QS have released Patch info! - Page 4

CharlesBHoff · April 10, 2003, 02:44

Quote:

Originally posted by Ozymandous

Heh, and MOO3 is fun *from day one* for those who like it as well. Not to say MOO3 isn't without flaws, but trust the fine, FICKLE folks here at APoly to bash any game that doesn't live up to their individual expectations.

If QS is as dedicated to improving MOO3 as Firaxis was with Civ3, then this title will be better than either of the original MOO games.

Two things I have noticed:
1) Get Colin's mod if you want an AI that will actually force you to fight and think more than the default AI (interface issues still persist but the AI actually does seem to have a brain with this mod).
2) The vast majority of the people I have seen bash the crap out of MOO3 are the people who loved MOO2 and never played MOO(original). Personally I hated MOO2 because it was micro nightmare, and if people were expecting MOO2.5 instead of MOO3 they are disappointed. Sounds almost like the same complaints that came from the Civ2 crowd who wanted Civ2.5 and not Civ3 as well, heh.

For what it's worth, I have nothing against the game in general but I have slacked off on playing because having to re-do the Dev plans every game and having to micro-manage the military build queue when virtually everything else is macro manage oriented. Most of the issues I have with the game have been mentioned as being worked on with the patch or future patches. Much as Civ3 was good, it didn't become great and addictive until 1.21 and especially 1.29 patches. I have the same expectations and hopes for MOO3.

I agree with you . MOO 1 you where allow to research all
six area at the same, while in MOO2 you where only allow
to research one area at a time. MOO 2 did have some good point also. The crowd that love MOO 2 I notice is taken extras pain to attack MOO 3.

vmxa1 · April 10, 2003, 03:25

Let's not too general with that broad brush. I know several people that are not bashing Moo3 (me too), that love Moo1 and Moo2. I still play both regularly.
I have put Moo3 aside for now and hope it will be improved. ven if it is not, I will play a game now and tehn, but I am hoping it will get to where I will play more frequently.

MarkG · April 10, 2003, 05:01

Quote:

Contents of the data patch

Corrected some typos reported on the boards.

Added Bill Seconded message which was already in the code to sitreps, so Orion Senate bills now issue a sitrep when seconded and up for a vote. Added Spy tags for filter in code patch.

Corrected order of weapons in GroundCombat.txt so that higher tech weapons are preferred (user reported bug).

Number of ground troop weapons types reduced from 21 to 9 and weapons standardized.

Added comments and some new tables to MilitaryAI.txt that require the code patch and are subject to change (including parameters for MOB centers, system ships). Marked as unused tables in MilitaryAI.txt which are read in but not used (will be removed in code patch).

Modified numbers in MilitaryAI.txt similarly to existing mods.

Increased research costs in main fields.

System ship and orbital hulls are cheaper.

Cost of ship and orbital armor halved

Missiles have been reduced in power by halving the warhead strength. The reload rate now varies by missile chassis size.

ECM and ECCM values slightly changed.

Ship star drives have increased in size and system drives are smaller so they are now equal in size at equal techs.

Ship movement over galaxy map is a little faster for any given tech.

Galaxy Map - relative offroad (non starlane) movement penalty changed from 20 times slower to 7. This will facilitate at least some offroad movement.

Race pick text descriptions updated and clarified to be more consistent with their function.

Environment race pick slightly improved

Economy race pick removed.

Tolerant race pick now reduces pollution by 20% instead of 50% and natural absorption bonus now works

Tolerant attributes of Saurian species now work

Removed ability of Harversters to move more than one level in any of the race pick categories.

Removed Non-corporeals from the harvesters list of edible species.

Cost of some race picks changed. For example, increasing industry now costs 30 pick points.

New Orions now get proper bonuses to research.

Several regional specials that deplete now really ARE special. (Size of multipliers raised significantly)

Removed some tables that are not read in from LeaderPersonality.txt. Add age columns to leaders (not active until code patch)

statusperfect · April 10, 2003, 06:56

Thanx for the info Mark.

GodKing · April 10, 2003, 12:19

Thanks MarkG. Appreciate the update.

asleepathewheel · April 10, 2003, 12:26

Yes, thanks for the update. Hopefully the patch will get this game back on track (for the first time in a year????

)

Master Marcus · April 10, 2003, 20:41

thanks for the input. I still don't know if the AI is already upgraded and the diff levels fixed, or only w code patch later on???

Pintello · April 10, 2003, 21:38

Hi All,

Been a while since I have posted in the forums, but I just thought I would give you all a heads up that the data patch can now be downloaded from the QS forums. URL is http://moo3.quicksilver.com/downloads/Moo3DataPatch.zip

Timothy Pintello

Vince278 · April 10, 2003, 23:53

Quintus_AP · April 11, 2003, 03:02

Hullo all,
I've been reading you for some time and I can tell you I love the game. However, I've been waiting for the patch from *day one*
I hope it will let my brother and me play multiplayer games (his Nommo were beaten not only by my Klackon but also by any computer. And I wasn't doing much MM).
Patch downloaded, gonna test

Ozymandous · April 11, 2003, 08:43

Quote:

Originally posted by BobD

I suppose you are one of the lucky few who isn't plagued by the DirectX SU error practically every turn. I personally like this game very much, but until they fix this bug I'm not going to waste any more time reloading the game every 5 minutes

.

You are correct sir! The only time I have seen this DirectX error was when I manually "Alt-Tab"ed out of the game, or when a external application caused MOO3 to not be the "on top" application.

When I did get this error I simply "Alt-Tab"ed a few times until the game refreshed and then I continued from where I left off.

If it's any help I have a GeForce4 4800 (128MB) video card, if that matters.

Other than these few times the game has been *extremely* stable for me. Then again I do desktop support for work so tend to have my PC in general very stable, so that may make a diference.

CharlesBHoff · April 11, 2003, 19:10

You can also get it if the graphic setting is too hight for your
computer. I have the problen untril I change the graphic setting from hight to medium. Are you one of those people who blame the woman for being rape if the punk threaten to
kill her baby, or blame people for getting sparm mail, I blame
the sparm or the rapist unless the woman has a history of makeing false rape charges.

statusperfect · April 12, 2003, 07:15

Quote:

Originally posted by CharlesBHoff
You can also get it if the graphic setting is too hight for your
computer. I have the problen untril I change the graphic setting from hight to medium. Are you one of those people who blame the woman for being rape if the punk threaten to
kill her baby, or blame people for getting sparm mail, I blame
the sparm or the rapist unless the woman has a history of makeing false rape charges.

Sometimes i don't understand you, but i like you anyway.

Vince278 · April 13, 2003, 00:03

Quote:

Originally posted by statusperfect
Sometimes i don't understand you, but i like you anyway.

That seems to sum up how I feel about the game.

Shadowlord · April 13, 2003, 11:52

Don't waste time hunting for the 'back' 'close screen' etc buttons, the 'ESC' key is your friend.

statusperfect · April 13, 2003, 14:55

Quote:

Originally posted by Vince278

That seems to sum up how I feel about the game.

MarkG · April 18, 2003, 06:16

patch news:

april 12

Quote:

Dominant species for a planet displayed on the system level view.

The race populating a region is now displayed as well as the unrest level of that region.

Command buffers and Save Games are compressed for sending over the net.

Fixed bug causing unnecessary copying of auto save games when resuming
multiplayer game.(Identically names save games in the main save game directory worked correctly)

Player entries in multiplayer lobby are colored blue when save game will be
copied.

Fixed bug with assigning players to empires when resuming a multiplayer game.

Added sort by species/race on planets screen (uses species number)

april 15

Quote:

Fixed bug that would improperly classify planets as frontier, and another which would allow set both the primary and secondary classification to the same thing.

Increased range of numbers used when doing cost/benefit analysis so that fewer items would be resolved as having no value, especially when HFOG is high.

Externalized parameters for Orion Senate presidency election, including a value for number of stars in galaxy to allow the Orion's vote to scale with galaxy size. Multipliers for number of system, planets and pop points are in a table, and Orions and other civs have separate values.

Removed code which read in otherwise unused tables in militaryAI.txt and starlaneai.txt.

Changed stable_sort to sort in code which displays list of save games to avoid crash. Game was crashing when there were 81-83 save games.

april 17

Quote:

Added sort by Empire option to planets screen.

Added button to rename star systems at the System Level display in a single player game (note: max 20 chars, the player currently has to have at least one colony in the system when renaming, and no duplicate star names allowed).

Added button to rename a planet from the Planet information screen (note: max 20 chars, may not be available in multiplayer depending on how testing goes).

DEA improvements and regional buildings in progress are now displayed in the infrastructure panel.

Fixed the 30 / 60 minute reminders such that it now actually works.

Fixed a bug on the System Forces display where the names of unexplored stars would be shown as the destination for a task force.

Fixed a bug on the System Forces display where the destinations of ships / task forces that didn't belong to the player would be shown.

Quick-game data now not saved when creating a new multiplayer game.

Quick-game data partially loaded in to use as the defaults for the New Game Options screen.

Fixed diplomatic spies so that they blow up Government buildings and modders can add diplomatic spy missions.

Fixed a bug in the Foreign Matrix screen where the drop-down menu to show which empires you have a specific relationship with would also include empires that you had diplomatic contact with but was subsequently lost.

Player flag icons added to the set of planet status icons on the System Level view to indicate which planets have an imperial and / or system seat.

Externalized some parameters used to calculate the diplomatic effects of combat. Added planets lost values to those already existing for hull spaces, troops, buildings and population. **This broke existing save games**

Removed some unused tables from baserelations.txt and foreignrelations.txt.

Fixed a bug where pending diplomatic offers were not cleared when contact was lost, which could cause empires to be allied (or have other agreements) when not in diplomatic contact. In addition to other potential problems, this was locking up the space combat scheduler.

Modified the save game dialog so that files do not show up on the list if they are not valid save games, even when their extension is '.gam'. Modified header record of save game to be able to distinguish obsolete save games from new ones. Added data set directory name and language directory name to save game header.

Jamski · April 18, 2003, 07:46

Thanks Marko

I'm really looking forward to getting the code patch now. I haven't played MoO3 since the first week I had it. I'm starting to get excited again. Yippee! No mention of PD weapons yet???

-Jam

statusperfect · April 18, 2003, 08:30

Quote:

Originally posted by War of Art
Thanks Marko

I'm really looking forward to getting the code patch now. I haven't played MoO3 since the first week I had it. I'm starting to get excited again. Yippee! No mention of PD weapons yet???

-Jam

They will be fixed.

From QS:

Increased range and frequency of target acquisition logic for point defense weapons.

Vince278 · April 18, 2003, 17:59

Sounds like it keeps getting better and better.

Hope the staff continues to support the game (and fanbase).

Kahn · April 25, 2003, 21:01

Quote:

Originally posted by Ozymandous

Maybe that's why IG has a TECH SUPPORT department where you can write or call to try to resolve your problem instead of *****ing and moaning constantly on the general forums?

SOmetimes the squeaky wheel doesn't get the grease it get's deleted.

What alternate reality do you live in? (Cause it's pretty obvious on Earth v1.0 that MoO3 can't even run for 10-20 minutes max. before it crashes on 60% of the folks that have bought it. I'll gladly move to your reality if it will make the game work as billed!) I might even like the game if it becomes stable.

As far as IG tech support goes, it's a joke. 11 weeks so far and no patch that deals with stability issues that plague over half the customers. Following the MoO FAQ recomendations doesn't solve what are failures hardcoded in the game (this has been confirmed on several occasions by the programmers at QS themselves, hence the overwelming negitivity of the customers). Sure there are a few who actually are able to play the game and don't like it for one reason or another, but I continue to withhold judgement on this till I am able to actually play the game myself.

With a no-money-back policy for a defective product, and their "solution" so far to just delete or shout down anyone with a legitamate gripe, this not my idea of responsible "customer service".

MichaeltheGreat · April 25, 2003, 22:36

Between home and work, I have total, unrestricted access to nine computers and admin access to everything in the office, ranging from sheer crap to high-end P4s, with "real" graphics, and with corporate crap graphics. A whole mix and match of Win98SE, Win2k, WinXP, IDE drives, SCSI, graphics adapters from 16 meg to 128 meg, comps from P-III, 384 meg SDRAM to P 4 HT with 2 gigs DDR RAM.

I routinely install games and anything else interesting (Photoshop, autocad, etc.) on any or all of them, to look for hardware/software issues.

I've had no stability problems and no performance problems beyond what you'd expect from the different hardware.

Rogan Josh · April 26, 2003, 06:04

I had no hardware type bugs with MoO3 either. The bugs which got me were always stupid things which the AI or governors did, which are clearly not hardware related.

player1 · April 26, 2003, 07:33

Quote:

Cause it's pretty obvious on Earth v1.0 that MoO3 can't even run for 10-20 minutes max. before it crashes on 60% of the folks that have bought it

Hmm...
I have't seen 60% or more board posters with such porbelm.

In most cases, just pair or two of them complaining all the time.
(and that's less them 5%)

CharlesBHoff · April 26, 2003, 21:03

I played MOO3 for hours on ended with no hardware problen. I have Surface X problen when the game graphic setting was set too hight and I went into opion than lower
it down to medium.

Kahn · April 27, 2003, 23:59

The "60%" figure was derived from a survey of MoO3 sites using "DirectX not available" as a search term. While it may not be accurate to within a percent, it is pretty well in the ballpark.

For the poster with all those computers in his office, just try watching the Bink intro all the way through (that's usually sufficent to expose wether a certain computer's configuration has a problem).

Have tried all the DX settings, etc. and regularly compare notes with QSI, who admit that several hardcoded errors exist causing the DX problem.

As I have said before, I'm not out to bash the game, I'd just like to be able to play it.

cyberghost · April 28, 2003, 06:27

i have the direct x surface not available message pop up EVERY TIME i try to play this game i am on my 1st game. it started happening around turn 475. i am currently on turn 527.now i cant go even one turn without the direct x crashing my game. am i frustrated? you bet your freakin collective butts i'm frustrated with this problem. i tried a new game it does the same thing changing to turn 2 also the alt tab thing is a fantasy . it doesnt save me from crashing. in fact if i touch any keyboard buttons after i get that message it sends me to the desktop with moo3 closed. i turned down the graphics setting i uninstalled and reinstalled it nothing changes the fact that now whenever i try to play this game it gives me dirct x surface problems.is it my graphics card? why would it be? the game ran for 475 turns without a problem!so all you guys out there who think this is a trumped up problem just because it hasnt happened to you need to back up and listen for a minute .. this game is broken.. its not the graphics cards its not the operating systems its not the users!! its the software ! plain and simple. was it maybe a bad batch of discs churned out by a company desparate to go gold before galactic civs?? probably!! and now quicksilser actually has the balls to come out and say there isnt going to be any attempt made to address the direct x issue because they havent seen it happen?? well they are welcome to come over to my house and watch their piece of @#$% lock up and crash any day they want to. i'll even take a vacation day for and we can have a weinie roast over the ashes of their cd box and game!! my sys specs are 1 ghz win Me 512 mbs ram. theres only one point i would like to make that may explain some of this direct x , some one else let me know if you noticed this also. this cd gets F@#$%^G HOT!! it runs hotter than any cd i ever put in my drive before i swear if it got any hotter it would fuse my drive. could that be the problem??

The Rusty Gamer · April 28, 2003, 10:35

the only time I got the error was when I tried playing with a mod. After removing it, it ran fine.

BTW, have you installed the VERY latest version of direct-x (9a I think)? Maybe it will help???

cyberghost · April 28, 2003, 14:21

yes i have tried both 8.1 and 9.0a and neither work. i guess this game will collect dust until qs decides to bestow some actual research and repair to it.
Thats a shame ,because i love the game and all i want to do is play.

CharlesBHoff · April 28, 2003, 17:13

Quote:

Originally posted by cyberghost
yes i have tried both 8.1 and 9.0a and neither work. i guess this game will collect dust until qs decides to bestow some actual research and repair to it.
Thats a shame ,because i love the game and all i want to do is play.

Are you running any background programs.