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[Culise]

As I mentioned in the happy thread, the evocation of happy memories aside, I expect this to be rather likely a trainwreck.  I do like how they advertise on their website that there will be "over 20 solar systems with more than 100 unique stars," though.  That's...not a lot, though I suppose you don't really need too many for quick games, and there is room for beer-and-pretzels sorts of games as well in a market that has seen a rather large glut of complexity and games on a massive scale. 

At any rate, from the sound of it, I would not be surprised to see MOO3 completely ignored.  The mention of ten playable races on the website includes the Sakkra, Bulrathi, Alkari, Gnolam, Meklar, and Humans as explicitly listed, but that only leaves four other races for the following seven, just from MOO2: 

• Darloks (1)
• Klackons (1)
• Mrrshan (1)
• Psilons (1)
• Silicoids (1)
• Elerians (2)
• Trilarians (2)

That's...not a lot of room.  The original MOO1 had ten races as well, but with the Gnolam from MOO2 in this, someone's getting cut from the MOO1 line-up.  From MOO3, the only really novel additions that weren't subsets of the others (or could be lumped in by a ruthless...lumper sort of person) were the Etherians and the Harvesters.  Given what one could euphemistically term as MOO3's poor public reception, I wouldn't be surprised to see them quietly shuffle it under a rug. 

[Neonivek]

I really don't want a Master of Orion reboot...

Because they are just going to modernize it until it won't even be the same game anymore... just a huge "Who cares?"...

[Bohandas]

Yeah, honestly I'd rather just keep playing Free Orion and Space Empires

[motorbitch]

another remake. jeay.
the real sad part is proably where doing the same old stuff over again is much more successfull then doing anything crative, where games constantly getting bad reviews for being "unintuitive".
ah well. i guess i got used to it with movies, i will get used to it with games too. or not.

[Mephansteras]

I'm ok with the concept of a reboot. XCOM: EU/EW is one of my favorite games to come out in years. I'm just not holding out too much hope that this will actually be good.

[a1s]

Yeah, honestly I'd rather just keep playing Free Orion and Space Empires

FO hasn't updated since 2014, and SE since 2009. This makes me sad.

[Robsoie]

MoO1 and MoO2 are complete masterpieces, so much that i still play with both from time to time.
Both games have different gameplay mechanics and both works very nicely for the player, so i can't prefer one other the other, they're really just great.

The last time i read about some company that wanted to make a new MoO and that "they always liked the 2 first titles", it led into MoO3 , and we know the awful it was ...
So i have a very hard time to imagine the idea of a new title in the serie to deliver anything half as good as the first two.

It's too bad that FreeOrion is nothing like MoO1 and MoO2, i tried to like it, but i just couldn't.
But the good thing is that MoO1 and MoO2 are still completely enjoyable right now despite their years.

[Astral]

Stardrive 2 tried (and many will say, failed) to bring back MoO 2 in some ways.

If they could give the game a graphical update while preserving the gameplay, and fixing the glaring bugs/AI issues, I think most people would be perfectly fine with that, if they played the original.

[Majestic7]

I think StarDrive 2 is pretty much Master of Orion II: More of the Same. It shows how innovation has driven beyond the original concept; for example Distant Worlds is a lot better in doing things differently than the original formula. (I hate excessive micromanagement though, so you mileage may vary.) Master of Orion I/II will always have a special place in my heart, but why do the same game again and again? It is the same as with Worlds of Magic, it is just Master of Magic remade slavishly instead of even trying to improve the original concepts.

So yeah, I think this will be a lackluster copy of the originals or an original attempt to try something new. The latter might fail horribly but it can't be worse than MoO3. I'm somehow still waiting for THE 4X of the decade, GalCiv has always felt just...dull to me. Too bad Kerberos killed Sword of the Stars franchise with the disaster that was SotSII. After End of Flesh it actually became enjoyable, if still unfinished game.

[Fikes]

I don't think anyone has quite mastered the modern Moo2. Granted I haven't played Star Drive 2. I don't know how exactly moo2 managed to do it but it managed to present exactly every bit of information you needed without being over whelming.

To that end I don't think a rehash of a very similar game would be a bad thing.

[Neonivek]

another remake. jeay.
the real sad part is proably where doing the same old stuff over again is much more successfull then doing anything crative, where games constantly getting bad reviews for being "unintuitive".
ah well. i guess i got used to it with movies, i will get used to it with games too. or not.

Games are an entirely different beast then a movie though. A movie just has to update a few elements but is otherwise keeps the same template... a game needs to transform the product, essentially being similar but an entirely new beast.

A reboot of Master of Orion requires a LOT of creativity because the standards of the time it was made will not satisfy the modern gamer. You need to evolve it.

The PROBLEM is the same problem with Syndicate, Thief, Beyond Earth, Xcom: The Beauro.

Which is that they took the original and made a dumbed down product from it... OR just used it for name recognition and otherwise completely ignored the source material.

A Master of Orion game that remains true to the spirit of the series while advancing the series would be a great game period.

Trust me you don't have to "get used to it" because the last remake of any value was "X-Com"...

If I were to compare the difference: A remake of a movie is like trying to remake the Mona Lisa with different colors while having the Mona Lisa for comparison. A remake of a videogame (a good one) is like trying to make the Mona Lisa with different colors while having only the rough sketch, and only the rough sketch has ever existed.

[Sergarr]

So, uh, why the XCOM thread was filled with HYPE HYPE HYPE, and this one isn't?

[Erkki]

I doubt a remake would be able to feel even remotely the same as the old then-masterpieces... Its happened with so many game series.

I still play the old MoO II out of nostalgia now and then, but by modern standards its not an overly deep game. Nor very balanced.

Honestly I quite dislike(ed) the short one-sided wars and how the game was usually basically over by the time first 1 or 2 races had been eaten by what was usually a purple Psilon or orange Klackon blob.

I'm still to play a multiplayer game of Space Empires 4 or 5... 

[Frumple]

Xcom is the significantly sexier franchise, serg. MoO is perhaps more respected, but Xcom has more fanfiction. Basically.

Difference also in who's producing them, I do believe, plus most of the mainline (i.e. not enforcer, etc.) Xcom games being pretty decent, whereas MoO has MoO3, which was only good after being significantly modded, and is being produced by a company that has a dubious track record and developed by one no one has heard of before. The actual strategy games in the xcom line have not really burnt the player, yet, and it has a pretty clear pedigree. MoO does not have that, and so folks are more leery.

[Majestic7]

I think the main difference is that we have one "new" X-Com and it is okay. So there is some proof that it won't be a total clusterfuck. This time there is no proof that this will amount to anything - the last Orion was steaming turds wrapped in confetti.