E2150 - Story

== SPOILER WARNING ==

Escape from the Blue Plant Story

It is the 22nd century, after years of war and famine of unfathomable level, the world is returning to normal. 12 states of the previous United States have joined to form the United Civilized States (UCS). While in Asia, a new empire was being created under the Iron Fist of the Khans, these Mongol descendants gave themselves a name meant to conjure up an association with a glorious former age: the Eurasian Dynasty (ED). The UCS now relied upon robots for all their needs, even their military is controlled by machines. GOLAN, the leader of the UCS military forces had recently been altered by order of the current President, leading to a number of glitches throughout the system. One of these caused it to underestimate the Eurasian Dynasty's defensive capacities, causing it to initiate the movement of a large force to occupy the British Isles. This mistake resulted in another violent war, lasting almost a decade. However, GOLAN managed to gain the upper hand against the battle-hardened Khans and so the ED resorted to the usage of advanced atomic weaponry. The ED attacked an encampment of UCS forces at the North Pole with a massive strike involving newly developed and untested atomic weaponry in an attempt to put a decisive end to the hostilities. The catastrophic resulting explosions pushed the Earth out of regular orbit and towards the Sun. Aware that the Earth's orbit has become unstable, a third faction living peacefully on the moon known as the Lunar Corporation (LC) joins the war in an attempt to defeat or reconcile both sides for the common wealth. The objective of the game is to collect enough resources to build an Evacuation Ship, allowing the player's people to journey to Mars and escape the looming apocalypse - foreshadowing Earth 2160. Factions

Earth 2150 consists of 3 unique factions:

United Civilized States: This faction is a demarchy that controls North and South America. The name implies that the United States of America gradually expanded its borders to include the entire continent. The United Civilized States (UCS) is a highly technologically based faction and have come to use robots to replace people in as many positions as possible. The UCS scientists created, under the supervision of President Jonathan Swamp, NEO and GOLAN; a huge step in technological advances, GOLAN was essentially leader of the UCS military, while NEO was interested in politics. It was a machine capable of matching and potentially far surpassing any organic general. It controlled the entire UCS army including all the military robots. These bipedal robots, or mecha, are just as effective as a human-piloted vehicle. The UCS has a robotic theme to its structures and vehicles. They have exclusive access to powerful weapons such as grenade launchers, shadow generators, and plasma cannons. Other technologies include reverse-engineered anti-gravity propulsion systems from a crashed UFO, and modified 105 and 120mm cannons stolen from the ED. UCS vehicles include Tiger, Panther, Jaguar and Spider Mechs, Gargoyle, Bat and Dragon aircraft. UCS units are typically slow and expensive but durable and pack high firepower.

Eurasian Dynasty: Essentially a new Mongol Empire based in Russia, the Eurasian Dynasty (ED) use primitive (by 22nd Century standards) technology such as tanks and helicopters. As such, the ED has the most basic methods of power generation and needlessly complicated resource-gathering. Basic ED units are armed with machine guns, 105 mm cannons, and rocket launchers, while more advanced vehicles can be equipped with laser & ion cannons (developed in response to the UCS' habit of AIs) as well as nuclear missiles. The ED has an industrial, Soviet-reminiscent theme to the design of its structures and vehicles. Some vehicles are the Pamir (reverse-engineered M1A2 Abrams tanks with a one-man crew), Kruszchev and Volga tanks, Ural "defense tanks" (actually, large, dual-hardpoint tanks), Cossack, Grozny, Thor and Khan helicopters, as well as the most powerful navy. ED units are typically individually weak but cheap and able to be produced in large numbers.

Lunar Corporation: The Lunar Corporation (LC) is a matriarchy faction of space colonists who colonized the Moon and cut themselves off from Earth soon after the 3rd World War. Normally a pacifist faction, the matriarchal LC are forced to head to Earth in order to secure minerals to build their Evacuation Ship (due to the Moon's general lack of accessible resources, in real life as well as in the game). The Lunar Corporation is by far the most advanced of the three factions, utilizing solar power as well as antigravity vehicles (explained, in the game, as a result of researching extraterrestrial technologies). Because of this, they do not build trenches or dig tunnels like the UCS and ED. Also, instead of constructing buildings like the other two factions, the Lunar Corporation is able to transport them from orbit to the battlefield. In combat, they use exotic weapons such as electro-cannons and sonic weapons (originally a mining equipment). LC units are typically fast and technologically advanced, but fragile. In the single-player campaign, the forces of the LC are further bolstered by the solitary alien craft known as the Fang, a gift from the UCS in exchange for an alliance. Although losing this one-of-a-kind unit means instant failure, the Fang's weapon is capable of easily decimating any opponent it comes across—that is, until its ammo runs out.

The Moon Project Story

Earth's final war is in full swing. The United Civilized States, Eurasian Dynasty, and the Lunar Corporation fight over what is left of the world's resources in order to escape the blue planet before it is destroyed. Meanwhile, on the Moon, the Lunar Corporation discovers the remnants of an alien tunnel system. In it, they find the plans for an orbital super weapon, with the power to attack the Earth from the Moon. While beginning the process of building the weapon, code named "Sunlight", a United Civilized States army appears ready to try to stop them. It is up to the player to decide how it will play out, and who will win. Gameplay The Moon Project is a war strategy game. Full three-dimensional play sets it apart from other games in the genre. Players can rotate their cameras to view the battlefield from just about any angle. It also includes an experience system for the units, indicated by a green and black line under the health bar. Higher levels means higher damage, health, and armor. The player must mine resources in order to build units and structures, and must create power plants to keep structures working. The game includes a 10 level campaign for each faction, and multiplayer support is provided.

The Factions

The game includes three playable factions. Each has its own unique style and army.

United Civilized States: UCS for short, consists of the American continents. Their society relies heavily on machinery and robotics, and is ruled by an Artificial Intelligence. Machines do all tasks for the humans and as a result the population is lazy and hedonistic. Their army consists of Mecha without human pilots. When playing as the UCS, the player takes the role of a commander working for the President but more directly to GOLAN and another AI called NEO. The UCS has long been at war with the Eurasian Dynasty. The main weapon of the UCS is the Plasma Cannon and the larger Heavy Plasma Cannons. While very powerful, shields can stop plasma before it can make it to the hull of target vehicles. However, enough plasma (does not take much) will eat through the shields quickly and allow quick destruction of everything.

Eurasian Dynasty: ED for short, controls Europe and Asia are the most populous of the factions. They are ruled by a descendant of Genghis Khan and follow old Soviet ideology of mass numbers and superior firepower. They are somewhat technologically primitive (by 22nd Century standards) relying on 21st century vehicles and weapons, such as tanks, helicopters and large caliber cannons. They do however have some advanced technology in the form of the Laser cannon and the Ion cannon. The ED dual 120 mm cannons are very powerful and can also punch through shields, a very useful property in the late game. The ED lack maneuverability compared to the other factions but make up for it by being a slow moving and tough hitting juggernaut that can equip some of its units with tactical nuclear weaponry in the end game.

Lunar Corporation: LC for short, are descendants of lunar colonists. Since 2084, they severed contact with the Earth when it became apparent that a full-scale nuclear war was about to occur. Since then they have lived peacefully on the Moon. Because of their isolation from the wars of Earth, their society has evolved into a pacifist form. The technology of the LC are far more advanced than that of the other two factions. The main weapon platform of the LC is the hovercraft. Not having been at war for many years; the LC military machine is almost non-existent. They catch on quickly however, and build some of the more exotic weapons of the game including the Electro-cannon, which emits electricity, much like lightning, to destroy targets (Please note that the units do not need power like buildings; they recharge themselves and are purely self-sufficient) The Sonic-cannon, which emits a moderately powerful radial effect that damages all enemies around it. Another thing to note is that the LC mostly consists of females.

The Game

The game plays nearly the same as Earth 2150 with a few key differences: 1. Both LC and UCS campaigns take place on the Moon, with the exception of the first UCS level. 2. Several new vehicles and weapons have been added to the game including mobile transports, Artillery, antimissile systems which fire automatically in order to take down incoming enemy missiles and "Anti-air" weapons (ED: AA Gun, UCS: AA Plasma Cannon, LC: AA Rocket Launcher), which do incredible amounts of damage to aircraft. 3. The ED campaign introduces an "Advancement system" which allows the player to gain rank (and a cut-scene) upon earning a certain number of points, which are received when objectives are met in missions. 4. The shield system has been changed to even out the defense capabilities of the 3 factions. The power of the shields has been halved. 5. The campaign no longer revolves around sending resources to the player's home base for the construction of an evacuation fleet. Instead, all the resources on the map are added to home base funds when the player successfully destroys all enemy units in the mission and returns to base. Unlike the first game, which required careful conservation of resources to complete a mission and the game, funds are nearly unlimited on each mission. 6. Compared to the original game, all factions have received new additions to their respective arsenals; namely, the new anti-air weapons, which cannot attack ground units but are extremely effective against aerial ones. These new weapons are: the ED's AA Gun, similar to WW2-era anti-air weapons; the UCS' AA Plasma Cannon, which now explains why aircraft should be equipped with shields; and the LC AA Rocket, the one with the longest range of all. 7. New artillery weaponry also appears for the ED and UCS. These are most suitable for destroying structures from a very long distance. Although ED had monopoly over long-range nuclear ballistic missiles, they now also have a rapid firing artillery cannon, added in the most recent patch. In addition, both the ED and the UCS now possess submarine units armed with ballistic missiles (nuclear for ED, plasma for UCS). To counter this, the SDI Defense Center building has been upgraded in the patch: it now shoots down not only nuclear missiles, but the UCS Plasma Control Center's plasma bolts as well, resulting in the LC Weather Control Center remaining as the only truly unstoppable superweapon. 8. Five new chassis types were added: the ED Stealth tank, which is invisible unless its lights are on; the UCS Cargo Salamander, a treaded unit with heavy armor but with the ability to carry the AA Plasma Cannon; the LC Super Fighter, an effective air superiority fighter armed with AA missiles; the LC Fat Girl, a moderately armored unit with four weapon hardpoints; and the LC Tunnel Gouger which removes the factions disadvantage over their inability to modify the terrain without a builder unit. The 2.1 patch also adds a sixth newcomer, the unarmed and very silent Scout helicopter for the ED. This eliminates the disadvantage that ED players could not spy on enemy bases because their flying units are all helicopters, which means they are very loud compared to the other factions' aircraft and bound to be noticed by the other player. 9. Previously, only the ED and the UCS possessed Repairers capable of capturing enemy units and buildings, but only the ED and LC could disable these objects to be captured. The new Grabber is a rebalancing addition, which gives each side a method of capturing enemy buildings without the need to disable them. However, the player can only use a captured production building if it is on the same faction. This means it is impossible, for example, to be with ED and capture an LC Main Base then begin unit production. Finally, each side can now sell buildings and recycle units to receive half of the original price in credits. This way, the player can evacuate/recycle all units and sell every building except the Landing Zone at the end of each mission for maximum resource gain. Coupled with the Grabber, it is actually more beneficial now to leave enemy structures intact, but capture and sell them.

Lost Souls Story

Earth's final war is in full swing. The United Civilized States, Eurasian Dynasty, and the Lunar Corporation fight over what is left of the world's resources in order to escape the blue planet before it is destroyed. After most of Earth's citizens escaped with the evacuation ships, the people left behind became known as the Lost Souls. They didn't give up on escape and continued to fight amongst each other. They hoped to scrape together the dying planet's meager resources and find a way to escape and get revenge on those who had left them behind.

Story

The game plays nearly the same as Earth 2150 with new campaigns. Unlike the original game, the campaigns are now tied together in a chronological order:

Part I - ED campaign General Fedorov, General of the Mobile Team (MEK) is called upon by Czar Vladimir II to gather crucial resources from Lunar Corporation territory in Finland in order to complete manufacturing of the space shuttle electronics. As the LC base was heavily defended, Fedorov took a detour, attacking the base from the east side where it was most vulnerable. His next task was to defeat a UCS incursion in Korea. The Czar theorised that the reason behind this attack was that it was a major production center, intended to build a strike force to destroy the shuttle silos in China, stranding their enemy on the dying planet. The egotistic Czar sent Fedorov on a counter offensive in Bulgaria against the massive UCS presence there. Although Fedorov knew that this attack was ill-advised at the least, he carried it out, destroying a major UCS base but suffering heavy casualties. He was surprised to learn that there were traitors in their midst, who had an encampment in Russia. Begrudgingly, he took a platoon of heavy armor to deal with this threat... ...which turned out to be a foul trick. The alleged "traitors" were the forces of General Ivanov, a long-time friend of Fedorov and loyal to Vladimir II. While the two were confused over why the Czar wanted them to kill each other, they were ambushed by loyalist forces. After destroying their base of operations, the generals learned about Vladimir's plan: the shuttles were only able to carry about one million people to Mars, which was only a fraction of the total Eurasian population. As such, Vladimir planned to only take his most loyal minions with him. The popularity of the two generals have risen recently, while his waned and he didn't want to risk losing his power in space due to a coup. For that reason, he wanted to leave both of them behind. Obviously, the generals couldn't let this happen. The rebels planned an attack against a dam in the middle of the former Russia as a ruse. They knew that downriver was a major agricultural area where food supplies for the shuttles were being grown. By destroying the dam, the ensuing flood would destroy most of these and delay the launch. In addition, this act of terrorism would draw away enough forces from China to attempt an attack on the launch complex. Their plan was successful, however there were two problems: the response teams were larger than expected, and UCS troops appeared in the region. The rebels quickly deduced that the UCS had something in the area which the loyalists did not wanted to fall into rebel hands. The something turned out to be a cache of UCS research data previously hidden underwater. The response teams also served as a delay: by the time the generals reached the launch complex, they had only two and a half days to capture China's most heavily defended installation (although this later turned out to be false intelligence; read: the mission is impossible to do in the allotted time, so the developers removed the limit but "left" in a fake timer). When they finally succeeded, they learned that they were fooled yet again. The silos were empty. And some time later, the generals witnessed the shuttles blast off from behind a nearby mountain range... General Fedorov fell into lethargy and pessimism at their failure, but Ivanov did not give up. He noticed that the LC forces in Europe – which were left behind as well – were furiously working on something. After capturing data from an installation in Poland, Ivanov realized that the LC found a way to get off the planet. They attacked the primary LC installation in France with full force to capture the project, not realizing that by doing so, they endangered it because their scientists could not complete it in time to escape.

Part II - LC campaign Since the escaping LC high command took their most experienced commanders with them, the remaining LC forces were forced to entrust their primary research complex' defense to a new recruit. The newcomer however performed excellently, even leading a counterattack and driving ED out of the area. They did not give up yet, however. LC spies discovered an ED base still under construction in Ukraine where the next series of attack were expected. The base was protected by four artillery batteries which made the recruit's task even harder, as she couldn't bring in heavier equipment until they were got rid of. The staff then revealed their plan to the recruit: the evacuation plan involved construction of an advanced space teleporter. However, there were problems with the transport module and it did not function properly. The scientists theorised that they can get what they need by stealing the UCS' teleportation technology. The UCS started to abandon their European bases and withdraw to America. Their central computer, GOLAN, monitored all transmissions, so they had to act quickly and stealthily. They managed to sneak in a force into America from Portugal, but not without problems. The UCS was seemingly aware of their plans, evidenced by a massive attack in Portugal and the fact that their troops were gathering near the LC landing site. The LC found an unexpected source of help: a group of UCS rebels who agreed to help capturing the data they need in exchange for LC help in eliminating GOLAN. They left to Florida, where the main UCS research base was located. The rebels provided a camouflaged Cargo Salamander which the LC sneaked into the research base. Although they had what they need, the LC had yet to fulfill their part of the bargain. GOLAN's core was protected by a number of countermeasures which had to be deactivated before technicians can deactivate the AI itself. For this reason, the LC broke into a Chinese research lab and stole ED's Ion Cannon tech as their own Electro Cannon would cause structural damage, triggering even more defensive measures. GOLAN reacted quickly. His forces attacked the central LC base in America whose loss could push the LC out of America permanently. The recruit was called upon once again and her extraordinary battle tactics won the day. The next task was to get rebel technicians into GOLAN's core located in the Rocky Mountains and they knew nothing about its defenses. With GOLAN out of the way, the LC had to prove in one more test of mettle. The supposed UCS rebels spread all over Europe and suddenly attacked LC bases all over the continent. They were already in Germany and if they were not stopped there, they could have captured the space teleporter in Poland which was had been finished. After the attack, the LC found evidence that these forces were commanded by GOLAN itself, who had not truly been deactivated...

Part III - UCS campaign Indeed, there were rebels in the ranks of the UCS, but not those forces the LC believed to be. They were led by Marcus Grodin, a former high-ranking official. They were based in Mexico, but LC forces surrounded their base and blocked the mountain passages until a larger force can arrive and lay siege. They forgot about one route however: the tunnel system. Grodin evaded the LC blockade and fled towards north, LC forces in tow, to a mountain pass. They fortified it and defeated their pursuers. Grodin's next plan was to break into GOLAN's deactivated headquarters and gather evidence that they were innocent in GOLAN's treacherous attack against the LC escape project. As the place was defended by hordes of LC and ED troops (they obviously allied with each other), direct attack was out of the question. A small ED base was nearby however, with some tanks the rebels were going to capture and drive to GOLAN's headquarters. Grodin found out that there was another group of UCS troops nearby. When they got there, ED stormtroopers had already taken the base and were in pursuit of the fleeing UCS forces. They managed to fortify themselves on a plateau, but were under siege from ED forces. Grodin attacked the ED, freeing his trapped comrades and showing that they were on the same side. However, the other group attacked them and fled into the tunnels, which made Grodin even more curious as to who they were. Not hearing about the other group for some time, the rebels returned to their own plans. Venezuela was chosen as the new target, as there was an ED base there under construction. A convoy was due filled with building materials. The rebels attacked while the convoy was in the base. However, Earth was starting to be shaken by the massive tidal forces of the Sun, forcing them to hurry up. The ED and the LC already started to break down their American camps and ship their forces to Europe where the last chance to escape was located, so the UCS had to do this as well. However, they couldn't contact their foes because of GOLAN's radio jamming and the Atlantic coast was firmly in the hands of the alliance. Because of that, Grodin was forced to destroy two extremely heavily defended bases near New York. When reaching Great Britain, Grodin managed to contact the LC and explain the situation. Naturally, they did not trust them at all but they wanted to check their evidence. Seeing that they were innocent, the UCS was accepted into the alliance against GOLAN. GOLAN's forces used their huge tunnel system to reach White Russia unnoticed, probably to take out the ED base there. When the UCS forces arrived there, GOLAN already built a powerful base which Grodin eliminated, because the ED could not afford to lose that position. It turned out however, that White Russia was only a decoy. GOLAN managed to slip the bulk of his forces into Poland and capture the LC research base. Although the space teleporter was still intact, GOLAN built a massive base around it. This time however, Grodin was not alone; both the ED and the LC joined the fray against GOLAN and defeated it in a cataclysmic final battle. The bad news, however, followed: GOLAN was ordered by the UCS High Command, the LC Celestial Council and Czar Vladimir II to stop the Lost Souls from following them at all costs. They probably feared their wrath and not without reason. Now that the battle was over, the Lost Souls prepared to enter the space teleporter, knowing that it could very well malfunction and deposit them with their particles shattered in space... ...which did not happen. In the UCS campaign of the sequel, Earth 2160, the Lost Souls are found on an uncharted world outside the Solar system.

Gameplay

As Lost Souls is a standalone expansion, its gameplay is very similar to that of the previous expansion pack, The Moon Project. The only real difference is that the campaign missions were heavily criticized by fans because the AI adapted from a strategy of constant harassing to heavy ground and air assaults nearly constantly. Most maps can only be won with a war of attrition: the player can fortify their position and wait until the AI runs out of resources, at which point it tries to get the player's. If the player can stop this, the AI becomes vulnerable to attack, aside from the frequent reinforcements. Another major difference in difficulty is that the AI always start with a fully built and heavily fortified base. On Medium difficulty, the computer also gets a main base, just like the player. A major counter to this is that the player neither need to send resources back to the main base for evacuation fleet construction nor work with a time limit. Resources are abundant on each map and unused resources are automatically sent back to the main base's resource pool at the end of the mission.

The Factions

The factions are also the same as Earth 2150 and The Moon Project.