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This is mainly for people who already know the game, which may be at most one of you. But who knows. Bottom line: EV games were open-galaxy but with storylines that you could follow or not as you choose. There were multiple main storylines, generally dealing with what faction you sign up with, and tons of side-storylines. But it's a space trading, fighting, etc game. 2d, but with suprisingly dynamic combat. So you could do the main storyline, the side storylines, then set out to conquer the galaxy planet by planet. Whatever.
1. NAEV. Free. Now on steam. Mac version through their own site.
A new take on the same overall idea, but with some major differences (ie, outfitting your ship(s)).
2. Endless Sky. (Not to be confused with "No Man's Sky") .Free. Also on steam. (Note: if you have a good monitor, DL the game, then DL the "DPI" version. Better graphics.
This looks even closer to the successor to EV Nova. Bad bits are improved. You can jump from anywhere in a system, jumps are fast (instead of needing a fancy upgrade available only available after finishing off a certain side-storyline in EV Nova, for example), etc.
I always loved the EV games. I've played NAEV about until my patience ran out. The trouble is that NAEV is a work of love, so while there is rigorous attention to detail, it's not complete. And since it's a work of love, there's no timetable for it being a 'complete' game. I basically explored as much of the galaxy as possible and/or I had patience for, but lost track of where my last mission in the main storyline was.
NAEV has some time-wasting drawbacks. Unlike either the EV games or Sky, you have to first find each jump gate within a system that goes to the next connecting system(s). This means a whole lot of flying around stupidly without coordinates while looking at your radar-type-thing to see the symbol for the jump gate. It gets seriously tiring. (It may be removed in the future). Whereas in Endless Sky, if you enter a system you automatically see routes to any connected system, and you can simply jump to it once you select the route on your map. In fact, it's easier. If you explored a bunch, you can open your map, click on a planet, and the route will be automatically saved. It'll even tell you where you'd run out of fuel. Then you close the map and hit "J" or whatever you select for jump, and it automatically does all the jumps. Quickly, too.
Basically, Endless Sky looks like a good upgrade to EV Nova. Bear in mind I'm only an hour in. But I have a pretty good sense for these things.
Downside to Sky: you start with a mortgage so you can buy a ship, and that might remind you of your actual real-life mortgage. But you can pay it down much faster.
Any others generally like this people know about, especially if they know what the hell "escape velocity" games are?
1. NAEV. Free. Now on steam. Mac version through their own site.
A new take on the same overall idea, but with some major differences (ie, outfitting your ship(s)).
2. Endless Sky. (Not to be confused with "No Man's Sky") .Free. Also on steam. (Note: if you have a good monitor, DL the game, then DL the "DPI" version. Better graphics.
This looks even closer to the successor to EV Nova. Bad bits are improved. You can jump from anywhere in a system, jumps are fast (instead of needing a fancy upgrade available only available after finishing off a certain side-storyline in EV Nova, for example), etc.
I always loved the EV games. I've played NAEV about until my patience ran out. The trouble is that NAEV is a work of love, so while there is rigorous attention to detail, it's not complete. And since it's a work of love, there's no timetable for it being a 'complete' game. I basically explored as much of the galaxy as possible and/or I had patience for, but lost track of where my last mission in the main storyline was.
NAEV has some time-wasting drawbacks. Unlike either the EV games or Sky, you have to first find each jump gate within a system that goes to the next connecting system(s). This means a whole lot of flying around stupidly without coordinates while looking at your radar-type-thing to see the symbol for the jump gate. It gets seriously tiring. (It may be removed in the future). Whereas in Endless Sky, if you enter a system you automatically see routes to any connected system, and you can simply jump to it once you select the route on your map. In fact, it's easier. If you explored a bunch, you can open your map, click on a planet, and the route will be automatically saved. It'll even tell you where you'd run out of fuel. Then you close the map and hit "J" or whatever you select for jump, and it automatically does all the jumps. Quickly, too.
Basically, Endless Sky looks like a good upgrade to EV Nova. Bear in mind I'm only an hour in. But I have a pretty good sense for these things.
Downside to Sky: you start with a mortgage so you can buy a ship, and that might remind you of your actual real-life mortgage. But you can pay it down much faster.
Any others generally like this people know about, especially if they know what the hell "escape velocity" games are?