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* PixelHunting: Most commands are available via icons in the top panel (similar to the panel in Creator/{{Sierra}} VGA adventures), but it is possible to give commands by clicking objects in your command centre and in a ship's cockpit. The latter doesn't have corresponding icons for every command. Fortunately, a text appears in the status bar when you hover the mouse cursor over something clickable.
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* PixelHunting: Most commands are available via icons in the top panel (similar to the panel in Creator/{{Sierra}} VGA adventures), but it is possible to give commands by clicking objects in your command centre and in a ship's cockpit. The latter doesn't have corresponding icons for every command. Fortunately, a text appears in the [[StatusLine status bar bar]] when you hover the mouse cursor over something clickable.
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Greenlink.
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''Reunion'' (published in North America as ''[[MarketBasedTitle Merit's Galactic Reunion]]'') is a 1994 cross-genre FourX RealTimeStrategy for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer DOS]], created by Hungarian company Amnesty Design, (now Creator/DigitalReality, better known for ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica'' and ''VideoGame/HaegemoniaLegionsOfIron''). It combined gameplay elements from multiple contemporary strategy games with a rather deep plot. Like another plot-heavy cross-genre strategy in real time from 1994 -- ''VideoGame/AlienLegacy'' -- it wasn't very successful.
to:
''Reunion'' (published in North America as ''[[MarketBasedTitle Merit's Galactic Reunion]]'') is a 1994 cross-genre FourX RealTimeStrategy for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer DOS]], created by Hungarian company Amnesty Design, (now Creator/DigitalReality, better known for ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica'' and ''VideoGame/HaegemoniaLegionsOfIron''). It combined gameplay elements from multiple contemporary strategy games with a rather deep plot. Like another plot-heavy cross-genre strategy in real time from 1994 -- ''VideoGame/AlienLegacy'' -- it wasn't very successful.
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* ObviousBeta: While bugs aren't that obvious, there are a lot of hints of what the game could have been.
** See GameBreakingBug. Especially jarring in the floppy version, where memory gets corrupted randomly. Mining stations too full to give ore were another trouble.
** Skipping the intro has a small (several percent) chance to crash the game.
** Bar scenes always display the protagonist as male.
** [=NPC=]s in the bar have a lot of unused potential. Studying the game resources reveals sprites for characters that never appear.
** The Eran's look is inconsistent. On the bar stool he(?) looks like a big black beetle, in all other pictures he is a humanoid with lumpy red skin. No explanation is given.
** There are Druedians in the bar right from the start. They are aliens, they don't originate from New Earth, yet [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight everybody ignores them]]. [[FridgeLogic Probably]] their abilities for espionage help.
** You can research and build colony buildings that would be useful for ground battles, like Ion Cannon. But ground battles are fought on a separate screen where the colony doesn't appear.
** See ArtificialStupidity. You can do a lot to protect your other colonies, but never need it, since enemies target only New Earth.
** Some events look like stubs that could have become alternative plot routes, but were never implemented. For example, translator research is triggered by first contact with any aliens. Except that you can only meet Jaanosians or Morgruls and you die a few hours after meeting Morgruls.
** All cases of GameplayAndStorySegregation could be caused by this. For example, when people stay in the evacuated colony right until it is destroyed by supernova.
** Big cargo ships can be equipped with weapons, but cannot use them. Even if you build Privateers, all pirating is done by a pirate you hire.
** Colonies have to build various production facilities, but the only place that builds ships, ground combat units, mining robots and such is New Earth.
** ThemeNaming only applies to planets and moons in the Amnesty system. The rest just get boring numbers.
** No way to automate shuttling of ores.
** Ground combat controls are rather awkward, while ComputersAreFast.
** In early 1990s CopyProtection was present in floppy versions of most games, but normally got removed from CD versions. Yet, CD version of Reunion does ask for passwords.
** The name of the Syronian renegade alternates between MRX and MXR in the same dialogue. [[spoiler:He's Main/TheManBehindTheMan from the prologue and supposed main villain, but never appears in person, is named in only 1 scene and mentioned in maybe 2 more]].
** Planet type for two of Syronian moons is "No" (sic). They use the same graphics as "Enhanced".
** See GameBreakingBug. Especially jarring in the floppy version, where memory gets corrupted randomly. Mining stations too full to give ore were another trouble.
** Skipping the intro has a small (several percent) chance to crash the game.
** Bar scenes always display the protagonist as male.
** [=NPC=]s in the bar have a lot of unused potential. Studying the game resources reveals sprites for characters that never appear.
** The Eran's look is inconsistent. On the bar stool he(?) looks like a big black beetle, in all other pictures he is a humanoid with lumpy red skin. No explanation is given.
** There are Druedians in the bar right from the start. They are aliens, they don't originate from New Earth, yet [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight everybody ignores them]]. [[FridgeLogic Probably]] their abilities for espionage help.
** You can research and build colony buildings that would be useful for ground battles, like Ion Cannon. But ground battles are fought on a separate screen where the colony doesn't appear.
** See ArtificialStupidity. You can do a lot to protect your other colonies, but never need it, since enemies target only New Earth.
** Some events look like stubs that could have become alternative plot routes, but were never implemented. For example, translator research is triggered by first contact with any aliens. Except that you can only meet Jaanosians or Morgruls and you die a few hours after meeting Morgruls.
** All cases of GameplayAndStorySegregation could be caused by this. For example, when people stay in the evacuated colony right until it is destroyed by supernova.
** Big cargo ships can be equipped with weapons, but cannot use them. Even if you build Privateers, all pirating is done by a pirate you hire.
** Colonies have to build various production facilities, but the only place that builds ships, ground combat units, mining robots and such is New Earth.
** ThemeNaming only applies to planets and moons in the Amnesty system. The rest just get boring numbers.
** No way to automate shuttling of ores.
** Ground combat controls are rather awkward, while ComputersAreFast.
** In early 1990s CopyProtection was present in floppy versions of most games, but normally got removed from CD versions. Yet, CD version of Reunion does ask for passwords.
** The name of the Syronian renegade alternates between MRX and MXR in the same dialogue. [[spoiler:He's Main/TheManBehindTheMan from the prologue and supposed main villain, but never appears in person, is named in only 1 scene and mentioned in maybe 2 more]].
** Planet type for two of Syronian moons is "No" (sic). They use the same graphics as "Enhanced".
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* {{Unobtainium}}: All six of the ores that you can mine in this game.
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* {{Unobtainium}}: All six of the ores resources that you can mine in this game.
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* {{Unobtainium}}: All six of the ores that you can mine in this game.
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** This game is itself a SpiritualSuccessor to VideoGame/MillenniumReturnToEarth, being also a 4X space-based game following a linear event-based plot. Both games even have a common theme of Earth being lost to some calamity, and the player having to lead a colony of survivors back home.
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** This game is itself a SpiritualSuccessor to VideoGame/MillenniumReturnToEarth, ''VideoGame/MillenniumReturnToEarth'', being also a 4X space-based game following a linear event-based plot. Both games even have a common theme of Earth being lost to some calamity, and the player having to lead a colony of survivors back home.
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** This game is itself a SpiritualSuccessor to VideoGame/MillenniumReturnToEarth, being also a 4X space-based game following a linear event-based plot. Both games even have a common theme of the player leading a LostColony back to Earth.
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** This game is itself a SpiritualSuccessor to VideoGame/MillenniumReturnToEarth, being also a 4X space-based game following a linear event-based plot. Both games even have a common theme of Earth being lost to some calamity, and the player leading having to lead a LostColony colony of survivors back to Earth.home.
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* SpiritualSuccessor: The good ending promised ''Reunion II'' in early 1995, but it never happened. Instead another real-time FourX game with a plot was made -- ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica'' -- which abandoned some ideas, but expanded others.
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* SpiritualSuccessor: SpiritualSuccessor:
** The good ending promised ''Reunion II'' in early 1995, but it never happened. Instead another real-time FourX game with a plot was made -- ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica'' -- which abandoned some ideas, but expandedothers.others.
** This game is itself a SpiritualSuccessor to VideoGame/MillenniumReturnToEarth, being also a 4X space-based game following a linear event-based plot. Both games even have a common theme of the player leading a LostColony back to Earth.
** The good ending promised ''Reunion II'' in early 1995, but it never happened. Instead another real-time FourX game with a plot was made -- ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica'' -- which abandoned some ideas, but expanded
** This game is itself a SpiritualSuccessor to VideoGame/MillenniumReturnToEarth, being also a 4X space-based game following a linear event-based plot. Both games even have a common theme of the player leading a LostColony back to Earth.
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Disambiguating. Moving from VideoGame.Reunion. Tropers/Wyldchyld did the Big Bad edit, Tropers/Piterpicher cleaned Dummied Out, Tropers/tkzv did most of the edits, NTC 3 did IBM link correction and mostly everything before DOS. - https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15304074220A95222600&page=19#473
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[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/merit_reunion.png]]
''Reunion'' (published in North America as ''[[MarketBasedTitle Merit's Galactic Reunion]]'') is a 1994 cross-genre FourX RealTimeStrategy for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer DOS]], created by Hungarian company Amnesty Design, (now Creator/DigitalReality, better known for ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica'' and ''VideoGame/HaegemoniaLegionsOfIron''). It combined gameplay elements from multiple contemporary strategy games with a rather deep plot. Like another plot-heavy cross-genre strategy in real time from 1994 -- ''VideoGame/AlienLegacy'' -- it wasn't very successful.
By the middle of the 21st century Earth ecology was in such a bad shape, that only drastic measures could save degrading biosphere. UN member states agreed to forfeit self-determination and work together to survive. Resisting corporations were dissolved and had all their property commandeered. Armed resistance of population was swiftly suppressed. [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans And it worked]]. By 2109 holes in ozone layer started to get smaller and by the 26th century all humanitarian and ecological problems were eliminated. Weapons were abolished and Earth became conflict-free.
But in 2616 a strange uprising began. People were becoming hostile and overthrowing the establishment seemingly for no reason. After a brief but bloody conflict rebels seized control of Earth. The last order of the old regime was the emergency departure of the interstellar colony mission to the recently discovered habitable planet.
The colony ship suffered damage from an asteroid field en route and its engines exploded from deceleration upon arrival. The crew escaped in life pods, but most did not make it.
300 years later the colony New Earth is finally stable, free from conflict and disease and ready to start exploring space. The goal is to find Old Earth and reunite.
The game is fondly remembered for its bold attempt to combine ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion'', ''VideoGame/DuneII'', ''VideoGame/SimCity'', ''[[VideoGame/StarControl Star Control 2]]'' and a bit of AdventureGame, as well as for its lengthy [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk_L8BL0r48 intro]].
!!Provides examples of:
* AllThereInTheManual: The manual starts in the late 20th century and mentions the ecological disaster that led to unification of Earth. The game intro starts with early 22nd century. Also the manual gives short biographies of your commanders.
* AndManGrewProud: The intro. Except there wasn't much pride. Humans created a Utopia, and then it suddenly ended [[spoiler:after they revealed themselves to evil aliens]].
* ArtificialStupidity: Enemies never attack your colonies, only New Earth. Furthermore, they won't move fleets to cover their undefended homeworld. For example, after you win the battle in space, but lose on the surface.
* ArtShift: The intro starts with a black-and-white RaygunGothic lineart slideshow, narrated with a thick accent. Then it switches to animated scenes of rebels storming a space station, obviously inspired by ''Franchise/StarWars'' original trilogy. After they seize the station, the intro returns to narrated slideshow.
* BagOfHolding: When Erans ask you to help them evacuate, you can carry the population of their planet in a single Galleon.
* BadGuyBar: There's one in your Command Centre of all places. You can hire a spy, a bounty hunter, a pirate and so on. Rather mild version -- all those people (and aliens) seem to go there only to offer their services to you.
* BigBad: The one responsible for the events of 2616. [[spoiler:MXR is a Syronian renegade, who telepathically rules Earth.]] He never appears in person and is only mentioned in 2 or 3 scenes. There is an option to organize his assassination, but it doesn't seem to work. Either way, conquering his capital world works fine.
* BigRedDevil: Lisonians look like that with their red skin, horns and bad attitude. They force the League to declare a war on you, because they don't like how fast you develop.
* BioAugmentation[=/=]{{Mutants}}: Earthling portrait has purple skin, green lips and no head hair. There are two flat circular nubs on the frontal boss. Possibly [[spoiler:a result of being ruled by a telepathic alien for 3 centuries]], but their unusual look is never mentioned anywhere else.
* BoringButPractical:
** The best transport is Trade Ship, 2nd tire of transports. You do need a Galleon for interstellar flights, but attaching a fleet of Trade Ships is cheaper than building another Galleon.
** Most battles are fought with twin laser guns and missiles (2nd and 3rd tire). Single laser cannons are weak, and plasma guns appear too late to make much difference and can only be installed on capital ships.
** Most space battles are won by a big fleet of Starfighters, 2nd tire of military ships. Hunters carry fewer lasers and no missiles and have lower hit points. Capital ships are expensive and require a lot of micromanagement to build.
** The easiest tactics for the last ground battle is fielding several ranks of missile launchers. (That's 45 per rank.) You trade 1 for 1 when attacked by launchers, but destroy everything else from a safe distance.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Earth is secretly ruled by a mind-controlling alien.]]
* {{Cap}}: Your scientists have 4 abilities: Math, Physics, Electronics and AI; other advisors have only a single ability per their profession. Each can be sent to the university to increase them, but there's a limit for each. The highest-paid advisors have highest caps. This is especially important for scientists -- only Klaatoo can research every invention.
* ChekhovsGun: The intro and manual mention the starship Explorer 1, that was destroyed in 2589. You find the wreckage and some clues around 2930.
* ComputersAreFast: The mouse interface does not allow to quickly give orders during surface battles. The computer-controlled units have no such problem. Clicking a unit to select it, clicking Move or Attack buttons and finally clicking the target takes enough time for your previous units to travel half a step, making enemies concentrate fire on the first one. Yet computer-controlled units move in perfect ranks.
* CopyProtection: Simple, yet devious, manual check. There's typical "Type password from the bottom of page XX". The passwords are easy to copy and the check is easy to break. But later the player has to answer a quiz, requiring information from the manual. They appear about halfway through the game.
* CueTheSun: Inverted for losing the game, doubling as BookEnds. The intro ends with the governor candidates posing in front of New Earth buildings on a bright sunny day. The outro ends with the same buildings burning, then the sun sets, and the picture fades to black.
* CutsceneIncompetence: When Morgruls eliminate Jaanosians, Morgruls' fleet consists of only 5 Hunters, while Jaanosians have several times as many Hunters as well as heavier ships up to Cruisers. Even if you destroy this Morgruls fleet, it still destroys Jaanosians a few hours later. But if you attack Jaanosians, they easily defeat you.
* {{Cyborg}}: MACH -- killed in a battle against domestic terrorists and resurrected as half-machine. Kyle Douglas comes close -- severely wounded during war games and replaced parts of his body with electronics. The practice is common, Michael James having no implants indicates lack of battle experience. Subverted by Sapphire Fox -- what looks like a plastic scull is her prototype "thought recorder" she wears.
* DayOfTheJackboot: The events of 2616 in the intro. When you find Earth (in 2930 or later), it's still controlled by the same regime.
* DialogueTree: Trees are usually simple, but wrong choices in dialogues with aliens can easily make the game unwinnable. Usually it's obvious.
* DistantPrologue: The intro covers from 22nd to early 27th centuries. The game proper starts in 30th.
* DownerBeginning: DayOfTheJackboot turns {{Utopia}} into a CrapsackWorld.
* GameBreakingBug:
** In the floppy version memory occasionally got corrupted. This could manifest in such things as a ridiculously large enemy fleet, like 150 Morgrul Destroyers, when you have only 5. Or in money and ores randomly disappearing.
** If mining stations ran unattended too long and hit the storage capacity limit, unloading ore may become impossible. Worse, if the transport already has some ore, pressing the transfer button may transfer the cargo to the planet. This one sometimes manifests in the CD version too.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The game is particularly sloppy with that.
** Colony sizes, in a big way. Initially your colony of around 20 000 represents a planet with population in hundreds of thousands. Then alien planets with population in billions (or many millions) are represented as colonies with a ''single'' building.
** After you evacuate all humans and Erans from Antares, you can still see the people in the doomed colonies.
** League races surrender after you defeat Lisonians. Even if you defeated the rest of the League long ago.
** People in the bar keep giving you the same information long after it got outdated.
** Earthlings are referred to as "aliens" in many generated messages.
** Ground battle mechanics makes aircraft for all intents and purposes a ground unit, albeit the fastest.
** You are not allowed to research some artefacts you found or bought, until the plot gives you the corresponding invention. Justified for hyperdrive (your scientists needed to think what could it be), but not for the pirate's trophies.
** You can intercept signals from League and Earth and send a pirate there long before you discover those star systems. Apparently, the pirate knows the coordinates, but never thought to sell them to you.
** Ground battle animations and sounds contradict the equipment you install. For example, the APC ("Trooper") is shown to shoot machine gun, despite having only lasers.
* GreenAesop: Backstory in the manual.
* TheGreys:
** Syronians, with their pale skin, huge brain, big black eyes, secrecy and telepathy. [[spoiler:A renegade Syronian mind-controls Earth.]]
** Jaanosians look like that too, but lack other Greys' traits. Although, satellites sent to any of Jade moons do get mysteriously destroyed as long as Jaanosians control Jade.
** When you finally find Earthlings, they have no head hair and purple skin.
* GuideDangIt: The plot is linear and rarely allows to stray far from the designated route. This usually means failing to meet some conditions for various {{Timed Mission}}s.
** In some playthroughs a window of opportunity may be very short. See LuckBasedMission below.
** Didn't find Jaanosians before Morgruls destroyed them? No chance to get weapons. You lose.
** Didn't send a sloop to Jaanosian planet? Again no weapons.
** Missed your chance to get advanced fighters, lasers and tanks in Phoenix and Merak systems? Fight with the basic fighters and [=APCs=].
** Not enough energon to buy tanks? Fight with [=APCs=].
** Received S.O.S., but can't find the planet? Maybe you need an observatory in this system.
** Built a colony on a radioactive planet and your people are dying? Looks like they are doomed.
** Executed a pirate? Satisfying, but you missed a chance to finish this war quickly.
** It's possible to capture aircraft, but never get allowed to research it.
** Never built a colony with observatory at Antares? No aircraft.
** Did not save Erans? No aircraft. Don't say they didn't warn you when they cursed you.
** Did not ask an Eran to help you at the right time? No aircraft.
** Picked a wrong League member to subvert? No aircraft.
* InsectoidAliens: Morgruls. At least their heads look like that. More so for Undorlings. Ironically, they are each other's biggest enemies.
* KeystoneArmy:
** When you capture an alien homeworld, it becomes your colony, and the rest of their colonies and fleets disappear.
** Same for you -- if you lose New Earth, the game is over, despite all other colonies and fleets.
** When you defeat Lisonians, the rest of the League surrenders.
* KlaatuBaradaNikto: A planet in Amnesty system is named Klaatoo (sic) after the New Earth scientist, who discovered it. When you discover its two moons, they are named Barada and Nikto. The manual mentions that Klaatoo likes to watch old SF movies. Probably he suggested the moon names. And even his name may be a pseudonym inspired by his favourite film.
* LaResistance: [[spoiler: Earth resistance representatives may eventually ask for your help in assassinating BigBad.]] Few players managed to trigger the event, and those, who did, report no difference whether they help them or not. Seems to have been cut or never implemented.
* LuckBasedMission: Discovery of planets is partially random. Some of those planets are plot-relevant. Every ship travelling in the star system and every observatory on your colonies in that system has a small chance of detecting planets every day.
** You may discover Jade right from the start or many months later, which affects the time you get for research.
** You may discover Phoenix 1 on your first carriers' trip to Phoenix, or you may need to colonize Phoenix 2 [[spoiler:twice, since the first colony may die before you research radiation shield,]] and wait a few years. This sidequest allows [[spoiler:to undermine Morgruls-Kalls alliance -- Kalls would join you when you attack Morgruls' homeworld, providing ground vehicles]]. Some players believe it is not worth the effort.
* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: The required amount of micromanagement is probably the biggest players' complaint.
** Manually ferrying minerals in your single cargo fleet to the only place that builds ships may be the worst of it.
** Capital ships -- Destroyers and Cruisers -- can only be built on space stations. Space stations are expensive. It is not allowed to order to build more ships than there are space stations on New Earth. Probably, just one. In other words, every time a new destroyer is built, the governor has to issue an order to build one more destroyer. Having extra space stations does not accelerate building.
* MeleeATrois: New Earth against Morgruls-Kalls alliance against the League.
* ObviousBeta: While bugs aren't that obvious, there are a lot of hints of what the game could have been.
** See GameBreakingBug. Especially jarring in the floppy version, where memory gets corrupted randomly. Mining stations too full to give ore were another trouble.
** Skipping the intro has a small (several percent) chance to crash the game.
** Bar scenes always display the protagonist as male.
** [=NPC=]s in the bar have a lot of unused potential. Studying the game resources reveals sprites for characters that never appear.
** The Eran's look is inconsistent. On the bar stool he(?) looks like a big black beetle, in all other pictures he is a humanoid with lumpy red skin. No explanation is given.
** There are Druedians in the bar right from the start. They are aliens, they don't originate from New Earth, yet [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight everybody ignores them]]. [[FridgeLogic Probably]] their abilities for espionage help.
** You can research and build colony buildings that would be useful for ground battles, like Ion Cannon. But ground battles are fought on a separate screen where the colony doesn't appear.
** See ArtificialStupidity. You can do a lot to protect your other colonies, but never need it, since enemies target only New Earth.
** Some events look like stubs that could have become alternative plot routes, but were never implemented. For example, translator research is triggered by first contact with any aliens. Except that you can only meet Jaanosians or Morgruls and you die a few hours after meeting Morgruls.
** All cases of GameplayAndStorySegregation could be caused by this. For example, when people stay in the evacuated colony right until it is destroyed by supernova.
** Big cargo ships can be equipped with weapons, but cannot use them. Even if you build Privateers, all pirating is done by a pirate you hire.
** Colonies have to build various production facilities, but the only place that builds ships, ground combat units, mining robots and such is New Earth.
** ThemeNaming only applies to planets and moons in the Amnesty system. The rest just get boring numbers.
** No way to automate shuttling of ores.
** Ground combat controls are rather awkward, while ComputersAreFast.
** In early 1990s CopyProtection was present in floppy versions of most games, but normally got removed from CD versions. Yet, CD version of Reunion does ask for passwords.
** The name of the Syronian renegade alternates between MRX and MXR in the same dialogue. [[spoiler:He's Main/TheManBehindTheMan from the prologue and supposed main villain, but never appears in person, is named in only 1 scene and mentioned in maybe 2 more]].
** Planet type for two of Syronian moons is "No" (sic). They use the same graphics as "Enhanced".
* OpeningNarration: Very long (over 10 minutes), starts with lineart slideshow, switches to animation of rebels taking over an orbital station, then more of slideshow.
* PixelHunting: Most commands are available via icons in the top panel (similar to the panel in Creator/{{Sierra}} VGA adventures), but it is possible to give commands by clicking objects in your command centre and in a ship's cockpit. The latter doesn't have corresponding icons for every command. Fortunately, a text appears in the status bar when you hover the mouse cursor over something clickable.
* PurelyAestheticGender: At the start you choose to play as a man or a woman. This only changes several sprites.
* RaygunGothic: 22nd to 26th centuries in the intro. Mainly architecture and clothes.
* RealTimeStrategy: Clock never stops ticking. You can accelerate it, but not pause. While the game separates construction of ground buildings from ground battles, the ground combat with [=APCs=], tanks, rocket launchers and aircraft looks a lot like in ''VideoGame/DuneII''. Space battles are fully computer-controlled, though.
* Really700YearsOld: MACH became a cyborg after being killed by terrorists on Old Earth over 300 years ago. Either that, or idyllic New Earth had some domestic terrorism in its recent past, and it got suppressed without trace.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Much of the TechTree is built from that.
** Carriers are invented when you find that probes don't survive interplanetary travel.
** Sloops are invented after you realize you've got no means to transport a mining station.
** Orbital stations are invented after you realize your reverse-engineered Destroyers cannot be built on the planet surface.
* ScienceFictionWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Possibly a case of GameplayAndStorySegregation, see above.
* SimulationGame: The colony building screen looks a lot like ''VideoGame/SimCity''. Taxation, people morale and population inflow/outflow also work similarly (with no explanation where from/to the population goes). However, there is no traffic and no crime.
* SingleBiomePlanet: "Terran", "Desert", "Ocean" and such. Or "Gaseous" for definitely uninhabitable planets and moons.
* SpaceOpera
* SpiritualSuccessor: The good ending promised ''Reunion II'' in early 1995, but it never happened. Instead another real-time FourX game with a plot was made -- ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica'' -- which abandoned some ideas, but expanded others.
* StandardSciFiArmy: The fleet has no troop transports or dropships or anything like that. Every fleet battle group may simply carry any number of ground vehicles, but the question "how" is never addressed. The units somewhat remind of ''Dune II''. All ground units are equipped with the same weapons as spaceships, which kind of implies the same size. The battles are simply ranks of units approaching each other while shooting. The available units are:
** Troop Carrier or "Trooper" (sic) -- an APC. Invented for no apparent reason after you beat Morgrul fleet the first time, probably in case their next attack fares better and you'd have to fight them on the surface. Despite the name the soldiers never leave the carrier and it fights with a laser gun.
** Battle Tank -- looks like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_heavy_tanks_of_World_War_I rhomboid heavy tanks of WW1]], without a turret. Design bought from aliens in a TimedMission. The pictures display a single main gun, but the tank has to be equipped with several lasers.
** Aircraft. Seems to fly real low, since it cannot fly over any other machines on a battlefield. You may capture some, but won't be allowed to use or study them. Acquiring the design requires some diplomacy.
** Missile Launcher tank. GlassCannon because of low hit points and being deployed in really small groups of 5 (compared to 30 for tanks). Has longest range despite using the same missiles as aircraft. Despite its fragility makes all other craft redundant.
* StandardSciFiFleet: There are 3 kinds of ships:
** Satellite Carrier, the first ship you invent. Its only purpose is safely transporting unmanned orbital probes beyond your moon orbit. Later carriers are upgraded with WarpDrive for free. Still later, Spy Satellites and Spy Ships are invented, which also need carriers. Still later, carriers get the job of transporting Solar Satellites (orbital power plants) to your colonies. Considering that your enemies ignore carriers, they may just as well have stealth capability.
** Transport ships or "traders". Primarily used to ferry ores from mines and colonies and stuff like robot miners to colonies. There are:
*** Sloop -- invented after you research automated mines to drop on other planets, but realize you can't transport it there. Unarmed.
*** Trade Ship -- co-operative research effort with aliens. Also unarmed.
*** Privateer -- found as a derelict in an optional sidequest. Can equip weapons.
*** And Galleon that has a warp drive that moves the whole trade fleet -- invented after carriers study another star systems. Can equip weapons.
** Real military ships purposed for combat. Can equip various weapons.
*** Hunter -- given by aliens for you to fight on their side. Typical weak fighter.
*** Starfighter -- ditto, by different aliens. Same as above, but with better weapons.
*** Destroyer -- has a warp drive that moves the whole battle group. Found as a derelict in a hard to miss situation. Can only be built in space, but has no problems landing on planets.
*** And Cruiser -- somewhat stronger version of the destroyer, acquired after beating a certain enemy. Firepower of 1.5 destroyer for the price of 10. AwesomeButImpractical, except not awesome at all.
* TakeYourTime: Especially jarring, because after several {{Timed Mission}}s the game becomes this.
** Your enemies build their fleets much slower than you can build if you have a steady flow of credits from several colonies and enough minerals.
** League declares a war on you only after your traders or fighters visit any of their planets. You even get warnings to avoid them. Placing spy satellites and spy ships is perfectly OK.
** Ditto Earthlings.
** Subverted at the very start. You can wait until your meager trickle of tax credits amasses enough to hire the best advisors — many walkthroughs suggest it — before expanding your colony or exploring space.[[note]]Best builder, scientist and pilot (in that order) are easy, but best fighter is pushing your luck.[[/note]] Yet the time is ticking, and you only have 8 months to meet aliens and invent a translator, and 1 month after that to build a defense fleet.[[note]]You start at 2927-08-13. The alien transmission appears around 2928-4-28. Morgruls attack around 2928-6-4.[[/note]]
* TaughtByTelevision: Despite all their credentials, all your acclaimed pilots learned in simulators. Military commanders aren't much better -- Michael James also has only simulator experience, while Kyle Douglas and MACH only commanded ground forces and have no real experience in space battles. It proves to be enough.
* TechTree: The research is a two-stage process. First you need to make an invention -- an idea of a useful new technology, a clue of what this alien artefact does, and such. Only then you can assign a scientist to research it (a bit like in ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion''). Each invention has certain requirements in Math, Physics, Electronics and AI -- if your science advisor lacks training, the research is stuck halfway. Advisors' stats can be trained, but are ultimately {{cap}}ped. Only Klaatoo's caps allow researching everything. The linearity of the game makes it hard to change the order of events. It's hard to tell what exactly triggers what. A few of the more obvious triggers are:
** Game events:
*** Mining Station can be researched after a probe discovers ore on another planet.
*** UniversalTranslator can be researched after a sloop meets Jaanosians or Morgruls arrive to your planet.
*** Radiation Shield can be researched after your colonists start dying from radiation.
*** Troop Carrier or "Trooper" (sic) is invented after you beat Morgrul fleet the first time.
** Finding a mysterious alien object:
*** Jaanosians sell you something, which later proves out to be a hyperdrive.
*** Pirate wreckage gives Privateer ship.
*** [[spoiler:Explorer 1]] wreckage gives Destroyer ship and Missile.
** Time -- you realize it's a hyperdrive many days after you've bought it.
** See RequiredSecondaryPowers above. Many inventions are triggered by drawbacks and requirements that become obvious when research is finished.
* ThatsNoMoon: Syonians' homeworld and its three satellites look artificial. The type of planet is "Enhanced" for the homeworld and the populated bigger moon and "No" for the unpopulated smaller moons.
* ThemeNaming: Planet names in the Amnesty system. Moons of Klaatoo are Barada and Nikto. Moons of Zeus are from Greek mythology. Most other moons have something to do with astronomy (Kepler, Einstein) or flight and space exploration (Wright, Aldrin, Mariner, Apollo, Venera).
* UniversalTranslator: You develop the universal communicator after contacting Jaanosians. One of the easiest inventions. Looks like wrist watch.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Erans can do it. In dialogues an Eran looks like a humanoid with a severe skin disease -- bright red, lumpy and swollen. In the bar scene he looks like a giant beetle. This ability will prove useful [[spoiler:to undermine League]], if you ask the right question at the right time.
* WarpDrive: All interstellar ships use it.
* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: There are 6 resources that can be mined, all necessary for shipbuilding at later stages. Detoxin can only be pumped by derricks at a colony, while the rest can be mined by robotic outposts. Raenium and texon are unavailable on New Earth, although raenium is present on its moon Apollo. Early in the game you have to build as many derricks as your money and reactors allow. Later you spend more and more time ferrying minerals from mining stations and colonies to New Earth.
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''Reunion'' (published in North America as ''[[MarketBasedTitle Merit's Galactic Reunion]]'') is a 1994 cross-genre FourX RealTimeStrategy for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer DOS]], created by Hungarian company Amnesty Design, (now Creator/DigitalReality, better known for ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica'' and ''VideoGame/HaegemoniaLegionsOfIron''). It combined gameplay elements from multiple contemporary strategy games with a rather deep plot. Like another plot-heavy cross-genre strategy in real time from 1994 -- ''VideoGame/AlienLegacy'' -- it wasn't very successful.
By the middle of the 21st century Earth ecology was in such a bad shape, that only drastic measures could save degrading biosphere. UN member states agreed to forfeit self-determination and work together to survive. Resisting corporations were dissolved and had all their property commandeered. Armed resistance of population was swiftly suppressed. [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans And it worked]]. By 2109 holes in ozone layer started to get smaller and by the 26th century all humanitarian and ecological problems were eliminated. Weapons were abolished and Earth became conflict-free.
But in 2616 a strange uprising began. People were becoming hostile and overthrowing the establishment seemingly for no reason. After a brief but bloody conflict rebels seized control of Earth. The last order of the old regime was the emergency departure of the interstellar colony mission to the recently discovered habitable planet.
The colony ship suffered damage from an asteroid field en route and its engines exploded from deceleration upon arrival. The crew escaped in life pods, but most did not make it.
300 years later the colony New Earth is finally stable, free from conflict and disease and ready to start exploring space. The goal is to find Old Earth and reunite.
The game is fondly remembered for its bold attempt to combine ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion'', ''VideoGame/DuneII'', ''VideoGame/SimCity'', ''[[VideoGame/StarControl Star Control 2]]'' and a bit of AdventureGame, as well as for its lengthy [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk_L8BL0r48 intro]].
!!Provides examples of:
* AllThereInTheManual: The manual starts in the late 20th century and mentions the ecological disaster that led to unification of Earth. The game intro starts with early 22nd century. Also the manual gives short biographies of your commanders.
* AndManGrewProud: The intro. Except there wasn't much pride. Humans created a Utopia, and then it suddenly ended [[spoiler:after they revealed themselves to evil aliens]].
* ArtificialStupidity: Enemies never attack your colonies, only New Earth. Furthermore, they won't move fleets to cover their undefended homeworld. For example, after you win the battle in space, but lose on the surface.
* ArtShift: The intro starts with a black-and-white RaygunGothic lineart slideshow, narrated with a thick accent. Then it switches to animated scenes of rebels storming a space station, obviously inspired by ''Franchise/StarWars'' original trilogy. After they seize the station, the intro returns to narrated slideshow.
* BagOfHolding: When Erans ask you to help them evacuate, you can carry the population of their planet in a single Galleon.
* BadGuyBar: There's one in your Command Centre of all places. You can hire a spy, a bounty hunter, a pirate and so on. Rather mild version -- all those people (and aliens) seem to go there only to offer their services to you.
* BigBad: The one responsible for the events of 2616. [[spoiler:MXR is a Syronian renegade, who telepathically rules Earth.]] He never appears in person and is only mentioned in 2 or 3 scenes. There is an option to organize his assassination, but it doesn't seem to work. Either way, conquering his capital world works fine.
* BigRedDevil: Lisonians look like that with their red skin, horns and bad attitude. They force the League to declare a war on you, because they don't like how fast you develop.
* BioAugmentation[=/=]{{Mutants}}: Earthling portrait has purple skin, green lips and no head hair. There are two flat circular nubs on the frontal boss. Possibly [[spoiler:a result of being ruled by a telepathic alien for 3 centuries]], but their unusual look is never mentioned anywhere else.
* BoringButPractical:
** The best transport is Trade Ship, 2nd tire of transports. You do need a Galleon for interstellar flights, but attaching a fleet of Trade Ships is cheaper than building another Galleon.
** Most battles are fought with twin laser guns and missiles (2nd and 3rd tire). Single laser cannons are weak, and plasma guns appear too late to make much difference and can only be installed on capital ships.
** Most space battles are won by a big fleet of Starfighters, 2nd tire of military ships. Hunters carry fewer lasers and no missiles and have lower hit points. Capital ships are expensive and require a lot of micromanagement to build.
** The easiest tactics for the last ground battle is fielding several ranks of missile launchers. (That's 45 per rank.) You trade 1 for 1 when attacked by launchers, but destroy everything else from a safe distance.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Earth is secretly ruled by a mind-controlling alien.]]
* {{Cap}}: Your scientists have 4 abilities: Math, Physics, Electronics and AI; other advisors have only a single ability per their profession. Each can be sent to the university to increase them, but there's a limit for each. The highest-paid advisors have highest caps. This is especially important for scientists -- only Klaatoo can research every invention.
* ChekhovsGun: The intro and manual mention the starship Explorer 1, that was destroyed in 2589. You find the wreckage and some clues around 2930.
* ComputersAreFast: The mouse interface does not allow to quickly give orders during surface battles. The computer-controlled units have no such problem. Clicking a unit to select it, clicking Move or Attack buttons and finally clicking the target takes enough time for your previous units to travel half a step, making enemies concentrate fire on the first one. Yet computer-controlled units move in perfect ranks.
* CopyProtection: Simple, yet devious, manual check. There's typical "Type password from the bottom of page XX". The passwords are easy to copy and the check is easy to break. But later the player has to answer a quiz, requiring information from the manual. They appear about halfway through the game.
* CueTheSun: Inverted for losing the game, doubling as BookEnds. The intro ends with the governor candidates posing in front of New Earth buildings on a bright sunny day. The outro ends with the same buildings burning, then the sun sets, and the picture fades to black.
* CutsceneIncompetence: When Morgruls eliminate Jaanosians, Morgruls' fleet consists of only 5 Hunters, while Jaanosians have several times as many Hunters as well as heavier ships up to Cruisers. Even if you destroy this Morgruls fleet, it still destroys Jaanosians a few hours later. But if you attack Jaanosians, they easily defeat you.
* {{Cyborg}}: MACH -- killed in a battle against domestic terrorists and resurrected as half-machine. Kyle Douglas comes close -- severely wounded during war games and replaced parts of his body with electronics. The practice is common, Michael James having no implants indicates lack of battle experience. Subverted by Sapphire Fox -- what looks like a plastic scull is her prototype "thought recorder" she wears.
* DayOfTheJackboot: The events of 2616 in the intro. When you find Earth (in 2930 or later), it's still controlled by the same regime.
* DialogueTree: Trees are usually simple, but wrong choices in dialogues with aliens can easily make the game unwinnable. Usually it's obvious.
* DistantPrologue: The intro covers from 22nd to early 27th centuries. The game proper starts in 30th.
* DownerBeginning: DayOfTheJackboot turns {{Utopia}} into a CrapsackWorld.
* GameBreakingBug:
** In the floppy version memory occasionally got corrupted. This could manifest in such things as a ridiculously large enemy fleet, like 150 Morgrul Destroyers, when you have only 5. Or in money and ores randomly disappearing.
** If mining stations ran unattended too long and hit the storage capacity limit, unloading ore may become impossible. Worse, if the transport already has some ore, pressing the transfer button may transfer the cargo to the planet. This one sometimes manifests in the CD version too.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The game is particularly sloppy with that.
** Colony sizes, in a big way. Initially your colony of around 20 000 represents a planet with population in hundreds of thousands. Then alien planets with population in billions (or many millions) are represented as colonies with a ''single'' building.
** After you evacuate all humans and Erans from Antares, you can still see the people in the doomed colonies.
** League races surrender after you defeat Lisonians. Even if you defeated the rest of the League long ago.
** People in the bar keep giving you the same information long after it got outdated.
** Earthlings are referred to as "aliens" in many generated messages.
** Ground battle mechanics makes aircraft for all intents and purposes a ground unit, albeit the fastest.
** You are not allowed to research some artefacts you found or bought, until the plot gives you the corresponding invention. Justified for hyperdrive (your scientists needed to think what could it be), but not for the pirate's trophies.
** You can intercept signals from League and Earth and send a pirate there long before you discover those star systems. Apparently, the pirate knows the coordinates, but never thought to sell them to you.
** Ground battle animations and sounds contradict the equipment you install. For example, the APC ("Trooper") is shown to shoot machine gun, despite having only lasers.
* GreenAesop: Backstory in the manual.
* TheGreys:
** Syronians, with their pale skin, huge brain, big black eyes, secrecy and telepathy. [[spoiler:A renegade Syronian mind-controls Earth.]]
** Jaanosians look like that too, but lack other Greys' traits. Although, satellites sent to any of Jade moons do get mysteriously destroyed as long as Jaanosians control Jade.
** When you finally find Earthlings, they have no head hair and purple skin.
* GuideDangIt: The plot is linear and rarely allows to stray far from the designated route. This usually means failing to meet some conditions for various {{Timed Mission}}s.
** In some playthroughs a window of opportunity may be very short. See LuckBasedMission below.
** Didn't find Jaanosians before Morgruls destroyed them? No chance to get weapons. You lose.
** Didn't send a sloop to Jaanosian planet? Again no weapons.
** Missed your chance to get advanced fighters, lasers and tanks in Phoenix and Merak systems? Fight with the basic fighters and [=APCs=].
** Not enough energon to buy tanks? Fight with [=APCs=].
** Received S.O.S., but can't find the planet? Maybe you need an observatory in this system.
** Built a colony on a radioactive planet and your people are dying? Looks like they are doomed.
** Executed a pirate? Satisfying, but you missed a chance to finish this war quickly.
** It's possible to capture aircraft, but never get allowed to research it.
** Never built a colony with observatory at Antares? No aircraft.
** Did not save Erans? No aircraft. Don't say they didn't warn you when they cursed you.
** Did not ask an Eran to help you at the right time? No aircraft.
** Picked a wrong League member to subvert? No aircraft.
* InsectoidAliens: Morgruls. At least their heads look like that. More so for Undorlings. Ironically, they are each other's biggest enemies.
* KeystoneArmy:
** When you capture an alien homeworld, it becomes your colony, and the rest of their colonies and fleets disappear.
** Same for you -- if you lose New Earth, the game is over, despite all other colonies and fleets.
** When you defeat Lisonians, the rest of the League surrenders.
* KlaatuBaradaNikto: A planet in Amnesty system is named Klaatoo (sic) after the New Earth scientist, who discovered it. When you discover its two moons, they are named Barada and Nikto. The manual mentions that Klaatoo likes to watch old SF movies. Probably he suggested the moon names. And even his name may be a pseudonym inspired by his favourite film.
* LaResistance: [[spoiler: Earth resistance representatives may eventually ask for your help in assassinating BigBad.]] Few players managed to trigger the event, and those, who did, report no difference whether they help them or not. Seems to have been cut or never implemented.
* LuckBasedMission: Discovery of planets is partially random. Some of those planets are plot-relevant. Every ship travelling in the star system and every observatory on your colonies in that system has a small chance of detecting planets every day.
** You may discover Jade right from the start or many months later, which affects the time you get for research.
** You may discover Phoenix 1 on your first carriers' trip to Phoenix, or you may need to colonize Phoenix 2 [[spoiler:twice, since the first colony may die before you research radiation shield,]] and wait a few years. This sidequest allows [[spoiler:to undermine Morgruls-Kalls alliance -- Kalls would join you when you attack Morgruls' homeworld, providing ground vehicles]]. Some players believe it is not worth the effort.
* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: The required amount of micromanagement is probably the biggest players' complaint.
** Manually ferrying minerals in your single cargo fleet to the only place that builds ships may be the worst of it.
** Capital ships -- Destroyers and Cruisers -- can only be built on space stations. Space stations are expensive. It is not allowed to order to build more ships than there are space stations on New Earth. Probably, just one. In other words, every time a new destroyer is built, the governor has to issue an order to build one more destroyer. Having extra space stations does not accelerate building.
* MeleeATrois: New Earth against Morgruls-Kalls alliance against the League.
* ObviousBeta: While bugs aren't that obvious, there are a lot of hints of what the game could have been.
** See GameBreakingBug. Especially jarring in the floppy version, where memory gets corrupted randomly. Mining stations too full to give ore were another trouble.
** Skipping the intro has a small (several percent) chance to crash the game.
** Bar scenes always display the protagonist as male.
** [=NPC=]s in the bar have a lot of unused potential. Studying the game resources reveals sprites for characters that never appear.
** The Eran's look is inconsistent. On the bar stool he(?) looks like a big black beetle, in all other pictures he is a humanoid with lumpy red skin. No explanation is given.
** There are Druedians in the bar right from the start. They are aliens, they don't originate from New Earth, yet [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight everybody ignores them]]. [[FridgeLogic Probably]] their abilities for espionage help.
** You can research and build colony buildings that would be useful for ground battles, like Ion Cannon. But ground battles are fought on a separate screen where the colony doesn't appear.
** See ArtificialStupidity. You can do a lot to protect your other colonies, but never need it, since enemies target only New Earth.
** Some events look like stubs that could have become alternative plot routes, but were never implemented. For example, translator research is triggered by first contact with any aliens. Except that you can only meet Jaanosians or Morgruls and you die a few hours after meeting Morgruls.
** All cases of GameplayAndStorySegregation could be caused by this. For example, when people stay in the evacuated colony right until it is destroyed by supernova.
** Big cargo ships can be equipped with weapons, but cannot use them. Even if you build Privateers, all pirating is done by a pirate you hire.
** Colonies have to build various production facilities, but the only place that builds ships, ground combat units, mining robots and such is New Earth.
** ThemeNaming only applies to planets and moons in the Amnesty system. The rest just get boring numbers.
** No way to automate shuttling of ores.
** Ground combat controls are rather awkward, while ComputersAreFast.
** In early 1990s CopyProtection was present in floppy versions of most games, but normally got removed from CD versions. Yet, CD version of Reunion does ask for passwords.
** The name of the Syronian renegade alternates between MRX and MXR in the same dialogue. [[spoiler:He's Main/TheManBehindTheMan from the prologue and supposed main villain, but never appears in person, is named in only 1 scene and mentioned in maybe 2 more]].
** Planet type for two of Syronian moons is "No" (sic). They use the same graphics as "Enhanced".
* OpeningNarration: Very long (over 10 minutes), starts with lineart slideshow, switches to animation of rebels taking over an orbital station, then more of slideshow.
* PixelHunting: Most commands are available via icons in the top panel (similar to the panel in Creator/{{Sierra}} VGA adventures), but it is possible to give commands by clicking objects in your command centre and in a ship's cockpit. The latter doesn't have corresponding icons for every command. Fortunately, a text appears in the status bar when you hover the mouse cursor over something clickable.
* PurelyAestheticGender: At the start you choose to play as a man or a woman. This only changes several sprites.
* RaygunGothic: 22nd to 26th centuries in the intro. Mainly architecture and clothes.
* RealTimeStrategy: Clock never stops ticking. You can accelerate it, but not pause. While the game separates construction of ground buildings from ground battles, the ground combat with [=APCs=], tanks, rocket launchers and aircraft looks a lot like in ''VideoGame/DuneII''. Space battles are fully computer-controlled, though.
* Really700YearsOld: MACH became a cyborg after being killed by terrorists on Old Earth over 300 years ago. Either that, or idyllic New Earth had some domestic terrorism in its recent past, and it got suppressed without trace.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Much of the TechTree is built from that.
** Carriers are invented when you find that probes don't survive interplanetary travel.
** Sloops are invented after you realize you've got no means to transport a mining station.
** Orbital stations are invented after you realize your reverse-engineered Destroyers cannot be built on the planet surface.
* ScienceFictionWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Possibly a case of GameplayAndStorySegregation, see above.
* SimulationGame: The colony building screen looks a lot like ''VideoGame/SimCity''. Taxation, people morale and population inflow/outflow also work similarly (with no explanation where from/to the population goes). However, there is no traffic and no crime.
* SingleBiomePlanet: "Terran", "Desert", "Ocean" and such. Or "Gaseous" for definitely uninhabitable planets and moons.
* SpaceOpera
* SpiritualSuccessor: The good ending promised ''Reunion II'' in early 1995, but it never happened. Instead another real-time FourX game with a plot was made -- ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica'' -- which abandoned some ideas, but expanded others.
* StandardSciFiArmy: The fleet has no troop transports or dropships or anything like that. Every fleet battle group may simply carry any number of ground vehicles, but the question "how" is never addressed. The units somewhat remind of ''Dune II''. All ground units are equipped with the same weapons as spaceships, which kind of implies the same size. The battles are simply ranks of units approaching each other while shooting. The available units are:
** Troop Carrier or "Trooper" (sic) -- an APC. Invented for no apparent reason after you beat Morgrul fleet the first time, probably in case their next attack fares better and you'd have to fight them on the surface. Despite the name the soldiers never leave the carrier and it fights with a laser gun.
** Battle Tank -- looks like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_heavy_tanks_of_World_War_I rhomboid heavy tanks of WW1]], without a turret. Design bought from aliens in a TimedMission. The pictures display a single main gun, but the tank has to be equipped with several lasers.
** Aircraft. Seems to fly real low, since it cannot fly over any other machines on a battlefield. You may capture some, but won't be allowed to use or study them. Acquiring the design requires some diplomacy.
** Missile Launcher tank. GlassCannon because of low hit points and being deployed in really small groups of 5 (compared to 30 for tanks). Has longest range despite using the same missiles as aircraft. Despite its fragility makes all other craft redundant.
* StandardSciFiFleet: There are 3 kinds of ships:
** Satellite Carrier, the first ship you invent. Its only purpose is safely transporting unmanned orbital probes beyond your moon orbit. Later carriers are upgraded with WarpDrive for free. Still later, Spy Satellites and Spy Ships are invented, which also need carriers. Still later, carriers get the job of transporting Solar Satellites (orbital power plants) to your colonies. Considering that your enemies ignore carriers, they may just as well have stealth capability.
** Transport ships or "traders". Primarily used to ferry ores from mines and colonies and stuff like robot miners to colonies. There are:
*** Sloop -- invented after you research automated mines to drop on other planets, but realize you can't transport it there. Unarmed.
*** Trade Ship -- co-operative research effort with aliens. Also unarmed.
*** Privateer -- found as a derelict in an optional sidequest. Can equip weapons.
*** And Galleon that has a warp drive that moves the whole trade fleet -- invented after carriers study another star systems. Can equip weapons.
** Real military ships purposed for combat. Can equip various weapons.
*** Hunter -- given by aliens for you to fight on their side. Typical weak fighter.
*** Starfighter -- ditto, by different aliens. Same as above, but with better weapons.
*** Destroyer -- has a warp drive that moves the whole battle group. Found as a derelict in a hard to miss situation. Can only be built in space, but has no problems landing on planets.
*** And Cruiser -- somewhat stronger version of the destroyer, acquired after beating a certain enemy. Firepower of 1.5 destroyer for the price of 10. AwesomeButImpractical, except not awesome at all.
* TakeYourTime: Especially jarring, because after several {{Timed Mission}}s the game becomes this.
** Your enemies build their fleets much slower than you can build if you have a steady flow of credits from several colonies and enough minerals.
** League declares a war on you only after your traders or fighters visit any of their planets. You even get warnings to avoid them. Placing spy satellites and spy ships is perfectly OK.
** Ditto Earthlings.
** Subverted at the very start. You can wait until your meager trickle of tax credits amasses enough to hire the best advisors — many walkthroughs suggest it — before expanding your colony or exploring space.[[note]]Best builder, scientist and pilot (in that order) are easy, but best fighter is pushing your luck.[[/note]] Yet the time is ticking, and you only have 8 months to meet aliens and invent a translator, and 1 month after that to build a defense fleet.[[note]]You start at 2927-08-13. The alien transmission appears around 2928-4-28. Morgruls attack around 2928-6-4.[[/note]]
* TaughtByTelevision: Despite all their credentials, all your acclaimed pilots learned in simulators. Military commanders aren't much better -- Michael James also has only simulator experience, while Kyle Douglas and MACH only commanded ground forces and have no real experience in space battles. It proves to be enough.
* TechTree: The research is a two-stage process. First you need to make an invention -- an idea of a useful new technology, a clue of what this alien artefact does, and such. Only then you can assign a scientist to research it (a bit like in ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion''). Each invention has certain requirements in Math, Physics, Electronics and AI -- if your science advisor lacks training, the research is stuck halfway. Advisors' stats can be trained, but are ultimately {{cap}}ped. Only Klaatoo's caps allow researching everything. The linearity of the game makes it hard to change the order of events. It's hard to tell what exactly triggers what. A few of the more obvious triggers are:
** Game events:
*** Mining Station can be researched after a probe discovers ore on another planet.
*** UniversalTranslator can be researched after a sloop meets Jaanosians or Morgruls arrive to your planet.
*** Radiation Shield can be researched after your colonists start dying from radiation.
*** Troop Carrier or "Trooper" (sic) is invented after you beat Morgrul fleet the first time.
** Finding a mysterious alien object:
*** Jaanosians sell you something, which later proves out to be a hyperdrive.
*** Pirate wreckage gives Privateer ship.
*** [[spoiler:Explorer 1]] wreckage gives Destroyer ship and Missile.
** Time -- you realize it's a hyperdrive many days after you've bought it.
** See RequiredSecondaryPowers above. Many inventions are triggered by drawbacks and requirements that become obvious when research is finished.
* ThatsNoMoon: Syonians' homeworld and its three satellites look artificial. The type of planet is "Enhanced" for the homeworld and the populated bigger moon and "No" for the unpopulated smaller moons.
* ThemeNaming: Planet names in the Amnesty system. Moons of Klaatoo are Barada and Nikto. Moons of Zeus are from Greek mythology. Most other moons have something to do with astronomy (Kepler, Einstein) or flight and space exploration (Wright, Aldrin, Mariner, Apollo, Venera).
* UniversalTranslator: You develop the universal communicator after contacting Jaanosians. One of the easiest inventions. Looks like wrist watch.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Erans can do it. In dialogues an Eran looks like a humanoid with a severe skin disease -- bright red, lumpy and swollen. In the bar scene he looks like a giant beetle. This ability will prove useful [[spoiler:to undermine League]], if you ask the right question at the right time.
* WarpDrive: All interstellar ships use it.
* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: There are 6 resources that can be mined, all necessary for shipbuilding at later stages. Detoxin can only be pumped by derricks at a colony, while the rest can be mined by robotic outposts. Raenium and texon are unavailable on New Earth, although raenium is present on its moon Apollo. Early in the game you have to build as many derricks as your money and reactors allow. Later you spend more and more time ferrying minerals from mining stations and colonies to New Earth.
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