Sure. There are several cheat codes for MoO. Obviously none of them have any place here, but they exist.
The most useful one is hold down ALT and type GALAXY on the main map. This reveals all stars, and gives vision on all ships and colonies for the rest of the game. It actually explores all stars as any Artifact worlds will no longer give a free tech even if you hadn't visited them previously.
In the Planets screen hold down ALT and type MOOLA to get 100BC in the reserve. Repeat as needed.
Also on the main map screen hold ALT and type EVENTS to disable all random events in the game (assassination, comet, space amoeba etc). Repeat to renewable them (and often trigger one in my experience).
I think that's all but I could be missing one.
Thanks for the info about voting vs abstaining. I didn't know about that. I think there's one other cheat code, to randomize the leader personalities, but I forgot what it was. (Also, no events should have been a game option, not a cheat code...)
Apart from spoiling yourself and using ALT+GALAXY, how do you decide if a map meets your standards? Right now, I can see that we have two stars in immediate colony range, which is nice. There was only a single one in the last SG, and my Alkari game. Other than that, no idea if this map is good or bad.
Oops I forgot Alt-P. That one shuffles all AI personalities to random combinations that ignore racial tendencies (pacifist diplomat Darloks for example). I'm not sure where to apply that one. I seem to recall the Races screen but the Strategy Guide says Control screen (main screen) but it says that for ALL cheats while I KNOW that it isn't true for MOOLA so your mileage may vary.
Yay cross-posting! Yeah I don't usually inspect the map when I roll a game, but I was in the middle of experimenting to see if flag color influences planets on a map (long story but when I play red Klackons I often see a lot of Arid worlds). I don't think that it does but I was in map inspection mode when I rolled for OSG-29. And it's a good thing too because the first map I rolled had a size 85 Artifacts world as our second colony. Way too much randomness for a comparison game like this.
Thanks for the info, Ianus! Very helpful to know. Disabling events would have been nice to have as an official option in the game.
Size 85 artifacts planet right next to our homeworld? Wow...that would have been a huge balance shift, even if the tech drawn from it was something minor.
I would strongly recommend against playing on a map that a team member has already seen, even with a brief and cursory glance. If we want to all play on the same map, and we want to check it for balance first, someone can start a game, save the starting save someplace, play the first set (20 turns) and post the starting save for the other team to play if it looks good. Historically though, SGs have always been "play the map you roll." Using the same map would be for comparison, not competition, in my opinion at least.
That's fair enough. I encourage someone to roll a map to get us started once we are ready to go. Can someone call us to order? Things seem a bit scattered right now. I'm ready to play whenever, although weekends are worse for me than the week.
I rolled a map and have played 20 turns. Not sure how we want to do this, since we do not have threads for the separate teams yet. But I have attached the initial 2300 save for the other team. Hope no one minds going with the blue flags -- I like blue.
Sorry; left my gavel in my other wingsuit. I'm terrrrrrible at calling people to order!
Okay, okay, let's see: Thrawn expressed a specific interest in playing the starting turns, so I'm inclined to let him start his team off (AKA also mine if we use the rosters I spitballed above). There are several others who haven't checked in, so let's do it this way:
- I'll roll a start later tonight if no one beats me to it, and post it with a settings summary and roster in each of two threads. (Anyone can do this; you don't have to actually wait for me!) [EDIT: And haphazard beat me to it already! Sweet!]
- Once the threads are up, please post to at least "check in" and confirm you're good to play in the appropriate thread so other team members won't have to worry that you've forgotten about them!
- Per RB tradition, we should each avoid reading the thread for the other team until our team's game is complete! (Yes, we've done multi-team same-start OSGs before. In fact, I believe Sullla was involved in at least #s 14 and 15! Those were before my time on the site though; I've only read the archived versions, and I think most of the pictures have now been lost to time.)
- Questions, additional suggestions, and Yet More Signups are welcome as always!
(Also, one question I neglected to answer earlier: Yes, I used unnecessarily convoluted language on the "don't vote for your opponent" rule because I've played in all-veteran SGs where we seriously considered triggering Final War on purpose just to increase the challenge around 2400 or 2425. Not going to do that in a game where half the team is still learning the ropes though, so you guys are right that the simpler rule is better.)
RefSteel, I see we posted almost at the same time. Hopefully it is OK that I started things off? Feel free to ignore my start if desired.
If we are good to proceed, I guess I can create a thread for our team -- call it OSG-29A, maybe? Anything special needed in the opening post? I thought I would just include the summary of the scenario, then I can describe my opening turns.
Wow...that would have been a huge balance shift, even if the tech drawn from it was something minor.
