Pardus is a free Massive Multiplayer Online Browser Game (MMOBG) playing in a future where traders, pirates and other pilots of various races and factions strive to gain wealth and fame in space. "A fantastic Massive Multiplayer Online Browser Game that i've been looking for since i've played door games on BBS in the mid 1990s. [...] Now with the internet, there are countless online games, but i've yet to find one that can match Pardus." - user comment
ashnews
May, 2003
New MoO3 Mods
Posted by Bladefist on May 31, 2003 at 08:45:16 PM (152 views)
I've added the SFI Stars Mod by Dave King to our mod archive. It replaces the stars, black holes, and neutron stars with brand new images.
I've also collected images which can be used as replacement of the original MoO3 end-of-turn background screen. You'll find my collection at our mod projects.
Note that I'm not the creator of those images but they are used with permission.
Posted by Bladefist on May 30, 2003 at 06:25:29 PM (146 views)
I've added the last three leaders to our Master of Orion 2 leaders section. Their names are Captain Caern, Rear Admiral Skaine and Rear Admiral Nile.
Thanks to Andy for the update.
Posted by Bladefist on May 29, 2003 at 11:15:40 PM (155 views)
QSI Programming are continuing their work on MoO3. That's their post at the official forum:
Added the line of code that will make armor piercing work in space combat.
Fixed an error in a calculation in the colonization AI that caused it to not detect a large number of magnate civs.
By the way, our board has reached over 200 registered users. Please feel free to join our discussions about MoO3.
The Alexanderov Federation
Posted by Bladefist on May 28, 2003 at 03:43:31 PM (169 views)
I've added the first book, "The Grendarl War", of "The Alexanderov Federation" by RobHunt to our MoO3 fanfic section.
It's an exciting 18-chapters-long story about Captain Goodman and his crew serving the military of the Alexanderov Federation fighting the Grendarl Empire. Also involved are races like the Raas, Psilon and Silicoid.
Posted by Bladefist on May 28, 2003 at 07:30:11 AM (164 views)
Quicksilver Software has continued correcting bugs, here's their latest post:
Removed some redundant missile explosion messages which were contributing to lag in multi-player space combat (this was actually done last week, just forgot to mention it)
Corrected the display of money generated by space ports.
Corrected a couple of bugs introduced during patch development.
Rebalanced unrest modifiers from Military and Recreation DEAs.
MoO3 Savegame Editor v0.3
Posted by Bladefist on May 25, 2003 at 03:47:34 PM (171 views)
Bhruic released version 0.3 of his MoO3 Savegame Editor. It now also allows ship editing.
You can get it as usual in our mod archive.
With today the Master of Orion 3 Guardian has got over half a million hits. Thanks to the MoO3 community!
MoO3 Code Patch Contents
Posted by Bladefist on May 24, 2003 at 12:31:31 PM (514 views)
The code patch readme file has been posted at the official forum. Stephen Roney, Senior Software Engineer at Quicksilver, says the release of the patch is still at least a week away.
Here's the content:
v1.2
THROUGHOUT
Improved behavior under alt-tab. Application normally will auto-refresh now.
Improved behavior of scroll bars such that they reset their position at appropriate times.
Modify behavior of sliders so that when clicking on the area outside of a slider arrow to set it's position, the slider arrow is moved five pixels in that direction instead of to the point where the mouse was clicked.
Effectively rewrote/reworked help text/tool tips, including right-click support and increased time-out value for mouse-over text.
All of the main UI tabs now remember the last sub-panel and return there.
Removed some unused tables from code and spreadsheets.
Fixed a bug where pressing the Esc key while the "Exit Game" dialog was open would cause the "Quit Current Game" dialog to appear.
Fixed the bug that prevented the values for the UI background music in the spreadsheet Music.txt from being used.
Click "read more" to see the full content (it's a huge list of changes).... read more
New screenshots
Posted by Bladefist on May 24, 2003 at 12:19:24 AM (155 views)
I've uploaded 32 fresh screenshots from my current game of MoO3 playing RAAS.
Posted by Bladefist on May 23, 2003 at 07:11:39 PM (156 views)
The work on our screenshots section is finished and we're now able to offer you a gallery consisting of about 500 well-sorted images and constantly increasing.
I'd also like to welcome you to sign up and upload your own screenshots.
Posted by Bladefist on May 23, 2003 at 12:45:34 AM (148 views)
I've added Rainseeker's Spicy MoO3 Mod v1.2 to our mod archive.
This mod will add two extra menus at the end of the race traits section. In one menu you can make relatively significant changes to how your race works, and in the other one you'll have the opportunity to take your race even further in a direction where they are already strong.
There's also a new post in the Official QS Patch Information thread at the Atari Forums.
Add mac credits file to MiscText.mob to unify data across the two platforms.
Corrected a bug that had the wrong sitrep display when you load a game as a different player (Only the original empire's sitreps are saved so if you change players, you will not get a sitrep at all on the restore)
Made some minor performance improvements in turn processing.
Posted by on May 22, 2003 at 01:36:40 PM (151 views)
Well, nothing new is known about the release date of the Code Patch, but you can drool over yummy screenshots of the postpatch MoO3.
Link is here. And you can participate in discussion about this here.
Invader Mod v2.0 Update
Posted by Bladefist on May 21, 2003 at 11:23:56 AM (163 views)
Invader-Zim has released version 2 of his Invader Mod: New Sitrep Icons
New UI Screens
New Spreadsheets-{AI Added}-{Taskforce size restored to default}
:WARNING: INVADER-Mod now has its own MilitaryAI.txt and will overwrite other AI mods. Backup your spreadsheets directory.
Posted by Bladefist on May 16, 2003 at 09:11:34 PM (152 views)
Gofur's MoO3-UI This ui changes nearly everything which can be seen in the game. But instead of creating a completly new theme I tried to use the original moo3 look and to enhance it with many details.
In order to achieve this I used light effects, some textures and transparency effects, which also result in a somewhat darker look (imho especially transparencies are really a cool feature of the moo3 ui engine).
Screenshot of Gofur's new MoO3 UI can be found here.
Arcite has updated his Babylon 5 Mod to version 1.1 by replacing all sitrep graphics and other small changes. Screenshots
He also introduced some more new MoO3 mods:
Coloured Buttons Mod v1.0, Realistic Stars Mod v1.01, Combat Graphics Mod v1.0
Posted by Bladefist on May 15, 2003 at 09:30:28 PM (142 views)
Quicksilver, developer of Master of Orion 3, is working hard on the first code patch. Check out this thread for information on the progress.
Latest news:
Fixed some more hangs in the space combat scheduler uncovered by the increased AI military activity.
Removed the line of code which was improperly clearing the "ignore senate law" information during turn processing, causing the ignore command to only stick for one turn.
Fixed the bug that prevented the values for the UI background music in the spreadsheet Music.txt from being used.
Better looking graphic used for the fleet empire color flag on the galaxy map (changed the square to a little chevron-like thing).
News
Posted by Bladefist on May 15, 2003 at 09:19:17 PM (230 views)
I've received a useful link to a page that tries to explain which development plan applies to which planet - Planet Classification Summary
There's also a new MoO3 mod package in our mod archive. It's the Invader Mod v1.6 by Invader-Zim.
I've also added the newest MoO3 after-action-report by Paladin-007 to our fan stories. It's called "Orion Federation", his second work and 14 pages in length.
Posted by Bladefist on May 14, 2003 at 10:41:05 AM (218 views)
Saleem Kallel Khan has updated his GUI Replacement mod to version 1.1. For the update follow this link.
Here is what he wrote:
There are 15 files in this update to Kallel's GUI MOD.
Some textures were tweaked and some new ones created where they would have been missing in the initial release.
This update was done to have a more completed look to the mod replacement.
If you have downloaded this mod and are currently enjoying using it please let us know in the comments section. This is a request for users to add more comments on this piece of work.
Posted by Bladefist on May 13, 2003 at 09:23:28 PM (161 views)
I'm currently working on renewing our screenshots section. It'll be finished very soon (with loads of new Master of Orion 3 screenies).
If you'd like your screenshots to be included just sent them to webmaster@moo3.at.
Next MoO3 fan story
Posted by Bladefist on May 11, 2003 at 01:37:00 PM (152 views)
The newest addition to our Master of Orion 3 fan stories is called "In Fire and Ash" by Flick Montana. It's an exciting story about a few men having to survive on an unknown planet after their ship had been destroyed by hostile Sakkra forces.
Posted by Bladefist on May 10, 2003 at 12:29:18 AM (162 views)
An outstanding new piece of MoO3 fan fiction has been added to our fan stories section. Originally written at the Atari (former IG) Forum "The Gathering Storm" by padre8 is with its 15 chapters the longest story we've got so far.
Posted by Bladefist on May 09, 2003 at 01:21:10 PM (159 views)
I've added a new modification by Arcite to our mods archive.
What this mod does:
- replaces majority of Sitrep graphics: including the small and larger system 'special' graphics --- A mix between Babylon 5/Star Trek and a few other Sci-fi sources.
- replaces several window backgrounds
- new main menu
- new ground combat graphic
- new turn waiting graphic
- new dev plan graphic
- new Troops Landing Combat sound
- and a few other things ...
[Edit 2003-05-09 20:37:46]
The zip file has been updated. The included NebulaMod has been removed and the path info corrected.
Infogrames adopts legendary Atari brand
Posted by Bladefist on May 09, 2003 at 12:40:12 AM (173 views)
Infogrames, publisher of Master of Orion 3, adopts legendary Atari brand in worldwide name change.
New York, New York and Lyon, France, May 7, 2003 ? Thirty years after the Atari name first began a revolution in entertainment, Infogrames has returned the beacon of innovation to the forefront of the gaming industry it launched. Holding company parent, Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA) announced today that it has decided to adopt the legendary brand name of Atari for its global commercial operations, effective immediately. The company?s U.S. operations will now be known as Atari, Inc., and will trade on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol ?ATAR.? Although IESA will retain its name and its Euronext trading code ?5257? on the French Bourse, all of the company?s worldwide operations will become Atari, with their country of origin included in the name (e.g. Atari U.K.). Additionally, the Company?s wholly owned subsidiary, Infogrames Interactive, Inc., which develops many of the game derived from the Hasbro line of board games, will change its name to Atari Interactive, Inc.... read more
Kallel's MoO3 GUI Replacement Mod
Posted by Bladefist on May 08, 2003 at 04:21:56 PM (162 views)
Yesterday I've received a new graphic modification for MoO3. It's a GUI replacement designed by Saleem Kallel Khan.
Here's a an overview:
This mod is a replacement and enhancement of 99% of the Graphic User Interface that the original game Moo3 came with.
It was partly inspired from the well loved Master's of Orion 2 GUI. Many textures from this game were used, manipulated, tweaked and enhanced to created something that gamers would have expected to have evolved. The design follows a metallic motif with enhanced buttons, scroll bars and backgrounds.
Total time devoted to this mod was roughly three weeks at about 3 hours a day.
Because of the way the original GUI was stuck together compromises in the quality and design were unavoidable since some textures were used on multiple pages in varying ways. However work around solutions were found allowing the mod to take a completely new form distinctly different from the original look.
Some of the terminology and wording have been modified as was logically required.
Posted by Bladefist on May 06, 2003 at 09:15:30 PM (149 views)
I've implemented a feedback script into our fan stories which allows you to give the authors feedback on their creations.
I've also added an exciting new story, "Stealth and Deception" by Myralyst.
Expect more to come in the next few days.
Posted by Bladefist on May 02, 2003 at 09:58:28 AM (171 views)
Today Bard of Prey sent me his newest creation, the Galaxy Mod v1.0. Here's an overview:
This mod replaces the default galaxy set-ups with seven new ones. Included are 5 Spiral Galaxies, in increasing degree of size (60-250 stars) and complexity (2-12 arms), and 2 unique galaxies (The Imperial Eye, and Constellations of Chaos).
The spiral galaxies all have distinct, well-formed arms, and offer good strategic possibitlies. The smaller ones are particularly well-suited to multi-player games, especially one-on-one games with few if any AI opponents. The whole set should offer more variety and strategic possibilities than the defaults included with the game.
Posted by Bladefist on May 01, 2003 at 12:19:36 PM (208 views)
One of Quicksilver's senior software engineers, Stephen Roney, has posted an update of the Status of the Patch:
Well, it is the end of the month, and we are not quite done, but QA does have the patch and has been testing the changes. The AI may not be invading enough yet, although several bugs discovered in the last few days which prevented engagements may have contributed to this. We are making one more fairly major UI change and will otherwise work on balance and performance and should be down to just fixing any regression problems by Monday.
As for going through QA, the product belongs to Infogrames (and MacSoft) and they need to approve it to release it.
View the list of fixes of the upcoming patch here.
Concept art, screen shots, game graphics and other assets are provided
courtesy of Quicksilver Software, Inc. and are used by permission.
Copyright (c) 2001 Quicksilver Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
Master of Orion is a registered trademark of Infogrames Entertainment
S.A. Neither Quicksilver nor Infogrames Entertainment S.A. have
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