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The Space Sims Megathread (NSF56k/Aliens/Enemy Convoys)

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Posts

  • ArdorArdor Registered User regular
    If I was looking for a fun space sim game that was co-op or multiplayer, what game(s) should I consider getting? The last one I've played with friends was Freelancer, haven't done any since then other than Sins of a Solar Empire.

  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    Ardor wrote:
    If I was looking for a fun space sim game that was co-op or multiplayer, what game(s) should I consider getting? The last one I've played with friends was Freelancer, haven't done any since then other than Sins of a Solar Empire.
    Freespace 2 is pretty great although you need friends to play with because playing with random people is barren these days, I think. I haven't tried non-LAN multiplayer Freespace 2 like, ever.

  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    Karl wrote:
    Other game developers saw Freespace 2, a game that saw universal acclaim for being fucking awesome, go down like the Hindenburg and just thought "fuck if that doesn't sell lets just give up".

    Man, Freespace 2 flopping must have been one of the tragic stories of the video game industry. So much money, effort and love put in by Volition, only to crash due to Interplay's tragic marketing efforts. Some say that the hardcore space combat genre was about to deflate anyway, with hardcore flight sims following shortly after. Thankfully it didn't take Volition with them... who would've thought they would be making games like Saint's Row a decade later?

    Here's a legitimate question: if jet combat games (stress on "games") with high production quality like the Ace Combat series consistently sell well on consoles for years, where's the equivalent space combat game? Apart from using stars instead of clouds, there's not really that much difference, right? I wouldn't mind having something with simplified controls but a good story and immersion.

    Anyway, PEW-PEW-LAZORS.
    My "midnight-summer-dream" game: A Robotech / Macross game with the Freespace 2 engine.

    Sol Exodus is trying to accomplish this, although the marketing says it wants a space fighter version of Modern Warefare's fast paced combat. I do like the story.

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Karl wrote:
    Other game developers saw Freespace 2, a game that saw universal acclaim for being fucking awesome, go down like the Hindenburg and just thought "fuck if that doesn't sell lets just give up".

    Man, Freespace 2 flopping must have been one of the tragic stories of the video game industry. So much money, effort and love put in by Volition, only to crash due to Interplay's tragic marketing efforts. Some say that the hardcore space combat genre was about to deflate anyway, with hardcore flight sims following shortly after. Thankfully it didn't take Volition with them... who would've thought they would be making games like Saint's Row a decade later?

    Here's a legitimate question: if jet combat games (stress on "games") with high production quality like the Ace Combat series consistently sell well on consoles for years, where's the equivalent space combat game? Apart from using stars instead of clouds, there's not really that much difference, right? I wouldn't mind having something with simplified controls but a good story and immersion.

    Anyway, PEW-PEW-LAZORS.
    My "midnight-summer-dream" game: A Robotech / Macross game with the Freespace 2 engine.

    Sol Exodus is trying to accomplish this, although the marketing says it wants a space fighter version of Modern Warefare's fast paced combat. I do like the story.

    Legitimate addendum: Jet combat games--really, all warplane games--are divided into two groups: simulation (Lock On, DCS, various games almost all coming out of Russia at this moment, and Falcon 4.0, which is pretty long in the tooth), and arcade games (Ace Combat, HAWX, made in Japan and the US).

    The former has hurt a lot more than the later--there was a time when simulation-depth flight games dominated PC gaming pretty extensively and pushed hardware development, especially in the area of controllers. Come to today, when they're all being made by the same country, unfortunately. In the space combat genre, these two areas are pretty much interchangeable, for the obvious reason that you can actually go and look at a MiG-29 or an F-14 and, eventually, make a very realistic game (or try to), along side arcade games. "Space simulation" games have more or less just an extension of flight simulators with modified mechanics 95% of the time, so almost all big space combat games, including Freespace 2 and TIE Fighter, have more in common with the flight arcade games on PC.

    Synthesis on
  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    Okay, in X3:TC, where are some good places to set up a sector trader? I have one over in Empire's Edge because I hear it's good but I'm about to be able to afford another ship and wanted to put it somewhere else. Unless the system can support two traders just fine? I don't know, that's why I'm asking. I also don't have enough money to afford the big trader ships so I'm using Mercurys for the time being.

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  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    I usually start mine in Argon. Do it in their core system, then when it runs out of stuff go to Home of Light, then Ore Belt, then Power Circle. Eventually you can supply all of those systems at once.

  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    Well I have some traders I'm controlling remotely moving from Power Circle to the surrounding areas (Argon Prime included) but I was wanting to have a second automatic sector trader (that stays in one sector) set up somewhere. They can't become universal traders until they gain some levels in trading or something so that's why I was asking.

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  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    Other than Argon Prime, I just pick a core system and try it out. I'd probably try one of the Boron or Teladi sectors.

  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    Alright, I'll try that when I get home, thanks!

    JtgVX0H.png
  • ACSISACSIS Registered User regular
    Does anyone still remember? Does anybody still care?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBof9enfm_8

  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    Also not really a space sim. Still one of the best games ever though.

  • manwiththemachinegunmanwiththemachinegun METAL GEAR?! Registered User regular
    Never played them so I wouldn't know. Still nothing compared to Shivans though.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcWhhsRGsAI

  • ACSISACSIS Registered User regular
    edited January 2012
    Also not really a space sim. Still one of the best games ever though.

    Not exactly a 3D sim, but nevertheless one of the finest space operas ever created (Starflight is the orignial, if you can stand EGA you should give it a try - its a pretty deep game).

    The really interesting thing about it is: this scene isn't from Star Control 2. Star Control 2 ends with the destruction of the Sa-Matra. The Lurg is adressing the player with "hero of Sa-Matra", wich means this mod is set shortly AFTER the SC2 timeline and picks up the story right where SC2 ends (not as the badly done SC3 does). You see its pretty consistent with the SC2 art and has not to hide optically or by audio standart.

    As the Lurg adresses the player as "hero of Sa-Matra" the music actually takes a heroic twist. To bad there are no oscars for game scenes, because this one really would deserve one. A good sign for the quality of the mod.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_33UT50Y0RE

    ACSIS on
  • Delta AssaultDelta Assault Registered User regular
    Never played them so I wouldn't know. Still nothing compared to Shivans though.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcWhhsRGsAI

    I didn't really notice it until now, but with the positioning of that squad... the guys in the back are kinda firing into their squadmembers in the front.

  • ButtcleftButtcleft Registered User regular
    is anyone trying to build their economic empires in albion prelude?

    I spent a short time playing it and with all the war and invasions it seems like it'd be best just to keep your sandboxing to TC and play AP for shooting people.

  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    Buttcleft wrote:
    is anyone trying to build their economic empires in albion prelude?

    I spent a short time playing it and with all the war and invasions it seems like it'd be best just to keep your sandboxing to TC and play AP for shooting people.

    Yeah, that's basically the conclusion I came to. TC is still the main sandbox game. AP is just a way to tie it and the new game together. It's fun if you want to play an all out war scenario, but it'd be very tough to get any kind of economic stuff going.

  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    Anyone playing X3 Terran Conflict/Albion Prelude? After fucking up my saves several times with mods I've finally decided to just play it vanilla and not deal with the crashing.

    Anyway, where can I buy satellites? (I'm playing AP if this matters. I can start over in TC.) All the satellite factories I've seen and trading stations that are supposed to carry them are perpetually empty. I'm in Argon space and all I have is my pokey Mercury. I'd like to start trading with a jump drive but it's basically impossible without knowing the prices before getting somewhere.

    B6yM5w2.gif
  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    If they're empty, they're probably missing the resources to make more. See what they need and give it to them.

  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    Well trade stations don't buy any resources, so that one has me stumped. The advanced satellite factory needed silicon wafers but it must take a long time to build those satellites because it hasn't had any for sale yet.

    B6yM5w2.gif
  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    They also need energy cells and majaglit.

  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    Yeah but it already had some of that other stuff.

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  • ZeroczZerocz Space Cowboy In SpaceRegistered User regular
    I've had the same problem in a new start. I usually just have to scrape 'em up whenever I see them, during my initial explorations. A handful of UT's will help even out the supply problems, in time. Then, of course, you can build your own factory.

  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    It just seems like I'm not doing a good job because I can only reliably make 20-50k on a full load of cargo, because the only thing I know that's safe to move is like ore and energy and silicon. I'd rather spend more money to make more money.

    So I'll camp the satellite factory after I feed it the stuff it needs and slowly build up a network so I can find the best deals in the area.

    B6yM5w2.gif
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    Hey you space jockeys, Evochron Mercenaries is on Steam now. Introductory discount is going on right now. It's a good sim, go check it out.

  • LochielLochiel Registered User regular
    MechMantis wrote:
    Xaviar wrote:
    Anybody try Artemis then?
    I'm curious to give it a try..

    It is amazingly fun, if a bit hard to get into at the start. I only played the demo version, but I might eventually spring for a full version copy soon enough, now that a few more of my friends got themselves computers capable of running it to have a full bridge crew.

    Yesterday I got asked to show up for an impromptu LAN party to "help pilot a spaceship". I'm sure I was told other things, but I had stopped listening at that point and was packing my system. I'd never heard of Artemis until I showed up. It was an insanely great time. We had the Main Screen loaded up on someones big screen TV, and all of the crew stations loaded up behind the captain's chair. We played for a solid 7 hours, which is pretty good for an unplanned event.

    I'm probably going to fork over my own $40 for the game, despite the fact that the licence only requires one purchase per "Crew". It's good enough that he deserves my monies.

  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited January 2012
    I must have missed that post, but that sounds awesome. Too bad I don't know anyone in person that would actually play it with me.

    Edit: Actually, reading the FAQ on the site, it looks like it's playable online. Hmmmmm.

    Sir Carcass on
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    If it's doable online then man, the Let's Play and Game On opportunities could be fucking epic.

  • Badman69Badman69 Registered User new member
    You can actually play it with yourself ... (I didn't say "with yourself", I said "it with yourself" :-))

    Simply run the "server" module, then on the "client" module (on the same machine) nominate the IP address of the server as 127.0.0.1 (internal loopback).

    I have Eyefinity so it's viable ...... works perfectly.

  • Phoenix-DPhoenix-D Registered User regular
    Drake wrote:
    If it's doable online then man, the Let's Play and Game On opportunities could be fucking epic.

    Yes :D I think this needs to be done at some point.

    And apparently you can run multiple crews now, too.

  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    I would be completely down for Artemis if it has an online mode.

  • LochielLochiel Registered User regular
    edited January 2012
    If someone is getting an internet multi-ship game of this going, count me in. But if you have a chance to play this live... do it.

    Lochiel on
  • ZeroczZerocz Space Cowboy In SpaceRegistered User regular
    That sounds like it could be great. The fun isn't so much in running the software; but rather in shouting star trek lines at your friends.

  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    Evochron Mercenaries looks like what EVE would look like if the actual game of EVE wasn't a horrible mess and it was suddenly awesome and not terrible. In fact, if anyone ever made an MMO out of the Evochron Mercenaries concept, I might not ever leave my house. I am very intrigued and may have to drop the clams for this. I see a few recommendations so far. Is it pretty awesome?

    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • HadjiQuestHadjiQuest Registered User regular
    I loved Freelancer to a point where it's one of my all time favorites.

    X3TC had such a huge learning curve and such overly-complicated controls that I wanted to smash my monitor in with my forehead.

    Based on these two statements, can you dudes suggest to me a game where I can still have tons of freedom and tons of fun exploring and tooling around without investing dozens of man-hours just getting up and running and learning how the game plays?

  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    edited January 2012
    So, SOL:Exodus comes out this Wednesday, I'm going to scrape some pennies together so I can play it.

    clUoNl.jpg
    L1XLil.jpg
    CDUXol.jpg
    3dSfTl.jpg

    RoyceSraphim on
  • Delta AssaultDelta Assault Registered User regular
    edited January 2012
    Looks kinda interesting. HUD's a bit too simplistic and ugly for my tastes though.
    HadjiQuest wrote:
    I loved Freelancer to a point where it's one of my all time favorites.

    X3TC had such a huge learning curve and such overly-complicated controls that I wanted to smash my monitor in with my forehead.

    Based on these two statements, can you dudes suggest to me a game where I can still have tons of freedom and tons of fun exploring and tooling around without investing dozens of man-hours just getting up and running and learning how the game plays?

    Best bet's probably DarkStar One. It's basically Freelancer made by Germans.

    Delta Assault on
  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    edited January 2012
    Some spoilers
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzaGImcs_4Y

    New trailer, I didn't know it had voice work.

    ALERT!
    ALERT!
    2:49 might not be for the faint of heart.

    RoyceSraphim on
  • TetraNitroCubaneTetraNitroCubane The Djinnerator At the bottom of a bottleRegistered User regular
    SOL: Exodus certainly looks a bit stripped back compared to most monster space sims. I agree that the hud is a bit lacking, and the 'upgrade' screen makes me twitch a bit, considering how it looks a bit console-ish. But on the other hand, I'm super excited for it. Maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age, but having something that I can pick up quickly and get into without worrying about the learning curve is sort of nice.

    Maybe when I pick up SOL: Exodus, I'll buy Evochron: Mercenary as penance.

    Actually, I've been wanting to pick up Ecochron for a while now. The price on Steam isn't too terrible. Anyone have any opinions on how hard it is to get into the game? I fear I'll be floundering in no time.

    VuIBhrs.png
  • HadjiQuestHadjiQuest Registered User regular
    Looks kinda interesting. HUD's a bit too simplistic and ugly for my tastes though.
    HadjiQuest wrote:
    I loved Freelancer to a point where it's one of my all time favorites.

    X3TC had such a huge learning curve and such overly-complicated controls that I wanted to smash my monitor in with my forehead.

    Based on these two statements, can you dudes suggest to me a game where I can still have tons of freedom and tons of fun exploring and tooling around without investing dozens of man-hours just getting up and running and learning how the game plays?

    Best bet's probably DarkStar One. It's basically Freelancer made by Germans.

    I have that on a disc. I lost it before I had the chance to play it, but I will see if I can dig it up again.

    Both SOL and Evochron have caught my eye. Would I enjoy either of them? What's the learning curve like? How streamlined are the controls?

This discussion has been closed.