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currently being written.
Okay, I want to make a plug-in, total-conversion size; but the problem is...I'm not very experienced with making plug-ins. I have EVNEW and I've messed around a bit, but I'm still not completely 'fluent' with it, so all input is greatly appreciated.
Escape Velocity: Collision the novel can be found in the EV/EVO Chronicles (links to chapters follow). Prologue
Story Summary:
Federation -- The Federation is a content, prosperous nation -- until refugees from a far-off government come to it seeking refuge, fleeing from merciless aliens who immediately assault Federation space in full force. Overwhelmed, the Federation sends emissaries to both the Aurorans and the Polaris; but both governments have their own problems, and can offer no support to the reeling Federation forces.
Auroran -- The Aurorans are fighting a losing battle with the one of the most powerful foes the galaxy has ever seen. All the strength and valor of the entire Auroran Empire may not be enough to prevent a horrendous catastrophe from occurring. And through all the fighting, there may well be a traitor in their midst, for the Moash House is determined to get back what was taken from them, no matter the cost.
Polaris -- The Polaris seem to be the only hope for a devastated galaxy; they are holding out against the same ruthless enemies as the Aurorans, even while trying to end the increasingly frequent Wraith incursions into their space. But how long can even the mighty Polaris defend themselves from these mysterious beings, about whom little, if anything, is known?
Vell-os -- After the end of the Rebellion, the Vell-os split up and went their separate ways: most stayed in Federation space as judges or to just live as regular people; some went to live with the Polaris; some of the new generation of Vell-os, born to the former, have joined the small Federation military in thanks to the Rebellion for freeing them; fewer still left the Known Galaxy immediately after the defeat of the Bureau to find their place in the universe. Some of the Vell-os who remained in Federation space have been researching the Krypt, and have revealed some startling information (see Krypt ). They hope that this information will help them in their goal to move beyond the physical universe.
Krypt -- The Vell-os, after many years of study, have uncovered evidence that Krypt is actually the disembodied spirits of the Krypt-os, the ancient leaders of the Vell-os. But the sudden end of Krypt sightings and activity in Federation Space and slightly beyond is not a promising sign for the hopeful Vell-os, who wish to move on.
Wraith -- The Wraith have been attacking Polaris ships nonstop every chance they get since the first contact between the two civilizations. Their possibly justifiable reasons may finally be revealed -- but will it be too late to repair the damage they have caused?
Hyperoids -- The Polaris will investigate this strange alien race, its connection to the Wraith, and its origins and purpose in the Galaxy. The Hyperoids make their home at the very center of the Galaxy, which is just to the north-east of the Known Galaxy.
??? -- This diabolical organization has one goal, and will do anything -- anything -- to achieve it. This goal is undisputed control over the entire Galaxy. These traitors have no problem with working with the enemies of humanity to gain control and are blind to the fact that none of these groups will be willing to share their power. Their ignorance is mostly due to the fact that most members are insane, schizophrenic, or just plain power hungry and blinded by their own ambitions. Their leader suffers unknowingly from DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), meaning he or she has multiple personalities.
Teaser: You are the captain and lone crewman of your own standard shuttle, fresh from the Sol Academy. It is with a calm mind that, as you make your first orbit, you unknowingly fly off into the most devastating conflict the galaxy has ever known.
**It is fifteen years since the victory of the Rebellion over the Bureau. The Federation was able to recover from this outrageous scandal swiftly and surely under the excellent leadership of President Oriallo Pentecost, who stepped down from his position only three years ago. General Cade "Sundown" Smart was also finally able to retire after leading a Federation task force to victory against two pirate fleets at the Battle of Harbor, the last battle of the Fourth Pirate Uprising.
With a reasonable galactic government now in place, a generous treaty was negotiated between the Federation and the Auroran Empire, much to the relief of the reclusive Polaris, who feared they would soon be forced to intervene in the massive conflict. Having been granted its independence and more, the Auroran Empire has turned its attention to internal affairs: the constant warring between the Five Houses has shown no signs of stopping, and has in fact intensified in recent years.
The Polaris, meanwhile, continue to be harassed by Wraiths for reasons unknown to them, as well as facing frequent Auroran incursions into their territory; the Polaris don't mind this, however, as it provides the Nil'kemorya with valuable battle experience, and the Auroran attacks are not any real threat: the Aurorans merely consider the Polaris to be worthy opponents and only attack for the enjoyment of the life-threatening struggle of battle.
A tense and unexpected peace has fallen over the galaxy; it is the beginning of a new age, an age of prosperity. Even pirate raids have slowed nearly to a halt in the northern regions of the Federation, and Evlei, which was only recently used as an anti-pirate station, has become a small observation outpost for the exploration of the galactic north. But this peace comes with a price. Governments across the galaxy, with the exception of the Auroran Houses, have cut their military funding, feeling quite secure in their peace treaties and negotiations.
But how long can such a fragile peace last? Already, whispers from the past threaten to once again throw the galaxy into a period of chaos and turmoil, for the galaxy is much larger than it seems, and upcoming events will bring both new allies...and new, dangerous enemies. Massive battle fleets consisting of unheard-of ships of impossible design and piloted by who-knows-what kind of peoples alien to the Known Galaxy are already forming up around the borders of the Galaxy. The Known Galaxy might well be able to resist the aliens, even in its weakened state, but the aliens are not without allies; there are others -- many, powerful others -- who think it wiser to work with the aliens than against them. Refugees begin spewing forth from planets that you will find on no Federation map, and battle fleets are hot on their tails in pursuit.
Undefended as the Known Galaxy is, and with no warning of the upcoming invasion and precious little time to prepare for it, it appears that the 'age of peace and prosperity' is about to come crashing down around you, for the entire galaxy is about to be consumed in war. But this is no ordinary war; it is a massive, devastating war that can end one of two ways: Either the peoples of the Known Galaxy will be victorious, and the alien invaders repelled or destroyed...or defeat for the Known Galaxy, the consequences of which no one dares to contemplate.
For the alien invaders aim not only for galactic domination, but for the complete annihilation of all races and beings who would oppose them....**
After the start of the Great War, there is but one prominent question on the lips of all humanity: Where is Ory'hara? Alas that when he is needed most, he has vanished from the Galaxy. It is believed that only Ory'hara can bring about the defeat of the enemies of Earth and restore peace to these dark times. Every night, people across the Federation, Polaris, and Auroran stars wonder why Ory'hara has not yet returned to aid humanity. It has been theorized that he died, which was deemed preposterous by most, and that he is afraid to return, which was decidedly even less likely. But what the Galaxy most fears has happened -- and what seems the most likely remaining answer -- is that Ory'hara has decided that humans are simply not worth saving, and has abandoned them all to their inevitable doom. For the prodigy Ory'hara, the most powerful single being in the Galaxy, is the final hope for the peoples of Earth, and perhaps the entire Galaxy; he is truly their last card to play against the mercilessly brutal invaders.
This post has been edited by Starbridge21 : 10 May 2008 - 09:55 PM
Well first of all, we have a special forum here dedicated to EV development called the EV Developer's Corner. Head over there and start by checking out the Important Links topic pinned at the top of the board. A lot of your questions can be answered by some of the stuff in there, specifically the PC Plugin Conversion Tutorial and some of Zacha Pedro's Plug-in Guides should be of great help.
One question I'll answer for you right now though is B4: No
Quote
Plugins (A): 1. It seems like all of the plugins, save a few, are made for Macs. Is there a way to download these so they work for Windows? 2. How do you make your own plugins? How then do you apply them to EVN? And I don't mean just adding a ship, this question includes complete overhauls. 3. How do you edit an already existing plugin? 4. How long does it take to make a typical plugin? (In total hours worked, not "if you work x hours each day, y days a week, you can finish in about z days/weeks/months/years")(I know this depends on how big the plugin is; please answer as best you can.) 5. What are the limits of what you can change in EVN with a plugin? For instance, can you change the buttons shown on planets and stations or even add more buttons? (The buttons I'm referring to are 'Bar,' 'Outfits,' 'Refuel,' etc.)
Belthazar's PC Plugin Conversion Tutorial (now with pictures!) is probably the best resource you can get.
Under Windows, you'll need a copy of EVNEW. I'm not sure that it's current, but you can get the application here. After creating them, simply place them in /(nova)/Nova Plug-ins/, restart the game, and bang.
Open in EVNEW, and you'll be presented with a list of resources. These compromise the plugin, and modification to them allows... well, not anything , but certainly a lot of things. Best way to learn is to play around. I suggest the base scenario as a starting point for analysis.
I'd love to be able to answer, but I'm not sure that it's possible to give a single set of numbers that are relevant. Simple cheat plugins could be five minutes, but adding a storyline has writing time (and this is person-dependent)...
It is possible to alter the button labels, and to hide them. Alterations in that field are... less tested... than elsewhere, but the principles are fairly basic. You can't add anything, nor can you truly delete the Mission Computer, say, but you can certainly make cosmetic changes. The limits are very broad, provided you can understand boolean logic. Some things, like counters (which, honestly, I don't think I've ever seen used), look really rather complex on the surface, but, once you've got your head around them, make a lot of sense.
EVN Bible (B 1. What exactly is the EVN Bible? I've accessed it, but it was very long and I'm not sure I understand its purpose, as it seemed a bit complicated. 2. I've heard the term 'Bible' used a lot in reference to plugins. Will the Bible teach me how to make plugins? 3. If not, is the Bible in some way connected to plugins? 4. One of the first things I noticed in the Bible (and one of the only things I understood) was the list of gameplay constants. Can these be changed (with or without a plugin)? 5. How long will it take me to read (and understand) the entire EVN Bible -- or, assuming it is used for making plugins, how long will it take me to read enough to make a plugin?
The Bible is a document outlining how the EV3 engine works. Or is intended to work. Or was intended/thought to work when the relevant sections were written. Essentially, it describes the nature of the resources used, and what each field within them does. It's complexity is very much the result of how many resources are supported in the engine, and it is worth noting that the purpose of this sort of documentation is to ensure that:
everyone working on the project understands each feature to work in the same way
this understanding does not change over time
The Bible will not teach you. Rather than a textbook, think of it as a datasheet. It gives the detail needed to implement a desired feature, without suggesting such features or giving much in the way of step-by-step examples.
Developers use the Bible because it is one of the closest things we have to a definitive source on how the engine works. It was practically a necessity for development for exactly that reason, although it's not perfect. Zacha Pedro's guides are a better source for a lot of this stuff now.
Guy's correct about this one. Basically, the one thing we can't touch is the engine and those constants are very much engine-based.
I advise against attempting to read the entirety of the Bible. It's a reference work, really. To start off, you could create a mission to simply give you one million credits. You'd need to read through at most one section of the Bible although the mďsn resource is fairly complex, such a plugin is very simple.
I've ignored your guide to responses because I happen to like lists. But more because I didn't originally notice it. And this should be more legible if anyone else is looking at it. Finally, yeah. EVDC stuff, this. All this information can be found elsewhere , but I thought that I could do something.
Thanks a ton, Aelran. There's still a couple of things I don't really understand, but I think I get the basics.
A few final questions:
What is EVNEW?
What is 'boolean logic'?
These 'Zacha Pedro' guides -- are they plugin-making guides? Where can I find them?
And, finally, I asked about altering planetary buttons because I have a rather specific idea of what I want to do with them. I had hoped to add a couple of buttons, perhaps by making all buttons smaller to compensate, and have both of those new buttons open 'bar-style' windows. Just curious to see if this was possible; I knew it would be by far the most difficult part of what I want to do, and even if it is possible, I may never get around to it because of its complexity.
Some things I plan on doing that I understand would be fairly easy are simple things, like changing the color of certain governments' 'Border spheres,' adding a border sphere for planets controlled by the player character, and adding ships, upgrades, and even more governments.
More difficult changes, I suspect, will be adding storylines and mission strings; adding planets, star systems, and random events; coming up with a name for my new plugin that will not be confused with EV Classic (joking, but not if you knew what I was talking about, which you don't).
So thanks again for answering my questions; if you could answer my newer ones, that would be great. I'm not sure I completely understood your answer to question A5, which is why I kind of rephrased it. Please confirm that my other intentions are possible and/or fairly simple, and I'm open to suggestions for names for my hopefully-future-plugin.
You see (without giving too much away, as I think the story I've come up with is really neat, and I've never heard of anything like it before, though I can't have been the first person to ever think of this), the only name I can come up with -- and it fits my vision perfectly -- is "Escape Velocity: Collision." As you can see, this would be referred to as "EVC," and would be confused with Escape Velocity Classic. Synonyms for collision could work, such as 'impact,' but that doesn't have quite the same...vibe...as 'collision.' It would not be called "Escape Velocity Nova: Collision" (EVNC) for a reason, but don't ask me what that reason is and don't suggest that I go with EVNC. EV:C could work, I suppose. Ah well! Suggestions are very welcome and come with great thanks!
@starbridge21, on Apr 9 2007, 05:47 PM, said in Escape Velocity: Collision:
What is EVNEW? These 'Zacha Pedro' guides -- are they plugin-making guides? Where can I find them?
Perhaps you missed my reply - see above for link to Zacha's guides (Zacha Pedro is a member here), which should explain what EVNEW is among other things
Well basically the answer is no, you can't add more buttons. The only thing you can really do is rearrange the layout of the dialogs, hiding or resizing buttons and other elements.
This post has been edited by Guy : 09 April 2007 - 01:48 AM
@starbridge21, on Apr 9 2007, 07:47 AM, said in Escape Velocity: Collision:
Wikipedia entry.
Basically, Aelran is referring to the way Nova Control Bits (NCBs) work. I would strongly recommend reading Entarus' NCB Guide (which is, by the way, also in the "Important Links" topic Guy mentioned in his first reply here), because NCBs are the key to making your plug-in work as a whole. To put it simply, if you don't understand the way Bits work, your storyline won't work either. And neither will many other aspects of your plug.
Everything you need has been mentioned in this topic
(by the way, Aelran, counters are more useful than you think I've used them a few times in ARPIA2 )
Thanks a load, guys. I'll check out those links, Guy. You've no idea how much this helped. I'll let you know if I ever make/finish that plugin.
*Update: Ah...I've encountered two new problems....First, Zacha Pedro's Plug-in Guides recommend learning how to convert plug-ins to Windows before actually learning how to make/edit plug-ins. It directed me to the wikia article about converting plug-ins. The problem is that this article tells me to download Stuffit 9, and it clearly costs money. Sorry; as I don't even know what Stuffit 9 is or why I need it for converting plug-ins, I'm not interested in buying it.
So I decided to skip over the converting plug-ins part and continue straight to the plug-in tutorial. I downloaded EVNEW and after glancing at some of its features I think I understand its purpose and use, if not exactly how to use it. Which brings me to problem number 2: There is no tutorial for EVNEW. Yep, that's right, Zacha Pedro has no information on how to use EVNEW. So I'm pretty much on my own at the moment. Help? Please?
This post has been edited by Starbridge21 : 09 April 2007 - 02:02 PM
sigh
Try scrolling down on the Stuffit for Windows page. See the part about "StuffIt Expander, FREE Expansion and Decoding Only"? Always useful to read everything
@starbridge21, on Apr 9 2007, 11:20 AM, said in Escape Velocity: Collision:
There is a reason why Readmes were invented, read the one that came with EVNEW! And you really should learn how to search around for the information you want, it's likely that it's somewhere in some form or another.
Uh-ha...uh-ha...I knew that....
Okay, no I didn't. Now don't I feel stupid? I guess I'm just anxious to get started. I did find the readme, though; looked it over, it said something about using EVN Bible, so I went to there and used Bible to try to make a plug-in. I actually made an outfit, but it didn't really work; instead of making the freakishly huge beam that would destroy everything, I ended up with...a light blaster. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed...but a tutorial would be nice....
*The Stuffit Expander free trial is only 15 days. What would I do after that?
This post has been edited by Starbridge21 : 09 April 2007 - 03:32 PM
Nothing. In truth you can actually use it beyond that (just wait until the timer runs down to zero, at which point it will read "continue"), so you don't need to register/pay for it.
Ah. I see.
Well, regardless, I'd still very much like to have some kind of tutorial for EVNEW, and -- eventually -- I'm still going to need a name for my overhaul...hopefully....
Hearing people chant His name, Zacha Pedro decides to manifest himself. He decides that appearing in a big flash of light and loud bell ring while surrounded by lightning and sparks would be most impressive, and best appropriate; Zacha Pedro outgrew the "poof of smoke and sulphur odor" thing
Hello, mortals.
Allume's policy regarding its Stuffit product is most unfortunate, and Zacha Pedro shall soon smite them for making their users suffer and be confused. Basically, the trial applies to Stuffit Standard, which allows one to make archives, while the expander function (which only allows to expand archives) is free, but they decided to have only one distribution and only one app for Standard and Expander, which confuses everyone (in fact, Zacha Pedro wrote about that in a related guide: "Remember, for this you dont need to pay anything, ignore the shareware nagging, as the expander function is free, but Aladdin decided to make only one distribution for Stuffit expander (free) and Stuffit standard (not free).").
And for the absence of a EVNEW introduction tutorial, that's because Zacha Pedro does not own a Windows-based IBM-compatible BIOS-based PC (and in fact swore never to use His Intel-based Mac to have Windows) and has not intent of getting one in the near future, so though He respects PC users and knows about EVNEW, He does not have the ability to write a tutorial for software He can't run, despite His amazing powers. He accepts submissions, though.
Zacha Pedro disappears to higher spheres with blinding light and loud noise.
@starbridge21, on Apr 9 2007, 02:42 PM, said in Escape Velocity: Collision:
What sort of tutorial do you want? There's literally thousands that one could possibly make...
Bloody double post...
This post has been edited by JacaByte : 09 April 2007 - 04:02 PM
I'm honored to have received a post from the one and only Zacha Pedro. Thanks for your input. :blink: :huh:
Ooh! Another new post! Let's see....
What kind of tutorial? Any kind of tutorial that will show me the ins and outs of using EVNEW! As for those "thousands (of tutorials)"...heh heh...it would have helped if you'd told me where I can find these tutorials. Most seem to be only for Mac.
This post has been edited by Starbridge21 : 09 April 2007 - 04:09 PM
These tutorials don't exist. If you read my post closer you will figure out what I meant; Making a tutorial for EVNEW and showing how to use every resource so they'd cooperate with each other (ouft to weap, and ship to shan to rleD for example) would make the possibilities for a tutorial endless in a bad sort of way.
@jacabyte, on Apr 9 2007, 06:03 PM, said in Escape Velocity: Collision:
These tutorials don't exist.
Well, whose fault is that? All it takes is for someone to take the initiative.
...Making a tutorial for EVNEW and showing how to use every resource so they'd cooperate with each other (ouft to weap, and ship to shan to rleD for example) would make the possibilities for a tutorial endless in a bad sort of way.
And yet there are tutorials for the Mac plug-in programs, are there not? Just ask Zacha Pedro.
I don't need every single possibility to be outlined for me. I just need the general idea -- how to correspond 'ouft' to 'weap' etc. instead of every possible way in which you could do that (this is just an example, that's not exactly what I need to know).
I don't even know what 'shan' or 'rleD' are. I just need the basics.
That is pretty easy. In the outfit resource, if I recall EVNew correctly from my PC dev days, there should be one of the drop down menus to pick the outfit's mods. Select weapon and put in the ID of your weapon.
EVNew, by the way, is just as powerful as MC for basic editing, just lacks all the nice features which makes it easy.
@pace, on Apr 9 2007, 07:55 PM, said in Escape Velocity: Collision:
Really? I should look closer for these things! Arpia 2 hit during a particularly dry spell as far as my interest was concerned, so I still haven't looked through it thoroughly. I'm completely aware that they're useful, though I suggested that Josh use counters in CTC, after all, for the simple reason that they abstract out a lot of the difficulties in actually dealing with the bits.