EV/Override

This is my ship.

Imagine a game where you pilot a ship through an unexplored universe where all sorts of dangers await. In Escape Velocity and EV Override, this is what you do.

Escape Velocity, by Ambrosia Software is one of it's most popular shareware games ever made. EV Override is the sequel to EV, featuring a galaxy twice as large, or more.

In Escape Velocity, you start off in a shuttle, doing cargo runs, and avoiding the pirates. As you gather more money, you can buy numerous upgrades, or a new and better ship. A civil war, between the human Confederation and the Rebellion rages on and at some time or another, you must pick sides. Personally, I like to side with the rebels because of what they fight for, freedom from the imperial Confederation! Well, that's my choice.

Destroy that pirate kestrel!!

Still, beware of pirates. They can usually be found in uninhabited systems and away from the core worlds, in the fringe regions. One system, Blackthorne I think, seems to be filled with pirates, and special technology. Their ships can range from argosies(freighter) to Kestrels(the most powerful ship available to the average civilian). Though you would think pirates would just disable you, they just blow you up instead.

Weaponry in EV is based on a few standard weapons, but there are numerous oufits, which some are only available on certain planets and special weapons received from doing certain missions. Basic primary weapons are proton cannons and lasers and basic secondary weapons are missiles, torpedoes and fighters.

Ships come in a variety of classes, which can be modified to suit your own tastes. You can buy transports, freighters, fighters, or warships. All of them have their advantages and disadvantages. And also, bigger usually means slower.
The two large freighters purchasable to players in the game are the Light Freighter and Argosy. The Light Freighter is punier than the Argosy, but holds more cargo, while the Argosy can better defend itself.
The transports are your shuttle, the Scoutship, Courier, and the Clipper. Anything is an improvement from the shuttle, but a scoutship is like an upgraded shuttle, the courier is more like a freighter, and the Clipper can be adapted to be a combat ship, or freighter.

EV Shipyard

Escape Velocity's shipyard

There are many fighters, some extremely puny, to some heavily armoured stuff. The Defender is a worthless piece of junk; one missile hit and it's practically dead. The Rapier is the heaviest fighter with even a torpedo launcher. The all-round fighter is the Lightning, a fast, well-armed, expensive ship.
The Corvette and the Kestrel are the larger warships. The Corvette is a ship which has ample fire power, but is still maneuverable. The Kestrel is a frigate class ship with torpedoes, missiles, proton turrets and 2 Lightning fighters.
Because of all these ships' classes and their purposes, you can expect transports and fighters to be quite weak, freighters to have cargo space, but not so good weapon systems, and the capital ships to be slow, but powerful.

By doing certain missions, one might gain access to buying certain ships, weapons or outfits. Such as if you side with the rebels and you do their missions, you eventually gain access to their ships and weaponry.

It seems the Confederation isn't particularly fond of me.

Your missions can range from just ferrying passengers and tranporting cargo, to assassinating officials and running reconnaisance. Usually the more fun missions require that you have some sort of combat rating and that you're liked by the government offering it. Also, it's necessary to adapt your ship for certain missions. When assassinating a confederate official, it's best to use something long range and fast if you want to be able to take out the official's ship before it escapes while trying to avoid the fighters. Of course, if you had a capital ship with fighters, you could just dump out your fighters and tell them to destroy the ship for you.
Also, planning out your route on the map is a good idea. There is one mission that I know of which involves the plain destruction of a pirate fleet of kestrels. If you do a string of missions for a party known as the Artemis Group, the final mission will be this. I can't help you with any tactics on this because at that time, I was cheating.

EV, as well as Override, has the capacity for missions to change the state of the universe. Also, the engine allows for the creation of plugs which allows people like me, to create new things in the game, such as ships, mission, and planets.

EV Override uses an upgraded EV engine, featuring a few more flexible options for objects in the game. But Override's story has nothing to do with the original Escape Velocity's storyline.

Map of small portion of Override's universe

Override features a universe twice as large, with more major races. In this universe, you're a pilot of a shuttle, who basically does the same stuff as that pilot in EV, but now, the threat is an alien race known as the Voinan and the universe remains unexplored. The technology is different and now, humankind doesn't have superior technology than other races.

There are, I think, 7 major races in this universe, the Humans, the Voinan, the Miranu, the Emalgha, and the Zidagar, the Igadzra, and the Adzgari.
The Voinan are a conquering race with superior armour, but worthless shields. The armour is what's difficult to get through. Their weaponry is based on slow neutron cannons and rockets.
The Miranu are a peaceful, trading race, having ties with practically everyone except for the Voinan. Their technology is superior to that of humanity and most of their ships are freighters or transports with long range and reasonable defense.
The Emalgha are a primitive race who have just recently attained space travel. Their ships are made of wood, and their weapons are only explosive projectile cannons, which luckily are effective on Voinan armour.

Seems I'm in the middle of United Earth ships killing a Voinan Frigate.

The Zidagar, Igadzra, and Adzgari are the three Strand races, inhabiting an area to the right of the map. They're constantly at war with each other and have similar technologies, though they have different tendencies. Zidagar have light ships with weapons based for a frontal assault. Igadzra have powerful weapon-platform type ships loaded with weapons. And the Adzgari have fast, quick ships. And lot's of them.

Their are three main objectives in EV Override. Cause the beginning of the fall of the Voinan Empire, explore the nebulae, and destabilize the Strand conflict.

Some advanced features are better sound handling, more custmizable weapons and outfits, and more unique ships.

These are two of the shareware games to get if you haven't downloaded it yet. For more information, visit The Official Escape Velocity WebSite or Ambrosia Software.

I myself have created a plug for EV Override. It features 4 new ships, 6 new weapons, and 2 outfits. All new graphics!! No particular storyline. Just a bunch of aliens exploring this part of the galaxy, leaving some of their technology here and there. If you want better technology, this is the plug to get! Download: 318K

This page built and maintained by Alex Wong.

If you find any problems or wish to make a suggestion, you can e-mail me at me_al@hotmail.com.
Last updated: 6-26-98