Where are the mech sims, space sims, combat air sims, etc.? Wha' happened?!

Arctic Fox said:
You say this like it's a bad thing. IMO, chess is a perfect exemplar of what I like in a game -- easy to learn, hard to master. Evidence that people like games like this? Chess has been around for >500 years.
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I wasn't joking when I suggested it. Chess is the best game I know of that fits the "easy to know, hard to KNOW" criteria. But chess is hardly a 'mech sim :D

I can't get some of those older titles to work on modern Windows, so I use a virtual machine running Windows 98 to play them, now. It works out pretty well for games that don't require hardware accelerated graphics. Some of the older stuff runs well on Linux using wine, too, like Deus Ex.
 
You know Ace Combat 6 just came out today. 360 only as far as I know though. Also, because of copyright issues and the rights to the franchise changing hands, new MechWarrior games are few and far between. Even if there were to be one, it'll most certainly be an Xbox360 exclusive.
 
Since FASA recently went belly-up, odds are slim for another Mech game. There is that mod that someone suggested early in this thread... but then, how many mods do you know that see the light of day?

Fox
 
Megalomaniac said:
I mean the pulse laser was an an an actual pulse! who would have figured!

Mech 4 was a M$ game and was bad in terms of technological advancement..... what were they thinking?
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... no, mech3's pulse laser was a sustained beam - the exact opposite of 'pulsing'. IIRC according to battletech lore pulse lasers were faster firing than standard lasers, which both mech 2 and 4 did. Now don't get me wrong - I loved using "pulse" lasers in mech 3 because they were fun, even though they were not 'pulsing' at all.

OTOH I despised mech 3's missles in general, they were just ridiculously slow. I loved the long rush of little missiles LRM20s in mech 2 provided, and in Mech 3 they were slow and tracked terribly. Other than that, Mech 3 was pretty enjoyable.

Mech 4 had a lot of shortcomings, but somehow I felt that close range skirmishes felt so much more fluid than in Mech 3. But that couldn't excuse how terrible autocannons were and how stupidly simplified mech customization was.

Sorry for being off-topic.

Since mech 2 was so incredibly fantastic, I'm surprised no one has picked it apart and remade it with a new graphics engine. It just KILLS me that it doesn't work under XP, I still have my original disc!
 
You know, it's downright depressing the studios that have gone out of business or changed remarkably: FASA, Jane's (at least for sims), Origin Systems (System Shock), Ion Storm (Deus Ex)... Even Activision isn't what it once was (Interstate '76 was another classic that was a ton of fun.)

And yes, I would ABSOLUTELY play MechWarrior 2 again if I could get it to run on current systems. Hell, even without any further enhancement, though I agree, I'd go nuts over a game using that engine with up to date graphics/sound.
 
Neurofreeze said:
You know Ace Combat 6 just came out today. 360 only as far as I know though. Also, because of copyright issues and the rights to the franchise changing hands, new MechWarrior games are few and far between. Even if there were to be one, it'll most certainly be an Xbox360 exclusive.
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that would even be fine with me, i have one of those too and enjoy it immensely ;)
 
Arctic Fox said:
Seriously, I have to check out the current state of space sims (yeah, all 3 of them). Maybe I should go raid the bargain bin at my local games store...

Fox
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I've got the perfect game for you. There is a demo but just realize it is an old version and not the same quality as the version they are selling now. There is a BSG mod for it too. The game uses a dynamic campaign system too.

http://www.matrixgames.com/games/game.asp?gid=334
 
Arctic Fox said:
There's my problem with modern sims right there. I don't want a hardcore simulation, but I don't want pure arcade either. Hardcore sim, I'm trying to figure out which of the 28 keys that I pressed was wrong; meanwhile, my plane tailspins. Arcade shooter, easy to learn but is booooring.

I just feel like previous sims -- Mechwarrior being a prime example -- had the balance a bit better. Sure, they were more arcadey than modern sims (not hard); but they were also more technical than most of todays 'arcadey' games. Going back to Mechwarrior, how you loaded out your mech could make a real difference in a mission. In certain missions, you might get pounded in your Atlas all loaded up with PPCs; come back with a fast 40-ton Mech with jumpjets and the mission was about 10x easier.

The formula that I want is: easy to pick up, but with enough complexity under the hood to reward players who put in the time. That seems like it'd sell, right?

Fox
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IL-2 is an easy game to learn. No avionics systems to learn, just fly, shoot and drop bombs. What's hard about that? Once you have configured the keys how you like just make your own keyboard chart and print it out. That's all you need. No real need to read the manual even. Falcon 4.0 has a very steep learning curve but even that sim has an easy mode for avionics so it can be made be somewhat easier to play too. The A10 in LOMAC is not hard to learn but the Russain planes are somewhat more quirky to learn.
 
WolfpupNX said:
Even Activision isn't what it once was (Interstate '76 was another classic that was a ton of fun.)
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Activision asked me to beta test i76 but it wasn't a game I was interested in so turned them down. Once the game was released I heard it was good so bought it and kind of regretted not beta testing it. A re-make of that game would be great and is the perfect kind of game for the 360.
 
milkweg said:
Falcon 4.0 has a very steep learning curve but even that sim has an easy mode for avionics so it can be made be somewhat easier to play too. The A10 in LOMAC is not hard to learn but the Russain planes are somewhat more quirky to learn.
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I went out a few days ago and picked up LOMAC. I'm actually pretty happy with the purchase. It was hard at first to get into, but I was suprised on how quickly I was picking it up since it wasn't as detailed as Falcon AF. I started with everything on the easiest settings for the A-10. I dropped the invulnerability and the easy radar and I'm actually doing ok. I did the first 2 campaign missions and survived with 100% success. Next I will probably drop the unlimited weapons and then the easy flying (I'm a student pilot so the landing stuff isn't very difficult at all).

I'd recommend the game for a flight sim that isn't as hardcore as Falcon AF and has a more shallow learning curve. What I like is that it can be pretty easy if you change the difficulty settings, but you as you drop them, it can become much more difficult and you still feel like you can "master" the platform you are flying, so it gives you a sense of gratification. This may be the first flight sim I take online (besides Longbow 2 with my friend against the AI. I was always the WSO and he was the pilot. That was some of the greatest gaming I have ever done)
 
Wolf, where have you been? These types of posts have been on pc gaming forums for years now. Im assuming you just felt it was time to make your own thread. ;) By the way Im of the same mindset as you. I miss those types of games and also enjoy the semi complex games. It all comes down to rising development costs and corporate greed. Didn't it all start to decline once some of the smaller publishers become corporate? Im pretty sure.

Like others have posted. There are the gems out there. You just have to look for them since they don't receive much promotion.
 
milkweg said:
I've got the perfect game for you. There is a demo but just realize it is an old version and not the same quality as the version they are selling now. There is a BSG mod for it too. The game uses a dynamic campaign system too.

http://www.matrixgames.com/games/game.asp?gid=334
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That looks really cool. I think the whole "dynamic campaign" thing is really cool for space sims. I have seen RPGs done that way, but not a space sim, pretty sweet.
 
Betrayer00GT said:
That looks really cool. I think the whole "dynamic campaign" thing is really cool for space sims. I have seen RPGs done that way, but not a space sim, pretty sweet.
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The thing is Starshatter is the same game released like 5 years ago, just patched up with a few textures and bug fixes, etc. Still, for an independant effort from one guy (yes, I believe it's just one guy producing it, not a studio or developer), it's pretty good.
 
if you've got your falcon 4.0 laying around.. there is a great new patch/mod out for it that updates the graphics engine etc.. etc.. (called Redviper)

i put up some screenshots here http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1233336


Facon definately has to be the epitome of what PC gaming used to be like.. the manual itself is 580 pages (half of that being training / the other half reference), map , cadets guide etc..

don't cheat yourself though, Falcon is at its best if you spend the time to really learn to fly it..

i just bought a 2nd binder edition falcon 4.0 for 8$ the other day (for my brother).. its definately worth checking out..

you look at all the features Falcon 4.0 has even outside of the flight sim itself
things like

Dynamic Campaigns
Persistent Multiplayer World (campaign can be joined by players at any time)
this includes playing co-op or versus or co-op versus.. its a virtual war and you can join in any time..
 
milkweg said:
Activision asked me to beta test i76 but it wasn't a game I was interested in so turned them down. Once the game was released I heard it was good so bought it and kind of regretted not beta testing it. A re-make of that game would be great and is the perfect kind of game for the 360.
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the only problem is if someone did it on the 360 it would just end up like Vigilante 8 (the PS1 version of I76)..

infact i remember the bombshell they dropped on the I76 community the day they anounced that I-82 would not share I-76's "sim" qualities.. (specifically there was no transmission, it was just forward - backwards etc..)..



that was the day i knew everything that made i76 great was lost (and turns out to be one of those once in a lifetime games)..
 
H-street said:
i just bought a 2nd binder edition...
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Oh, man. That brings back the memories. I was thumbing through that binder non-stop for a while after I picked up that game up back in the day. I got my old thrustmaster setup for that game. That combo was awesome!
 
yea i have binder ver of Falcon 4 as well
got a Saitek X36 way back for it too but i really need a new stick but i dont like the new ones since there all twist sticks for rudder when the x36 had a rocker on the under side of the throttle for rudder was really best for flight sims
wonder why they changed to a twist?
 
Elios said:
wonder why they changed to a twist?
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Too many people moaning that the rocker was rubbish, only once it was gone did people realise just how much better it was than a twist stick. I have the X52Pro which is great except two things:

1) Lack of rudder rocker as you already mentioned, negated by my pedals though.

2) The current profiling software has a bug where having advanced commands takes full use of a core on my C2D resulting in all sorts of fps issues, they need to get it fixed.
 
dano said:
Too many people moaning that the rocker was rubbish, only once it was gone did people realise just how much better it was than a twist stick. I have the X52Pro which is great except two things:

1) Lack of rudder rocker as you already mentioned, negated by my pedals though.

2) The current profiling software has a bug where having advanced commands takes full use of a core on my C2D resulting in all sorts of fps issues, they need to get it fixed.
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yea i am running into #2 issue now..

i am finding the issue is that when you do an advanced command it just continually hits those keys/key combos.. hopefully saitek can figure it out soon.
 
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