About MOO2 Patch 1.50.x

This is an unofficial fan patch for the DOS version of Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (MOO2).

Supports the English, French, German, Italian and Spanish language versions of the game.

Installation of the patch does not break your current MOO2 installation. No original files are overwritten. To run your old version (e.g. GOG or Steam), use your old shortcut and to run 1.50 use the MOO2 Launcher shortcut created during installation.

The patch is not supported by a company or anyone at all. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Requirements
- A working copy of MOO2 DOS version 1.31 or higher.
- The MOO2 game directory should contain ALL game files (full installation).

About MOO2 Launcher

This is a Tk GUI for installing and running MOO2 Patch 1.50.x.

While you can install and run the patch manually, using MOO2 Launcher has some perks:

  • - Installer checks whether your copy of the game is recent enough.
  • - Installer auto-detects game path for Steam or GOG package.
  • - Easy to configure DOSBox, in particular to setup network multiplayer.
  • - Easy to change enabled mods, no need to edit configs.
  • - Quick access to build lists and scripts.
  • - All documentation and links available in help menu.

Requirements
Microsoft Windows: Windows XP through 10 are supported, older versions are not.
Linux: MOO2 Launcher is likely to work on any recent GNU/Linux distro, at least Ubuntu and Fedora were tested. In fact any Unix-like system with fresh enough Tk toolkit should be capable of running it.
Mac OS X: Tested on Snow Leopard. Might not work properly on newer OS versions! In such case, manual install without MOO2 Launcher is still possible.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Linux

  • 1. Unzip the installation package anywhere OUTSIDE of your MOO2 game directory.
     
  • 2a. At least Ubuntu & Mint require installation of Tcl/Tk before step 2b, run:
    $ sudo apt-get install tcl tk
     
  • 2b. Run ./install-linux in terminal inside unzipped directory.
     
  • 3. You will be presented with a patch installation prompt, which should auto-detect GOG and Steam distros. If there was no auto-detection, then specify path to MOO2 game directory and path to emulator "dosbox".
     
  • 4. Press Install.
     
  • 5. After reporting success MOO2 Launcher will switch to normal mode, from where you can run the game. Choose a mod & map, then press Launch! to play.
     

Mac OS X

  • 1. Unzip the installation package anywhere OUTSIDE of your MOO2 game directory.
     
  • 2. Right click install-macosx and choose open.
     
  • 3. You will be presented with a patch installation prompt, which should auto-detect GOG and Steam distros. If there was no auto-detection, specify path to MOO2 game directory and path to emulator "Boxer Standalone" or "dosbox".
     
  • 4. Press Install.
     
  • 5. After reporting success MOO2 Launcher will switch to normal mode, from where you can run the game. Choose a mod & map, then press Launch! to play.
     

! Tested on Snow Leopard. Might not work properly on newer OS versions. In that case, manual install without MOO2 Launcher is still possible.

Windows

  • 1. Unzip the installation package anywhere OUTSIDE of your MOO2 game directory.
     
  • 2. Run install-win32.exe.
     
  • 3. You will be presented with a patch installation prompt, which should auto-detect GOG and Steam distros. If there was no auto-detection, specify path to MOO2 game directory and path to emulator "DOSBox.exe".
     
  • 4. Press Install.
     
  • 5. After reporting success MOO2 Launcher will switch to normal mode, from where you can run the game. Choose a mod & map, then press Launch! to play.
     

TROUBLESHOOTING

  • Q: Do I need to make a backup of my build lists before updating to new version?
  • A: Your build lists are automatically backed-up during installation with MOO2 Launcher. They can be retrieved in directory '150-backups'.
     
  • Q. MOO2 Launcher runs but fails to install with 'permission denied' error.
  • Q. MOO2 Launcher runs but cannot locate game files on your system.
  • A: This happens if the destination is write-protected, for example for CD-rom version installed to Program Files. Make MOO2 directory accessible or move the game to an accessible location, like C:\GAMES\MOO2. In some cases you can workaround the issue by running MOO2 Launcher as an administrator, but you'll have to do it every time you run it, so that's not recommended. This problem doesn't affect Steam and GOG packages even though Steam installs to Program Files.
     
  • Q. MOO2 Launcher runs but fails to install with 'Error creating backup'.
  • A: This can happen when an instance of Windows Explorer is open that has focus on a directory or file inside the MOO2 game directory. Close the Explorer.
  • A: This can also happen if you have a previous version MOO2 Launcher still running. Make sure you have that MOO2 Launcher closed before updating.
     
  • Q. DOSBox crashes immediately after starting.
  • A: Try setting output to 'surface'.
     
  • Q. Game doesn't start, cannot find info.lbx, credits.lbx and diplomse.lbx.
  • A: This happens when the game is installed from an original CD-rom. To fix it, copy all files from CD-rom to e.g. C:\GAMES\MOO2, remove read-only attribute from all files, then install patch 1.31, then install patch 1.50. The order of actions is important, install 1.31 after you copied the cd-rom files.
     
  • Q. Music plays, but no sound effects.
  • A: You need to make the file sound.lbx writable. On Windows right-click it, choose properties, remove read-only checkbox.
     
  • Q. Game interface lags, sound is crackling.
  • A: May happen on Ubuntu with opengl output. Try 'overlay'.
     
  • Q. How to edit DOSBox options not accessible via MOO2 Launcher?
  • A: Edit file 150/dosbox.conf in the game directory. Note that the settings in this file override MOO2 Launcher settings, so if you e.g. force resolution there, changing it in MOO2 Launcher will no longer work.
     
  • Q. I want the game to run in 16:9 mode.
  • A: The game was designed for 4:3 monitors. In DOSBox windowed mode you can only have that. In full screen your monitor handles whether to stretch to maximum resolution, explore its OSD to figure out how to do it. Note that you will never have a true 16:9 picture, the game uses a fixed resolution and in 16:9 everything will look stretched.
     
  • Q. I'm trying to create custom BUILD lists but editing the 150\build\build*.cfg files doesn't do anything. The original BUILD lists are still loaded.
  • A: You have edited the wrong files. Open the BUILD lists from MOO2 Launcher's menu 'Game>Build lists' to make sure the correct files are edited.
     
  • Q. I cannot design ships. The buttons are greyed out.
  • A: You need to select the "Tactical Combat" option when you start the game.
     
  • Q. I toggled Ship Initiative setting in the Game Settings menu, but it had no effect in combat and afterwards the setting was changed back. I am sure this fan patch is bugged!
  • A: Ship Initiative is set with a parameter in the mod that you are playing. This parameter overrides the setting in the Game Settings menu.