Outlive
| Outlive | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Continuum Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Continuum Entertainment (BRA) Take-Two Interactive |
| Designer(s) | Continuum Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) | NA March 19, 2001 PAL March 30, 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Distribution | CD-ROM |
Outlive is a Brazilian real-time strategy computer game developed and produced by Continuum Entertainment. It is a mission-based real-time strategy game where the player controls either the human military or robot forces and attempts to eliminate all opposing forces. It was initially released in 2000[1] in Brazil (2001 for the rest of the world), and was the second and most successful product of Continuum. The game was one of the few Brazilian games to be published by a mainstream AAA publisher. It was published in the United States and Europe by Take-Two Interactive.
Plot summary
Human Campaign
The increase of terrorist activity around the globe (the terrorist organizations had merged, creating large conglomerates whom the strongest and most feared was the Liberty Army) and the rapidly dwindling natural resources of the planet had forced the world's most powerful nations to take decisive measures. April 17, 2035 saw the creation of the World Council. The Council saw humanity's survival in interplanetary supply of resources mined on other celestial bodies. They sent out a large group of probes to nearly every planet and moon of the Solar System. After a lengthly search, they had found that the richest object is Titan. The Council started the Outlive Project: constructing three starships which would carry the initial colonists there. However, there was a problem: Titan's atmosphere was toxic to humans, and the climate was not so friendly either.
Two groups had arisen to solve the problem. One of them, led by Dr. Joseph Taylor, had tried to create genetically modified creatures to do the initial work. The other group, led by Dr. Mary-Anne Harley and sponsored by Mechatronics Inc., would combine robotics with sophisticated AI, making them suitable to do anything without the need for human supervision. Due to the shortage of time, the World Council gave both teams one Earth year to create working prototypes of the respective projects.
As the Outlive project neared completion, Dr. Taylor was ordered to relocate to a new research base after an unsuccessful attempt on his life. Prior to the transfer, all staff and equipment was stored in a military outpost. As LA forces held the sector, the newly created Special Counter-Terrorist Group and its leader, Brad Maxwell, had to clear a safe way for the convoy to the lab. Maxwell was a little angry at Taylor, as the impatient scientist had gone to the lab already when he reached the outpost. However, shortly after their arrival, a breakout of the unstable beings known as Abominables occurred. They had destroyed the base, scattering the staff. Taylor had been found and evacuated. Because of the accident, the World Council had terminated Taylor's contract, much to his protest, declaring that the three Outlive ships will have a robotic crew. However, the Liberty Army had occupied Mechatronics.
Maxwell had cleared them out, using some of the Mechatronics' head, Carl Eberhardt's prototype battle robots. Even though the LA has been pushed out, Maxwell became suspicious of Mechatronics' motives, as materials used for weapons had been found in the facility. One of his subordinates, Lieutenant Peter Mackenzie, accompanied him to the Experimental City, where they believed Mechatronics trained their robots as soldiers. Although General Kaminski told them to don't care with this subject, they found hard proof in the Technology Center. Kaminski promised them a complete investigation after the Outlive mission was away.
The three ships were finally completed, but the launch was halted by news of two AA-artilleries recently installed by Pablo Morales, leader of the Liberty Army, very close to the launching sites. As both of them had been destroyed by Maxwell, the mission was finally launched. However, there were a third artillery, hidden in an underground base. SCTG forces quickly destroyed it, but the damage has been done: the rocket hit Outlive-1. Upon reentry, the ship broke into 3 larger pieces. Outlive-2 had reported of a contact with something then connection was lost. Outlive-3 reported they had safely landed on Titan and started mining operations as per orders.
The World Council received reports that Liberty Army forces were on their way to the crash site. As Maxwell and Mackenzie arrived in the sector, Kaminski told them that he was allied with Mechatronics, and ordered all of their units to execute them. But he had been interrupted by Mackenzie who told Maxwell that he is an operative to the Liberty Army; Morales had known of the World Council's corruption and their affiliation with Mechatronics; that was the reason why he attacked the corporation's facility and tried to prevent the launch. Infuriated, Maxwell willingly joined the Army to make Kaminski pay for his betrayal. Both were rescued by Morales, who told them that the robots from the downed ship had started to establish a base and mine, as if they were really on Titan. To prevent the Council from utilizing them, the three destroyed the camp and their commander, Procyon.
Utilizing information acquired by an agent, they have discovered that the Council had built ICBMs, missiles packed with nuclear warheads of a large yield. They plan to use it against the Liberty Army's encampments around the world. Mackenzie successfully disarmed all silos, however the last were booby-trapped: when Mackenzie went inside to work on that, the multi-megaton warhead exploded. After a long-lasting and bloody battle, the Liberty Army bested both the most elite forces of the World Council and the well-armed support troops of the Mechatronics. The Council had collapsed, and the Army had formed the Confederation.
Robot Campaign
When the Outlive-2 got out of contact, they had been secretly recalled to Earth to help the World Council against the Liberty Army. However, the war was already over when they had landed. Commander of the ship, Argus, had set "his" first objective of contacting Eberhardt. When "he" reached the base, it was in bad condition because of a surprise attack. Eberhardt fled, but was found. After destroying the nearby Confederate outpost, Eberhardt revealed his plans to Argus: "he" would have to construct and protect a portal to Titan, from which additional help in the form of Draco, leader of Outlive-3 and his minions will emerge. With this newfound help, they had recaptured Mechatronics.
Some time after this, Eberhardt has been contacted by Kaminski. The Russian offered info for a meeting. As Eberhardt didn't trust him, Argus was sent. His instincts were right, as it was a trap. Kaminski said that Maxwell had granted him protection if he manages to capture a commander. Draco was enraged, and leveled the base, but Argus was already shipped to another. "He" was rescued this time, with Kaminski personally killed by Draco.
Draco received intelligence of a secret base in a valley, where Dr. Harley is experimenting with robots. When the base was destroyed, the two commanders went through the valley in search for more enemies. They had been surprised by a large amount of troops and Dr. Harley, who congratulated Argus for a good job. It turns out that she altered Argus' programming so that he would obey and sell Draco out. The latter obviously did not want to go through this and had gone berserk. However, the troops gained the upper hand and left him for dead. "He" was rescued by Eberhardt.
The two had learned about Harley's experiments and that she needed a cache of microprocessors to power up her own robots. They had prevented the cargo from reaching the destination, and even destroyed the Confederate forces in a large-scale attack.
Cooperation campaign
Mechatronics had taken control of the planet and the last remnants of the Confederacy is being hunted by robotic execution squads. Maxwell has been captured, Morales and Argus are on the run. The remaining forces of the Liberty Army and the Robots loyal to the Confederacy had formed the Resistance. Argus and Pablo had formed a base of both humans and Robots which had been attacked by two different Robotic bases, from both the North (Blue base) & from the South (Cyan base). Then the Campaign has a twist, if you destroy the Blue base, Argus and Pablo go to rescue Maxwell which is protected by a Robotic Stronghold and a strong Robotic army which was led by a Robotic Commander named Sentinel. But if you destroy the Cyan base, Argus & Pablo alone go to save Dr. Marry Anne Harley which was attacked by Robots. When Argus & Pablo go to save Maxwell, they first have to destroy Sentinel for he was the only Al in the army & if he was destroyed, the Robotic Army would shut down. When Sentinel was destroyed, Argus & Pablo had destroyed the Robotic Stronghold & rescued Maxwell. The Resistance had also took the remaining Robots and reprogram them to serve the Resistance. When Argus & Pablo alone went to rescue Dr. Mary Anne Harley, they had to destroy the AA-Artillery, which wasn't easy for they had to sneak pass the Robots which were well armed and had set up a large base. When Argus & Pablo destroyed the AA-Artillery, the Resistance Air-Force could come and destroy the Robots, thus rescuing Dr. Mary Anne. After these 2 missions, Argus and Pablo gather the Men and Robots of the Resistance and destroy the Mechatronics base in a large scale battle. The Resistance won, thus bringing the end to the harsh rule of Mechatronics. Carl had escaped, but the New Confederation had been formed, with Brad Maxwell as its leader, and an era of peace had begun. Little did they know, that Carl had escaped from Earth and hidden himself in a space station, somewhere not far from Earth. It was at that moment that it was discovered that Carl Eberheart was working for an alien race that wishes to bring Earth to ruin. Carl was executed by the Alien Leader for his failure. Then a massive fleet of Alien UFOs appear, heading towards Earth.
Troops List
Outlive has 25 troops which are:
Human Troops
- Abominable - A genetic experiment that went wrong. Enemies see this as neutral and it won't auto-attack nearby enemies (except if they are attacked). Like neutral ones, they can suddenly attack without provocation. In this case, all nearby Abominables (even neutrals) will join the fray. This also work backwards: if a friend is attacked, the beast will retaliate, betraying its side.
- Vampire - When researched, a Dominator can infest an Abomination so it turns into a Vampire after a short time. It leeches the target's health, and can also leave a highly corrosive acid cloud when killed.
- Heavy Tank - The most powerful human ground unit, it can outrange defensive buildings. Has an area-of-effect attack (High Impact Cannon). When researched, it can turn completely invulnerable for a short time.
- Fighter - A powerful air unit, it has guided air-to-air missiles. Can turn invisible.
- Explorer - A weak but fast bike. Has Nitro, which greatly increases the speed and Time Bomb, which can destroy weak buildings.
- Builder - The builder unit for the humans. It makes the buildings and lays mines.
- Gatherer - Gathers ore and scraps.
- Tank - The most versatile ground unit, its Independent Cannon can fire in any directions, even while moving.
- Chopper - Anti-ground aerial unit. When researched, it receives anti-tank missiles against ground targets. Can also shoot an Incendiary Missile which sets everything in the blast radius on fire.
- Rocket launcher - A powerful surface-to-air missile unit, it can also Rapid Fire for maximum effect.
- Dominator - The basic combat unit. Has Domination, which causes the targeted enemy unit to obey its commands while the control device is intact. Can also use Incubation (see above).
- Flamethrower - A short range flamethrowing unit, it can set enemies on fire with Napalm.
- Transporter - A transporter unit, can also use Airstrike on ground targets to devastating effect.
- Soldier - A single Human Soldier is the weakest Unit in the game. Their guns have almost no effect on the enemy & are easy to kill. They only appear in some Campaign Missions.
Robotic Troops
Unlike Human units, Robots does not regain HP over time and must be sent to a Repair Facility to regain fighting strength. The facility can also dismantle units for credits. Another difference is that the Robots use wireless energy transfer, meaning that buildings are always tied into the energy network no matter where they are on the map.
- Chaos - It uses a massive projectile weapon which breaks up into smaller pieces. Good against massed weak units. It can also be armed with a Radioactive Projectile which damages all in its sight, it is good against stronger Units.
- Avenger - A laser cannon-wielding plane. Can also use Photon Torpedoes against ground enemies. Due to its strength against air units, it is often paired with Apocalypses in multiplayer matches to create the ultimate fighting force.
- Raider - A weak walker that, when researched, can look and behave like an Abominable except when attacking.
- Electro - A good air/ground attack unit that attacks with electricity. Its Nova ability creates an expanding ring of energy, damaging all enemies around it. Can also leech power from buildings to recharge Nova faster.
- Thunder - A sonic wave bomber. Can use Amplifier for increased damage, but vulnerable to other air units. Can only attack Ground Units.
- Apocalypse - The most powerful attack unit. It attacks with seeker missiles, but must manufacture them for itself, thus slowing the rate of fire when emptied. It can only attack Ground Units.
- Morpher - The builder unit. It actually transforms itself into the building, but the process can be reversed. It can also transform permanently into Freezer Mines which paralyze nearby enemies for a while.
- Marauder - The ore transporter. It fetches ore from Extranctors and scraps from destroyed units.
- Twister - The transport unit, it can fly and even teleport when researched.
- Incinerator - A powerful ground attack unit that attacks with lasers. Its range exceeds those of stationary turrets, making this unit an artillery of sorts.
- Tempest - A surface-to-air attack unit, can also use Quad Damage for one-shot-kill against all air units in the game. Can also be equipped with a rapid-firing cannon which can target multiple enemies at once.
Buildings in the game
Human Structures
Normal Structures
- Headquarters - The heart of the whole Human base, which is capable of building Builders, Gatherers and Transporters; it has equipped with an ICBM against enemy's stronghold. Can be built only single Headquarters.
- Research Lab - This structure is suitable for research upgrades and technologies, and can be built only one.
- Intelligence Center - It can reveal map, monitor enemies, acquiring enemy's all troop quantity, and stealing enemy's technologies they developed (Note: It can only steal enemy Human player's developed technologies); can be built only one. But Human's Intelligence Center can disable enemy's launched ICBM before dropping onto your base.
- Market - A special productive facility can purchase certain units in much cheaper (but somewhat more expensive) price per one and half minute; it can also sell unwanted vehicles.
- Aircraft Factory - Can build aerial units.
- Vehicles Factory - Can build all ground units except for Aboninables.
- Defense Tower - A turret can fire at aerial or ground enemies.
Resource Structures
- Wind Power Plant - Human faction's basic electricity outputting facility.
- Nuclear Power Plant - Human faction's advanced electricity outputting facility.
- Ore Extractor - It must be built on iron or uranium mine field, can provide 4 gatherers to collect ore, then return to Refineries or Headquarters.
- Ore Processor - It functions like automatically operated Ore Extractor, once built, it begins to earn money for player.
- Refinery - This facility can offer 4 gatherers to unload ore then convert into money.
- Transmission Substation - Due to Human faction's structure must rely on power grid in limited areas, players can build Transmission Substations to extend power grid to your faraway base.
Robotic Structures
Normal Structures
- Control Center - The heart of Robot faction's whole base, can be built only once. It has Hologram and Clone ability to advance Robot stragetic advantages.
- Tech Center - Functions as same as Human's Research Lab, can be built only once.
- Information Center - Functions as same as Human's Intelligence Center, can be built only once. It produces viruses to activate its abilities; what's more, it can also redirect enemy's launched ICBM onto certain location before ICBM dropping onto your base.
- Recycle Facility - Much like Human's Market, but it can repair or recycle Robotic units, the refunded costs are depending on received damages.
- Basic Factory - Can build Twisters, Morphers, Electros, Raiders, Marauders, Avengers and Tempests.
- Advanced Factory - Can build Chaos, Apocalypses, Thunders and Incinerators.
- Defense Cannon - Ground defense facility.
- Anti-air Cannon - Air defense facility.
Resource Structures
- Solar Collector - Robot faction's basic electricity outputting facility.
- Radioactive Generator - Robot faction's advanced electricity outputting facility.
- Mining Facility - Functions as the same as Human's Ore Extractors.
- Ore Assimilator - Functions as the same as Human's Ore Processors.
- Purification Plant - Functions as the same as Human's Refineries.