Master of Orion II

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Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares
Master of Orion II Box cover
Developer(s) Simtex
Publisher(s) Microprose (PC), MacSoft (Mac)
Release date(s) 1996
Genre(s) Turn-based strategy
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer
Platform(s) MS-DOS, Windows 95, Apple Macintosh

Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (MOO2) was the first sequel to Master of Orion. Like the original, it was developed by Simtex. The Windows 95 and MS-DOS version of the game was published by Microprose in 1996, while the Apple Macintosh version was published a year later by MacSoft. Among other changes, it added multiplayer gameplay and updated the graphics. One of the major changes in MOO2 from its predecessor was the introduction of leaders. Leaders had special abilities that allowed, among other things, better efficiency in production on planets and better ship management such as better attack, defense etc. The sequel also added three races, as well as the ability to make custom races. Each race's proclivities towards certain fields of research were removed, making research more homogeneous. The degree to which the player controlled a planet's agriculture, industry, and research was greatly expanded, allowing the player to construct specific buildings to increase production or to assign individual units of population to other sectors. These game elements came almost directly from an earlier Simtex game, Master of Magic. In 1997, Master of Orion II won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1996.

Although MOO2 was a hit, it was received with mixed reviews by fans of the original. Some liked it more because it offered additional gameplay elements, while others preferred the simpler gameplay of the original, finding the more extensive micromanagement in MOO2 unnecessary, and counter to rapid learning of the game. It was however seen by most as a worthy sequel to the first game.

[edit] Background story

Alternate box cover.
Alternate box cover.

In the galaxy's distant past, two powerful empires fought a great war. The Orions were ultimately victorious, but rather than consigning the Antarans to genocide, they instead imprisoned their mortal enemies into a "pocket dimension". After this, the Orions mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only artifacts, their ultra-rich but empty homeworld, and a powerful Guardian which assaults any ship that dares plunder the planet's riches.

As MOO2 begins, several burgening races, including humans, reach out to the stars to build their own empires. At the same time, however, the Antarans have finally begun to escape their prison. Even as the new empires struggle against each other, they must defend themselves from these ancient, powerful aggressors.

All races present in the original game reappear here, albeit changed in many ways. Some of these changes include the following:

  • Alkaris now more closely resemble pterodactyls than canaries
  • Bulrathis now more closely resemble bulldogs than bears.
  • Psilons have only two arms, gray skin, and aren't as humanoid
  • Darloks are revealed to be shapeshifters with a scaly appearance
  • Meklars are now encased in and fused with bulky robotic suits, all of which look similar, rather than the much sleeker and more radically specialised exoskeletons of the previous game
  • Mrrshans are led by a male leader, whereas before they were matriarchal
  • Silicoids more resemble a type of crystalline form than a liquid form

In addition, three new races were added:

  • Elerians, a matriarchal, humanoid race of telepaths
  • Gnolams, a gnome-like race of expert traders
  • Trilarians, interdimensional sea creatures.

It is possible to win by conquering all other races, being elected by the Galactic Council to lead the galaxy, or building a Dimensional Portal and defeating the Antaran homeworld (a feat so impressive that all other races will readily capitulate). In addition, defeating the Guardian and colonizing Orion will grant the player a new ally: Admiral Loknar, the Last Orion. Loknar brings with him his ultra-advanced Orion Battleship, the Avenger. Strangely, Admiral Loknar, the only Orion ever seen, very closely resembles a human.

[edit] Online multiplayer

Master of Orion II was released as MS-DOS, Windows 95 and Mac OS version and it includes multiplayer support with hot seat, modem, serial link, and LAN games. Unfortunately, the Multiplayer isn't compatible between these versions. There was even support for MOO2 online games by the Total Entertainment Network (TEN). After TEN was discontinued in 1999 server browsers with integrated IPX-emulation like Kahn and Kali (Shareware) provided new platforms for the online community. Kahn became less important because of its incompatibility with Windows XP, but in the meantime two alternatives appeared: Hamachi and the DOS-emulation DOSBox v0.65 which now supports IPX. Players in the Kali community now consider DOSbox as the de facto solution for multiplayer, one of the reasons being DOSbox handles other platforms such as Linux and Windows 2000. Furthermore, the DOS version is far more stable and has less lags than the Windows version regarding online play (the Windows version is considered unplayable). Even 10 years after the release of MOO2 the kali chatserver 138 and the IRC-Channel irc.quakenet.org#moo2 are visited by MOO2 online players. (See external weblinks for details.)

Version 1.31 is the last official patch, which implemented (amongst other things) the option ship initiative. Selecting this option the attacker will not automatically get first strike capability. Ship initiative gives first strike the ability to move and fire to the ship with the highest initiative. Initiative is determined by the beam offense calculation value divided by 10 plus the combat speed.

[edit] External links


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Master of Orion computer games

Master of Orion • Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares • Master of Orion III
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