New Features

Nova has a ton of new features, as opposed to its older brothers. Here is where I give you a good idea of what does what.

Ship Appearance

The first thing you'll notice about the game is how ships look. The ships bank when they turn. They have engine glows (different ones for different ships). Some have running lights, while others glow or pulsate. Some ships will even look different when firing weapons. While very pretty, these don't effect the gameplay much, so I'll move on.

New Mission Areas

In previous EVs, the Mission Computer and the Bar were the only places you could accept missions. In Nova, however, you can get missions in the Shipyard, Outfitter, and Trade Center, as well as the Bar and Mission BBS. Some mission strings start in the Shipyard and Outfitters, so even if there is nothing for you to buy there, swing through, you never know what you may get yourself into...

Cursor Usage

You can now use the cursor when flying around the universe. This can be quite handy if you don't want to scroll through dozens of ships just to select the ship in front of you.

2x Speed Jumping

In EV and EVO, if you flew around in 2x speed (caps lock on), you resumed normal speed for your hyperjump. In Nova, you can jump at the same speed you fly at, which makes for a much smoother transition.

Escort Controls

Read about Escorts here.

Hypergates and Wormholes

Brush up on Hypergates here, while here you will find information on Wormholes.