End this MOO3 support - Page 2

ChristopherC · January 11, 2004, 07:36

Gentlemen, where are the spreadsheets etc. I am told I could have a look at to amend upwards the points for the Terrans (say by about ten to twenty percent)? I cant find anything but MOB files on my HD - not that I know precisely what those are! But since I am not a programmer perhaps I should leave well alone and settle for the fact that the MOO3 universe is rigged against humans ever making top dog?

I would also like to say I make no apology for my Net paranoia; which hardly seems to me an inappropriate attitude, if not take too far, of course. Yes, there are risks in every transaction both on and off the Net. But no matter how careful you are, how up to date your protection is, that doesnt guarantee that some nasssty little program wont find a chink whereby it can look for your credit card detail keystrokes. Furthermore, I saw a documentary a little while back which showed how apparently it was child's play for a hacker to access a secure site. Long live the check!

bakalov · January 12, 2004, 05:40

Cristopher - these mob files are zip files. There is a file "spreadsheets.mob" - rename it to .zip and open it as a zip file. You'll find the spreadsheets in it - they are ordinary txt files.

macraig · January 12, 2004, 07:50

Quote:

Originally posted by bakalov
Cristopher - these mob files are zip files. There is a file "spreadsheets.mob" - rename it to .zip and open it as a zip file. You'll find the spreadsheets in it - they are ordinary txt files.

I would recommend that you COPY the .mob file first, and then rename the copy to *.zip. Best to do it that way, lest you forget to rename it back before you try to start a game!

(As it happens, the game doesn't care if there are Zip files loitering in the GameData directories.)

The files are tab-delimited spreadsheet files, basically; you can open them with any spreadsheet editor that knows how to import CSV-type files. If you do desire to edit any of them, note the stored directory name in the Zip file for that file and create a sub-directory of the same name below the directory where the .mob file is found, and extract the file(s) to that directory. Oh... and BE SURE to save the edited file in its original format, not the native spreadsheet format!

The game notices the sub-directories and gives precedence to any data tables that exist in them over the same files contained in a MOB. It's a similar scheme to that used by the game Total Annihilation, and makes modifying/modding some of the game's behavior quite easy. I've been experimenting myself for about a week now.

Brutalisk · January 17, 2004, 16:08

I've read through this whole thread and I believe Destroyer's post more or less nails this one on the head. (see first page)

It's ironic isn't it? EA and Microsoft are making millions out of re-using the same game over and over again with simply a new face... while companies who try to push the envelope go bankrupt...

Destroyer · January 17, 2004, 17:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Brutalisk
I've read through this whole thread and I believe Destroyer's post more or less nails this one on the head. (see first page)

It's ironic isn't it? EA and Microsoft are making millions out of re-using the same game over and over again with simply a new face... while companies who try to push the envelope go bankrupt...

THE REAL iRONY IS THAT THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT moo3 needs - A makeover.

The problem is Atari has evolved from one big company to another. And they have learnt to refine the money-making process.

It needss a smaller company who have their futures riding on a game to really have the inclination to give a game like moo3 the support it needs.

All I can think of is, again, SMAC, which Firaxis spend many many months developing and improving after the initial release.

Sarxis · January 17, 2004, 18:05

Quote:

Originally posted by Wooglin
I would seriously consider deleting all of the MOO3 forums (fora?).

There are forums less active than these, and thy are still around.

And I've asked for someone to clean it up a bit, believe me.

Brutalisk · January 17, 2004, 20:59

Quote:

"It needss a smaller company who have their futures riding on a game to really have the inclination to give a game like moo3 the support it needs."

They should sell the game licence to someone then

Kahn · January 21, 2004, 20:53

For those out there not technically challenged, you can also hack the registry to make WinZip recognize .mob files as .zip files.(That's what I did on my old system [PII, Win 2k OS] but that was some while ago before I decommissioned it. I'm somewhat fuzzy on how I did it, but it can be done, and without resulting in the "Not a .zip file" error.)

Sovereign · January 22, 2004, 02:17

Isn't Atari a name for a defunct arcade game system way back in the 80's?

I wonder, will Atari destroy the gaming market and people's enthuaism for games in a few years? Then by 2010, there won't be ANY new video games for ANY console.

People wouldn't want to buy, say, MOO5 or Civ8 or whatever if the sequels suck as bad out of the box (un-modded) as MOO3.

Brutalisk · January 22, 2004, 03:16

Atari is the company behind that console

And to be fair it was a big hit at the time...

But yeah, most of these firms have been swallowed up by the big corporate businesses. Microsfot and EA being the worst.

Microsoft bought every damn developer who's worth a dime...

Microprose is gone for good, the Roberts bros (wing commander) work for Microsoft, and lots of other examples.

Speaking of wing commander, eurogamer.net reviewed Freelancer as a copycat of GrandTheftAuto... Are these the game reviewers of today? Anyone with the slightest knowledge about games would know Freelancer is "Privateer III". Privateer was around long before grand theft auto... and basically the only new feature on freelancer was the multiplayer aspect.

The mother of that genre is elite ofcourse...

The mother of RTS games though, has turned itself into the EA-equivalent of RTS games. Good thing we still got Blizzard.

"ranting off"

CharlesBHoff · January 23, 2004, 02:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Brutalisk
Atari is the company behind that console

And to be fair it was a big hit at the time...

But yeah, most of these firms have been swallowed up by the big corporate businesses. Microsfot and EA being the worst.

Microsoft bought every damn developer who's worth a dime...

Microprose is gone for good, the Roberts bros (wing commander) work for Microsoft, and lots of other examples.

Speaking of wing commander, eurogamer.net reviewed Freelancer as a copycat of GrandTheftAuto... Are these the game reviewers of today? Anyone with the slightest knowledge about games would know Freelancer is "Privateer III". Privateer was around long before grand theft auto... and basically the only new feature on freelancer was the multiplayer aspect.

The mother of that genre is elite ofcourse...

The mother of RTS games though, has turned itself into the EA-equivalent of RTS games. Good thing we still got Blizzard.

"ranting off"

I was in a EB store there where only one self of PC games all the rest where video game. The main reason it easyer to make than game for than video system where you know what hardware the system have(videocard,motheboard,sound and etc). While it is every hard to make than computer game as there is too much hardware conidlate to handle. Many video cards use unstandard codeing which is many time incortaidery with other hardware. What the computer need now is better standard in writeing driver for hardware and some idear useing standard hardware make by the same manufactor in PC.

Even I start computer game playing there was no video card(the 3d kind), only built in sound IBM, Apple, Commodore and others computer manufactor.

Brutalisk · January 23, 2004, 08:24

That's probably one of the very few virtues of Microsoft -> they tried to do something about that by introducing directX. Before directX the situation was even worse.

They tried standardising and solving the problem you actually raised. Unfortunately, while it worked at first, later on the companies simply found ways again to "enhance" their chips performances with "optimised" drivers which make them run faster with some programs, slower with others and not at all with some others.

What's worse though is when certain hardware don't mix at all with your motherboard and you only find out about it AFTER you've bought them.

(I always buy parts, never a ready-made computer)

Sovereign · January 23, 2004, 12:52

Seriously, its harder and harder to find good and decent games anymore.

Most games nowadays are racing and sports. Not enough original games. Seriously, who needs 10 - 20 football or 10 - 20 racing games in their gaming library?

A few is enough, depending on variety of premise (Classical, sci - fi, historical, etc.) For example, I'd be happy having a couple of classical racing games similiar to Need for Speed, then maybe 2 sci-fi racing games with flying cars or what-not, etc.

We need more good 4X strategy games like the original premise / ideas for MOO3, not the cut-back version that we all got stuck with...

More original FPS with success - win / fail - lose objectives like TimeSplitters and the 007 games....

We also need original RPG's set in original worlds (Other than Final Fantasy style worlds / people). Or RPG's with original battle / leveling systems.

More adventure games should be designed / made. Similiar to the Legend of Zelda series, but with original characters, worlds, locations, dunegons, and items. Or games like Mario set in realistic worlds.

Suppose Mario got digitized and transferred to a real "flesh and blood" graphic, then make all the traditional Mario enemies flesh-blood rather than cartoons, add sci-fi or magical worlds with real effects like today's FPS shooters or Residential Evil series, then that'd be a hell of an adventure with a famous hero. The same should be done for Link / Zelda. Change from "Cartoonish" to gritty and realistic "Real World" graphics.

Get the idea?

Too bad Atari, EA, and Microsoft don't see things that way. They're flooding the market with sports, racing, and TV show based games such as DragonBallZ and cartoon games.

Oh, how I wish for exciting and brand new games.

Brutalisk · January 23, 2004, 12:58

It's because people buy them!

EA for example, makes millions out of a new FIFA game and with minimal development, sicne it uses the old game, gives it a face lift, changes the players to reflect this year's teams and that's it... Then they sell it for 30-35 pounds. (don't know what price is in the US).

People.. buy them!

Westwood did the same bloody thing with RTS -> from Dune II to the latest C&C game, they are practically the same with better graphics, that's all!

Whereas look at Blizzard...

player1 · February 6, 2004, 06:37

Well considering that strategy forum is pretty much dead (no new posts in a month), and that strategy questions are asked in general forum, I would advice merging of those forums.

Daveybaby · February 8, 2004, 23:58

Quote:

Originally posted by Brutalisk
It's ironic isn't it? EA and Microsoft are making millions out of re-using the same game over and over again with simply a new face... while companies who try to push the envelope go bankrupt...

Quote:

Originally posted by Destroyer
The problem is Atari has evolved from one big company to another. And they have learnt to refine the money-making process.

Orionically, Atari were one of the few games producers who were consistently prepared to push the envelope throughout their history. And eventually it got them bust.

What you see as Atari now is NOT the atari of old. Its just Infogrammes, who bought the rights to the name Atari, and did some corporate rebranding.

CharlesBHoff · February 9, 2004, 16:46

It took only afew hundred dollar in the beginning to make computer game not counting marketing cost which didnot enter the picture in the beginning. Today it can cost many million of dollars to make than computer game, not counting marketing cost which exsit but for compareing purpose show why cut-end computer game companies are rare today.