Video games - Outpost 2

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	Video games - Outpost 2

Outpost 2 is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Dynamix, released in 1997 by Sierra Entertainment. Outpost 2 is a sequel to the game Outpost
released in 1994 by Sierra Entertainment. Since Outpost was considered an unsuccessful game, many expected Outpost 2 to be unsuccessful as well. However, it proved to be fairly successful.

Storyline

Travel

Outpost 2 storyline is a pseudo-sequel to the original Outpost storyline, being based in events from the first game, but not in a strict way. As the introduction explains, in the year of 1998, the earth was discovered to be doomed, since a massive asteroid called Vulcan's Hammer was on a crash course to the earth. The size of Vulcan's Hammer was enought to assure total destruction of the earth, causing an extinction event on the same level of the one which wiped out the dinosaurs. After some efforts to divert the asteroid failed, a handful few engineers and scientists (along with their families) escaped in a gigantic, but rushed, starship named Conestoga. The ship traveled in the interstellar space for many centuries, with the passengers in a cryogenic frozen state. The starship was self-sufficient, needing no human intervention, but after many centuries (perhaps some millennia), the supplies started to run out. Desperate, the ship's A.I., a computer cluster of many savant computers, reawakened the Captain and some colonists. They gave orders to touch down on a planet that was closest to being habitable. The colonists were set down on a Mars-like planet: thin in atmosphere, cold and dry. They named it "New Terra". A small colony was established, initially called only Outpost, but later called Eden. After many years orbiting New Terra, the Conestoga crashed due to natural orbital decay. This plot can be seen as having some similarities to that of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

Planet information

The planet is mostly homogenised in the metal department, and this makes seams of mineable resources much rarer than on earth. These seams are roughly even mixes of metals though, just thicker than the natural crust. They are defined by common metals light elements like iron, aluminium, silicon, and others from the upper half of the table and rare metals such a, gold, lead, copper, zinc, mercury, cobalt, and other heavy elements. There are references made that lead to the conclusion that there are many semi-precious and precious gemstones included in their mining.

Separation

Some years after the landing, an argument erupted among the colonists. One group wanted to terraform New Terra, while the other wanted to adapt humanity to live with New Terra. The ruling council listened to both groups's petitions, and decided, by a slim majority, to go along with the terraformers. The other group was understandably upset, and left in the night. They stole several Convecs with Construction Kits and Evacuation Transports, along with other vehicles, which they used these to set up their own base on an ancient volcanic plain. The separatists over the time reprogrammed their Structure Factory to produce structures with a vastly different profile then those of the former group, although identically functional. This was due to the separatists's ideals to adapt themselves to the harsh conditions of New Terra. After much arguing and debate sent over the Communications Satellite, it is decided that two separate colonies is actually a good idea. The first group begins to call themselves Eden, while the second decides to go by the name of Plymouth.

Time passes, and the two colonies trade and argue. When Eden publicly announces that it is beginning to terraform New Terra, eventually the leaders of Plymouth gets upset, because they wanted to preserve the natural environment of New Terra, and they decides to give the other side the cold shoulder by sending the deactivation code to the communications satellite. Unfortunately, it is realized too late that no one remembers the reactivation code.

Danger

Eden carries out an attempt at terraforming New Terra using a bioagent that breaks apart oxygen bonds, but an accident unleashes it on Eden, destroying it. Later dubbed the "Blight," the bioagent destroys boptronic computer systems and kills humans by breaking down organic molecules. The water produced by the breaking of these oxygen bonds lubricates long dormant fault lines, and the air released begins to thicken and storm. In Plymouth, a long dormant volcano erupts driving them to evacuate. To top off the disasters, the planet does not have enough atmosphere to burn off asteroids, and is passing through a large asteroid storm. Both factions soon come to the conclusion that New Terra will become uninhabitable, and decide to evacuate the planet. Unfortunately, there are only enough resources left on the planet for one and three quarters spaceships.

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