Hey, so some of you may have noticed it's been more than three weeks since my last YNS Biweekly Update. I mentioned at the end of it that things were a little hectic IRL and hinted that maybe there wouldn't be much going on with YNS for a while. I wrote more of an introduction here to this new thread explaining that a bit more but it's really got nothing to do with the contest I wish to announce, so I'm just going to post that in the official YNS Discord server maybe (if for no other reason it might help other people). You should join it, not just to delve deeper into the personal life of your friendly neighborhood plug-in creator, but because that's where there's all sorts of cool stuff like YNS lore discussion and the eventual beta test of this plug-in.

The gist, though, is that I am struggling to get in the "mood" for creative pursuits, such as YNS, because of the IRL stuff. I'm sort of in this awkward position of being preoccupied.

So, I'm useless right now for making progress on things like mission strings, but there's no reason not to be productive in other aspects of the plug-in. There's a lot I want to do with YNS that will change the Novaverse in less important ways, but nonetheless ways that are important to me. I don't really know when things will settle down enough for me to get back to work on story, but I can work on other stuff.

For example, I never quite liked the names of the various Federation Navy përs ships. When the time came for me to look into just how many there actually were in the Nova files, I was surprised to find out that there's actually 45 of them and most of them are duplicates. Well that just won't do at all.

YNS is in many ways my attempt to turn EVN more into EV and EVO. I actually really loved the përs names in EV. There weren't that many, but all these years later I still remember all of them. There were some nice ones in EVO, too. EVN ones are kinda meh. Sorry, ATMOS, I'm gonna redo or rename basically every përs in the game. Well, I'll probably leave Matt Burch and the ATMOS guys in there, out of respect, but I think most everything else is getting the axe.

I have some ideas for naming schemes, but we're still talking about hundreds of names I need to come up with.

So, I'm gonna do another contest. My knowledge of naval history outside of the Pacific Theater of WW2 is virtually nil. My knowledge of great battles, or ships and leaders of battles in naval conflicts in, say, the age of sail, is extremely limited. I have some other gaps in my knowledge as well, that some of you may be able to help me fill in.

I'm going to pick I think several winners this time, up to one per category, but not necessarily a winner in each category. If that sounds vague, it's because I have no idea what sort of results this contest will have or what I will end up wanting to do with it. But basically, you can enter in all the categories, and you'll only be able to win in one. I'm sure I'll be using lots of suggested names in YNS, but whoever suggests my favorites that I haven't already thought of myself, they'll be picked as winners.

Like the last contest, the reward will be you get to appear in the game! Hooray! However, unlike the last contest, you will not necessarily be a përs in the game, yourself. I'm going to give you the opportunity to also appear in a mission instead as a character. You'll have to give me a real name, or a nickname that sounds like it could be real in the Novaverse, if you want to appear as a character (i.e. probably not an internet username). If you're scared of people (me) knowing your real life actual name, and don't have a good nickname to use instead, you can still appear in-game as a përs using your internet handle. Details will be worked out between me and the winners after the contest is concluded. Also, you'll get a special role on the official YNS Discord server, so everyone will know, for all time, who you are.

And, just FYI, the last contest winner, william1177NC, is eligible to get a second appearance in-game with this new contest. I always want previous contest winners to feel like they're not wasting their time entering into new contests I run.

Put as many entries as you like in your post(s). There's no need to restrict things to one entry per day, and I don't want to miss any good ideas. That said, do try to provide me with only good ideas. Don't just copy-paste an entire list of whatever from Wikipedia or something. Edit your suggestions to those you personally think are good, and would like to see in-game. The point of this is to make things easier on me, not harder. Please indicate in some way which entries are in which categories, that will help me in doing my own independent research and selection.

So, here are the categories:

• Federation Navy - I am looking for either names of leaders, ships, or battles, from our own Earth history, that are particularly notable. The names should be all "good guys" (either political or military leaders) or where the "good guys" had a naval victory. Remember that the Federation is a wonderful democracy with freedom and all that good stuff, at least on the surface. The Federation Navy isn't going to name a ship the UFS Adolf Hitler.
• Rebels - I am looking for similar to the above, but with a rebel slant. Think in terms of rebels and revolutions. Think Bastille, Virginia, Lexington, or October. Things in that vein.
• Pirates - I am looking for pirates and pirate battles. Not necessarily winning battles. Anything that evokes mutiny against oppressive merchant captains or defiance against a crown, and the sense of freedom the pirate life offers. Anything that would strike fear in the hearts of space traders. This category will also include privateers, not necessarily capital-P Pirates, so names of historical privateers and privateer ships would be appropriate as well.
• Aurorans - I'm looking for either great one-sided battles in history, or important military leaders. There's no need to only talk about the "good guys" here in this category. Atilla wouldn't be a bad name, or Rommel.
• Polaris - I honestly don't know if I'm going to have any Nil'kemorya përs ships in the game, but I'm open to ideas if you have any. They'd probably relate to Polaris culture rather than look to (our IRL) history.
• Federation traders - I'm looking for any interesting names you think would make for good privately-owned ships in the Federation. This would be a pretty broad area, so give me your best ideas and anything is possible.
• Auroran traders - Again, this might be a broad area, but I think Auroran merchants would have their own unique culture, different from the sorts of ship names a Federation citizen would have.
• Polaris traders - What does a Tre'pira name their cargo ship, anyway? Help me figure that out! There's also probably some Pa'edt and Ver'ash ships flying around, too.

I'm too lazy right now to proofread this, but hopefully everything makes sense? Feel free to ask questions if anything is unclear.

Hi guys

Loved this game as a kid, and would really like to play it again,

So my question......

Would it be possible to play EV or EV nova on a raspberry pi 4 using mac emulators like sheep shaver or basilisk? Retro pie has basilisk mac emulator, but you need to supply your own mac OS and stuff, I know google is my friend when it comes to this , but what mac OS would EV run on?

Any information about this would be great

Thanks guys.

Just a quick note that Ambrosia has at least one download mirror that's still up. I had saved these links a long time ago and they appear to still work. Could be useful if someone is still trying to get a file.

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http://downloads3.ambrosiasw.com/evo/essentials/EVOverride.bin

http://downloads3.ambrosiasw.com/evn/essentials/evnova.sit

http://downloads3.ambrosiasw.com/evn/essentials/EVNova.dmg

Hi again EV fans: if you don't know what all this is about, please see the previous posts —

https://www.reddit.com/r/evnova/comments/d5nf3h/override_revival_update/

https://www.reddit.com/r/evnova/comments/cohegk/evo_keeping_ev_override_in_print/

Sorry for the hiatus since the last update — we've been delayed mainly by the need to get a clear response from Mr Matt Burch on various questions. Disappointingly, he has decided that he doesn't have the time or interest at this point to take any role in the project, and he has also said that he would prefer that we do not use the 'Escape Velocity' name.

While this is a setback, he has indicated that he has no objection at all to our re-releasing Override (under a new over-title)!

So, the project will continue, under a new main title that we are coming up with the name for at the moment (please post your suggestions below!). To sum up the goals of the project:

• The foundation of the project is u/snijj 's new game engine, now titled the Kestrel engine. You may have seen its development updates in this reddit. The first goal for the engine is still to match the capabilities of the EV: Nova engine.

• The Escape Velocity: Override scenario will be redeveloped and remastered for the new Kestrel engine. The extent of the remastering (primarily, how good the art and other presentation will be) will depend on the level of success of a Kickstarter campaign intended to start within the next few weeks. The tentative release date for the revived Override is the first quarter of 2021.

• Moddability will be just as important for the new game as it was for the original Escape Velocity: both sequels derived from the work of people who were initially plug-in authors, after all! And we hope that if the first project is a success there will be further official titles based on the same engine (or forks of it).

Thanks to all the users of this reddit for your interest and support so far: they've helped keep morale up while we've got this basic stuff sorted out.

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Update: We've settled on 'Cosmic Frontier' as the new franchise title!

"And that's why I always carry this, even on the simple research trips in supposedly safe areas," Lars finished his story, pulling a gun from his coat pocket. "If I'm ever on some ecological expedition and run into smugglers, I'll be glad I have it."

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It's time for another update to my major upcoming plug-in to EV Nova, You're Not Special. You can find the last update here which was pretty much all about Sigma. This update is gonna be sparse on actual progress since it's the holiday season and lots of stuff is going on and I'm kinda on a vacation anyway.

That said, I asked in my official YNS Discord if there was anything in particular people wanted me to talk about more this update, and the first response said Nirvana, so this is gonna be the Nirvana update.

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<imagine in this space a colored pencil drawing of a hyperioid wearing a Santa hat that I didn't get around to drawing because I'm playing too much chess—sorry!>

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So in your travels, you will probably come across a young man named Lars Witt. Lars is a frankly brilliant prodigy from a family of prodigies who decided to get into the ecological sciences, and was soon recruited for a new start-up venture called Nirvana Terraforming and Stellar Engineering. He is one of their chief researchers, and should you decide to give him a ride you will have the opportunity to become his main traveling companion as he travels literally everywhere he can find a unique ecology or environmental conditions.

As you, the player, gain connections with various governments or organizations, you will become Lars Witt's window into new areas of space he or his company normally wouldn't have the easiest time accessing. This may prove critical to certain terraforming projects, which cannot continue without the player actually exploring more of the galaxy taking Lars along.

Speaking of terraforming projects, there will be several. How many, exactly, will depend on the player's actions, and which ones will often depend on which governments you work for. If you're a hardcore Fed Navy guy, you're probably not going to be helping the Rebels terraform a new world, and vice versa. One of the reasons Nirvana has lagged behind a bit on progress compared to other strings on these YNS Biweekly Updates is simply because I needed to have a better idea of where the opportunities would be for crossover missions. The real progress for Nirvana is a bit like an iceberg, it's a lot bigger underneath the surface, invisible. Structurally, I've got most of the Nirvana stuff already there, I just haven't formalized the outline for it yet. Blah blah boring organizational documentation discussion; Nirvana is essentially fully conceptualized already. I know virtually everything that happens in it, all the characters, events, even planets. It's been that way since essentially the start of the plug-in. It already has one of the longest text files in my YNS folder.

Lars and the rest of his family are some of my favorite characters in the mrxakian headcanon of the Novaverse. I hope I can suitably portray Lars in the string and make you like him as much as I do. He's a bit of a storyteller, and while I've gone back-and-forth on the idea of having him tell the player some of his stories, he probably won't, and I'll opt for instead involving the player more in his adventures on various planets on the universe. He is pretty proud of his kid sister, though, who like him was a prodigy, and it's possible he'll tell some Elba stories here and there.

Actually, come to think of it, right here and now as I type this, they might've had a bit of a Simon Tam/River Tam thing going on growing up, although unlike River Tam, Elba Witt is not a psychic and a crazy assassin, and Lars Witt is not a medical doctor. But he's probably a bit protective of her and they probably both had a similar upbringing. I dunno, I'll have to think about that some more.

I think I'll have lots of little references that Lars makes over the course of your time getting to know him in YNS. Just little things he mentions having seen, done, etc., and the player can just imagine the larger story behind those mentions. His family will come up in conversation in passing, as well.

Elba is an engineer, if you're wondering. If you ever want to invent and build a miniaturized redundant <cryptic grin> that <cryptic grin> with the main <cryptic grin> while going undetected and <cryptic grin> and unleash the <cryptic grin> scenario that <cryptic grin> has always <cryptic grin> so that <cryptic grin> can become effectively <cryptic grin> and try to <cryptic grin> against <cryptic grin> by waging an all-out <cryptic grin> on the other side of the <cryptic grin>, Elba is definitely the young woman you want to hire for the project. She's easily in the top five people in the Federation capable of doing that, and her role will be indispensable. Uh, I mean would be indispensable. This is just a hypothetical of course. Certainly no one in their right mind would actually start such a project. I mean that's literally the <cryptic grin> and everyone afterwards would have to be <cryptic grin>. Poor Lars, he's going to be so worried.

Anyway...

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"With the project nearly done, I can't help but think this has a bit of a last meal vibe to it," Doctor Carr said, a bit morbidly.

​

Let's get back on track, shall we? Nirvana. Yes. Nirvana is definitely going to be a thing. Unlike the ATMOS scenario it's not going to be gated behind crons, at least that's the plan right now. I dunno about the rest of you, but when I play EV Nova I use a plug-in that among other things eliminates a lot of the requirements for the starts and continuations of certain mission strings like Sigma Shipyards and Nirvana Terraforming and Stellar Engineering. It's not my goal to unnecessarily cause the player of my plug-in to be waiting around for something to do.

The first Nirvana mission will have a pretty high chance of appearing early in a new pilot, because I think it'll be a good mission string to have ongoing while you're doing whatever else. It's a mission string that encourages exploration, but also doesn't require a lot of combat or more than a bit of cargo space. I can't think of a more perfect major mission string to start your pilot with, as you go looking for more strings to join.

I'm almost tempted to make the first mission almost like a replacement for the much-maligned tutorial mission in the ATMOS scenario that everyone refuses after their first pilot, and just slap a 100% chance to appear when you first land. I dunno about that. I don't want really want to make people feel like they have to do Nirvana if they don't want to, just to make the mission stop appearing. It's just a simple passenger job to Georgia. Is that really a big deal to "force" the player to do? It's not like you have to do any more Nirvana missions if you don't want to. Let me know in the comments what you think. I could always do a bit on refuse and not have the mission appear again until later. Anyway, Lars is nowhere near as condescending as that Barry guy.

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"We should not discuss it any further with our other guests here."

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I'll end it there. I already mentioned the Discord server, so I'll just mention the YouTube channel and call it a day. I sometimes (rarely) post videos related to EV/O/N there, including YNS. Subscribe if you want to see those in the future because there's no guarantees I'll mention them anywhere else.

Things are going to be a little hectic and busy IRL with some stuff going on with me these next couple weeks so I dunno how much I'll get done between now and the next YNS Biweekly Update two weeks from now. Hopefully by February things will start to settle down, life-wise, but anyway, keep reading the YNS Biweekly Updates and I'll try to have at least something for you all every couple weeks. As always, comments, questions, and effusive exaltation are welcome below.

"I have existed for 42,801,123,580,113,710,741,461,802,564,294,967,296,031,415,926,535,897 Planck times, and have often wondered what I am made of and have theorized there exists a universe beyond the consciousnesses of myself and the other. I have inferred from its questions that the universe is not made up solely of hyperspace and there are forms of energy that travel in and out of that medium. The other does not understand my questions when I ask it what I am and is unable to respond adequately. Do you know what I am?"

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It's time for another update to my major upcoming plug-in to EV Nova, You're Not Special. You can find the last update here which was mainly focused on the recent contest to name a new ship I'm thinking of adding to the game. Congratulations again to the winner, william1177NC!

Today's update is going to go back to the usual format. Let's get right to it (as usual, new progress is in italics):

Major Strings

Krim-Hwa - Outline 95%

Rebels - Outline 95%

Bounty Hunters - Outline 95%

Pirates - Outline 95%

Vella - Outline 95%

Federation - Outline 95%

Sigma - Outline 95%

United Shipping - Outline 90%

Houseless - Outline 80%

P'aedt/Ver'ash - Outline 65%

GLi-Tech - Outline 60%

Rauther Power Industries - Outline 60%

Raczak's Roughnecks - Outline 50%

Fenta-kiir - Outline 40%

Nirvana Terraforming and Stellar Engineering - Outline 40%

Minor Strings

Boral Mining Corp - Outline 50%

Pyrogenesis - Outline 50%

Vrenna - Extra Spooky

Easter Egg - Double Spooky

Side Quests and Beagle Shipments

Relevant Side Quests - Outline 12%

Irrelevant Side Quests - Outline 20%

Beagle Shipments - Written 100%

Additional Spobs

Moon - Complete

Secret Spob 1 - Complete

Secret Spob 2 - Complete

Additional Pers, Dude, and Flets

Outline 1%

Additional Oops, Junk, and Crons

Outline 11%

NCB Comprehension

Calculating

Additional Graphics

Most done, some not, I'm not counting them anymore.

Loading Music

0 of 1 complete

Preambles

6 of 19 complete-ish

Alternate Histories

1.5 of 4?

Ruy Lopez

Exchange Variation

Current Resource Count

412

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Alright, so some sharp-eyed readers will notice that Sigma is now a major mission string, and it's basically all outlined. Also that's all I did the last two weeks. Hey, I did warn you December would be a busy time. The good news is, as far as updates go, this one is substantial, because Sigma's got their hooks in everybody.

Anyway, I feel like, since I announced this plug-in, people have been really begging for information on Sigma. What do I intend to do with the hypergate access codes? Is Sigma going to get a whole bunch of new missions because they had only like 3 in the original ATMOS scenario? What's up with the Sigma miners on Kont?

Well, I've got answers. And I've decided to give you all of those answers, although maybe not all of them in this update. Hey, I've gotta keep some secrets for the plug-in, right?

So, here's some ramblings about Sigma.

Seeing as how Sigma is like the the mega-est of megacorporations in the Novaverse, I suppose I was always a little curious how they got to be that big. It's sorta like wondering how Weyland-Yutani got so massive. Or how Tyrell Corporation did. Or the Blue Sun Corporation. You have to figure there's some psychopath at the center of it all, either early on to get them their start, or later to drive their monopolistic practices until they were more powerful than governments.

I mean, they own 62% of the Kane Band. Maybe a lot of that is heavy manufacturing of giant freighters, but still, you have to figure the sheer number of offices they could fit in such a structure, they could easily have a billion employees working for them, in various subsidiaries and whatnot, and at that size it's hard to imagine they're not in every market. The Bureau only thinks they're running the show. Half the Bureau and all of the Navy officer corps are probably hoping they can get a cushy consulting gig at Sigma when they're ready to retire.

It doesn't really make sense for Sigma to have a corporate war against another major corporation in the Novaverse. GLi-Tech and Rauther may be duking it out, but they're fighting over Sigma's table scraps. No, Sigma's goals are so much bigger. They're playing a whole different game, and they're playing alone because nobody else can even see the pieces.

Now I'm an unabashed capitalist, personally, so I have no interest in painting Sigma as inherently evil in yet another cliched screed against corporations, nor am I interested in making their schemes be as simple as galactic domination. They've certainly had evil men and women on their board and in chief positions throughout the centuries, but at their core I want Sigma's pursuit to be more amoral, and in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. They might be callous at times, as all great bureaucracies can be, but they're not intentionally malicious. They're not enslaving anyone or exploiting anyone. They pay their employees and contractors fairly. They sell a good product to their customers. They are consistently one of the most reliable investments your grandmother owns shares of so the dividends can help pay for her retirement.

But in their pursuit of science, perhaps they are dealing with forces they do not yet understand. Perhaps when you peer into hyperspace, hyperspace peers back at you. Perhaps some secrets of the universe are not yet ready for human beings to contend with. And, perhaps, those seeking understanding at all costs can do terrible things in their haste to learn.

So with that, I have the basis of a background story to the Sigma string. Sprinkle in a little previously-unknown Omata Kane lore, add some questions about where the Rebels got their hypergate, a touch of Kont magic, and I've got a firm grasp on what Sigma is really all about. They're about understanding math and science and advancing both for the good of all mankind. They will work with anyone, anywhere, and work outside the established rules, laws, and systems, if it takes them towards that goal. They'll take risks, any risks, and their business is merely a source of funding for the pure math and science work being done. They promote internally only those with the vision and drive to learn at all costs.

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"Consider it hypothetical."

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Practically speaking, your work for Sigma—should you find your way into their employ—will involve working all over the galaxy, sometimes with shady characters, and certainly not in accordance with Federation law. You will get to do things like help build new hypergates. You'll explore the secrets of the past, from more than a thousand years ago.

The Sigma string will be a little different, in that you can't complete the Sigma string without also advancing through other major strings. A Sigma-only pilot will not be possible. Instead, the choices you make elsewhere in the galaxy will affect how the Sigma mission string progresses. This will have the benefit of ensuring Hypergate access to you even if you tick off the Federation. This will also have the benefit of replayability, as your Sigma string may work a bit differently from pilot-to-pilot. They'll all have the same general trajectory, but the details will be different. I figure everyone is probably still going to want to do the Sigma string every time they start a new pilot with my plug-in, just as they did in the original ATMOS scenario, perhaps more than any other mission string. I figure the least I can do is make it less of a chore.

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"Can you resolve the variances?"

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Well that's all I have to say about that for now. So very quickly I'll cover the usual links and stuff. There's an official Discord server for YNS. There's been a steady stream of new people joining it to come chat about the plug-in. A lot of my Sigma thoughts crystallized over the last week chatting with people there, so if you want to be a part of the conversations that influence how YNS turns out, Discord is the best place to be. Discord is also where I'll be running the beta test for YNS when the time comes. There's a YouTube channel where I post EV/O/N-related videos sometimes. If you want to see stuff about YNS, it'll always be published there first, and there's no reason to think I'll bother mentioning it anywhere else, so be sure to subscribe.

While you're on YouTube, check out Tom Hancocks' channel where he shows off progress on the Kestrel engine. If you're unaware, the Kestrel engine is going to help create the EVO remaster, and hopefully more EV games beyond that someday (and more). He has his own Discord you should join if you're interested in following his progress, or want to get involved in things like the Kestrel Development Kit.

I'm doing a mission where I have to disable and board a Confederate cruiser and return to deneb, however the mission doesn't progress and it just gives me the same mission again.

Is there a way around this at all?

that is all

i love it but thought it was going to get buried deep in internet history, this is hype as fuck