Odd Thought about the OP2 Novellas...

[lordpalandus]

While reading through a bunch of leeor_net's topics for Outpost HD, I had a thought about the Outpost 2 Novellas. Considering all the fictional devices, found within tubes, and mentions of all sorts of underground structures, like a marketplace, or even a virtual reality training center for the DIRT, I wonder if the Novellas were written with Outpost 1 in mind. In that, Outpost 1 had a very robust underground portion to the gameplay, while Outpost 2 was basically irrelevant, makes me think that the Novellas were written assuming that a lot of the Outpost 1 gameplay goes on, behind the scenes, that the player just isn't aware of. Though if that is the case, then Outpost 2 would seem low-tech in comparison.

Thoughts? Or is my ramblings incoherent and indecipherable...

[Vagabond]

I think the lack of underground structures in Outpost 2 was more a product of it being a real time strategy game with combat. They probably needed to simplify the game mechanics to make it work. Perhaps ceding to making the game more enjoyable over more realistic with underground living structures.

-Brett

[leeor_net]

Sneaking suspicion is that you're both right.

Two possibilities I see for the lack of an underground gameplay mechanic for OP2 -- 1) they ran out of time and had to push something out the door (less likely) and 2) it would have made things too complex and given the user too much to worry about in a real-time setting (more likely).

[lordpalandus]

I'd wager its the latter.

In the game Earth 2150, you could build underground tunnels, in real-time strategy, and even though you couldn't build anything in those tunnels, except tunnel sections, that kind of gameplay alone made doing the battles component of the game nearly impossible, as when you were in one view, you couldn't see anything of the other view and wouldn't receive notifications from the other, thus ensuring that you'd have to multi-task by jumping back and forth between surface and underground view.

[Arklon]

Because of radiation, it makes sense for a colony on a planet with a thin atmosphere (and even moreso if it doesn't have a magnetosphere either, like Mars) to largely be underground. I kinda have the impression that tubes are actually fully underground, but in-game graphically they look exposed so you can see where they are - but in really old alpha screenshots, all that's visible are what look like entrances atop each segment which aren't connected. And if you look closely at construction animations, all buildings have expansive basements.