Outpost 2: Divided Destiny

Last updated: January 9, 2026

Overview

Outpost 2: Divided Destiny is a real-time strategy game developed by Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line in 1997¹. Unlike traditional real-time strategy games, Outpost 2 emphasizes colony management over the destruction of enemies². The game is set on a distant planet called New Terra, where the last survivors of humanity must build sustainable colonies after Earth was destroyed by an asteroid impact known as Vulcan’s Hammer³⁴.

The game focuses on the happiness and survival of the colonists - the last remaining survivors of an Earth catastrophe⁵. Players must manage complex colony systems while dealing with environmental disasters, resource scarcity, and the spreading threat of a terraforming microbe gone wrong called “the Blight”⁶. Over time, two colonies arise that have different goals in rebuilding humanity⁷, creating the central conflict that drives the game’s narrative.

Game Info

Developer: Dynamix¹ Designer: Allen McPheeters, Pat Cook¹ Publisher: Sierra On-Line¹ Platforms: Windows 95/NT 4.0, macOS, Linux⁸ Release Year: 1997 Series: Outpost Sierra Lineage: Core Sierra

Story Summary

The story begins after Earth has been devastated by an asteroid impact, forcing the last survivors to journey to a distant planet called New Terra⁹. The game’s backstory reveals that “the earth, is dead. As the asteroid fragments landed, the last few survivors departed the solar system, seeking a new home among the stars”¹⁰. The colonists’ situation becomes desperate when their secret terraforming experiments produce a deadly side effect - a mutated microbe spreading through the planet’s crust that scientists call the “Blight”⁶.

The narrative is driven by survival missions where players must evacuate colonies as disasters strike. Early missions involve urgent evacuations with briefings stating “Something has gone horribly wrong. We must evacuate the colony immediately”⁶. The story explores themes of human survival and the consequences of scientific experimentation, as the colonists must deal with contaminated expeditions where “once our units enter the infected area, they will be carriers of the Blight”⁶. The game’s tagline “Extinction is not an option” underscores the desperate nature of humanity’s struggle for survival¹¹.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

The game features a top-down perspective with mouse and keyboard controls¹². Players interact with the game world by left-clicking and right-clicking on various structures and units. To increase factory production, players must left-click and right-click on buildings¹³. The interface emphasizes colony management systems over traditional military command structures found in other RTS games.

Structure and Progression

Outpost 2 offers three distinct game modes: Campaign, Colony, and Multiplayer¹⁴. The campaign mode includes two single-player campaigns that follow different colonial factions¹⁵. Players can choose between Eden and Plymouth colonies, each with unique advantages and disadvantages⁵. The game features mission-based gameplay with varying map sizes, including 64x64 tiles for Mission 1 and 128x64 tiles for Mission 2¹⁶.

The ultimate goal is to build a spaceship and escape from New Terra, a planet that is ravaged by a terraforming microbe gone bad¹². The game supports up to 6 players in multiplayer mode via network or the Sierra gaming service¹⁷.

Puzzles and Mechanics

Morale is a critical factor for the colony, and because it can fluctuate rapidly, much of the player’s attention is spent on ensuring that it remains at optimal levels². The game emphasizes resource management, technological research, and careful planning rather than military conquest. Players must balance various colony needs including food production, housing, research facilities, and defense against environmental hazards.

The game includes over 140 vehicles and buildings, more than 2,000 terrain types, and over 60,000 animation frames¹⁵. Combat exists but is secondary to survival mechanics, with some critics noting that “everything shoots lasers” and combat moves “slower than a sloth in a tar pit”¹⁸.

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

Publication	Score	Notes
The Adrenaline Vault	3.5/5	Praised structured campaign play and colony survival challenge1
GameSpot	5/10 (Mediocre)	Criticized as “The Hurry Up and Wait game” due to slow pacing19
Computer Gaming World	3.5/5	Called it “an excellent attempt to resurrect this franchise” but noted “limited vision”1
GameFabrique	7/10	Heavily criticized the slow pacing, calling it “one to avoid”18

Modern Assessment

Modern user reviews have been more favorable than contemporary professional reviews. GOG.com user reviews aggregate to 4.3/5 based on 46 user reviews⁸. Metacritic users rate the game 8.3/10²⁰, while MyAbandonware gives it 4.75/5⁵. GameFAQs users rate it as “Great” based on 24 ratings¹⁴.

User reviews often praise the game’s unique approach to the RTS genre. One reviewer noted it’s “an RTS not centered around combat” where “the conflict here is not against some enemy force, but against nature itself”⁸. Another user called it “a classic but underrated game that expertly mixed city building with RTS elements”²⁰.

Development

Origins

Outpost 2: Divided Destiny was developed as a sequel to the original Outpost from 1994³. The original Outpost had received poor reception, leading Sierra to pass development to Dynamix for the sequel¹⁹. A professional science fiction author was brought in to develop the plot and backstory⁵, and the game includes a novella by J. Steven York¹².

Production

The development team was led by designers Allen McPheeters and Pat Cook¹. Charles Barth composed the music¹, while Kathy Cullis provided the voice of the Savant Computer¹. The designers approached the sequel methodically to avoid the mistakes of the original, resulting in technically sound but sometimes criticized as dull gameplay¹⁹.

Technical Achievements

The game was built with impressive technical specifications for its time, featuring over 2,000 terrain types, more than 140 vehicles and buildings, and over 60,000 animation frames¹⁵. System requirements included a Pentium 90 processor, 16 MB RAM, 32k colors, 4X CD-ROM drive, and 16-bit sound card¹⁸. The game supported SVGA 256 colors and required 4:3 resolution¹⁷.

Legacy

Despite mixed contemporary reviews, Outpost 2 has maintained an active community of players and developers who continue to support and develop content for the game²¹. The Sierra Internet Gaming System (SIGS) that originally supported online play has been discontinued, but the game is now commonly played through virtual networks like Hamachi².

The game has been preserved and made available through modern digital distribution platforms like GOG.com, which released version 1.2 in 2020²². The community continues to create new content, with scenario packs and updates still being developed decades after the original release²³.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

• GOG.com

Download / Preservation

• MyAbandonware
• Internet Archive

Series Continuity

• Previous: Outpost (1994)
• Next: No direct sequel produced

References

Footnotes

1. Dynamix Fandom Wiki – - Development credits and team information ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. Wikipedia – - Gameplay mechanics description ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. TV Tropes – - Background story and setting ↩ ↩²

4. Outpost2.net Community Wiki – - Game lore and technical details ↩

5. MyAbandonware – - Game focus and narrative premise ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. GameFAQs Walkthrough – - Mission briefings and plot details ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. Abandonware Games – - Game narrative description ↩

8. GOG.com – - Platform support information ↩ ↩² ↩³

9. Tropedia Fandom – - Plot summary and setting ↩

10. Medium Retrospective – - Backstory and narrative context ↩

11. Nerd Bacon Magazine – - Game tagline ↩

12. MobyGames – - Technical specifications and input devices ↩ ↩² ↩³

13. IGN Cheats – - Game production mechanics ↩

14. GameFAQs – - Game modes description ↩ ↩²

15. Archive.org Manual – - Campaign structure details ↩ ↩² ↩³

16. GameFAQs Guide – - Mission map specifications ↩

17. PCGamingWiki – - Multiplayer specifications ↩ ↩²

18. GameFabrique – - Combat criticism and review ↩ ↩² ↩³

19. GameSpot Review – - Professional review and criticism ↩ ↩² ↩³

20. Metacritic – - User score aggregate ↩ ↩²

21. Outpost2.net – - Community support and ongoing development ↩

22. GOG Database – - Version history and digital distribution ↩

23. Archive.org Update – - Community content and scenario packs ↩