#ESCAPE VELOCITY NOVA MAP SOFTWARE#

Map of the Galaxy – Credit: Ambrosia Software The universe itself encourages you to pick a side and reap the rewards from this conformity. As you complete these kinds of missions, you would also begin to unlock access to their weapons, fighter-craft, and main ships. If you make a mistake or do anything that irritates the authorities, you may find yourself in hot trouble while attempting to return to certain planets. Like a down on their luck hitchhiker in the middle of the Candian wilderness, you’ll need to stick your digital thumbprint high in the sky and hope some other ship comes by and donates you a gallon of gas to get you to the next system.īest of all, your decisions have consequences for the remainder of the game: effectively complete a task, and you will win favor with your employer, improving your chances of more thrilling and higher-paying missions. Finally, since every ship needs to use gas to move from system to system you may find yourself floating in space endlessly. You may engage in battles, hire escorts to help you move, board, and hunt for crippled ships, or gamble for additional money. You may communicate with other spaceships by hailing them and they’ll exchange pleasantries and pre-built tips and threats. You’ll arrive on planets and spaceports, exploring the mission computer while drinking at the local tavern. As I said with EVE Online, you’ll note that this game has a similar feel to it. The game is played from a bird’s eye perspective. After you start playing and start upgrading ships, you’ll be as hooked as I was. In terms of genre, the Escape Velocity game line was in a class by itself, though you’ll see it reflected in things like EVE online or Starpoint Gemini 2. You’ll see these little guys moving on their own trade routes, having their own wars, and if you’re really lucky, maybe you’ll see them find some friends along the way. “People” is a loose term here, as the game was entirely populated by AI units. You may even become a pirate and make a living by pillaging other people’s ships. You might stay an ordinary day-trader and make a fortune, or you could become a mercenary and go on perilous missions. You might choose to remain neutral in the interplanetary war between the Galactic government and their Rebels, or you could choose a side and join the fight. You’ll be control your destiny by trading, buying, selling, transporting people and goods, and going on special missions for a wide and seemingly endless cast of characters. You’ll do this by slowly earning enough money to buy a new ship, most often a freighter with very little in the ways of defenses, and outfitting it with your desired capabilities. In the Escape Velocity franchise, you started the game as the humble owner of a shuttlecraft who has a hunger for riches and glory. The first game of my life that was eating up dozens of nights of my life, preventing me from truly developing friends and enjoying the joys of hockey games, was here in front of me, and I wasn’t going to stop till I hit my first million credits. I hadn’t ever felt so invested in a game as I had this one, a video game where I was building a galactic empire, system by system, and a name for myself as a mercenary and a truly powerful starship captain. I was discovering something about myself, something that would shape me into a true gamer. I should be finishing up my homework for my Social Studies class, but instead, I am engrossed in the battles happening on the much-to-bright screen of the candy apple red IMac that’s perched upon the dresser that’s alongside my new-to-me twin-sized bed. My room is filled with the sounds of laser battles, imagination, and the steady sounds of digital capitalism. Today Gunum is talking about Escape Velocity Nova, which was released in 2002 and could be seen as one of the earliest games where making political choices changed the landscape you played in. Welcome back to GOONHAMMER ’02, where we look back at the games and media that we loved 20 years ago.

Escape velocity nova map