Earth & Beyond

Earth & Beyond
PC Box art
Developer(s)	Westwood Studios[1]
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts[2]
Producer(s)	Eric Wang
Designer(s)	Brett Sperry, Louis Castle
Artist(s)	Jerry O'Flaherty
Composer(s)	Frank Klepacki, Chance Thomas, David Arkenstone
Engine	W3D (Westwood 3D) engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	NA: September 24, 2002 [2]
Genre(s)	Sci-Fi, MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer online

Earth & Beyond was a science fiction massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Westwood Studios and published by Electronic Arts (EA). The game was released on September 24, 2002 in the United States. EA shut down Earth & Beyond on September 22, 2004. It was the last game developed by Westwood Studios.

History

Development for Earth and Beyond began in 1997 and was originally designated as Project G.^[3] By 2001 Westwood had created content for over 100 sectors of playable space.^[4] Public Beta for the game began on March 9, 2002, allowing up to 100,000 new players to roam the sectors and test content.^[5] The finished game launched on September 24, 2002. It was initially shipped in limited quantities to retailers to allow for smooth experience as new players sign on to the servers.^[6] In January 2003, the main story line and accompanying events began. This required all players to download a patch and wait for servers to be upgraded. This was the first of regular monthly story driven updates designed to gradually change the game environment as the plot unfolded.^[7][8] In June that year, players met a new race - the Vrix. This was a substantial update to the online universe, adding many more missions for higher level players and improving the intelligence of all NPCs in the game.^[9]

Cancellation

On March 17, 2004, Electronic Arts announced that Earth and Beyond would be closing six months later on September 22 (known as the Earth and Beyond Sunset).^[10]

Plot

Earth & Beyond was set some time around 2575 AD. It featured three races: the Progen, Jenquai and Terran. The Progen were a genetically-altered and advanced race. The Jenquai were philosophers who sought eternal life. The Terrans were the original humans. Each of the three races had descended from the human race on Earth. The game's storyline took place in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Progen, Terran and Jenquai were all uneasy of each other, but still managed to live together in peace. The Terrans were known for their extremely large corporations, such as Infiniti Corp. and GetCo. Infiniti Corp. was the manufacturer of the inter-system and inter-sector warp gates. The warp gates were originally created by the mysterious Ancients, an enigmatic and hyper-advanced race who had all but disappeared.

Back Story

After two centuries of conflict, Humankind's three races - the Progen, Terrans and Jenquai - had achieved an uneasy balance of power by dividing known space between them. The Terrans claimed Earth, headquarters to their massive trade corporations. The genetically engineered Progen, bred for perfection, commanded the wastes of Mars. And the Jenquai, ever seeking knowledge, created great space stations to orbit the moons of Jupiter. Peace was shattered when the first stargate, an ancient artifact built by an unknown people, was discovered. Coveting its secrets for their own, the Jenquai hid the Gate from the other races. But their efforts were in vain; within months, a spy employed by the Terran conglomerate InfinitiCorp revealed the Gate's existence to the outraged Terrans and Progen. Humanity was suddenly thrust into conflict, an epic battle over control of the Gate.

The three races fought a devastating nine-year war, dubbed the Gate War, using weapons far deadlier than any previously conceived. Millions of lives were lost, and millions more would have perished had the Terrans not surprised their foes with a sudden cease-fire proposal. After months of negotiations, the three civilizations agreed to share the Gate, and declared an uneasy peace. However, InfinitiCorp had plans of its own. Under utmost secrecy, its scientists had reverse-engineered the Gate's technology, and within a few years the mighty conglomerate announced to the astonished worlds the genesis of the Infinitigate.

Fifty years have passed since the invention of the Infinitigate. Progen, Jenquai and Terrans alike have thrived, spreading their civilizations across a dozen star systems, exploiting their riches. However, though the races are at peace, acrimony remains. Tension and distrust govern galactic relations and every citizen fears the day when the spectre of war again raises its shadow.

Gameplay

Earth and Beyond is played by controlling either a humanoid or spaceship avatar in the third person. Each game server, or Universe, consists of 12 main star systems. Each system contains multiple sectors. Warp gates are used to travel from sector to sector, and system to system.

Players create a character by choosing one of the three races, and one of three professions: Warrior, Trader or Explorer. Characters gain three types of experience: Combat experience is gained through fighting and completing combat jobs (being incapacitated results in "EXP Debt" and the character only receives half of the normal experience until the debt is repaid), Trade experience is gained from selling loot, by building items and by taking trade jobs, and Exploration experience is gained by from visiting navigation points and exploration jobs. In general each system has a number of "nav points". Visiting a nav point for the first time gives a certain amount of exploration experience. After a nav point is visited, it appears on the "radar" when the player is in the system.

Player's ships are constructed from a reactor, shield and engine. Optionally, a ship may have weapons or other devices that may buff or debuff other ships. Ship equipment can be reverse-engineered, rebuilt and enhanced. Player-made items could have better stats than dropped or purchased items, depending on the skill of the builder.

There were several varieties of boss spawns: Some were activated after a certain number of lower level monsters were killed, while others were time-based. For example, the Crystal Daeva, which produced valuable loot, had a spawn time of 72 hours. Nearly all bosses carried valuable and rare loot, which could be sold for significant amounts of cash on the in-game market.

Some sectors had areas where "Invasions" were staged. Sectors like Aragoth Prime contained a heavily defended Red Dragon base that was surrounded by multiple layers of defense turrets, carriers, battle cruisers, and frigates. Invasions often involved a multitude of clans joined together to attack the base and a huge battle would ensue.

New Player Zones

Each race/class combination has its own starting sector. When a new character first logs onto the server they automatically appear in the appropriate sector to begin the tutorial. The tutorial guides players through the basics of navigation, exploration, combat, and trade. Once the first set of missions is complete, the tutorial guides the player to a warp gate connected to their race's home planetary sector. Now the player is ready to explore the universe at their own risk.

Leveling Up

The maximum level in Earth and Beyond is 150. It can take many months, even a year for casual players, to reach the summit. To level, a player must gain experience. Each successive level requires more and more experience points. There are three types of activities that reward experience points.

Exploration experience is the first type players see after leaving their starting sector. Exploration experience is awarded by traveling to undiscovered navigation points on the map. The amount of experience gained from each Nav Point is capped, so lower level players receive the most benefit from exploring the universe.

Combat experience is awarded by engaging NPCs in the game environment and defeating them. The amount of experience gained from each encounter is based on the player's level and the level of the NPC that was killed.

When a player destroys an enemy NPC, loot is dropped. Players can pick up this loot and sell it to NPC vendors for Trade experience. Players can also earn Trade experience by learning how to build their own components and items.

References

Coordinates: 54°28′49″N 21°11′20″E / 54.48028°N 21.18889°E / 54.48028; 21.18889