What space sim grabbed your attention?

filmoret · June 2016

I love space sim games but for some reason I have found few and far between that I can play for more then 3 hours. Here's the list of the ones that completely grabbed my attention.

Starflight 1,2 If you can get it to run right and can ignore the graphics these games are worth playing.
Space Empires IV I didn't play any other but this one was really fun.
Rebel Galaxy This one is similar to Space Empires but with newer interface.
Starfleet Command 3 This isn't really a space sim but you can at least build a spaceship.

rodingo · June 2016

Independence War 1 and 2
X-Wing vs TIE Fighter

Scorchien · June 2016

filmoret said:

I love space sim games but for some reason I have found few and far between that I can play for more then 3 hours. Here's the list of the ones that completely grabbed my attention.

Starflight 1,2 If you can get it to run right and can ignore the graphics these games are worth playing.
Space Empires IV I didn't play any other but this one was really fun.
Rebel Galaxy This one is similar to Space Empires but with newer interface.
Starfleet Command 3 This isn't really a space sim but you can at least build a spaceship.

Some others you may enjoy ..... i did ..

     X3 Terran Conflict ..........best of X series imo..........http://store.steampowered.com/app/2820/

      Void Expanse.... really good overlooked space sim ...http://store.steampowered.com/app/324260/

     Starpoint Gemini 2.. 2nd from Littel Green men is excellent...http://store.steampowered.com/app/236150/

     Stellaris.. The newest of the bunch and excellent 4x... http://store.steampowered.com/app/281990/

    Star Nomad 2 .. another well done overlooked space sim .. http://store.steampowered.com/app/414950/

    Galaxy on Fire 2.. .. very fun well worth a play thru ..http://store.steampowered.com/app/212010/

      Of course Gal Civ 3 .. the 3rd in the series delivers again ..http://store.steampowered.com/app/226860/

      Starsector ...   very in depth combat system   .. http://fractalsoftworks.com/

      Distant Worlds .. best Space SIm made to date IMO ...http://store.steampowered.com/app/261470/

                 Have fun

This site is a great resource for all things Space sim.......
http://spacesimcentral.com/

cameltosis · June 2016

I'm not much of a space guy, only one I ever managed to get into was Freelancer.

Game seemed to have all the core concepts in it (alliegences, trader vs fighter, large expanses to explore, upgrading) but, being an old game, was just a bit lacking on content. Once you knew what you were doing it didn't take long to get the best stuff.

I did buy X3 Terran Conflict but really struggled with it. Flying with mouse and keyboard didn't feel right but I couldn't map the controls to my 360 controller properly so just never felt comfortable playing the game.

CrazKanuk · June 2016

OMG! Starflight is so good.

I used to play XvT extensively when MSNs gaming zone was a "thing".

My true love was Privateer, though. I think I've played through that series at least 3 times over the years. Great series.

Volgore · June 2016

I spend a gigaton of time with the X series. In fact it was so time consuming and deep, that i had to actually stop playing.
Also played Freelancer for many years back in it's days, modded alot and was admin for years on one of my country's biggest servers. To me it was a great mix of action and simulation/trading. The singleplayer had an awesome story.
I wonder why never anyone picked up this concept and made a similar, but even deeper title.

Kayo83 · June 2016

Havent tried any past the Xwing/Tie Fighter series, as well as Freelancer. Last I heard is there really hasnt been a space sim game (or flight game in general) as in-depth as those games were. Never heard of these mentioned here though ... are they? Would really prefer not to waste my $$ on a modern space sim game that basically boil down to cheap arcade shooter "Battlefront" style dogfights.

Ghabbo · June 2016

Does EVE count?

Cyrael · June 2016

Ghabbo said:

Does EVE count?

I would say that Eve is more of a 'Sociopaths-In-Space' sim, but it's also the first one that's really grabbed me...

filmoret · June 2016

Cyrael said:

Ghabbo said:

Does EVE count?

I would say that Eve is more of a 'Sociopaths-In-Space' sim, but it's also the first one that's really grabbed me...

Yea to me a space sim requires meeting alien races and boldly going where no man has gone before. Discovering things that matter in the game. Eve just doesn't have that feeling.

Phaserlight · June 2016

Let's see...

Going way back, it all started with Star Wars: Rebel Assault.

From there, X-Wing.

Then the Escape Velocity series.

Then Vendetta Online, in which I've spent a few thousand hours so far.

...oh yeah, and Master of Orion 1 and 2, although personally I consider this a different genre.

Volgore · June 2016

Ghabbo said:

Does EVE count?

According to Kyleran's post history, mentioning EVE is always a valid option in every topic

Phry · June 2016

Volgore said:

Ghabbo said:

Does EVE count?

According to Kyleran's post history, mentioning EVE is always a valid option in every topic

Probably because when it comes to Space Sims, Eve is the yardstick by which a game is measured by.

Distopia · June 2016

Phaserlight said:

...oh yeah, and Master of Orion 1 and 2, although personally I consider this a different genre.

Never played those but by screens and such they seem more like 4x strategy?

For me X2 - X3 :TC are the ones that drew me in most. Hours upon hours of entertainment to be found in those games.

Pynda · June 2016

From the responses, anyway, it looks like this thread is more about "The Best 4X Space Games" or "The Best Space Shooters" (which is fine). But for actual space simulators, IMO there's really no competition to the outstanding "Kerbal Space Program".

Dragnelus · June 2016

None, I hate space sim, space games, vehicle games etc

SpottyGekko · June 2016

Everyone here seems to be too young to remember the Wing Commander series, lol

That's what got me hooked on space sims 20 years ago...

X-Wing vs Tie fighter, Privateer, Freelancer and then the whole space sin genre just died around 2002, with only Egosoft persisting as a space sim developer of note. Played all the X-series up to X3:TC.

Moo, GalCiv, Distant Worlds, etc. are not space sims, they are 4X games.

Seems that Star Citizen's highly publicized development has rekindled interest in space sims, seeing as there's a rash of them in the pipeline now. Good times !

Phaserlight · June 2016

Distopia said:

Phaserlight said:

...oh yeah, and Master of Orion 1 and 2, although personally I consider this a different genre.

Never played those but by screens and such they seem more like 4x strategy?

For me X2 - X3 :TC are the ones that drew me in most. Hours upon hours of entertainment to found in those games.

MoO 1 and 2 are quintessentially 4x, although we (my brother and sisters and I) hadn't ever heard of the term at the time we played them.

Distopia · June 2016

SpottyGekko said:

Everyone here seems to be too young to remember the Wing Commander series, lol

That's what got me hooked on space sims 20 years ago...

X-Wing vs Tie fighter, Privateer, Freelancer and then the whole space sin genre just died around 2002, with only Egosoft persisting as a space sim developer of note. Played all the X-series up to X3:TC.

Moo, GalCiv, Distant Worlds, etc. are not space sims, they are 4X games.

Seems that Star Citizen's highly publicized development has rekindled interest in space sims, seeing as there's a rash of them in the pipeline now. Good times !

I never really liked the WC games TBH, the first space sim I liked to play (as far as game-play and design goes) was freelancer.

Hariken · June 2016

Only one Freelancer. And the mods for it were awesome.

aleos · June 2016

right now? Elite Dangerous.

Mendel · June 2016

I've never really liked any space sim games. The tendency is to model the game after a WW2 naval model of carriers and aircraft. In turn, many space sims have turned out to be arcade versions of 'dogfights in space', often ignoring basic physics. I can't get away from the fact that aerodynamics are not applicable in space. Yet, every time you look at a new title, there is another 'spaceship as airplane' analogy.

There's a number of space-based strategy games that I like. Master of Orion I (the original -- II seemed too much like Civilization in Space), Imperium Galactica I and II (RP story + RT 4x type game), and even the old Alien Legacy (story driven RT 4x colonize a solar system). I'm incredibly disappointed with Stellaris -- too much seems to be ill-considered, functionally crippled and generally a huge step backwards from even 1994's MoO.

Maurgrim · June 2016

How on earth did you guys missed Star Control 2?
There is a freeware version of it with HD graphic and better music called Ur Quan Masters.
It's such a great old classic game, you really need to have a pen and paper to write down because there's aint a shiplog you can read

CrazKanuk · June 2016

Phaserlight said:

Distopia said:

Phaserlight said:

...oh yeah, and Master of Orion 1 and 2, although personally I consider this a different genre.

Never played those but by screens and such they seem more like 4x strategy?

For me X2 - X3 :TC are the ones that drew me in most. Hours upon hours of entertainment to found in those games.

MoO 1 and 2 are quintessentially 4x, although we (my brother and sisters and I) hadn't ever heard of the term at the time we played them.

I think that they redid MoO, didn't they? Or is it out yet? I have tried not to hear about it only because, as is usually the case, I don't want it ruining the pure nostalgia that I feel for it.

Phaserlight · June 2016

CrazKanuk said:

Phaserlight said:

Distopia said:

Phaserlight said:

...oh yeah, and Master of Orion 1 and 2, although personally I consider this a different genre.

Never played those but by screens and such they seem more like 4x strategy?

For me X2 - X3 :TC are the ones that drew me in most. Hours upon hours of entertainment to found in those games.

MoO 1 and 2 are quintessentially 4x, although we (my brother and sisters and I) hadn't ever heard of the term at the time we played them.

I think that they redid MoO, didn't they? Or is it out yet? I have tried not to hear about it only because, as is usually the case, I don't want it ruining the pure nostalgia that I feel for it.

Wargaming did a redo of MoO:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/04/master-of-orion-early-access-preview-2/

I probably won't go near it, for the very reason you state.

SpottyGekko · June 2016

Mendel said:

I've never really liked any space sim games. The tendency is to model the game after a WW2 naval model of carriers and aircraft. In turn, many space sims have turned out to be arcade versions of 'dogfights in space', often ignoring basic physics. I can't get away from the fact that aerodynamics are not applicable in space. Yet, every time you look at a new title, there is another 'spaceship as airplane' analogy.

...

Yup, that's a criticism that is often leveled against "space-sim games", but there's a very good reason why it's done that way: it's more fun.

Any kind of "realistic" modeling of what combat would be like at the extreme velocities attainable in space would make for a very boring game from a first-person perspective. You'd be staring at radar plots and your computer would probably control firing of any weapons.

There was an extensive debate around this very topic during the development of Elite:Dangerous.

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