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[Parsely]

This is why I'm addicted to the creative trait.  If you play your first game with it then your reaction on not having it is "but why can't I have this that and the other!"

But Creative trait is like lowering the difficulty slider to "None".

It has a really high race points cost, so you're either not going to have any other positive traits, or a heck of a lot of negative ones.

[LordBucket]

This is why I'm addicted to the creative trait.  If you play your first game with it then your reaction on not having it is "but why can't I have this that and the other!"

But Creative trait is like lowering the difficulty slider to "None".

It has a really high race points cost, so you're either not going to have any other positive traits, or a heck of a lot of negative ones.

1) This game is being played on an unpatched verion of MOO2, so it only costs 6 picks rather than the usual 8

2) Does anyone not play with the full ten points of negatives?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Repulsive (-6 picks) is basically 6 free points on higher difficulty settings, since nobody honors treaties for very long anyway.

-10 Ground combat (-2 picks) Meaningless to telepathic races since they just mind control everything, and easily overcome by everyone else just by using more troops.

-20 Ship Defense (-2 picks) Meaningless for anyone who uses a fsat expnsion strategy, since you can run away with missiles frigates and kill everything before you ever get hit, and in the mid to late stages of the game you're generlly always attacking when suffiencelty overwhelming force that nothing survives long enough to shoot back at you

-10 Spying (-3 picks) Easily overcome just by using more spies. Especially for telepathic and/or unification races since they get spy bonuses.

Poor Home World (-1 pick) Irrelevant in advanced age games since you start with half a dozen colonies, and not a big deal for others because in the early game it mostly just means you generate less pollution and by the middle game you have a bunch of colonies so it's irrelevant.

-.5 BC (-4 picks) Noticeable, but still extremely playable. Especially for early-expansion strategies that involve a lot of conquest. For example, as shown in this screenshot in the current game we apparently had over 2700 money sitting round despite having -13 control, and taxes set at 0%. Money isn't a problem if you're out conquering colonies.

Ship attack, production and research penalties are inconvenient, but not really a big deal.

Farming and population growth penalties are a major nuisance, and I'd take any of the above over these two.

Feudal and uncreative are the only real killers, in my opinion. Or doing crazy stuff like pre-warp + both food and production penalty + poor home world.

That said, I find creative to be "nice" rather than essential. It's certainly not a no difficult slider. If you think it is, play on impossible. Really, unless you're not playing a research turtle game, there are really only a very few tech levels that have more than one useful tech in them. Choosing only one of Heavy armor, missiles bases or automated factories, for example, but you can easily get around that by stealing tech.

Creative is for players who want to sit around and not fight anything until they have titans. Nobody else needs it. Subterranean, unification and telepathic are all much stronger picks, in my opinion.

[USEC_OFFICER]

Spoiler: Hyperflux Blues (click to show/hide)

Today's Update is brought to you by Microsoft Paint. Microsoft Paint. Because FRAPS suddenly hates DosBox's guts.


Fun fact: you can still transport colonists around during a Hyperspace Flux. This will probably be the last time I do such a thing though, for obvious reasons.


Here's the galaxy as thing stand. Expect it to stand like so for the next twenty some odd turns or so. Space fluxes last a damned long time.


For shits and giggles I decided to tackle the Star Base in Ursa.


Fun fact: Ships that retreat during a space flux just simply disappear. Welp, looks like we're down one Scorpion.


Our outpost ship manages to reach its destination and set up an outpost in the Scott system.


At the same time our ships return to Vagn to stomp the Bulrathi into a fine paste.


No star bases or defenders means insta-MIND CONTROL, and that's great.


We get contacted by Commissioner Houri, but we don't need pollution reduction. Silcoids are Tolerant after all!


Researching Zortrium Armour is a really important step before we start production of the latest Scorpions. Not because it's good armour, definitively not.


Instead it allows us to get MIRV'd Merculites. Each MIRV'd Merculite is equivalent to four regular Merculite missiles, meaning that we're packing insane damage on this ship.


In other news: The Gnolams are still kicking. Yawn.


Err... Whoops.


Somehow I set my spies to sabotage the Psilons instead of stealing their tasty, tasty tech. As you can imagine, that was rectified quickly.


Ah, much better. Oh, and if you're wondering, at the end of this update is all of the techs I acquired this. I had shuffled a lot of workers into research, so we were getting almost 500 RP a turn, which is a ridiculous amount.


Bad news: Those Antaran dicks decided to pay another visit while everything is shut down due to the flux.


Good news: They targeted the Psilon dicks. Perfect.


Finally! I thought we'd be grounded forever!

Spoiler: Rampage (click to show/hide)

Remember that outpost ship that decided to take a joyride to the Alkari empire? Well as punishment I decided that it should explore some nearby systems. And guess what it happened to find?


That's right, goddamn Orion.


Obviously the Orion system is guarded by the Guardian, which is probably the toughest enemy in the game. It has the best armour, shields, systems and packs enough weapons to make an armada cry. And apparently I have to take it out with missile spam. Yay me.


The effort is worth it however. Orion is the best planet in the game, and defeating the Guardian gives you a bunch of advanced techs, some good some bad.


Anyways we take another swing at Ursa Prime. This time we have some more backup, so things should go better.


Much better. Obviously I can't take really good action shots with paint, but assume that the station and planet were bathed in nuclear hellfire.


Give me an M! Give me an I! Give me an N! Give me an D! Give me a CONTROL! What does that spell? MIND CONTROL!


At the same time we tackle the nearest Psilon colony.


This was the only interesting thing about the battle.


Yadda yadda, MIND CONTROL.


Quandra. Second verse, same as the first.


Said verse being MIND CONTROL. MIND CONTROL. I LOVE MIND CONTROL.


In non-dominating news, we research Emission Guidance System. This cool little bit of tech causes your missiles to deal their damage directly to a ship's engines. Basically it all but guarantees a drive explosion, which quickly takes out a ship instead of having to munch through its hit points. I believe that we'll use this against the Guardian.


In highly ironic news, the Scorpion II that Meklon produced is going to attack the last Melkar colony. Meklon also happens to be our second-most productive colony, clocking in at half the production of Crylson. Half the production. Tolerant + Unification is insane when it comes to cranking out ships.


Look at that number. Look at it. 700 damage from one barrage. That's almost 7 times more damage than our Scorpion Is can deal out. MIRV'd missiles are insane.


Do I even have to say it anymore? Yes, yes I do. MIND CONTROL.


We also stumble upon the Gnolam cowering in the lower-left corner of the map. I believe that they have a grand total of three systems. A herd of angry wombats are more dangerous to us at this point.

Spoiler: Dramatic Interlude (click to show/hide)

: Kekeke keke ke.

: Ke ke?

: Ke! Kekekekeke kekeke ke!

: Ke kekeke?

: ...

: ^{*Psst* I'm kinda new here. Uh... Do you have any clue what they're saying?}

: ^{Huh? Oh, sorry. I was spaced out there. I'm trying not to worry about the bees.}

: ^{The bees?}

: ^{Oh boy. Have fun finding out, bud.}

: ...

: Ke keke? Kekeke ke keke?

: ...

: Ke ke ke?

: ...!

: Ke!

: ...!?!

: ...

: ^{Are, are they talking to that rock?}

: ^{I don't know! It's been ages since I've last heard from INT-986. I've been living off water from the bathroom and lesser dignitaries.}

: ^{Okay then...}

: ^{Please help me. I'm so very lonely.}

: Keke ke. Kekekekeke ke keke ke.

: Ke ke?

: ^{Hey, you're a Psilon right? You're smart, you ought to know what they're saying.}

: ^{Nope, not a clue.}

: ^W-what?

: ^Sorry.

: ^{T-then why would they send us as ambassadors if we don't have any idea what the hell these insects saying!}

: ^{Because these insects control half the known galaxy.}

: ...

: Fuck the galaxy.

Spoiler: Multi-kill (click to show/hide)

It's time to tackle the Psilons in their strongest colony: El Dorado. Or maybe it's their second strongest colony. Meh, who cares. We have missiles to shoot.


With the Psilons being the strongest forces we're up against, I have sent three Scorpion IIs against them. Their firepower is devastating and will wipe all before them.


Unfortunately their commander is a complete idiot. Long story short, too many missiles were sent against the enemy missile base, and not enough against the star base. Whoops.


At least those damned Meklar are finally wiped out.


We also hire Director Emo, who hopefully doesn't cut his wrists. +20% RP isn't exactly needed at this point, but I can't say no to more research. It's a fatal flaw I have.



The last Bulrathi colony is wiped out faster than you can say MIND CONTROL.


Rest in peace, sweet prince.


The Alkari call us up to talk some smack about our mothers.


I let them get away with it this time. 1000 BC is quite a lot, but I could use the extra time to ready my forces to stomp them into a fine paste when we finish killing the Psilons.


Speaking of Psilons: It appears that bathing planets in nuclear hellfire kills off colonists. Who knew?


The Psilons also readied a battleship in time for our attack. I have no clue why the hell it needs 17 nuclear bombs, but everything else looks good.


'cept against a massive wave of missiles, of course.


If you don't know the drill by now: MIND CONTROL.


Our valiant and amazing attackers swarm into Mentar to tackle the Psilon homeworld.


That Battle Station might be a problem, if we didn't have three ships capable of taking it out in two volleys.


We should probably switch to beam ships soon. Not because missiles aren't effective, but because we're losing so many future thralls due to them. Oh well, that ain't going to stop me from MIND CONTROL.


Spoilers: They will not. At two systems they're less of a threat than the Gnolam.


Mentar II has no Star Base, so... MIND CONTROL.


Mmmmm... Fun fact: We're the only race that has managed to defeat any other empires. Baring bullshit, we should be able to kill everyone else.


If for some reason you don't believe me, take a gander at that galaxy map. We control 2/3rds of the galaxy at this point. We are leading the pack in population, buildings, and ships. Our tech graph is so steep that you need to be an experienced climber to reach the top. We have won. At this point it's just mopping up.

Spoiler: Shit-ton of Techs (click to show/hide)

[USEC_OFFICER]

FRAPS decided to be a dick, so that's why this update took so long. Paint may not be pretty, but it gets the job done.

Also, if you really can't wait for the next update, just yell MIND CONTROL to yourself a bunch of time and find a picture of Orion's Guardian blowing up. The overall effect should be pretty much the same.

[CognitiveDissonance]

FRAPS decided to be a dick, so that's why this update took so long. Paint may not be pretty, but it gets the job done.

Also, if you really can't wait for the next update, just yell MIND CONTROL to yourself a bunch of time and find a picture of Orion's Guardian blowing up. The overall effect should be pretty much the same.

MIND CO-NTROL! MIND CO-NTROL! MIND CO-NTROL!

*boom*

MIND CO-NTROL! MIND CO-NTROL! KE KE KE! KEKEKE! KE KE KE KE KE KE!

[USEC_OFFICER]

FRAPS decided to be a dick, so that's why this update took so long. Paint may not be pretty, but it gets the job done.

Also, if you really can't wait for the next update, just yell MIND CONTROL to yourself a bunch of time and find a picture of Orion's Guardian blowing up. The overall effect should be pretty much the same.

MIND CO-NTROL! MIND CO-NTROL! MIND CO-NTROL!

*boom*

MIND CO-NTROL! MIND CO-NTROL! KE KE KE! KEKEKE! KE KE KE KE KE KE!

And so concludes the LP. Now to work o- Hey... Wait a moment. You tricked me!

[Mephansteras]

Hehe.

Going to build a Titan to send in against the Guardian?

[USEC_OFFICER]

Hehe.

Going to build a Titan to send in against the Guardian?

I built ten. No kill like overkill, right?

[Mephansteras]

Hehe.

Going to build a Titan to send in against the Guardian?

I built ten. No kill like overkill, right?

It's the Guardian. I'd say ten is a good number.

[Parsely]

Hehe.

Going to build a Titan to send in against the Guardian?

I built ten. No kill like overkill, right?

When it comes to the Guardian, the only kind of kill is overkill.

[Mephansteras]

My usual pattern with the guardian tends to go: Send in large fleet that I think can take it -> Fleet gets stomped -> Build better/bigger fleet -> Crush Guardian with minimal losses

[Moron]

Apparently it's possible to take out the guardian with just two cruisers and two frigates at roughly the tech level you're at now, using the right combination of MIRV and EMG missiles. The regular missiles get launched first, draw all the fire from its PD weapons and take down the shield, then the  EMG ones blow up the engine. Never tried it myself though.

[EuchreJack]

Apparently it's possible to take out the guardian with just two cruisers and two frigates at roughly the tech level you're at now, using the right combination of MIRV and EMG missiles. The regular missiles get launched first, draw all the fire from its PD weapons and take down the shield, then the  EMG ones blow up the engine. Never tried it myself though.

I have.  The ship estimates are a bit low if you want to be sure, but it's certainly possible.

[USEC_OFFICER]

I've got a bowlful of chips, it's bright outside and I'm listening to Touhou music. Let's Play Master of Orion 2!

Spoiler: Obligatory MIND CONTROL Pictures (click to show/hide)

Correction: The Darlocks were wiped from the face of the universe. I got a little too missile happy, hence why I have no pictures of us MIND CONTROLLING the Darlock systems. Sorry about that. Have some pictures of us conquering the Alkari instead.
 









*Yawn* MIND CONTROL. Happy now?


Not shown: All the casualties I took fighting the Alkari. However said casualties were due to me being a lazy bugger, and not anything special on the Alkari's part.

Spoiler: Mastering Orion (click to show/hide)

With intergalactic conquering more or less out of the way (the Gnolam can go snuff themselves), we can finally focus on tackling Orion's Guardian. Our first generation of Titan ships should do nicely for the task. A massive swarm of heavily modified Merculities should do the trick. I would have gone with Pulson missiles, but it didn't seem like they could be MIRV'd. Meh.


Ten Widows ought to be enough to tackle the Guardian, right?


Actually it turns out that the Guardian is less scary then I thought. Only a couple of death rays, some photon torpedoes and a handful of PD weapons. It does have a ton of armour and very good evasion, so this could still be a close fi-


Bahahahaha, not even close. The Guardian didn't even fire a shot. It simply charged forward into our swarm of missiles and disintegrated without so much as a by-your-leave. All thanks to the Emission Guidance System, of course. Without it I don't think we could have won that fight.


For our efforts we get a snazzy fly-over of Orion. For 1996, this was top of the line. For 2013? Still pretty good, actually. Then again I was recently stunned with how good Final Fantasy VII's graphics were, so maybe I'm not the best judge of things.


We also get a bunch of techs out of defeating the Guardian. As far as I know you always get Death Ray. It's one of the stronger weapons in the game (though not the best!) but suffers from a lack of miniaturization making it expensive and bulky. Still, it's probably better than anything else we've got.

Xentronium Armour is a great tech to get. It's the best armour in the game, period, and also blocks armour piercing shots.

Damper Field is an alternative to shields. Instead of adding an additional buffer of health, it just simply cuts all incoming damage by half, which is most useful on larger ships with lots of health and good armour. The Antarans are big fans of this and thus go without shields, making them extremely vulnerable to drive explosions and EGS missiles.

Particle beams are another favourite of the Antarans, being the primary weapon they use. It's not terribly strong for late-game weaponry, but it is the strongest point defence beam.

You can also get a bunch of other special techs from Orion, but we pretty much got the best ones. The others are either impractical or useless, except for Reflection Shield which can reflect beam attacks before they even damage you. Very useful, but sadly we didn't get it.


I've never noticed this before, but apparently you get an awesome officer and ship from defeating Orion's Guardian. Admiral Loknar, the last airbender Orion is pretty damn awesome, as is his ship. Of course I'm too paranoid to use him lest he die horribly, but I'm sure in combat his prowess is unmatched.


With the Guardian defeated and tasty techs looted, we finally colonize Orion and stuff it full of rocks. I'm pretty sure that I've seen Orion with space for 40+ people, but even with 25 it's pretty awesome. At the end of the game, will all the industry increasing buildings and a full population of Silicoids, it was outputting something close to 600 production a turn. Pretty damn awesome, if you ask me.

Spoiler: Assault on Black October (click to show/hide)

Meet the Antarans. They've been talking smack about our mothers since time immemorial.


However with our amazing defences, they haven't managed to accomplish much. Still, it's the thought that counts, and right now that thought is saying to turn them into tasty, tasty bug-food.


Luckily the Gnolam managed to have the tech to strike at the Antarans, so by extension (and a massive spy network) we do too.


To strike at the Antarans effectively I've raced up the tech tree and designed this: the Missile Spam. We came into this galaxy on a hail of missiles, and by god we're going to leave the same way! Copious amounts of highly advanced and dangerous Zeon Missiles should do the trick. Also, fun fact, we're the only race that managed to research shields better than class I.


The Gnolam have Class X shields, but only because the game gave it to them. Don't believe me?


Bam. That's right, we could have taken on the entire galaxy with nuclear missiles. Actually I think they have radiation shields, so we needed to upgrade our missiles anyways. Still, the point stands: Everyone has crappy shields except us.


As the second half of our two-pronged offensive on the Antaran homeworld, I've developed Beam Spam ships. Though at 8 Death Rays they can't really spam beams very well. Eh. As close-range fighters they have a ton of special systems to keep them in fighting trim, as well as a dampener field to help extend their lives. The Antarans laugh at Class X shields. Oh, and I've developed the Beam Spam as a battleship instead of a titan so that our second-tier industrial colonies could produce them quickly. Otherwise it'll be ages until the game finally ends.


In the end I amass a massive swarm of 28 ships to crush the Antarans. 13 Missile Spams and 15 of their smaller brethren.


One highly advanced cut-scene later, and we're orbiting the Antaran homeworld.


Against our forces the Antarans have readied a Harbringer Titan.


Three Intruder... Cruisers? Are they seriously bringing cruisers to a Titan fight?


That's no moon! The Antarans also have a Star Fortress, the strongest defense in the game. Thankfully it doesn't have any shields, but it'll be a tough nut to crack indeed.


Here's the Antaran ships as they stood at the start of the battle.


And here's the next turn of the battle. Notice a difference? Well, it turns out that when your stuff as many MIRV'd Zeon missiles as you can onto a Titan and then throw in Fast Missile Racks for good measure, big numbers start to sprout out of the enemy.


Really, really big numbers. So much for the Antarans. But you know what this means:


We've accidently skipped the ending cutscene! Oh, and won the game I guess, but that was a moot point since the very first update. We could have easily gotten more points by researching more and settling more planets, but the tedium would have been too much for me.


Still, Emperor Kekeke is still the greatest champion of Master of Orion II!


Of course the high-score board doesn't want to update, but I assure you that we are indeed the greatest.

Spoiler: Credits (In order of Appearance) (click to show/hide)

Johnny Depp as Admiral Kekeke.

Emperor Kekeke as himself.

General Kekeke (née General Krekrekre).

King Krekrekre (our heart and souls go out to his widow).

...? as Worker Rock and Sneaky Rock.

...!? as Crew Rock

...?! in his breakthrough performance as Captain Rock.

INT-9001 as both Meklar Guard and Meklar Ambassador.

NT-1337 as Meklar Scientist.

MEX-14N in his heatbreaking role of Intercom.

Assassin Kekeke as himself.

Catherine Zeta Jones as Gnolam Scum Ambassador.

OH GOD NOT THE BEES as Guy Who Get Attacked By Bees.

F. Scott Fitzgerald as Psilon Ambassador.

Emma Stone reprising her role as Aklari Ambassador.

Well, it's been really fun guys. The end was kinda boring and tedious, but everything leading up to it was pretty exciting. I'll let you know if I can get FRAPs to cooperate with DosBox again, but if not I'll have to call this the end of the LP and move onto something else. Either way, thanks for all the help guys!

[CognitiveDissonance]

*applause*

Spoiler: more applause (click to show/hide)

I enjoyed it greatly If you end up looking for something else to do LP of, I have a suggestion! Imperium Galactica! I have never played the first one, but I know it's available as an (authorized) open-source remake. Apparently the remake is top-notch.

I played the sequel, Imperium Galactica 2. That game is amazing fun. It's also incredibly difficult to track down.

Or, there's Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain.