Topic: A Theory: Could Overload Be Set In The Same Universe As Descent? SPOILERS!

[Scyphi]

I know Revival has already indicated that it's not meant to be seen this way, and that Overload is just a separate game that draws heavy inspiration from Descent as a sort of spiritual successor.

And it's not that I need the two interlinked either, because I can see Overload standing fine on it's own, and seeing it do so actually intrigues me for the possibilities it opens.

Yet I can't help but think about it...and I'm finding it would be pretty easy to do so--if one was so inclined, of course.

Obviously, those who have played Overload already knows it directly names the PTMC, twice, establishing that the infamous organization exists in Overload too. It's probably meant as just a little cookie for us Descent fans, but it still does allow one to extrapolate that there could be a connection between the two.

Of course, if Overload was set in the same universe, it'd have to be set sometime before D1, because D1 (surprisingly) establishes that it has tech Overload does not yet have, but could or will soon (such as speedier interplanetary travel), or has only recently developed but hasn't become widespread in usage yet (like the auto-op fabricators--matcens in Descent lingo--or the teleportation technology). Most telling of all is how the corporations don't seem to have spread very far past the asteroid belt, but are definitely starting to press outward now, e.g. Cronus Frontier. It's easy to see how it wouldn't be too much longer before the spread and growth of these organizations match that to how it is in Descent.

The timing is almost eerily good too. Overload takes place in the year 2118, about a hundred years out from today. Now Descent doesn't give a canon year at anytime in any of its three games...in-game. However, I recalled a thread sometime back in which Kaiaatzl recovered a "canon" year D1 is said to be set in in the game manual: 2132. Just fourteen years after the year Overload is set in.

That might seem like it's too soon, given the tech gap between the two. But consider that, at the end of Overload, Juno Offworld gets to walk off with (SPOILER) the second sovereign, which, assuming no complications, means a whole lot of new tech to study, reverse-engineer, and adopt. And given some of the rapid leaps Kantor and company were able to make from analyzing the same sort of tech, and how characters in-game suggest such tech could help accelerate humanity's spread into space in one or two of the audio-logs, it strikes me that this could be enough to put Overload at pretty much the same spot as D1 after another fourteen years to process it all.

So I'm finding that, with all the world-building Overload gives us, the major details all still...interlock a lot nicer than I would've expected, almost as if pieces of a puzzle. And it just seems...so convenient to me that all of this lines up like that. Almost like it was planned that way...

Of course, this all just a theory. A game theory, if you will.  But it was something that won't leave me alone, so I thought I'd throw that out there, see if it sparks a discussion, if only for the fun of it. 

[Hunter]

Unfortunately it wasn't actually planned to be connected. Mike Kulas said he wasn't aware of the PTMC references in the dialogue at release, so actually it went over his head.
It's not a big deal mind you, since they do own the rights to that name.

Also the Descent 2 intro has a line of dialogue that implies the 21st century is in the distant past, so we can assume the current year is in the 22nd at least.

Omens is also set before D1.. But I didn't go into any details really since it's just a standalone 'for fun' level with a potential for followups. 

[Scyphi]

Mike Kulas said he wasn't aware of the PTMC references in the dialogue at release, so actually it went over his head.

Was not aware of that.

Also the Descent 2 intro has a line of dialogue that implies the 21st century is in the distant past, so we can assume the current year is in the 22nd at least.

Right. The 2100s would be the 22nd century. We're in the 21st century now.

At any rate, the point of all of this wasn't so much to say that they ARE interconnected, but that it'd be dang easy to MAKE them interconnected, should one desire it. And I wanted to see what everyone's thoughts, if any, might be on that.

[Kaiaatzl]

Jason Scott was the one writing the dialogue, not Kulas.  Entirely possible this was all his idea.
And PTMC gets three mentions -- once by Bai Li and twice by Kantor.

[TechPro]

I'm fine with it either way.  I'm simple about it.

[Scyphi]

Last time I checked, you haven't even played the full game of Overload yet. 

[TechPro]

True.  You wanna get me a better computer for Christmas?

[edaciousx]

Could there have been a reason Mike Lukas said he wasn't aware? To avoid any legality issues? Or to kind of leave it up for debate so fans could talk about it? Either way, totally loved the ptmc callouts and I think it is a prequel.