Escape Velocity: Difference between revisions

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''EV Nova'' has its own wiki [http://evn.wikia.com here].

* [[Absent Aliens]]: Subverted in ''Classic''. The game had them in the backstory, but humanity [[Guilt Free Extermination War|wiped them out]] after they tried to do the same to us. {{spoiler|There's still one last alien cruiser floating around out there, though.}}

* [[Absent Aliens]]: Subverted in ''Classic''. The game had them in the backstory, but humanity [[Guilt-Free Extermination War|wiped them out]] after they tried to do the same to us. {{spoiler|There's still one last alien cruiser floating around out there, though.}}

** Averted entirely in ''Override''.

** Played with in ''Nova'', which has the [[Starfish Aliens|Wraith]] north of Polaris space. They only have any role in the Polaris storyline, and a small one at that. [[Double Subverted]] with the Krypt, which are derived from the former Vell-os ruling council, making them a human offshoot instead of true aliens.

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** Actually, on any ship with decent speed, they're [[Awesome Yet Practical|one of the most powerful and effective weapons]], despite the beam being shorter than Frodo Baggins.

** The pirate version of the ship, reasonably enough, [[Lightning Bruiser|sticks another engine on]].

* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: Stud Beefpile, among others; many of them are [[Shout Out|Shout Outs]] to [[Space Mutiny]].

* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: Stud Beefpile, among others; many of them are [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]] to [[Space Mutiny]].

* [[Bag of Sharing]]: For some reason, when you mine asteroids with cargo escorts in Nova, the asteroid bits seem to somehow magically teleport to your fleet's freighters.

* [[The Battlestar]]: All the heavy capital ships except the Auroran Thunderforge qualify.

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* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: In ''Nova'', the description of the planet Our Spiel, to which the player is teleported once they beat a storyline.

** [[Author Avatar|Nuada]]'s ex-boss appears as a cargo drone with the subtitle [[Creator in Joke|"Incompetent"]].

* [[But Thou Must]]: Once you have started the Vell-os storyline, even without realizing you have done so (it's started by a perfectly normal, innocuous cargo run), it's impossible to get out of it -- attempting to cancel the mission will cause the entire Federation navy to hunt you down and kill you. When the time comes for your character to be arrested, it will always happen, even if you have a crew of 250 and two full mercenary platoons with you.

* [[But Thou Must!]]: Once you have started the Vell-os storyline, even without realizing you have done so (it's started by a perfectly normal, innocuous cargo run), it's impossible to get out of it -- attempting to cancel the mission will cause the entire Federation navy to hunt you down and kill you. When the time comes for your character to be arrested, it will always happen, even if you have a crew of 250 and two full mercenary platoons with you.

** An attentive player can notice that there is something off with that normal cargo run, but it requires that random chance doesn't put it up too early: ordinary cargo runs ''never'' goes to Earth, which that one does<ref>Random missions in ''Nova'' never go to planets or stations that can get changed during the storylines. Earth can get changed during the storylines</ref>. It is also possible to get out of the Vell-os storyline by rejecting (that is, saying no to, rather than aborting) the ''second'' mission (you are still hunted by the Federation, but you are told where to go to get them to stop following you - and that somewhere is three jumps away) - but you are still locked out from five of the six storylines, just with the Vell-os story as one of the those five instead.

* [[Chekhov's Armoury]]: Nova's pirate string, where almost four-fifths of it was dedicated to trade runs, both legal and illegal, message conveyances, as well as the fetching of certain people, all of that eventually adding up to an alliance with the Rebellion, a daily salary, and the launch of the Heavily Modified-class Pirate Carrier ''Unrelenting''.

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*** ESPECIALLY Leviathans. Using the maximum amount of mass conversions, retools, Sigma conversions, and getting additional ports for guns and turrets, someone on [[YouTube]] made a warship out of one, earning it's rightful place for this trope.

*** It's called a "mass mod"; you could do it in the previous games as well, though not to ''Nova's'' extent.

* [[Crapsack World]]: ''Nova'' to some extent, though it never quite loses a hopeful tone. [[The Federation]] is a police state thanks to the elected government having been suborned by one of its [[State Sec|intelligence agencies]], and has the Vell-os enslaved to it. The Auroran Empire is a [[The Alliance|loose confederation]] of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|warrior houses]] that [[Enemy Civil War|fight among themselves]] as often as they fight the Federation. The Polaris are xenophobic isolationists with a [[Higher Tech Species|higher tech base]] that lets them blow away anyone who looks at them cross-eyed. Then there's all the [[Space Pirates]] floating around. On the other hand, there are a great many people trying to make things better. [[La Résistance|The Rebellion]] against the Federation, for instance, which seeks to destroy the Bureau and restore democracy to the Federation's government.

* [[Crapsack World]]: ''Nova'' to some extent, though it never quite loses a hopeful tone. [[The Federation]] is a police state thanks to the elected government having been suborned by one of its [[State Sec|intelligence agencies]], and has the Vell-os enslaved to it. The Auroran Empire is a [[The Alliance|loose confederation]] of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|warrior houses]] that [[Enemy Civil War|fight among themselves]] as often as they fight the Federation. The Polaris are xenophobic isolationists with a [[Higher-Tech Species|higher tech base]] that lets them blow away anyone who looks at them cross-eyed. Then there's all the [[Space Pirates]] floating around. On the other hand, there are a great many people trying to make things better. [[La Résistance|The Rebellion]] against the Federation, for instance, which seeks to destroy the Bureau and restore democracy to the Federation's government.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Cap'n Hector would come at you with one of these if you didn't register the game within a month. It may not be ''impossible'' to survive him, but it's highly unlikely.

* [[Dead Man Writing]]: {{spoiler|Techerakh, ''Thurokiir'' of Heraan and the [[Player Character]]'s mentor in the Auroran string, is killed in action about two-thirds into the plot. He leaves a message for the player that ends in the line "Unite us, then lead us to victory."}}

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** In ''Nova'', the literal "Empire" more closely models a [[Proud Warrior Race]] and [[Feudal Future]], as it is a collection of noble houses that fight amongst one another rather than a monolithic authoritarian body.

* [[Escort Mission]]: Somewhat inverted, as the engine is only built to support other ships following the player, not the other way around. You still have to see your charge safely to their destination.

* [[Fan Nickname]]: "Mass-modding" involves converting a freighter into a [~~http://en.~~wikipedia~~.org/wiki/~~Q-ship Q-ship]. Start with freighter with decent stats like an Enterprise or Leviathan, the bigger the cargo bay the better. Buy mass expansions until you can't fit any more. You now have a smaller cargo bay and a lot more room for weapons.

* [[Fan Nickname]]: "Mass-modding" involves converting a freighter into a [[wikipedia:Q-ship|Q-ship]]. Start with freighter with decent stats like an Enterprise or Leviathan, the bigger the cargo bay the better. Buy mass expansions until you can't fit any more. You now have a smaller cargo bay and a lot more room for weapons.

* [[Fantastic Caste System]]: The Polaris in ''Nova'' have an occupation-based caste system; citizens are assigned to castes based on aptitude tests. The Kel'ariy are the governing caste, the Ver'ash are doctors and medical researchers, the P'aedt do most other science research, the Nil'kemorya are the military, and the Tre'pira are the labor caste (which ranges from construction all the way up to ship captains). Oddly the Tre'pira are the most honored caste because they're seen as the backbone of Polaran society.

** The [[Sixth Ranger]] caste is the Mu'hari, a caste created after the Polaris Civil War. These are made up solely of citizens who failed the tests to enter another caste. They learn a little of everything, but their primary duty is to ensure the survival of Polaran society, which in practice makes them the Polaran diplomatic and intelligence service, as well as providing internal security.

* [[Faster Than Light Travel]]: Instantaneous "hypergates" in ''Nova'', in addition to normal ship drives.

* [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]]: Instantaneous "hypergates" in ''Nova'', in addition to normal ship drives.

** In ''Nova'', the multi-jump organ allows your ship to perform up to 10 instant hyperjumps for the cost of one. It blows Hypergates out of the water.

* [[The Federation]]: The United Earth of ''Override'' is a union of [[Captain Obvious|the countries of Earth]], is generally good, and has a Parliament. It began as an [[The Alliance|Alliance]], but has grown tighter since then, with plans to introduce a common currency mentioned in-game and [[Word of God]] mentioning it doesn't fall apart after the Voinans are effectively defeated.

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* [[Frickin' Laser Beams]]: The Polaris' and Vell-os' hat in terms of weapons.

* [[Game Mod]]: Hundreds, ranging from cheats to total conversions. The data files were easily editable via ResEdit and numerous fan-made graphical editors. ''Nova'' even has official GUI editors.

* [[Good Republic Evil Empire]]: Played straight in ''Override'' between the United Earth and the Voinian Empire. [[Inverted]] in ''Nova'', where the Federation is [[The Empire]], and the Auroran Empire is really a [[The Alliance|loose confederation]] of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|warrior houses]].

* [[Good Republic, Evil Empire]]: Played straight in ''Override'' between the United Earth and the Voinian Empire. [[Inverted]] in ''Nova'', where the Federation is [[The Empire]], and the Auroran Empire is really a [[The Alliance|loose confederation]] of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|warrior houses]].

* [[Great Offscreen War]]:

** ''Classic'' had an alien invasion that nearly resulted in humanity being wiped out. The Confederation managed to turn the tables on the aliens {{spoiler|but there's still a leftover alien cruiser floating around out there somewhere}}.

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** Actually you could get ahold of those super-ships, no modding required -- you just can't ''buy'' them. If you disabled, boarded and captured an AI-controlled ship that was using and illegal load-out, and you then chose to use that ship yourself, you would inherit the illegal load-out, and still have access to it. This was amusing to no end, when one captured one of the illegal load-out super-Ravens -- the normal, player-accessible Raven already arguably being the most powerful ship in the game. A great way to get a very powerful ship early on was to capture a Starbridge D, which, if memory serves, had more space then and superior stats to any Starbridge you could actually buy -- and still had more equipment installed than it had space for, even with the extra!

*** There are, however, some ships with unique pilots that are actually ''INVINCIBLE'', meaning they cannot be captured, and thus inaccessible without cheating. Also, weapons that do not have a defined outfit (such as the super-weapons that planetary defenses use) are erased once you land at a planet.

* [[Shout Out]]: The first game in particular is ''packed'' with them, from the forest moon of [[Star Wars|Endor]] to the joint-swelling, speech-degrading [[Manos the Hands of Fate|Torgo]] virus.

* [[Shout-Out]]: The first game in particular is ''packed'' with them, from the forest moon of [[Star Wars|Endor]] to the joint-swelling, speech-degrading [[Manos the Hands of Fate|Torgo]] virus.

** In ''Nova'', [[Intentional Engrish for Funny|red Leviathan roaming]] [[Zero Wing|CATS]] [[Intentional Engrish for Funny|piloted]].

** [[Dune|Arrakis]] in NAEV.

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** Played straight, in a way, with the few inertialess vessels in Nova -- a player getting his first Vell-os vessel would often yell WHEEEEEEEEE at finding out how nimble the bugger was. Also the ridiculously large Polaris Raven. These ships are usually ''less'' popular with players, since you can't pull the [[Hit and Run Tactics|Monty Python]] maneuver without inertia.

*** Inertialess flight can also be frustrating since some of the most powerful weapons in the game are fixed weapons, meaning you have to be pointing your ship at what you want to shoot. With inertia, you can strafe around the target to maximize the damage you deal while minimizing the damage you receive (if you do it correctly). However, with inertia, attacking with a fixed weapons means you are forced to fly your ship directly ''at'' what you are attempting to shoot, which minimizes the amount of time you can keep your weapon trained on the target before you fly over it and have to turn around. This is especially frustrating if you want to shred an enemy with the Vell-os Winter Storm or a Polaris Raven's Capacitor Pulse Laser.

* [[Standard Sci Fi Fleet]]: In ''Nova'', the Federation and Auroran Empire each have an interceptor, a fighter-bomber, a gunship, a light cruiser, and a carrier. The Federation adds a scoutship, while the Aurorans later develop a fast battleship designed for close-range brawling. The Polaris use [[Living Ship|living ships]] equivalent to fighters, gunships, frigates, destroyers, and two types of [[The Battlestar|battleship/carrier hybrids]]. Meanwhile the Rebels have an interceptor, fighter-bomber, three different gunships, and two different cruisers.

* [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet]]: In ''Nova'', the Federation and Auroran Empire each have an interceptor, a fighter-bomber, a gunship, a light cruiser, and a carrier. The Federation adds a scoutship, while the Aurorans later develop a fast battleship designed for close-range brawling. The Polaris use [[Living Ship|living ships]] equivalent to fighters, gunships, frigates, destroyers, and two types of [[The Battlestar|battleship/carrier hybrids]]. Meanwhile the Rebels have an interceptor, fighter-bomber, three different gunships, and two different cruisers.

** ''EVC'' gives the Confederation and Rebels each a fighter, gunship, destroyer, and [[The Battlestar|cruiser]].

* [[Standard Sci Fi History]]: ''Nova's'' backstory follows this structure almost to the letter. Humanity is currently in the Renaissance stage.

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* [[State Sec]]: The Bureau of Internal Investigation in ''Nova''. They control their own navy, and have authority over all telepaths in Federation space, most notably the Vell-os. {{spoiler|They're also [[The Man Behind the Man]] to both the Federation ''and'' part of the Auroran Empire, and their leader wants to rule the galaxy from behind the scenes. They're not nice people.}}

** Part of the mission statement of the Mu'hari is to ensure the survival of the Polaran people, whatever the cost. This means that they take on the [[State Sec]]/[[Secret Police]] role at times by necessity, but since they're treated as benevolent caretakers, this counts as a subversion.

* [[Stop Helping Me]]: Friendly faction ships (not escorts) will be all too eager to blow up that Kestrel you've painstakingly disabled after several minutes of combat.

* [[Stop Helping Me!]]: Friendly faction ships (not escorts) will be all too eager to blow up that Kestrel you've painstakingly disabled after several minutes of combat.

** Similarly, escorts can be overzealous in missions that require you to disable but not destroy your targets.

* [[Suicidal Overconfidence]]: In the first two games, hostiles will always attack you. Even in a lightweight fighter against the best ships available.

** ''Nova's'' upgraded engine allows for individual governments to [[Know When to Fold Em]] at pre-programmed odds.

** ''Nova's'' upgraded engine allows for individual governments to [[Know When to Fold'Em]] at pre-programmed odds.

* [[Terraform]]: In all three games, Mars was the first planet to be terraformed. And it always [[Gone Horribly Wrong|Went Horribly Wrong]], and the next few hundred years are spent trying to fix the mess.

** ''Nova'' also lets you see somebody get it right in the Nirvana Terraforming questline: you deliver supplies to the eponymous terraforming company's proof-of-concept job, which turns the chlorine-atmosphere rock UHP-1002 into the class M planet Nirvana. The Polaris have largely mastered it, with several worlds listed as terraformed in the "hail planet" dialog.

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[[Category:Wide Open Sandbox]]

[[Category:Escape Velocity]]

[[Category:Trope]]