Eternal Engine: Difference between revisions

A vast factory complex or machine that can fill up a building, a city or even a whole planet. Its purpose [[Smoke and Fire Factory|may not be readily apparent]], probably due to the sheer ''size'' of the thing. Pumping pistons act as elevators or [[Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom|crushers]], conveyor belts cover half the floors, and you can expect something to try to [[Everything Trying to Kill You|squash you flat]] sooner or later. Needless to say, [[Malevolent Architecture|this would not be a fun place to work]]. The '''Eternal Engine''' may be the insides of the [[Forgotten Superweapon]], or [[Polluted Wasteland]] for a technologically inclined [[Big Bad]]. In either case, you usually run into it as one of the final stages.

* ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]''' Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus, which is an ''entire plane of existence''. Naturaly, [[Clockwork Creature|Clockwork Creatures]]s live there.

* Many of the Imperium's factories in ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' are often described as these. "Small city" is a severe understatement for some of the bigger ones. Then you have the Forge Worlds, which are ''entire planets'' converted into factories.

** Aquatic Base from [[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 (video game)||Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]], combining it with [[Under the Sea]].

** Planet Wisp from ''[[Sonic Colors]]'' is not the only example in that game, but certainly notablenotable—the -- the [[Eternal Engine]] is still under construction, but much of the [[Green Hill Zone|natural beauty]] has [[Green Aesop|already been spoiled]].

** There's also [[Final Fantasy VI]]'s Magitek Research Facility in [[The Empire|Vector]]. [[Inconveniently-Placed Conveyor Belt|Conveyer belts]], a trash dump, and big glass tubes of chemicals with {{spoiler|Espers inside, being drained of their magical energy courtesy of [[ReluctantEngineer MadExploited ScientistFor Evil|not-so-mad scientist]] Cid}}. All set to the track 'Devil's Lab', which can only be described as industrial rock with piston percussion, growling electric bass and organ, and strings.

** ''Castlevania: Bloodlines'' has a relatively modern factory level. Not too suprising, since the game takes place across Europe during [[World War OneI]].

* ''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]'' features Welcome to the Machine, a giant alien meat grinder and the [[Scrappy Level]] to end all [[Scrappy Level|Scrappy Levels]]s. It makes a ''slightly'' less insane return in the sequel ''Tides of Time''.

** In a bit of [[Fridge Logic]], Sekto keeps two large reactor type objects that he apparently uses as weapons right next to his desk, which like most equipment in an [[Eternal Engine]], ''[[Explosive Instrumentation|will explode]] if you shoot it enough''. Apparently he either really wants to be a [[Load-Bearing Boss]], or he doesn't care about his own safety.

** The sequel takes this up to eleven, where apparently the entire facility's operations is to churn out products for testing against other products. While there are facilities to manufacture products (indeed Wheatley apparently was able to design and mass produce his own robots) there seems to be no way of shipping them, only to continue sending them back into tests. [[G La DOSGLaDOS]] and Wheatley also seem to have little else other than to continue testing for their entire lives.

* Most of ''[[Prey]]'' takes place in a planet-sized [[Eternal Engine]]. The aliens live in a giant artificial sphere in which every room, corridor and passage is strewn with wires, pipes and machinery of all sorts (not always inoffensive).

* The factory level in ''[[Quake II]]'' was a large complex in which human and mechanical parts were cut'n'pasted together (with no anesthetic...) to form Strogg soldiers. The machinery had more psychological effects and less gameplay consequences than most [[Eternal Engine]] environments, but the player was required to avoid a giant crusher or two and step on a few conveyor belts.

* The image at the top is of the Steel Works level from ''[[Sparkster]]'' for the SNES, although it's far from the only [[Eternal Engine]] level in that series; at least half of the levels in that series could be considered variations on the concept.

* The Sun Temple in ''[[Aquaria (video game)|Aquaria]]'' is a clockwork [[Eternal Engine]]; you can even pilfer the key and use it to decorate your cave (which inexplicably has chambers constructed in the style of every locale you visit, including the Sun Temple). In spite of having supposedly been abandoned for quite some time, it's still running and shows no signs of decay; possibly the clockwork sea life lurking around are automated maintenance staff, keeping one another wound as well as making sure the temple stays in working order, after their masters are long dead.

* ''[[Legend of Kalevala]]'' has an underground factory area underneath the first area. It's full of [[Floating Platforms]], and it's the first place where you'll find [[Lava Pit|Lava Pits]]s. This area is one of the tip-offs to the protagonist that the former inhabitants of Kalevala were a very intelligent civilization.

* [[Resonance of Fate]] has Basel, which is not only an [[Eternal Engine]] (of gears!), but is also the entire [[World Map]] in which where the game takes place, and is apparently the last bastion of human civilization. Not so eternally however, it's at its last legs by the game's start.