i'll get an even stronger aversion to micromanagement.
EDIT: on the "play" disc i found a file, "Gameplay Addendum" which seems to have some of the info i complained wasn't included anywhere. It seems more useful that the manual PDF that was installed on my HD.
Wow. I'm not sure if i've every seen a game that give a more complex, confused, and overwhelming first impression that wasn't made of ascii characters.
Information is everywhere, but it's not obvious what is important, or what much of it means. "Unrest level 2"? Out of how many levels? I'm told one planets has a "magnate civilization" special, but nowhere can i find out what specific specials do. I have over 20 ground combat battle plans, but no hard information on what the differences are.
The documentation is woefully inadequate. The manual is half novel, and most of the rest is seems like surface stuff. The in-game version is "searchable" but apparently only recognizes a few words. It didn't find "magnate" or "specials".
I'd read a good deal about it, but really i didn't think it would be this bad. It (at least at first) feels like a simulation of running a large, badly organized empire where none of your underlings will talk to you.
I'm going to try to play through a whole game or 2 to see what i can learn. At the very least i'll get an even stronger aversion to micromanagement.
EDIT: on the "play" disc i found a file, "Gameplay Addendum" which seems to have some of the info i complained wasn't included anywhere. It seems more useful that the manual PDF that was installed on my HD.