Fillin' the void [innuendo on?]

Typhus733

So yea, summer has come, I've graduated and yet to get a damn job, mah drummer is leaving for an unknown yet long span of time and I have nothing at all to do. I've been hankering good games of a specific type. I'm really trying to find good "space sim" sorta games though not limited to space.

Specifically I mean real free form games where you are given a massive world and can just...go at it. More specifically ones without too much forced story. I've loved those sort of games that let you figure out what you want to do and how to do it. Good examples: Star Control, Space Rangers 2 (a great game I recommend to anyone that you can get fairly cheap), Pirates!, and Freelance (not so good on the forced story but it's not too heavy and linear). Bad examples: Oblivion, I bought it and don't like it, it's not my style and the freedom isn't as free as some think, it's all quests and nothing outside of it, exploring would be nice if there was more variety in the terrain and enemies.

I realize this is a really specific lust that I probably already listed the top examples of but I would love any suggestions to fill out the droll and empty space that is my early day/very very late night.

exis

Eve?

Or are you specifically not looking for MMO's?

Zandracon

It's not a space sim, but if you're looking for a sort of massive world where you can do pretty much anything I'd recommend Wurm Online. Can create your own towns/villages, stuff like that. Free play is limited though.
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=59236

Ayulin

X3: Reunion is pretty open, although it has a vertical learning curve; there's a thread here on it. You only really have to do the very first mission, then you can wander off on your own.

Otherwise I'd second the suggestion for EVE, but it's worth giving X3 a look. Pretty interested to see what other games might come up here, though, since I've always liked the idea of being able to do anything in a game.

Dehumanized

Have you looked into Sins of a Solar Empire? It might be something like what you want.

Hylianbunny

Honestly, considering your criteria an MMO like Eve would be your best bet.

Typhus733

I'd prefer to stay away from MMO's but X3 is something along the lines of what I was looking for. Is a joystick pretty much necessary for it? (The last space sim/shooter outside for Freelancer for me was the original Tie Fighter when it first came out so I'm not up to date on what requires what peripherals)


And I tried EVE and loved the concept but it was just so...lethargic and couldn't hold me which I always thought was a shame due to just how damn gorgeous it was.

Ayulin

I've personally used only the keyboard and mouse with X3, and had no major issues with it. I've seen some posts on its official forums where people refuse to play it without the joystick, though. It's up to you, really, but when I tried using my joystick on it I just couldn't handle the controls well enough (my joystick's pretty old, though, so it's not that easy to move about; just something to consider :P)

Typhus733

Alright, thank you. Though sadly now I'm hankering for some Tie Fighter too. Damn the luck.

Evangir

Typhus733 wrote: »

I'd prefer to stay away from MMO's but X3 is something along the lines of what I was looking for. Is a joystick pretty much necessary for it? (The last space sim/shooter outside for Freelancer for me was the original Tie Fighter when it first came out so I'm not up to date on what requires what peripherals)


And I tried EVE and loved the concept but it was just so...lethargic and couldn't hold me which I always thought was a shame due to just how damn gorgeous it was.

I find that playing X3 with nothing but KBAM is much better than trying it with KBAM+Joystick. You do a lot (and I do mean a lot) of menu fiddling in X3, so not having a mouse constantly at hand is a bit of a hindrance. X3 is definitely worth playing though, and you can completely avoid the story if you pick one of the non-story starts.