Edge of Darkness
A Total Conversion for Dark Reign
Story
100 years ago a fierce battle was fought inside a secluded nebula at the edge of the galaxy.
As the Imperium fleet deployed it's dessicator, a desperate Freedom Guard pilot rammed into it,
diverting it's aim and sending the beam into the small yellow sun. However, the nova that
resulted was anything but small, and it's effects on the nebula were such to prevent any kind
of interstellar travel within the nebula. Only one system, on the outskirts of the nebula, at the
edge of darkness, survived the fiery wrath of the nova. Seeking only survival, a truce was made
between the surviving Freedom Guard and Imperium forces as they made their new home on the one
habitable planet in that system. To the Imperium databases it was only SQ-37, but the members
of the freedom guard took to calling it "New Haven"
Now, 100 years after that catastrophe, Freedom Guard and Imperium cultures, philosophies, and
technologies have blended in unique ways, and there is relative peace on New Haven. However,
this is not to last, for a group of rebel aliens from outside the galaxy have stolen the
technology from their home galaxy that allows them to transport virtually anywhere. On the run,
they have come to SQ-37 seeking a hiding place, the one place that they would never be found...
And the humans, faced with a technology, perhaps the only technology, that would finally allow
them to escape from their effective prison and make contact with the rest of the galaxy, cannot
resist the desire to take it for themselves.
So, on this lonely planet at the edge of darkness, you must fight in the ultimate battle of survival
and escape...
Running EoD
Assuming nothing went wrong with installation, all you have to do to run EoD is to execute
launcher.exe found in your "Dark Reign" directory. This will set up all necessary files for
EoD, and start DR. After you quit DR, settings will be set back to normal automatically, so
if you then launch DR (dkreign.exe), you will be playing normal. There are four multiplayer
maps that are installed with EoD (EoD-Craters, EoD-Gahena, EoD-lev2k, and EoD-Ravine). If you start DR in normal mode, you can select to play on these maps and the EoD rules will be loaded, allowing you to switch back and forth between EoD and regular DR games easily without having to restart DR. However, if you want to play EoD on ANY map, you must start using launcher.exe.
Due to time constraints, there are no single player missions in the initial release.
However, these will be released at a later date.
Unit and Building Listings
Human
Unit Type Cost Move Mode Special Attack
Con. Rig Con. Rig 300 Foot none None
Freighter Resource 1000 Wheel none None
Hover Freighter Resource 1500 Hover none Weak
Soldier Infantry 150 Foot Veterans to Commando Average
Commando Infantry --- Foot Phases, veterans to Assassin Average
Assassin Infantry --- Foot Can phase and move underground Strong, anti-air
Man Tank Infantry 250 Hover None Powerful vs. Tanks, buildings, weak vs. Infantry
Salamander Vehicle 500 Foot None Average all around, good vs. Buildings
Mole Tank Vehicle 600 Wheel Phases Strong all around, anti-air
Phase Boat Vehicle 600 Hover Can run over infantry Strong vs. Vehicles
Recon Drone Flyer 400 Flying None None
Strider Walker 1600 Foot None Powerful long range, short range anti-air
Blazer Fighter 800 Flying Fast, less armored alternate state Average, anti-air
Bomber Flyer 1300 Flying None Powerful medium range, wide blast radius (frequent reloads)
Thunder Martyr Flyer --- Flying Needs infantry to fly Powerful long range, single use attack
Building Cost Description
Sentinel Tower 1500 Long range, powerful guard tower, weapon has no short range attack
Jury Rig 600 Heals buildings (will not heal turrets, camera towers, or other jury rigs). May require a force attack.
Thunder Station 2200 Produces one (1) Thunder Martyr. An infantry unit MUST be loaded into the Thunder Station for the TM to fly.
Alien
Unit Type Cost Move Mode Special Attack
Gloth Con. Rig 600 Foot None None
Armored Gloth Con. Rig 900 Foot None Average
Gatherer Resource 500 Foot None None
Ramnoth Infantry 150 Foot Veterans to Relmnoth Average
Relmnoth Infantry --- Flying None Average
Memnoth Infantry 300 Foot Mernoth alternate state Strong
Mernoth Infantry --- Foot Fast and hard to hit None
Router Walker 700 Foot None Powerful vs. Biologics and buildings, anti-air
Dreadnaught Transport 1000 Hover Transports 5 vehicles/infantry Strong medium range attack
Assault Runner Vehicle 900 Wheel None Powerful "martyr" attack with persistent damage
Healer Vehicle 800 Hover None Heals vehicles, infantry, and buildings.
Assimilator Infantry 600 Foot None Eats other infantry and splits in half. Has projectile vomit
Missile Boat Vehicle 1600 Hover None Powerful long range attack, anti-air
Lynoth Fighter 500 Flying None Average, recharges, anti-air
Carrier Transport 800 Flying Camouflaged, "cloaks" VERY powerful anti-air
Building Cost Description
Womb 750 Makes Gloths, Armored Gloths, and Gatherers
Womb Level 2 1250 Upgrade of Womb
Life Source 2500 Resource collection (can harvest taelon for cash)
Bioenergy Converter 2000 Makes power (does not require taelon)
Training Center 1500 Makes infantry
Technics Plant 2200 Makes Vehicles
Technics Plant Level 2 2500 Makes advanced vehicles
Ion Turret 500 Small defensive structure, can be sold for full return value, anti-air
Rocket Base 1800 Powerful homing missile attacks, anti-air
Repair Center 800 Heals both vehicles and infantry
Temporal Gate 1500 Transports 10 infantry instantaneously
Hive 1000 Makes Lynoths
Space Port 1000 Upgrade of Hive, makes Carriers
Toxin Refinery 2000 Prerequisite for several things.
Unit and Building Descriptions
Soldier
The soldier is the basic infantry unit of the humans. After a bit of experience, a soldier
becomes a Commando, with the ability to phase underground. After a bit more experience a
Commando becomes an Assassin, who can not only phase underground, but roam freely underground.
Man Tank
This infantry unit is harnessed in a large, powerful cannon that's so heavy, it requires
hover lifters to allow a human to control it.
Mole Tank
A design discarded by the Imperium in favor of powerhouses like the tachion tank, the Mole
Tank caught the eyes of a few Freedom Guard technicians. Not only did the framework supply
a healthy amount of armor for it's size, but also minimized resources required, which was a
primary concern on SQ-37, or New Haven. As an added bonus, it's small size made it ideal
for attaching a phasing device to it.
Phase Boat
The phase boat uses phasing technology to actually propel itself over land as if it were
water. This gives it greater mobility than hover vehicles and makes it faster than treaded
vehicles, making a compromise between the limitations of both. The Phase Boat is equipped
with two rapid fire missile launchers that shoot out armor-piercing mini-missiles. Also,
the halo of phased matter it creates underneath and around it has quite nasty results on
enemy infantry that get too close.
Salamander
One of the many wonders of SQ-37 (New Haven) was the indigenous life forms. One in
particular, dubbed the Salamander for a couple reasons, was found to be easily tamed and
trained, despite it's large size. The two biggest reasons for its name are 1) it looks
remarkably like a terrestrial salamander, and 2) it is capable of breathing very hot, very
noxious gasses out of it's mouth.
Strider
The Strider was an experimental design in an ultimate war machine, a prototype of which was
being transported on the Imperium battleship "Adamant". The tachion weaponry had been
modified, dropping the rate of fire, giving the weapon an incredible range. The problem of
course was that short range it had nothing to attack with. After the truce however a
bright young general realized that the missiles from a Skirmish Tank were the perfect
thing to protect against close quarter confrontations and any threat from the skies.
Bomber
Due to Freedom Guard spy activities during the initial fighting, the Imperium lost all
plans for their air force. The Imperium half of the current government, completely
unsatisfied with the power of the Freedom Guard air force, took the Outriders and gave
them not only some much better armor, but equipped them with extremely powerful missiles.
However, the cost of these improvements was speed, and so left to themselves these new
Bombers would be quit vulnerable, especially to attack from the air.
Blazer
The Blazer is another example of Imperium influence on Freedom Guard technology. Not liking
the relative weak armor of the sky bikes, but recognizing the virtues of speed, the sky
bike's armor was beefed up at the cost of speed, but made so it could reconfigure it's
shape to allow it to zip past enemy defenses (at the cost of lowering it's own defenses,
of course).
Thunder Martyr
Designed hastily once the aliens began their attack, the Thunder was lacking one important
feature: remote control. So, in order to get this airborne derivation of the Shockwave to
its destination, a soldier must sacrifice himself to pilot the vehicle, thus giving it the
second half of it's name.
Sentinel
With the cultural blending of the survivors of the Freedom Guard and the Imperium came
several interesting twists in the applications of technology. One result was the Sentinel
turret. The weapon is a heavily modified and powered up tachion cannon that can shoot
farther and much, much faster. However, on the downside, all short range control was lost,
making this defensive structure terribly vulnerable if anything gets close to it.
Ramnoth/Relmnoth
The Ramnoth is one of the weaker classes of the alien culture. However they are well
respected, for upon reaching full maturity as a Relmnoth, they molt and gain wings and
a much more powerful bioenergy conversion system, making them a serious force to contend
with.
Memnoth/Mernoth
The Memnoth is the brawn of the alien infantry, with a powerful bioenergy conversion
system capable of delivering stunning bursts of energy. It is also capable of folding
itself up into a small, hard to hit, and very speedy form called a Mernoth.
Assault Runner
Basically a big toxin canister that rolls, the Assault Runner quickly breaks down enemy
offensive and defensive lines by causing a massive chemical explosion that poisons the
ground for sometime afterwards.
Router
One of the aliens' primary attack vehicles is the highly mobile Router. While it's twin
machine guns are less effective against tank armor and buildings, they make mince meat
out of biologics.
Dreadnaught
Heavy armor, a powerful cannon, and the ability to transport 5 other vehicles or infantry
make the dreadnaught a fearsome opponent in battle.
Assimilator
These ravenous creatures will eat any organic being whole, and then due to it's fast
metabolism, will split in two. Any object that it can't comfortably consume (such as
tanks and buildings) it will vomit heavily acidic gastric juices onto in an attempt to
break it down into edible chunks.
Missile Boat
Encased in thick armor and equipped with four powerful long range missile launchers, the
hovering missile boat is a formidable foe against any force, land or sea. However it's
takes a fair amount of time to reload the four missile chambers, and after reloading, it
must be told again where to fire it's missiles, giving an otherwise powerful battle unit
a small disadvantage.
Lynoth
The Lynoth sub-class of the alien culture are of the less intelligent variety, but are
known for their fierce loyalty and bravery. They form the aliens' primary air force,
containing within their bodies glands full of powerful acid. Once dispensed, it only
takes a short while for it to build back up again.
Carrier
A vessel primarily used for in-system travel, the carrier, because of the nebula, is
restricted to the planet's surface. It acts to carry several loads of Lynoths past enemy
defenses, as well as use it's powerful cannon to deter any threats from the sky. It's
partial cloaking ability makes it difficult to notice and target, and if it stays still,
it can engage a full cloaking field rendering it invisible (it cannot do this over water
however, due to the effects of light rays reflecting off the surface of the water).
Rocket Battery
Equipped with eight fast rockets, the Rocket Battery is effective in neutralizing both
ground and air assaults. There is a small reload time after all 8 rockets have been fired,
but the wait is negligible.
Credits
Mark "Shmitz" Major: Design, art, sounds, and editing.
ReDDoG: Sounds, launcher, testing
Zencode: Launcher, installer
Leviticus: Created the original map lev2k, and designed the EoD web page.
Testers: Fish, Bigred, Anjin, GeeWhy, Kentaro, Drunk Old Man, PLLCoolA, |DEAMON|,
Cyberman, Airmax, Aguarious
Activision is a registered trademark and Dark Reign: The Future of War is a trademark of Activision, Inc. (1997
All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.
