Op2 Predemo Upgrade

[Sirbomber]

In case you're wondering what the pre-demo is, it's essentially an OP2 Beta. It has everything the final game has (though some sounds may be missing) and can actually be quite interesting. Using our modern tools (VOL Extractor and OP2Mapper 2) I have modified demotekm and some of the sheets to re-enable everything that had been disabled by the developers. You'll have to switch into 16-bit color mode or it will switch into 640 x 480 mode (or something along those lines).
Included is a little trivia file I've put together for your enjoyment (which you can read below if you'd like).

Pre-Demo (With Updated tech tree and sheets.vol):
http://users.outpostuniverse.net/mcshay/O...emo_Updated.rar

Optional Music Download (Replaces the demo music with music1.wav from the final game in a format the demo will read):
http://users.outpostuniverse.net/mcshay/MusicAddon.rar

Pre-demo Trivia!

< Story-Related Information >

Plymouth 1 Volcano
Mt. Goddard was originally named Mt. Williams.
Pre-Demo: "I don't know how, or why, but pray there's a Plymouth to go back to.  Mt. Williams has erupted." (Emma)
Final Game: "I don't know how, or why, but pray there's a Plymouth to go back to.  Mt.  Goddard has erupted." (Emma)
Notes: Mt. Williams could have been named after Ken Williams, founder of Sierra On-Line. Mt. Goddard was probably named after Robert Goddard.

Axen and Emma
Frost was originally Axen's Savant (and Kraft was supposed to be Emma's Savant).
Pre-Demo: "He sighed.  'Frost, open a stealth back-channel to Savant Kraft.  I need to talk with Emma.'" (Axen)
Final Game: "He sighed.  'Kraft, open a stealth backchannel to Savant Frost.  I need to talk with Emma.'" (Axen)
Notes:
No idea why they made this change, though one could speculate that they decided that Kraft was a better name for Axen's Savant (as he is skilled with machinery and computer technology) and Frost was better suited to Emma's cold personality (she tried to convince Axen to kill Nguyen, don't forget).

Vulcan's Hammer
The asteroid that destroyed Earth in Outpost 2 is Vulcan's Hammer.
Pre-Demo: "Then, an enormous Asteroid, dubbed "Vulcan's Hammer," was discovered headed on a collision course with Earth; a billion megatons of destructive force gliding silently through space." (Help file)
Final Game: "As the asteroid fragments landed, the last few survivors departed the Solar System, seeking a new home among the stars." (Savant, Intro movie)
Notes: They probably wanted to keep it connected to Outpost 1, but in the end decided it wasn't important.

The Conestoga
The Conestoga was assembled in Earth orbit and fueled above Jupiter. It was assembled by a private organization as the United States government had eliminated NASA's budget.
Pre-Demo: "One company responded to this threat with a plan to build a colonization starship, assembled in Earth orbit and fueled from the atmosphere of Jupiter." (Help file)
Final Game: The final game has almost no information on the Conestoga, except that it was "hastily built". Also, the intro movie depicts the starship as departing from the Earth's surface.
Notes: Again, probably just trying to be consistent with Outpost 1, then saying "Why bother?".

Nukes, Asteroids, and You
The pre-demo mentions that the United States government launched the nuke at Vulcan's Hammer.
Pre-Demo: "The government, belatedly, tried to act, firing a nuclear missile at the asteroid in an attempt to divert it from its course.  The mission failed.  The asteroid was split in two, and both parts struck the Earth's surface." (Help file)
Final Game:"As the asteroid fragments landed, the last few survivors..." (Savant, Intro Movie)
Notes: The final game mentions almost nothing about the asteroid. "What asteroid?" "Fragments? Why did it break apart?" "Why did only one ship try to escape?" "Could we have built another starship if we leveled nineteen cities?" The answer to that last question is, apparently, yes.

The New Terran Solar System
New Terra is in a binary star system. New Terra is the only habitable planet in said star system.
Pre-Demo: "The ship's pilots set course for a binary star system dozens of light years from Earth.  The system had one habitable planet, similar in many respects to Mars." (Help file)
Final Game: "For nearly a century they drifted, suspended in cold sleep, while computer intelligence guided their hastily-built starship and searched, unsuccessfully, for an Earth-like world. Resources dwindling, the computers woke a few of the crew to make a desperate decision. If no Earth-like world could be found, how close was close enough?" (Help file)
Notes: The Final Game's version makes more sense. New Terra is a last-ditch effort to survive, rather than "Hey, let's go land on some Mars-like planet light years away for no apparent reason!" (at least I think so).

< In-Game Stuff >
Not-So-StickyFoam
Pre-Demo: StickyFoam stops a unit from moving but does not damage the Foamed unit.
Final Game: The StickyFoam stops and damages a unit.
Notes: Why?! Why did they do this? If they hadn't, Eden might have had a fighting chance in the early game!

EMP Missiles, Meet My Thor's Hammer
Pre-Demo: EMP Missiles can be shot at by regular attack units (though I can't tell if you can actually destroy an incoming Missile in this manner).
Final Game: Only a Meteor Defense can shoot at and destroy an incoming EMP Missile.

Tubes Are Painful To Build
Pre-Demo: Earthworkers can only build one section of tube/wall at a time.
Final Game: Earthworkers can build a "length" of tube/wall at a time. This change is evidence that there is a God, if you ask me.

[Leviathan]

Sounds great! Thanks for your work Sirbomber and Mcshay.

Look forward to takeing a look at this

Happy Tenth Anniversary of Outpost 2!

[Mcshay]

This isn't all that related to predemo upgrade, but I have a couple pictures of things out of the predemo art.



Just some general building graphics. All of these models were replaced in the final version of op2. They seemed to have a hard time figuring out how to make the eden garage.


These are pictures of damaged versions of all rockets. These were probably almost used in op2, because the graphics sets are complete for them (meaning there are complete animations of a spaceport building a broken rocket... for some reason).


Here's an unused unit. All that I can figure out about it is that it was a basic unit that probably hovered over the ground. Yes, there is a 'hover' track type in op2. In my opinion this is the Inter-Colony Shuttle, which has a spot in the demo sheets proving that it was still being considered at that point.


Here are pictures of damaged, unused structures (undamaged graphics couldn't be found). Despite the lack of undamaged images, there is a destruction animation for the Plymouth structure; the animation is similar to a power plant's explosion. I believe i have seen a picture of these structures from alpha screen shots too.


And of course, we have the easter eggs. On the left is the fabled Dan's Dog who we are told appears very, very, very rarely on the map for an unknown reason. Next to Dan's Dog is Santa Walking, which we are also told, would very, very, very rarely walk on the tubes between structures.

[Mcshay]

Sorry for the double post and all, but I'm just reminding people no NEVER extract the demo into their op2 folder. It will CORRUPT your op2. Put it in a new folder. Too many people have done this or almost did it today.

[Hooman]

The first damaged building looks sort of like it could be a light tower. The second one seems like it's part of a building. Like that thing that pops out of the top of a ... smelter? I can't remember now. I also sort of wondered if that unused unit is really just part of a larger structure and isn't recognizable.


I have found evidence that the game creates the dog upon meteor impact when a meteor strikes a certain terrain type, at exactly a multiple of a certain tick, provided the tile is unoccupied, the moon is full, and your system bus is facing east....

I haven't seen anything that looks like it would create the Santa. Although the code may be slightly odd so that my search didn't turn anything up. The Dog was just a matter of searching for a constant index (modified slightly) to that particular animation.

[Mcshay]

Yeah i did think about it being a light tower, that would make it more along the lines of Eden's construction. I'm pretty sure I've seen the Eden building in a game screen shot as a stand along structure. It might have been an early geothermal plant.

Also, the unit has images for all 8 directions, which a building cannot be placed it (buildings only have one direction).

[Highlander]

I've never seen the santa OR the dog in any games <_<  

[Arklon]

Vulcan's Hammer
The asteroid that destroyed Earth in Outpost 2 is Vulcan's Hammer.
Pre-Demo: "Then, an enormous Asteroid, dubbed "Vulcan's Hammer," was discovered headed on a collision course with Earth; a billion megatons of destructive force gliding silently through space." (Help file)
Final Game: "As the asteroid fragments landed, the last few survivors departed the Solar System, seeking a new home among the stars." (Savant, Intro movie)
Notes: They probably wanted to keep it connected to Outpost 1, but in the end decided it wasn't important.

Wait a minute... I can't believe I missed this.

[BlackBox]

I noticed that one of the command packet types is "SantaWalking". The game doesn't appear to do anything with it though (I think it treats it as a nop packet and continues on). Though it's possible that something further down the line looks at the command packet list and does something with this type of packet (just the big function/switch statement that processes most of the commands doesn't do anything with it).

Regarding those unused buildings, I think I asked one of the art directors a while back. They were some sort of guard post.

btw. You spelled "rocket" wrong in that image

[Sirbomber]

Wait a minute... I can't believe I missed this.

I told you that Vulcan's Hammer caused a billion megatons of destruction several times.
Recently, in fact...