StarDestroyer.Net BBS

One of the best points about it is that apparently the main developer has been working on the storyline for the past twenty years or so, before finally turning it into a game. So the game has a depth to it that goes far beyond the standard "Let's make a kewl game and then invent the background for it!"

I knew the first time I played it that there was a deep backstory for the game that was only hinted at during play.

That was one of the biggest disappointments for me with regards to MoO3. They finally came up with an overall backstory to the game, and it was a good one, but the execution of the game sucked and killed any potential future games.

I remember being pretty pumped before MoO3 came out and then reading the reviews. Oh god, the horror, the horror. I have a fantasy that the franchise could recover if it release a good MoO4. (You don't have to crush this dream, I know it is a fantasy.)

I have the dream too, I just have my doubts.

Some of the pre-release stuff just looked so... incredible. Finally fixing the diplomatic engine so you didn't have longtime allies suddenly calling you up out of the blue to inform you it was over... (and then within three or four turns declaring war)

And the backstory they developed... it was really damn cool. I could see all sorts of sequel possibilities, with regards to the other ancient races, with the story of the human race being a failed experiment as a war species to counter the... whatchamacallits, the Evians or whatever.

Damn them. One reviewer charted my feelings as I played the game perfectly... went something like this.

Oh! MoO3! It's finally here!
Nice graphics!
Boy, the controls are a bit clunky.
Hmm. Space combat sucks.
This is really disappointing.
Okay, macromanagement. Maybe this isn't so bad.
No, scratch that. It sucks.

The worst part was how broken the whole diplomatic victory setup was. You no longer had the option of rejecting elections... so say you're playing a harvester species that starts out on the rim and can't be in the council. So you're cruising right along, don't need no stinkin' council, kicking ass left and right...

Wham! Game over. A new leader has been elected and your ass is smited. No warning, no chance to do anything about it, just game over.

We seem to be both writing about how our characters turned into heartless sociopaths.

Imperial Overlord wrote:We seem to be both writing about how our characters turned into heartless sociopaths.

That is sort of the normal state of mind in the Imperium, after all.

No it isn't. It is fairly common among the most badass in the Imperium.

You speak truth.

If I have a model for Prius, it's vaguely Joachim Steuben of the Hammer's Slammer's series, sans massive skill wankery and flamboyant sexuality. But I want to create a character who is lethal, competent, and not in the least attractive in the fashion of Steuben. I've always admired how Drake took a character that so many other writers would turn into the cool badass and made him damn scary.

You do a good job. Steuben's like nitro, incredibly dangerous and liable to go off at any moment. Drake had to make him a little wankish, to put the fear into his deadly and competent professionals. The best part was Danny Pritchard and Hammer's new wife looking at each other and deciding that Steuben had to go because he was too fucking possesive of Hammer.

The first Slammers' story I ever read was 'The Warrior' and it always stuck with me how Steuben was probably the only man that Slick Des Grieux was ever afraid of.

That was the first Slammer's story I read as well.

Was there ever a story which actually contained the 'death' of Steuben?

He isn't killed "on camera" so to speak and The Sharp End suggests the possibility he survived getting shot in the back by Rob with a 2cm powergun.

Yeah, though I'm figuring there's no way in hell. The whole Vierziger angle had me very very curious.

Though honestly I liked him better as Vierziger.

If he was wearing some body armor under his clothes and Rob only shot him once and vanished, its not entirely impossible he lived. It was the resemblence to Steuben which caused everybody to wet themselves. Drake never came out and said they were the same man.

Although, thinking about that, The Sharp End was based on two pulp novels and there is nothing more pulp novelish that getting shot in the back and left for dead and somehow surviving.

Never played MoO2 (unfortunately; everybody says it's great), but my behaviour is similar when playing games in the Space Empires series - when waging war, burn every world I can find, and resettle them later. The only worlds that escape such treatment are those I occupy because I need to resupply somewhere, and those I can manipulate into joining me (although those often get flattened by the Empire they broke away from...).

MoO3 was a disappointment. I got all hyped with the graphics and the thoughts of MoO2 with 3d. First thing I find out is the fucked over the Race Creation option. I loved that, best fucking part of MoO2. The world fixing up stage confused me, the Space battles could have been kept Turn Based (and Homeworld like in my opinion) and the fucking AI spanked and locked in a box somewhere. And you say there is a MoO4? A ray of light shines in the darkness.

No, we are saying we fantasize about a MoO4 coming forth and redeeming the franchise.

Tasoth wrote:MoO3 was a disappointment. I got all hyped with the graphics and the thoughts of MoO2 with 3d. First thing I find out is the fucked over the Race Creation option. I loved that, best fucking part of MoO2. The world fixing up stage confused me, the Space battles could have been kept Turn Based (and Homeworld like in my opinion) and the fucking AI spanked and locked in a box somewhere. And you say there is a MoO4? A ray of light shines in the darkness.

Sorry, no, no mention of a MoO4. We're just dreaming.

For the record, I love feedback. Honest criticism is valuable so if anyone thinks I am doing anything particularily well/poorly sing out.

Hrm. I seem to have hit a creative rock bottom. I'm taking a day off; IO and Petro can mess with my chars, as long as they stay alive.

Yep, lightsabre-knockoffs existed in the Dark Age of Technology.

Sorry I haven't been posting much, I kinda got lost and you guys end up inside the temple. (I think. Like I said, I got lost. ) What's going on?

I bet this is why Nathan was sent he knows what the Inquisitor Lord is talking about