IMHO, the most important change from EV to EVO was the plot. In EV the only plot was the progression of one single pilot, in EVO, the whole universe could change as a result of your actions. I think that in EV3, this could be taken to its logical conclusion: The state of the universe could change gradually over time to reflect the strengths of the different governments, depending on the success or failure of the different governments, not just the player. For example, (taking the EVO universe), if the player doesn't intervene in the human-voinian war, the Voinians would gradually get stronger, voinian fleets would appear more frequently on the edges of human space, and eventually the humans might lose outpost gamma, the pax would go over to the voinians, then Verril prime, and so on, until if the player didn't realize it all of the western human systems would be gone. Then the player could push the voinians back by taking "destroy the fleet" and "bounty hunting" missions. If the player takes a "defend the system" mission and screws it up the voinians might capture the system.
To continue this possibility, each of the governments could have an overall strength value, which would reflect the frequency of their ships in and around their space. EVO already has multiple governments per percieved government, so it wouldn't be too hard to create an "human Frontier" government which would gradually lose systems to the "Voinian Frontier" if the player continued to screw up. Each of the human frontier systems could also have a voinian strength value for the attackers, when this value exceeded the human frontier strength, the system would be lost to the voinians and the player would have to work to get it back. These strength values might change as a result of the random bar missions such as "destroy the fleet" or "defend the fleet" and others.
I think the weakest part of the two games we have is the handling of the computer-controlled ships both allied with and against the player. Computer ships should be able to detect the monty python maneuver. They should also fire their turret and cannon weapons (the ones with unlimited ammo) even when the player is slightly outside the range. I know I fire mine when the enemy is just outside the range, knowing that they will probably close on me. AI ships with fighters should use their fighters intelligently to attack vessels that are attacking them, instead of launching immediately at one target. I should be able to choose from several different choices of AI for my fighters and escorts; examples off the top of my head include a "protect" mode for fighters where they will only attack enemies within a certain distance of my ship but not stray outside of that range, an "attack" mode like "f" on the default keys, a "defend" mode for turreted ships, where they will fly in formation with the player but attack any enemy within range and perhaps others. When I am flying peacefully in a fleet with my escort ships, they should turn to match the orientation of my ship, rather than the direction we are moving; this be graphically appealing. When the player launches fighters they should spread out a little, like they do comming out of hyperspace, instead of staying bunched up under their flagship. Renegade AIs in particular should know when they are up against hopeless odds (like a helian against a UE carrier and three crescent warships, a lazira and a voinian frigate) and they should run away. AI ships could even try using the monty python maneuver against the player. I think the player should be able to switch freely among the ships in their fleet, on second thoughts perhaps not freely but only when launching from a planet or exiting hyperspace.
Finally, in response to those of you who are calling for fancy 3D graphics and so forth, I say that this is a game in a 2D genre that has drawn a large following, and that because it is a 2D genre the 3D animation is entirely unnescessary. If you want 3D rendered ships go play wing commander or something, but you will lose the unique essence that makes Escape Velocity an awesome game. Putting 3D ships in a 2D simulator is wasteful of resources that could go to making devious AI's, an intense plot, and a dynamic galaxy.
Here are a few other things that I would like to see: A limited view of the space around a planet when the player is docked so the action would not really stop; spread-out turrets on the larger ships which aim independantly so the fire converges on the target; AIs which know how to use space mines; AI fighters which actively defend the mothership; Fighters in general which know not to attack from the direction of the enemy rocket-launcher; turrets on AI ships that know to shoot at any enemy figher in range, not just the targeted one (this includes AI ships that destroy your escorts and fighters).
I believe that if changes along these lines are made, EV3 can be much more than what EVO was to EV, but an entirely new genre-defining game, not to mention enjoyable and addictive. The original EV and EVO engine seems to have been designed very well as a single-fighter, mission oriented game, but the time has come to build on top of that a deeper level of tactics and game play. Of course, the design of EV3 is not at all up to me and will certainly differ vastly from what I expect but even if there are is no new graphical stuff at all if attention is given to some of these issues it will be one awesome game.
Poulenc.
