Space combat sims - any you know about that I don't?
Posted: 2003-07-13 01:18am
Here's what I know of:
1. The X-Wing series, XW, TF, XvT(BoP), and XWA. Lucasarts games we all know about. Finished BoP and XWA, did most of XW, and never did go far in TF.
2. Star Wraith 3 - Just saw this today. Shareware game. Prompted me to post this thread. Looks interesting. Can't even tell what kind of flight model they're using from a quick look at the site. Guess I need to go dl the demo.
3. Ace of Angels, some kind of MMPOG, I think. In development. Haven't really gotten a good look at it.
4. Starshatter, currently in closed beta with an old demo still up for dl. Best dynamic campaign I've ever seen, two flight modes, three difficulty levels, built-in modding tools, and missions in either aerospace fighters or capital ships. B5 mod already has had a release.
5. Freespace 2 is a great game, but a few years old and impossible to find for sale. Every box sold, and they wouldn't make more. Luckily, you can get a stripped-down copy at Home of the Underdogs, and the license for the full game allows a "friend" to make you a copy, if you can find such a "friend". Do you want to be my friend? We can find a way to transfer it. 3 CDs.
If you must buy it, there's usually a copy on E-bay. It's open-source now, and I suggest looking around at the forums at Hard Light Productions to see what they have going on. More mods than you can shake a stick at, and the XWA modding community may be moving there eventually, if their being allowed use of XWAUP (a graphics mod) is any indication. There is, of course, also FS1.
6. If you haven't played at least one of the five Wing Commander games (plus Secret Ops, which is more of a freeware game than an expansion for Prophecy - I think you can also get this one off HotU) then you might as well. Three is generally thought to be better than 4, P, or SO, but I'm not sure about how good 1 and 2 are compared to 3. I hear 4 is more plot than game. I've only had time to play P, SO, and part of 1. Ask Bob McDob, I think he's a big WC fan.
7. Next there's Homeplanet, which has the best Newtonian control scheme I've seen yet. Unfortunately, it's only released in Russia at the moment. You can dl a demo from the site, it's English text and Russian voiceovers. If nothing else, its sister project, the freeware B5 game I Found Her is also in development.
I've also heard about the games Starlancer, Tachyon: The Fringe, and Independance War 1 & 2. Don't know anything about them, need to go find some sites. Also, there's the Battlecruiser sims, which I haven't bothered with. Looks like fun got shoved aside for perfect capship simulation.
I haven't even begun to consider the space trading games like Privateer, Elite, Vega Strike, Freelancer, etc.
I've also heard about Homeworld frequently, but I believe that's more of a RTS. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Wow, there's a lot more out there than it seems like there is. But there just doesn't seem to be any single game that rises above the others. Guess the genre's still finding itself.
1. The X-Wing series, XW, TF, XvT(BoP), and XWA. Lucasarts games we all know about. Finished BoP and XWA, did most of XW, and never did go far in TF.
2. Star Wraith 3 - Just saw this today. Shareware game. Prompted me to post this thread. Looks interesting. Can't even tell what kind of flight model they're using from a quick look at the site. Guess I need to go dl the demo.
3. Ace of Angels, some kind of MMPOG, I think. In development. Haven't really gotten a good look at it.
4. Starshatter, currently in closed beta with an old demo still up for dl. Best dynamic campaign I've ever seen, two flight modes, three difficulty levels, built-in modding tools, and missions in either aerospace fighters or capital ships. B5 mod already has had a release.
5. Freespace 2 is a great game, but a few years old and impossible to find for sale. Every box sold, and they wouldn't make more. Luckily, you can get a stripped-down copy at Home of the Underdogs, and the license for the full game allows a "friend" to make you a copy, if you can find such a "friend". Do you want to be my friend? We can find a way to transfer it. 3 CDs.
If you must buy it, there's usually a copy on E-bay. It's open-source now, and I suggest looking around at the forums at Hard Light Productions to see what they have going on. More mods than you can shake a stick at, and the XWA modding community may be moving there eventually, if their being allowed use of XWAUP (a graphics mod) is any indication. There is, of course, also FS1.
6. If you haven't played at least one of the five Wing Commander games (plus Secret Ops, which is more of a freeware game than an expansion for Prophecy - I think you can also get this one off HotU) then you might as well. Three is generally thought to be better than 4, P, or SO, but I'm not sure about how good 1 and 2 are compared to 3. I hear 4 is more plot than game. I've only had time to play P, SO, and part of 1. Ask Bob McDob, I think he's a big WC fan.
7. Next there's Homeplanet, which has the best Newtonian control scheme I've seen yet. Unfortunately, it's only released in Russia at the moment. You can dl a demo from the site, it's English text and Russian voiceovers. If nothing else, its sister project, the freeware B5 game I Found Her is also in development.
I've also heard about the games Starlancer, Tachyon: The Fringe, and Independance War 1 & 2. Don't know anything about them, need to go find some sites. Also, there's the Battlecruiser sims, which I haven't bothered with. Looks like fun got shoved aside for perfect capship simulation.
I haven't even begun to consider the space trading games like Privateer, Elite, Vega Strike, Freelancer, etc.
I've also heard about Homeworld frequently, but I believe that's more of a RTS. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Wow, there's a lot more out there than it seems like there is. But there just doesn't seem to be any single game that rises above the others. Guess the genre's still finding itself.
