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• You'll want the official patch 1.2.5
• And a mod. I recommend either tropical or strawberry (warning: I haven't played either in its latest incarnation, but I've only heard good things about them -- why do I recommend them? I'm playing a mod that's similiar to tropical but no longer available, and I've been to lazy to install tropical =). Another mod I haven't tried but you should try is the 1024x768 mod =P
• IMPORTANT: Do not micromanage. Trying to micromanage MoO3 will make the game slow, tedious and very, very unfun. It's not meant to be played that way, and the fact that it is possible, if you want to, is perhaps the games biggest problem.

  If you have played Europa Universalis II, play MoO like that game. If you haven't, do yourself a favor and buy it for $5 =). Both games aren't like Civ. I've heard Civ players new to EU2 complain, that there's much less to do in Eu2, but that's not the way you play it. If you're bored you simply increase the speed (it's a kind of turn-based/real-time hybrid). MoO3 OTOH doesn't stop you from playing it like Civ with the result that you're bogged down in micromanagement hell. =/

• A few things:
  • Start building the cheapest kind of spy the very first turn and never stop building them. Spies that aren't assigned a mission work as defensive spies. Two are worth one step on the oppressometer.
  • the first game don't waste points at race creation on whether you're in the senate or not, just reload the game until you are. Unless you're a warmonger, being in the senate makes stuff easier. Also disable all victories but sole survivor. Even if you're not a warmonger, this gives you the ability to end the game when you want to, not when you have to win before somebody else does =)
  • In the early and mid game zone your best planets by hand. E.g. if you colonize a very mineral rich planet with many mountains, set 1 or 2 industry DEAs, and lots of mineral DEAs. Same for bioharvesting (in the mid game you'll have a bio+mineral problem. Both population and mineral use by industry DEAs grows faster in the beginning. Later on the tech for bio+mineral catches up). You can also build lots of research DEAs on crappy planets. A government and military DEA on bigger planets is also useful, and recreation on newly conquered planets. Leave a bunch of planets (and some regions on most planets) empty, so the viceroy can zone whatever is needed. Of course this all depends on whether you want to maximize production points+test tubes in the long run, or if you need them *now* (e.g. in a war)
  • Your viceroys are quite good. You'll never have to adjust planetary tax levels by hand, and with the exception of a few defensive buildings now and then, you won't have to touch the planetary build queue either
  • In the beginning micromanage the military build queue of your homeplanet. You'll want as many scouts as you need (depending on starlanes) and lots of colony ships. Only colonize green+yellow1 planets in the beginning. Worse planets later on, when your cash flow's better.
  • You need a few system defense ships in all systems to stop piracy.
  • The budget sliders are extremely important. The three values you want to maximize in MoO3 in the long run are production points (to, well, produce stuff), test tubes (to invent the stuff you want to produce) and population (to gain a majority of the senate). In a war you want to maximize your military strength. Production points are money (from the slider or from the planets themselves) * industrial capacity. Test tubes = money * research capacity. And the money to the military is distributed over the different military build queues.

• You'll want the official patch 1.2.5
• And a mod. I recommend either tropical or strawberry (warning: I haven't played either in its latest incarnation, but I've only heard good things about them -- why do I recommend them? I'm playing a mod that's similiar to tropical but no longer available, and I've been to lazy to install tropical =). Another mod I haven't tried but you should try is the 1024x768 mod =P
• IMPORTANT: Do not micromanage. Trying to micromanage MoO3 will make the game slow, tedious and very, very unfun. It's not meant to be played that way, and the fact that it is possible, if you want to, is perhaps the games biggest problem.

  If you have played Europa Universalis II, play MoO like that game. If you haven't, do yourself a favor and buy it for $5 =). Both games aren't like Civ. I've heard Civ players new to EU2 complain, that there's much less to do in Eu2, but that's not the way you play it. If you're bored you simply increase the speed (it's a kind of turn-based/real-time hybrid). MoO3 OTOH doesn't stop you from playing it like Civ with the result that you're bogged down in micromanagement hell. =/

• A few things:
  • Start building the cheapest kind of spy the very first turn and never stop building them. Spies that aren't assigned a mission work as defensive spies. Two are worth one step on the oppressometer.
  • the first game don't waste points at race creation on whether you're in the senate or not, just reload the game until you are. Unless you're a warmonger, being in the senate makes stuff easier. Also disable all victories but sole survivor. Even if you're not a warmonger, this gives you the ability to end the game when you want to, not when you have to win before somebody else does =)
  • In the early and mid game zone your best planets by hand. E.g. if you colonize a very mineral rich planet with many mountains, set 1 or 2 industry DEAs, and lots of mineral DEAs. Same for bioharvesting (in the mid game you'll have a bio+mineral problem. Both population and mineral use by industry DEAs grows faster in the beginning. Later on the tech for bio+mineral catches up). You can also build lots of research DEAs on crappy planets. A government and military DEA on bigger planets is also useful, and recreation on newly conquered planets. Leave a bunch of planets (and some regions on most planets) empty, so the viceroy can zone whatever is needed. Of course this all depends on whether you want to maximize production points+test tubes in the long run, or if you need them *now* (e.g. in a war)
  • Your viceroys are quite good. You'll never have to adjust planetary tax levels by hand, and with the exception of a few defensive buildings now and then, you won't have to touch the planetary build queue either
  • In the beginning micromanage the military build queue of your homeplanet. You'll want as many scouts as you need (depending on starlanes) and lots of colony ships. Only colonize green+yellow1 planets in the beginning. Worse planets later on, when your cash flow's better.
  • You need a few system defense ships in all systems to stop piracy.
  • The budget sliders are extremely important. The three values you want to maximize in MoO3 in the long run are production points (to, well, produce stuff), test tubes (to invent the stuff you want to produce) and population (to gain a majority of the senate). In a war you want to maximize your military strength. Production points are money (from the slider or from the planets themselves) * industrial capacity. Test tubes = money * research capacity. And the money to the military is distributed over the different military build queues.

• You'll want the official patch 1.2.5
• And a mod. I recommend either tropical or strawberry (warning: I haven't played either in its latest incarnation, but I've only heard good things about them -- why do I recommend them? I'm playing a mod that's similiar to tropical but no longer available, and I've been to lazy to install tropical =). Another mod I haven't tried but you should try is the 1024x768 mod =P
• IMPORTANT: Do not micromanage. Trying to micromanage MoO3 will make the game slow, tedious and very, very unfun. It's not meant to be played that way, and the fact that it is possible, if you want to, is perhaps the games biggest problem.

  If you have played Europa Universalis II, play MoO like that game. If you haven't, do yourself a favor and buy it for $5 =). Both games aren't like Civ. I've heard Civ players new to EU2 complain, that there's much less to do in Eu2, but that's not the way you play it. If you're bored you simply increase the speed (it's a kind of turn-based/real-time hybrid). MoO3 OTOH doesn't stop you from playing it like Civ with the result that you're bogged down in micromanagement hell. =/

• A few things:
  • Start building the cheapest kind of spy the very first turn and never stop building them. Spies that aren't assigned a mission work as defensive spies. Two are worth one step on the oppressometer.
  • the first game don't waste points at race creation on whether you're in the senate or not, just reload the game until you are. Unless you're a warmonger, being in the senate makes stuff easier. Also disable all victories but sole survivor. Even if you're not a warmonger, this gives you the ability to end the game when you want to, not when you have to win before somebody else does =)
  • In the early and mid game zone your best planets by hand. E.g. if you colonize a very mineral rich planet with many mountains, set 1 or 2 industry DEAs, and lots of mineral DEAs. Same for bioharvesting (in the mid game you'll have a bio+mineral problem. Both population and mineral use by industry DEAs grows faster in the beginning. Later on the tech for bio+mineral catches up). You can also build lots of research DEAs on crappy planets. A government and military DEA on bigger planets is also useful, and recreation on newly conquered planets. Leave a bunch of planets (and some regions on most planets) empty, so the viceroy can zone whatever is needed. Of course this all depends on whether you want to maximize production points+test tubes in the long run, or if you need them *now* (e.g. in a war)
  • Your viceroys are quite good. You'll never have to adjust planetary tax levels by hand, and with the exception of a few defensive buildings now and then, you won't have to touch the planetary build queue either
  • In the beginning micromanage the military build queue of your homeplanet. You'll want as many scouts as you need (depending on starlanes) and lots of colony ships. Only colonize green+yellow1 planets in the beginning. Worse planets later on, when your cash flow's better.
  • You need a few system defense ships in all systems to stop piracy.
  • The budget sliders are extremely important. The three values you want to maximize in MoO3 in the long run are production points (to, well, produce stuff), test tubes (to invent the stuff you want to produce) and population (to gain a majority of the senate). In a war you want to maximize your military strength. Production points are money (from the slider or from the planets themselves) * industrial capacity. Test tubes = money * research capacity. And the money to the military is distributed over the different military build queues.

Then get going, create an account on the Atari forum and voice your dissatisfaction. Quite frankly, the probability that we get a Linux port is paper-thin, but it does'nt hurt to get counted.

Vote early, vote often! Bioware (who are still involved at some level) have requested that all Linux interest is registered in this thread on the Atari forum - 1400 replies so far.

From the FAQ:

We have by no means made any decisions to abandon the Linux or Mac communities at this time. Nor is it such a black and white issue over whether Atari or Obsidian decides what happens. Atari has been very open and a fantastic partner.

Link to the n00b raptor camping posters. There's some really good ones in there....

SB

Actually, they have mentioned specifically (like at the bottom of this Mark Rein post), that the demo has NO cheat protection at all, because it would give that crowed a head start on the final version. They also mention that they will update the demo once the full game has been released for a little while, to include cheat protection. Its good to see that they are not only serious this issue, but they have put some thought in thier strategy.

Sort of :)

This was posted in the official Atari forums late last year, so I'm not sure if it's still entirely accurate.

http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.ph p?s=&threadid=326141

ATARI AND EPIC GAMES ANNOUNCE NORTH AMERICAN REBATE PROGRAM, PRICING FOR UNREAL TOURNAMENT 2004

Owners of Unreal Tournament 2003 To Receive $10 Rebate on Purchase of New Game; Special Edition Package Includes Headset, Bonus DVD, Sticker and Metal Box

LOS ANGELES - Oct. 16, 2003 - Atari and Epic Games have announced pricing and packaging details as well as a rebate program for Unreal(R) Tournament 2004, the highly anticipated follow-up to last year's smash hit Unreal Tournament 2003, which has become the standard for competitive multiplayer gaming since it shipped in November 2002.

PACKAGES AND PRICING
Unreal Tournament 2004 will ship for Holiday 2003 on PC CD-ROM with a suggested retail price of $39.99. The game will include new maps, modes, characters, weapons, technology and a redesigned interface while also including all of the content - including the free downloadable mission packs from Epic and Digital Extremes - from Unreal Tournament 2003. Unreal Tournament 2004 will mark the return of the fan-favorite Assault mode, the introduction of vehicles and the all new "Onslaught" mode, a team-based challenge across massive battlefields where players face off in a war to destroy and capture the opposing team's power nodes.

A Special Edition package will also be available for Holiday for a suggested price of $59.95. Unreal Tournament 2004 DVD Special Edition will ship as a double-DVD set - disc one will include all of the game content while disc 2 will include more than 150 hours of Video Training Modules (VTMs) from 3D Buzz that will teach fans and amateur mod makers how to use the Unreal Editor to create custom game content. Unreal Tournament 2004 DVD Special Edition will come in a limited edition metal box and will contain a Logitech Internet Chat Headset for use with the game's exclusive voice over IP (voice chat) technology, as well as an Unreal window sticker.

REBATE
Owners of Unreal Tournament 2003 will be entitled to a $10 rebate on the purchase of Unreal Tournament 2004. The rebate will apply to both the standard game and the DVD Special Edition. Owners of Unreal Tournament 2003 will be required to submit a proof of purchase for Unreal Tournament 2003 along with a voucher and receipt from Unreal Tournament 2004 in order to receive the rebate.

"Unreal Tournament 2004 is an entirely new stand-alone game featuring land-, air- and space-based vehicles, as well as two major new modes of play - Onslaught and a new and improved Assault," said Steve Allison, vice president of marketing at Atari. "In addition, Unreal Tournament 2004 contains all of the content that was included in the original Unreal Tournament 2003 and its bonus packs. By offering a rebate to current owners of Unreal Tournament 2003, we are making it easy to upgrade so everyone can experience the great new content Unreal Tournament 2004 has to offer."

"Unreal has always been all about and entirely for the community, and the Unreal Tournament 2004 packaging options and rebate program is the purest reflection of that attitude," said Mark Rein, Vice President of Epic Games. "The rebate will allow current fans of Unreal Tournament 2003 to get this incredible new game for an amazingly low price. We're thrilled that Atari has gone to such great lengths to reward our existing customers. Unreal Tournament 2004 DVD Special Edition packs some awesome goodies. With voice chat support, a headset is essential equipment for true fans and the bonus DVD will help mod makers create better and deeper custom creations. With our '$1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal' contest underway, you never know where those lessons and your skills can take you!"

For

Apparently it also lacks some resources, such as movies and music and buying it gives you access to the rest of the resources.

Is it just me, or does it seem a bit odd that Atari are charging full price? Surely they'd be able to pass on the savings they're making on the packaging to us. (Good god, what an awful sentence). *shrugs* I guess at least you won't have to deal with the SecuRom problems that some folks have been having. More than likely Atari trying to shaft the consumer again, can anyone spell 'paper-fucking-CD-sleaves'?