Why does the city constantly leave?

[Keybounce]

I'm trying to understand the lore behind the city's needing to flee all the time.

It's not a case of fighting a delaying retreat while trying to get to the exit. You have to go on the offensive, and basically take out the creeper.

Once you have, it only takes one blaster per source, and maybe 3 sams, to protect your entire civilization.

So why run away all the time?

[miquelfire]

I don't remember if the main game ever got this update, but one of the free Flash games had an option in which you tried to survive as long as possible. Over time the emitters would increase in how much creeper they release, and over time, you will be overwhelmed. I assume in the lore, the same applies, but the base game doesn't show this.

I think there's also a chance that more emitters could appear if they stay on a planet.

[Karsten75]

It was a rescue mission. They didn't have time to stay, there were other planets being attacked.

As for the survival mode, it was only ever in the Kongregate version.

[Grabz]

Non spoiler version:
At the beginning, a crazed and mysterious doomsayer known to others as the "Old Man" would prophecise the arrival of the Creeper and the demise of Humankind. From the shadows, he led the construction of Odin City, which was to house 50 thousand of his followers. Before disappearing, he left them a set of coordinates they should travel to, to aid them in their survival.

The first jump was a struggle resulting in damage to the city's data storages, potentially leaving them unprepared and at a dead-end. But as they would soon find out, their journey would continue through a peculiar set of coincidences, and the commander seemed to begin to understand his purpose.

Brief continuation below:

CW1 only spoiler version:

Spoiler

The commander knows more than he lets on. He believes there is a deeper purpose behind his journey, though early on it is beyond his understanding. As we progress through, the path he must take becomes clearer to him.

In the end, we are saved in the last minute by a man calling himself Platius, who reveals that they are the Old Man. This and his crazy prophecy prove that he is not human, and that he purposefully led the city down the path of victory.

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All games spoiler version:

Spoiler

It is presumed that the planets struggled against a much more fierce enemy. What the city fights are remains of the Creeper, left on planets that have already been destroyed. The emitters lay - weak and dormant - until they are woken up and beaten, giving future civilizations a false impression of victory thus allowing them to thrive. This cycle repeats until the Creeper's ultimate goal is reached.

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