• FAQ
• Installing
• 1. I just installed the game and tried running it and it crashes right away!
• 2. The game does nothing when I try to run it!
• 3. I get an undefined symbol error! (Linux)
• General
• 1. Will there be multiplayer?
• 2. Will the game ever be done in 3D?
• 3. Why is it written in C? C++ is omfgwtfbbq times better!
• 4. Where is the source?
• 5. What binary should I get?
• 6. I can't see my ship / the menu looks broken / I get a weird crash immediately on launch
• 7. Sound doesn't work on Windows.
• 8. When I accelerate or fire certain weapons, NAEV crashes. (Windows)
• Gameplay
• 1. How do I save?
• 2. How do I change the key bindings?
• 3. How do I make NAEV run full screen, or windowed?
• 4. How do I get a Heavy Weapon / Heavy Combat Vehicle License?
• 5. What are all these gauges and such?

FAQ

Installing

1. I just installed the game and tried running it and it crashes right away!

You are most likely missing the 'ndata' and only have the binary. Try downloading the ndata related to your version from the Downloads tab. Put it into the same directory as your NAEV binary and run the program again.

2. The game does nothing when I try to run it!

If you are running on Linux, you may be missing some dependencies. You can find the list of dependencies on the front page. On Linux, you can run your distribution's package manager (eg. Synaptic on Ubuntu, and apt-get from the command line of any Debian-derived distributions).

3. I get an undefined symbol error! (Linux)

The undefined symbol: ov_read_filter error is, unfortunately, fairly common. This error is caused by an antiquated version of libvorbis.

The majority of popular Linux distributions package outdated versions, including Debian (And derivatives such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint), openSUSE, Mandriva, Fedora and Slackware.

Gentoo and Arch Linux are known to package up-to-date versions.

If your version of libvorbis is outdated, you can either manually upgrade your packages (Packages for Ubuntu can be found here) or use a statically-linked binary.

If you're attempting to compile NAEV and get this error, see the compiling section of the README.

For more specific help installing NAEV on your system, please post questions to the NAEV Google Group (which is also a mailing list) or join us on the #naev IRC channel on Freenode.

General

1. Will there be multiplayer?

The idea is to make a solid single player game with an immersive storyline and a dynamic world. While this can also be done in multiplayer there are some things that have issues, like for example the linearity of time. Currently in NAEV time is not linear as when you jump it takes a while to reach your destination.

While making a persistent type world seems far away, a death match would be more feasible. This is not a goal so will be done possible for the 2.0 release or some other really far off release.

2. Will the game ever be done in 3D?

This is planned for the future. All ships are currently renders of 3D models, but as sprite resolution increases (To make ship turning look smoother, mainly.) the size of the ndata increases.

Currently, a 3D ship branch is being worked on, though it's not ready for inclusion in NAEV yet.

3. Why is it written in C? C++ is omfgwtfbbq times better!

I believe that C is superior in the fact that it is much simpler. There are few basic rules, yet with them you can do everything. It's basically portable assembly. If you want to contribute and don't want to touch C, there is a lot done in Lua to add to. All the AI and Missions are done in Lua.

4. Where is the source?

The source is hosted on GitHub. You can view the source online, or download nightly builds with the Git Version Control System. On the wiki, we have step by step instructions for getting NAEV code from the git repository.

Alternately you can grab the source tarball from the download section. It does not contain anything from the ndata package though.

5. What binary should I get?

If you are on a "normal" computer, you'll want the x86 packages. The -32 or -64 refers to whether you are on a 32 or 64 bit OS. So 32 bit GNU/Linux users would want naev-$VERSION-linux-x86-32.

6. I can't see my ship / the menu looks broken / I get a weird crash immediately on launch

Your graphics card (or driver) doesn't support VBOs. To remedy the graphical issues, you can edit conf.lua and add these lines to the bottom:

vbo = false
mipmaps = false

7. Sound doesn't work on Windows.

Some Windows sound drivers don't provide OpenAL. If you have no sound, download and install OpenAL from here.

8. When I accelerate or fire certain weapons, NAEV crashes. (Windows)

The software implementation of OpenGL on Windows supports multi-texturing incorrectly, and when interpolation starts, NAEV will crash.

To remedy this, you can install the official drivers for your graphics hardware, or you can disable interpolation and engine glow in the video tab of the options menu.

Gameplay

1. How do I save?

Every time you land on a planet the game automatically saves. There's no need to actively save.

2. How do I change the key bindings?

As of 0.4.0 the keybindings window within the game is able to reassign keys in a rather intuitive manner.

While still useful, the below information is no longer necessary for most players:

Linux and OSX users can edit the file at ~/.naev/conf. At the bottom of the file, you can find the keybindings. Each line will look something like this:

--accel = { type = "keyboard", key = "up", mod = "any" }

With each key assigned to the default setting. To change the key binding, change quoted string after 'key=' and uncomment the line. For example, if you wanted to change the accelleration key from the default up arrow to the 'i' key, you would modify the first line of the keyboard binding to look like this:

accel = { type = "keyboard", key = "i", mod = "any" }

Make sure there is no '--' at the beginning of the line.

3. How do I make NAEV run full screen, or windowed?

Full screen mode, like all user configuration, is determined by the file at ~/.naev/conf. To enable full screen mode, when NAEV is configured to run in a window edit the line in the config file that reads

fullscreen = 0

to read

fullscreen = 1

To disable full screen mode, do the reverse.

4. How do I get a Heavy Weapon / Heavy Combat Vehicle License?

These licenses are granted through missions. The former becomes purchasable after you complete the first scripted Empire Shipping mission, and the latter becomes purchasable once you complete the three scripted Empire Shipping missions and beat a special bounty mission, available through the bar.

5. What are all these gauges and such?

For a quick overview of the main interface, see this diagram.