History VideoGame / EarthAndBeyond

As one can probably guess, things weren't bound to stay peaceful. The Jenquai stumble over an ancient artifact: a jumpgate. The Jenquai, worried over what the other two races would do with it, keep it secret. It doesn't last, and a spy from the Terran Megacorp [=InfintiCorp=] leaks the information, sparking the Gate War.

Sadly, the game was shut down on September 22, 2004, after a comparatively ''very'' short run; it was this failure, along with that of ''Command & Conquer: Renegades'', that would ultimately doom Westwood and lead into its absorption into EA Los Angeles and the eventual departure of every single Westwooder from EA. That said, diehard fans of the game continued to do their best to revive the game via the ''Earth and Beyond Emulator'', including classes that were dummied out prior to the game's launch, and the game's server and client can now be emulated for the curious.

Sadly, the game was shut down on September 22, 2004, after an extremely short run; it was this failure, along with that of ''Command & Conquer: Renegades'', that would ultimately doom Westwood and lead into its absorption into EA Los Angeles and the eventual departure of every single Westwooder from EA. That said, diehard fans of the game continued to do their best to revive the game via the ''Earth and Beyond Emulator'', including classes that were dummied out prior to the game's launch, and the game's server and client can now be emulated for the curious.

Nine years of war later, a truce is declared and the three races agree to share the gate. Shortly after that, Infiniti Corp unveils its [=InfinitiGate=], a reverse-engineered version of the ancient gate. The game itself picks up fifty years later, when things have started getting interesting.

Sadly, the game was shut down on September 22, 2004, after an extremely short run. That said, the fans continue to do their best to revive the game via the Earth and Beyond Emulator, including classes that were dummied out prior to the game's launch.

See also ''VideoGame/EveOnline'', which launched around the same time (and was commonly perceived as the game's primary rival) but lasted much, much longer.

* DummiedOut: The Terran Scout, and the Trader classes for the Jenquai and Progen (Seeker and Privateer, respectively). Available in both the emulator and the Character and Starship Creator program, however.

See also ''VideoGame/EveOnline'', which launched around the same time but lasted much, much longer.

Nine years of war later, a truce is declared and the three races agree to share the gate. Shortly after that, Infiniti Corp unveils its [=InfinitiGate=], a reverse-engineered version of the ancient gate.

The game itself picks up fifty years later, when things have started getting...interesting.

Tropes appearing in Earth and Beyond include:

* TheAtoner: The Progen have an extremely subdued take on this regarding the sacking of Jove City during the gate war. Not so much for the deaths of the Jenquai. [[spoiler:Rather, they're sorry for ''how'' it occured. It never got detailed in game, but according to the game's bible the wartime leader of the Progen had engaged in more extreme levels of genetic modification to himself and his troops than necessary. The result, dubbed "Dog Soldiers", were the ones who sacked Jove City. The rest of the mainline Progen were horrified by the sheer brutality of the act, and when the generals found the leader and his troops [[ImAHumanitarian sitting in a pile of Jenquai bones that had been gnawed on]], they chose to purge the Dog Soldiers and the leader.]] The whole matter is considered a massive blight on the honor of the Progen as a whole.
* [[spoiler: BugWar: Against the V'rix.]]

* EarWorm: Some of the station ads will easily end up being this. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKK9m3zF1Yk Tada-O's]] are a paticular offender.

* ProudMerchantRace:

** The Jenquai are Japanese. Since the ship that colonized Jupiter was called the ''Jenqui Maru'', its crew (and therefore the Jenquai) are probably of largely Japanese descent.

* PortalNetwork: The gate network, of course.

* DummiedOut: The Terran Scout, and the Trader class for the Jenquai and Progen. Available in both the emulator and the Character and Starship Creator program, however.

** The Jenquai are Japanese. Since the ship that colonized Jupiter was called the ''Jenqui Maru'', its crew (and therefore the Jenquai) are probably of Japanese descent.

''Earth & Beyond'' was an MMO developed by Creator/WestwoodStudios and published by ElectronicArts that was released in 2002.

See also [[EveOnline EVE Online]], which launched around the same time but lasted much, much longer.

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* [[spoiler: BugWar - Against the V'rix.]]
* CasualInterstellarTravel - Eeeyup.
* DummiedOut - The Terran Scout, and the Trader class for the Jenquai and Progen. Available in both the emulator and the Character and Starship Creator program, however.
* EarWorm - Some of the station ads will easily end up being this. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKK9m3zF1Yk Tada-O's]] are a paticular offender.
* EmoteAnimation -For both player characters ''and'' their ''ships''.
* MegaCorp -[=InfinitiCorp=], among others. Even [=EarthCorp=], the Terran Military is a Corp.
* PortalNetwork - The gate network, of course.
* {{Precursors}} - The Ancients.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy - The Progen's hat.