Death of the Space Combat Sim?

Well, it being a quasi-FPS is cool as hell.

The Starforce thing doesn't make me want to buy it now. Too bad, because it looked like a really good game.
 
raz-0 said:
Someone made a SCS with real physics. It was the most un-fun game I've ever played. I'm not the only one who thoguht so, two other people I know were both drooling over the concept of the real physics, had the mindset to deal with it, and still thought it was horribly unfun. Very realistic, but about the most tedious and boring thing ever.
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That was probably Terminus, I believe. I tried it, I think it's available on the Underdogs. I kinda like it, really.

There's also a freeware version of Privateer/WC being made called Vega Strike. It's not bad.
 
Moose777 said:
Well, it being a quasi-FPS is cool as hell.

The Starforce thing doesn't make me want to buy it now. Too bad, because it looked like a really good game.
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The Starforce trojan is a deal breaker for me as well.
 
Technicallly, wouldn't it be legal to buy the game and *obtain it simultaneously via non-company sanctioned means*. I mean, really if you own the game the company has 100% no basis for whining.
 
Obi_Kwiet said:
Technicallly, wouldn't it be legal to buy the game and *obtain it simultaneously via non-company sanctioned means*. I mean, really if you own the game the company has 100% no basis for whining.
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But by giving them money for the game, you are basically telling them that Starforce is ok to use, and that it doesnt matter if its there or not, the game will still sell.
 
Killdozer said:
The "Shitty First Person Shotter" fad is been around for FAR too long.
Right after the RTS and Space Sim fad, which was almost 7 or 8 years ago, we've been sucking down these worthless FPS games. I'm ready for a change, that's for sure.
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I think the game developers must have noticed that CS is popular as h*ll.... It's really annoying, I agree.
 
Space sims are not dead people you just need to look harder these days...

Pick up "Nexus: The jupiter Incident" and "Hegemonia: Legions of Iron" for damn good space sims especailly Nexus the Jupiter Incident..

Nexus is the BEST SCIFI game I have played in the last 2 years period....
 
I second the Nexus recommendation for a space game. It can be had for under $20, has a decent storyline, and while the gameplay is a bit slower than many are accustomed to, the game hooked me quick. My only wish is for more mods, especially a Battlefleet Gothic one.
 
Moose777 said:
I've noticed a trend in these discussions. It seems people only mention a few games but forget games like entire Wing Commander Franchise, Privateer and a few others.
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While I too have fond memories of Wing Commander, the idea of what today's EA would do to my beloved childhood is more than enough to stop me from bringing it up.
 
raz-0 said:
Someone made a SCS with real physics. It was the most un-fun game I've ever played.
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Who made what?

ps: There's a freeware 100% privateer remake that runs on windows XP with music and better gfx like a charm, google privaterr remake

Im thinking of playing X3, do u need to play x1 and x2 before, or can u just jump right in to x3?
 
Killdozer said:
The "Shitty First Person Shotter" fad is been around for FAR too long.
.
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Once you get past the 10 year mark I would say it is a bit more then a fad. :p

Speaking of FPS and Space Combat Sims, Some one should combine the two. But I am guessing that would be a huge gamble, it would either be the best game ever or just plain horrible.
 
kohan69 said:
Who made what?

ps: There's a freeware 100% privateer remake that runs on windows XP with music and better gfx like a charm, google privaterr remake

Im thinking of playing X3, do u need to play x1 and x2 before, or can u just jump right in to x3?
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I didn't play X1 or X2 before X3. I have X2 that came with a video card, but never bothered to install it. It may take a bit of messing around for a while to get the hang of things, like it did for me, but you don't need to play the other 2 games first. AFAIK
 
Vega Strike was surprisingly awesome. I just wish there was an easier way to get WC3,4 and the one with the bugs to work in windows xp.

Also, I agree about EA, after what they did to UO I hope they forget WC even exists.
 
raz-0 said:
Someone made a SCS with real physics. It was the most un-fun game I've ever played. I'm not the only one who thoguht so, two other people I know were both drooling over the concept of the real physics, had the mindset to deal with it, and still thought it was horribly unfun. Very realistic, but about the most tedious and boring thing ever.
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Are you talking about StarShatter?
 
It was a cruel joke when i loaded the Empire at War demo and saw that the menu screen is a TIE Fighter cockpit window and it looks like you're flying through a big space battle just like in the TIE Fighter game. It made me miss those old games so much i wanted to cry. lol :p
 
Privateer was incredible. What was the built-in followup called? It just had a few extra missions or whatever.
 
CreganTur said:
Freespace. Most gamers you mention that name to immediately begin a rant of how good the franchise was, how awesome the storyline was, how great the graphics were and how they wish Volition would make Freespace 3.

Six years and still waiting on that one.

Other companies have tried to cash in on this undervalued genre with such titles as Starlancer. The new trend involves giving the player an entie galaxy to explore and a mandate to "go play." Trading is available, as well as piracy and becoming a mercenary. All of this freedom can be a good thing, but too much freedom, in the gaming sense, can lead to boredom, comfusion, and the player loosing interest.

I digress.

Has there really been a Space Combat Sim (SCS) released that can even rival the Freespace franchise? Do people even care about that type of gaming anymore? I think they do. I turned a co-worker onto Freespace just by talking about the game for five minutes, and now he's hooked! Why do game-makers fail to create any more games for this genre? The possibilities are wide open!

What about making a SCS that brings real physics into the game engine? What about creating levels where you can enter an atmosphere? There are so many innovations possible with this type of game, but does anyone really care?

Are we nearing the death of the Space Combat Sim?
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It isn't near the death of the space combat sim, they are already dead. No straight combat sim that I can think of has been made in years. Certainly not a good one if there have been any.
 
urbsnspices said:
Speaking of FPS and Space Combat Sims, Some one should combine the two. But I am guessing that would be a huge gamble, it would either be the best game ever or just plain horrible.
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There are.

Universal Combat


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BREED

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Mace Griffin's Bounty Hunter



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Star Wars Battlefront 2

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My favourite is BREED, especially multiplayer, run and kill FPS, get in a figher, fly out of the atmosphere to space, someone follows you, combat in space, fly back down to earth, back on the map, destroy some buildings, get in a tank, kill some more ppl -it's the only game where you can do that
 
You can't really use Battlefront 2 though. While I own the game and love it I dont' consider it a space combat sim in the sense that you are thinking. There is just something about it that makes it more arcadeish than simmish.

And I almost bought Bounty Hunter the other day, I just didn't know how it was cause I hadn't heard anything about it.

I'm kind of liking Universal Combat too but no one is selling it. Has it been released yet?
 
Moose777 said:
You can't really use Battlefront 2 though. While I own the game and love it I dont' consider it a space combat sim in the sense that you are thinking. There is just something about it that makes it more arcadeish than simmish.

And I almost bought Bounty Hunter the other day, I just didn't know how it was cause I hadn't heard anything about it.

I'm kind of liking Universal Combat too but no one is selling it. Has it been released yet?
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battlefront is arcade-like deffinetly

get demo of griffin first, its crap imho


breed and universal combat are under average (4/10) or less by most reviewers, check out demos
 
Sir-Fragalot said:
It isn't near the death of the space combat sim, they are already dead. No straight combat sim that I can think of has been made in years. Certainly not a good one if there have been any.
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Very true.

I've been playing Haegemonia: The Solon heritage lately. It's damn fun, it's a shame it died such a quick death (due to lack of developer and publisher support).
 
Joystick for sure, don't know if it supports mouse/keyboard.

Mouse/keyboard space flight sims are the spawn of the devil.
 
Check this out

Its a freeware space combat sim based in the Babylon 5 universe. If memory serves it has a fairly steep learning curve, due to the realistic physics. Still, its free and is a great looking game.
 
kohan69 said:
My favourite is BREED, especially multiplayer, run and kill FPS, get in a figher, fly out of the atmosphere to space, someone follows you, combat in space, fly back down to earth, back on the map, destroy some buildings, get in a tank, kill some more ppl -it's the only game where you can do that
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Can you really fly into space from earth in breed, if so that's pretty kewl, might go and hire it out later.
 
Hohokam said:
can you play x3 with a joystick? or is it a mouse and keybaord thign?
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Either one ya want. I use a joystick with it all the time.

Don't buy x3 for its story heh. The modding community is friggin nuts though, and the game is easy to mod. Thats why i bought it. Great scripts coming out, great mods coming out, lot of the old x2 mods that i liked are being redone for x3. Its just one of those things where the team makes the base, and the community fills in the gaps.

I think they might get everything perfect in the next incarnation, it only needs a mere few things now and it'll shine. The uh, story is kind of "meh" but the combat is a lot better than x2. As are the graphics, heh.

What i really want is another damned freespace game, or something to the carrier/fighter point to play with again. Plenty of ww2 sims came out, but no one seems to like space anymore. Its like they're all stuck in a ww2 frenzy.
 
Craftish said:
Privateer was incredible. What was the built-in followup called? It just had a few extra missions or whatever.
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Righteous Fire? BTW, thank whomever for that link...i'm gonna try it as I LOVED that game...
 
Privateer Remake is awesome. Definately check that link out. They've added some formerly NPC only ships to the list of ships you can buy (can you say Paradigm!?) as well graphical updates.
 
[RCKY] Thor said:
http://x-plane.com/SpaceCombat.html <--not really a good game, per-se, but it is realistic (physics, etc) if you want to see why you can't shoot a space battle like a WW2 dogfight. (Lucas)
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Lucas created a make-believe world, you can sit here all day and say this and this is impossible.

X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter shall never die!!!!
 
The King of Pants said:
Ugh, read some reviews for UC, sounds like another Derek Smart crap-a-thon.
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Ok well..nevermind. I was going to say that he might suck but one good thing is that he gives his games away for free after they have run their course. I just DLed Battlecruiser 3000AD 2005 Edition nd it won't install.
 
[RCKY] Thor said:
http://x-plane.com/SpaceCombat.html <--not really a good game, per-se, but it is realistic (physics, etc) if you want to see why you can't shoot a space battle like a WW2 dogfight. (Lucas)
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Realism isn't particularly a selling point.

Besides, all his points are invalid and depend more of design of ships and bringing into account the actual forces allowed for. For instance, a starship lumbering, may be poor design, nostalgia, or simply a good idea. I drive trucks. I know i wouldn't want my truck flying around on me as quickly as a car... reason? a LOT to keep track of all at one time. Bet you four-wheelers never think about that when you're cussing at us to go faster ;)

Even with automation and crew, you're still talking reaction times, and complex castes of orders.

As for the fighters and all that... i can see limiting a small object's attitudes to be within pilot stresses, which extends beyond inertia, and into the fact that if we move a craft too quickly, our eyes begin to lose accuracy.

Those points bring up the boring idea that we'd just end up making ships that were on the limits of those things, and every space vessel would eventually react exactly the same.

As I said. Boring. Why realism isn't particularly the idea behind the genre :D

To a point, and this will be true with any space vessel humanity comes up with, there will be a degree of mechanic art put into the vehicle, to make it unique. So. It is then logical to assume that humanity will never hive mind a whole genre of ships to react exactly the same. Look at the space shuttle. Part of it is aerodynamics, part of it is indefinately art, one need only glance at how symettrical it is, and how bits of it are constructed to see.

But anyhow. I'm just rambling about that. You're probably right about that game, doesn't look that inspired to me :)
 
I didn't care for the Privateer remake. I guess the blend of new and old graphics made it loose some of its appeal for me. I'd like an exact port. I really hated how you went to the different screen to buy all the weapons/radar/etc. whereas before you used to stay at the ship screen and see an image of the different guns as you scrolled through.
 
Nasty_Savage said:
Perhaps the popularity of Battlestar Galactica will spawn a game of some cout :cool:
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BSG is the shi*!!

I would so rock a space combat sim based off the new BSG.
 
General Crespin said:
Joystick for sure, don't know if it supports mouse/keyboard.

Mouse/keyboard space flight sims are the spawn of the devil.
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sweet, that was the one thing i disliked about freelancer was the control scheme.
 
Some people claim that realism/good gameplay don't mix.
Well, you obviously have not tried Indpendence War 2
 
kohan69 said:
Some people claim that realism/good gameplay don't mix.
Well, you obviously have not tried Indpendence War 2
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Actually, I love the whole series. If you played the second one, play the first one... and see the vast difference. IWar 2 isn't particularly realistic either, but they have good background for things like "why am i hearing sound" and such ;)

IWar 2 is probably the most realistic one out there, but it never sold too well for some reason. I blame the monkies.

But trust me, if you can scratch up a glide wrapper or an old 3dfx card, play the first Iwar, its a shitload more intense, more realistic, tougher, and in the end more rewarding. It was like one of those ww2 flight sims with all the doohickies, like IL-2; you get used to flying with all the realism, and realize how much fun it is.
 
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