Metropolis Dawn Expansion Pack

  • The article about the unreleased but fully official Metropolis Dawn Expansion Pack for Microsoft Urban Assault.

    (This article is currently under construction!)

    1 Information

    Metropolis Dawn Expansion Pack is the fully official, but unreleased standalone expansion pack for Microsoft Urban Assault. The Metropolis Dawn expansion pack was officially planned and developed by the original German UA TerraTools developers, just shortly after the release of the original Urban Assault.

    2 Overview

    Metropolis Dawn Expansion Pack for Urban Assault primarily features two completely new and fully official single-player campaigns for the Ghorkov and the Taerkasten factions with the narratives of their own respective mission scenarios and storyline perspectives.

    The new Metropolis Dawn campaigns take place after the finale of the Resistance campaign events from the original Urban Assault Resistance campaign in terms of timeline and storyline (after the successful destruction of the first Mykonian Parasite Machine by SDU7), where the Resistance has regained their global influence and established new hegemony upon the Earth as the victorious faction that heroically saved the Earth from a certain extinction. The expansion campaigns allow the player to experience the continuation of the story of global conflicts and warfare from the perspectives of the other two major human factions.

    Along with the new official campaigns, the Metropolis Dawn Expansion Pack also introduces several new vehicles, weapons, buildings, as well as many different types of new and updated multiplayer levels. Additionally, unlike the original Urban Assault which is officially supported in four official languages (English, German, French, Japanese), Metropolis Dawn is available in three official languages (English, German, French).

    3 History

    Metropolis Dawn was initially planned and officially developed just shortly after the release of Urban Assault by the TerraTools development team back in the year 1998. However, due to certain contract issues between their new publisher company for the expansion pack, Metropolis Dawn was never commercially released despite being almost completely finished.

    During the early 2000s, several original UA developers from TerraTools visited the UAHQ message boards (one of the earliest major UA message boards created by Allan "WinAce" Glenn), and the game file package that contains the full data and content of the much-rumoured Metropolis Dawn expansion pack was leaked to the UA community at some point later.

    4 New Contents

    4.1 Host Stations

    4.1.1 Ghorkov

    • (Single-player campaign mode only; Player-only) Turantul I (Metropolis Dawn)
    • (Single-player campaign mode only; Player-only) Turantul II (Skorpio) (Metropolis Dawn)

    4.1.2 Taerkasten

    4.2 Vehicles

    4.2.1 Taerkasten

    4.2.2 Mykonian

    4.3 Buildings

    4.3.1 Taerkasten

    5 Levels

    5.1 Single-player Levels

    Level names in this section are based on English version by default.

    5.1.1 Ghorkov Campaign Levels

    • Generalmobilization (L0707.ldf)
    • Einkesselung (L1414.ldf)
    • Doublecrossed (L1717.ldf)
    • The Contact (L1919.ldf)
    • Heckenschützen (L2828.ldf)
    • Mykonian Encirclement (L3535.ldf)
    • Taerkasten Fortress "Smontje Broselsmund" (L3737.ldf)
    • Spießrutenlauf (L3939.ldf)
    • Parasite Under Construction (L4646.ldf)
    • In Last Second (L4848.ldf)
    • Taerkasten Wimps (L5656.ldf)
    • The Stoudson Cooperation (L5858.ldf)
    • Frozen Kamshadka (L6767.ldf)
    • Pirates Islands On Chinese See (L6969.ldf)
    • No More Tide (L7777.ldf)
    • Parasite Dome (L7979.ldf)

    5.1.2 Taerkasten Campaign Levels

    • Order To Fire (L0606.ldf)
    • Marshland (L1313.ldf)
    • Dreaded Canyon (L1616.ldf)
    • Expanse Of Rubble (L1818.ldf)
    • Mountains Of Thunder (L0808.ldf)
    • Slippery Night (L2929.ldf)
    • Stoudson's Bastion (L3636.ldf)
    • Bomb Thread (L3838.ldf)
    • Dark Shadows Over Green Valley (L4545.ldf)
    • Rocket Hill (L4747.ldf)
    • Dejavu (L5555.ldf)
    • Dreiländereck (L5757.ldf)
    • Badlands (L6565.ldf)
    • Pyre (L6868.ldf)
    • The Fight For Liberation (L7878.ldf)

    5.2 Multiplayer Levels

    There are total 17 new multiplayer levels and 4 updated multiplayer levels in Metropolis Dawn.

    (TO DO: Add full level titles.)

    5.2.1 New Levels

    • Triangle - XPack (L9494.ldf)
    • Radial - XPack (L105105.ldf)
    • Babelsberg - XPack (L115115.ldf)
    • Sectionalism - XPack (L124124.ldf)
    • Encroachments - XPack (L127127.ldf)
    • Haywire - XPack (L129129.ldf)
    • Anarchy - XPack (L135135.ldf)
    • Event Horizon - XPack (L148148.ldf)
    • R.A.G. - XPack (L150150.ldf)
    • Scramble - XPack (L151151.ldf)
    • Duck and Cover - XPack (L152152.ldf)
    • Divine - XPack (L153153.ldf)
    • Hell on Earth - XPack (L154154.ldf)
    • Hit-n-Run - XPack (L155155.ldf)
    • Sanssouci - XPack (L156156.ldf)
    • Zwinger - XPack (L157157.ldf)
    • Rock-n-Roll - XPack (L158158.ldf)

    5.2.2 Updated Levels

    • The Artificial - XPack (L100100.ldf)
    • Templar Knights - XPack (L110110.ldf)
    • Four Power Talks - XPack (L117117.ldf)
    • Run to the Hills - XPack (L130130.ldf)

    6 Downloads

    Metropolis Dawn Expansion Pack for Urban Assault is hosted and available for download on our main file repository server.

    Please check the Installation section below for the detailed game installation instruction guide of the expansion file package.

    6.1 Expansion Package Download Link

    File

    Metropolis Dawn (Expansion Pack)

    Metropolis Dawn is an official, but unreleased expansion pack for Microsoft Urban Assault.
    Schloss Charlottenburg
    December 25, 2021 at 6:00 AM


    OpenUA Standalone Package also contains the full Metropolis Dawn game data files and content, which have been configured for OpenUA.

    The installation process for Metropolis Dawn does not apply for the OpenUA Standalone Package, since everything is pre-configured already.

    6.2 OpenUA Package Download Link

    File

    OpenUA Standalone Package - Full Game

    The full OpenUA Standalone Package with all necessary game data files and pre-configuration setups.
    Schloss Charlottenburg
    December 25, 2021 at 6:00 AM

    7 Installation

    7.1 Windows

    To install Metropolis Dawn, the user must have either 'Typical' or 'Full' version of the original Urban Assault installed on their machine with full registry data. The MD installer (Setup.exe) will automatically search and detect the required UA registry keys to determine the appropriate location for copying the expansion data files. Therefore, if your Urban Assault installation is not clean or damaged/corrupted, there is a high chance that the installer may not work properly.

    It is highly recommended to launch the MD installer file with administrator rights and via backward compatibility settings (such as Windows 98/XP). Once the game installer is launched, follow the setup instructions provided by the program in order to install the Metropolis Dawn expansion pack. If the installation is successful, there will be two official shortcuts created accordingly that are used for starting the official Ghorkov and Taerkasten campaigns at the desktop.

    The multiplayer mode on Metropolis Dawn should be played via these shortcuts as well since they load the appropriate environment parameters for the MD dataset for the MD contents.

    7.2 Linux

    The Metropolis Dawn Expansion Pack installer file and the game software itself are only available on Windows API by default. However, some common alternatives such as Wine can be used. OpenUA will also natively work on Linux.

    8 Troubleshooting

    Check the Windows Troubleshooting article for further assistance about the game. The majority of instructions in the article also apply to the expansion pack as well. Alternatively, should you encounter any further issues or problems during the installation process or gameplay, feel free to visit the forums and open a support ticket thread about them.

    9 Trivia

    • Compared to the original Urban Assault, where the game was officially localised into 4 languages (English, German, French, Japanese), the Metropolis Dawn expansion pack officially supports 3 languages data (English, German, French), without the Japanese language translation this time.


    • Some mistranslation errors are present in the English language version mission briefing texts of the Metropolis Dawn expansion pack compared to the original German language version mission briefing texts. This was most likely caused by minor oversights or mistakes during the translation process.


    • The language system displayed in the Ghorkov menu background manifesto artwork of the Metropolis Dawn expansion pack is Cyrillic Alphabet (Russian: Кириллический алфавит). This writing script is the most widespread and prominent language system used in Eastern Europe and Northern Eurasia regions. The constructions of the text contents themselves appear to be a type of neologism invention or a hybrid amalgamation form of languages with potential influences and direct transliterations inspired by various Eastern and Central European languages; which constitute the unique Kyterneser language as a result.


    • The language system written in the Taerkasten menu background manuscript artwork of the Metropolis Dawn expansion pack is Theban Alphabet (German: Thebanisches Alphabet). Alternatively known as 'Runes of Honorius', it is found in various western occult and esoteric neopaganism contexts and works throughout the history (especially in Germany and Britain). This cryptographic and steganographic writing system was historically practised (and almost certainly devised) by at least two German polymaths during the Renaissance period of the Holy Roman Empire: Johannes Trithemius (1462 - 1516), the German polymath and scholar who is widely presumed to be the very first creator of the Theban Alphabet system; and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486 - 1535), the German polymath and occult writer who was one of the most significant pupils of Trithemius, along with the figures such as Swiss alchemist Paracelsus (1493 - 1541). Specifically, this writing system was employed during the late medieval and Renaissance period of the Holy Roman Empire in their respective works regarding the steganography and occultism/esotericism. ('Polygraphiae' by Johannes Trithemius, published in 1518; and 'De Occulta Philosophia' by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, published in 1531.) Such works and other magnum opus from various writers were frequently placed in Index Librorum Prohibitorum upon publication, until the forbidden bibliographical list was eventually abolished in the year 1966 by Pope Paul VI. (TO DO: Add further reference material and sources from the British Library --Charlotte)


    • In the Metropolis Dawn Ghorkov campaign, the player will initially begin the campaign with the Turantul I host station for the early-game missions. During the campaign progress, the player will be promoted and will be transferred to the more powerful Turantul II 'Skorpio' host station for the mid- to late-game missions.


    • In the Metropolis Dawn Taerkasten campaign, the player's variants of the Taerkasten Flying Fortress and the Taerkasten Flak Station possess reduced projectile damage than normal (10000 vs 20000 for the Flying Fortress turret 'Zermalmer'; 15000 vs 21000 for the Taerkasten Flakturm), which result in decreased firepower output than their standard counterparts. This change was probably applied to restrict the effectiveness and reliance of heavily defensive-oriented strategy from the player, where the Taerkasten faction possesses numerous natural advantages already.


    • The true original faction name of the Ghorkov, the 'Kyterneser', is used throughout the Ghorkov campaign to refer the faction; and both faction names are clearly distinguished as the exonym and the endonym to designate the faction within the lore. It is also possible that this distinction arises due to the separate geographical branches of the same faction. (See the Kyterneser article for more information.)


    • The two Taerkasten tank units that are newly introduced in Metropolis Dawn expansion pack, 'Thor's Hammer' (Odin) and 'Ostwind' (Kettenfahrzeug), are based on and inspired by the tank/vehicle designs from WWII, whereas the two original Taerkasten tanks (Eisenhans and Leonid) are based on and inspired by the tank designs from WWI.


    • The final mission of the Ghorkov campaign, Parasite Dome, contains some building placement errors for the enemy factions where their ownerships are assigned to wrong factions. This is the only instance where such a mistake is present in the entire game. This was most likely caused by accident during the process of switching the locations of the Resistance and Taerkasten bases (they were originally situated at the opposite directions as evidenced by the satellite image map).


    • As the player progresses further into both Metropolis Dawn campaigns, the enemy Resistance faction will develop and acquire their own versions of enhanced technology upgrades as extra challenges. Some of the technological improvements are similar to the level of the technology upgrades that the Resistance attained during the original campaign as SDU7.


    • Based on the game data files of Metropolis Dawn, the official Mykonian single-player campaign may have been also planned for a development. It was most likely cancelled due to the problems regarding its further development caused by the unforeseen contract issue with a new publisher. This also renders the Mykonians the only playable major faction that does not have an official single-player campaign, and Myko Crusher the only new unit added in Metropolis Dawn that cannot be used by the player in the single-player mode.


    • Some single-player level names in the Metropolis Dawn campaigns are fully described in German in the English localisation. Some of the examples are 'Einkesselung' (Encirclement), 'Spießrutenlauf' (Gauntlet), or 'Dreiländereck' (Tripoint; usually refers to the famous monument site that is located in Basel, Switzerland which marks the tripoint where the borders of France, Germany and Switzerland meet).


    • Likewise, some new multiplayer level names that are introduced in MD expansion pack are based on various famous and historical sites in Germany: 'Babelsberg' (it should not be confused with the original UA multiplayer level 'Kreuzberg', which is named after a district in central Berlin) is the largest borough in Potsdam as well as the very first original HQ location of TerraTools ('Villa Urbig'); whilst both 'Sanssouci' (commissioned by Friedrich II. der Große von Preußen; whose name is also featured in the original UA multiplayer level) and 'Zwinger' are the famous royal palatial complexes in Potsdam and Dresden, the state capital cities of the German states of Brandenburg and Saxony (Sachsen), respectively.

    10 Notes

    • The default Ghorkov player profile name is 'Conrade', and the default Taerkasten player profile name is 'Truzen', while the standard callsign for the multiplayer is 'Big_UA_Fan'.


    • The job preference rating values of Dragonfly and the AI attack pattern behaviours of Rhino are tweaked for the Resistance faction in the Metropolis Dawn expansion pack. These changes result in different unit selection criteria and AI attack behaviours for these two units when utilised by the enemy Resistance AI in the Metropolis Dawn campaign missions.


    • In the Metropolis Dawn Ghorkov campaign, the player will initially begin the campaign with the Turantul I host station for the early-game missions. During the campaign progress, the player will be promoted and will be transferred to the more powerful Turantul II 'Skorpio' host station for the mid- to late-game missions.


    • In the Metropolis Dawn Taerkasten campaign, the player's variants of the Taerkasten Flying Fortress and the Taerkasten Flak Station possess reduced projectile damage than normal (10000 vs 20000 for the Flying Fortress turret 'Zermalmer'; 15000 vs 21000 for the Taerkasten Flakturm), which result in decreased firepower output than their standard counterparts. This change was probably applied to restrict the effectiveness and reliance of heavily defensive-oriented strategy from the player, where the Taerkasten faction possesses numerous natural advantages already.


    • As the player progresses further into both Metropolis Dawn campaigns, the enemy Resistance faction will develop and acquire their own versions of enhanced technology upgrades as extra challenges. Some of the technological improvements are similar to the level of the technology upgrades that the Resistance attained during the original campaign as SDU7.

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