Decent Space Sims?

xander_uk2

xander_uk2

xander_uk2

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Rencently I've been feeling the need to get my teeth into a decent space sim. One with combat and elements of trading/economy.
The last one I tried was X3 but it was just a bit too deep for me. Anyone got any suggestions? :)
 
Sins of solar empire, top notch, great looking space sim but if you found x3 deep i guess you wont like this either, but give it a go anyway.
 
not quite a full on simulator but you could check out Star Wars X-Wing Alliance. you basically start off working for your family in trading, then get your home taken over by the empire where you then join up with the rebels, doing a few missions inbetween for your family

it is all mission based but you do get to do quite a bit, i.e. trading, combat, escorting etc
 
I'd persevere with X3 - Takes a while to get into it but its awesome once you get going.
Play the game with a few mods and it can kill days of time without realising it :D
 
Tachyon. Its a very old game, but it had a great story and allowed you to follow the story along 2 paths. Multiplayer was quite fun too, it involved gathering resources to upgrade your main base, once it reached level 10 you could equip your ship with a type of missile capable of destroy the life support hub on the enemy main base :D
 
The best Space sim I've played for combat/story/controls is Freespace 2, but it doesn't have a trading/economy element.
 
The only real contemporay ones are the X series and as mentioned Freelancer, though it's knocking on a bit.

I'm currently thoroughly absorbed in the latest X3 Terran Conflict. If you can get through the initial hours of gameplay and make some money then things get easier and there's five campaigns to tackle too. The whole thing is really an endless sandbox.

My only criticism with "X" is that it doesn't always feel you're travelling through space with all the stations lumped together and no real attempt to show orbiting a planet.

For those who miss the old Privateer/Wing Commander games I believe there's an Open Source remake of Privateer and a (freeware) Babylon 5 game. Don't have the link handy, think it's something like Vega Strike (Google is your friend). When I tried the B5 version found it still quite rough and ready though good representation of hyperspace from the vintage TV series.

Would really love to see some new "proper" space sims from Lucas Arts in the style of X-Wing and Tie Fighter etc. X-Wing Alliance is quite old (1999?) and I don't know if it would run on modern hardware. ISTR it was optimised for 3DFX/Voodoo Gfx cards.
 
Cannot believe anyone hasn't already mentioned Eve Online.

You want Space, Combat, Trading etc - well that games got it in spades - Its also a MMORPG!

Website can be found here:-

http://www.eveonline.com/

From what I gather there is a 14 day free trial and its also Downloadable via Steam
 
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still waiting for a game that beats privateer 2.

Eve seemed ok but i couldnt get past the fact that its point and click - never felt like i was actually flying my ship. seems more like a tycoon game really - still good tho if you're after a space setting.
 
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