An analysis of the released screenshots of Damocles for PC
These pictures are described as showing Eris and two of its moons (Vesta and Solon in the first image, Theon and Vesta in the second one). We can safely assume that the purple moon is Vesta, because it is the only one present in both screenshots.
This picture clearly shows a location on Eris (the presidential palace), however, the location is marked on the HUD as "Solon".
The color of the sky, analyzed with Paint Shop Pro, is 95,143,165.
The purple globe in the sky is Vesta for sure, because its look is coherent with both space screenshots shown above.
In both of these pictures, the sky is exactly the same color as in the screenshots above. This, as well as the presence of Vesta in the image on the left, is evidence that they are both intended to show other locations on Eris.
According to the original captions, the image on the left shows the interstellar ship that lands the Mercenary on Eris, while the one on the right shows the Capital City spaceport, but we cannot be absolutely certain of that.
Again, the location is marked on the HUD as "Solon".
This picture does not show the sky, but again, the location is marked on the HUD as "Solon". Based on the previous pictures, as well as the fact that Solon is shown in the very first screenshot to be a barren gray moon with no grass, we can assume that this is meant to be a location on Eris as well. Thus, the location was probably meant to be "The Pentagon on Eris", not "The Pentagon on Solon".
Also, note how the clock in the bottom right corner of the HUD shows that the last four screenshots above have been taken few minutes apart: the time of flying from one location to another on the same planet, without enough time for an interplanetary flight (during which, time dilation would have taken effect and the clock would have shown the passage of much more time).
The original caption describes this image as showing Dion, Atropos (the moon on the right) and Lachesis (the moon on the left. The look of the planet is consistent with what we know about Dion: there is a big island (Birmingham Island) and two smaller ones, to the north (Dion North) and the east (Dion East).
Note the sandy patches on the western shore of Dion East (two short yellow lines): this is not the last time you'll see them.
According to the captions, these images show "some small buildings on Eris Capital City" and "the quayside in the commercial sector of Eris Capital City". However, the color of the sky in both of these pictures is 48,96,101: different from the other Eris screenshots. And look at the picture on the right: can you see two sandy patches on the island far away?
If this was a scene on Eris, the geography we see would not conform with what we know of the planet from the other screenshots (five islands, very distant from one another), but the different sky color and the sandy patches like those on Dion East are evidence that this is meant to be Dion!
Thus, the screenshots show "some small buildings on Dion Birmingham Island" and "the quayside in the commercial sector of Dion Birmingham Island".
Curiously, there are two copies of each building in both images.
This screenshot from The Games Machine shows the same gray house as the screenshot above, from another angle.
The blue/white thing on the far left is the arrival craft from the arrcraft.gif screenshot, seen from its front side.
From the shape of the "wings" of the metallic thing in this screenshot from Joystick, we can infer it's the arrival craft again. However, the blue part is missing and a black round hole is shown instead. Is it what the arrival craft looks from behind?
Immediately on its right there is another spacecraft, which can be seen in greater detail in the screenshot on the right. Note how it's shaped like the Eagle 9 SE from the presidential palace screenshot, but the textures are different, and again, with two black round holes in its back side. Is it an alternate Eagle 9 SE?
On the left of the arrival craft there is a weird saucer-like shape. Is it the BestCupand saucer?
The yellow/white celestial body in the sky does not look like any of the planets in the original Damocles. Is it the new Dialis?
The big, black rectangular thing in the quayside screenshot is a Pysgnosis logo.
And these screenshots, from Edge and PC Format, show the quayside from different angles. Note how the coast on both its left and its right side is dark gray. More on this later.
These shots show the Vesta Parliament, from the outside and from the inside. Note the purple ground, and note how the location is marked on the HUD as "Eris", despite the fact that Eris is visible in the sky.
The caption for this screenshot is "Typical inside of the blocks of flats in Capital City", despite the purple Vesta ground and Eris looming in the sky. This alone is evidence that this screenshot depicts a location on Vesta, but there is more: the location is marked on the HUD as "Eris", like in the three Vesta screenshots above, and again, the clock shows that these four screenshots have been taken few minutes apart.
We can even make a guess about what location this screenshot is supposed to show. We are on the inside of a skybridge between two buildings, and the first Vesta screenshot shows two pairs of white buildings which might be connected by skybridges, even though they are too far away to see clearly. If they are, this location would be the inside of one of those buildings.
These screenshots are part of a sequence that appeared in a PC Player coverdisc, which apparently depicts the descent from space to the ground on Dion. Only... the planet depicted herein appears to be an alternate version of Eris!
First, Vesta is seen behind the planet. Second, the planet has a big green island (Capital City), a small green island (Key West), a brown island (Bare Island) and a lighter brown island (Velos)! And... is Snow Island at the south pole?
The next screenshot in the sequence shows most of Birmingham Island, and allows us to see exactly where the various Dion locations were supposed to be! We can see the locations of the houses, the quayside between two dark gray patches (remember my "More on this later"? This is it), the buildings that the rest of the descent sequence shows, and more buildings depicted in a similar sequence that appeared on Edge.
This series of screenshots from Edge shows another descent from space to the ground on Dion, and confirms that what we saw in the previous screenshot was Birmingham Island. But Dion looks rather different here than what we saw in the Dion/Atropos/Lachesis screenshot. It looks green, and with a completely different texture. From the games we played, we know there is a green planet in the Gamma System... Gaea. Was the space screenshot here supposed to show Gaea?
Another screenshot from Edge shows the alternate Eris again. The proof for this is the hurricane on the south-west side of the green island (Capital City): it's exactly the same as the one in the screenshots above.
The alternate Eris uses the same cloud layer as the regular Eris, but flipped horizontally.
This planet, which appears in a screenshot from Edge, is completely different than all those we saw so far. It's identified as Dion. An alternate Dion?
Also, the spaceship must be an alternate Eagle 9 SE, because it has the same shape as the Eagle 9 SE in Damocles and Mercenary 3, but a different texture than what is shown in the presidential palace screenshot.
These are the textures that would have been used for Eris (where we see, from West to East: Bare Island, Key West, Capital City, Velos, and Snow Island at the north pole) and Triton. If we measure them, we discover that they are 256x127, instead of the more usual 256x128. This means that a horizontal line was removed from both of them. Why? Was it a sort of watermark or copyright trap? As in "If someone else uses the pictures we sent you, we will know where they came from, because only those we sent you have this line removed" ?
