Space Sim fans..

T

TheBluePill

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 17, 2005
Messages
3,773
I just got issue 54 of "The Escapist" web mag and they have some really good articles on the Genre. Definatly worth the read...

It also brings up a lot of fond memories of playing all of the space sims of the past and how they (instead of FPS games) drove the technology. Since FreeSpace 2 and Freelancer were really the last Big-Budget space sims, 3D technology has advanced 10 fold. I wonder just how "good" things could be with todays graphics cards..


Here is a summary of some of the articles.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/54

Editor's Note: In Spaaaace!
Space has traditionally been anything but the final frontier in gaming. Our contributors this week explore the lasting impact of the outer space setting on gaming, and how the cold, sterile emptiness of the void became the birthing place of a million dreams … "In Spaaace!"

Articles include:

Allen Varney: Wing Leader
"The once-dignified halls of the Consumer Electronics Show turned raucous. That day, the entire Lucasfilm booth staff huddled in a tight, silent knot before the Wing Commander monitors. They watched for a long time." In Wing Leader, Allen Varney tells the story of a company named Origin and the space game that changed the world.

Adam LaMosca: Lost in the Void
The Unfortunate Trajectory of the Space Sim Game"I was raised on science-fiction as much as science fact. My imagination populated the cold, sterile universe depicted by that poster on my bedroom wall with exotic alien races and epic conflicts. Yet I look at the science-fiction games of today and I can't help but feel saddened." Adam LaMosca's Lost in the Void traces the decline of the space sim.

Phillip Scuderi: Footprints in Moondust
"There is an air of tragedy about Noctis . As I peer from the narrow confines of my helmet, my natural excitement at gazing upon features that nobody has ever seen before is always muted by the knowledge that nobody ever will see them, except for me." Phil Scuderi explores space and the meaning of free will in Footprints in Moondust.

Pat Miller: My Own Private Galaxy
"Space is pretty cool, I guess. Ships, you know. Guns and aliens and cargo smuggling and intergalactic rebellion and all that. But you know, there's an awful lot of it. People kind of forget that, I think." Pat Miller muses on the emptiness of space, and the perfection of Escape Velocity in My Own Private Galaxy.

Shannon Drake: Development in a Vacuum
"Being stuck on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean definitely carves deep markings into the way we approach game design." Shannon Drake interviews Magnus Bergsson, of Icelandik developer CCP.
Click to expand...
 
With today's Graphics?

The latest space game I can think off are
X3 the reunion. With some realy big capital class ships. Feels like 3km long. Nice if you do a close Flyby.

Universal combat (3000AD BC serries)

There is a new startrek game coming up. Startrek legacy I think.
 
SuperGee said:
With today's Graphics?

The latest space game I can think off are
X3 the reunion. With some realy big capital class ships. Feels like 3km long. Nice if you do a close Flyby.

Universal combat (3000AD BC serries)

There is a new startrek game coming up. Startrek legacy I think.
Click to expand...

I completly forgot about X3.. The first two really left a bad taste in my mouth.
 
x3 is almost identical to x2 but with better graphics. they did not fix the big bugs, nor improved on the large shortcomings of the second.
its fun for a while, but once you get an empire of ships/complexes, it gets boring.
 
I'm more excited about SquareEnix's Project Sylph (Sylpheed) for the Xbox 360 than anything else. :D
 
andypnb said:
x3 is almost identical to x2 but with better graphics. they did not fix the big bugs, nor improved on the large shortcomings of the second.
its fun for a while, but once you get an empire of ships/complexes, it gets boring.
Click to expand...
No X3 is a lot better then X2 and could have been also a lot better because it very much feels like a game not finished.

they just head 1year to expand a addon to a full game.

what if the had 3years to start from scratch.

To short but the result is, if you played it and delve a bit dieper in it, a decent lot better then X2.
But certenly not perfect.
 
I just with Chris Roberts would make a sequel to Freelancer.. that has to be one of the best space sims ever made.
 
TheBluePill said:
I just with Chris Roberts would make a sequel to Freelancer.. that has to be one of the best space sims ever made.
Click to expand...

Yeah I loved Freelancer.

It's really a shame that the genre has all but died out. I would love to see a third Freespace. Also I'd like to see updated versions of TIE Fighter and X-Wing but I think that goes without saying.

Star Trek Legacy is not a space sim, it is strategy. It's more like the Starfleet Command games they used to have.

I couldn't get into X2 or X3, they were almost too complex for me.
 
independence war is the end-all of space sims. freespace series was amazing as well.
 
I'm still hung up on B5:IFH. That game makes you completely relearn flight :eek:

First time in the cockpit, I learned why laying off the afterburning is a good idea. The furball I was trying to get to flew right by me and suddenly I was 20 km the other side of it, braking with all my might. Once you get the hang of it, though, it's one of the coolest space sims I've ever played.
 
It used to be that Space Sims where the only good games to get on the PC and there were Tons of them... Then Doom hit hard and all of the publishers got amnesia and a single minded focus on FPS. Granted there was a huge market and money to be made on FPS games, but Space Sim Genre made money too. There was even a huge market for Joysticks too. I still have my Thrustmaster and Need to find a way to convert it to USB since there seems to be no good joysticks of that quality out there now.

The Next Publisher that game come out with a Fun, Easy to play/learn Space sim with Next gen graphics will make a fortune.
 
spaceman said:
the new Star Trek games coming out might be great.
Click to expand...

But they aren't space sims. I think there's a strategy game and an MMO. I hope the MMO turns out good, I haven't found one to my liking yet.
 
enelson125 said:
But they aren't space sims. I think there's a strategy game and an MMO. I hope the MMO turns out good, I haven't found one to my liking yet.
Click to expand...

I think we are all craving a traditonal space sim, with you as a single pilot in the cockpit of a space-fighter.
 
TheBluePill said:
I think we are all craving a traditonal space sim, with you as a single pilot in the cockpit of a space-fighter.
Click to expand...

Hell yeah.

Is there actually any of these types of games on the horizon or are we pretty much gonna have to sit quiet for a while?
 
Freelancer was a huge disappointment. All that hype about the freedom, nonlinearity, etc was not backed up by the actual gameplay. The story was all right, but all the non-plot missions were repetitive cookie-cutter yawnfests - just time-killers, like the "quick battles" in an RTS, except that they contributed to your career by making or losing you money.

A bunch of quick battles thrown into the career mode to make it seem longer does not improve a game. When you have so many side missions, you must have side plots to go with them. For example, if you keep raiding a coporation's convoys, they should hire bounty hunters to chase down and destroy you. But let the player have plenty of interesting ways to deal with this - buy them off by offering them a higher rate to help you plunder the corp (then kill them and keep the money); locate their center of operations and use a throwaway ship to sneak in and C4 their ships in the hangar bay; let them follow you into an alien-controlled system, then lose them when the aliens attack them, and sneak out through a hidden jump point; etc. Or even gather up enough cash to buy out the corporation! In any case, it needs something more engaging than blow-these-guys-up and sell-this-at-a-profit.

There were other issues too, like the controls being dumbed-down in order to tempt players who don't own joysticks, and the insane difficulty ramping on the last few missions.. but even if all those were solved, the shallowness of the optional missions would still leave me dissatisfied. Anybody making a space sim that offers the pilot choices in his career needs to face down and conquer this plot demon.

AquaNox 2 (not a space sim, but similar concept) offered the player fewer mission choices, but was a superior game to Freelancer, because at no point during any mission was the player left bored and twiddling his thumbs wishing the money-farming would go faster so he could quit doing the same old stuff.
 
I'm still holding out hope for Darkstar One (August 11th):
http://darkstarone.ascaron.com/gb/gb_darkstarone/home/home.php

All the previews have been very positive. I've got the demo downloaded, but haven't played it yet. Maybe this weekend I'll get a chance to look at it.

And it supports full joystick control, which is all I ask for. I space sim that is mouse only is not a real space sim.
 
JBark said:
I'm still holding out hope for Darkstar One (August 11th):
http://darkstarone.ascaron.com/gb/gb_darkstarone/home/home.php

All the previews have been very positive. I've got the demo downloaded, but haven't played it yet. Maybe this weekend I'll get a chance to look at it.

And it supports full joystick control, which is all I ask for. I space sim that is mouse only is not a real space sim.
Click to expand...

Wasnt' impressed. You can't edit the flight controls worth shit, especially joystick. FMV's are beyond bad as well.
 
I'm interested in Darkstar One too. I'll be checking out the demo this weekend.

According to the official forum, the demo control configs are unsatisfactory for many joystick users, but moderators claim the full game will have full joystick support.

I ran the demo through its opening cutscene this morning (all I had time for before work). The voice acting blatantly sucks, and the subtitles are at least one line (behind) out of sync with the audio. I don't mind that everyone seems to have German accents.. the trouble is that they completely mess up the intonation on some lines. In the cutscenes, this will just be a minor annoyance. If they completely fumble any oft-repeated in-mission dialogue, it will be a serious blow to the game.
 
i'm not sure exactly what developers are afraid of...these space sim topics pop up every month or two, and they generally generate many replies of people practically begging to have a new sim worthy of buying. i guess they have their reasons, though :(
 
If you liked Freelancer then you may like Darkstar One.
I for one am very excited about Darkstar One. Some of you are picking out some extremely trivial things.....it is a demo after all and was released to gauge interest and find out what people are looking for.

The devs are actually working on content that people submit on the forums, they will also continue to develop the community with mod tools and free expansions/content. This is a very promising game.
 
Darkstar one seems interesting, I liked the demo.

I still play freespace 2 all the time though. Best ever.
 
I play through Freespace 1 and 2 at least once a year... it's like a ritual at this point. And they never get old. Freespace 2 had a great story. Shame we'll never know where it was leading to.
 
I could see some future space sims to be one big place that a (no flames here please) physx card could be put to good use. Asteroid fields for one...all the previous sims have been kind of lacking in their asteroid fields in that every rock you shoot breaks apart in one of 4 or 5 predefined patterns, and they all fly apart on the same trajectories. Along with real damage calculation based on the speed and size of the shrapnel of a destroyed object. As well as the explosions themselves with the various gases in space...

would make for some dynamite content. Remake the Freespace series with stuff like that...and I think it'd give any FPS a run for it's money.

Hell...I'd love to replay Freespace1, but my 3rd disc got destroyed in a move and all I have is the first 2 :(
 
Shark-MegaByte said:
Freelancer was a huge disappointment. All that hype about the freedom, nonlinearity, etc was not backed up by the actual gameplay. The story was all right, but all the non-plot missions were repetitive cookie-cutter yawnfests - just time-killers, like the "quick battles" in an RTS, except that they contributed to your career by making or losing you money.

A bunch of quick battles thrown into the career mode to make it seem longer does not improve a game. When you have so many side missions, you must have side plots to go with them. For example, if you keep raiding a coporation's convoys, they should hire bounty hunters to chase down and destroy you. But let the player have plenty of interesting ways to deal with this - buy them off by offering them a higher rate to help you plunder the corp (then kill them and keep the money); locate their center of operations and use a throwaway ship to sneak in and C4 their ships in the hangar bay; let them follow you into an alien-controlled system, then lose them when the aliens attack them, and sneak out through a hidden jump point; etc. Or even gather up enough cash to buy out the corporation! In any case, it needs something more engaging than blow-these-guys-up and sell-this-at-a-profit.

There were other issues too, like the controls being dumbed-down in order to tempt players who don't own joysticks, and the insane difficulty ramping on the last few missions.. but even if all those were solved, the shallowness of the optional missions would still leave me dissatisfied. Anybody making a space sim that offers the pilot choices in his career needs to face down and conquer this plot demon.

AquaNox 2 (not a space sim, but similar concept) offered the player fewer mission choices, but was a superior game to Freelancer, because at no point during any mission was the player left bored and twiddling his thumbs wishing the money-farming would go faster so he could quit doing the same old stuff.
Click to expand...

Are you sure you are talking about Freelancer? Buying Corporations and Alien Controlled Systems were not really an option there??
 
TheBluePill said:
Are you sure you are talking about Freelancer? Buying Corporations and Alien Controlled Systems were not really an option there??
Click to expand...

Yes, I am. I know they weren't. Which is sad, because Freelancer desperately needed something interesting to break the blah-ness of the optional missions.
 
AdamNesvick said:
Darkstar one seems interesting, I liked the demo.

I still play freespace 2 all the time though. Best ever.
Click to expand...
Darkstar One looks promising however...Ascaron doesn't have the greatest of track records IMO. Sacred promised to be a great game on the lines of Diablo but was released way ahead of when it needed to be. I sincerely hope that this DO game doesn't suffer from the same fate. I will be downloading the demo myself and checking it out.
 
I myself am looking forward to 'Beyond the Red Line' the nuBattlestar Galactica Freespace 2 mod. :D
 
I'am very interrested in
Startrek legacy
Looks more like a Tactical RTS. Not bad and out this year? So close on the horizon.

For the latest Space sims I only know of X3 reunion have that.
And Universal Combat. 2005 and a addon? heard off.Not have that. But its space combat flying or managin a Battle cruiser Or you can go planet side FPS style. Why its has universal in it.

It has a very steep learning curve. Manual requierd.

Don't Like MMO.

It just that I'am a fan of Not starwars not startrek but Stargate SG1/Atlantis.
So I might go for a MMO Stargates Worlds. They might have space ships to. But also FPS based.
 
Shark-MegaByte said:
Yes, I am. I know they weren't. Which is sad, because Freelancer desperately needed something interesting to break the blah-ness of the optional missions.
Click to expand...


After re-reading your post, I see what you were saying, sorry about that.

I agree there could have been quite a few additions. But there was quite a bit of material in there that you might have missed if you stopped after the plot missions. I really liked the "Plot" missions. I even got in to the "lancers reactor" community for a while and found alll of the secrets. I raided the wreck of the Hispania, found both hidden "Nomad" systems, the planet full of apes and the planet full of robots and even bought the Ultra-Heavy Pirate fighters and loaded them down with Nomad Cannons. I could take out most ships in 2 hits. I then spent a month hunding down trade routes. I found one that netted 1Million credits by circling 4 sectors.. Pretty fun there. Overall, If you didn't quit after the plot was over, there were a couple of months worth of play in there.
 
You know, as bad as it sounds, SWG:Jump to Lightspeed (before Rage of the Wookiees) was really fun. PvE and PvP. Course, in the end my friend and I got bored and we would have a contest to see who could do something the fastest/without getting hit/etc.

We quit shortly after that.
 
freespace had like the ultimate cliffhanger ending. I say ultimate, because there probably will never be a Freespace 3 to conclude it :(

And yeah, swg:jtl was actually not bad, if a little simplistic and unrefined. Getting a full crew for a multiplayer ship was lots of fun.
 
Malikman said:
what about privateer 2 guys
Click to expand...

I liked Privateer 2 a lot...however I never actually finished the main story which was somewhat intriguing. I keep telling myself I am going to buy an old computer so I can finish that story but I never have yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top