• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Space Sims Thread: Sometimes you have to roll the hard six

O

Ogimachi

Member
iba1pIvkjtdFJx.jpg


Basically a GAF version of SpaceSimCentral.
________________________________________________________________________

## So you want to buy a joystick?

Check this guide in RSI forums, or maybe this guide from PC Gamer.

________________________________________________________________________

## List of modern space sims

(Coming soon)
________________________________________________________________________

## Upcoming games

[With Early Access/Alpha/Betas available]

Elite: Dangerous
Star Citizen
Starpoint Gemini 2
Exodus of Sol
Rodina
XenoRaptor
Kinetic Void
Void Destroyer
Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars
Drifter
Wings of Saint Nazare (Free Alpha)
________________________________________________________________________


About the thread:
It obviously still needs a lot of work, but I just wanted to create the thread for our recently reborn genre first. One could argue that some of the games listed above are not exactly space sims, as I've listed strategy games and RPGs, but I wanted this thread to be about space games in a broader sense.
I took SSC as reference, and they also include a wide group of space and sci fi games on their lists.

I'll be updating the OP with pictures, videos, etc soon.
 
This thread deserves more attention.

I wanted to thank you for the link to the joystick thread on RSI. It helped me greatly as I was in the hunt for a new joystick and reading all the posts in the thread made me decide upon a CH Fighterstick, that is until I noticed that their Scandinavian reseller charges three times the price of Amazon.
I ended up ordering a VBK Cobra m5 instead because it was considerably cheaper and it seems to be as good if not better than the CH Fighterstick. It has twist too which is a plus for me.

Now I need to find a good used throttle to go with it.


Also, Enemy Starfighter is another game in this resurgence of space sims worth keeping an eye on. It looks gorgeous and has DK2 support.
 
Cool! I was just asking around for flightsticks, think I'll stick with the X55 and then start looking at each of these games, E:D (and DK2) being the top of the list.

Also, since VR is going to be pretty big in this arena (I think), maybe a little note as to which ones are compatible with DK2?
 
I think I should be in this thread.

VR is a revelation for this genre, BTW. Do whatever it takes to try it out.
 
Gonna plug some classic space-sim action into this thread:



Star Raiders was Doug Neubauer's Star Trek text-game adaptation for the Atari 400 and 800 computers, released in 1979. It's a simplified version of the Federation vs. Klingon computer wargame where you must hyperspace from sector to sector destroying each enemy vessel to win. The game's most important contribution was, for the first time in the consumer gaming market, compressing a strategy game into a first-person action experience. You still need to defend space stations and monitor your fuel + energy distribution, but the game controls responsively and is designed for trigger-happy spaceship blasting, whether on keyboard or with a joystick. It looks a lot better in motion, too, thanks to skillful graphics programming.

Future games based off of Spasim for the PLATO system or the regular mainframe Star Trek game didn't have action this smooth or accessible. Something like Tecno Soft's Star Fleet, built first for the Sharp X1 in 1982, showed both a similar appreciation for the text-game and an inability to get similar results on different hardware (I wonder if the Japanese were able to play Star Raiders by that time). Neubauer brought together Atari's Star Wars arcade game and a popular institution of college computer networks for maximum commercial appeal, and games like Elite are based atop the Star Raiders paradigm of fast action incorporated into deeper systems. If there's going to be a list of older classics in the OP, these games should feature.

As for flight sticks, I'm going to get a Logitech Extreme Pro for Wing Commander and Freespace games, no doubt. Star Citizen's not going to happen for a while.
 
Will follow this thread with interest...

I still play regularly X-Wing Alliance with my venerable X-52, I'm interested into any insight into great flight sims I could have missed.
 
garath said:
Subscribed. I kickstarted Star Citizen and I'm buying Elite when it comes out. I'll be looking at these others. Thanks OP :)

Trying to decide between these two joysticks:
Thrustmaster T-16000M
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001S0RTU0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CXYMFS/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Want to keep the budget down for it. Going to keep my eye on suggestions as we get closer to release of all this stuff.
Click to expand...

From what I've read, the Hotas X has a noticable deadzone and lacks a multidirectional hat switch which I'd say is essential for a space sim. As for the T16000M, it's better in every regard, especially the sensor and it has the option to convert it to a left hand joystick for potential dual stick setups.

If you live near a Microcenter keep an eye out for their in store deals and there's a big chance you might find a T16000M for just 25$.
 
Zeknurn said:
From what I've read, the Hotas X has a noticable deadzone and lacks a multidirectional hat switch which I'd say is essential for a space sim. As for the T16000M, it's better in every regard, especially the sensor and it has the option to convert it to a left hand joystick for potential dual stick setups.

If you live near a Microcenter keep an eye out for their in store deals and there's a big chance you might find a T16000M for just 25$.
Click to expand...

Oh man. Thanks for the feedback. The deadzone would kill me. I need some precision. Plus info like flying left handed (though I've been forcing myself to learn right since all the hotas setups seem to be that way)

Looks like I have a winner. No micro center near me. Will just hope for an amazon price match or something.
 
So X Rebirth is still more or less a mess-the technical issues have improved immensely, but some of the design decisions are still baffling. However, X3 continues to push out some ridiculous modded content.

Two are of real note:

XRM ( http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=304158) , X Relabanced Mod:

This is an evolution of vanilla to tune and balance the game, and is a reasonable start for players looking to revisit the game.

However, if you want to go really deep down that rabbit hole:

Litcubes Universe:

https://code.google.com/p/litcubesuniverse/wiki/Index

Compared to vanilla, LU has improved a lot of things but has eliminated the plots.

Enemies are tougher, but can still be defeated through skillful flying. It is reasonably well-balanced that way (so far).

Instead of a plot, there are two factions (OCV and Phanon) that grow over time, becoming more threatening enemies as they grow. Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to overcome these enemies by building up your own empire quickly enough to be able to beat them.

It is a slower paced strategy game with very sophisticated opponents.
Click to expand...

It takes the game from a sandbox space empire sim into more of a big grand space strategy game with a space simulation core. It's also for kind of insane people! But that's OK.
 
New Enemy Starfighter Trailer

ShadyRectangularIndianskimmer.gif


Zeknurn said:
This thread deserves more attention.

I wanted to thank you for the link to the joystick thread on RSI. It helped me greatly as I was in the hunt for a new joystick and reading all the posts in the thread made me decide upon a CH Fighterstick, that is until I noticed that their Scandinavian reseller charges three times the price of Amazon.
I ended up ordering a VBK Cobra m5 instead because it was considerably cheaper and it seems to be as good if not better than the CH Fighterstick. It has twist too which is a plus for me.

Now I need to find a good used throttle to go with it.


Also, Enemy Starfighter is another game in this resurgence of space sims worth keeping an eye on. It looks gorgeous and has DK2 support.
Click to expand...
You're welcome. Thanks for bumping the thread, by the way. Thought people simply weren't interested.

Fragamemnon said:
So X Rebirth is still more or less a mess-the technical issues have improved immensely, but some of the design decisions are still baffling. However, X3 continues to push out some ridiculous modded content.

Two are of real note:

XRM ( http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=304158) , X Relabanced Mod:

This is an evolution of vanilla to tune and balance the game, and is a reasonable start for players looking to revisit the game.

However, if you want to go really deep down that rabbit hole:

Litcubes Universe:

https://code.google.com/p/litcubesuniverse/wiki/Index



It takes the game from a sandbox space empire sim into more of a big grand space strategy game with a space simulation core. It's also for kind of insane people! But that's OK.
Click to expand...
Bought X: Rebirth and it was...well, we all know how it used to be. Hope it gets better without the need of manual tweaks. I went deep down that hole with Mount & Blade and I regret it.
 
You won't spoil my plans of buying a nice joystick only in 2015 OP! You hear me?! Quit flaunting those awesome pictures and animated gifs of all those beautiful games. I won't break...
 
Gotta say I have more faith in Elite Dangerous and its expansion packs than Star Citizen. I think the "can they pull it off?" bandwagon is getting old, but ED is the one that keeps surprising me. I'm also having more fun with Elite's beta, but I don't think it's a fair comparison at this point.

Some gorgeous screen from the Frontier forums.

Corto said:
You won't spoil my plans of buying a nice joystick only in 2015 OP! You hear me?! Quit flaunting those awesome pictures and animated gifs of all those beautiful games. I won't break...
Click to expand...

HoarseDefinitiveEel.gif
 
Flagship looks pretty good, but being an RTS, how will it work with Rift?
Eve: World is very impressive, space sim community makes the most ambitious mods, it would seem.
 
Ancient Space from Paradox.
Interested.
Fragamemnon said:
However, if you want to go really deep down that rabbit hole:

Litcubes Universe:

https://code.google.com/p/litcubesuniverse/wiki/Index



It takes the game from a sandbox space empire sim into more of a big grand space strategy game with a space simulation core. It's also for kind of insane people! But that's OK.
Click to expand...
It's amazing how much that series keeps on giving. Wonderful mod community. I qualify as insane, but wouldn't be able to play any other game. Will have to dive back in when a release lull hits.
 
Just thinking that we got to the point where we need a thread-container for space sims makes me gloat and giggle.
Subscribed.
 
I bought it but it doesn't work too well with high resolution monitors. The UI barely scales at all. It's too annoying to play for long.
 
I'm not sure how I feel about Ancient Space-on one hand, I think that traditional scripted mission based RTS campaigns are more or less relics of the past, but on the other hand I played way too much Hegemony: Legions of Iron back in the day to not give this at least a decent shake.

But still, I'd be 100x happier if they had less name brand voice acting and less scripted missions and more "build your fleet and conquer objectives in this big open space sandbox".
 
Just checking in because I support the ever loving fuck out of this thread.

Also, Dreadnought looks amazing, but the F2P aspect is a put off.
 
KKRT00 said:
None posted yet anything about Seldon Crisis, MMO on kickstarter based on Foundation universe from Isaac Asimov's novels?

Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/442113790/seldon-crisis-a-sci-fi-sandbox-mmo-universe

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aIRjaSnGzY

http://seldoncrisis.com/components/com_eventgallery/helpers/image.php?option=com_eventgallery&mode=full&view=resizeimage&folder=concept_art&file=HariSeldon_01.jpg[img]

And official site:
[url]http://seldoncrisis.com/[/url][/QUOTE]

I do have a weakness for giant space battleships. Hope they succeed with their goal on this.
Click to expand...
 
epmode said:
$5350 of $1,000,000 pledged to date. Good work, Internet.
Click to expand...
To be honest, though it looks great, I've spent a fortune on space sims this year. It's a niche, and maybe most of the community feels they've spent enough for now, backing projects who are still in fairly early stages. Still, I might pledge near the end, it seems fantastic.
 
Fairfax said:

Source+Press Release

Trailer
Click to expand...

If this would have shown up in 2012 before Star Citizen, I would have probably backed it. However, after seeing what CIG has done, and also getting to play Elite, you need to really differentiate yourself from those games if you want my attention. Sadly, it just seems like a not-as-good "Me too!" game to Star Citizen, even in the way they are structuring their pledges. I just don't see what this game offers me that SC doesn't.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Space Hauler | Space Sim Announcement Trailer
Trailer VR 
1
159
roosnam1980 replied
We have gone batshit insanes price vs performance in the GPU space.
2 3
137
2K
manfestival replied
  • Featured
Starfox |OT| Copilot.....Do a Barrel roll!
3 4 5 6 7
325
2K
cman replied
Don't you guys have phones? Connect it to big screen
2
82
336
justiceiro replied
If Microsoft never entered the gaming space.
2 3
149
1K
SNG32 replied
Top Bottom