Escape Velocity: Nova on Windows is OUT!

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2003-07-21 11:56pm

Darth Utsanomiko wrote:Definitely buy the full version. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't capture escorts (and gain free cargo space!!), and sell extra Starliners and Enterprises for 60-80K each.

Hehehe sounds like Phun!

That's what I'd be doing: Getting a big-ass ship and packin 'er fulla Marines! YARRR!

Crazy_Vasey · Post by **Crazy_Vasey** » 2003-07-22 06:04am

Darth Utsanomiko wrote:Definitely buy the full version. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't capture escorts (and gain free cargo space!!), and sell extra Starliners and Enterprises for 60-80K each.

Leviathans are better to hijack. You sell em for a million credits a shot!

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-07-22 04:46pm

When you hijack a ship, do you end abandoning your old ship, do you end up with a free escort, or you get an escort who you have to pay like everyone else?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-07-22 04:53pm

You get a free escort, but if you want you can sometimes switch ships (so that your old one becomes and escort)

Wild Karrde · Post by **Wild Karrde** » 2003-07-22 09:58pm

You all know it had to happen sooner or later.

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/ ... ate&page=3

Bottom of the page.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2003-07-23 10:00am

Crazy_Vasey wrote:
Darth Utsanomiko wrote:Definitely buy the full version. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't capture escorts (and gain free cargo space!!), and sell extra Starliners and Enterprises for 60-80K each.
Leviathans are better to hijack. You sell em for a million credits a shot!

They're also difficult to find anywhere besides busy systems, which typically means a high military presence. I prefer to do my, er, 'salvaging' in uninhabited systems, lest I piss off the local government.

Also, I think when you swap boarded ships, your old ship reverts back to its default weapons and configuration. I had a souped-up pirate Enterprise with different/extra turrets and loads of shit that I swapped for a Manticore, and it simply turned back into a normal pirate Enterprise with normal weapons. Kinda disappointing, considering the cost.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-07-24 01:47am

I got blown up twenty times trying to deliver 100 grand worth of cargo

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-07-25 12:34am

Anyone have any tips on the prison break mission? Where you have to defeat all the pirates and disable a prison ship to break out a dude?

Wild Karrde · Post by **Wild Karrde** » 2003-07-25 01:25am

Dalton wrote:Anyone have any tips on the prison break mission? Where you have to defeat all the pirates and disable a prison ship to break out a dude?

Either capture or hire lots of escorts. Have them fight the pirates while you concentrate on the prison ship from long range with railguns and/or missles.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-07-25 01:32am

So how does this "swapping boarded ships" work?

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-07-25 01:39am

Wild Karrde wrote:
Dalton wrote:Anyone have any tips on the prison break mission? Where you have to defeat all the pirates and disable a prison ship to break out a dude?
Either capture or hire lots of escorts. Have them fight the pirates while you concentrate on the prison ship from long range with railguns and/or missles.

Huh, never realized you could do that.

UPDATE: Just traded in my WG Lightning for a nice new Starbridge. Now to pick up some cash, trick out that bad boy and hire me some escorts.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-07-25 02:58am

Slartibartfast wrote:So how does this "swapping boarded ships" work?

I think you need the registered version...

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-07-25 04:06am

Dalton wrote:
Slartibartfast wrote:So how does this "swapping boarded ships" work?
I think you need the registered version...

Yes but HOW is it done.

EDIT: Never mind, I thought people meant that they could somehow swap ships with their own escorts AFTERWARDS, not during boarding. So I'm guessing it's not possible.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-07-25 06:59pm

Slartibartfast wrote:
Dalton wrote:
Slartibartfast wrote:So how does this "swapping boarded ships" work?
I think you need the registered version...
Yes but HOW is it done.

EDIT: Never mind, I thought people meant that they could somehow swap ships with their own escorts AFTERWARDS, not during boarding. So I'm guessing it's not possible.

Not sure exactly what you were trying to do. It's possible to board but not capture unless you're registered - but I think if you have a crew or something you might be able to steal a ship and add it to your fleet. *shrug*

As for me, after multiple tries and use of escorts (I spent a huge chunk of change on escorts without realizing they get paid daily...) I barely managed to take care of some of the pirates, draw off the rest and board the prison ship. Now I'm off on another leg of the WG mission.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-07-25 07:11pm

To board a ship, you match speed, heading and position with it. You can buy Marine Squads that take a small percentage of any 'liberated' goods as their cut to increase your probability of capture or plunder.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-07-25 08:19pm

phongn wrote:To board a ship, you match speed, heading and position with it. You can buy Marine Squads that take a small percentage of any 'liberated' goods as their cut to increase your probability of capture or plunder.

Of course, you still need to buy the game...

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-07-26 01:29am

What I meant is that once you capture a ship, you cannot "swap" with it. Whether you choose to pilot or use it as escort, you're stuck with that choice.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-07-26 01:35am

Slartibartfast wrote:What I meant is that once you capture a ship, you cannot "swap" with it. Whether you choose to pilot or use it as escort, you're stuck with that choice.

Well, I don't see how that can be a *bad* thing.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2003-07-26 03:28pm

Dalton wrote:
Slartibartfast wrote:What I meant is that once you capture a ship, you cannot "swap" with it. Whether you choose to pilot or use it as escort, you're stuck with that choice.
Well, I don't see how that can be a *bad* thing.

It's only bad if you don't have the cash to buy outfits, Like I mentioned in my post above. It's kinda like just buying a new ship, but for free, and getting a free escort of the same type as your previous ship.

And to finally answer the question Slarti's been asking all this time: no, as far as I know, once you capture a ship and chose to "use as current ship", you cannot swap your ship back with your escort, and neither does your old ship keep its outfits when it becomes an escort. I've only done it when I've captured a much better ship (like a pirate Manticore) and want to use it as my own.

Shadowhawk · Post by **Shadowhawk** » 2003-07-27 02:01am

I started playing EVN a few days ago, and finally got the hang of it. I might even register!
I stuck with a barely-upgraded Shuttle for a long time--I did a bunch of United Shipping missions (those 100k missions were sweet) before I bought a Pirate Starbridge. Craploads better than the Shuttle.

I've got about 3m credits in the bank now, and a nicely tricked-out ship (all licenses, 3 Fusion Pulse Cannons, a FPC Turret, Hellhound Missile Launcher, 25 Hellhound Missles, Pirate Jammer, Horizontal Booster, 3 layers of carbon fiber, gravimetric sensor, Federation sensor boost, IFF, auto-charger, 1 solar panel, 1 battery pack, and a Port & Polish upgrade. I had that short-range pulson gun for a while (I love how weapons you test out stay on your ship, regardless of how much mass you have available), but I dumped it and my old Blasters so I could get Hellhounds).
I'm not very far along any of the strings right now, but I did just expand United Shipping into Auroran space (that was one hell of a run!), and got pictures of Polaris weaponry for GLi-Tech-nia with zero problems for a half million.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-07-27 02:39am

Geez man, you got that far that fast?

Shadowhawk · Post by **Shadowhawk** » 2003-07-27 04:57am

Dalton wrote:Geez man, you got that far that fast?

That's fast? I didn't think I was particularly far along.

But, hell, when you can get 50k or 100k delivery missions that you can easily do in the 3-jump shuttle, it doesn't take long to amass cash. I bribed my way out of many a boarding, too.
Of course, it didn't hurt that I sort abused the game. Whenever I blew up, I just reloaded my game.

I stopped running cargo when I realized how much I could make in just two or three United Delivery missions. Then once you get a decent ship, you become a Bounty Hunter, take every bounty you come across, and just continue on your delivery missions. They'll pop up sooner or later, and Pirate Valks or those Auroran light attack ships don't stand a chance against a tricked out Pirate Starbridge.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-07-27 05:11am

Shadowhawk wrote:
Dalton wrote:Geez man, you got that far that fast?
That's fast? I didn't think I was particularly far along.

But, hell, when you can get 50k or 100k delivery missions that you can easily do in the 3-jump shuttle, it doesn't take long to amass cash. I bribed my way out of many a boarding, too.
Of course, it didn't hurt that I sort abused the game. Whenever I blew up, I just reloaded my game.

I stopped running cargo when I realized how much I could make in just two or three United Delivery missions. Then once you get a decent ship, you become a Bounty Hunter, take every bounty you come across, and just continue on your delivery missions. They'll pop up sooner or later, and Pirate Valks or those Auroran light attack ships don't stand a chance against a tricked out Pirate Starbridge.

Wow, man. I didn't take all that many UN Shipping jobs since I got involved in the Wild Geese arc. How do you become a bounty hunter?

Shadowhawk · Post by **Shadowhawk** » 2003-07-27 05:39am

Dalton wrote: Wow, man. I didn't take all that many UN Shipping jobs since I got involved in the Wild Geese arc. How do you become a bounty hunter?

Why make a piddly ~2-4k on a 6-jump cargo run when you can make 50k on a run that takes 3 jumps (actually happened to me a couple times)?

I became a bounty hunter when someone approached me in a bar on GLi-Tech-nia. According to ev-nova.net, you have to have a Legal Record of 1, and a combat rating of 150. 35% chance of getting the mission in a Bar. I'm not quite sure what all the numbers actually mean, since it sure doesn't seem like it was a 35% chance, but maybe it just took a while for my Combat Rating to get high enough.
It said I was member of the Bounty Hunter's Guild in my Honors for a while, but for some reason, it disappeared after a while. Bounties start at 25k a pop, but apparently stay that way until you progress in the bounty hunter string. Most systems will have 1-3 bounties waiting for you. I always take a pair of bounties when I'm in GLi-Tech-nia, and when I hyper out, they always show up about 10 seconds after I finish the jump. Two quick explosions later (even if Federation forces happen to help), a hop to Earth, and you're 50k richer. I think you have to destroy their ships, though, so no capturing. Looting might work.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-07-27 01:17pm

Get into the Sigma missions - you'll get access to their upgrades, ships and access to the hypergate system. That'll shave a lot of time off your travels.