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axeil
Feb 14, 2006


from the Journal of Selena Shattan, Chief of Security, Project ESCAPE posted:


October 19th, 2150

We've got it. The teleporter technology we need to get off Gaia is in our hands! Of course we now must help our new metallic friends overthrow GOLAN. Doing so won't be easy. But before we even start that we'll need to capture the Dynasty's Ion Cannon technology. Without that we'll never be able to disable the main core. Sadly, the ion tech looks to be located on the exact other side of the world from us. Blast! It's never easy is it? I'll begin preparing my sisters for another voyage across the sea...

October 20th, 2150

Well that was unexpected. We won't be making the voyage across the sea after all. Kilija says it would take too long to uproot everyone and move that far away. We were initially planning only a short trip, perhaps into Canada. We simply don't have the time to get the Ion Cannon and disable GOLAN and make our way back to Poland. There is one option available to us though. Thanks to our victories against the Dynasty in Europe we've come into possession of some abandoned silos. Kilija tells me we can modify one of the missiles as a sort sub-orbital airplane and establish a base that way. We'll have constant radio contact, but I won't be able to go myself. We'll need to send another commander over, one who frankly might not return.

October 21st, 2150

Kilija told me today that they've found a volunteer. Her name is Aemi Surnia, and although she's not exactly a combat veteran, she's willing to help out. She's even more raw tactically than I am, but she's all we've got. She's worried about making it back, but she's the only one who volunteered for this. We've cautioned her that this is almost certainly a suicide mission but she insisted she go. She said she refuses to see our efforts go to waste because no one would step up to the plate and take a big risk.

I like her spirit. We could use more women like her.

Once we establish a radio link I can direct her while she manages things on the ground. She'll have to send the first bit of info in a text report, but once the base is humming we'll be able to communicate normally. If things go smoothly the plan is to send her back the long way, across the Pacific. May the Goddess protect her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx3qD2OJRQE

Link to LPix.org Update Page - This is a long one as I've combined 2 missions into one.

Secret briefing for the USA part of the mission

axeil fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Aug 10, 2015

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axeil
Feb 14, 2006
Info on how I actually did this:

This update was a bit more experimental. I wrapped two missions together to try and weave a more interesting narrative than "oh no your base gets attacked by GOLAN!" which is fairly boring to both play and read at this point. I thought putting in the updates from the first mission which is really interesting would help break things up a bit.

To do it I first played out both missions (which is why it's taken forever for an update) and made saves at certain spots along the way. Then, I wrote up the whole thing and if I needed extra screenshots (like the last 3 of the Main Base being destroyed from Aemi's mission) I just went back in using the saves and took them. Hopefully it turned out alright and isn't really confusing.


And now with my month full of vacation over I should hopefully be able to get back to the updating pace I've wanted to have for months now.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous
Interesting idea. Did confuse me a bit about what the hell was going on, though. :v:

Loxbourne
Apr 6, 2011

Tomorrow, doom!
But now, tea.
Oh hey this thread's back. Hurrah!

axeil
Feb 14, 2006

my dad posted:

Interesting idea. Did confuse me a bit about what the hell was going on, though. :v:

Thanks! I thought it was very strange how they were so focused on the USA and make a big deal of having to go across the ocean to get there...and then they just head off to China for a mission with no one batting an eye.

I do like that you can't fly in units for that mission though. Good way of making the story match-up with the gameplay.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Yeah, this conceit worked out pretty well for you.

How close are we to the end of this expansion pack, anyhow?

axeil
Feb 14, 2006

Glazius posted:

Yeah, this conceit worked out pretty well for you.

How close are we to the end of this expansion pack, anyhow?

12 missions left. 2 LC, 10 UCS. My goal (if work could stop being so crazy :argh: ) is to try and post 1-2 missions a week. That would have us finish up in late September/early October.

axeil
Feb 14, 2006


from the Journal of Selena Shattan, Chief of Security, Project ESCAPE posted:


October 29th, 2150

I can't believe Aemi is dead. Sure, there was a good chance she was going on a suicide mission, but she should've been able to make it out. drat that ED jamming! And drat her for being so headstrong and not listening to me!

But I can't let myself get distracted. We're going to start our assault on GOLAN today. We've spoken with the UCS technician, a man by the name of Gernon Hawn. We've yet to meet face-to-face but there will be time for that when we head back to Poland. For now, he's laid out a very complicated battle plan. We have to deactivate GOLAN without triggering it's automated defenses. Of course, GOLAN still has plenty of manual defenses around it. Gernon has promised us additional support from the UCS rebel units so hopefully they'll be able to share the burden somewhat.

May the Goddess protect us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYAOWy3QUMs


Link to LPix.org Update Page

axeil
Feb 14, 2006
Next time will be our very last mission as the LC. And when we're done with that there will only be 10 updates left. If you thought things were exciting now...just wait till we see the UCS campaign.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous
An actual twist! :eyepop:

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Do the Lunars have a big advantage underground, or is it just an avenue you chose to take this mission because the AI would ignore it?

axeil
Feb 14, 2006

Glazius posted:

Do the Lunars have a big advantage underground, or is it just an avenue you chose to take this mission because the AI would ignore it?

Well they have arguably the best energy weapons, but in this case I went underground because it was the only avenue open to me. Between the AA and the artillery I can't think of any other way you could take down this base in a reasonable amount of time.

Other than the first game, there really isn't that much emphasis on tunnel warfare, which is a shame because it's such an inventive idea.

Sorry about no update today guys, my job roped me in to something so I didn't have time to write everything up. Maybe tomorrow?

axeil
Feb 14, 2006


from the Journal of Selena Shattan, Chief of Security, Project ESCAPE posted:


November 1st, 2150

Oh my Goddess! The UCS rebels, aren't rebels at all. They've been working with GOLAN! If those Dynasty generals hadn't gotten through to me with NEO's kill command...well, I certainly wouldn't be writing this entry. Our situation is grim indeed. The attack on Project ESCAPE has irreparably damaged a lot of our infrastructure. My lieutenants say it'll take nearly a week to get the transport back up and running, much less the rest of the base. We don't have that kind of time. Sadly our army that I've cultivated so well over the past few missions is utterly helpless and cannot stop this onslaught. We're lucky enough to get me remote access into our fortifications in Germany.

One bit of good news though; Kilija is working with the Generals on a formal alliance agreement. True, those sorts of documents don't mean much, but if the rumors about what their own people did are true, I think they are right to be wary of any outsiders. Not that we'd ever leave them behind. There's room for everyone in the teleporter if the scientists are to be believed. Once that is signed we'll open the eastern borders to their tanks. It will take them a few days to make their way through Poland, and I fear it may be too late by then.

We've already lost our forward posts in France and the UCS refugee camp in Germany has turned into a war factory overnight. If we let them cross the Oder River we are doomed. We have no hope of defending the teleporter against that sort of assault. Our only hope now is that we can hold out long enough and let the ED relieve us.

Goddess, if you're there now would be a really good time for you to show us favor. We're going to need it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-DbHlzGiyo

Link to LPix.org Update Page

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous
Wrong victory cutscene link. :v:

axeil
Feb 14, 2006

my dad posted:

Wrong victory cutscene link. :v:

Whooops! Fixed.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Dang. Well, congratulations on the AI for finally getting serious.

Loxbourne
Apr 6, 2011

Tomorrow, doom!
But now, tea.
I'm kinda glad I gave up on the campaign early now :v:

Nice to see the developers had an all-out gently caress-you AI for the finale. A bit of a shame the end sequence was just recycled footage from Moon Project though. Obviously all the cutscene budget was all spent on Moon Project - with the Czar having already launched his ships, no more synchronised strutting around the command bunker!

axeil
Feb 14, 2006




And there it is! GOLAN is deactivated! We did it! :woop:



GOLAN Communication Failure Subsystem posted:


11.1.2150:11:00:00:00

ERROR COMMUNICATION FAILURE

11.1.2150:11:00:00:05

ATTEMPTING RE-ROUTE THROUGH ALTERNATE NODES

NEW YORK...FAILED

ATLANTA...FAILED

TORONTO...FAILED

SAN FRANCISCO...FAILED

DENVER...FAILED

CHICAGO...FAILED

SEATTLE...FAILED

FLORIDA...FAILED

CUBA...FAILED

ALASKA...FAILED

MEXICO............................SUCCESS!


11.1.2150:11:00:01:00

ONE NODE FOUND. EXECUTING SCRIPTS....

11.1.2150:11:00:01:50

WARNING: UNKNOWN SCRIPT "PROJECT-ICARUS.EXE" FOUND

11.1.2150:11:00:02:00

COMMUNICATION FAILURE RESOLVED, RETURNING CONTROL TO GOLAN



from the Journal of Marcus Gordon, Former Defense Minister, UCS posted:


November 1st, 2150

Thank god for the Lunar Corporation. They didn't disable GOLAN but that 2 second window was all I needed. My Grizzly is now untied from the GOLAN network, and I have full control of all movement and defense systems.

Of course, I'm quite lucky to have even made it to this point. A few weeks ago, GOLAN started shooting people. Not just randomly either, from what I could tell it was anyone and everyone it saw. I managed to take refuge in a Grizzly unit right at the start. I had to activate the lock-out seals to keep GOLAN from issuing any commands, but I had a problem. As long as GOLAN was online I was still networked into the system. The lockout seals are a fail-safe that would keep GOLAN from being able to open any hatches or issue any commands, but while it was online I couldn't issue any commands myself. Think of it like gridlock. I can't do anything, but GOLAN can't either. If GOLAN were to go offline though, I could establish manual control. Which I just did.

Little known fact about the Grizzly: they were originally intended to have a long-term human operations team. I designed them as our ace in the hole against the Dynasty if GOLAN ever went offline. There's enough food, water and oxygen in here to keep a crew of 12 alive for 4 weeks. For a single man? It will last me until the end of the world. Which is, of course, rapidly approaching.

I have to laugh, I didn't expect I'd be using a Grizzly to actually fight GOLAN. But nothing in the past year has made any sort of sense anyway. Sadly, this base is still firmly in the grasp of GOLAN. If I stay here long enough they'll eventually start wondering why this Grizzly isn't responding to any commands from GOLAN. So, I'm heading south, into the mountains. It's not much, but it's the only bit of the GOLAN network I see that's not online anymore. Maybe whatever the Lunar Corporation did knocked it out? Once I'm there I can run modified startup scripts that will route all communication, and thereby control, through this Grizzly.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz0J7hNwhiQ

Link to LPix.org Update Page

Loxbourne
Apr 6, 2011

Tomorrow, doom!
But now, tea.

axeil posted:

ATTEMPTING RE-ROUTE THROUGH ALTERNATE NODES

Sure you didn't mean Las Vegas? :D

What you did there: I saw it.

axeil
Feb 14, 2006

Loxbourne posted:

Sure you didn't mean Las Vegas? :D

What you did there: I saw it.

Haha, good! I'm glad my reference wasn't too obscure. Figured I'd tip my hat to the game that got me into RTS in the first place.


edit: Also, I'd like to point out that I've never beaten the first mission that way before. I just tried building the bridges on a lark and was shocked when it turned out you can actually build to the rear of the LC base. Learn something new every playthrough...

axeil fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Sep 26, 2015

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
I like how your approach worked out. Makes it feel more like a puzzle game.

Nuramor
Dec 13, 2012

Most Amewsing Prinny Ever!
Is it just me or do those in-game texts sound kinda weird? As if it was badly translated or something.

axeil
Feb 14, 2006


from the Journal of Marcus Gordon, Former Defense Minister, UCS posted:


November 7th, 2150

We've managed to escape from the LC's trap. I am surprised by how simple it was. No wonder the LC's military struggled so badly during the war.

But now is not the time for musing! We have a situation. The LC must have figured out where we went because our radar indicates they are in pursuit, and closing. I've sent out some skirmishers to try and divert them but it's no dice. Running isn't an option either. No matter how hard I try, these walkers and the Grizzly have no hope of outrunning the LC. Our only hope is to dig in here and hope we can destroy our pursuers. Only then will it be safe to continue our trek north.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWwhHML3obA


Link to LPix.org Update Page

axeil fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Nov 22, 2015

axeil
Feb 14, 2006
Very sincere apologies for the ridiculously long delay. Real life got in the way in a really bad way this past month between work and me being sick for close to three weeks. Sorry about that.

In a bit of good news, my personal goal is to try and finish this LP by the end of the year. If you all are still reading this, thank you for sticking it out so long. To actually reach that goal it means at least one update a week and some weeks will have to have 2. I'd like to try for a beginning of the week/end of the week schedule with updates on one of Sun/M/T/W and one of Th/F/Sat/Sun. If I'm doing my math right that will have us finish up right around Christmas (8 updates to go).

We shall see if it'll happens... :ohdear:

Regardless if I finish this year or next, I guarantee that I will finish this. I've put in way too much work, and y'all who are still reading have put in way too much time for me not to see it get done.

Nuramor posted:

Is it just me or do those in-game texts sound kinda weird? As if it was badly translated or something.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that the translation for Lost Souls wasn't the greatest. You can definitely tell what they're trying to get across though. I've also cleaned up the English a bit in any of the briefings I post in text quotes instead of images to try and make things more clear.

I'm curious if the game has script issues in Polish as well or if it's just a symptom of translation. Anyone know?

axeil fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Nov 16, 2015

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous
Still aboard the LP train. Choo choo.

Only being able to do research now is kinda harsh.

Loxbourne
Apr 6, 2011

Tomorrow, doom!
But now, tea.
I'm still reading. I want to know how this horror ends, and the game sadly no longer runs on modern hardware.

axeil
Feb 14, 2006

my dad posted:

Still aboard the LP train. Choo choo.

Only being able to do research now is kinda harsh.

Well the nice thing is you start with full plasma tech and most of the other upgrades you need. I went for the grenade launchers because you're going to need them to bombard buildings in a few missions.

Loxbourne posted:

I'm still reading. I want to know how this horror ends, and the game sadly no longer runs on modern hardware.

Really? I'm on a Windows 7 system. What are you running?

Loxbourne
Apr 6, 2011

Tomorrow, doom!
But now, tea.
Win 8.1. The game runs, but the graphics are an unplayable corrupt mess.

axeil
Feb 14, 2006


from the Journal of Marcus Gordon, Former Defense Minister, UCS posted:


November 12th, 2150

We've established ourselves in the abandoned base we found following our destruction of the pursuing LC hovercraft. It's a bit rundown but should serve our purposes. With my immediate safety now taken care of, it's time to find out what the hell is going on. I've failed to make any contact with the LC or ED due to the jamming they're employing. Not that it would matter anyway, as far as they can tell I'd look like another one of GOLAN's bots. We have to prove that we're not affiliated with GOLAN. Or, well I have to at least. The bots with me can do whatever.

While we mine out the base and build up some defenses I'll see if I can figure out some way to prove my identity...

November 20th, 2150

Well it's been over a week. The base is fully functional, although I still can't figure out any way to get out of the Grizzly. But, more importantly, I think I've got an idea about how to prove I'm not with GOLAN. The LC and ED are crawling through the remnants of GOLAN's control center, presumably to figure out what happened when they tried to shut it down. It's suicide to go there myself...but if I could somehow look like the Dynasty they'd pay me no heed, and I'd be able to collect my evidence.

To that end, I'm going to need to steal some vehicles. I've been looking and there's a small ED base nearby. Very quiet, at least as far as satellite scans can tell me. If I send in a small strike force I can take down the base and capture a few tanks. I doubt anyone will realize I stole some tanks until after I've already hustled over to the GOLAN control center and gotten the evidence.

Here goes nothing. Time to be a thief!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vANonB4b_m8

Link to LPix.org Update Page

Loxbourne
Apr 6, 2011

Tomorrow, doom!
But now, tea.
The plot thickens!

axeil
Feb 14, 2006


from the Journal of Marcus Gordon, Former Defense Minister, UCS posted:


November 21st, 2150

I've discovered there's a nearby group of the mysterious UCS faction. I do not like that I had to destroy them yesterday; we should be allies, not enemies! I'll set up camp there and see if we can make contact.

I am a bit worried though. Radar indicates there's a weak ED position set up almost on top of our mystery faction. If they're under attack, maybe we can rescue them as a show of good faith?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwKkQBOyEls


Link to LPix.org Update Page

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Well, if the alternate faction's goal was to creep us the hell out, mission accomplished.

Loxbourne
Apr 6, 2011

Tomorrow, doom!
But now, tea.
I am beginning to wonder why Marcus cares. If the Phoenix has already left, then presumably GOLAN is just mindlessly still fighting the war or in some sort of end-phase "gently caress it" mode.

axeil
Feb 14, 2006

Loxbourne posted:

I am beginning to wonder why Marcus cares. If the Phoenix has already left, then presumably GOLAN is just mindlessly still fighting the war or in some sort of end-phase "gently caress it" mode.

Well if the ED and LC left behind people, maybe the UCS left behind people too? And maybe they also were able to wrest some control away from GOLAN? It'd be much easier to go to the ED/LC with an actual army than with one guy and some robots. Especially given GOLAN's penchant for tricks as we saw at the end of the LC campaign.

I've finished the next update and oh god it is amazing. You're gonna love it :allears:

axeil fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Dec 5, 2015

axeil
Feb 14, 2006


from the Journal of Marcus Gordon, Former Defense Minister, UCS posted:


November 23rd, 2150

It has been 2 days.

Two days of following these Panthers through the tunnels. I have absolutely no idea where we are going, nor was I ever informed about these tunnels in my time as Defense Minister. Why would something like this be kept from me?

The robots lost contact with me about 8 hours into the tunnels or so, necessitating my presence in person. I'm keeping a few miles back for safety's sake and the robots still seem to be in full working order. A few miles back... Miles! These tunnels are unbelievable. If Earth had suffered just a normal calamity like the 21st century nuclear war, we would've been able to rebuild our entire civilization under here. Maybe that's why they were built?

Despite all my pondering about these tunnels' purpose I can't shake my mind from one thing:

Where are we going to come out?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmMFHgFJKo8

Link to LPix.org Update Page

Sorry no fancy animations this time, just some text and Marcus' voiceover explaining what's going on.

axeil
Feb 14, 2006
Discovering that my crazy strategy not only worked, but worked nearly flawlessly is probably my favorite moment of this entire LP so far.

I have no idea if that's how you're supposed to do the mission but good lord, can anyone else come up with any other way to take that base out?

Teledahn
May 14, 2009

What is that bear doing there?


How can you reload any units without the aerial resupply units?

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


Were you supposed to go naval?

Loxbourne
Apr 6, 2011

Tomorrow, doom!
But now, tea.
The 2150 trilogy is one of the few games where stealth actually works on the AI. The UCS are very good at it, as this mission has aptly demonstrated.

No, there are no ways to resupply ammo-using units without aircraft. I think stealth-plasma is the intended way to play this mission.

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axeil
Feb 14, 2006

Teledahn posted:

How can you reload any units without the aerial resupply units?

You can't. That's why I built nothing but plasma units and why the LC had nothing but Electro-cannons and Crions as they don't require reloading.

wiegieman posted:

Were you supposed to go naval?

Nope. No Shipyard was available.

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