@mista_b, on Dec 29 2006, 09:41 AM, said in EVO Questions:

Heh, I've always been struck by more than a few B5/EVO parallels myself, the racial stuff anyway.

Yes, it was certainly one of my favourite programmes back when I was writing the original, so there's no doubt a lot crept in, even beyond what I noticed.

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I guess I was always most interested in the fates of the minor races (Hinwar, etc) in EVO than the others, and I'm hoping that there fates are more fuly explored - also hoping that a new race or two might make the scene.

Oh, the Hinwar definitely get a very big role. There's every chance of other minor races getting more detail - and it's always possible to add more, especially in the Crescent, where reference is made to there being quite a lot of different indigenous alien races, but only a few (one?) have been named.

One more thing...if it's not too much of a bother. Exactly what was the 'Kraaga hoax' mentioned in the EVO manual?

I don't have much time tonight, so I'll just say... wow.

Peter, welcome back. Thank you for all you have done; I'm eagerly looking forward to all you may do! Your vision of what makes for good gameplay has long impressed me. In the years since EVO, have you worked on any other gaming projects we might enjoy checking out?

Here's a question: Why "Override"? Was the name just your way of saying that the scenarion was a "complete override" of the original EV scenario -- in other words, what we lately have been calling a "total conversion"?

And the decision to make all turrets also count against ships' "gun" slots -- was that your doing, or somebody else? Not that I'm complaining, mind you; it's different from how things work in EVC and EVN, but not inherently worse.

@ue_research---development, on Jan 1 2007, 04:50 AM, said in EVO Questions:

One more thing...if it's not too much of a bother. Exactly what was the 'Kraaga hoax' mentioned in the EVO manual?

As the context suggests, it was a very convincing hoax (which happened before the first Voinian encounter) that briefly had everyone believing that ships belonging to an alien race called the 'Kraaga' had been sighted. Eventually the whole thing was exposed for the deception it was (probably through the actions of a sceptical freelance pilot ).

(I think the name 'Kraaga' is a reference to an episode of 'Red Dwarf', where Rimmer is fooled into believing that they have picked up an alien artifact, when it is actually just one of their own garbage pods. Rimmer decided the aliens must be called (something like, I think) the 'Kraaga'.)

@dr--trowel, on Jan 1 2007, 08:15 AM, said in EVO Questions:

In the years since EVO, have you worked on any other gaming projects we might enjoy checking out?

Not in computer gaming really, no. And not, in other areas, that have been published. I still do a bit of beta-testing (especially for Spiderweb), but I work in (language) translation these days.

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Here's a question: Why "Override"? Was the name just your way of saying that the scenarion was a "complete override" of the original EV scenario -- in other words, what we lately have been calling a "total conversion"?

Yep, that was the origin of the working title - and it stuck.

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And the decision to make all turrets also count against ships' "gun" slots -- was that your doing, or somebody else? Not that I'm complaining, mind you; it's different from how things work in EVC and EVN, but not inherently worse.

This was a result of my reaction to what always ended up happening in EV (Classic). As you may or may not remember, in EV, when you got your Kestrel/Rebel Destroyer/other end-game ship, the optimum option was to just pack it full of primary weapons - max out the guns and the turrets. Missiles and things didn't get a look in. The only secondaries I, for one, would use would be the special mission beam weapons (if I had them) and the Javelin Rockets (whose ammo had no mass, and was pretty cheap). (Oh, and fighters, especially Lightnings as then you get the benefit of a few secondary weapons without having to find room for them yourself or purchase their ammo.)

So, much of the weapon/outfit design in Override is based around trying to make secondary weapons desirable. One element of this was to limit how many any one ship could mount. I decided to do this by making it impossible to fill up with both guns and turrets (after all, at the time at least, the AI couldn't fire both its guns and its turrets - if it was given them. It could only fire one type of weapon at once! Why should the player be able to get around this and automatically outgun every ship he met?).

Now, I could have done this by setting the mounts on warships to, say, zero guns and <however many> turrets (and the opposite on fighters). But then I would have to decide, in advance, whether each ship was a 'turrets ship' or a 'guns ship'. However, there are some ships (say, the Arada) which should be able to go either way, for guns or turrets. And if you really want to fill your cruiser with guns, I don't mind - I just don't want you to have the turrets too! So I ended up with the work-around you know.

Of course, whether I succeeded in making secondary weapons important (to most players) is another matter. I think some of them are in some cases (eg, fighting the Voinians without rockets is not to be attempted unless you have plenty of time on your hands) but it probably could still be better. For instance, ammo is probably still too expensive, and many secondary weapons are probably still too big.

That’s quite interesting. I actually found that I tended to use secondary weapons much less in Override than in the original Escape Velocity ; I think it was mostly because one had to go so far around the galaxy to buy ammunition for the good ones. (I’ve never been much for using simple heavy rockets.) Nova ’s are even worse in that respect, and I think I’ve barely even used anything from it that requires ammunition.

I always hated the idea of secondary weapons with ammunition that took up mass. I don't know why, it probably had something to do with the fact that I became irritated when my ship's 'free mass' value wasn't something divisible by 5.

@david-arthur, on Jan 1 2007, 04:28 PM, said in EVO Questions:

That’s quite interesting. I actually found that I tended to use secondary weapons much less in Override than in the original Escape Velocity ; I think it was mostly because one had to go so far around the galaxy to buy ammunition for the good ones. (I’ve never been much for using simple heavy rockets.)

Yes, the 'regional' problem is another issue again in Override. (Fortunately, in AotC, the galaxy has become a 'smaller' place, and ammunition for different weapons will be much more widely available!)

I tend to equip my ship 'regionally' when playing Override - so, Rocket Launchers against the Voinians (and they're especially good there thanks to Voinian Heavy Reload Ships (well, they call them 'fighters' …)), but then some other weapon again - and probably a completely different ship too - somewhere else. But you're quite right that this was an imperfect situation. I may get it right yet though!

@ue_research---development, on Jan 1 2007, 06:08 PM, said in EVO Questions:

I don't know why, it probably had something to do with the fact that I became irritated when my ship's 'free mass' value wasn't something divisible by 5.

I'm the same - which is why almost everything in Override weighs a multiple of 5. Ammo is then 1 or 2. There is an exception for swivel cannons, though …

This post has been edited by pac : 01 January 2007 - 01:19 PM

@pac, on Jan 1 2007, 12:48 PM, said in EVO Questions:

This was a result of my reaction to what always ended up happening in EV (Classic). As you may or may not remember, in EV, when you got your Kestrel/Rebel Destroyer/other end-game ship, the optimum option was to just pack it full of primary weapons - max out the guns and the turrets.

There was another aspect of this that I should have mentioned here. Once you've got your Kestrel maxed out with proton cannons, proton turrets and javelins, when you come up against a stock Kestrel, you will just win. No skill required - as long as you can point at your opponent, you simply have more firepower. Combined with just a little bit of skill and a few other well-chosen upgrades, you could probably take out another Kestrel at a cost of, say, about 20% of your shields.

So, evening up this imbalance was another aspect of the decision on guns/turrets.

@pac, on Dec 16 2006, 09:39 PM, said in EVO Questions:

Well, the Zachit are a disparate group of mercenaries hired and retained by the Miranu - simple as that. But, of course, the individual members of the Zachit each have their own unique and often colourful history.

Oh yeah we do! Tell me about it - I was a young human pilot, fresh from the school, and my ultimate goal was to fight the human renegades, I wanted to serve the UE and humanity in this way rather than by fighting the Voinians (in which case I would have joined the army), I thought I could make a difference alone as an independant captain in this battle. So after an initial time of trading to get myself a better ship, and a bit of helping with the UE to get access to some technology (and getting involved somewhat with the Voinian war anyway), I eventually got my Freight-Courier and equipped it like a warship. I could be a bounty hunter at last. But imagine my disappointment when I realised there was no bounty offered to speak of! Yeah sure, a few escort jobs here and there got by direct in-space hailing, and dangerous passenger ferries for a higher premium, not to mention the occasional alert to drive away the renegades from the system, but actually no one seemed to care enough to offer bounties for killing infamous renegades or organising formal escort jobs. The UE only went brute force with their warships, refusing to rely on the potential firepower and nimbleness of many bounty hunters they would have got by offering these bounties, and the Indies always seemed to be broke - can't blame them really. The only thing that happened is when we destroyed Pariah, and even then this was an initiative by the local officiers. Not that I couldn't make a living this way, heck, these renegades can be rather juicy to plunder, but I had the feeling I was doing it for no one, no one was really backing me up on this, as if I was fighting this war alone. Not that I was, but I was fighting this war in side of the UE vessels, the various militias, the other bounty hunters, not with them. Not to mention that by living mostly off of stuff plundered from renegades, I wasn't considered to be much better than them...
Fortunately, I had heard about the Miranus (damn, beaten by another guy for the first contact) and had been up there at some point, I returned and adventured a bit up north of their place, and I realised they had a renegade problem too, but these guys were taking it seriously as they funded their mercenary force to deal with it: the fearless Zachit! I signed up as soon as I found out, and I've not looked back since! Well sure, I've had to update my armament, nowadays I fly a fighterless Crescent Warship outfitted with heteroclite gear coming from all four corners of known space. Now I'm happy doing my job, I feel like being part of a family. Sure, I sometimes go back to human space and fight a few renegades as I'm at it, but that's just for the principle.
Though I've heard rumors that the Miranus are thinking that the northern Miranu worlds cost too much to maintain and defend given their usefulness, maintaining the Zachit being part of that upkeep (bounties and such). Well, we're going to show them that we're efficient mercenaries! So we've fought a more elaborate war which culminated with the destruction of The Rock. Take that you vile piles of jettisonned renegade junk! That was quite a battle, let me tell you. And to say I thought our chef was crazy... Now the Miranus cannot deny that their money is not wasted, damnit!

Since then, I've also played and registered many other Ambrosia games, and I've even become a moderator of the (currently) newest one. To the best of my knowledge we're four members with a name coming from EVO to be currently active: UE R&D (heck, Paaren station is your home:p), LoneIgadzra, VA who started this topic, and me ZP. And to think I started my web board carrier by asking which strand people preferred (at a time every newbie was making the same topic... and now DA, the farthest from a newbie we can get, asks you the same question! ;)); fortunately I caught up by posting a topic about which one was the favorite between the UE and the Voinians (ah, LoveVoinian's highly controversial theories about the first contact between them...) By the way, don't get too caught up by these boards, look at me, in 2003 I only returned to try and know what was the issue Americans had with France, and now I'm stuck with replacing ResEdit with an OSX-native resource editor and implementing NovaTools on top of it, maintaining a few plug-in guides, not to mention SketchFighter 4000 Alpha...

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Every famous drink (and many foods) in the world is associated with a particular region. You can make sparkling wine outside Champagne, with the same grapes and process, but it still isn't champagne. It might even be better (it's certainly cheaper!) than the original - but it still isn't champagne! I'm sure someone somewhere is making Saalian-like brandy, but people will still pay a premium for the real thing.

Ah, our pesky European regulations...

Hi, Zacha Pedro. I know that I have you to thank for the annotated Nova templates, amongst other resources on here.

But, tell me, how did you react to the destruction of Outpost Zachit? These days, the North Tip has changed so much, and the Zachit have been completely disbanded, and scattered to every corner of the galaxy. What does a bounty hunter do next?

(The Zachit will be gone but not forgotten in AotC. Verane is one of the most important characters. All the others should crop up somewhere, and perhaps they'll even make a comeback …)

BTW, when was Martin Turner last around here? I see lots of his posts in old links, but not so many lately. Frozen Heart was (is!) great stuff.

This post has been edited by pac : 02 January 2007 - 08:58 PM

Good 'ol Mr. Turner is most often sighted in the EV R&D department. He was last seen posting in late october, but he has (presumably) been lurking about the forum since then. Anyways, he's pretty busy with making The Frozen Heart 2.

Oh, and Mr. Cartwright? May I ask what the inhabitants of Iothe have been up to? Any more of their outrageous independent ship designs?

I had a copy of the beta for his Nova version of Frozen Heart, but that was a really long time ago. I've seen his name in the list of forum members a couple of times recently, though.

You can always try giving him a PM or sending him an e-mail...I think he has a link to his personal site in his profile or signature.

Among my many questions, most were answered here, but I've a few more.

First, someone touched base on the UE Fighter's Gatling-ish Blaze Cannons, but did not proceed to ask why a similar design was not used in the rest of the Human ships. So, why the unique cannons on the UE Fighter? Couldn't have been hard to swap them out with the new models, and probably vice versa. On reflection I can imagine you wouldn't want to use them because they'd look like they ought to belong to the Emalgha, but still wonder why they weren't changed to match all other blaze weaponry.

Second, the Override Splash screen. I easily recognize the Voinian Frigates and UE ships, but the third in the distance with a trio of UE Fighters firing at it... What's that supposed to be? Was it a former or intended future revamp of the Crescent Warship? Maybe, though quite unlikely, the Turncoat?

In that same splash, one must notice that the Voinian Frigates have... Have.... COLOR! Do comment on this. I have no specific question, but I'm interested in the development of ships in practice and ships in the splash.

We have a third, now. I played Override 1.0.1 for years, refusing to update because of the horror stories of guided weapons acting dumber than even the dumb-fire ones, AI ships having unlimited afterburners, and the bit with the Emalgha turret... When I did try the update, I found my bubble burst in all those ways, and more. To be specific, UE Fighters and Voinian Interceptors had their protection cut off at the ankle. The Krait fighters I once feared were now suddenly harmless flies despite their new advanced AI, because their shields didn't regenerate. I would like to know why these rather large changes were made.

Next, there's the small matter of galactic terminology. You gave the more advanced section of the known galaxy a name - The Crescent. You never gave a term for the area that our lovely little species and our adorable adversaries inhabit. If you don't have one on file, make one up so that I can save a few words whenever I'm on the subject.

Last I have an observation that I would like input on. Between my own thoughts and your descriptions here, one synonym is springing to mind. The Roman Empire. From the attitude presented, the actions described and made, the motives you explained... Hell, right down to slavery. Their style of combat, focus on brute force, armor, and training - And then never change. The continuing tradition of military commanders earning immense and somewhat eternal glory, like Caesar, and like Borb. Well, if all this is in error, there's still the Voinian comm message "Take care, human."

As I understand what I've read...
They're stagnant and resistant to change. They are by no means, however, varelse. You have said how any Voinians not slain were deported back to the Empire and such, which gave me the impression you hadn't intended them to be capable of integrating with us and their former slaves. By the same token, you imply that any Voinians captured by former slaves are... Well, not heard from again.

Should this area of the plot play any role in your project, I might suggest a section based around the former slaves' response to the crimes of the Empire. Their grief, and hunger for vengeance shaping them into the very enemy they are so adamant to destroy. In their desire to repay the suffering done unto them, they find themselves committing the very same atrocities to groups of Voinians that are no more deserving than the slaves had been.

I think the concept, when developed by someone with some writing prowess, could do a fair bit explain how everyone is equally capable of the same evil and preferably also virtue. Come to think of it, that right there could open some eyes toward current events. And perhaps to my own folly, I've been reading too much of the Ender's Game series. Time will tell, I suppose.

Yeah, so this post ended up being about four times as long as I intended. I'll close out with another pair of hands giving you nice little shove to get this show on road, or rather hyperlink, my good Sir.

Oh, and I'm sorry I plundered your Arada all those dozens of times.

@-visitor-, on Jan 3 2007, 04:29 AM, said in EVO Questions:

Oh, and Mr. Cartwright? May I ask what the inhabitants of Iothe have been up to? Any more of their outrageous independent ship designs?

Iothe needs a new design, yes. Been a long time since the Helian was modern. (Another ship for me to add!)

@u-e--admiral, on Jan 3 2007, 09:09 AM, said in EVO Questions:

First, someone touched base on the UE Fighter's Gatling-ish Blaze Cannons

They were just a one-off thing for that fighter.

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Second, the Override Splash screen. I easily recognize the Voinian Frigates and UE ships, but the third in the distance with a trio of UE Fighters firing at it... What's that supposed to be? Was it a former or intended future revamp of the Crescent Warship? Maybe, though quite unlikely, the Turncoat?

The only thing it can be is a Voinian Cruiser. I had nothing to do with the splash screen, except that I sent a few models off (UE Fighters, UE Destroyer, Voinian Cruiser and Frigate - only ships which could have been present at the Battle of Sol) to the people Andrew sourced it out to.

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We have a third, now. I played Override 1.0.1 for years, refusing to update because of the horror stories of guided weapons acting dumber than even the dumb-fire ones, AI ships having unlimited afterburners, and the bit with the Emalgha turret... When I did try the update, I found my bubble burst in all those ways, and more. To be specific, UE Fighters and Voinian Interceptors had their protection cut off at the ankle. The Krait fighters I once feared were now suddenly harmless flies despite their new advanced AI, because their shields didn't regenerate. I would like to know why these rather large changes were made.

Engine changes have big knock-on effects. I spent months testing Override under the Classic engine (before it was picked up) and more time again under early versions of the Override engine. At that point, things were (mostly) right. But quite considerable changes were made to the engine not long before the first release, and more for subsequent updates. And by that point, I had much less time than before to re-test and balance everything I didn't really have the energy to check everything as thoroughly as evidently I should have. And by now, there's such a difference between how EV:O runs under Classic, and how it runs on contemporary pre-OSX machines, that it would be impossible to produce a satisfactorily balanced update.

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Next, there's the small matter of galactic terminology. You gave the more advanced section of the known galaxy a name - The Crescent. You never gave a term for the area that our lovely little species and our adorable adversaries inhabit. If you don't have one on file, make one up so that I can save a few words whenever I'm on the subject.

Er, don't have one - although I probably should come up with some. At the moment it's just 'Miranu space', 'UE space', the Proxima Nebula, 'Voinian space', etc

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Last I have an observation that I would like input on. Between my own thoughts and your descriptions here, one synonym is springing to mind. The Roman Empire.

"What did the Voinians ever do for us!?"?

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Oh, and I'm sorry I plundered your Arada all those dozens of times.

My Arada? I have an Arada?

This post has been edited by pac : 03 January 2007 - 05:01 AM

Just remembered a few questions: What is it about Svass Station that makes all Voinian ships pass by there at least once?

And is the Zidagar fixation on dramatics a psychological thing or a genetic thing? Or is it something else?

@pac, on Jan 3 2007, 02:55 AM, said in EVO Questions:

Hi, Zacha Pedro. I know that I have you to thank for the annotated Nova templates, amongst other resources on here.

But, tell me, how did you react to the destruction of Outpost Zachit? These days, the North Tip has changed so much, and the Zachit have been completely disbanded, and scattered to every corner of the galaxy. What does a bounty hunter do next?

(The Zachit will be gone but not forgotten in AotC. Verane is one of the most important characters. All the others should crop up somewhere, and perhaps they'll even make a comeback )
BTW, when was Martin Turner last around here? I see lots of his posts in old links, but not so many lately. Frozen Heart was (is!) great stuff.

sigh I was hoping you wouldn't ask; I still have trouble wrapping my head around this. It was such a blunt trauma to have our home destroyed, not to mention I lost many a friend this fateful day. And of course, these pesky Miranu politicians who've always been criticising us took advantage of this to shut down the bounties, thereby officially disbanding our family. But we're not dead! The Zachit will live on forever! We still claim membership, if only for symbolic purposes (and bragging rights ;)), and have even accepted a few new members. We gather on Hizdriar from time to time, but we're scaterred in every corner of the galaxy nowadays. As for me, well, these days I'm mostly found around South Tip Station where I can find a similar setup, but I'm wandering everywhere, destroying renegades wherever they are found. I've returned to fighting human renegades a bit, looks like another of their hideouts is gone (can't say I'm sorry for them). I've also used my experience to give a few lectures to an Azdgari flight cadet promotion, and I have actually gotten quite involved with them, but frankly I can't complain since they have great tech, making my Crescent Warship even more heteroclite. I've also taken advantage of this down time to help a bit more with the Voinian War. I hope I can return to making a living as an official bounty hunter some day... Ah, well, that's life.

@ryuu, on Jan 3 2007, 12:06 PM, said in EVO Questions:

Just remembered a few questions: What is it about Svass Station that makes all Voinian ships pass by there at least once?

The Svass system has (IIRC) six jump links. In early versions of the EV engine (again, IIRC) the maximum was five. So in a way it's a reference to that. Any system with so many jump links ends up being passed through on virtuall every journey.

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And is the Zidagar fixation on dramatics a psychological thing or a genetic thing? Or is it something else?

It's their cultural identity, like Azdgari hyperactivity and Igadzra secrecy. And, in the Strands as they were, this cultural identity is enforced.

@pac, on Jan 3 2007, 05:46 AM, said in EVO Questions:

"What did the Voinians ever do for us!?"?
My Arada? I have an Arada?

I detect a cultural reference there... It's gone right over my head. There's this strange vague memory of someone exclaiming "What did the Romans ever do for us?!", but have no idea of it's origins, or if it's even a real memory at all.

Your përs in Override was an Arada, yes. I also believe that your comm quote was "42." I could be thinking of a different Arada, but I'm certain you had an Arada yourself.

Edit: Another question. It was never clear to me how Zachit and Zacha were pronounced. To my understanding of English, the "ch" could be either the sound we hear in the word "chance", or the one heard in "character". Both sound perfectly viable, and I don't exactly have a degree in language. Which is it?

This post has been edited by U.E. Admiral : 03 January 2007 - 11:27 PM

@u-e--admiral, on Jan 3 2007, 11:18 PM, said in EVO Questions:

I detect a cultural reference there... It's gone right over my head. There's this strange vague memory of someone exclaiming "What did the Romans ever do for us?!", but have no idea of it's origins, or if it's even a real memory at all.

Monty Python movie, "Life of Brian"