30 Years on Terra Nova
30 years ago, a group of friends from Montreal published a hybrid mecha RPG/wargame. Intended as a tribute to their favorite series like Star Wars, Battletech, Babylon 5, and most of all Armored Trooper VOTOMS, it was intended to lead to a small handful of further products telling a story set on the planet Terra Nova. The idea was that the line would tell a self-contained story and wrap up within 5 years, with the setting being left behind in favor of new games.
30 years later, here we are.
None of the original Dream Pod 9 team expected that Heavy Gear would capture the hearts and minds of gamers in the way it did, and that Terra Nova would grow to become one of the deepest and most well-conceived settings in gaming. They definitely didn’t expect that they would quickly be contacted by Activision to license the creation of a Heavy Gear video game, which would massively expand the scope and popularity of the franchise. Over the course of the first decade of Heavy Gear, Dream Pod 9 published over 60 Heavy Gear books across three editions and sculpted over 100 miniatures. Two video games and an animated series were also made, bringing awareness of the setting far beyond its original target audience.
This luck would not continue over the second decade of Heavy Gear’s life. For a variety of reasons the original Dream Pod 9 team drifted apart, leaving only a skeleton crew to bring the game forward into the 20th Century. The wargame aspect of the setting was streamlined and revitalized with the launch of Heavy Gear Blitz, but the promised fourth edition of the RPG that had been intended to coincide with it failed to materialize due to a tangle of licensing issues. Underwhelming sales of Heavy Gear 2 despite a strong critical response meant that a proposed third game was canceled, seemingly ending the video game series. Many new miniatures and designs were made to expand the setting, and new writers attempted to continue the story of Terra Nova onwards, with enthusiasm if not always coherency. Still, something felt like it was missing.
The start of Heavy Gear’s third decade seemed promising, with further innovations to Blitz, an attempt to resurrect the RPG, and the announcement of a brand new video game with Heavy Gear Assault. This promise rapidly disappeared as development of Blitz slowed to a crawl for economic reasons, while the RPG project was once again abandoned. Heavy Gear Assault’s gameplay was overshadowed by the fact that its publisher decided to abandon its development in favor of cryptocurrency and marijuana, taking the code for the game with them and rendering it effectively nonexistent.
And yet, Heavy Gear survived. Although Dream Pod 9 went through a rough patch in the late 2010s it managed to find itself back on its feet. A third edition of Blitz revitalized the wargame, leading to a steady stream of new miniature releases. The fourth edition of the RPG was finally completed and released, bringing the other half of Heavy Gear as it was originally conceived back into the picture. All of this was only possible because of you.
The reason Heavy Gear is still around is because of your support. Whether you’re an old stalwart who never left the game, a lapsed player who decided to see how things were going, or a new convert who got hooked by a recent release, your continued interest in the Heavy Gear games and the Terra Nova setting is what has allowed them to survive and grow even when it seemed like things were ending. Your affection for Heavy Gear and your hopes for its future are what allow us at DP9 to keep doing what we love.
And one of the most exciting things we can do is pay those hopes back.
