Escape Velocity Nova goes GM

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Posted by pudge on Tuesday March 12, 2002 @05:49AM from the clear-my-schedule-i-got-gamin-to-do dept.

Shattered writes "I check the changelog for the game pretty regularly, and last night Matt Burch posted that 1.0 of EV Nova has gone out for GM duplication. I don't know about everyone else, but I have been a big fan of the series of games, and I know a lot of Mac users that are fans. I'm glad to see the trilogy is just about ready for release." I really enjoyed the original Escape Velocity, and didn't play EV Override much, but enjoyed what I did play of it. If I only buy one game this year, I might buy this one, too.

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OT - EV + Nova + GM by questionlp · 2002-03-12 05:55 · Score: 1

When I first glanced over the text, my eyes picked up EV (as in electic vehicle), Nova and GM. Didn't GM learn something about the Nova already ;-) Oh wait... that was in Mexico and it's not a game. n/m.
Memories... by Numeric · 2002-03-12 05:58 · Score: 1

Ooh! I totally forgot about this game. I remember dedicating a lot of free time to EV. I think I might have to bring my PowerMac 603-E 200mhz out of retirement to play that game!

--
-- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
Port this over! by billcopc · 2002-03-12 06:30 · Score: 1, Insightful

I have no idea what this game is, but it looks pretty cool. Am I correct in guessing that it's another quality space rpg in the veins of Master of Orion and Ascendancy ?

If so, then why aren't they porting it over to x86 ? I want my hands on this!

--
-Billco, Fnarg.com
1. Re:Port this over! by dtfarmer · 2002-03-12 07:31 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  If so, then why aren't they porting it over to x86 ? I want my hands on this!
  
  Not much chance of this - Ambrosia has long been a mac only shop, and unlike Bungie they haven't been pulled to the dark side.
  
  Time for you to plunk down for an iBook or TiBook, hehe.
2. Re:Port this over! by Violet+Null · 2002-03-12 08:15 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Am I correct in guessing that it's another quality space rpg in the veins of Master of Orion and Ascendancy ?
  
  I only played the first Escape Velocity, and I haven't played Ascendancy, so, take what I say with a grain of salt.
  
  It's an RPG inasmuch as you go around and do things (in the original EV, you started by trading, ala Trade Wars 2002, and then later on could start accepting missions), collecting money, buying stuff, etc. It was not a strategy game, like Master of Orion...more like Privateer.
3. Re:Port this over! by Numeric · 2002-03-12 08:24 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Or you can play the older version and buy a cheap PPC Mac. Older version of EV requires: 12mb RAM, PPC or 68K, 13" or larger monitor.
  
  --
  -- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
4. Re:Port this over! by austinc1 · 2002-03-12 09:38 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It's not really like Masters of Orion. It's an action game where you control your own space vessel in a top down view. You can take missions around the galaxy, trade with planets, build an armada, take over governments, etc...
  
  There are huge storylines that involve lots of rage against the machine and fight the tyrant goodness, as well as assist the tyrant and join the federation kinda stuff.
  
  Unfortunately, Ambrosia doesn't generally port. Asking won't help, they just don't have the desire. However, I understand that emulators for powerpc will finally be available at macworld tokyo, so there might be some chance of emulating this. And then you'll be happy for the low system requirements (only needs a G3, 233 MHz prolly enough).
5. Re:Port this over! by austinc1 · 2002-03-12 09:43 · Score: 1
  
  Oh, and I forgot:
  best shareware game... *EVER*
  
  And prolly superior to 80% of commercial games on the market. I still want my money back for diablo 2.
6. Re:Port this over! by austinc1 · 2002-03-12 09:49 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Official requirements have been announced. They are: 128MB of ram (real or virtual)
  Any G3 processor or better.
  You *can* turn off features, so it will run without all the graphical goodies on lesser machines. It'll just run, well, lesser.
7. Re:Port this over! by Silverhammer · 2002-03-13 04:51 · Score: 2
  
  I have no idea what this game is, but it looks pretty cool. Am I correct in guessing that it's another quality space rpg in the veins of Master of Orion and Ascendancy ?
  
  It's basically a cross between Asteroids (for top-down 2D movement and combat) and Privateer (for shipbuilding and roleplaying).
8. Re:Port this over! by Anonymous Coward · 2002-03-13 06:03 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  >> And then you'll be happy for the low system requirements (only needs a G3, 233 MHz prolly enough).
  
  Actually, it will run on pre-G3 PPCs, and even some 68Ks -- but not so well (especially the 68Ks will really suffer with those high-quality graphics from Down Under. EVO ran fairly slowly on my old 68040 Performa; I can't even imagine trying to play Nova on any 68K). People are advised to turn off a bunch of visual effects to get the best performance on older machines.
9. Re:Port this over! by ceri · 2002-03-13 10:30 · Score: 1
  
  Ambrosia has long been a mac only shop
  
  Actually, their Coldstone Game Engine runs on Mac OS and Windows.
10. Re:Port this over! by Anonymous Coward · 2002-03-13 12:29 · Score: 0
  
  The original plan was to have Nova run on 68k machines, but support was abandoned during development when they saw that even some Power PCs would have trouble running Nova. No one has ever tried running Nova on a 68k, but I suppose it could mean something to those running emulators on their x86.
11. Re:Port this over! by Anonymous Coward · 2002-03-13 13:58 · Score: 0
  
  EV: Nova is a cross between an action game and an RPG. It isn't much like Master of Orion, which is a strategy game. I haven't played Ascendancy. I've heard that there is a similar game called Privateer, if you want a reference point.
  
  As for quality, it's still not released yet, so we don't know for sure, but judging by the material that's been released and the previous games in the series, it certainly looks good.
  
  But you'll never see this for Windows. Ambrosia generally makes Mac-only games (Coldstone was actually developed by Beenox, while the EV:N engine was done internally). A lot of Mac developers avoid porting to Windows, because they want to support Macs, and a cross-platform product really doesn't have any effect either way. And the people who made this game did it in their spare time, so they're not just trying to make the most possible money.
Good ole EV by DragonPup · 2002-03-12 06:42 · Score: 2

Escape Velocity was the first shareware program I paid for(I was 15 or 16 at the time), and man it was worth it. The game didn't have the best graphics, or coolest sound effects, but it was still an amazingly addictive game. I have no doubt that EV:Nova will be worth it's pricetag as well.

-Henry

--
"Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
they tried to kill him with a forklift by jeffehobbs · 2002-03-12 06:51 · Score: 1

I was sad to see he has taken out the MST3K-referenced "forklift":

removed forklift cheat and secret about text (to be replaced by something more interesting at a later date)

but I'm looking forward to seeing what else has been put in. Can't wait!

~jeff
1. Re:they tried to kill him with a forklift by DragonPup · 2002-03-12 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  "Ambrosia roll call!" I loved all the MST3K references including the 'Song to the theme of MST3K' lyrics. Ambrosia put a lot of nice little references into EV, and hopefully they'll be a lot of them here in Nova as well
  
  -Henry
  
  --
  "Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
Re:this Mac-trivia is news? by moongha · 2002-03-12 07:02 · Score: 2, Insightful

Uhh... but you're reading the apple only section of slashdot, which aims to provide regular updates of apple only niche news.

This story isn't on the front page.
Re: um, yes, it is on the front page by Anonymous Coward · 2002-03-12 09:16 · Score: 0

you must have it filtered out. by default, it is turned on so that it appears on the main slashdot.org page
Re: um, yes, it is on the front page by analog_line · 2002-03-12 09:28 · Score: 1

I don't have anything aside from Jon Katz filtered out on the front page, and I'm not seeing it on my regular slashdot front page.
Re:this Mac-trivia is news? by Anonymous Coward · 2002-03-12 09:45 · Score: 0

You're mad out of your mind. I don't even know any way to get this to appear on the main slashdot page.
Re:this Mac-trivia is news? by feldsteins · 2002-03-12 09:56 · Score: 2

Actually I think there is a way for it to appear on the main slashdot page. Nobody really does it, that I'm aware, but you can collapse all the "sections" (bsd.slashdot.org, apache.slashdot.org, apple.slashdot.org, etc) that you see on the left there into one main page.

--
You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
Re:this Mac-trivia is news? by pudge · 2002-03-12 10:23 · Score: 1

Yes, "Collapse Sections" makes all section-only stories -- except for isolated sections, which Slashdot doesn't use, and sections you've specifically excluded -- show up on the home page. I do it. Apparently some people do it without knowing and so think that this is showing up on the home page for everyone. It isn't.
Ahh, the glory! by solistus · 2002-03-13 05:39 · Score: 2, Interesting

Escape Velocity was perhaps the most amazing shareware title ever developed, and its modular plug-ins gave it near unlimited replay value. Escape Velocity: Override, the sequel, dissapointed many diehard fans such as myself, with only token adjustments to the end experience and a new universe that, while larger and encompassing more races and subplots, lacked the appeal ofthe original. Don't get me wrong, though; Override was still an incredible game. Finally, we see a new EV, with new races, a new story, a new engine, better everything, and best of all, OSX support. Say goodbye to your social lives, kiddies! Let's hope Nova returns to its roots and deliver the amazing gameplay us Ambrosia fans (and Mac users!) have come to expect.
EV MMORPG by Link-chan · 2002-03-13 08:35 · Score: 1

What I really want is a cross-platform Escape Velocity MMORPG. I would definitely be addicted to it.
1. Re:EV MMORPG by Anonymous Coward · 2002-03-13 12:13 · Score: 0
  
  Escape Velocity will never be multiplayer. Ever.
2. Re:EV MMORPG by Portfolio · 2002-03-14 05:20 · Score: 1
  
  Ambrosia won't make EV multiplayer, but there are some smaller scale alternatives:
  Matt Burch wrote a networked 3D space dogfight engine called Exobattle, and released it as open source!
  Tycho is writing a two player networked arena game called Helian Wars.
  This topic comes up frequently in the EV Developer's web board on the Ambrosia web site.
EV Nova or Something Strange... by Blackstealth · 2002-03-14 09:47 · Score: 1

As great as EV is, and Nova will be, I'm more eagerly awaiting the next game to come out of StrangeFlavour Whatever it is it'll have to be better than excellent for it to rival AirBurst :)
a most excellent game by mrbadmood · 2002-03-15 05:37 · Score: 1

I too was disappointed with the EV sequel, but the first game thrilled me. Here's hoping the new one rocks my worlds.
The Good Old Days of EV by KeatonMill · 2002-03-15 11:28 · Score: 1

Escape velocity was the first game that I really played heavily, due to it's (largely) dynamic universe. You could play the game through several times, each time allying yourself with different factions and ideals. And then, of course, there were the random campaigns that certain pilots would get that others wouldn't. I've played the game with several different pilots, and still haven't gotten them all.
And then there were the plugins. Download a plugin and you could have new ships, missions, factions, star systems... everything you could ever want. Download the plugin editor, and you could create these new universes yourself.
In short, EV was a fantastic game. I can only hope that Ambrosia will continue that with EV:N (and maybe give the PCs a port, if not of EV:N, at least of the original EV).
1. Re:The Good Old Days of EV by twiztidlojik · 2002-03-20 13:01 · Score: 1
  
  Hey, I got it Sunday and you didn't! =P!
  PPPPPPPPPPPPBBBBBBBBBBBBBTTTPPTTTT!!!!
  Sorry , just had to laugh at everyone ;D
  Anyways, I got a buddy who mirrored the file off of a 100-mbit pipe, so it was clear sailing for myself on cable!
  Shoulda checked irc.ambrosiasw.com #nova for the link on saturday....
  
  --
  I will now redundantly add my name to the end of my post. You know, in case you forgot me or something.
EV Nova is released! by analog_line · 2002-03-20 02:45 · Score: 1

Bought my reg key yesterday and am finally getting to play around with it!

Gods, I missed this stuff. This is so much better, and runs on X!!! Woo hoo!