Jump to content

Earth 2160


stealth_logic25
 Share

Recommended Posts

Genere: Real Time Strategy (Sci-Fi)

Developer: Reality Pump

Publisher: Deep Silver

Release Date: Q4 2004

Have any of you guys heard of this one? If you havn't I wouldn't be surprised. Yet another game overshadowed by HL2 and D3.. I'm really looking forward to it. I think it's one of the most promising games of 2004. The storyline is pretty neat (you fight aliens as one of 3 possible factions.) As for screenshots, they can be found here and here. In case anybody is wondering, the second set of screens was taken with lower system specs than the first one. Game trailer? Yes, one was released however it wasn't official and the devs got mad at the people who released it, so I don't think they'de appreciate me pointing you to it. A real trailer should show up in another week as should the official site.

[ 09-05-2004, 11:06 PM: Message edited by: stealth_logic25 ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allright, ignore those post above. It wonÔÇÖt let me delete it...

The system requirements were just released to the public:

-PC with a 1.5 GHz processor or faster

-512 MB of RAM

-WindowsTM 2000 or XP

-Graphics Card with per Pixel Shader Support and min. 64 MB of RAM

(GeForce 3 TI Series or better, ATI RadeOn 85x+ Series, XGI, Matrox

Parhelia Series)

-2 GB free hard disk space

DirectXTM compatible Soundcard (5.1 System recommended)

-DVD Rom drive

-Mouse & Keyboard

-Internet connection (optionally)

Wow! 2 gigs! And to think that that's MIINAMUM install..

Interviews (click links obviously)

# 1

# 2

#3

#4

Also, I sent a a number emails to the lead developer and got some interesting info:

Interview 1

1) Will there be siege units? (artillery)

[DPH]yes

2) Will there be scout units? (fast and light units)

[DPH] yes.

3) In the E2160 developer discussion at Avault when I asked "Will there be any weapons which fire multiple projectiles at the same time? (rocket launcher with 4 barrels, for example)" you answered "some units can carry 8 and more weapons." Thank you for answering, but I am afraid you misunderstood my question. What I meant was this: In Earth 2150 one problem (though minor) was that the four barreled rocket launcher would only fire one rocket every time it fired, so in E2160 will it be changed (so maybe the launchers fire multiple rockets each time).

[DPH] units which can fire multiple waepons at the same time are possible.

4) In the dev discussion I asked a question regarding how the defensive structures worked and it was never answered.

[DPH] this can not be answered very simple. We will reveal information about this later this year.

5) How many types of chassis and structures will there be?

[DPH] we did not count them by now.

6) Finally, how many missions will there be in each campaign?

[DPH] 4 campaigns with 7 missions.

Fan Requests

(NOTE: these have been requested by quite a few other people so I am not the only one. I am just communicating the fans' requests)

1) Many people would like to see some sort of flame weapon (preferably a flamethrower.) We think hat this would make a very interesting and fun to use anti infantry weapon as well as be a spectacular sight with the outstanding Earth 4 Engine.

[DPH] yes, there will be flamethrowers.

2) Quite a few fans would like to see several types of mines in E2160. 2150 had mines but we agree that several kinds would make the game more interesting as well as add more strategic depth.

[DPH] because of the different types of resources, there will be much more variation in mining.

Interview 2

1. Will there be shockwaves from explosions that damage units?

yes.

2. Will there be splash damage? (explosions that damage units out side of the explosion)

yes.

3.Will there be unit formations?

sure. square, line, free, hold, symbol etc.

Interview 3

1)What I'm wondering about is the capability of ONE rocket launcher to fire multiple rockets at the SAME TIME.....

one rocket launcher can only fire rockes one by one of course. but there can be up to 8 weapons mounted on one unit and up to 256 on one building!

2) Also, by "mines" I meant the explosive devices that you lay in the ground and explode when units come within a certain proximity of them.. wanted to have multiple kinds of those...

sorry - i understood mining ... and sorry again I do not know currently wich kind of mines (explosives) will be in the final game.

3) Some of my buddies thought it would be neat if you could put your infantry on the wall just like in the Lord of the Rings Movie...

nice idea ;-)

4) Finally, there will be ballistic missles, right?

sure.

5) Some people would like to know if the resources will regenerate of if they will be infinite so the resources do not run out too quickly on a map...

there will be limited and infinite resources.

Interview 4

1)WIll units be able to fire while moving?

yes

2)There will be transports that can move on the ground, water, and air, right?

sure

3)If a unit is not moving, the turret or weapon can still rotate, right?

yes.

4)When units move over the snow will there be tire tracks or footprints?

yes. and on some other types o ground also.

5)Can you start forest fires which damage whatever the fire is near?

yes.

6)Will units build faser an be able to carry more ammo than in 2150?

you mean faster, I suppose. yes.

7)When it snows, will the snow cover your units and fall off when they move?

I can not confirm this by now. probably yes. What will be for sure is that raindrops are visible on water surface.

8)What kind of enivornmental damage will there be? Can you destroy trees and blow craters in the ground?

yes.

9)Will units be able to dodge enemy fire?

depending on their experience level, yes.

10)When a big gun fires, will there be recoil?

yes.

EDIT: I have compiled a FULL list of the features so far:

(sorry, there may be some repeats)

FEATURES:

* 4 playable parties with different basic technologies and abilities

* Each party consists of more than 13 basic buildings and more than 13 basic units

* Various enemy races, special units and NPC's

* 4 single player campaigns, each with 7 missions.

* Skirmish mode with 10 maps

* 4 Multiplayer modes with 10 maps

* Multiplayer game saves and joining of running matches

* EarthNetTM Server with ladder and league support

* Modular Unit construction system. Each unit can be created from modular parts: chassis, armour, engine, boosters, cannons (up to 8 cannons), shield generator and modulation of particle weapons and shields. The number of different unit configurations is uncountable

* Units can be stored inside hangars. Hangars can be abandoned quickly to surprise an enemy.

* Units can be produced directly in hangars.

* Realistic, formable multiple textured terrain

* All cut scenes are displayed by the game engine and rendered in real time

* Holographic, transparent interface without the classic panel

* Multiple Window Cam display with first person view

* Main menu with story driven cut scenes (rendered on the fly) in the background.

* 12 virtual agents. These special characters have strong personalities and a great influence on the game. Each agent has special abilities. There are 20 ability categories for the agents.

* The economy is based on 3 main material types: water, metal and silicon. For each material there are 3 different sources. Metal types vary on the different maps. Color, HP, speed and armour of the units depend on the metal used. Number of all material sources is 18 (3 for water, 3 for silicon and 12 for metal).

* Multiplayer matches for up to 8 players per match

"Save game" available in multiplayer.

Possibility to connect to a running game.

MP Spectator mode, Replays

4 game modes for multiplayer games.

Possibility to join an AI player in multiplayer games

* E2160 World editor as an external program

* Per Pixel Shader 1.0, 1.2, 2.0 and 3.0 native support

* EarthC (programming language) SDK for Mod teams

* Full Unicode support

-Units can consist of many components: weapon (s) (up to , chasis, armor type (get new tyes by combining diffrent metals), engine, weapon modulation, and shield modulation.

-4 unique races.

-There are hundreds of types of weapons, chasis, armor types, weapon and shield modulations.

-weapon types include rocket launchers, phasers, rockets, flame throwers, lightning canons, beam cannons, machine guns, ballistic missiles, nukes, rail guns, various types of mines, chemical weapons, psi waves, pop up camoflauged turrets (and MUCH more.)

-FIRST PERSON CAM VIEW (VIEW THE GAME, FIRST HAND, FROM THE EYES OF ANY UNIT.)

-Infantry

-Hundreds of millionsof possible unit types

-13 basic buildings types per race which CAN be upgraded (upgrading also changes the visual appearance of the building.)

-Terrain has a significant affect on combat and how you plan your strategies.

-Weather which has a significant effect on combat and how you plan your strategies.

-Night/day transition which effects how you plan your strategies.

10 unit formations which ALL of which have their advantages and disadvantages.

-you can use shadows and water reflections to your advantage as can your enemy (to a certain degree, atleast.)

-When units and buildings explode, they will send flaming shrapnel flying outward which will damage whatever it hits. This factors into your tactics, strategy, combat, and planning, of course.

-The deformable terrain can be used to both you and your enemy's advantage.

-Virtually NO unit limit. Masive Lord of the Rings scale armies can be built and massive epic battles can be fought and witnessed.

-Some unit components can be made out of a combination of metals and alloys.

-The strength of shields can be controlled through modulation frequency and amplitude. The strength of energy weapons can be controlled through similar means.

-RESOURCES: based on 3 types: water, metal and silicon, For each one there are different sources (3 for water, 3 for silicon, and 6 for metal).

For example, water can be gathered from vapor, liquid, or ice. metal can be gathered from ore, old metal parts from units/buildings, and metallic lava. The combination of metals used can effects the unitÔÇÖs speed, HP, and color. Each race uses two of the 3 kinds of metals. Each race has a different method for gathering resource and each race uses the recources for different purposes.

Engine (Earth 4)

-5,000-10,000 polygons per mesh

-Perfectly handles physics elements such as collision detection, environmental damage, impacts, and recoil.)

-Support for many next generation graphical effects such as pixel shadows, volumetric shodows, dynamic lighting, mip mapping, vertex shaders, volumtric fog, advanced weather effects (water drops are visible when they hit the surface of terrain), and bump mapping.

-Advanced terrain system, which can do terrain of different altitudes and liquids of different depths.

-AI which learns, reacts differntly to different tactics, attacks on multiple fronts, uses weather to itÔÇÖs advantage, uses terrain to itÔÇÖs

advantage, attacks on multiple fronts, and does really unpredictable and ingeneous things.

-Many types of lighting, and particle effects. Volumetric heat haze and motion blur.

- Skrimish Mode with 10 maps

- 4 multiplayer modes with 10 maps

- Units can carry 8 weaposn and buildings can carry up to 256

- Units can fire while moving.

- Each unit consists of hundreds of detailed parts, some of which can move independent of the rest of the unit.

-Unit types include, artillery, transports scouts, heavy tanks, mechs, biological units, cyborgs, and MUCH more.

-Holographics interface.

-Environmental damge such as forest fires

-Ability to enable infinite resources.

-Shockwaves and splash damge, both of which damage units.

-Several kinds of unit formations.

-TRUE line of sight and line of fire.

-Many typesof terrain. On each type differnet unit types move at different speeds.

EVEN MORE INFO from a fansite

ENGINE

"Technical information regarding the new Earth 2160 engine is for the first time becoming known. For all those thought that Reality pump had only gotten as far as the extremely drilled out KnightShift engine, there's good news: The engine has been completely re-written, not just amended, and added to. The only thing remaining from the old engine is the particle system, though this was written for KnightShift/OUAK, so it is still retively fresh. Reality Pump's new engine uses a completely new approach.

The new engine is called Earth 4, which is no surprise. The engine will be based on Bezier curves and the the visual quality i is largely dependent on the quality of the hardware used. Only maps with T&L Rendering are useable, i.e. a diagram map must be using no less than DirectX 8. Allegedly the new engine will support DirectX 9 and 10 (NEXT generation also admits as DirectX NG), but DirectX 10 only with Windows Longhorn Q2 2006.

Earth 2 (Earth 2150) allowed us to see meshes of up to 200 polygons. Earth 4 will allow 5,000-10,000 polygons per mesh. The objects, are highly detailed. You can see the pilots in the cockpits of the planes, units will show notable wear in the course of combat, water will be highly reflective, and "look like water", etc. Pixel Shader version 1.4 is used

Sound

Audio is part of Earth 4, and is not reliant on MP2/3. A new compression/playback scheme is used. This was already tested with English-language KnightShift Mod.

Editor

The editor that many are familiar with from Earth 2150 will again be available in Earth 2160, but it will be more powerful than ever before. Map makers will be able to create better landscapes. As well, those with the talent and know-how will be able to use their own custom textures, as well as alter appearances via a highly customizable color palette (similar to that in KnightShift/OUAK. You will also be able to mix and match terrain types. For instance, you may have snowy mountain peaks above, and sandy beaches below.

Other operating systems

We may also see a Macintosh version of Earth 2160. A technology is used named "MacDX", which makes a Microsoft available DirectX compatible interface on the Mac. A Linux version is not planned however.

"

RESEARCH

"As with Earth 2150 each race will already have the possibility research to operate. The more research centers one possesses the more technologies can be developed at the same time. Technologies will have prerequisites, so you must research certain things before you can have others. Technologies will vary, but the tech trees will be similar in style to what we have seen in the past, though expanded."

INTERFACE

"Virtual agents

Earth 2160 will introduce Virtual Agents, a competent mercenary of sorts. These will offer different services, from the administration of your base (power, defense, etc.), espionage and more efficient research orders for quickly obtaining technology. Naturally, they do this for a fee. Capitalism is still alive and well in the year 2160!

The virtual agents are equipped with an artificial intelligence and act independently. Each agent has its own personality. Whether it helps players A or B depends on its relationship with the player. If you use a Virtual Agent, and the relationship is favorable, the next time you need it, you are more likely to get help. If you should fire the Virtual Agent, then try to re-hire it, your interactions are litley to be less friendly. In fact, they may even become hostile, or require a higher payment for services.

The Virtual Agents may be stored on the new EarthNet server.

Menu

Forget what you know about the old display. The Earth 2160 interface will use holograms. The semi-transparent displays will give you real-time information, and still allow you to see the environment to maximize your view."

MODS / SCRIPTING

"As with the other Earth engine games, a C-like language will be used to edit or add to Earth 2160. Those proficient in its use will be able to create new missions, multiplayer and skirmish gametypes, etc.

The Editor will grant content makers much more flexibility and power then ever before. The editor will have the capability to export, or copy map data for use in other Earth maps, or missions. As well, the editor functions as a real-time 3D rendering environment, capable of exporting .AVI movie files.

An SDK will be available to capable fan-based development teams, such as Inside Earth Operations, and the Forces of Chaos Development Group."

MULTIPLAYER

Earth 2160 will offer a variety of multiplayer modes. Much of what is to come is not yet known, but here's what we have been able to ascertain thus far: An observer, or spectator mode will be available. Up to 8 players per LAN or online game. Players will be able to enter games already in progress. Multiplayer saved games are now a possibility. These games may be loaded and continued at a later time. There will also be video reports.

EarthNet

ZuxxeZ will make the EarthNet available server for on-line play. Games via TCP/IP will probably be possible. More information is available in the EarthNet section. "

FACTIONS

"Since Earth 2150, another race has been added;The Aliens type 1. They have been imprisoned, on Mars for a long while, and have been in a deep sleep. The UCS landings on Mars have awakened them. They have vowed to destroy the intruders, and are constructing bases. Their bases consist of motherships, and interconnecting modules.

ED - Eurasian Dynasty

The ED fled the dying earth. Now, they are engaged in a fight for the survival of their kind. Their bases consist of a main structure, and modular extensions. As the environments are now different, the ED have replaced their signature helicopters with anti-grav units. Though the ED are land based, they will drop their initial structures on the new worlds from orbit, like the LC.

LC - Lunar corporation

Like the ED, the LC are also looking for a new home. LC buildings are mobile. They can take off and land again in different locations. Bases consist of developed columns. First a base structure is dropped from orbit. These structures are very heavy stilts. Then the base of the column adds onto itself via upgrades and enhancements. The columns may have structures of varying types, such as production, defense, power, etc. An interesting thing to note regarding the columnar, yet modular development... If you destroy a structure on the top of the column, then only that structure is lost. If a structure under other components is destroyed, everything on top is also lost. If you destroy the stilts (they are very strong), the entire column is lost. However, make sure that if you destroy a big column that your units are out of the way fast, as anything falling, or colliding will cause you damage!

UCS - United Civilized States

DUringthe journey to Mars, the computers became opeoccupied with self-preservation, and ordered all human life traveling with them to be exterminated. Further driven to seek security, the UCS computers developed their own highly efficient mechanized force. Not much else is known about the UCS at this stage. Their organization is, as with the other factions, is a modular one, but they are not similar to the ED or LC. Some new UCS units have been observed, among them a new heavy 4-legged mech. That's all we know ATM.

All races can be combined. In addition there are countless opponent races, whose technologies can be assimilated. In terms of units, we get a pretty fair trade in the new game. Water craft are gone (and why would you need them on mars?), but Infantry (Earth 2140) have been added. Reliable information tells us that the LC will have female soldiers. As well, there will be several kinds of soldiers (like in FA/PC), each type having a different weapon function. As well, ammunition will be finite, and you must keep your units supplied. How you build anr amr your force, now more than ever, will dictate who wins. Mass battles will still be possible, but that may not be the best way to win.

Another new addition, NPC's (Non playable characters) will be in the game, but their role is not defined, or it's not public yet.

Lastly, air units will have more realistic flight. Gone are the static hover/shuffle, and square flight paths. Flight, as well as attack, will be more dynamic, and realistic."

RESOURCES

"Each faction will need 3 types of resources. There will actually be many resource types, but each faction will have different needs. Key battles will be fought over areas rich in compounds vital to each faction. Quite often, you may find your opponent's base squarely on a major cache of something you need. Since you will be limited until you can sieze the territory, or the material, intelligent planning and adaptability are key."

BATTLEFIELDS

"All of the action in Earth 2160 takes place ten years after the destruction of planet Earth. Named locations for battles are:

* Mars - 4th planet in our solar system

* Titan - Saturn's moon

* IO - Jupiter's moon

* Triton - Neptun's moon.

As well, some battles may be waged in places as of yet unnamed, elsewhere in the galaxy. Stay tuned for info on this. "

The mission system will be non-linear, that is, you can go down multiple routes to be successful. "We plan a game duration of about 40 up to 80 hours alone with the missions", said Dymek, "and then there are additionally single missions, skirmish, an editor for creation of new worlds and a multiplayer mode."

...

Also weapons and defence systems are sophisticated. Against Lasers a highly reflective surface will help; against projectiles, strong armour. To be successful, you have to know which technologies the enemy is about to use. You can use spies to help here. However the enemy is able to counter here, by giving the spy wrong information.

...

The locations in the game are spread over the whole galaxy. With hyperjump gates you can reach other solar systems and settle on them."

SINGLEPLAYER

"At present, here is what we know about single player/skirmish:

* 4 single player campaigns. Each campaign consists of 7 missions.

* In the Skirmsh games may be played on single and multiplayer maps against the computer. Those skilled with the editor may make their own new maps. "

SOUNDTRACK

"Not much is known about the soundtrack in Earth 2160 ATM. However, we do know that the audio will no longer be mp2/3 based. Earth 2160, using the Earth 4 engine will have its own schemes for compression and playback. Expect high quality audio."

Allright, if that ISN'T enough info for you, then you can go read the Adrenaline Vault forums Developer Chat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SC!!

Can you make Stealth the head of this particuler forum, he seem's to be on top of things

Hmm I've played Earth 2140, 2150, Lost Soul, Moon Project

So, I'll diff keep an eye on this one Thanks Stealth!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're welcome. I just feel every one should know about this very promising RTS game. Likewise, I also like to inform others about other promising games.

Hahah I would't mind becomg the leader. Yup, I tend to stay on top of these upcoming games well..

BTW, I would really like to think which ever one of the mods who deleted my old post.

Also, what did you guys think of the screens?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just curious, does any one else here think that this will be hugely successful, win game of the year award (or other awards), and/or set a new standard in RTS games. In other words, do you think that this game has a high chance of succeeding (based on the available info and screens.)

Personally, I think this will appeal to a lot wider variety of gamers than previous games in the series.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest reason that the Earth 20XX series has always been so great is because of the staggering number of features they pack into the games. Although Moon Project and Lost Souls were'nt much more than huge full priced patches ;[

I know they never cought on because of the learning curve - each faction was so different that you had take the tutorial all over again to learn how to play them properly. That's A-Ok with me though, I'm biggest anti-mass-market activist out there.

Let's hope they don't dumb this down like TimeGate dumbed down Kohan 2.

P.S. I hope this version adds a campaign co-op mode. These days no game should be without one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, there will be a co-op mode as weel as extremely intelligent bots that seem to learn. New screens here and here . Y'know, E2160 is such a big improvemtn over E2150 that it's almost hard to believe that they're from the same series. Also, open beta test with 100,000 participants begins this month...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, there will be a co-op mode as weel as extremely intelligent bots that seem to learn. New screens here and here . Those were taken with the medium quality ( this is high quality) . Y'know, E2160 is such a big improvemtn over E2150 that it's almost hard to believe that they're from the same series. Also, open beta test with 100,000 participants begins this month...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I remember Earth 2150, there was also few other games released using same engine: World War 3: Black Gold, War over Europe... last one sucked badly. Original, Earth 2150 was the best of them all - it was fun to play with russian equipment. Looking forward to this new one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

New preview Up on IGN

If you click on the media section, you can download some ingame videos. That is, "real" ingame videos with a ingame section (someone is actually playing the game) and with a temporary interface (the real interface will be similar to the holographic one out of the movie "Final Fantasy". )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Did any of you guys check out the trailers on IGN (skip the trialers on Gamespot, they're rubbish)? FYI, these are taken on a Radeon 9600, so the game will look A LOT better on a higher end Graphics Card. As you can see, there are still some issues that need to be dealt with (the walking animations of the infantry and mechs.) Fortunatelly, the engine is still in the beta stage, so the problems will probably get fixed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Allright, nothing myuch new lately. Supposed to be some official screenshots released soon which are partially intended to remind us that the game REALLY DOES look as good as (and probally better, seeing as how the engine has advanced quite far in the six months that no official screenshots have been released) than the second batch of offical screens.

You know, I really don't like this style. I mean, I don't like it that Reality Pump released screens at a decent rate for the first couple months. Then (suddenly and unexpectantly) they cease to release ANY update for 6 months. And finally, after 6 months, they say that somehting big is coming soon. Oh god... Anybody else agree?

I mean, It's good that RP is making such an awesome game, but why can't the release updates oftenly? I mean us fans like to know how the game is going, right. No one likes to be left in the dark, right. And that is what has happened with Earth 2160. During the past 6 months of utter silence, some of us fans thought it had been cancled or had become another DNF. Now that the devs finally speak up, after all this time, how are us fans supposed to react?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

New gameplay info:

Aliens

Aliens do not build units and buildings, they spawn via cloning.

Alien buildings are actually stationary lairs which will use cloning and transmutation to grow onto enemy bases. This may seem familiar to some, the Zergs from Starcraft had similar abilites.

Aliens undergo stages in which they can clone and stages in which they are ready to defend themselves.Singleplayer

The story is written by five sci-fi authors.

The campaigns, which aren't linear, will first lead to locations in our solar system before getting interstellar. Missions inside buildings are planned.

You will again have a main base with several outposts, researches and units are taken over from mission to mission.Gameplay

Units are slowed down by rain (due to mud).

The units' appearance suffers from fights - they get scratches and scorch marks.

Splitting the view into separate windows as in Earth 2150 will be possible again. This way you can separate the screen to keep an eye on different locations.

The already eagerly discussed first-person perspective has been affirmed. You can see the action with the eyes of your units. Steering the unit, however, will not be possible.

Resources can be found in different states. Liquid water is better than water from ice blocks, because it's more easily accessible.

Also, today marks the day where no screenshots have been released since 7 months... Really do hate it when Devs don't release screens very often. And then, any threads regarding the absense of any screens or updtaes in 7 monyhs(!) are delted... hmm...They said they release some screens soon.. *sigh*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

I just got my copy from Gameplay (God bless them for shipping internationally). I have to learn the game all over again, and I was a diehard 2150/Moon Project/Lost Souls fan. So far it looks like they really outdid themselves. Graphics are gorgeous, all the gameplay seems to be intact... and the story seems pretty decent this time around. It does look like the uber-weapons (WMDs) got nerfed big time. It's a bummer, but I can live with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...