Escape Velocity: Nova

What works

Game it's self, registration, etc.

What does not

Windowed mode results in an abysmal frame rate. Registration window has text errors and locked up the first time I entered my code. 

Workarounds

What was not tested

more than 5 minutes in, in depth testing as I assume that previous working things are still working.

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU:
• Driver:

Additional Comments

Other than the registration program and the terrible frame rate when in windowed mode, the hyper jump sequence is about half as long as it should be. If you hadn't played the game on mac/windows for years like I have, you probably wouldn't notice. So other than consistency with the other OS's, it just makes it easier to escape from pirates when your pilot is young. Also, navigating menus and the more in-depth you are in nested windows (I.E. planet view -> bar -> hire escorts) results in slightly slower performance while in said windows. Those 3 (4 if you count the window bit) things are the only reasons I didn't give a platinum rating.

I CAN MAKE NO GUARANTEES OF THIS WORKING. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

So you've downloaded a plugin for EV: Nova. Congratulations. Unfortunately, the EVN we are working with is a Windows port of a Mac game, so most plugins will need to be rewritten with a more windows-freindly architechture. This is the simplist way to do it, based on the procedure Windows users have to go through. Fun to think of Windows users having to jump through hoops, ain't it?

1. Unzipping

If the plugin comes as a .zip file, you're in luck. Unzip and skip to step 2. If it is a .bin file, skip to step two without unzipping. If it is a .rez file, skip to step 3. If it is a .sitx file, follow the directions for .sit, but it likely will not work. If it comes as a .sit file, download and install Stuffit 9 (for windows unless someone knows how to install the linux version, for whick I'd be grateful) from here: http://www.download.com/StuffIt-Standard-Edition/3000-2250_4-10418322.html?tag=lst-0-1. Once you do that, open Stuffit, and click Edit>>Application Options>>Cross Platform and select "Encode Data and resource forks of each file together in ManBinary format". Now click the Drop Areas Button. Now Drag the .sit (or .sitx) file into the 'Expand' drop area or click Open, navigate to the .sit file, click on the files in the archive, and hit extract. Your file should now be unzipped.

2. Convert from MacBinary to .rez

Look at the extracted files. If they are .rez files, skip to step 3. Note that some people include both the Mac and converted Windows versions of the plug, and if this is the case delete the .bin file and go to step 3. If there is no .rez file, you have to convert from MacBinary (.bin). Now, bring up the 'run application' box. type in 'wine' and 'click run with file' navigate to the EV: Nova folder and select 'Convert Plugins.exe'. Now, instead of hitting 'Run', click 'run with file' again and select the .bin file. If there is more than one .bin file, click 'run with file' again. This can get iritating with Total Conversions or packs of plugins. When all .bin files are selected, hit 'Run'.

3. Adding the Plugin to Nova

You should now have a .rez file. You should probably right-click>>Properties to make sure that it is not 0kb. If it is, this did not work and I apologize. If it does have a size, drop it in the Plugins Folder in the /userhome/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/EV: Nova/ directory.

I must caution you that many plugins are incompatable with each other. The more a plug does, the more likely it is to interfere with another plug. If you create a file in the EV: Nova folder called debuglog.txt, Nova will save debugging data there when it runs. You can ask for more help regarding plugins at the forums at www.ev-nova.net.