Master of Orion 2 VS Space Empires 4

[Mánagarmr]

This goes out to you guys who have played both. Which one do you consider the better game?

After having played both, even though SE4 was a long time ago, I must give the price to MoO2. It's not as deep and lacks many of the options from Space Empires, but it works better (lot less bugs, smarter AI, diplomacy that actually works) and has better pacing. Space Empires REALLY starts to bog down mid game with *tons* of micromanagement, not to mention turn processing times get ardously long as well.

I like the options in Space Empires with ship design, treaties and research trees, but MoO flows better and just gives me a better experience overall. Granted, I'm still getting curbstomped by even average AIs, but heck, I'm learning as I go

[chemical_art]

I haven't played SE 4, but I had to respond anyway, because the reasons you listed are for the most part why I like MoO 1 over MoO 2.

[Mánagarmr]

I haven't played SE 4, but I had to respond anyway, because the reasons you listed are for the most part why I like MoO 1 over MoO 2.

I own both of them, but while MoO2 was easy enough to pick up and "figure it out" as I went along, MoO1 was excessively obtuse. I couldn't even figure out how to build anything on a planet or anything like that. But I've heard that many MoO fans prefer 1 over 2 (and ANYTHING over 3).

[Echo35]

I eventually made the switch from 1 to 2, though they're both good. To answer your question though, I prefer SEIV/V over MoO 1/2, because it's basically the Dwarf Fortress of 4X games and I like insanely complex games.

[Lancefighter]

I never actually played moo, (but it seems someone else hasnt played seiv, so that makes up for it :p )

The main thing I really liked about seiv was the depth in modding..

Also, ships building bases. Was awesome.

[Mánagarmr]

I eventually made the switch from 1 to 2, though they're both good. To answer your question though, I prefer SEIV/V over MoO 1/2, because it's basically the Dwarf Fortress of 4X games and I like insanely complex games.

Aye, SEIV is definitely the deeper game.

Also, does anyone know of any similar projects as Captain Kwok's Balance Mod for Space Empires V, but for SEIV? The balance is a fair bit off in SEIV, and I've been looking, but not finding, any mod projects such as the BM.

[Echo35]

Aye, SEIV is definitely the deeper game.

Also, does anyone know of any similar projects as Captain Kwok's Balance Mod for Space Empires V, but for SEIV? The balance is a fair bit off in SEIV, and I've been looking, but not finding, any mod projects such as the BM.

When I play SEIV, I use the devNull mod (Which is included, among others, with the Steam install). It adds a ton of everything and a lot of rebalances like leaky shields, but doesn't really change any major game features (Other than adding a few things like space monsters). I also managed to track down the "make the game run in windowed mode" injector for it, which is super nice.

[Lancefighter]

Leaky shields was a really interesting concept. I'm not actually sure I liked it that much, unfortunately. I was ok with leaky armor though, that made much more sense..

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what leaky shields was supposed to actually represent ,and honestly never could figure it out. (it also made virtually no sense to me how it was coded..)

[Mánagarmr]

Wait, Steam install? I thought only Space Empires V was on Steam?

[Nanashi]

Master of Orion 2. Spent way much more time on that game, and I have MicroProse/SimLex loyalty nostalgia goggles from Master of Magic. And watching the Elerians wiggle their arms always cracks me up.

[Echo35]

Wait, Steam install? I thought only Space Empires V was on Steam?

4 and 5 are both on Steam. Hell, there's even a two pack.

[Mánagarmr]

Also, does anyone know of any similar projects as Captain Kwok's Balance Mod for Space Empires V, but for SEIV? The balance is a fair bit off in SEIV, and I've been looking, but not finding, any mod projects such as the BM.

The reason I'm asking is because Space Empires V runs like molasess on modern systems (and anything above Win XP). It has something to do with Direct X 8 and below being emulated on Vista/7 instead of running natively. It's pain in the royal behind to play on Win 7, unfortunately, even after all the tricks to get it running properly. 10-15 FPS is bad enough to be severely detrimental to my enjoyment. Otherwise I REALLY like SEV. I even own the boxed copy from when it was released.

[Echo35]

It has something to do with Direct X 8 and below being emulated on Vista/7 instead of running natively.

That would be what it is. I'm assuming there's a way to wrap it (After all, GoG got DK2 working with hardware acceleration on Windows 7) but heck if I know how.

[chemical_art]

While not the only one to do so, GoG is the go to source for getting old games.

Whether it be MoO or Planescape, it generally saves me in man hours in what I spend in perfectly optimising a game for a newer system.

[zespri]

Yes GoG is usally good for this, however, I'm currently having a lot of problems trying to get Populous - The Beginning running. so far unsuccessful.