![]() ![]() ![]() I think this is the closest to an official EV re-release we're ever going to get. ATMOS is particularly messy, the IP being split amongst a group of once-friends who don't seem to be on great terms anymore. Matt Burch could release a new EV game, and ATMOS could release a new version of Nova (again changing name and engine), but neither of them have interest in doing so. I'm guessing this nullifying clause means that Ambrosia doesn't really have much content left, even if Andrew were to revive the company at some point. He did contact Andrew Welch for his blessing regardless, which apparently he was given. He also has his original Ambrosia contract with the nullifying clause that they lose distribution rights if they cease to act as publisher, and taking down their web store has voided the contract. So in this case, it's that he has permission to the assets but not the code, and he's bypassing that, with Matt Burch's permission, through a new engine. When Ambrosia shuttered its online doors for good and took their website down last year, PAC decided it was time to self-publish a new version of EVO, leading to "Cosmic Frontier: Override." Matt Burch, a full-time software engineer at Garmin by this point, swore off all future involvement with the franchise, ATMOS dissolved, and although Ambrosia continued to sell and occasionally update the EV games, no new sequel was ever released. They got offered a sequel, formed ATMOS, and worked with Matt Burch to make significant enhancements to the game engine (for instance, supporting movies and adding ship lighting / engine effects). A young group of EVO modders wanted to update the engine for their plugin. Then, years later the same thing happened with EV: Nova. He asked Ambrosia about the possibility of patching the engine they liked the plugin it became an official sequel with Matt Burch agreeing to update the engine. Years later, Peter Cartwright was making a total conversion plugin, but there were some limitations with the game engine (e.g., armor-heavy ships would disable too early so Vionian ships didn't work properly). Ambrosia offered to publish, and so the franchise was born! College student Matt Burch wrote the original engine and scenario based on what he thought Elite might be, having lost the anti-piracy code for his copy. He has obtained permission from both Matt Burch and Andrew Welch to re-release provided he change the name from Escape Velocity and use a new engine, which this Kickstarter is intended to help fund.Ī little more general background about EV which I think is quite interesting: Matt Burch owns those, and of course, Ambrosia had exclusive publishing rights, although those have expired since they no longer sell the game. He gladly discusses details on his Discord, and some info is also covered in Richard Moss's excellent book, but my understanding is that he owns all the content associated with EVO except the name and game engine. To comment a bit regarding the background and permissions, this remaster is coming from Peter Cartwright, scenario designer of Escape Velocity: Override. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |