World of Tanks Publisher To Revive Master of Orion

Conrad Zimmerman

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World of Tanks Publisher To Revive Master of Orion

Wargaming to "reimagine" the seminal space simulation.

Master of Orion, widely considered to be one of the most influential series in the "4X" (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) genre of simulation games, will be seeing new life after more than a decade. Wargaming, developer and publisher of World of Tanks, has announced they are at work on a new entry in the series.

A teaser trailer has been released to accompany the announcement, which shows a dramatic transformation from the low-resolution sprites of the first game to sleek, 3D vessels engaged in a dogfight. A first batch of screenshots has also been released, with examples of the Human, Sakkra, and Bulrathi races, as well as some lovely shots of space.

Development is being handled by NGD Studios, previously known for their work on Bunch of Heroes and Champions of Regnum. Referred to as a "modern rebirth," the game will feature a new user interface, voice acting, and an orchestral score from the composer of the original Master of Orion.

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First published in 1993 by Microprose, the original Master of Orion tasked players with conquering a galaxy using diplomacy and domination through a turn-based system of play. Two sequels, Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares and Master of Orion III followed in 1996 and 2003, respectively. The franchise was acquired by Wargaming [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126181-World-of-Tanks-Dev-Bids-on-Auctioned-Atari-Assets] in 2013 in a liquidation sale during bankrutpcy proceedings at Atari.

No release date or platform announcements regarding the new Master of Orion have been made at this time.

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WouldYouKindly

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The studio doesn't inspire much faith though. Their previous two games were quite meh and one was a F2P title that couldn't possibly work with a 4X game(probably wishful thinking, someone will find a way).
 

Raesvelg

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Aye, I want to be excited but I'm just not that optimistic that Wargaming will be able to do the franchise justice.

Or, rather, make a proper sequel to Master of Orion II, since I prefer not to remember the utter failure that was MoO3.
 

Vendor-Lazarus

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Got a bit hyped by the teaser. Those sounds, those vistas.
Though I'm going to remain grounded I still hope for the best.

StarDrive 2 was basically a modern reboot of MoO2 and although it did a lot of things right, it also failed to create any big 4X ripples.
I hope they look on closely and learn from others mistakes.

I predict that if they make it Real-Time or Multiplayer focused it will crash and burn.
 

MonsterCrit

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Raesvelg said:
Aye, I want to be excited but I'm just not that optimistic that Wargaming will be able to do the franchise justice.

Or, rather, make a proper sequel to Master of Orion II, since I prefer not to remember the utter failure that was MoO3.
We all do my friend. We all do. As far as many of us are concerned MoO3 did not exist.

It should be easy, so long as they build around substance not visuals which is the mistake a lot of devs make.
 

Absolutionis

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Pay-to-Win Master of Orion with golden laser shots? Seems questionable.

"Reimagined" indeed.
 

Alfador_VII

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WouldYouKindly said:
The studio doesn't inspire much faith though. Their previous two games were quite meh and one was a F2P title that couldn't possibly work with a 4X game(probably wishful thinking, someone will find a way).
Wargaming did several Turn Based Strategy wargames before World of Tanks, so assuming they still have some of the old people, they should be able to do it.
 

Jake Martinez

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MonsterCrit said:
Raesvelg said:
Aye, I want to be excited but I'm just not that optimistic that Wargaming will be able to do the franchise justice.

Or, rather, make a proper sequel to Master of Orion II, since I prefer not to remember the utter failure that was MoO3.
We all do my friend. We all do. As far as many of us are concerned MoO3 did not exist.

It should be easy, so long as they build around substance not visuals which is the mistake a lot of devs make.
I pretend Galactic Civilizations 2 is Master of Orion 3 and that the Dread Lords are Antarians.

It works for me.
 

Jburton9

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Man oh man, I am trying not to get too excited. I honestly hope they make a proper single player with all the fixings along with multiplayer - lan/wan for sharing the fun with our friends.

The publisher and F2P history make me quite nervous though, for me online login requirement, cash shop ship updates and all that junk would absolutely ruin it, ending up doing even more damage than Moo 3 did, yikes.

Well as they say, time will tell.
 

Gennadios

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I lost any interest in the space 4x genre with GalCiv. Something about space ethics and the policy decision complexity rivaling Captain Planet episodes didn't set right with me. Seeing it generally well received and assuming that it'll be the influencer of the future direction of the genre just kind of sapped interest.

I just hope MOO4 is a Space 4x game and not a 4x game set in space.
 

Draconalis

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Jake Martinez said:
I pretend Galactic Civilizations 2 is Master of Orion 3 and that the Dread Lords are Antarians.

It works for me.
I play Sins of the Solar Empire with the music turned off and the MOO OST playing on my media player.

That sustains me for the time being.

Gods I want this.
 

Smooth Operator

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Alfador_VII said:
Wargaming did several Turn Based Strategy wargames before World of Tanks, so assuming they still have some of the old people, they should be able to do it.
They might, however they haven't touched turn based stuff in 8 years and WoT being their biggest money maker yet it is far more likely things will turn in that direction. You don't see Bioware going back to Baldur's Gate do you, and if they did things would still be made with a Mass Effect mold.

I imagine this will end up either as a Farmville mobile thing or space tank dogfighting. Either way they could have done without that name.
 

Absolutionis

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Charcharo said:
Absolutionis said:
Pay-to-Win Master of Orion with golden laser shots? Seems questionable.

"Reimagined" indeed.
You actually think World of Tanks is Pay 2 Win?

Ohh ... it is an epidemic among the baddies :p
Yes. Being able to literally purchase a strictly better consumable bullet to deal damage is pay-to-win. Calling detractors "baddies" won't change the pay-to-win aspect of the game, and it certainly won't convince people to play the game. The nearly essential third-party add-ons also provides a nice barrier to entry.
 

Yozozo

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Mar 28, 2009
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Charcharo said:
Absolutionis said:
Charcharo said:
Absolutionis said:
Pay-to-Win Master of Orion with golden laser shots? Seems questionable.

"Reimagined" indeed.
You actually think World of Tanks is Pay 2 Win?

Ohh ... it is an epidemic among the baddies :p
Yes. Being able to literally purchase a strictly better consumable bullet to deal damage is pay-to-win. Calling detractors "baddies" won't change the pay-to-win aspect of the game, and it certainly won't convince people to play the game. The nearly essential third-party add-ons also provides a nice barrier to entry.
Last time I checked, those (almost unnecessary) ammunition types cost normal credits mate. So do those consumables.

I run Full HEAT E-100 without a premium account. Still not on a loss...
For lesser players, it may be a problem. Then you dont play full HEAT ammo like me. As that is retarded. You play 50/50.

That way you can even make money in your tier 10.
Why in the world are you spamming HEAT in the E-100?! Thing can penetrate almost anything except a T110E3 hull down.

But yea, seriously, "Gold" ammo has been purchasable with in-game currency for more than a year now. Get over it. Most premium tanks under-perform in tier to their normal same tier counterparts. It's not Pay2Win at all, more like... pay for a little extra convenience at best. People who typically just spam gold ammo are called baddies because you are spending your hard earned cash to make aiming a little easier, because they lack the understanding of weak spots of the other tanks. And it hardly helps a lot either... it's not like you can use the auto aim and hope to just fling it till you win.

I'll hold my breath on the new Master or Orion game until I see something more.