Master of Orion 3

What works

Maintenance update: no change in functionality; so everything tested:

- single player

- starting videos

- modding (applying most tropical patches)

What does not

- Full screen is garbled (issue)

- "Masters notes" (hints) often need to be closed twice (minor)

Workarounds

Use virtual desktop 800x600

What was not tested

- Multiplayer

- Completing a game

- if mods do what they should

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU: Intel
• Driver: open source

Additional Comments

Could be gold/platinum if not for the resolution issue.

As this took me a bit to get actually playable then it should, here some comments:

- Screen resolution: since you will want that virtual desktop 800x600 (winecfg), you probably want to install in a seperate bottle (WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-moo3 wine setup_master_of_orion_3_1.2.5_\(19644\).exe)

- Do not use 32 bit mode (WINEARCH=win32) for that bottle - I was tempted, but it made stuff worse, not better

- You will want to reduce your modern screen resolution before playing 800x600 windowed. Your screen might not be 4:3, so you probably want to reduce it to sth. slightly above that and restore after quitting. I am using this script (my resolution hardcoded):

#!/bin/bash
xrandr --output eDP-1 --mode 1024x768
cd ~/.wine-moo3/drive_c/GOG\ Games/Master\ of\ Orion\ 3
WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-moo3 wine ~/.wine-moo3/drive_c/GOG\ Games/Master\ of\ Orion\ 3/moo3.exe
xrandr --output eDP-1 --mode 1600x900
cd -

- Saving games: not changing to the program directory before execution as advised in the wine manual can lead to problems; in this case: saving games did nothing, no error, no save game file. Hence the cd in the script above.

- Archiving/importing old save games: abandoned for now, the program seems to use an additional index and not just the file system for save game detection

 An updated version of this document can be found here

 Master of Orion 3 HOW-TO

1-Insert the first disk(installation) on your cd-rom drive.

2-Open the cd

3-Right-click the setup.exe archive. Left-click WINE.

4-The inicial installation screen will open up. Click "NEXT".

5-The game's License Agreement will be shown. To continue you will have to accept.

6-Read the License. To continue with the installation, check the box which says "I Agree".

7-Click the "NEXT" button.

8-Link creation will be offered. Just click "NEXT".

9-Ready to copy files to your HD. Click "NEXT" again.

10-Wait until file coping finishes. Be patient.

11-When the coping ends you will be required to register your game's copy. Although you can register, I recommend you don't. If you desire to register, insert you age and click "NEXT".

12Otherwise click "CANCEL" and go to step 15

13-(OPTIONAL) If you chosen to register, your browser will open and you will be given the opportunity to register in the vendor's page.

14-(OPTIONAL) Insert your birthday, platform(PC), and Master of Orion 3, then click "CONTINUE". After that you will have to input your name, address....

15-(OPTIONAL) Roll down your browser and click the "SUBMIT REGISTRATION" to conclude

An error message will appear. Don't worry, just click "OK" it doesn't affect anything.

16-The next screen will ask for you to install Gamespy. Leave the field "NO, INSTALL GAMESPY ARCADE LATER" checked and click "NEXT".

17-In the following screen, leave "NO" checked and click "NEXT".

18-Click "NEXT" Again.

19-As you can see below, the game was successfully installed. You can now click in the icon WINE created to play it.

20-I recommend you update your Moo3's version to v1.25. Download it here and extract it somewhere. Right-click the executable archive and left-click WINE.

21-Another screen will show up. Click "INSTALL".

22-Click in the "DONE" Button.

23-You will be asked whether you want to read the patch's readme. If don't want to read it, go to step 25.

24-(OPTIONAL) If you click yes, the picture below will appear. Close WINE's notepad to proceed.

25-WINE hasn't implemented securom(It's an anti-copy protection method). This means you will have to download a "No-CD" file to be able to play (disk 2 won't be necessary anymore). Please remember that you may only use that file if own the game (a.k.a. bought it in stores). The message below will appear if try to use disk 2 without that file, so continue reading this tutorial.

26-After decompressing that "No-CD" file, overwrite the original Moo3.exe with the one you just acquired in the directory "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Infogrames Interactive/Master of Orion 3" as in the example below.

27-All set up. Click in the created icon to play.