any time prior to departure, but may no longer be changed after the turn is ended

any time prior to departure, but may no longer be changed after the turn is ended. Ships en route cannot be issued new orders (unless we develop Hyperspace Communications, a high level Computer tech not available until late into a game, if at all).

After you deselect the colony ship by reducing its number to zero, our second scout should be directed to the other star. That is, don't send both scouts to the same star!

Confused yet? If not, I'm glad. But if you are having trouble following along, I recommend that you download the tutorial saved games and play through the exercise. A picture is worth a thousand words. Most of this will be easier to learn and remember if you play along, but it's your choice.

Next we want to take a look at the planet screen. If Sol is not already selected, click on it in the map window to select it. Then click Sol again to zoom to the planet screen.

There are no controls on this screen. This is only a display. You are shown the star color and the planet. Back when this game was released, these qualified as "cool features" and were considered "good graphics". You are shown icons representing population, factories, waste, and defense bases. In this picture, there is no waste, there are no bases. You are also shown the level of planetary shields (none, in this case) and any orbiting ships. (Our colony ship is still in orbit).

The most useful information on this screen is the number of factories and the amount of waste. This information is available on the Planet List, from the Planet button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, but getting to that takes a little more effort. If you come here to this screen, you can check the factory count and the waste level (if any), then click again and be taken back to the galactic map, where this colony will still be selected, and where you can change the spending sliders. Thus, quick check on the planet screen then back to the main page to issue orders concerning factory construction spending. We'll be doing some of that before long, but not just yet.

The best thing to do at first is to build more factories. This will increase how much money we have to spend on future turns. Each population point can control two factories at our current tech level. Thus, with Sol allowing for a maximum of 100 population, up to 200 factories may be built. We start with 30 and can build only a couple at a time. How long to continue building factories before diverting spending to shipbuilding and research is a strategic decision. I will employ a certain strategy in this tutorial, but I do not mean to imply that is the only possible strategy. What to focus on when and to what degree is the heart of the gameplay. By the time you complete this tutorial, you'll know enough to make sound decisions, but there will still be plenty left for you to learn and explore.

Since we have issued orders to our ships and decided not to change spending priorities, we've completed the first turn. Click the Next Turn button in the lower right corner to move the game forward to the next turn.

Anatomy of a Game Turn

Master of Orion turns are played in phases.

The first phase of each turn is the Orders phase, where you issue orders to your people. Types of orders include planetary spending, fleet deployment, ship design, research priorities, and diplomacy. Only diplomacy takes effect immediately. The rest of your orders are carried out in the other phases of the turn.

Second comes the Movement phase, in which fleets who have been issued orders are moved. All movement takes place simultaneously. After you click next turn, you will be shown the galactic map. Every fleet that shows up on your scanners, including all of your own ships, will be represented on the galactic map. You will see all of the fleet icons move simultaneously. (It is important that the game speed not be running so high that you can't see anything in the movement phase. You don't want the ship icons to move so quickly you don't have a chance to see them). It is important that you pay attention during the movement phase, as you may