Escape Velocity Override

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Escape Velocity Override is a Macintosh-only role-playing game that takes place in space. It is the sequel to Escape Velocity, a game developed by Ambrosia Software. It features an entirely new story line with a much bigger universe and many more governments and missions than the first, and an extended version of the original game engine.

Although Escape Velocity and EV Override are written for the classic Mac OS, and therefore run natively only on Mac OS 9 and earlier, plug-ins for EV Nova that simulate the first two titles using the new game's engine have been released with Ambrosia's authorization. Because EV Override was ported to EV Nova, which runs natively on both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows, virtually anyone can now play the stories of all three games regardless of their operating system.

[edit] Gameplay

The player controls a ship represented from a bird's-eye point of view in third person. Most of the game takes place within this view, where the player can interact with ships and stellar objects within the star system they are presently in. There are over a hundred star systems in the game all connected to one another by a series of hyperlanes. The player can utilize the lanes to perform a hyper-jump to a nearby system, which takes one to three days depending on their ship's mass.

Players are capable of landing at planets, stations, and some other stellar objects. Here, if the location is inhabited, they can access a mission computer to take jobs, purchase new ships, trade commodities, refuel, customize their ship with various weapons and outfits, and go to a spaceport bar to hire escorts, watch the news, gamble, and sometimes receive additional unique missions. Not all services are available at all locations. However, all inhabited locations have a mission computer and refueling option, and all stellar objects that can be landed on will repair the player's shields and armor for free.

The star systems of Override are controlled by various governments, each with a different disposition towards the player. Most start off as neutral with the player, though some may restrict access to their planets and stations and still others may be openly hostile and attack the player on sight. The player, however, can change their status with various governments. Taking missions for a government, attacking their enemies, and destroying pirates boosts status, whereas helping opposing governments, attacking a government's and their allies' ships, and pirating civilians will lower their legal rating. Also, affecting the legal status of one government will directly affect those of its allies and inversely affect its enemies. Having a high legal rating will give the player access to missions for that government (which, in turn, can unlock that government's ships and outfits). On the other hand, a low legal status will cause the government to restrict access to their ports and even cause them to attack the player on sight.

Like its predecessor, EV Override is fully open-ended and does not force the player to get involved in any of the game's plots, nor does it make a player continue a plot once they're in it. Players have the option to take the storylines and cause their actions to have a major impact on the galaxy. On the other hand, they can also simply become a commodity trader, cargo runner, or pirate and leave the galaxy to fend for itself. Players can purchase (or capture) and outfit many ships in the game as they see fit, allowing for many methods and styles for playing the game. Also, once they become powerful enough, players also have the option of forcing worlds to pay them daily tribute by destroying their defense fleets. This, however, will cause serious drops in their legal status and will cause bounty hunters to start chasing them.

[edit] External links

• Ambrosia Software: EV Override