History VideoGame / Outpost2

''Outpost 2: Divided Destiny'' is a 1997 RealTimeStrategy game developed by Sierra. In the game's backstory, the Earth is threatened by a massive asteroid impact, and all attempts to avert it fail. To avoid extinction, humanity throws its resources into a rushed evacuation program, which would take as many people as possible in [[HumanPopsicle cold sleep]] aboard the resultant starship 'Conestoga', and try to find a [[SettlingTheFrontier new world to colonise]]. World after unsuitable world was rejected by Conestoga's on-board computer, until, with resources to continue the journey failing, the ship woke a few of its sleepers and asked them to choose between a barely suitable planet it had just found, or press on with the little it had left in the faint hope of finding somewhere better. Choosing the former, they name the planet, a lifeless, Mars-like world, "New Terra", and optimistically name their colony "Eden".

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/OP2_Title_9588.png
[[caption-width:320:"It was cold, dry, nearly ''airless''. But they saw... possibilities."]]

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Aside from the aforementioned HypeBacklash, many critics panned the game as a bad ''CommandAndConquer'' imitation despite the fact the game tried to be nothing of the sort. Well, [[CoversAlwaysLie aside from the marketing anyway]].

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: Aside from the aforementioned HypeBacklash, many critics panned the game as a bad ''CommandAndConquer'' imitation despite the fact the game tried to be nothing of the sort. Well, [[CoversAlwaysLie aside from the marketing anyway]].

* CoolButInefficient: Eden's meteor defense is pretty cool when you see it in action, but actually using it takes quite a lot of resources. It only works with a functioning observatory, which requires an unprecedented 3 scientists on staff, and each defense laser consumes more power than any other building in the game and has a limited (though still fairly large) effective range. Considering that meteors only have the capacity to destroy the smallest of buildings, it's a huge investment for such a small return. Except at the very end of the campaign, where it becomes the only defense against Plymouth's far more devastating EMP missile strikes.

* DiscretionShot: If you lose a colony mission, you get a shot of your colony from a distance as it gets overrun by lava or the Blight. The lava scenario looks just the same as when you succeed, except there aren't any evacuation transports escaping in the [[AlwaysClose nick of time.]] With the Blight, the game adds a computer representation of the Blight approaching and infecting your colony.
* DynamicDifficulty: One of the jarring aspects of the game is its research. If you research anything to improve the health/morale of the colony, they will demand it (or your colony suffers quite a bit if you don't build what they want). If you research any disaster warning systems, suddenly said disasters become more prominent. If you research weapons, the enemy will unleash hell on you, and it'll get worse.

* CoolButInefficient: Eden's meteor defense is pretty cool when you see it in action, but actually using it takes quite a lot of resources. It only works with a functioning observatory, which requires an unprecedented 3 scientists on staff, and each defense laser consumes more power than any other building in the game and has a limited (though still fairly large) effective range. Considering that meteors only have the capacity to destroy the smallest of buildings, it's a huge investment for such a small return. It does, at least, give you a way to put extra colonists to work.
** AwesomeYetPractical: On the other hand it is the only defense against Plymouth's EMP missiles wiping out vast portions of your defenses or shutting down large sections of your colony as they please.

Things go well, to begin with. With Eden established, it grew, and even began to thrive. However, with survival no longer so pressing or immediate a concern, the issue of the long-term direction to be taken arises, and divides the colonists. The initally suggested plan to terraform the planet into a new Earth did not sit well with many, who wanted instead to adapt themselves to New Terra's harsh environment. After a short time these detractors depart with a share of the colony's resources (having argued that two colonies had a better chance of survival than one anyway) and found a splinter colony named "Plymouth".

[[caption-width:320:"It was cold, dry, nearly ''airless''. But they saw.. possibilities."]]

->''"Historical overview: The earth, is dead. As the asteroid fragments landed, the last few survivors departed the solar system, seeking a new home among the stars."''

Outpost 2, unlike other RTS games, focuses less on the military aspects of the genre and instead requires the player to manage their entire colony. Residences, recreation centers, and agridomes are all part of the colony alongside vehicle factories and mines. Keeping the colonists [[SlaveToPR happy]], healthy, and well-fed is essential to keeping the colony growing and productive. Outpost 2 is also notable for its detailed storyline, which is presented in a novella, with one chapter accompanying each mission briefing and two alternative storylines depending on your chosen faction. AllThereInTheManual, indeed.

Outpost 2 is the sequel to [[CaptainObvious Outpost]] (although it ignores the events of its predecessor), a game best described as [[RecycledINSPACE Simcity IN SPACE!]]. The original Outpost was highly anticipated and well-reviewed before its release, but afterwards it became clear it was missing several advertised features and was not well-received. Outpost 2 has a far, far more complete implementation of the colony-management game from Outpost mixed with RTS elements, as well as taking itself rather more seriously, not to mention an understated but very nice musical score, but suffered from HypeBacklash because it was sold as a sequel. However, the game stands well on its own as a unique twist on the RTS genre.

!!This game provides examples of:

* ApocalypseHow: Type 4.
* ArcWords: "Extinction is ''not'' an option".
** Something of an 'unofficial motto' among the colonists, apparently the closing lines of the Conestoga's captain's pre-launch speech.

* ConstructAdditionalPylons: [[JustifiedTrope Justified.]] The reason your base looks like a small city devoted to military production is because it ''is'' a small city.

* DifficultButAwesome: Some of the weapons on either side.

* [[GreyGoo Green Goo]]: The Blight is designed to break apart compounds, releasing water, and replicate itself in said water, until it covers the globe. It just didn't click for the researchers that the provisions to let it spread all the faster made it able to do this to organic compounds - starting with the organic polymers in its containment and the airlocks, moving on to the 'boptronic' (bio-optical) computers and electronics, and finally people.

* InstantWinCondition: If you win the mission, it doesn't matter if the Blight is two feet from your command center and the enemy's tanks are knocking on your door. Justified in that the win conditions include enough transports to evacuate your current population, and loading enough food and metals into cargo trucks ready to run for it.
** The justification vanishes in later missions, where you don't need to load up, just have your resources in storage. How are they getting it to their new colony?

* SuperweaponSurprise: Eden and Plymouth did not have weapons when they first arrived on New Terra but when they start coming into conflict, they weaponized some of their technology. [[AllThereInTheManual According to the fluff]], Eden's laser cannon is a modified industrial laser torch and Plymouth's microwave cannon comes from technology used to wirelessly transmit electricity.

* {{Terraforming}}: Central to the plot, see the [[GreyGoo Green Goo]] entry.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Both sides. Go to war for starship wreckage? Steal the other side's RLV? Sure, why not.
** This culminates, eventually, in [[spoiler:one colony denying the other access to the starship due to space issues (with Plymouth's ending having them outright steal it from Eden). A last gesture of mercy however, has one of the final objectives for both sides being to raid the enemy nursery so that you can at least take their children with you.]]
*** Actually, that one was pure pragmatism. [[spoiler: Both colonies made all the same estimates of time left and resources (from known locations) available. There is enough time and resources for a colony to go to another hemisphere nomad-style and build a spaceship. There are not enough resources for '''two''' colonies to build spaceships. And to compound on the problem, there is an extremist faction within Eden making things worse.]]

* AdvancingWallOfDoom: The Blight. Lava from erupting volcanoes serves a similar function, though it moves more erratically.

* NonEntityGeneral: The player is occasionally referred to as "Commander", but is never identified as a specific colonist, which is quite noticeable in a two-digit population. However, it could be reasonably assumed that you are one of the 4 workers or 2 scientists who is always in the command center, since you get a GameOver if it is destroyed or disabled due to lack of manpower.

** The more frequent disasters are mainly RuleOfPerception, since the computer makes many more announcements when you have disaster warning systems (you get up to two warnings in advance before the disaster arrives--one warning system gives you 5 time units' warning, and a second warning system gives you 10 time units' warning). With all the warning systems, your computer will be [[MostAnnoyingSound chattering non-stop]].

* ReinventingTheWheel: The initial missions require you to rediscover technology that was lost or destroyed during the initial evacuation, such as vehicles. However, once the basics are out of the way, technology developments carry over between missions.

''[[VideoGame/{{Outpost2}} Outpost 2: Divided Destiny]]'' is a 1997 RealTimeStrategy game developed by Sierra. In the game's backstory, the Earth is threatened by a massive asteroid impact, and all attempts to avert it fail. To avoid extinction, humanity throws its resources into a rushed evacuation program, which would take as many people as possible in [[HumanPopsicle cold sleep]] aboard the resultant starship 'Conestoga', and try to find a [[SettlingTheFrontier new world to colonise]]. World after unsuitable world was rejected by Conestoga's on-board computer, until, with resources to continue the journey failing, the ship woke a few of its sleepers and asked them to choose between a barely suitable planet it had just found, or press on with the little it had left in the faint hope of finding somewhere better. Choosing the former, they name the planet, a lifeless, Mars-like world, "New Terra", and optimistically name their colony "Eden".

*** Actually, that one was pure pragmatism. [[spoiler: Both colonies made all the same estimates of time left and resources (from known locations) available. There is enough time and resources for a colony to go to another hemisphere nomad-style and build a spaceship. There are not enough resources for '''two''' colonies to build spaceships. And to compound on the problem, there is an extremist faction within Eden making things worse.]

* SleepLearning: The research tech reports that it is ineffective, but it does give a minor boost to training times.