Open Beta

Update: Beta 5 is now available (click the link in my sig).

Well I finally got around to porting rEV over to EV Classic for Nova (as opposed to the official port). Now this wasn't just a matter of fixing any incompatibilities and incorporating the 1.0.1 patch for good measure, I've actually torn rEV apart and completely rebuilt it. So there's a lot more issues fixed (including re-encoding sprites to avoid glitches with colour runs) and... stuff. However I have not yet touched the xData so this is sadly not included. I'd like to actually do the xData properly, making sure everything that can be completed is completed and properly balanced (everything that can't be completed will have to be removed, such as all the Lethean/Cydonian variants as I have no idea what these are supposed to be). This will be a lot of work so may not happen anytime soon - it's been a lot of work as it is to get the rest of rEV ready.

So anyway, now I'm just looking for a few testers. Preferably, these would be people who very familiar with EV, are able to identify possible issues or areas of dispute, can offer input on decisions that may need to be made, can evaluate changes that rEV makes and express opinions on whether or not they are appropriate, and most importantly are willing and have the time to do this. If you think this sounds like you, attach your CV along with a cover letter and I'll PM you with a response.

Sound tough? All I'm really wanting is some people who can offer valuable input and advice rather than people who merely want to check this out. If you're interested, a simply reply will do nicely

P.S. For those who don't know about rEV it was NOT created by me, though I do have permission from the author to release this version.

This post has been edited by Guy : 20 September 2012 - 03:10 PM

Bumpity.

Aha, a simple reply. That means you're offering, right?

Gee, I hope people didn't take my post too seriously

I'd love to help, I just don't have time right now.

Yeah, well I guess I'll just have to go with an open beta. In fact, it can just stay in beta until when and if I do the xData :D. Stay tuned.

I'd do it, but I have two problems:

1. Not allowed to play EV Nova right now

2. Computer glitches prevent me from launching the app anyway. I know how to solve my problem, but I need a copy of Mac OS 10.3.9 My brother upgraded my comp, then took his discs with him to college.

Alright folks, it's up now.

Here are some of things the rEV Data changes which I'm interested in people's opinions on:
- Alien Cruiser's Heavy Fusion Beam is turreted, though the Cruiser has a blind spot to the rear. The Fighter has been reworked with less shields but faster regen. The Cruiser will obviously be harder but the Fighter probably depends on your weapons.
- Fake ID's price is dependent on ship mass. There was supposedly a reason for this but I forget what it was and I've always thought it rather odd.
- Most items can be sold anywhere. This sorta makes sense but is really annoying and confusing, IMO.
- Various items can only be bought for 'small' ships (smaller than a Corvette). This includes Cargo Pod, External Fuel Tank and Flare Launcher, all of which have alternatives that can be bought for large ships, but also includes the Afterburner for which there is no alternative.
- Armour comes in 3 different levels of increasing value, depending on your ship size. Small ships cannot buy Tritanium and large ships cannot buy Armaplast. Price and mass are equal across all levels but they are dependant on ship mass. This is a nice idea, I just hope it's all reasonably balanced.
- Javelins are quite different, firing in rapid volleys of 18 shots. The fire faster and ships come with more of them but damage and price are reduced.
- Space Bombs are also quite different, exploding with a large, expanding blast. Unfortunately this fails if the bomb directly impacts a ships (ie, if you drop it directly on top of a ship) but I think its still cool regardless.
- Neutron Cannon and Mass Driver have doubled speed and thus doubled range. I think this is reasonably fair, both these weapons were pretty pathetic previously. Also, Confed Cruisers come with swivel neutron cannons.
- This is just a point of interest: There are two unused landing included with rEV, both depicting some sort of rail system. I have no idea what they're supposed to be for.

And some notable things which are different in this version:
- Rebel Cruiser comes with correct 60 tons of cargo space rather than incorrect 600 (this was an error in the offical EV port). No more converting that to mass and getting all the upgrades you ever dreamed of
- No more sprite glitches with ionisation or coloured, murky systems.
- Bulkhead Restoration outfit has been enabled, complete with outfit pic. I should note that Mass/Cargo modifications are entirely non-exploitable
- Swivel and Rear Defense lasers are available for purchase.
- Post-accel rocket has been removed. This was a sub of the normal Heavy Rocket which kicked in after the rocket had finished accelerating and had no particle trail. A purely graphical feature to give the idea of the propellant being all burnt up but the problem was that they could potentially inflict double damage at short range. This could theoretically occur with the Missile too, though I think its prox radius is too small for it to ever happen.
- Shipyard info pics are now present even without the xData. They depict weaponry which only exists with the xData but I decided they're kinda cool to have anyway. Let me know if you think otherwise.

I'm also open to new suggestions. I've been thinking about making each javelin outfit good for an entire volley and take up one ton (ie, one ton per 18 shots) - what do you think?

This post has been edited by Guy : 06 December 2007 - 09:57 PM

@guy, on Nov 26 2007, 02:34 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

Fake ID's price is dependent on ship mass. There was supposedly a reason for this but I forget what it was and I've always thought it rather odd.

Maybe the people selling it charge more if you look rich?

Those greedy punks! Maybe we should dress in rags.

@guy, on Nov 25 2007, 11:34 PM, said in rEV 1.1:

Here are some of things the rEV Data changes which I'm interested in people's opinions on:
- Alien Cruiser's Heavy Fusion Beam is turreted, though the Cruiser has a blind spot to the rear. The Fighter has been reworked with less shields but faster regen. The Cruiser will obviously be harder but the Fighter probably depends on your weapons.
- Fake ID's price is dependent on ship mass. There was supposedly a reason for this but I forget what it was and I've always thought it rather odd.
- Most items can be sold anywhere. This sorta makes sense but is really annoying and confusing, IMO.

- Haven't gotten to the alien missions yet, but it'll just make it harder, which is fine.
- Fake ID's I never really use, but a high price doesn't hurt.
- Being able to sell items at places you can't buy them makes sense to me.

@guy, on Nov 25 2007, 11:34 PM, said in rEV 1.1:

- Various items can only be bought for 'small' ships (smaller than a Corvette). This includes Cargo Pod, External Fuel Tank and Flare Launcher, all of which have alternatives that can be bought for large ships, but also includes the Afterburner for which there is no alternative.
- Armor comes in 3 different levels of increasing value, depending on your ship size. Small ships cannot buy Tritanium and large ships cannot buy Armaplast. Price and mass are equal across all levels but they are dependant on ship mass. This is a nice idea, I just hope it's all reasonably balanced.

- I haven't gotten a capital ship yet, but no afterburner for the larger ships really does change things for the harder, I'm not sure I agree with this though. I really don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to get cargo pods or external fuel tanks for larger ships though.
- From what I see in the outfitter, (at least for small ships), the Armaplast is 2 tons each, the durasteel is 8 tons each, and they both say they'll add 50 armor which is at odds with what you're saying here.

@guy, on Nov 25 2007, 11:34 PM, said in rEV 1.1:

- Javelins are quite different, firing in rapid volleys of 18 shots. The fire faster and ships come with more of them but damage and price are reduced.
- Space Bombs are also quite different, exploding with a large, expanding blast. Unfortunately this fails if the bomb directly impacts a ships (ie, if you drop it directly on top of a ship) but I think its still cool regardless.
- Neutron Cannon and Mass Driver have doubled speed and thus doubled range. I think this is reasonably fair, both these weapons were pretty pathetic previously. Also, Confed Cruisers come with swivel neutron cannons.
- This is just a point of interest: There are two unused landing included with rEV, both depicting some sort of rail system. I have no idea what they're supposed to be for.

- Javelins, nice.
- Space bombs, not sure what you mean by it failing in that case. There's a delay after it's released before it can even go off it seems. In any case I haven't seen it fail in the way you describe.
- Neutron Cannons, nice, it was much needed.
- As for the landing pictures, there were unused pictures in the original EV too just to make people ask about them.

@guy, on Nov 25 2007, 11:34 PM, said in rEV 1.1:

I'm also open to new suggestions. I've been thinking about making each javelin outfit good for an entire volley and take up one ton (ie, one ton per 18 shots) - what do you think?

It might work, but I wouldn't make the actual ammo take up space. If you do that you might as well just get missiles. You could limit the amount of ammo each launcher can carry though. The more launchers you have, the more ammo you can carry.

Also could you make the selection box stand out more in the outfitter/shipyard, it's hard to tell what is selected.

Cham

@chamrin, on Nov 29 2007, 08:18 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

- Fake ID's I never really use, but a high price doesn't hurt.
- Being able to sell items at places you can't buy them makes sense to me.

- Yeah, nothing wrong with a high price for the IDs but it does it really make sense to base it on ship mass?
- True, I just found it really annoying because it fools you into thinking you can buy the item there and then you wonder why you can't.

@chamrin, on Nov 29 2007, 08:18 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

- I haven't gotten a capital ship yet, but no afterburner for the larger ships really does change things for the harder, I'm not sure I agree with this though. I really don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to get cargo pods or external fuel tanks for larger ships though.
- From what I see in the outfitter, (at least for small ships), the Armaplast is 2 tons each, the durasteel is 8 tons each, and they both say they'll add 50 armor which is at odds with what you're saying here.

- For the cargo pod and fuel tank the idea is that they're mounted under the wings of small craft, which doesn't really work for large ships. Large ships can buy the internal fuel tank and the cargo expansion/retool so it isn't really a problem. The afterburner does indeed make things harder though. I was thinking maybe allow any ship to buy it but make the mass depend on ship mass (like having to add the afterburner to every engine on a large ship)?
- Whoops, that's a desc error. The durasteel actually adds 125 armor. I'll probably be adjusting the armor a bit though - to me the idea of a tougher material is that it yields more protection per ton than a weaker material, which is not currently the case (armaplast is best and durasteel and tritanium are equal).

@chamrin, on Nov 29 2007, 08:18 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

- Space bombs, not sure what you mean by it failing in that case. There's a delay after it's released before it can even go off it seems. In any case I haven't seen it fail in the way you describe.
- As for the landing pictures, there were unused pictures in the original EV too just to make people ask about them.

- The bomb subs three times when it detonates, to create the expanding blast. If you drop it directly on top of a ship the subs fail and only the initial blast goes off, dealing much less damage than it otherwise would.
- Really? I never noticed. Do you recall which ones?

@chamrin, on Nov 29 2007, 08:18 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

It might work, but I wouldn't make the actual ammo take up space. If you do that you might as well just get missiles. You could limit the amount of ammo each launcher can carry though. The more launchers you have, the more ammo you can carry.

Hm, yeah I could but unless it was 18 per launcher (which would suck) then I can't see any explanation for it working like that. Maybe I'll just leave it. I also thought about making the pod use a gun slot - I don't quite recall what my reasoning for it was though.

@chamrin, on Nov 29 2007, 08:18 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

Also could you make the selection box stand out more in the outfitter/shipyard, it's hard to tell what is selected.

Sure thing.

Thanks for your feedback

@guy, on Nov 28 2007, 02:31 PM, said in rEV 1.1:

- Yeah, nothing wrong with a high price for the IDs but it does it really make sense to base it on ship mass?

Actually I have an idea for this. Describe it differently, not just a fake id, but a new iff transponder signature. Larger ships have additional requirements because more things need to be modified so it won't be recognized as the old ship.

@guy, on Nov 28 2007, 02:31 PM, said in rEV 1.1:

- Really? I never noticed. Do you recall which ones?

The Satellite of love, and I think there was one other (not landing pictures per se, just easter eggs).

Cham

@chamrin, on Nov 29 2007, 11:58 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

Actually I have an idea for this. Describe it differently, not just a fake id, but a new iff transponder signature. Larger ships have additional requirements because more things need to be modified so it won't be recognized as the old ship.

Hm, that could work. I'll see what I can do.

@chamrin, on Nov 29 2007, 11:58 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

The Satellite of love, and I think there was one other (not landing pictures per se, just easter eggs).

Ah right, thought you said landing pics. The SoL pic and desc and of course the Secret Cheat Dialog™

I click on your links and I get a 404 error.

Oh yeah, sorry about that. Fixed now.

Beta 2 released! See first post for link.

Two big changes are the crew outfits from the xData have been added and all fighter bays are now purchasable (though sadly there's no pic for the Manta Dock). Of particular coolness, the Hawk Bay will be visible if purchased for the Bulk Freighter (this originally never worked properly). Various other minor changes as well.

@chamrin, on Nov 29 2007, 11:58 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

Describe it differently, not just a fake id, but a new iff transponder signature.

Done.

@guy, on Nov 29 2007, 11:31 AM, said in rEV 1.1:

I was thinking maybe allow any ship to buy it but make the mass depend on ship mass (like having to add the afterburner to every engine on a large ship)?
...
To me the idea of a tougher material is that it yields more protection per ton than a weaker material, which is not currently the case (armaplast is best and durasteel and tritanium are equal).

Done both of these. Armaplast is now a bit heavier and Tritanium is a bit lighter.

The sell anywhere thing is still annoying me though - as soon as someone seconds the removal of this, it's gone.

This post has been edited by Guy : 12 December 2007 - 02:52 AM

(Quote from Guy)
" The sell anywhere thing is still annoying me though - as soon as someone seconds the removal of this, it's gone."

Just make the pirate stations(and mabye some of the rebel planets as well)buy any outfit from you insted of being able to sell your outfits anywhere , well thats what i whould do to fix it anyway

Pirates, some rebels, and some of the seedier and/or tech-heavy independents should buy everything. You don't want the player to have to go trekking across half the galaxy just to change his weapons loadout like you do in EVO. But selling anything anywhere is a bit off, yes.

EV isn't like EVO with all the different factions with their own tech. We have the Rebels and the Confeds with only a couple of items specific to them which can all be bought or sold at the same places you buy their ships. I really don't understand where the need for selling anywhere is...
Actually it's the same in EVO - you can sell all your stuff at the same place you buy the ship but you can't change the fact that you need to go elsewhere to buy the stuff you want.

That said, the proposal above does sound reasonable. Any particular rebel planets you had in mind?

Palshife and that remote one on the way to the eastern pirate station (with all the spacegoing history museums). Also Zaxted and Ruby; they aren't Rebel worlds but the gearheads on both'll buy anything they can tear apart to make random gadgets.