Master of Orion

aka: MOO, Master of Orion 1, Master of Orion Classic
Moby ID: 212
DOS Specs
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Description official description

Master of Orion overlaps with Civilization insofar as you are the leader of one of several races. Technological advance, realm expansion and combat are all key elements. Where it differs is in being set in space.

The planet Orion itself is a lush, fertile planet with vast mineral resources. It is guarded by the Guardian - a powerful vessel which you have to defeat in order to plunder Orion's riches.

As you attempt to expand your empire, you will have to trade and steal technologies form rivals, again much like Civ. Your ships can be improved over the game, in terms of engine power, shields, cloaking devices and weapons, and different combinations of these can be integrated. Resource management is largely set using sliders, which reduces the amount of time spent on micro-management.

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

43 People (29 developers, 14 thanks) · View all

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Manual Art
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[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 76% (based on 16 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 111 ratings with 10 reviews)

Space Conquest just got much better

The Good
I loved the motivation to stay up past 5 AM trying for that last turn that would bring my victory! Then having to keep playing because there was just too much to this game! The balance between all the technologies and races. The ability to randomly generate new galaxies that may or may not give me a starting advantage.

The Bad
The only problem I can see is with the AI. They all use basicly the same system of building up massive fleets and going at it. There really isn't anything missing without comparing it to the improvements in the sequel.

The Bottom Line
The 4X space strategy title that built the genre. Even though this game has been beefed up with the release of the 2 sequels, it is still worth playing to see where it all started. I still play it today.

DOS · by MaiZure (59) · 2003

Strategy players looking for a challenge will love it.

The Good
This is a challenging strategy game and the challenge was the best part about it for me. At first, the impossible level really did seem impossible. So figuring out how to beat the game using the right combination of planetary resource allocation, research strategy, ship design, diplomacy, and trade was major fun.

Reading game guides and tips beforehand will spoil the challenge. Eventually, you'll figure out many ways to beat the game, but that was also when the game lost its appeal for me.

The Bad
I like to play a "huge" galaxy, but after taking over 40-50 plants or so, it becomes tedious to micro manage. The program could have been better written so that a human player could more easily handle all the planets at once.

The Bottom Line
Awesome player vs computer strategy game.

Good game interface. Passable graphics. Minimal sound effects (but at least it's not annoying). Play this game for the challenge, not for the bells and whistles.

DOS · by Yeah Right (50) · 2000

Most addicting turn based strategy ever

The Good
This game had me up wayyy pat my bedtime so many times it isn't even funny. I even played a game from the time I got up until early the next morning. <ahem> on with the review. The ability to custom build ships with all sorts of combinations gave your fleets a personal touch unequalled elsewhere (well, except in Master Of Orion II). the endless debates over small ships vs. large, more nukes or more lasers, what planets to turn into factories, etc. kept me going continuously. the diplomatic system seemed a lot more realistic than in Civilization. instead of declaring wars seemingly at random, the other empires would watch to see if you were massing ships at their borders, would start to like you when you attacked their enemies, and would generally be nice if you weren't being threatening, depending on their attitudes. the tech system gave you advantages with every advance, and often had me tearing my hair out wondering if I should devote more to weapons or construction techs (more armor). The advantages of warping across the galaxy fast enough to outrace an invading fleet were undeniable. the planetary management, with its sliding bars of planetary resource management, had me tweaking my planets endlessly for best effect. Oh, and lets not forget about getting ready for that showdown with the guardian of Orion. oh, yeah. It also had the best manual I've seen in a computer game.

The Bad
The micromanagement of a lot of planets gets tedious, especially when the game settings don't do things the way you like, and you forget which planets you have set to special projects.

The Bottom Line
It's the most fun I've had with any space game, and will suck you into its depths if you let it. Building a space empire was never so much fun.

DOS · by Darryl White (9) · 2000

[ View all 10 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Help me get into this game Mobygamesisreanimated (11069) Apr 29, 2009

Trivia

Jerry Pournelle

Famous Sci-Fi novelist and long time technology columnist Jerry Pournelle frequently mention his appreciation for Master of Orion i his Chaos Manor columns. He's often stated its one of his all time favorite games.

References

When playing against the Meklars, one of the names for the leader (picked randomly from a pool in the NAMES.LBX file) is TX-1138. Likely a reference to George Lucas's movie THX-1138, which he himself has referred to in little in-jokes throughout the Star Wars movies.

Star Lords

Star Lords was a sort-of prototype game for Master of Orion. It was released as freeware in 2001.

Spaceward Ho!

Master of Orion borrows several game elements from Spaceward Ho!.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • June 1994 (Issue #119) – Strategy Game of the Year
    • April 1996 (Issue #141) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #33 in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
  • Game Bytes
    • 1993 - Strategy Game of the Year
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #64 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
  • Gaming World
    • 1993 - Premier Award Computing
  • PC Gamer
    • April 2000 - #37 in the "Readers All-Time Top 50" poll
    • October 2001 - #31 in the "Top 60 Games of All Time" list (They go on to credit the game for the creation of the '4X' genre of strategy gaming ('explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate').)
    • April 2005 - #44 in the "50 Best Games of All Time" list
  • Pelit Magazine
    • 1994 - Best PC Game
  • Strategy Plus
    • 1993 - Strategy Game of the Year

Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, Entorphane, Michael Palomino, PCGamer77, Scott Monster and Technocrat

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Related Games

Master of Orion 3
Released 2003 on Windows, Macintosh
Orion: Prelude
Released 2013 on Windows
Orion Quest
Released 1984 on Commodore 64
Orion Burger
Released 1996 on DOS, Macintosh
Star Wraith 3: Shadows of Orion
Released 2002 on Windows
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares
Released 1996 on DOS, Windows, 1997 on Macintosh
Invasion Orion
Released 1979 on Apple II, TRS-80, Atari 8-bit
Master of Magic
Released 1985 on Commodore 64, 1986 on ZX Spectrum

Related Sites +

  • 1oom
    unofficial game engine recreation under GPLv2 - requires a copy of the Master of Orion (v1.3) LBX files.
  • Fan-made Patch 1.40m
    fan-made patch for Master of Orion (v1.3)
  • Master of Orion on the Mac
    An article on Low End Mac about the Macintosh version of the game. The writer describes his experiences originally running the game on his PCs when it was released and his attempts to enjoy the game on his Macs. The article effectively takes the form of a retrospective appreciation of the game, with an underlying point regarding the backwards compatibility of Apple's hardware (Jul. 1st, 2008).

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 212
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tomer Gabel.

Macintosh added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: Kalirion, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger, Plok, J D.

Game added August 13, 1999. Last modified January 28, 2024.