@general-cade-smart, on Dec 13 2006, 08:25 PM, said in EVO Questions:

-Council station- you did not explain the purpose of it, even if you did explain the Council. Why does there be 2,500 ships defending Council Station? Undefeatable? The Council defending its outpost with all possible force?

I will post more explaining that. For now, I'll just say that there was a reason why the Council had assembled such a huge fleet.

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-Riden station- do you really not know more than those four lines? It seemed a bit short.

I genuinely don't remember. It may have just been a case of, 'I need another description for another random station/planet/moon? How about something vaguely mysterious?' or it may have referred to something more specific - in which case the above is my best guess.

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-Crescent Station- its even more mysterious than Council Station. Its the most mysterious thing in the game. Why is it is a link to beyond the Crescent? Was something planned to be to there? Maintained by the Azdgari under the orders of the Council, for some inexplicable reason of theirs Explain tbis too.

Well, why does the map in this game (or any EV game) just end? We know the real reason: you can't have a hand-designed infinite universe. Crescent Station is just a gesture towards an in-game explanation. (Or is it ...?)

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-The Kelmaon near Adzgari space. The second Kelmaon. Why is there a second Kelmaon? It says only Kelmaon is a confusingly named, irrelavant minor world. The desc doesnt exactly make it clear.

The 'confusingly-named' bit is simply a joke directed at the player. Who in the universe but the player could be confused by there being two Kelmaons? They're nowhere near each other, so no one but the player is likely to even know they both exist.

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-Fu- is the angry old Voinian Borb, as some suppose? (I think it was in Reign of the UE). If so, why does he sit on a moon? Why is he not directing the Voinians anymore?

No, he's just an angry old Voinian.

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-F-25- Bomb made a epic plug (still some of the best ever; I have a passionate relationship to it having played them both and betatesting to Bomb). Did you plan to do anything with it? He made a very good story, and a beliavle answer, but like all plugs its only a story. Only yours is authoritative.

I don't know that plug-in - although I'll make an effort to check it out. I have much of the future of the galaxy plotted out, but little was ever put down in actual resources. And I'll post more of it soon.

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-who was the human in assasinate igadzra scientist? Another of the most bizarre things in the game. Actually, carefully considered its one of the most arcane things that can be in the game.

The player is not the only human who is out exploring the universe and making contact with the alien races at this time. The player is out in the Crescent trying to make his fortune by working as a mercenary for one of the strands. The human you are asked to assassinate in this mission is trying to make her fortune by working as a scientist for one of the strands. So surely the opposite of mysterious?

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-Council mention in Zidagar string. "It takes a only a short blow to blow a candle". It was some founder of the Council. What do you know about him? Is there something else we dont know about the Council since there is this mysterious mention? When will you tell the rest about the Council, that is the timeline.

The quotation is: 'It takes but one short breath to blow out a candle, usually.'

The main part of the quote is a reference to the founding purpose of the Council: (as I posted above) to keep the species alive. It takes very little (the short breath) to cause terrible devastation and loss of life (blow out the candle): just as the massive war that permanently laid waste to Gadzair was very unexpected and very short.

(The 'usually' at the end is just a Zidagar intrusion - hearing the original quote, without the 'usually', a Zidagar would reply, 'But what about those times when you just keep blowing, and the candle doesn't seem to go out?' Equally, only Sassone could tell you what relevance the quote had to his speech. The aliens in Override are, almost without exception, silly. ... Er, I mean, they use caricature as a means of achieving distinctive characterisation given limited space for text. Yep, that's it. :))

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-Outpost Topel- what purpose does it really have? Its only told its a remote fuel post.

As far as I know, it 'is just a minor Voinian refuelling station.'

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-the aliens that are on the way to Miranu space (just after UE space). It says that there is primitive alien culture that you leave alone. Who are they? Why is there aliens on a uninhabitated planet? Isnt EVO standard that uninhabitated planet are barren and devoid of life? They are described as boring and lifeless.

There's a limited amount of authorial energy available for writing descriptions. Generally, that energy would be wasted on planets where you can't actually even do anything - so they get the short-hand treatment of 'boring and lifeless'. But occasionally a world gets a little more attention. This world, for example, is set up to be colonised and exploited - with the suffering of the native people that would go along with it - in a future plug-in or other expansion.

Looked at another way, remember that the spob description is just the pilot's limited impression of a planet/moon/station - and the pilot is a spacer, he's far more interested in moving on again than hanging around on a planet (after all, he never goes anywhere more exotic than the Spaceport Bar! How about the countless historic attractions of Old Earth? The incredible wildlife of New Rome?). So, in the case of uninhabited worlds, just because the pilot thinks the world is lifeless and boring, doesn't mean he's right - he's just not qualified enough, or interested enough, to say differently.

Ah, so I finally meet the legend that created the Override universe. I've always wondered about those mysterious quirks. All the puzzling factors and elements I found when I was making Fall of the Voinian Empire had always coursed through my mind, and I was trying wonder if somehow the clues were being left like bread crumbs to solve the mystery of the origin, like for example, the mystery activity of Riden Station possibly having being involved with the death of Irid, one of the 3 enslaved worlds. Another clue is if Jargon Jo happened to survive the onslaught of the original Verril Prime colong which explained her hatred against the UE. I had decided that for the sake of making them come together in some way, but now it seems much of some of the questions I've had are mostly answered.

Now here's a question I think most people ought to wonder, I'm surprise no one brought this up yet. But ummm.. what was up with the Igazra ship, I mean...DOUBLE YOU TEE EFF. I think whoever designed it had to be eating paint chips or something, can you share the light on this subject? So far I could only guess that the justification of the Igazra's design was that it's a sign of power but they don't revere phallic symbols as being voyeur. It's like a viking who carves a ship to look like a dragon, a sign of power, ferocity, etc.

@coraxus, on Dec 14 2006, 07:06 PM, said in EVO Questions:

Another clue is if Jargon Jo happened to survive the onslaught of the original Verril Prime colong which explained her hatred against the UE.

Hmm, not quite, since the UE government itself would have barely existed when that happened. But that's certainly a good idea. Can't give you a full backstory there, to be honest!

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Now here's a question I think most people ought to wonder, I'm surprise no one brought this up yet. But ummm.. what was up with the Igazra ship, I mean...DOUBLE YOU TEE EFF. I think whoever designed it had to be eating paint chips or something, can you share the light on this subject?

Hehe, that's not mine - the secret there resides in Chris' brain (and I haven't seen him in years). I suppose you could argue: every rocket ship is a phallic symbol - this just reliteralises the old metaphor!

Most excellent.

I just wanted your thoughts on this, Mr. Cartwright...

...how do you envision the EVO universe would have turned out if the Voinians had bumped into the Miranu/Strands first (without the UE standing in the way)? I remember that Voinian armor countered phase weaponry quite well, and the Voinians seem to be inherently expansionist...could the Empire have taken on the Council?

Also, what did you think about the Voinian backstory? There are tantalizing clues that point to a once-glorious empire in decline...although it seems a stretch to declare that supply ships featured thousands of guns, there are plenty of signs. Was there a lot of material that just didn't make it into EVO?

@ue_research---development, on Dec 14 2006, 10:46 PM, said in EVO Questions:

...how do you envision the EVO universe would have turned out if the Voinians had bumped into the Miranu/Strands first (without the UE standing in the way)? I remember that Voinian armor countered phase weaponry quite well, and the Voinians seem to be inherently expansionist...could the Empire have taken on the Council?

It seems unlikely. The Voinians are not very innovative, and their fleets seem to be regularly stopped in their tracks just by improvised ships. Fair fights with even numbers never exactly suit them.

Edit: And it occurs to me that the Azdgari in particular would have great fun fighting as inflexible an enemy as the Voinians!

It's fair to say that contact with the Voinians would have triggered a major reaction by the Council though.

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Also, what did you think about the Voinian backstory? There are tantalizing clues that point to a once-glorious empire in decline...although it seems a stretch to declare that supply ships featured thousands of guns, there are plenty of signs. Was there a lot of material that just didn't make it into EVO?

Well, things just used to be better - before the slaves started rebelling, and alien species started making their own spaceships and fighting back (!). And then the budgets got tighter, because these self-important research projects started getting all the money. And Voinians started flying around in tiny fighters - which is hardly dignified - and then to cap it all the Empire started hiring aliens! Borb would turn in his grave

This post has been edited by pac : 14 December 2006 - 06:01 PM

I have another inquiry to ask of you, Mr Cartwright. You've already been more than generous with your time, but nonetheless I ask.

What is the history of the Phase Cannon? One would assume that it is based off of the Zidagar Phased Beamer (or vice versa), but who invented it--and why is the weapon so damn prolific about the crecent? Why is there so little variety between strand weaponry?

@-visitor-, on Dec 14 2006, 11:40 PM, said in EVO Questions:

I have another inquiry to ask of you, Mr Cartwright. You've already been more than generous with your time ...

Not at all - I live to spam forums.

Edit: And I should also say that anyone who's still interested in the game after all these years has also been more than generous with their time!

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What is the history of the Phase Cannon? One would assume that it is based off of the Zidagar Phased Beamer (or vice versa), but who invented it--and why is the weapon so damn prolific about the crecent? Why is there so little variety between strand weaponry?

Well, the weaponry is all so similar because they're all the same species, with the same technological base. The history of the weapon ...? Lost in the mists of time. Given 10 000 years of history of interstellar travel (and continual warfare), you probably couldn't find anyone who knows any more. You might as well ask who invented forks.

This post has been edited by pac : 14 December 2006 - 07:05 PM

@pac, on Dec 14 2006, 04:03 PM, said in EVO Questions:

You might as well ask who invented forks.

FTW!!! :laugh:

Truth be told, of the three games, Override was probably the one that got my attention the most. It's the only game in which the government that runs Earth isn't evil, and it heavily incorporates changes in the galaxy as the game progresses. Nova can't hold a match to the things Override did.

Something that'd be really interesting would be sort of like Override but with Nova-engine features (yes, I know the graphics are there, whoop-de-freakin'-do); stuff like mining asteroids, wormholes, that sort of thing. Indestructible asteroids do not exist ITRW.

Once again, an honor to speak with you, Mr. Cartwright.

...Ah! Just thought of one last question to ask of you.

If you could do it all again ("it" being Override, of course), what would you add/change/delete/etc. in the game?

One thing I’ve always wondered is, what is the story behind the independent human worlds? Are they former members of United Earth, or did they refuse to join? Is it from some sort of principle, do they somehow think that they aren’t in danger, or do they just think United Earth will fight off the Voinians for them?

And how could Admiral McPherson possibly have the power to unilaterally declare Huron independent?

@warlord-mike, on Dec 14 2006, 08:19 PM, said in EVO Questions:

It's the only game in which the government that runs Earth isn't evil...

You’re forgetting the original Escape Velocity.

@david-arthur, on Dec 15 2006, 08:35 AM, said in EVO Questions:

You’re forgetting the original Escape Velocity.

Well, yes, this is true, Arthur...to an extent. You may recall that during the EV intro it talks about the Confederation enslaving some of the outer worlds. I can't recall exactly how it goes, but it does mention enslaving of some sort.

IIRC, New Alcatraz used to be a prison world until it revolted, and the moon around Helios once had UE protection...I think it has something to do with the fact that hunter missiles don't work that close to the nebula, while needle missiles do...(I loved those things, even though they did no damage).

I always thought the EVC rebels were supposed to be the 'good guys', but it was never really explicit either way.

@warlord-mike, on Dec 15 2006, 01:19 AM, said in EVO Questions:

...Ah! Just thought of one last question to ask of you.

If you could do it all again ("it" being Override, of course), what would you add/change/delete/etc. in the game?

Well, it would certainly have been great to have all the tools the Nova engine now features to play with, but EV:O was a game of its time, so I wouldn't seek to change any of that.

The one thing I would want to fix is that horrible transition graphic that comes up when you make a new pilot It was only ever really a place-holder, and shouldn't really have slipped into the release version. I have to hide my eyes whenever it comes up.

David Arthur said:

One thing I’ve always wondered is, what is the story behind the independent human worlds? Are they former members of United Earth, or did they refuse to join? Is it from some sort of principle, do they somehow think that they aren’t in danger, or do they just think United Earth will fight off the Voinians for them?

Well, this leads us into a bit more backstory. When humanity discovers interstellar travel, there is no united world government. There are still lots of entirely independent nations*. These nations co-operate in the business of colonising other systems, forming three power blocs which would have been known in the prequel as the Atlantic, Pacific and Eurasian blocs. Some nations (it's not difficult to figure out which :)) formed the core of one of these blocs; others sometimes drifted between them.

These blocs clashed a bit over all the resources to be found outside the solar system, but they didn't build warships or have any major conflicts - why fight over one world when there were more and more worlds (all seemingly unclaimed) just a little further out there?

And some people travelled out further, wanting to get out of the reach of the authority (and possibly the taxes ?) of any government on Earth. They tended to head into the asteroid-heavier area to the galactic west (now the Voinian frontier), or into the nebula, as these areas were more difficult to navigate, which discouraged the main power blocs from being that interested.

When the Voinians come into contact with these humans, they (the Voinians) are horrified - this is the first alien race who've developed their own spacefaring technology they have run into! This shouldn't be allowed! So the Voinians decide to wipe them all out.

• To be honest, it's only from space that 'United Earth' looks united. On Earth itself, there is still the usual politics - the states which make up the UE retain complete autonomy in almost all of their affairs. But when it comes to interstellar matters (which is all the player is involved with), every state on Earth has the same interests - and thus Earth almost always seems monolithic for those outside it.

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And how could Admiral McPherson possibly have the power to unilaterally declare Huron independent?

Well, Admiral McPherson is a more important figure than is ever stated out-right in EV:O (partly because everyone knows who he is, so why would they mention it?). While the Voinian fleets drew closer to Sol - obliterating every colony they came across along the way - and the power blocs of Earth dithered, McPherson, a widely-respected officer, acted.

To spacers, who had visited the places being destroyed, the Voinian threat seemed much more imminent than it did to people on Earth - to whom it seemed absurd. So the United 'Earth' government forms first of all in space, and not on Earth at all, with the gathering of all ships, space stations and assets, and colonies, belonging to the different power blocs under one banner. Whether the planetside governments liked it or not. They could then start building fighters, and converting an old class of freighter into the first version of the UE Destroyer.

The Voinians get even closer, and the individual states of Earth peel away from the old power blocs, and sign up with the only force that can protect them - McPherson's 'United Earth' fleet. And so the name, which had been just an encouragement ('Come on, Earth! You need to unite!'), became an accurate description. Production picks up massively with all Earth behind the effort, and finally there is the victory of the Battle of Sol.

McPherson, with a few other naval officers alongside him, has been acting as a virtual dictator. But, remarkably in human history, he is quick to hand power back to the new institutions (eg, the UE parliament) which subsequently form. The United Earth government becomes fairly secure, because even once the immediate threat is gone, the inhabitants of Earth generally agree that whatever their differences down here, they will always be united against what's out there. (And this includes colonials as well as aliens.)

Of course, even McPherson succumbs occasionally to temptation - especially when he is convinced he knows what has to be done: as at Huron. Since the entire navy is completely loyal to him, the parliament doesn't have much choice but to ratify what he does.

Needless to say, once McPherson dies (not too long after the end of Override), the professional politicians try to make sure no one else like him comes along again, tightening the reins of political control on the navy. Many of the biggest fleet actions in Override (the Destroyer captains' attack on Pariah; d'Erlon's 'southern' offensive in conjunction with the player and the Hinwar uprising) are adventures embarked on by maverick officers, without authority. They are also very successful, and end up being quietly approved of by McPherson. This adventurism ends up being greatly restrained by political control in later years.

But getting back to the independent worlds, the Voinians were not their problem (American readers in particular should have no trouble sympathising with the attitude that the problems of the home world (or country) of one's forefathers are not necessarily those of one's new home world (or country)). Besides, the independent worlds like Iothe Prime were tiny (in terms of population or industrial capacity). Earth had enormous resources - what difference could Iothe make?

Huron is a slightly different case. Huron was the most attractive nearby world for massive colonisation. As such, all three old power blocs had colonies there, and it became the most heavily populated human colony world (maybe a billion by the time of Override, but still at that a tenth of Earth's). But the Huron colonies ended up concluding (not long before the Voinian first contact), that they had more in common with one another than with their colonial parents - and declared the planet independent.

There wasn't much Earth's three power blocs could do. They couldn't cut off vital supplies and starve the planet into submission - Huron was a terrestrial planet which could support itself, and it could trade with the other independent worlds anyway. They couldn't blockade the planet - they had no warships capable of the job. They couldn't invade it - there was no practical way of transporting an army big enough to suppress a civilian population of hundreds of millions across that distance. Besides, they weren't inclined to co-operate with each other in the first place. And even if they had begun to work on bringing Huron back into line, the arrival of the Voinians on the scene put those plans on hold.

So there are a series of responses in the independent worlds to the Voinian invasion: this is terrible, but What difference could we make (they would have had the tiniest of fractions of the industrial capacity of Earth)? We have our own problems (the Renegades). Earth can look after itself, and even if they can't and the worst happens, well maybe the Voinians won't be interested in us. Or maybe they won't like the nebula.

Also, the southern independent worlds felt a lot of kinship with the western independent worlds - which all got wiped out by the Voinians, while Earth's powers just bickered amongst themselves and did nothing to protect them. So this did nothing to encourage the independent colonies to get involved.

At the same time as the Voinian War, the Renegade threat was getting a lot worse, with the advent of the Turncoat amongst the Renegades. The Renegades were those humans who had gone out even further , away from all civilised restraint, and were happy to live by preying on others. Some were certainly worse than others: there's no clear line between 'independent' and 'renegade' in many ways. The worst were led by the Nadir (a mysterious figure who just never seems to die in the Override time-line), who was also the designer of the Turncoat (and founded Freeport Station, before they kicked him out).

So the independent worlds are in their own battle for survival - not for the species, but staving off anarchy - even as the Battle of Sol is at its height. So they really don't have time to worry about it.

The emergence of the UE fleet, and its victories over the Voinians, change things a bit. Couldn't such impressive ships do a great job of dealing with the renegades? Almost all the independent worlds, including Huron, appealed for the protection of the UE fleet - basically, for UE membership. But they had to give up a lot of autonomy to get it. (Later, many an activist for Huron's independence would complain (not entirely accurately): 'We have no more status under the UE government than does Atlantic Station!')

For a while, this went well. The renegades were put into retreat, and perhaps all of humanity, wherever they'd travelled, was going to be reunited as one happy family

But as we see in Override, it just doesn't work out that way. United Earth interests were almost always Earth interests - and the renegades were no threat to Earth. The Voinians regrouped, and developed new ships (Fighters, Interceptors) and new weapons (fighter bays, and Rocket Turrets), and stopped being forced to retreat. The renegades also regrouped (and came up with the Needle missile). There was no question which was going to be the UE fleet's priority.

Even the commitment of a small amount of forces (like the squadron of destroyers during the Needle Jammer string) to the renegade areas could have a huge impact - but the Voinian front remained the absolute focus (the raid during that very mission string was not authorised, and the surviving captains (though not the player) got court-martialled for doing it (and d'Erlon, who also acts without orders, gets honoured and not prosecuted because he and the player win a victory against the Voinians , not just the renegades)).

So eventually, most of Huron decides that it would be better off looking after itself, and secedes again as we see in the Huron mission string.

Not that this would last either

More back-story to come, I hope. I should have access to my old (hand-written!) notes again soon, and so I should be able to fill in more details, not just work from memory.

Ooh, can't wait!

Just the last little bit about the UE had me glued to the screen. I can't wait to see what else we'll find out once you gain full access to your archives once again, Cartwright. The world watches...

And waits...

Kudos to you, good sir!

Hmm maybe pac can explain some of the extra stuff that's been found like the disruption beam turret or the disco machine gun.

@coraxus, on Dec 15 2006, 11:18 PM, said in EVO Questions:

Hmm maybe pac can explain some of the extra stuff that's been found like the disruption beam turret or the disco machine gun.

The disco machine gun is a unique weapon found only on the Disco Bison pers ship. Its name comes from a track by one of my favourite bands at the time (the Lo-Fidelity All-Stars - that site really hasn't been updated in a while!): Disco Machine Gun (although the track also went by another name, because they had to redo it for the album version due to some kind of copyright issue over sampling the details are fuzzy). So, a literal disco machine gun obviously had to be put in as an easter egg for that minute constituency of EV players who were also Lo-fis fans and would look at the resource files

The phased beam turret is just a turretted version of the Zidagar phased beam. I don't think anything uses it Possibly a pers ship, but I don't remember.

Well, I guess pretty much so far many of the quirks have been squeezed out of Override, so then have you played any of the expansions plug-ins, or maybe perhaps plan to?

I would, but there's a small detail...

I only have the Nova Port of Override. So I can't play stuff like Reign of the UE, Triple Agent, etc.

@pac, on Dec 16 2006, 12:54 AM, said in EVO Questions:

The phased beam turret is just a turretted version of the Zidagar phased beam. I don't think anything uses it Possibly a pers ship, but I don't remember.

Yes, it is used by one përs. I don't recolect the name, but I remember it is mounted on a renegade rendegade* arada. Seems unusual that it would have that weapon, however.

*No, that isn't a typo

@coraxus, on Dec 16 2006, 02:38 AM, said in EVO Questions:

Well, I guess pretty much so far many of the quirks have been squeezed out of Override, so then have you played any of the expansions plug-ins, or maybe perhaps plan to?

No, I would just end up saying, 'That could never happen!' 'That ship's overpowered!'. I can't even enjoy completely unrelated universes - like Nova - very much these days: so much design spoiled the game for me, or me for the game, I think.

Edit: I did, though, play lots of different plug-ins back in the days of the original EV. But I don't remember them all now.

'~vIsitor~' said:

Yes, it is used by one përs. I don't recolect the name, but I remember it is mounted on a renegade rendegade* arada. Seems unusual that it would have that weapon, however.

There is a Renegade Arada (pers #292 'Shadow of Terror') which mounts a normal phased beam, but not a turretted one.

The only pers I can find that has the turret is a Zidagar one (#319 ZSS Disruption).

This post has been edited by pac : 16 December 2006 - 01:12 PM

...I could have sworn...
Oh well.

It occurs to me that you have talked reletively little about the Miranu, good Mr. Cartwright. It is not as though I have any questions to ask about them, but I still can't help but wonder if there is anything going on in their territory that we are not privy to.