For a forum that prides itself on trying new things, for the love of all that is novel and interesting, please can we have a new QotM? - Krill

Create an account  

 
Bear eating cats

Hi all, having a great time going back to this classic (partly thanks to the new patches - not that MOO needed them as badly as MOM does (but wonderfully has gotten!), I woulda played MOO 1.3 anyways :)

So using 140M3 (as I call it, the latest update by Sdragon that combines the battle scanner and over-autosave disable) I've started some games at average (used to play at hard and even impossible when I didn't care about how skewed the games became) and also installed a DOS screen cap TSR (Screen Thief - quite good). So to show off this new toy I'll post 2 GIFs from an early start as the Meowers who've got a REALLY big Bear breathing down their necks. Not to mention Ants in the pants (fights already but no official contact) on the other side. A Fertile 125 was at stake...


Attached Files Thumbnail(s)
       
"I think most people posting on a MOO/MOM forum in 2020 BC probably count as Time Travelers." : )
Reply

I tend to have trouble when playing as the cats. So many AIs hate you from the start just due to racial differences, and the combat bonus is really weak compared to any kind of economic boost. Good luck dealing with your bear and insect problems!
Reply

(June 3rd, 2022, 05:58)haphazard1 Wrote: I tend to have trouble when playing as the cats. So many AIs hate you from the start just due to racial differences, and the combat bonus is really weak compared to any kind of economic boost. Good luck dealing with your bear and insect problems!

Yeah the Mrrs are widely considered as the weakest race. They don't suit my playstyle much either! Early aggression isn't my cup of tea. I'm more of a expand and then crush the slower expanders player.

As I've played some more though the Ants tried to colonize the fertile AFTER I colonized it... you know the old, OK I sent my colony ship there, next I send population. Woops it's already colonized I guess they're marines then... Of course I suspect that's not what really happens. They sent many waves. Lucky I filled the 125 to the brim and after some primitive combat 0 vs +5 (for me yay!) they were beaten off. Well they stopped when I finally killed the orbiting fleet. 6 armed mediums kept killing the 1-3 smalls I dribbled in (stupidly). Quick construction of 1 missile base did it. Ironic that the Mrr bonus didn't help me at all there.

I almost gave this game up but actually I still have expansion room after the initial insane expansion of the AI's seemed to stop. Now I'm catching up. One of the best reasons to play at Average, lets you make mistakes and play out "hopeless" games. That's what bugs me about hard and imp. the endless worry about doing every step perfectly.
"I think most people posting on a MOO/MOM forum in 2020 BC probably count as Time Travelers." : )
Reply

Once an AI gets a fleet in orbit over one of your worlds, they are persistent about sending troops to colonize/invade. And getting rid of AI mediums in the early game can be difficult; you have to take the time to accumulate a large enough fleet. I have been in the same situation of trickling in a few ships at a time and having them wiped out. duh Spending for a missile base can work, if it is still early enough that the AI ships can not break its shields. But getting a missile base up on a new planet is expensive. frown

Playing the weaker races on Impossible can be very tough, especially if there are any problems with the start. Nebulas to slow you down, poor planets in key locations, needing range 5 to expand beyond the initial stars -- a tough start can become brutal when your race has already put you at a disadvantage.
Reply

Very true. Secretly, the Mrrshans might be my favorite race. They were actually the first with which I won a game on Average difficulty many (many ... many) years ago, and now, Impossible variant games with the cats have been some of my favorites ever. One thing that I learned about them all those years ago was that the Mrrshans don't have to play early aggression: As long as they build some ships, they can hold a planet with a small fleet when another race would lose it with a larger one, and expand effectively that way. That also applies to fending off enemy fleets and shooting down their transports - even with missile bases, since their racial bonus does apply to planetary defense missiles, hitting enemy ships more often than would another race's. The cats aren't as strong as nearly any other race, but (for me at least) they're lots of fun!
Reply

Surprisingly the missile base was built in 6y I think. What helped was that it was nukes so basic price plus 120 population (no facs yet though) all working on it. "Work you lazy cats! Build that MB before more ants come to spoil our picnic!" smile Also had 2-3 fighters dribble in when it was done so they probably helped distract the ant mediums.
Anyways the game is at average which makes for more fun, no need to micro manage, no need to pick the best race, etc etc. smile

I do also have a fetish for the Mrrsies, mainly cuz I'm a cat person already, hehe. But when I read all those ages ago that they were the hardest I said, I'll play them just because of that!

Of course there is the REAL downside to playing the Pussies... You can't meet their Ambassador. ;-) Meow!

Addendum: Played some more and we've (me and the cats) now got #2 pop. Ants #1. Bears looked scary on that map but are last in power in spite of the # of planets now. I've turned them into friends with trade and NAP. Guards my back while I deal with the real problem. It's an insect problem of course. Kholdan is remarkably close to Fierias. That I managed to snarf that Fertile 125 from them is a miracle indeed. Seeing as it's about 5 parsecs from Khol!
The undeclared war begun over the Fer125 has now erupted into a massive fleet battle over a small hostile tundra 2 parsecs from Fierias. It's inside a Nebula too. And it isn't rich (found none at all, but 4 poors 2 of which I have and am breeding kittens on).
I must say, that +4 to hit actually made a HUGE difference. My fleet went from second to first largest after the battle. The +4 gatlings on a dozen mediums shredded the 300+ smalls they had. The Heavy Lasers (usually highly denigrated) wiped out their single large hull in 1 shot at range 2. I'm pretty happy with the +4 gunnery bonus. smile
More ant waves on the way. Oh I'm gonna stomp some ants.
Weird diplomacy MOO moment: While I'm in a brutal death match with the Ants our relations aren't too bad. Meanwhile the extremely distant Silicoids who I have a tenous 6 parsec link with from one of my outliers to one of theirs along the top edge got all huffy about some "fleet buildup". Next turn war. Obviously some freakish reaction to my fleet moving to defend vs the ants. The fleet is literally 10 parsecs from the nearest Silicoid while it's within 4-5 parsecs of 3-4 klack worlds (incl. the cap.). I almost suspect the Silicoids are reacting instead of the Klackons due to a bug... (using 1.40m+)
"I think most people posting on a MOO/MOM forum in 2020 BC probably count as Time Travelers." : )
Reply

Sounds like a fun game so far, mxb2001. nod Nice to see gatling lasers actually being useful for once; often they are just a waste as shields improve and they become obsolete without ever being worth building. But they are an excellent weapon against large numbers of small ships.

On diplomacy with the rocks, what personality do they have? (If you have full contact with them.) It could be they drew an erratic personality for this game, and are just randomly going insane. Even without that, the MOO AI will be very odd about expansion at times. Maybe they are allied with the Klackons? That could also cause them to dislike you for fighting their friends.

Keep an eye on those bears. If they have a lot of worlds and are not fighting someone, they are likely to get a lot stronger over time. They may not have a big fleet or good tech right now, but that can change surprisingly quickly.

Good luck!
Reply

(June 4th, 2022, 00:03)haphazard1 Wrote: Sounds like a fun game so far, mxb2001. :nod: Nice to see gatling lasers actually being useful for once; often they are just a waste as shields improve and they become obsolete without ever being worth building. But they are an excellent weapon against large numbers of small ships.

On diplomacy with the rocks, what personality do they have? (If you have full contact with them.) It could be they drew an erratic personality for this game, and are just randomly going insane. Even without that, the MOO AI will be very odd about expansion at times. Maybe they are allied with the Klackons? That could also cause them to dislike you for fighting their friends.

Keep an eye on those bears. If they have a lot of worlds and are not fighting someone, they are likely to get a lot stronger over time. They may not have a big fleet or good tech right now, but that can change surprisingly quickly.

Good luck!

  I know, Gatlings rarely get used to full effect. A rare treat. And according to the Prima Guide multi fire beamers are perfect for the Mrrshan.

  The Klacks are Xeno, Bears Aggro and well I'll have to look up the Coids, I only just met them so I didn't remember. Actually the Ants are allied with the Psilons who are also quite weak. I was casting Predatory eyes on the Bears and Psilons (2 weakest) but got sideswiped by the Klackon assault. Logically I should attack the Brains since they're allied with the Ants and nurture the good relations with the Bears. Draw them into alliance if possible I suppose. I can always eat them last.

  Yeah that's one of the great things about MOO. Things change over time and not always in a predictable manner.
"I think most people posting on a MOO/MOM forum in 2020 BC probably count as Time Travelers." : )
Reply



Forum Jump: