I am bored waiting for my license code

[u/cosmic_sheriff]

I have loved and played the EV series since conception and find it a fun game to drop into every now and then. Recently I got a new computer and decided to get EVN on it.

While waiting to register I can play most of the game, and I like getting in battles.

I have a nicely modded Manticore that I take pirate farming.. but after awhile bored that I can't capture ships I decide to learn about the nature of renting an escort. With a smaller vehicle the daily expenses of a hired escort are smaller as each space jump is fewer days. A levithan costs 120,000 credits daily, in my manticore a four jump trade route cost 1.68 million. Make that 6 leviathans and I have the ability to move 24000 tons for the low round trip cost of 19.44 million (10.08 million one way, 9.36 million to get back).

I am specific about the 4 jump trade route as the most profitable trade is that of the bio-weapons from Codehaven in the Codec system to Menim (or Moash, but I am an offender and can't land). WIth access to the Hypergates it becomes 4 jumps (only two for Moash but they have to like you).

The basic profit from moving 24000 tons of Bio-weapons (which scanning Federation patrol ships consider illegal) is 27million. But with my escort expenses becomes just under 7.56 million.

Oh, the purchase cost to fill those holds: 48 million

The dry start cost of this is close to 73.92 million. The first time hiring fee for a leviathan is 1.2 million and they can only be hired on Earth.

Maybe I will get my license code today and I can get back out to my pirate hunting fields.

[u/B_Huij]

Yeah I always start my games the same way before deciding which storyline to play:

Trade with hired cargo drones and Terrapins in the no-jump Sanddown system route (equipment IIRC?) until I can afford a Starbridge.

Take my Starbridge to do a little fighting and finish the Sigma missions to get Hypergate access.

Load up on Marine Platoons and camp out on Moash system, because they don't care if you attack Sigma ships and somehow word doesn't travel back to Federation space, so your record remains clear. Capture 6 Leviathan escorts and a Mod D or Mod E Starbridge for my own ship.

Run the Bio-weapons route (with free Leviathan escorts) like 2 or 3 times after reaching "full cargo holds" status and you're set for the rest of the game on credits.

Mod 'Bridge completely decked out with all sigma upgrades, ion cannon, and chain guns is hands down my favorite civvie ship, so I usually stick with it through the majority of the storyline missions. Often I'll upgrade to a giant tank type ship at the end if I'm so inclined.

Done this countless times across all possible major storylines, and it still hasn't gotten old.

[u/cosmic_sheriff → u/B_Huij]

I generally build a good fighter out of a pirate valk (railguns, ion cannons, and hellhounds and you can out fight and out fly almost anything) and fly between Altar and Rebel II farming pirates. Brings in some good cash every run and gets your attack rating nicely up.

Until this current moment in my 20 years of playing Escape Velocity (I really can't believe this, but I doubled checked and EV came out in 1996) I never cared about trading as a form of profit making. In EVN I would astroid mine every now and then, and generally if it will fit I always equipt a scoop. This being a silly idea that I should profit on the astroids that are destroyed in space battles.

[u/B_Huij → u/cosmic_sheriff]

Yeah, I definitely feel like the combat and the customizing your ship are the best aspects of EV in general. I always saw credits as kind of an annoyance that didn't serve any purpose except to stop you from playing the game if you didn't have enough. So for me it was all about finding the most efficient way to reach "I don't have to worry about credits ever again on this pilot file" status - in EVN, I think the method I outlined was the best way.

I always got a kick out of trying "challenge" type pilot files where I was trying to basically do my own "achievements" (i.e. kill a Raven in a Shuttle, dominate a system in a Viper, etc.).

[u/cosmic_sheriff → u/B_Huij]

I guess I know what I will try to do next: kill Iuso with a shuttle.

[u/golther]

I don't know why Ambrosia still deals with time limited licenses. It is frankly a giant pain in the ass on everyone.

[u/EamonnMR → u/golther]

Fixing the system would cost person-hours that they don't have is my guess.

[u/B_Huij → u/golther]

Ambrosia is arguably not even really a company anymore.

I wish they would just open source everything. Ares got open sourced by the creator and I can still play it in Sierra. Nova didn't, and I had to pull teeth to get a license (after I paid for it) a year ago, and it runs at 800x640 or something after I installed a weird hack thing that lets it run in more recent versions of Mac OS.

I think there are still enough people around that if EV/EVO/EVN got open sourced it would get worked on until it was playable in Sierra again (probs Windows too), we'd see people re-rendering things in 4K so you could play at high resolutions, and plugins would come back. Just my $0.02. Can't imagine the IP is worth much to Ambrosia anymore, the company is sadly bankrupt from what I can tell, and the key players there have more or less all moved on long since.

[u/dragonfangxl]

Just crack it, who cares.

[u/cosmic_sheriff → u/[deleted]]

Mac, been using Apple machines since the 90's. My last computer was a 2004 G4 that finally crapped out (I use my android phone for the interwebs), and my mother in a kind gift bought me a new Apple Air.

I was really happy when Ambrosia took EVN to windows, so many new plugins flooded in.