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Earth & Beyond

April 12, 2024

"Earth and Beyond" redirects here. For the series of Doctor Who audios, see Earth and Beyond (Doctor Who).
"Progen" redirects here. For the single by The Shamen, see Move Any Mountain.

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 in September 2002 in the United States. EA shut down Earth & Beyond on 22 September 2004. It was the last game developed by Westwood Studios.

Earth & Beyond
Developer(s)Westwood Studios[2]
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Producer(s)Eric Wang
Designer(s)Brett Sperry
Louis Castle
Jim Walls
Artist(s)Jerry O'Flaherty
Composer(s)Frank Klepacki
David Arkenstone
EngineW3D (Westwood 3D) engine
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
Genre(s)Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Mode(s)Multiplayer

History edit

Development for Earth and Beyond — originally designated as Project G — began in 1997.[2] By 2001, Westwood had created content for over 100 sectors of playable space.[2] Public Beta for the game began on 9 March 2002, allowing up to 100,000 new players to roam the sectors and test content.[3] The finished game was launched on September 24 the same year. It was initially shipped in limited quantities to retailers to allow for smooth experience as new players sign on to the servers.[1] 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.[4][5] 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.[4]

Plot edit

Earth & Beyond was set some time around AD 2575. 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.

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. 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 edit

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

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

Player's ships were constructed from a reactor, shield and engine. Optionally, a ship could have weapons or other devices that may buff or debuff other ships. Ship equipment could 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 edit

Each race/class combination had its own starting sector. When a new character first logged onto the server they automatically appeared in the appropriate sector to begin the tutorial. The tutorial guided players through the basics of navigation, exploration, combat, and trade. Once the first set of missions was complete, the tutorial guided the player to a warp gate connected to their race's home planetary sector.

Leveling up edit

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

Exploration experience was the first type players saw 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 was capped, so lower level players received the most benefit from exploring the universe.

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

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

Cancellation edit

Electronic Arts closed Earth and Beyond servers on 22 September 2004 (known as the Earth and Beyond Sunset).[6]

Reception edit

At the time of its release, the game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[7]

Earth & Beyond was a nominee for PC Gamer US's "2002 Best Massively Multiplayer Game" award, which ultimately went to Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings.[20] It was a runner-up for GameSpot's 2002 "Most Disappointing Game on PC" award, losing to Civilization III: Play the World.[21]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Calvert, Justin (2002-09-13). "Earth & Beyond goes gold". GameSpot. from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  2. ^ a b c Ajami, Amer (2001-03-05). "Earth and Beyond unveiled". GameSpot. from the original on 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  3. ^ Walker, Trey (2002-05-09). "Earth and Beyond Online beta test to grow [date mislabeled as 2006-05-17]". GameSpot. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  4. ^ a b Parker, Sam (2003-01-23). "Earth & Beyond's story starting soon". GameSpot. from the original on 2017-05-23. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  5. ^ Parker, Sam (2002-10-21). "First monthly Earth & Beyond Update". GameSpot. from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  6. ^ Calvert, Justin (2004-03-17). "The end of Earth & Beyond is nigh". GameSpot. from the original on 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  7. ^ a b "Earth & Beyond for PC Reviews". Metacritic. from the original on 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  8. ^ del Sol, Arcadian (February 2003). "Earth & Beyond" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 223. pp. 72–73. (PDF) from the original on 2022-02-04. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  9. ^ "Earth & Beyond". Game Informer. No. 116. December 2002. p. 146. ISSN 1067-6392. OCLC 870151871.
  10. ^ Dunjin Master (2002-10-18). . GamePro. Archived from the original on 2005-02-12. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  11. ^ Ferris, Duke (October 2002). "Earth & Beyond Review". Game Revolution. from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  12. ^ Dulin, Ron (2002-10-10). "Earth & Beyond Review". GameSpot. from the original on 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  13. ^ McConnaughy, Tim (2002-10-16). "GameSpy: Earth & Beyond". GameSpy. from the original on 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  14. ^ Lafferty, Michael (2002-10-15). . GameZone. Archived from the original on 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  15. ^ Conrad, Jeremy (2002-10-14). "Earth and Beyond Review". IGN. from the original on 2019-05-12. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  16. ^ Klett, Steve (2002-12-25). . PC Gamer: 92. Archived from the original on 2006-03-15. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  17. ^ Jackson, Jonah (2002-09-27). . X-Play. Archived from the original on 2003-02-12. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  18. ^ Saltzman, Marc (2002-12-10). . The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on 2007-11-03. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  19. ^ Brooks, Mark (2002-10-25). "Earth & Beyond". Entertainment Weekly. No. 679. p. 83. from the original on 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  20. ^ "The Ninth Annual PC Gamer Awards". PC Gamer US. 10 (3): 48–50, 54, 58, 60, 66, 68, 70. March 2003. ISSN 1080-4471. OCLC 1229169030.
  21. ^ . GameSpot. 2002-12-30. Archived from the original on 2003-02-07.

External links edit

April 12, 2024
earth, beyond, earth, beyond, redirects, here, series, doctor, audios, earth, beyond, doctor, progen, redirects, here, single, shamen, move, mountain, science, fiction, massively, multiplayer, online, role, playing, game, mmorpg, developed, westwood, studios, . Earth and Beyond redirects here For the series of Doctor Who audios see Earth and Beyond Doctor Who Progen redirects here For the single by The Shamen see Move Any Mountain Earth amp 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 in September 2002 in the United States EA shut down Earth amp Beyond on 22 September 2004 It was the last game developed by Westwood Studios Earth amp BeyondDeveloper s Westwood Studios 2 Publisher s Electronic ArtsProducer s Eric WangDesigner s Brett SperryLouis CastleJim WallsArtist s Jerry O FlahertyComposer s Frank KlepackiDavid ArkenstoneEngineW3D Westwood 3D enginePlatform s Microsoft WindowsReleaseNA 24 September 2002 1 Genre s Massively multiplayer online role playing gameMode s Multiplayer Contents 1 History 2 Plot 3 Gameplay 3 1 New player zones 3 2 Leveling up 4 Cancellation 5 Reception 6 References 7 External linksHistory editDevelopment for Earth and Beyond originally designated as Project G began in 1997 2 By 2001 Westwood had created content for over 100 sectors of playable space 2 Public Beta for the game began on 9 March 2002 allowing up to 100 000 new players to roam the sectors and test content 3 The finished game was launched on September 24 the same year It was initially shipped in limited quantities to retailers to allow for smooth experience as new players sign on to the servers 1 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 4 5 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 4 Plot editEarth amp Beyond was set some time around AD 2575 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 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 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 editEarth and Beyond was played by controlling either a humanoid or spaceship avatar in the third person Each game server or Universe consisted of 12 main star systems Each system contained multiple sectors Warp gates were used to travel from sector to sector and system to system Players created a character by choosing one of the three races and one of three professions Warrior Trader or Explorer Characters gained three types of experience Combat experience was gained through fighting and completing combat jobs being incapacitated resulted in EXP Debt and the character would only receive half of the normal experience until the debt was repaid Trade experience was gained from selling loot by building items and by taking trade jobs and Exploration experience was gained from visiting navigation points and exploration jobs In general each system had a number of nav points Visiting a nav point for the first time gave a certain amount of exploration experience After a nav point was visited it appeared on the radar when the player was in the system Player s ships were constructed from a reactor shield and engine Optionally a ship could have weapons or other devices that may buff or debuff other ships Ship equipment could 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 edit Each race class combination had its own starting sector When a new character first logged onto the server they automatically appeared in the appropriate sector to begin the tutorial The tutorial guided players through the basics of navigation exploration combat and trade Once the first set of missions was complete the tutorial guided the player to a warp gate connected to their race s home planetary sector Leveling up edit The maximum level in Earth and Beyond was 150 It could take many months even a year for casual players to reach the summit To level a player must gain experience Each successive level required more and more experience points There were three types of activities that reward experience points Exploration experience was the first type players saw 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 was capped so lower level players received the most benefit from exploring the universe Combat experience was awarded by engaging NPCs in the game environment and defeating them The amount of experience gained from each encounter was based on the player s level and the level of the NPC that was killed When a player destroyed an enemy NPC loot was dropped Players could pick up this loot and sell it to NPC vendors for Trade experience Players could also earn Trade experience by learning how to build their own components and items Cancellation editElectronic Arts closed Earth and Beyond servers on 22 September 2004 known as the Earth and Beyond Sunset 6 Reception editReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic82 100 7 Review scoresPublicationScoreComputer Gaming World nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 8 Game Informer9 25 10 9 GamePro nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 10 GameRevolutionB 11 GameSpot6 9 10 12 GameSpy nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 13 GameZone8 10 14 IGN8 8 10 15 PC Gamer US 80 16 X Play nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 17 The Cincinnati Enquirer nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 18 Entertainment WeeklyA 19 At the time of its release the game received favorable reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic 7 Earth amp Beyond was a nominee for PC Gamer US s 2002 Best Massively Multiplayer Game award which ultimately went to Asheron s Call 2 Fallen Kings 20 It was a runner up for GameSpot s 2002 Most Disappointing Game on PC award losing to Civilization III Play the World 21 References edit a b Calvert Justin 2002 09 13 Earth amp Beyond goes gold GameSpot Archived from the original on 2021 05 13 Retrieved 2017 04 09 a b c Ajami Amer 2001 03 05 Earth and Beyond unveiled GameSpot Archived from the original on 2021 06 08 Retrieved 2017 04 09 Walker Trey 2002 05 09 Earth and Beyond Online beta test to grow date mislabeled as 2006 05 17 GameSpot Retrieved 2017 04 09 a b Parker Sam 2003 01 23 Earth amp Beyond s story starting soon GameSpot Archived from the original on 2017 05 23 Retrieved 2017 04 09 Parker Sam 2002 10 21 First monthly Earth amp Beyond Update GameSpot Archived from the original on 2021 05 13 Retrieved 2017 04 09 Calvert Justin 2004 03 17 The end of Earth amp Beyond is nigh GameSpot Archived from the original on 2021 06 15 Retrieved 2017 04 09 a b Earth amp Beyond for PC Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on 2021 06 08 Retrieved 2017 04 09 del Sol Arcadian February 2003 Earth amp Beyond PDF Computer Gaming World No 223 pp 72 73 Archived PDF from the original on 2022 02 04 Retrieved 2017 04 10 Earth amp Beyond Game Informer No 116 December 2002 p 146 ISSN 1067 6392 OCLC 870151871 Dunjin Master 2002 10 18 Earth and Beyond Review for PC on GamePro com GamePro Archived from the original on 2005 02 12 Retrieved 2017 04 10 Ferris Duke October 2002 Earth amp Beyond Review Game Revolution Archived from the original on 2021 05 07 Retrieved 2017 04 09 Dulin Ron 2002 10 10 Earth amp Beyond Review GameSpot Archived from the original on 2021 06 08 Retrieved 2017 04 09 McConnaughy Tim 2002 10 16 GameSpy Earth amp Beyond GameSpy Archived from the original on 2021 06 08 Retrieved 2017 04 10 Lafferty Michael 2002 10 15 Earth amp Beyond Online sic Review GameZone Archived from the original on 2009 03 22 Retrieved 2017 04 10 Conrad Jeremy 2002 10 14 Earth and Beyond Review IGN Archived from the original on 2019 05 12 Retrieved 2017 04 09 Klett Steve 2002 12 25 Earth amp Beyond PC Gamer 92 Archived from the original on 2006 03 15 Retrieved 2017 04 10 Jackson Jonah 2002 09 27 Earth amp Beyond PC Review X Play Archived from the original on 2003 02 12 Retrieved 2017 04 10 Saltzman Marc 2002 12 10 Action intrigue propel holiday game releases The Cincinnati Enquirer Archived from the original on 2007 11 03 Retrieved 2017 04 09 Brooks Mark 2002 10 25 Earth amp Beyond Entertainment Weekly No 679 p 83 Archived from the original on 2021 06 08 Retrieved 2017 04 09 The Ninth Annual PC Gamer Awards PC Gamer US 10 3 48 50 54 58 60 66 68 70 March 2003 ISSN 1080 4471 OCLC 1229169030 GameSpot s Best and Worst of 2002 GameSpot 2002 12 30 Archived from the original on 2003 02 07 External links editEarth amp Beyond at MobyGames Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Earth 26 Beyond amp oldid 1197515124, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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