A Visit Back to Nova

To get myself back in the mood for developing and modeling and what have you, I decided to crack open the modern classic, EV Nova. After all, that's what gave birth to this whole thing, right? I decided I was going to play one mission string, start to finish, to get the whole gameplay experience. Specifically, I wanted to check out the Auroran string, because that's one that somehow slipped through my grasp during my first few playings so long ago.

First, what's RIGHT with the game. ATMOS did a better job on the graphics than I remembered. Their modeling work, especially in the shipyard and hailing shots, is really top-notch. I hope my work can compare in quality. The volume and variety of ships is great as well. The layout of the jump routes between systems was also a factor I particularly enjoyed... the Federation is an efficient and well organized layout of hubs and stems, the Polaris use a concentric spiderweb-style layout, whereas the Aurorans are unorganized and frustrating. It really adds a different feel to different regions. Also, the different kinds of outfits are awesome, as well as the ship variants and upgrading.

Now, an exhaustive list of what's wrong with the game and needs to be fixed for EV4:

First, the writing. The story was compelling, but not particularly well executed. One of the main issues is there is absolutely no concept of time. 6 months of hard, intense training is dealt with in a single paragraph. As a guy who's been through military training I can tell you it feels MUCH longer than it really is, but the story lacked any perspective in that regard. It told me rather than showed me; I was told how I felt, what I did, and how I reacted. The story didn't make me feel any of those things, and as a result I wasn't drawn into it at all. Suddenly, over the course of three missions, I went from running cargo to being fully committed and indoctrinated into the warrior camaraderie without ever knowing how I got there. This can be a difficult balance to strike, as you have to make an engrossing story without boring the player or overwhelming him with text.

In every storyline, you also become a dominant force in the universe that leads one of the big three empires. Seems a little strange. At best, you should be a hero on the tactical level: instead of Alexander the Great's memoirs, your character's feats should read more like a Medal of Honor recipient's battle diary. Instead of President, you should become a decorated squadron commander. Part of the problem is you get into one story and one story alone, in contrast to EV2 where you had several strings for one government such as the UE (main string, cessation of Huron missions, find Anna Balashova missions), and when you got bored with them you could go work for somebody else in the Crescent, and so on and so forth. One giant plot-advancing string is good, but several smaller strings are exciting as well and provide a break in the monotony. Nova's side strings consist of "run this cargo here, okay great, now get missions in the BBS for 10k" or "go snatch this weapon, okay great, now you can buy it." Too short and too simple, if you ask me.

Also, the dialog wasn't anywhere close to what people actually sound like when they talk, unless everyone in the 34th century is from the Berenstein Bears.

Another problem was, while the universe is HUGE, there's really no reason to explore it all. In EV2, my 12-year-old socks were blown off when I finally stumbled across the Miranu and realized there was a lot more to be found than the UE and the Voinians. In EV3, there's no reason to poke around in the corners of space because the planets aren't different enough to be worth it. Maybe bigger isn't always better here.

Speaking of the vastness of the universe, how are your various employers able to track you across the galaxy? As if you somehow bump into your shipping liaison in a random bar on a random planet 4000 light years from home on a 220 billion population planet. Stay put!

And why can't you buy the best ships in the shipyard? That means, if you want a halfway decent ship, you have to steal it. Otherwise you're gonna have a Starbridge Class C with 2 stupid guns on it. Everyone else in the universe can buy whatever class of ship they choose, why not you? And why isn't the free space diminished with each additional class? Somehow someone jammed 4 huge railguns and an ion beam on a spaceship the size of a sailboat and used up no weight, so in the end you get ridiculously powerful ships. Snag a Mod-E Starbridge and you're set for the game.

But the most important thing I noticed was this: IT'S STILL FUN. I happily wasted a good 12 hours or so on it, and would do it again with a smile on my face, and I think that's whats most important here and what really gives this project legs. I know I posted a lot of negative stuff, but they're just pitfalls we need to avoid while making the best installment of EV yet.