Escape Vector

Escape Vector

Genre	Action
Release	June 03, 2008
Multi-player	No

Escape Vector is a 2-D flight game, where players must adhere to rules of momentum and gravity in order to prevent themselves or their cargo from crashing or otherwise being destroyed, while evading obstacles and enemy traps.

Cold Planet (link)

The main theme.

Common Controls

• Left arrow - Turn Left
• Right arrow - Turn Right
• Up arrow - Thrust
• Ctrl - Shoot
• Shift or Spacebar - Use Shield
• Enter or R or Alt - Shoot Rock Buster
• M - Open Minimap

The OSS Katsuro is a single-engine, triangular ship that can spin freely about its center-point (independent of what, if anything, is being towed). Thrusting will cause the ship to accelerate in the direction it is pointing, but that ship also experiences forces due to gravity, enemy alien pods and the inertia of any towed object.

Towing

To tether to an object, land gently (with the nose pointing upward) within one or two shiplengths from it. Most power-ups are gathered by tethering (with the exception of the fuel pod, where you land on the pod's platform). Furthermore, most are automatically drawn into the ship for use instead of being towed: TNT is an exception.

After tethering to a towable object (such as the cargo or TNT), the object will be in tow once you lift off. Once an object is in tow, if that object touches any other object (no matter how gently), it will be destroyed and the tether removed.

An important consideration when mastering towing is that the tether between object and ship is fixed, such that the distance between object and ship is constant. This is different from a soft tether (such as rope) which only governs the maximum distance between objects. A yo-yo is an example of a soft tether. Were it tethered to one's finger and dangling down, one would expect that raising the finger would pull the yo-yo upward; however, rapidly lowering the finger would not cause the yo-yo to drop any faster than by gravity. The tether in Escape Vector does not follow this expectation, which adds to both the strategy and challenge of controlling the ship.

Shield

The shield in Escape Vector acts as a protective bubble against collisions with either terrain or other objects (including enemy bullets). The shield does not absorb the energy of impact, meaning momentum is conserved: if you hit a wall at a rapid speed and while activating the shield, you will bounce off of the wall at the same relative speed, but a different direction. This happens to be the mechanism by which Speed Nitwit is achieved. Similarly, using the shield against a seeker will cause some opposite rebound.

Shooting

Bullets (and Rock Busters) in Escape Vector are not instantaneous: they take time to reach their target. As a result, they are affected by the velocity of the ship when the shot is fired. It is important to compensate for the ship's velocity when aiming. However, bullets are not affected by gravity. Bullets can be fired quickly at no cost, so it is often advantageous to blanket a target with many bullets.

Powerups

There are various useful powerups in the game. All of them except fuel are worth 1,000 points on top of their specific effect. A fuel depot can be destroyed by bullet or rock buster to score 500 points, but should be preserved until you know you will no longer need it to refuel.

Image	Name	Type	Effect
	Shield	Limited use	Gives 300 shield (increasing shield bonus at end of level).
	Fuel Depot	Unlimited use	Fills your ship up to 5,000 fuel (refuel before picking up cargo to maximize fuel bonus).
	Rock Buster (1)	Limited use	Destroys land and laser gates
	Rock Buster (5)	Limited use	Destroys land and laser gates
	Engine Boost	Ship upgrade	Gives your engine doubled thrust
	Tri-Shot	Ship upgrade	Your ship fires 3 shots instead of 1
	TNT	Carried	Destroys land

Ship upgrades last until the end of the level. TNT is carried by the cable like a crate and explodes when it touches land.

Alien Infrastructure

There are various items of alien infrastructure which attempt to kill you either by making you lose control of your ship or by actively attacking you.

Image	Name	Effect	How to Destroy
	Green Pod	Shoots bullets at you. Bullets blockable using shield.	Bullets
	Blue Cylinder	Pushes you away from the Cylinder.	Bullets
	Red Cylinder	Pulls you towards the Cylinder.	Bullets
	Seekers	Homes in and destroys you.	Bullets/Shield/Guide it into a wall
	Laser Gate	Destroys you if you pass through while it's activated. Destroys tethered cargo if caught within beam, but not the tether itself. If the ship is shielded while attempting to pass an active laser gate, the ship will bounce off.	Rock Buster to either end

Modes

There are 4 different modes in the game: Retrieval Easy, Retrieval Hard, Retribution and Simulator.

Retrieval

In Retrieval, you are tasked with flying the OSS Katsuro into a sub-surface cavern, locating and tethering stolen cargo, and then flying back above the surface with the cargo in tow. If, when the ship passes a certain altitude, the cargo is intact and in tow, the mission is successful. At all other times, the level is restarted with no penalty. Hence, if the cargo is lost at any point, one can return to the surface and restart the level without sacrificing a life or points. You are granted three lives (the game ends the third time your ship is destroyed).

Dialog

Sit down, Commander. Prepare for mission briefing.

As you know, Aliens broke into Earth's most advanced weapons and technology installation. They used cloaking devices and would have made good their escape...

...had our most powerful items not had tracking devices fitted, allowing us to track the aliens to their home system.

Your mission is to take your ship, the OSS Katsuro, into the caves where our devices are being stored. You must overcome the aliens' defences and recover the equipment.

Our emergency rescue teleporter has enough power for two transmissions. The aliens will attempt to stop you, and we can only save your life twice...

...so we are relying on your skills as a pilot to win the day for Earth.

Levels

This level set is available to all players, and contains the following levels:

Number	Name
0	Tutorial
Asteroid levels
1	Low-Security Facility
2	Deep Excavation
3	Blue Defence
4	Pod Defence
Baked Moon levels
5	Attractor Tunnel
6	Moon Fuel Depot
7	TNT Storage Cavern
8	Force Matrix Defence
Icy Moon levels
9	Ice Labyrinth
10	Seeker Caves
11	High-Security Stronghold
12	Rock Buster Twister
Aliens' Homeworld Levels
13	Small Ship Fuel Depot
14	The Shafts
15	Seeker Prison Cell
16	Central Munition Cavern

Normal

An easier version of Retrieval - Hard, it was released on 22 July as the default level mode was rather hard.

Hard

The first version of Escape Vector, it was the only mode available until the 22 July update.

Retribution

Congratulations, commander. You have recovered Earth's most advanced technologies from the mysterious aliens.

Unfortunately, the aliens had time to analyse and duplicate some of our stolen weapons technology.

They are now quickly amassing an armada, ready to strike at Earth.

Earth's defences need time to prepare for repelling the alien invasion.

Given your location in the alien home system, you have been ordered to do all in your powers to delay the alien arms build-up, and give Earth time to prepare.

Unlike the Retrieval levels, your ship is now armed with a tri-shot and a boosted engine, along with more-than usual fuel/shields, at the start of each level.

On your minimap (opened by hitting the M key ingame), you'll see powerups/fuel depots as yellow squares, while targets are in red. You must destroy the red targets to complete the level. On some of the levels a self-destruct mechanism will trigger when you destroy the last or deepest target, and will give you a time limit to escape.

This level set is members only, and contains the following levels:

Number	Name	Self-destruct time limit
0	Tutorial	N/A
Asteroid levels
1	Fuel Storage Unit 531	N/A
2	Outlying Fuel Depot	N/A
3	Fuel Production Caverns	N/A
4	Canister Elimination Run	60 seconds
Baked Moon levels
5	Mine Shafts	N/A
6	Fortified Mine	40 seconds
7	Mine Field	N/A
8	Auto Destruct	60 seconds
Icy Moon levels
9	Drive Research Facility	N/A
10	Engine Research Station	N/A
11	Cold Fusion Laboratory	N/A
12	High-security Research Cavern	N/A
Aliens' Homeworld Levels
13	Growth Pod Caverns	N/A
14	Mined Cloning Facility	N/A
15	Genetic Research Laboratory	N/A
16	Secluded Cloning Pods	N/A

Simulator

Definitely not recommended for beginners, the Simulator levels are the hardest levels of the game. They can be completed in any order (16 levels), and are retrofitted with a new colour scheme, which is green for walls, enemies, and your ship. Missions are either Retrieval or Retribution style.

This level set is members only, and contains the following levels:

Number	Name
1	Anti-gravity
2	Breach
3	Cataclysm
4	Dash
5	Deep Vertigo
6	Divided
7	Explosive Exit
8	Gravity Chamber
9	Mine Field
10	Orb
11	Pinball
12	Pulse
13	Slanted Mines
14	Upwards and Onwards
15	Asteroids Normal
16	Asteroids

Achievements

Total Achievements: 32
Total Orb Coins: 108
Total Orb Points: 10750
[Secret Achievements] | [Hidden Achievements] [Halloween Achievements]

No.	Image	Name	Requirement	Orb Points	Orb Coins	Members?	Sorter
AA		Belter Award	Retrieval - Hard: complete the asteroid levels	100	1	No	AA
AB		Moon Runner	Retrieval - Hard: complete the baked moon levels	100	1	No	AB
AC		Moon Raker	Retrieval - Hard: complete the icy moon levels	200	2	No	AC
AD		Hero of Earth	Complete Retrieval - Hard	300	3	No	AD
AE		Star Pilot	Retrieval - Hard: get 25,000 points	200	2	No	AE
AF		Ace Pilot	Retrieval - Hard: get 100,000 points	500	5	No	AF
AG		Fuel Filler	Retrieval: complete a level with more than 2500 fuel	100	1	No	AG
AH		Tough Destroyer	Retrieval - Hard: destroy an alien laser gate and complete the level	300	3	No	AH
AI		Speed Nitwit	Blow yourself up at speed in the mothership's auto-shield area	100	1	No	AI
AJ		Speed Freak	Retrieval - Hard: complete all levels in under 30 minutes	500	5	No	AJ
AK		Speed Demon	Retrieval - Hard: complete all levels in under 20 minutes	1000	10	No	AK
AL		Power Pilot	Retrieval - Hard: collect all power-ups in one session	500	5	No	AL
AM		Spirit of Vengeance	Retrieval - Hard: destroy all possible alien infrastructure in one session	500	5	No	AM
AN		Force King	Retrieval - Hard: complete 'Force Matrix Defence', without using the power-up	300	3	No	AN
AO		Seeker Shaker	Retrieval - Hard: complete 'Seeker Caves', without using your shield or shooting	500	5	No	AO
AP		Flak Dancer	Retrieval - Hard: complete 'High-Security Stronghold', destroying no more than four green pods	500	5	No	AP
AQ		Seeker Slingshot	Retrieval - Hard: complete 'Seeker Prison Cell', without using your shield	500	5	No	AQ
AR		G Force	Land on one of the attractors in 'Force Matrix Defence' in Retrieval	300	3	No	AR
AS		Belter Award (Normal)	Retrieval - Normal: complete the asteroid levels	50	1	No	AS
AT		Moon Runner (Normal)	Retrieval - Normal: complete the baked moon levels	50	1	No	AT
AU		Moon Raker (Normal)	Retrieval - Normal: complete the icy moon levels	100	1	No	AU
AV		Hero of Earth (Normal)	Complete Retrieval - Normal	150	1	No	AV
AW		High Octane	Complete the asteroids stage in Retribution	100	1	Yes	AW
AX		Ore Crusher	Complete the sun-baked moon stage in Retribution	200	2	Yes	AX
AY		Cold Fusion	Complete the icy moon stage on Retribution	300	3	Yes	AY
AZ		Saviour of Earth	Complete the Retribution level set	500	5	Yes	AZ
BA		Heroic Pilot	Score 350,000 points in Retribution	200	2	Yes	BA
BB		Ultimate Pilot	Score 800,000 points in Retribution	500	5	Yes	BB
BC		Total Annihilation	Destroy all alien infrastructure in Retribution	500	5	Yes	BC
BD		Virtual Reality	Complete the Simulator level set	1000	10	Yes	BD
BE		Bouncing Around	Complete 'Pinball' on Simulator	500	5	Yes	BE
BF		Free Fall	Complete 'Anti-gravity' on Simulator	100	1	Yes	BF

All information for these achievements is stored on their respective pages, along with walkthroughs and tips for many of them. So, if you notice a mistake, or have a good strategy, go there!

Did you notice a missing achievement? You can help the FunOrb Wiki by making a page for it. Simply type the achievement name in this box to make a page for it.<createbox> width=30 break=no prefix=Escape Vector/Achievement: preload=FunOrb Wiki:Achievement Articles/Preloader buttonlabel=Create page </createbox>

Trivia

• This is the first (currently only) game to have achievements that do not give exactly 100 orb points per orb coin, as well as the first to give an odd multiple of 50 orb points.
• In the "Deep Vertigo" level on the Simulator set, when you are close to the end of the level, you can see the image of the Vertigo 2 avatar that you play with in the game.