Before playing - Lore/character connections within Endless games

[Alex l'Ariete]

Hi, as probably many have done, I purchased Endless Space 2 recently,

But. I never played anything else among the Endless games. And I like to follow the lore continuity when I approach a serie of games.

I'm reading that all the games are connected, but how much?

Do choices done in a game matter for the following games?

How much is rewarding/important to play them in chronological order?

Thanks

[Winter]

Honestly, ES2 has just enough lore to color the text and faction descriptions. Endless Legend can give you the Vaulters pre-Space, and the background story on the planet Augira, and the war(s) that tore it apart. Some of the factions for ES2 are new to ES2 though, so...

[Groo the one]

Originally posted by Alex l'Ariete:

Hi, as probably many have done, I purchased Endless Space 2 recently,

But. I never played anything else among the Endless games. And I like to follow the lore continuity when I approach a serie of games.

Not easy to answer, so quoting from official forum (www.games2gether.com):

Originally posted by Community Member Vem:

I'd think the timeline would be

1. Dungeon of the Endless
2. Endless Legend
3. Endless Space 2
4. Endless Space

Maybe, right? Dunno, it's in my head but I can't seem to type it out neatly. At least not without it being a cool three or four paragraphs long.

Originally posted by Community Member Nasarog - 7 years ago:

Within Endless Space, you have DotE followed by Endless Legend and then the Endless Space game

Endless Dungeon:

Originally posted by Dev Slowhands:

So Endless Dungeon does happen -- give or take a few decades -- at the same time as DotE...
... Endless Dungeon is not planned as a link to any other Amplitude game past, present, or future; the setting and the stories are being developed as standalone content. Anything can happen -- and we always leave a lot of hooks in our lore to play with it later -- but for the moment ED stands on its own.

-Slow

Source: https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/endless-dungeon/forums/203-general/threads/47401-is-the-endless-dungeon-timeline-being-revised

Originally posted by Dev Slowhands:

Hi all,

The idea is that we want to minimize anything that would prevent a player's game from being canon (if that makes sense). So rather than say that there is an official timeline where X then Y then Z happened, we like to think that there is a realm of possibilities, with certain things being more or less likely.

Of course, given that the Vaulter faction appears in ES2, it is certainly canon that they left Auriga. But that doesn't mean that other events did not occur, it only means that this one event did occur.

-Slow

Source: https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/endless-space-2/forums/65-general/threads/29412-is-endless-space-1-canon

Endless Legend:

Originally posted by Community Member KnightofPhoenix:

I. The Endless colonize Auriga

Little is known as to when this happened, though I assume it was much later than the tragedy of Kyros and the birth of Dust. It appears that the Endless led a purge on Auriga, using their Scyther mechs to fight off Auriga's Guardians. It is interesting to note how similar the Scyther looks to the Allayi, indicating a possible source of inspiration and the fact that the Allayi might be native as well.

In addition, it seems that the Endless uplifted the Drakken, other natives of Auriga, through genetic and biological modification. It is unclear whether they did this during to or after the purge was complete. From the looks of things, it seems that the Drakken are programmed to follow Endless directives. I personally speculate that the Drakken were uplifted to fulfil the role of stewards of Auriga, managing and controlling the natives as well as experiments that the Endless were playing around with.

With that in mind, I have come to believe (and this is purely speculation on my part), that the Drakken were redesigned with the ability to influence minds. This would explain their ability to enforce international agreements, and it is hinted at by how faction leaders react to being forced into a treaty (one in particular states that they will comply with your wishes even though they don't know why). This is further hinted at, in my eyes, with the Drakken heroes being able to make minor factions passive (hero skill tree). It is not mind control perse, but the Drakken were given the ability to significantly influence the denizens of Auriga.

During their stay on Auriga, the Endless experimented with numerous creatures and created several such as the Erycis. Other native life forms, such as the Silics, were experimented on and studied. It also seems like the Endless sowed the seeds of the "human" races represented by the Broken Lords, Roving Clans, Sisters of Mercy, and Ardent Mages, and possibly the Wild Walkers (I'll get to that). It is unclear if the Endless created them, or brought them to Auriga from elsewhere, or were always there, or if they are in fact primitive Endless themselves.

II. The Dust Wars

The war between the Virtuals and the Concretes erupted, leading the Virtuals to unleashing the necrophages on Auriga. It seems also that they created the Cravers, though how they relate to the necrophages is unknown and might be revealed in ES2 (I personally like the idea that the necrophages, thanks to He Who Meddles, become the Cravers). However, He Who Meddles in the Necrophage Intro speaks of the necrophages as natives. It is thus possible that the necrophages were primitive insect lifeforms that were modified by the Virtuals to fight the Concretes.

The war led to the bombing of Auriga and the destabilization of its ecosystem, leading to a cataclysm. I will refer to it as the First Cataclysm. Though devastating, numerous species managed to survive. The Cult of the Eternal End was created at that time, with them being programmed to wipe all traces of the Endless on the planet, by a group of ashamed Endless. For some reason however, the Queen awoke erratic and unstable, taking her directives and following it with an enraged zeal that went beyond programming.

III. Post-First Cataclysm

After the volatility on Auriga stabilised and life could thrive once more, new civilizations emerged and prospered.

It would appear that the Roving Clans came into existence after breaking off from the main body of what will eventually be known as the Broken Lords, who we will assume were located on the Amber Plains. It is unclear whether the Ardent Mages are also an offshoot of the Broken Lords, or are rather an eventual off shoot from the Roving Clans. The similarity in names (both having significant Middle Eastern influence), as well as the fact that the Ardent Mages also have clans, seems to suggest the latter scenario.

So these 3 civilizations, in addition to other "human" societies flourished. We can assume that most lifeforms on Auriga flourished in this era of environmental stability.

IV. Second Cataclysm

Due to either the effects of the Dust Wars, or something inherent within Auriga that preceded the Endless, the planet once more fell into a downward spiral of environmental instability and volatility. It is unclear how much time had passed since the Dust Wars and the First Cataclysm.

It is also unclear whether the Broken Lords succumbed to Dust before or during the Second Cataclysm. Perhaps the "stark choice" between extinction and becoming dust was because of that cataclysm. We know of an event called "the red pestilence" in a hero biography. Perhaps it was a disease that the people on the Amber Plains were infected with and were thus prompted to transcend their organic bodies. What can be said is that there is a Broken Lords hero, full with dust affliction, in Dungeon of the Endless which takes place during the Second Cataclysm. We also see a Roving Clans merchant there as well, showing that the distinction between the once homogeneous group became complete.

We thus come to the Mezari and Success , which was shot down by an Endless defensive turret still active. The survivors of the crash, upon seeing the cataclysmic state of Auriga, decided to hide in the mountains and underground. They eventually became the Vaulters. It was also during that time that the Vaulters experimented on a number of their members to see if they could be adapted to Auriga's harsh climate. The experiments rebelled and were cast out, becoming the Forgotten.

V. Post-Second Cataclysm

Things once again calmed down in Auriga. We are not sure for how long, but it seems significant enough. Possibly a few centuries.

I like to think that it was around that time that the Wild Walkers became addicted to the sharing. I also like to think that the Wild Walkers were in fact "human", who used dust to project their conciousness into animals (a la Virtual, almost). However, the process is unstable and resulted in permanent physical alterations as well as hormonal ones, when the dust transferred the conciousness back into the original body . It led to the physical transformation of the Wild Walkers, with constant use of the Sharing resulting in more animalistic appearances and behaviours. It is unclear whether the Wild Walkers were designed that way or if they discovered this application of dust on their own (without, of course, understanding it. We have had several examples of "dust magic" used by denizens of Auriga without actually understanding it).

VI. The earthquake and the coming of the Third Cataclysm - events in Endless Legend.

It appears that the beginning of the Third Cataclysm and Auriga's re-descent into degradation were signalled by a massive earthquake that we see referenced in the Vaulter intro as well as in a number of biographies.

The earthquake forced the Vaulters to leave their underground cities and to start a new life on the surface. A splinter group of the Forgotten decided to move south, possibly due to unbearable living conditions in the North at the offset of that earthquake. A big part of the Necrophages got united under He Who Meddles, who somehow acquired a high level of sentience and self-awareness, either the result of an accident or a deliberate experiment. The Cult and the Unspoken made more explicit moves. The Wild Walkers decided to leave the forests and start to build. The Drakken, sensing another cataclysm, take it upon themselves to bring order and peace to Auriga and ensure collaboration. The Broken Lords continue to wrestle between their honour and necessity. The Roving Clans continue to amass dust in an effort to learn about it (mirroring the Concretes). And the Ardent Mages continue to explore body-mind disassociation using dust (mirroring the Virtuals). And finally, the Allayi seem to have returned to the fray.

This all coincides with the resurgence of the Guardians, as the winters on Auriga become erratic, longer, and harsher.

All we know of what happens during that time is the flight of the Grey Owl, carrying with it a dust crystal similar to the one in Dungeon of the Endless, before it explodes and seemingly releases Dust into the universe.

Source: https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/endless-legend/forums/5-general/threads/2852-timeline-surrounding-endless-legend-an-attempt

Originally posted by Alex l'Ariete:

I'm reading that all the games are connected, but how much?

By the lore behind the "Endless" and the Endless Universe.

Originally posted by Alex l'Ariete:

Do choices done in a game matter for the following games?

No, your choices won't have impact (apart from "your own story" you're going for?).

Originally posted by Alex l'Ariete:

How much is rewarding/important to play them in chronological order?

Difficult to answer. At least in case of Endless Legend and Endless Space (2) I'd say, play Endless Legend, first.

I'd like to quote, again:

Originally posted by Dev Slowhands:

Hi all,

I have seen a lot of questions about what "really happened" in the Endless Universe--which faction has fought which other faction, which events happened when, etc. Basically, it boils down to the question of what is officially "canon" and what is not. This is a complex subject, as there have been millions of playthroughs of our games, all generated uniquely. Well, we do have an answer to this, but it gets kinda metaphysical...

Basically, as a team doing the lore for a procedurally generated universe, we don't really like to insist that X or Y or Z event is canon. The reason is this: If we say that a thing is canon, we are saying that if your game doesn't have that event, your game isn't canon. It isn't real. How nice is that? "Thanks for buying our game, but your playthrough isn't legitimate. Only we get to say what is."

That's really uncool. We prefer to be cool.

So given that it is a procedurally generated game, and thus by default a procedurally generated universe that is different for every game, it seems logical by extension to say that EVERY playthrough of the game is canon. Every game is a unique and entirely legitimate instance of the Endless Multiverse, so it must, by definition, be official. This means, for instance, that ES1 and ES2 don't nullify or preclude each other, they are all happening out there, together, in the infinite multiverse.

Now you might think that we're sort of jerking the rug out from under your feet, that nothing is real, that the universe is limitless and uncontrollable and that if everything is canon, then anything is canon, so you might as well say that nothing is canon...

Not so! There are elements of the games and the universe that are canon and official. Examples of this are Hero biographies, events mentioned in ingame texts (Technologies, Quests, etc.), and even larger narratives like the comics series we have been doing.

In other words, a thing is considered "canon" when the infinite possibilities of the Endless Multiverse suffer quantum narrative collapse into a fixed medium (that is, by the way, the single most pleasing line of text I have ever written). So there are official canon events and situations, but we like to impose those with a light touch. We prefer that the majority of the canon be your canon, the stories you tell, the conquests that you live. It's your game, with your settings, and your--entirely canon--story.

So go have an adventure!

-Slow

Source: https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/endless-space-2/forums/65-general/threads/29142-a-brief-note-on-lore-canon-procedural-generation-and-the-endless-universe

Edited for "optical optimization".

[Alex l'Ariete]

Originally posted by Groo the one:

Originally posted by Alex l'Ariete:

Hi, as probably many have done, I purchased Endless Space 2 recently,

But. I never played anything else among the Endless games. And I like to follow the lore continuity when I approach a serie of games.

Not easy to answer, so quoting from official forum (www.games2gether.com):

Originally posted by Community Member Vem:

I'd think the timeline would be

1. Dungeon of the Endless
2. Endless Legend
3. Endless Space 2
4. Endless Space

Maybe, right? Dunno, it's in my head but I can't seem to type it out neatly. At least not without it being a cool three or four paragraphs long.

Originally posted by Community Member Nasarog - 7 years ago:

Within Endless Space, you have DotE followed by Endless Legend and then the Endless Space game

Endless Dungeon:

Originally posted by Dev Slowhands:

So Endless Dungeon does happen -- give or take a few decades -- at the same time as DotE...
... Endless Dungeon is not planned as a link to any other Amplitude game past, present, or future; the setting and the stories are being developed as standalone content. Anything can happen -- and we always leave a lot of hooks in our lore to play with it later -- but for the moment ED stands on its own.

-Slow

Source: https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/endless-dungeon/forums/203-general/threads/47401-is-the-endless-dungeon-timeline-being-revised

Originally posted by Dev Slowhands:

Hi all,

The idea is that we want to minimize anything that would prevent a player's game from being canon (if that makes sense). So rather than say that there is an official timeline where X then Y then Z happened, we like to think that there is a realm of possibilities, with certain things being more or less likely.

Of course, given that the Vaulter faction appears in ES2, it is certainly canon that they left Auriga. But that doesn't mean that other events did not occur, it only means that this one event did occur.

-Slow

Source: https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/endless-space-2/forums/65-general/threads/29412-is-endless-space-1-canon

Endless Legend:

Originally posted by Community Member KnightofPhoenix:

I. The Endless colonize Auriga

Little is known as to when this happened, though I assume it was much later than the tragedy of Kyros and the birth of Dust. It appears that the Endless led a purge on Auriga, using their Scyther mechs to fight off Auriga's Guardians. It is interesting to note how similar the Scyther looks to the Allayi, indicating a possible source of inspiration and the fact that the Allayi might be native as well.

In addition, it seems that the Endless uplifted the Drakken, other natives of Auriga, through genetic and biological modification. It is unclear whether they did this during to or after the purge was complete. From the looks of things, it seems that the Drakken are programmed to follow Endless directives. I personally speculate that the Drakken were uplifted to fulfil the role of stewards of Auriga, managing and controlling the natives as well as experiments that the Endless were playing around with.

With that in mind, I have come to believe (and this is purely speculation on my part), that the Drakken were redesigned with the ability to influence minds. This would explain their ability to enforce international agreements, and it is hinted at by how faction leaders react to being forced into a treaty (one in particular states that they will comply with your wishes even though they don't know why). This is further hinted at, in my eyes, with the Drakken heroes being able to make minor factions passive (hero skill tree). It is not mind control perse, but the Drakken were given the ability to significantly influence the denizens of Auriga.

During their stay on Auriga, the Endless experimented with numerous creatures and created several such as the Erycis. Other native life forms, such as the Silics, were experimented on and studied. It also seems like the Endless sowed the seeds of the "human" races represented by the Broken Lords, Roving Clans, Sisters of Mercy, and Ardent Mages, and possibly the Wild Walkers (I'll get to that). It is unclear if the Endless created them, or brought them to Auriga from elsewhere, or were always there, or if they are in fact primitive Endless themselves.

II. The Dust Wars

The war between the Virtuals and the Concretes erupted, leading the Virtuals to unleashing the necrophages on Auriga. It seems also that they created the Cravers, though how they relate to the necrophages is unknown and might be revealed in ES2 (I personally like the idea that the necrophages, thanks to He Who Meddles, become the Cravers). However, He Who Meddles in the Necrophage Intro speaks of the necrophages as natives. It is thus possible that the necrophages were primitive insect lifeforms that were modified by the Virtuals to fight the Concretes.

The war led to the bombing of Auriga and the destabilization of its ecosystem, leading to a cataclysm. I will refer to it as the First Cataclysm. Though devastating, numerous species managed to survive. The Cult of the Eternal End was created at that time, with them being programmed to wipe all traces of the Endless on the planet, by a group of ashamed Endless. For some reason however, the Queen awoke erratic and unstable, taking her directives and following it with an enraged zeal that went beyond programming.

III. Post-First Cataclysm

After the volatility on Auriga stabilised and life could thrive once more, new civilizations emerged and prospered.

It would appear that the Roving Clans came into existence after breaking off from the main body of what will eventually be known as the Broken Lords, who we will assume were located on the Amber Plains. It is unclear whether the Ardent Mages are also an offshoot of the Broken Lords, or are rather an eventual off shoot from the Roving Clans. The similarity in names (both having significant Middle Eastern influence), as well as the fact that the Ardent Mages also have clans, seems to suggest the latter scenario.

So these 3 civilizations, in addition to other "human" societies flourished. We can assume that most lifeforms on Auriga flourished in this era of environmental stability.

IV. Second Cataclysm

Due to either the effects of the Dust Wars, or something inherent within Auriga that preceded the Endless, the planet once more fell into a downward spiral of environmental instability and volatility. It is unclear how much time had passed since the Dust Wars and the First Cataclysm.

It is also unclear whether the Broken Lords succumbed to Dust before or during the Second Cataclysm. Perhaps the "stark choice" between extinction and becoming dust was because of that cataclysm. We know of an event called "the red pestilence" in a hero biography. Perhaps it was a disease that the people on the Amber Plains were infected with and were thus prompted to transcend their organic bodies. What can be said is that there is a Broken Lords hero, full with dust affliction, in Dungeon of the Endless which takes place during the Second Cataclysm. We also see a Roving Clans merchant there as well, showing that the distinction between the once homogeneous group became complete.

We thus come to the Mezari and Success , which was shot down by an Endless defensive turret still active. The survivors of the crash, upon seeing the cataclysmic state of Auriga, decided to hide in the mountains and underground. They eventually became the Vaulters. It was also during that time that the Vaulters experimented on a number of their members to see if they could be adapted to Auriga's harsh climate. The experiments rebelled and were cast out, becoming the Forgotten.

V. Post-Second Cataclysm

Things once again calmed down in Auriga. We are not sure for how long, but it seems significant enough. Possibly a few centuries.

I like to think that it was around that time that the Wild Walkers became addicted to the sharing. I also like to think that the Wild Walkers were in fact "human", who used dust to project their conciousness into animals (a la Virtual, almost). However, the process is unstable and resulted in permanent physical alterations as well as hormonal ones, when the dust transferred the conciousness back into the original body . It led to the physical transformation of the Wild Walkers, with constant use of the Sharing resulting in more animalistic appearances and behaviours. It is unclear whether the Wild Walkers were designed that way or if they discovered this application of dust on their own (without, of course, understanding it. We have had several examples of "dust magic" used by denizens of Auriga without actually understanding it).

VI. The earthquake and the coming of the Third Cataclysm - events in Endless Legend.

It appears that the beginning of the Third Cataclysm and Auriga's re-descent into degradation were signalled by a massive earthquake that we see referenced in the Vaulter intro as well as in a number of biographies.

The earthquake forced the Vaulters to leave their underground cities and to start a new life on the surface. A splinter group of the Forgotten decided to move south, possibly due to unbearable living conditions in the North at the offset of that earthquake. A big part of the Necrophages got united under He Who Meddles, who somehow acquired a high level of sentience and self-awareness, either the result of an accident or a deliberate experiment. The Cult and the Unspoken made more explicit moves. The Wild Walkers decided to leave the forests and start to build. The Drakken, sensing another cataclysm, take it upon themselves to bring order and peace to Auriga and ensure collaboration. The Broken Lords continue to wrestle between their honour and necessity. The Roving Clans continue to amass dust in an effort to learn about it (mirroring the Concretes). And the Ardent Mages continue to explore body-mind disassociation using dust (mirroring the Virtuals). And finally, the Allayi seem to have returned to the fray.

This all coincides with the resurgence of the Guardians, as the winters on Auriga become erratic, longer, and harsher.

All we know of what happens during that time is the flight of the Grey Owl, carrying with it a dust crystal similar to the one in Dungeon of the Endless, before it explodes and seemingly releases Dust into the universe.

Source: https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/endless-legend/forums/5-general/threads/2852-timeline-surrounding-endless-legend-an-attempt

Originally posted by Alex l'Ariete:

I'm reading that all the games are connected, but how much?

By the lore behind the "Endless" and the Endless Universe.

Originally posted by Alex l'Ariete:

Do choices done in a game matter for the following games?

No, your choices won't have impact (apart from "your own story" you're going for?).

Originally posted by Alex l'Ariete:

How much is rewarding/important to play them in chronological order?

Difficult to answer. At least in case of Endless Legend and Endless Space (2) I'd say, play Endless Legend, first.

I'd like to quote, again:

Originally posted by Dev Slowhands:

Hi all,

I have seen a lot of questions about what "really happened" in the Endless Universe--which faction has fought which other faction, which events happened when, etc. Basically, it boils down to the question of what is officially "canon" and what is not. This is a complex subject, as there have been millions of playthroughs of our games, all generated uniquely. Well, we do have an answer to this, but it gets kinda metaphysical...

Basically, as a team doing the lore for a procedurally generated universe, we don't really like to insist that X or Y or Z event is canon. The reason is this: If we say that a thing is canon, we are saying that if your game doesn't have that event, your game isn't canon. It isn't real. How nice is that? "Thanks for buying our game, but your playthrough isn't legitimate. Only we get to say what is."

That's really uncool. We prefer to be cool.

So given that it is a procedurally generated game, and thus by default a procedurally generated universe that is different for every game, it seems logical by extension to say that EVERY playthrough of the game is canon. Every game is a unique and entirely legitimate instance of the Endless Multiverse, so it must, by definition, be official. This means, for instance, that ES1 and ES2 don't nullify or preclude each other, they are all happening out there, together, in the infinite multiverse.

Now you might think that we're sort of jerking the rug out from under your feet, that nothing is real, that the universe is limitless and uncontrollable and that if everything is canon, then anything is canon, so you might as well say that nothing is canon...

Not so! There are elements of the games and the universe that are canon and official. Examples of this are Hero biographies, events mentioned in ingame texts (Technologies, Quests, etc.), and even larger narratives like the comics series we have been doing.

In other words, a thing is considered "canon" when the infinite possibilities of the Endless Multiverse suffer quantum narrative collapse into a fixed medium (that is, by the way, the single most pleasing line of text I have ever written). So there are official canon events and situations, but we like to impose those with a light touch. We prefer that the majority of the canon be your canon, the stories you tell, the conquests that you live. It's your game, with your settings, and your--entirely canon--story.

So go have an adventure!

-Slow

Source: https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/endless-space-2/forums/65-general/threads/29142-a-brief-note-on-lore-canon-procedural-generation-and-the-endless-universe

Edited for "optical optimization".

woah, deep thanks!

[utilityguy]

I'm butting in to say that Endless Space 2 is likely a light-reboot of the original Endless Space, so you don't have to play Endless Space in order to get the thematic lore... especially since that game doesn't do much in providing a narrative. It's more of a sandbox, with sprinkles of lore.

However: the Lore continuity approach to Endless universe is to Follow the Vaulters throughout the series of the games, as they are the one faction whose overall timeline is explored within the series.

The Vaulters Trailer for Endless Space 2 is what got me into the series, and I started with the intent of following the Vaulter Narrative, which is:

Dungeon of the Endless > Endless Legend > Endless Space 2. Endless Space (1) did not factor into my playthroughs, and having visited that game has solidified my view that it's gone through a soft reboot in Endless Space 2.

[Groo the one]

Originally posted by Alex l'Ariete:

woah, deep thanks!

You're welcome!