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Escape Velocity Makes It To Windows

Posted by simoniker on from the set-controls-for-heart-of-sun dept.

DrStrange66 writes "Escape Velocity: Nova, one of the greatest games to ever come out for the Mac OS, is now available for Windows over at the Ambrosia Software site - try it out!" You'll get 30 days free play before registration is needed for this 2D shareware title, the third in a series, which has a myriad of Mac fans, and has been described in enthusiastic reviews as "equal parts trading sim, action-adventure, strategy game, and even contains elements of an RPG". There's more info in the official FAQ.

39 comments

  1. Glorious Day!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ive been playing this game for the past few days... Truly Escape Velocity is what I missed most (and Res Edit) when I switched from Macs to PCs.. but Glory days have returned!! Everyone should give this game a few hours trial time. It takes a while to get into, but, everyone I know who has given it a few hours has loved it. The Vel-Os missions string isnt all that great, but, aside from that, EV Nova is living up very well to the original Escape Velocity. Even if it didnt, you can download a total conversion for free that lets you play the first 2 EV games on the NOva engine. yes!!

    1. Re:Glorious Day!!! by Randolpho · · Score: 1

      Hear hear! (Hear here? Here here?)

      I have many fond memories from years ago of playing Escape Velocity while avoiding writing that paper (it was always "that paper") on the Macs in college. Those were the days.

      Nowadays, I've just got my PC. Being able to play EV again has probably made my year.

      Of course, now I'll be playing it to avoid writing "that program" (and it will always be "that program"), but hey, new days, new ways. :)

      --
      "Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
      -Marilyn Manson
  2. Is this game just the old game Elite on steriods? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds a lot like it to me.

  3. Re:Is this game just the old game Elite on steriod by nelsonal · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's different, some things are better and some are worse, but just as much fun (I only plaed elite a few times, but it didn't seem too much different from First Ecounters--Elite III that I played to no end). It's top down with a simulator type of control, not the realistic intertia model from elite. It has a shorter learning curve and a smaller universe, you can hit most of the galaxy in a solid night's play. There are more unique missions, rather than the few "coded missions" and many template types (take this person here, assasinate that ship etc) There aren't as many upgrades for your ship but the ones you can get make it much more powerful, and they are racially specific. It has a lot more political structure more like GTA 2 with respect, as you work for a race's opponents they begin to fear and hate you.

    All that said, it is very fun, and was enough to almost convince me to buy a Mac just for that one game.

    --
    Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
  4. Another EV-ish game by PeteyG · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's another game that's a fair bit like Escape Velocity. Vega Strike. It's an award-winning open source 3d flying/trading/fighting/ship improvement game in the style of good ol' Elite and Privateer. It's in the same breed as Freelancer, even!

    --
    no thanks
    1. Re:Another EV-ish game by nelsonal · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the tip Elite was one of my favorite games, and I was always hoping to add (someday in my dreams) a dynamic trading model that reduced price as you filled orders and raised them as they were unmet would make those trading ships go out and explore a little to find good routes. This is just what I have been looking for it's been an idea in the back of my mind for several years.

      --
      Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
  5. Cheat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Kill Captain Hector To Avoid Shareware Fee

    Good luck

    1. Re:Cheat by Bazzargh · · Score: 1

      I've not tried the game yet but it sounds like this would be an interesting shareware tactic, rather than nag screens; make the game free to download, but other than yer basic game intro, unlicensed and license-revoked players just attract a LOT of attention from huge evil alien bastard hordes.

      "Heh heh I've just about sneaked past the enemy death squads..."
      [SYSOP: Cheat mods detected on your client. License revoked]
      *whirrrrr* *click* ... 100 Terminators turn to face you in unison...
      "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitt!!"
      [SARGE: Squad: charge the base while they're chasing... *squishing noise* ...ouch, thats gotta hurt]

  6. The only thing that matters... by mcelrath · · Score: 2, Offtopic
    Does it run under wine?

    -- Bob

    --
    1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
    1. Re:The only thing that matters... by mcelrath · · Score: 2, Informative
      To answer my own question, no. It dies with an unhandled exception immediately on startup. :(

      And whoever modded me offtopic, go suck it. That's totally on topic.

      -- Bob

      --
      1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
    2. Re:The only thing that matters... by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 1
      It works for me on latest CVS.

      I used desktop mode. Remember you must install QuickTime first.

      I tried playing it for a few mins, but for some reason the game wouldn't recognise my key presses, or maybe I was just operating the game wrong. The music was choppy, but DSound is b0rked here. The rest seemed to work OK. I may take a look at the keyboard thingy some time, as that seems to be the only real showstopper.

    3. Re:The only thing that matters... by *xpenguin* · · Score: 1

      Hah. It was just meta-modded fair. Posting here removes the moderation, but not my meta-moderation bonus. Suck that.

  7. Quick! by Enrico+Pulatzo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    someone port the old Star Wars mod to windows (and EVN)!

  8. finally by eht · · Score: 1

    One of only two reasons to use a mac.

    Escape Velocity and Marathon Infinity.

  9. classic line by cyrax777 · · Score: 1

    "We Will Try to kill with forklift!"

  10. BitTorrent? Please? by gumpish · · Score: 1

    77MB installer...

    Are there any Bit Torrent links out there?

  11. Unfortunately... by antin · · Score: 2, Informative

    It is a game I don't seem to be able to play in small portions. I sit down, and suddenly a few hours have gone past...

    I really really recommend this game to anyone with a bit of free time on their hands - you'll be hooked in just a few minutes, and you will be playing for weeks.

  12. This is the single-player demo for EVE-Online by Maserati · · Score: 1

    Seriously. Eve is the same game. The mechanics are vastly different, but gameplay is amazingly similar.

    --
    Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
    1. Re:This is the single-player demo for EVE-Online by brandonY · · Score: 1

      Oh, come on, Escape Velocity is a league above EVE. It may be single player and 2D, but you don't fight things by clicking on the approach other spaceship and attack button. Pirates are SCARY! Missions are FUNNY! This game is just rampant awesome and the first game that actually deserves to be called part sim, part trading game, part fighting game, because it does well at all 3.

  13. Interestingly... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I submitted this story a few days ago, roundabout the release date (11th of this month). No wonder /. is always behind the times if they ignore the early news...

  14. Highly recommended by BlueA · · Score: 1

    There just aren't enough high quality open-ended games around, EV is a blast.

  15. *Yawn* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tried it, it sucks, just like any other Mac games. Windows games are the best... .... wait, today's not opposite day? Oops.

  16. I know I'm not supposed to grouse about this ... by tdelaney · · Score: 2, Funny

    But come on ...

    2003-07-13 01:41:37 Escape Velocity: Nova for Windows released (games,games) (rejected)

    I've greatly enjoyed EV: Nova so far, having been waiting for a long time (since I fired the video circuitry on my PowerCentre Pro). My only complaint is the text size ... at 1024x768 on a 17" monitor, it's just too small.

    It is however possible to run at 800x600 - but you need to use something like ReForce to remove the 1024x768 option. That's a bit painful ...

  17. Upon install: by slittle · · Score: 1

    "requires Quicktime"

    Nope, sorry. I'm not installing that shite player that fucks everything up and takes everything over.

    --
    Opportunity knocks. Karma hunts you down.
    1. Re:Upon install: by biodork · · Score: 2, Funny

      but you are running windows?

      --
      Gavin Fischer
    2. Re:Upon install: by Kyn · · Score: 1

      Quicktime != Realplayer.

      Have a nice day =)

  18. Re:I know I'm not supposed to grouse about this .. by tdelaney · · Score: 0, Troll

    Note: my complaint is not that *my* story got rejected, but that obviously *every* story about this got rejected until now.

  19. Why Windows will never be a gaming platform. by ghostlibrary · · Score: 1

    See, this is why Windows will never become a serious gaming platform. If games are always developed for the Mac first, then ported across, users will just buy the Mac versions rather than wait a half year or more for a Windows version. At best, people will have dual-boot Mac/Win because... ... oh, wait, sorry, wrong OSes for this recurrent opinion.

    --
    A.
  20. Harry the Handsome Executive by chrish · · Score: 1

    I want a port of Harry The Handsome Executive!

    --
    - chrish
  21. ouch by slittle · · Score: 1

    owned.

    --
    Opportunity knocks. Karma hunts you down.
  22. Don't forget the add-ons by jeblucas · · Score: 1

    Like a lot of Mac games--this game has add-ons. Mac players don't get that many games to begin with, so the ones that they like get a lot of effort put into them by the fanbase. Currently, EV Nova has 11 pages of plug-ins, ranging in size from 1K annoyance patches to 12MB overhauls. 12MB is pretty substantial when the game itself is 70MB. The previous versions had -huge- plug-ins that converted all the ships and missions to Star Wars and Star Trek. I'm sure these are in the works. Seriously worth checking out.

    --
    blarg.
    1. Re:Don't forget the add-ons by Tyrdium · · Score: 1

      12 megs? Polycon was over 100, and Frozen Heart (great plug, but for EVO) was at least ten megs... But yeah, the plugin system is great, and there are a ton of wonderful TCs out there (Polycon was pretty damned good, and Frozen Heart was friggin' amazing... Even harder to beat than any of the non-TCed EV games...) It's also got a huge following... Also, I suggest that anybody with a Mac ROM and a copy of Mac OS download Basilisk (a 680x0 emulator) and play EVO. The graphics aren't as good, but it's worth it for Frozen Heart alone. Can you tell I love Frozen Heart? :P

  23. Bad mod, that ain't offtopic by Sloppy · · Score: 1
    How is that offtopic?

    I got hooked on EVO (previous entry in the EV series) which I played under MacOS 7.5.5 running under the Shapeshifter emulator on my Amiga.

    But last year I finally retired my Amiga. So now I need to figure out what emulator is best to play EVN on. Should I try WINE, or try to find some Mac emulator for x86 Linux?

    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    1. Re:Bad mod, that ain't offtopic by Quill · · Score: 1

      Try Basilisk II - it's an open source Mac emulator. Unfortunately, it only emulates the 68k platform, so while Escape Velocity and Escape Velocity: Override work perfectly, Escape Velocity: Nova (the version just released on the Win32 platform) won't work because it require a PPC chip on the Mac.

      If you've ever been a Machead like me, you'll get goosebumps the first time it boots and you hear the chime. I loved my Mac...

      *sniffle*

      --
      My religion forbids the use of sigs.
    2. Re:Bad mod, that ain't offtopic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interestingly, Matt Burch, the coder, has said that the mac version Nova was compiled using "FAT Carbon" which allows for execution on machines ranging from 68040s all the way up through G5s running OS X. So the 68k machine code is still in there.

      -reg

  24. SCREW THAT by Viking+Coder · · Score: 1

    I spent a good 20 minutes trying to get it to launch, but no matter what I do, "Sorry, EV Nova must run in 256 or thousands of colors. 0 0" After switching to 640x480x256 (and several others), after installing the latest Quicktime, after following their Quicktime instructions, after all of that - same thing. Grrrr...

    Someone obviously doesn't understand ANYTHING about graphics, if they can't even switch the video mode for you! AAAAAAAAAARG!

    --
    Education is the silver bullet.