Ambrosia Garden Archive
    • [ANN] -- Ambrosia rereleases Escape Velocity and EV: Override


      Check your calendar: It's May 5th 1996, and the world just isn't what it used to be. On this day things were changed forever, when Escape Velocity was released...

      Rochester, NY -- April 18, 2003 -- Ambrosia Software, Inc. announced today the rerelease of their original, classic epic space game, Escape Velocity and it's sequel EV: Override. The difference? They are now native for Mac OS X and Windows and free for registered EV Nova customers!

      Ported by Ambrosia, w00tWare and Michael Judkins, the re-releases run through the improved game engine of EV: Nova; you can now join the rebellion on Mac OS X or battle the Voinians on Windows, all the while benefit from the advances, additions and refinements of Nova's engine.

      Lovingly hand-crafted by programmer Matt Burch, Escape Velocity offers a rich and open-ended environment that evolves as you play. Over a hundred worlds occupy the galaxy, each with its own technology, alliances, and commodities. As you earn credits and gain fame, Confederation peace keepers and Rebel patriots struggle for power, leaving you in the middle.

      EV: Override is Ambrosia's huge follow up to the classic Escape Velocity. With an immersive story and universe created by Peter Cartwright, a new conflict begins to unfold. Override features a universe five times the size of the original game, and a slew of populated worlds within. Winning critical battles can change the face of the universe, or, if you're happy with the existing balance of power, you can make a living as a humble trader. Just watch out for those pesky renegades, who want nothing more than to swipe the precious cargo from your holds. Additionally, the game contains stunning new graphics and sound, over 250 new missions, a multitude of human and alien governments, and all the excitement of the original EV game.

      These releases require a registered version of Nova to use, but being drag & drop they are simpler to install than a cloaking device! The great news is they are free, making registering Nova now an even better deal than before, 3 epic titles for the price of one! All the credits you save should go towards that first laser cannon!!

      Both Mac and Windows versions can be downloaded at:

      (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evn&category;=essentials")http://www.ambrosias...gory=essentials(/url)

      The EV Nova homepage, with download link is only a click away at:

      (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/")http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/(/url)

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      Tom Anthony / Ambrosia Software, Inc.

    • Sweet! Now I can see what started it all for free!

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      halprin=Warcraft 3
      halprin=Unreal Tournament 2003
      halprinp=Diabo II
      halprin=Starcraft

    • Meh. I already paid my $45 bucks for EV and EV:O. Oh, well.

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      (url="http://"http://www.evula.com")EVula.com(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.net")EVula.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.org")EVula.org(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.ev-nova.net")EV-Nova.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/empire_trilogy/")The Empire Trilogy(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+banter+|AMP|+brawl&number;=10")Something wicked, this way comes...(/url) |
      (url="http://"http://directory.perfectparadox.com/profile.php?id=00074")omg im so l33t!!!11(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.samuraiwar.com/page.php?x=237699")Give me a dollar.(/url)
      "Charming, your sister sounds like quite the catch!" ~Mek-Nificent7
      "...I guess my friendly persuation didn't make quite the lasting impression that my boots did." ~Zane Salazar

    • Interesting, I never realized that EV was released on my birthday.

      As for those of us who didn't have the patience to wait 7 years for EV to be free, is Ambrosia planning on sending us refund checks?

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      "Damn, everybody wants something up their ass today! Yeah, I'm cool like that." - forge

    • So I guess this means that we'll have to start fielding EV Nova users questions about EV here in this forum huh?

      Great... Now I've not only got to finish New Republic, I have to create a Nova Conversion of it for the OSX people out there. Oh well.

      -AJ

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      0-60 3.0s...1320ft/9.2s...Head Gasket Bursts...

    • Well, if PortAuthority comes out before you're done, converting it shouldn't be too hard.

      No, the real question is, if you encounter a bug, do you report it here or in the Nova fourm? Because I was in the UGE storyline for all of ten minutes before I got fired for trying to screw my bosses. I got the redemption mission, and passed it, but I haven't seen a single UGE mission since, where I was seeing one at almost every mission computer before. Now who do I complain to to fix it? 😉

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      “Do you expect me to talk?”
      “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.”
      — Goldfinger

    • Super cool :D. Any new things added to EV, you think? Like Easter eggs, I mean.

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      <Insert Clever Saying Here>
      (url="http://"http://www.killersnail.com/brainscan.php")Click here to test sanity!(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.planan.com/ev/home.html") The Escape Velocity Guide(/url) (Not my site) (url="http://"http://www.penny-arcade.com")Penny Arcade!!!(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.hyperiums.com")Hyperiums(/url)
      Got a question? (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/ubb/search.cgi?action=intro&default;=6")Search(/url) first.

    • Nope. It's just a straight port. The only difference I can tell is that time compression stays on when you jump.

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      (url="http://"http://www.evula.com")EVula.com(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.net")EVula.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.org")EVula.org(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.ev-nova.net")EV-Nova.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/empire_trilogy/")The Empire Trilogy(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+banter+|AMP|+brawl&number;=10")Something wicked, this way comes...(/url) |
      (url="http://"http://directory.perfectparadox.com/profile.php?id=00074")omg im so l33t!!!11(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.samuraiwar.com/page.php?x=237699")Give me a dollar.(/url)
      "Charming, your sister sounds like quite the catch!" ~Mek-Nificent7
      "...I guess my friendly persuation didn't make quite the lasting impression that my boots did." ~Zane Salazar

      (This message has been edited by -esw-dragoon_77 (edited 08-11-2003).)

    • There were some DITL changes to suit the Nova engine, basically they were close but not exactly as they were in the original. 4 little images were added because they were not in the original but needed for use in the Nova engine:
      Posted Image

      Other than that, no changes or additions were made.

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      "...The said Constitution never be construed ... to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping and bearing their own arms" - Samuel Adams, 1788

      (This message has been edited by Soviet mikee (edited 08-12-2003).)

    • Quote

      Originally posted by -esw-dragoon_77:
      **Nope. It's just a straight port. The only difference I can tell is that time compression stays on when you jump.

      **

      I noticed a few other differrences:

      AI ships are much dumber, firing weapons at far too great a distance. Once, heavy rockets were quite deadly. Now I can dodge them easily in a freighter.

      Decoy flares spew out of the back of the ship, rather than being controlled as a secondary weapon. Now I must buy five times as many as I did before.

      Armor is now irreparable. This changes my combat strategy significantly.

      Turrets and Javelin rockets fire at a ridiculously low rate.

      (This message has been edited by Admyster (edited 08-13-2003).)

    • Quote

      Originally posted by Admyster:

      Decoy flares spew out of the back of the ship, rather than being controlled as a secondary weapon. Now I must buy five times as many as I did before.

      Yea, nova got rid of decoys, instead decoys were made into point defense weapons.

      Quote

      Turrets and Javelin rockets fire at a ridiculously low rate.

      No, they don't. They fire at the same rate they did before. Nothing was changed there.

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      "...The said Constitution never be construed ... to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping and bearing their own arms" - Samuel Adams, 1788

    • Quote

      Originally posted by Soviet mikee:
      **No, they don't. They fire at the same rate they did before. Nothing was changed there.

      **

      Sorry, I phrased that poorly. I didn't mean that the Reload was changed in wëap resources, but that AI ships fire some weapons at a very low rate. This is especially noticeable when fighting Argosies and Lightnings.

      It's odd that the 0x0002 flag doesn't make a point-defense weapon act like a secondary weapon.

    • I noticed something else: the ExitType for all weapons is set to 0, and the weapon positions are all set to 0. This causes all weapons to fire from the center of the ship.

      (This message has been edited by Admyster (edited 08-13-2003).)

    • Quote

      Originally posted by Admyster:
      I noticed something else: the ExitType for all weapons is set to 0, and the weapon positions are all set to 0. This causes all weapons to fire from the center of the ship.

      You mean like they did in EV? 😉

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      "...The said Constitution never be construed ... to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping and bearing their own arms" - Samuel Adams, 1788

    • Quote

      Originally posted by Admyster:
      **Armor is now irreparable. This changes my combat strategy significantly.
      **

      Armor and shields can have different recharge rates in the Nova engine. I think someone with contact with the porters should let them know to set the armor recharge to match that of the shields.

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      "Damn, everybody wants something up their ass today! Yeah, I'm cool like that." - forge

    • Quote

      Originally posted by Soviet mikee:
      **You mean like they did in EV?;)

      **

      Turrets in EV have up to four separate exit ports. In this port, turrets all fire from the same point. This makes large ships such as the Confederate Cruiser look awkward.

    • The exit points are evenly distributed from the front of the ship to the back of the ship.

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      (url="http://"http://www.evula.com")EVula.com(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.net")EVula.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.org")EVula.org(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.ev-nova.net")EV-Nova.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/empire_trilogy/")The Empire Trilogy(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+banter+|AMP|+brawl&number;=10")Something wicked, this way comes...(/url) |
      (url="http://"http://directory.perfectparadox.com/profile.php?id=00074")omg im so l33t!!!11(/url)
      "Charming, your sister sounds like quite the catch!" ~Mek-Nificent7
      "...I guess my friendly persuation didn't make quite the lasting impression that my boots did." ~Zane Salazar

    • In EV, they are distributed evenly on most ships. In EV Nova, these exit points are defined in shän resources rather than in shďp resources. The exit points weren't defined after the shďp resources were converted.

      (This message has been edited by Admyster (edited 08-13-2003).)

    • Quote

      Originally posted by Russell Quintero:
      **Armor and shields can have different recharge rates in the Nova engine. I think someone with contact with the porters should let them know to set the armor recharge to match that of the shields.

      **

      Russ, I am one of the porters. EV did not have seperate armor recharge. The shield recharge rate will help reduce the amount of damage the armor takes.
      While I agree, this is a problem, it is a problem that does not have a perfect solution. The choices are either recharge the armor seperately, which would make it harder to kill ships. Instead of getting say 1 point on shield or armor per second, now you would get 2. On the other hand, by not having an armor recharge rate, you are getting the same amount of defense repair points per second, but you can not recharge your armor.
      This is also more realistic.

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      "...The said Constitution never be construed ... to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping and bearing their own arms" - Samuel Adams, 1788

    • Quote

      Originally posted by Soviet mikee:
      **The choices are either recharge the armor seperately, which would make it harder to kill ships. Instead of getting say 1 point on shield or armor per second, now you would get 2. On the other hand, by not having an armor recharge rate, you are getting the same amount of defense repair points per second, but you can not recharge your armor.
      This is also more realistic.

      **

      I take the choice of regenerating arnor separately. Armor regeneration is so important to I can take that its harder to kill. Lack of armor regeneration is why I havent wanted to play these ports, and why I first disliked it in Nova, until I saw the heavy armors of ships in that game meant its no problem. Armor regeneration is a core EV concept. When youre on low armor, renegerate it fully and you may have enough strenght to strike one more ship down. This is a tactic I like to do, and that ships have light armor (except the Voinians) unlike Nova makes this a problem.

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      I am eager to try to answer mission questions