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Need help finding a game like Earth & Beyond or Galaxy on Fire 2
Samot
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm posting here because I think this community is the most likely to be able to help me. Quite a while ago, I played in the Earth and beyond beta and, although I didn't decide to continue playing at the time, I have fond memories of the game. Recently, I played Galaxy on Fire 2 for android and it brought all those memories flooding back. There is something about playing a game where you own a ship that is unique from a game where you play a character, and GoF2 really made me miss it.
This experience prompted me to search for a more robust, modern space combat / RPG / Trading simulator, but according to this list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_flight_simulator_games) the pickings are pretty slim. None of the games listed Really struck me as a viable replacement for the games I remember, although Jumpgate Evolution looks promising.
My question is, can anyone with experience with these games recommend a modern equivalent? It doesn't have to be an MMO, but I would like it to support multiplayer, but, barring that, I'd really like a huge amount of gameplay or significant replayability (something GoF2 had only limited amounts of).
P.S. I have a lot of respect for the immensity and beauty of EVE (which I played as a trial) but I'm not interested in playing.
This experience prompted me to search for a more robust, modern space combat / RPG / Trading simulator, but according to this list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_flight_simulator_games) the pickings are pretty slim. None of the games listed Really struck me as a viable replacement for the games I remember, although Jumpgate Evolution looks promising.
My question is, can anyone with experience with these games recommend a modern equivalent? It doesn't have to be an MMO, but I would like it to support multiplayer, but, barring that, I'd really like a huge amount of gameplay or significant replayability (something GoF2 had only limited amounts of).
P.S. I have a lot of respect for the immensity and beauty of EVE (which I played as a trial) but I'm not interested in playing.
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* Wing Commander Privateer
* Freespace 2 (notable for continuing fan-made mod support and being Open Source now. Has mission-based limited multiplayer.)
* Freelancer (notable for being impossible to find anywhere and having a robust server/client multiplayer that can support hundreds of players)
* X3 (ignore the reviews, this is the quintessential space trading/simulation single player game)
* Evochron (notable for being an indie game, mostly procedurally generated, and continually under development. Has limited multiplayer)
Looking more closely at some of the games listed "in development" in this genre, I'm stunned at how much potential this genre has. Most of the promising titles, however, are years away, or have been delayed so many times that they may never get off the ground.
Look at this video for a game called "infinity universe."
Edit: Further investigation of a few of the titles you mentioned certainly provide a starting place. X3 looks really good, and evochron has a lot of potential, I'm downloading the demo right now. Still, it's disappointing that the best representations of this genre are obscure indie games or many years old. It's not the fact that they are indie (minecraft has taught us all that incredibly good games can come from independant developers) but that the genre's lack of popularity leaves it unexplored by the mainstream studios.
Doesn't anyone else long to explore a universe like me?
The X series is going to release a new game (X Rebirth) sometime later this year:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/04/20/born-again-x-rebirth-announced/
X3 has all of the depth of Fallout and other open world games. You can sink hundreds of hours into it, and still have more to explore. I'm not sure where you are getting that "it doesn't have depth". It has more depth than a lot of MMOs. There's far more to do, with a lot less grinding than EVE (and certainly a lot less goosery).
Space Pirates and Zombies (SPAZ) may actually scratch that spaceship itch. It's a top-down shooting game, but it's a lot of fun, and there are many weapon/upgrade options and lots of systems to explore.
The big thing for space MMOs nowadays is browser games. They typically have 3D flight engines within a browser. If you are really looking for a space flight MMO, you might want to trawl your net a little wider to include browser games like Battlestar Galactica Online or Warpfire.
Seriously, give X3: Terran Conflict a try. It looks amazing and has everything you're looking for (except multiplayer). I understand why you'd want some MP - space gets lonely - but don't let that keep you from enjoying one of the best space sandboxes available.
I didn't mean to insult X3, but I have a (probably unfair) bias against single (only) player games. When I play them, I get a sense of "wasting time" guilt because there is no permanence or social aspect. This is a personal issue, but it's not going away. I only still play fallout because the expansions represent finite time commitments and small investments. Pouring hundreds of hours into a game (as I hope to do with a space game) which can't be shared with friends will always feel like a waste to me.
It does seem like I'm looking for an MMO, but I can't devote the time to it that I used to be able to, so it either has to be an excellent regular multiplayer game or a very casual mmo. regular multiplayer seems like it's much easier to find.
The browser based game suggestion is good. I'll definitly check out those options.
Thanks for all the great help so far. Especially the mention of Evochron, the forerunner in my search so far.
Also, I'd be much more open to x3 if I could find a demo. Can anyone point me towards one?
It sounds like you need to create new experiences with your friends with new games, rather than looking at "the old games we used to play". That sense of community and belonging from the past doesn't really exist anymore, so either you'll have to create a new community with new friends in a new multiplayer game, or find something that your current friends enjoy that you can do together. And maybe all they want to do is sit and play Call of Duty on their X-Box.
It also sounds like you need to stop thinking of games as "time invested" and more as "well, I have this amount of time, I want to enjoy myself". You don't think of watching sports games on the TV as "time invested" or going to a bar or restaurant with friends as "time invested", do you? If you do, then you have some pretty serious issues.
I was highly active in the Neverwinter Nights online community for several years. When Dragon Age first came out, I initially panned it because it lacked multiplayer. But when I sat down and played it, I realized that it was a magnificent and polished game that was a lot of fun to play, as much fun as any multiplayer session I had with Neverwinter Nights, minus the drama, the scheduling, the boring bits, and time investment for "online upkeep" (forums, chatting, etc.). I got more enjoyment with less cruft, all because I didn't have to deal with trying to wrangle other people into my fun.
Looks nice, I'm downloading the demo now.
All of that is true, and I know it well. I know how difficult it is to introduce a new game to a group, but If there is any possibility (as small as it may be) for my friends joining me, the game has to have multiplayer. I like keeping that possibility available. Also, I'm willing to make new friends within a game, but that also obviously requires multiplayer. My friends and I still play games together, including Halo Reach every friday, but with the changes 343 are making looming in the distance, and a nostalgic desire for a space sim bubbling in my gut, I'm making this search.
As for how I think about games, I'm happy with my outlook. It's a conscious decision on top of a gut feeling which I decided on quite a while ago after the realization that my most important memories of game playing are all social/multiplayer, and if I played every single player game I was interested in (games I rarely play to completion) I'd quickly go broke. I have too many interests and hobbies to simply add games as another "pass time," as entertaining as many single player games are. I consciously decided I need to include games in "social pursuits" (or vice versa) in order to be happy with the considerable time I spend on them. And to answer your question, I do consider all of my time as "time invested" to some degree. I don't watch sports (don't watch a lot of tv in general, at least not without doing something else at the same time), but any time spent with my friends, I consider an excellent investment of time. Fortunatly, with my existing outlook, that includes video game playing.