Fun game so far.
I think the zoom could be put to better use as an option of either auto-zooming or controlled zoom. I personally would control it myself. I like being at a constant ratio most of the time, but I can see where it might be handy in long range combat.
The fuel is kinda hard to gauge just by looking at the bar. Because of its shape and all.
The radar should be solid so there aren't ghosts in it.
Let me clear up some concepts. NAEV is open source and I'm not entirely sure you all know what I mean by that. Summing it up for non-technical folk:
It is NOT the same as freeware
Anyone can get the specifications, code and sources from anything
Anyone is free to use the sources as long as they adhere to the following conditions (depending on license)
So answering some questions on the file format, it's completely open, in fact you have access to the sources and the scripts to generate the ndata not to mention all the source code to compile the game yourself. Both available here: http://github.com/bobbens/naev . If you want to mess around with them I recommend finding git/github tutorials for your operating system on google.
On the vegastrike criticism. Vegastrike is also open source, I have given full attribution to what parts are taken from vegastrike. I have also informed them of the fact I'm using some of their stuff and I'm very grateful about that. I would have never used vegastrike stuff if I had some dedicated modellers to be able to have all custom graphics, but I don't. On the other hand I do have a musician so most of the music is custom. If somehow someone was to dump a load of models into my lap I would probably swap out as many of the vegastrike models as possible.
On the fuel bar, if you hit 'i' you can get jumps remaining and all that. Also when you have a hyperspace target on the nav computer, the number indicates how many jumps of fuel you have left.
On the zoom, there's parameters to be able to adjust it, like minimum zoom, maximum zoom and zoom speed (fastest possible change speed) in the configuration file, but not in the options screen since it's deemed to be "advanced usage" and I don't think confusing user with a billion options is a good route.
I certainly appreciate you leaving all the parameters available, to allow for customization by the modders of the future! I hope that plug-ins will be doable eventually, as this looks like the next thing to replace EVN, though I don't blame you for wanting to nail shut the main game first.
That said, if you do support plug-ins earlier, that may draw in a lot more interest and get more fans to defect to your cause.
Great work so far.
This post has been edited by n64mon : 21 September 2009 - 01:47 PM
QUOTE (n64mon @ Sep 21 2009, 07:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I certainly appreciate you leaving all the parameters available, to allow for customization by the modders of the future! I hope that plug-ins will be doable eventually, as this looks like the next thing to replace EVN, though I don't blame you for wanting to nail shut the main game first.
That said, if you do support plug-ins earlier, that may draw in a lot more interest and get more fans to defect to your cause.
Great work so far.
The thing about plug-ins is that they're inherently well-suited to finalized or proprietary games where nothing user-created will be incorporated into the main game, which is why they're so popular with many commercial games.
At this point, we (the NAEV team) think that new contributors should be focusing on the main campaigns, as right now there's only one, and it takes but a few hours to go from starting a new game to finishing the campaign, if you opt for a nimble ship instead of fighting through. Consider that it's usually only dedicated fans who bother to check out things beyond the main game, and it becomes evident that creating a rich initial experience is vital to a healthy modding community.
It's certainly possible to create modifications at this point, just somewhat clunky, as adding <100 KB in the form of a new weapon with a store graphic, sprite and stats requires you to redistribute the entire >100 MB ndata.
Anybody with a working knowledge of Git can easily create a fork of our repository and make their own changes, though compiling is only truly trivial on Linux.
There are also licensing concerns - We're strongly committed to open source, and as such we can't accept any non-free contributions without violating the DFSG, which presents issues in a freeware-oriented community such as EV's.
QUOTE (Deiz @ Sep 21 2009, 08:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It's certainly possible to create modifications at this point, just somewhat clunky, as adding <100 KB in the form of a new weapon with a store graphic, sprite and stats requires you to redistribute the entire >100 MB ndata.
is there any real issues with implementing a 'test' plugin system? ie. everyone needs the ndata file, but small patches/plugs could be copied to the game folder. on app load, ndata would be loaded, then the patches loaded over the top of the ndata structures. this would make testing small things, like one ship or one mission, easier.
i wouldn't mind helping with that actually. ADT's make me smile 
edit: something like diff/patch, but in ram.
edit2: also, can you not create ~/.naev for the macos build please? it should go somewhere like:
~/Library/Application Support/naev
This post has been edited by Tycho : 22 September 2009 - 05:11 AM
QUOTE (Tycho @ Sep 22 2009, 07:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
is there any real issues with implementing a 'test' plugin system? ie. everyone needs the ndata file, but small patches/plugs could be copied to the game folder. on app load, ndata would be loaded, then the patches loaded over the top of the ndata structures. this would make testing small things, like one ship or one mission, easier.
i wouldn't mind helping with that actually. ADT's make me smile
edit: something like diff/patch, but in ram.
edit2: also, can you not create ~/.naev for the macos build please? it should go somewhere like:
~/Library/Application Support/naev
On the patches, that's how git works. When you check out git, it has all the ndata stuff laid out. When you edit the files they already affect the game. That's because by default without a ndata specified it tries to read the files by path. Therefore using git is the easiest way and recommended way to doing small tests and the likes by default. Also because you have all the data without having to extract it from the ndata (which atm pack doesn't support for various reasons).
On the plugins, implementing them would require quite a bit of work (you'd need to support removing stuff from the base - ideally handle collisions and the likes). As mentioned by Deiz or in my previous post, I see no reason to implement a plugin system atm, but I see many not to.
On the ~/.naev. The configuration is meant to be per-user. Since it stores saves and the likes. What is the problem with using ~/.naev?
QUOTE (bobbens @ Sep 22 2009, 01:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
On the ~/.naev. The configuration is meant to be per-user. Since it stores saves and the likes. What is the problem with using ~/.naev?
~/Library/Application Support/naev is per-user. it's still saving it in the users home folder, but a few folders deeper. This is to organise where stuff is stored in the home folder and also not hiding them. your OS should be hiding stuff, not a game.
it's just a mac thing. there's no need for clutter.
on the other hand, my ubuntu box has about a million hidden files/folders in ~. i laugh when i see them.
edit: as for plugs, i agree with n64mon.
QUOTE (n64mon)
That said, if you do support plug-ins earlier, that may draw in a lot more interest and get more fans to defect to your cause.
This post has been edited by Tycho : 22 September 2009 - 08:12 AM
I have played through the game a couple times and really love it, but think that adding mission requirements to get the stronger government ships and weapons, like in EVN, where you have to prove your devotion to the government that you work for by completing the plot to certain landmark missions that, when reached, grant access to new and more powerful technology that may or may not be new to the rest of the galaxy, would be a great addition to the game.
Also, the automatic zooming annoys me a bit. It disrupts my focus when I am landing to escape danger and when I am just trying to land routinely in a heavily populated system, because when other ships are near, it automatically zooms in, and when they are slightly further away it automatically zooms out. When several ships pass me in short succession, I get kind of dizzy and lose the ability to control to land nimbly while the string of ships passes. This has caused me to die a couple times and has caused me to get nominally frustrated on several occasions. I really like the option to zoom but would like to be able to do it manually, and only manually.
Otherwise, the game is excellent. Despite its incomplete nature, I would give it a 9/10 if i were a critic.
Edit: Sorry for my abysmal sentence structure... :unsure:
This post has been edited by oryhara : 22 September 2009 - 07:08 PM
QUOTE (oryhara @ Sep 22 2009, 01:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I have played through the game a couple times and really love it, but it seems like adding mission requirements to get the stronger government ships and weapons, like in EVN, where you have to prove your devotion to the government that you work for by completing the plot to certain landmark missions that, when reached, grant access to new and more powerful technology that may or may not be new to the rest of the galaxy.
If this sentence weren't missing a critical verb, I would agree. 
Just installed on MBP running Snow Leopard. It runs great so far, although there are some problems with the scenario itself (missions not being marked on the map. Where the hell is the Urihari system or whatever its called?)I haven't played Nova or even visited the Nova board in months if not years but I was feeling the need for a Nova fix and this has given it to me.
QUOTE (Shinra @ Sep 26 2009, 11:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I just downloaded the Windows version of the game it looks cool but ever time when I pres the Up button to Make ship accelerate the game closes on.
This was reported before by some other guy. Install your graphic card drivers. The problem is that the windows software opengl implementation sucks, when you accelerate it tries to interpolate textures with the engine glow and the windows software opengl just dies. If you install proper opengl drivers it should work flawlessly.
How about my sound problem? Do you have an idea why it's happening? By the way, I love having multiple ships in a hangar on zhiru. If I need a fast ship or a brawler I can change depending on the situation without losing all the work I put into each ship. Best outfit ever: that blue computer upgrade thing that gives you 45 CPU points.
QUOTE (rafy23 @ Sep 26 2009, 03:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
How about my sound problem? Do you have an idea why it's happening? By the way, I love having multiple ships in a hangar on zhiru. If I need a fast ship or a brawler I can change depending on the situation without losing all the work I put into each ship. Best outfit ever: that blue computer upgrade thing that gives you 45 CPU points.
Not sure how it works exactly on windows. Try switching to sdlmix instead of openal (in options -> select sdlmix -> click apply -> restart naev). For OpenAL to work (much fancier and the likes) you may have to install OpenAL or something.
The downside of the CPU upgrade is it takes a slot and lowers your energy regen, it's needed to equip good stuff, but you can't just put only CPU upgrades and expect a ship to work. I'm quite happy with the entire system.
