Apolyton, a fan site for turn-based strategy games recently posted the third part of their on-going preview of the upcoming space-strategy game, Master of Orion III. This latest preview covers many of the gameplay elements of MOO3, including the interface, and the situation report feature.

Here's a sample of the preview:

Whether or not you an experienced MoO player or a relative novice, one of the first tasks you will want to assign yourself is to get comfortable with the interface. This is true of any computer game for that matter. It provides for all key tools of the trade that one should be familiar with so as best to utilize them in the future. As your game progresses, it increases a strategy gamer's interest but also the intensity. You will want to be able to look at an icon or click on a menu and quickly gain the information that you need. It is true that, unless you choose to make use of the Timer Options? discussed in Part 2, you are in a strictly turn-based environment. You can sit in front of the screen as long as you desire to make your decisions for the current cycle. However, it will likely prolong a turn and unnecessarily distract you from more pressing matters if you do not adequately study the interface in the here and now. I would first like to begin with an open dialogue on the 'Main Screen'.

I will say the layout of the 'Main Screen' is not necessarily how I would have conceived it, but that is not to say that I don't like it. Before we continue, I will say that dividing the screen with horizontal as opposed to vertical lines is my all-time preference and that is exactly what Quicksilver has done. Most of us prefer to read content from right to left, as opposed to up and down, and this has been taken into account. That said, as you can see in the various screenshots in this part of my preview, there is a lot of information spread over the surface of the screen. Don't expect to be instantly comfortable with what you see as I was not. I had convinced myself that I would be, and that was part of the problem. I am also not acquainted with the interface in previous Master of Orion incarnations, so this only contributed to my initial apprehension.

Master of Orion III Preview, Pt 3

MacSoft

Quicksilver Software

Master of Orion III

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