Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Webpage: https://www.freeorion.org/index.php/Main_Page Webpage: https://rayfowler.itch.io/remnants-of-the-precursors Price: Free! Blurb: “FreeOrion is a free, open source, turn-based, space empire and galactic conquest (4X) computer game being designed and built by the FreeOrion project. FreeOrion is inspired by the tradition of the Master of Orion games, but is not a clone or remake of that series or any other game.” Installation FreeOrion is available via PPA: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:o01eg/freeorion You need to install “freeorion” and “freeorion-data” Also now available as a FLATPAK or SNAP Package. The version in the software centre is from 2017, so do not use that one. “So why now?” you may ask? Well, the reboot seems to be newsworthy, with actors like Mark Hamil doing the voice-overs. You can read more about that here: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/50508/master-orion-reboot-gets-huge-star-studded-voice-cast/index.html
Page Web : https://www.freeorion.org/index.php/Main_Page
Page Web : https://rayfowler.itch.io/remnants-of-the-precursors
Prix : gratuit !
Aperçu : « Conçu et construit par le projet FreeOrion, FreeOrion est un jeu sur ordinateur gratuit, Open Source, au tour par tour, d'empire spatial et de conquête galactique. FreeOrion est inspiré par la tradition des jeux Master o Orion, mais n'est ni un clone, ni une refonte de cette série ou de tout autre jeu. »
Installation
FreeOrion est disponible via PPA :
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:o01eg/freeorion
Il faut installer « freeorion » et « freeorion-data ».
C'est actuellement disponible aussi comme paquet FLATPAK ou SNAP.
La version dans le Centre de logiciels date de 2017 et il ne faut donc pas l'utiliser.
« Alors pourquoi maintenant ? » vous pourriez demander. Eh bien, parce que le redémarrage du jeu semble particulièrement important, car des comédiens comme Mark Hamil font les voix-off. Vous pouvez enlire davantage ici : https://www.tweaktown.com/news/50508/master-orion-reboot-gets-huge-star-studded-voice-cast/index.html
If science fiction, conquest, diplomacy, spying and colonization is your bag, look no further than FreeOrion. The original game is a 1993 vintage, and I must admit, at the time, I spent my time on other titles. It was not until 1995 with Ascendancy, that the 4X genre bug bit me. I have to mention that you do NOT need the original master of orion to play the game, as with many others like freeablo, etc. It is a self-contained application – with its own graphics and music. This is almost a re-imagining of that game. For contrast, here is a picture of the original 1993 Masters of Orion::: Si vous aimez la sicence fiction, la conquête, la diplomatie, l'espionnage et la colonisation, ne cherchez plus, c'est FreeOrion qu'il vous faut. Le jeu d'origine date de 1993 et, je dois l'avouer, à l'époque je passais mon temps sur d'autres titres. Ce n'était qu'en 1995 avec Ascendancy que j'étais mordu par le genre 4X. Il faut que je vous dise que vous n'avez PAS besoin du Masters of Orion original pour jouer au jeu, comme c'est le cas de beaucoup d'autres, notamment freeablo, etc. C'est une application autonome avec ces propres graphismes et musique. Il s'agit presque d'une re-conception totale de ce jeu-là. Pour le contraste, voici une image du Masters of Orion original de 1993 : Let’s start with the graphics. They are gorgeous. This is another poster child for FLOSS. There is not too much graphics at this stage, but what there is, is great. Do not expect too much though, either, as the main game loop is supposed to keep your brain occupied, not your eyes. You can zoom in and out in your galaxy, and it is flawless. There are tool tips for everything, and it is all surprisingly legible, even on my potato laptop. The icons are unique enough that you can get used to them in an hour, and know your way around the game. Although it seems like information overload when you start, it is all relevant information. The music is also right on the money, but I did not find a “Credits” section, probably as the game has not reached version 1.0 yet. So, I don’t know who to credit for either the graphics or the sound. Sometimes I can just let the tune run and not play the game. There are a few clicks to be heard in the menus, but it does not overdo it. **
Commençons par les graphismes. Ils sont superbes. C'est un autre enfant-modèle du FLOSS. Il n'y a pas trop de graphismes à ce stade, mais ceux qui existent sont géniaux. Il ne faut pas trop en attendre non plus, car la boucle principale du jeu est censé accaparer votre cerveau pas vos yeux. Vous pouvez faire des zoom avant et arrière sur votre galaxie et elle est parfaite. Il y a des info-bulles partout et tout est étonnamment lisible, même sur mon ordinateur portable du type pomme de terre. Les icônes sont si uniques que vous pouvez vous y habituer en une heure pour être à l'aise dans le jeu. Bien que vous ayez l'impression d'une surcharge d'informations au début, toutes les informations sont pertinentes. La musique est aussi exactement ce qu'il faut, mais je n'ai pas trouvé une section générique, sans doute parce que le jeu n'est pas encore à la version 1.0. Ainsi, je ne sais pas qui il faut féliciter pour les graphismes ou le son. Parfois, je laisse jouer la mélodie sans jouer au jeu. Je pouvais entendre quelques clics dans les menus, mais pas trop.
Switching to game-play, you need to know that you are the ruler of an empire. One that needs to expand into an ever-increasing hostile galaxy, where your opponents are doing the same. They, however, are not the only threats out there (I will let you find those on your own). There is some micro management, but, as I said, the game is about empires, and you do not get bogged down with micro management. In the original game, the tech-tree was amazing, and here, it is too. Like any good strategy game, research plays a big role. I do not want to diminish any of the other roles, but I find the research tree fun. This, coupled with the random seed you can choose, can make for some pretty interesting game-play. This increases the longevity of the game by many factors. Instead of gratuitous space battles, battles are resolved by ‘stats’ and a roll of the dice (for now, at least, but don’t be surprised when this game starts hitting the 1.0 status). That said, the ships are not vanilla cookie-cutter ships either, you get the option to make them the way you like them. Now the combat also does not feel like playing a game of battleship.
I have often heard that FreeOrion is for “hard-core strategy gamers”, but believe me it is not. You just need to spend some time in the configuration menu before the game starts, and it can be a pleasant experience for the most casual gamer. The thing is, if you have no inkling as to how 4X games work, I suggest you either read the manual or watch a how-to-play on YouTube. The number one hate crime against this game is rage-quitting, because you have no idea what is going on. As the game is on pre-alpha, there are, obviously, no built-in tutorials, and boomers may think they are all the cat’s whiskers when it comes to gaming. Trust me, read the manual: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeOrion/comments/fo4o1g/first_impressions_are_you_kidding_me_here/. Development is on-going and github activity is all green. Speaking of Github, there are currently 60 contributors to this game, so it is moving along quite nicely.
I did not run into issues playing the game, which says a lot about the developers. If any of you read this, I take my hat off to you.
Now to remnants of the Precursors:
Blurb: “For those new to the project, this game is intended as a strict feature clone of the original Master of Orion game from 1993. Remnants of the Precursors is feature-complete and fully playable! The Explorminate gaming site has listed Remnants of the Precursors as one of the most anticipated 4X games for 2020!”
Remnants of the Precursors is a remake of the original 1993 Master of Orion, with updated artwork and interfaces, and beautiful they are. The game requires java, so you need to get that first, before running the game. The high resolution artwork also has an impact on game size, it is almost 900MB (compared to FreeOrion at about 150MB). That said, the game is VAST. You can have hundreds of star systems and lots of races / players / bots.
Installation is as simple as running the .jar file. Be advised, there are still bugs in the Alpha version (okay, Beta version, four months later. I did not finish this review and send it in).
As with FreeOrion, the graphics are gorgeous. Since the game is further along than FreeOrion, we get not only new art, but new interfaces, new dialogue, stories and music. The main interface is more-or-less the same as the original, but now there are even more screens with better interfaces. What is surprising is that even for … Java, it is very responsive. (If you don’t get that joke, it’s fine). The characters are not the only thing that catches the eye, but the backdrops are all amazing too. The main interface has a familiar layout (if you have ever played Master of Orion). Originally, the screen was made smaller, and the interface bigger, to get more performance out of the CPU’s of the time, but now, with our high resolutions and beefy CPU’s, it does not feel like it is in the way, as with the 1993 version. The music is also amazing, and I cannot wait to see the album on Bandicamp. Credits are given as Petar Penev as the illustrator, Kaitlin lindsay as graphic designer, and Remi Agullo as the sound designer. Seriously, I need both these games to release an OST. I will be first in line for them.
Game-play is a lot closer to the original 1993 version, but it has also had a bit of an overhaul. The Darloks, which were pretty useless in the 1993 version, are now almost the most fun. Ray Fowler has said that when they spawn now, you will see another race, as they are shape changers. Think of the facedancers in Dune. “Planned Change - Darloks will actually be, you know, shapechangers. This means that you will not know which of the AI races, if any, are Darloks. When the Darloks spawn, they will assume the visuals, dialogue, home world name and ship graphics of some other race that is not playing.
This means that you may unwittingly trust and form an alliance with the Alkari, only for them to betray and backstab you at the end, revealing themselves to actually be the shape-changing Darloks. This should increase your paranoia of the Darlok presence in subsequent games, which is the whole point of them being a spy race.”
The extra UI design changes are amazing too. As promised, the source code is up on Github, and all you budding Java programmers can go have a look.
Instead of me raving about these two games, Why don’t you install them and play them? (I may be biased when it comes to 4X?).
If you think we were unfair to any of these games, tell us: misc@fullcirclemagazine.org