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Escape Velocity

Escape Velocity is a single-player, role-playing, space-adventure computer game series first introduced in 1996 by Ambrosia Software for the Apple Macintosh. Two other similar games based on the original, EV Override and EV Nova, followed in 1998 and 2002 respectively. more...

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In addition there is a trading card game available based around the storyline of the EV Nova universe.

The series was created as a joint effort between several people and groups. Matt Burch programmed nearly the entire program and engine, except for the registration system and various libraries. He also devised the scenario for the first game. Ambrosia Software, headed by Andrew Welch, managed marketing, registration, and distribution. Early test versions of the game went by the name ‘Merc’ (short for ‘mercenary’). Peter Cartwright wrote the scenario for EV Override and the Australian company ATMOS created the scenario of EV Nova; both originated as plug-ins for the preceding games before being picked up by Ambrosia as sequels. The fighter pilot voices in the original game were provided by Patrick Delahanty. A plug-in of additional phrases was also created and later included as part of EV Override.

Although there has been much speculation, the developers indicate that there will be no fourth game in the Escape Velocity series.

Similarly, the developers pay no heed to the near-constant requests for a multi-player version of the game. In addition to the amount of work that would be required to produce one, the game’s developers believe that a multi-player version of the game would not be compatible with the gameplay of the series.

Licensing and technical features

The first two Escape Velocity games were only available for the Apple Macintosh. The first two are Classic-only, but EV Nova is a Carbon application and runs natively on both the original Mac OS and Mac OS X. EV Nova has been ported to Windows, and adapted versions of the scenarios of the first games are available as free plug-ins.

This series follows the general licensing rule for Ambrosia Software. All three games are shareware. Ambrosia’s shareware system allows most distribution of unregistered games. Copies of the first two Escape Velocity games will work without limitation for 30 days. During that time, the player is simply reminded at startup that they have not registered, and told how many times they have played the game, and for how many hours. There is also the character called ‘Cap’n Hector’ (named after Ambrosia’s mascot and office parrot) who reminds the player to register. This is ususally done by flying by the player’s ship or attacking the player, but in EV Override, Cap’n Hector also steals the player’s credits.

An unregistered copy of EV Nova is more limited. In addition to the attacks by Cap’n Hector, certain ships and technologies cannot be obtained after the thirty-day trial ends, and even before then, the game’s story lines stop about two thirds of the way through, and plug-ins are not supported. Once the game has been registered, Cap’n Hector and all of the other restrictions disappear from the game. For obvious reasons, players are not permitted to share or redistribute their registration codes.