The Let's Play Archive

Master of Orion

by Thotimx

Part 43: Episode IV: 2475 - 2499

I'll definitely need to pay more attention to that transition next time Wayne. It's a moot point at the moment ...

Episode IV: 2475-2499




I've never reached this point in a game before without building any kind of fleet. It's not for lack of trying -- there's just been no point in the struggle where our capabilities have been high enough to make it even marginally useful. We still need a different weapon system to have any chance of taking on the Guardian(computing is probably high enough now, but nothing we have can consistently damage a ship through a Class IX Shield). Could use the Graviton Beam against some of the smaller enemy ships, but there's no way we'd be able to take on their bigger ones so they'd just get blown up anyway.




Nothing we are close to finishing will make more than the most marginal difference.




This kind of thing, in the very next year, has become the most regular reminder of the passage of time. We get multiple hits per decade, while our spies have done nothing in about 20 years. Zortrium Armor also came in. Now that we are nearly done with the industrial buildup, we'll start on Industrial Tech 5(currently at 9, so this will nearly cut factory costs in half). It's the only option to move forward.

Doing great this game at getting things way after they are needed and nearly obsolete.




And they are also up to stuff like this. Fomenting revolutions takes a lot of work -- this is only the second one of those, and is a relatively minor system.




2481 now. Here's another reason why it sucks to not have a fleet. Question here is whether or not it's even worth trying to stop this. The effort to build ships that may or may not be able to do this on an average planet ... it's a tough call here honestly. Starting from nothing, I figure it's probably unlikely that we can get enough firepower there in time. I transfer some pop out to a nearby planet that can use it, disband all the bases, and we'll just get whatever research we can out of Phyco until it is no more.

I would later discover that apparently bases can help with the comet and I should have left them in place(they destroyed 1 percent of it before I disbanded them). Still wouldn't have been enough though.




Good heavens. They aren't playing around. We're catching like 10 spies a year by the way -- these are only the ones we don't catch. 7 bases on Argus went boom at the same time.

Class V Deflectors come in soon; Class VI is the only option. We're getting lots of ship shields and nothing else -- still have yet to see our first Planetary Shield option.

The spies are coming hard and heavy now. The new high is 119 factories on Volantis, but several worlds are now rebuilding industry.




Having acquired the irrelevant Bio-Toxin Antidote, we are required to take an advance next that is of no use whatsoever. Advanced Eco Restoration, cleaning up waste faster, which as Silicoids we don't do. But it's the only way forward. In 2488, while we got Drakka back from the rebels a few years previous, the Phyco colony was destroyed by the comet. It is now an uninhabitable system.




ECM Jammer VII is in; more Robotics are up next.




Here, finally, is the first attack we've endured in decades. Good news is we have time -- bad news is it's headed for our homeworld of Cryslon, thought to be out of enemy range. We'll have a sizable amount of bases there by the time it shows up, but I'm not sure that it will matter. With just ten cruisers coming though, maybe there's a chance. Just maybe.

Three other systems had fleets en route a year later. Looks like it's time for another rock-kicking expedition in force.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIeXAgudJJc



The lizards arrived sooner than expected. ETAs can be off when going by the edge of a nebula, and that hurt us here. Otherwhise worthy of note is the fact that their Class XI shields rendered the Sakkra ships completely impervious to our bases. I could have had 2 million of them and it wouldn't have mattered. Cryslon and Exis were destroyed by orbital bombardment. The Silicoid homeworld has fallen.

15 planets remain.

The next year we discovered that Bulrathi ships aren't as powerful. We could just barely damage them at Mobas, but not enough to matter. Each year new incoming fleets are spotted on the scanners. It appears the New Republic has finally decided to win the game. Good news about that is it hastens the time when I can try again.