I've checked on the pioneer project occasionally over the course of at least a few years. I was told about it in a forum, maybe even this one, but at one point it wasn't released yet, at another point it still wasn't released yet, and at another point I don't think I properly understood how the game was intended to be played, because I was under the impression that it did not feature newtonian thrust. Well, as I have now discovered, the game actually includes the full orbital mechanics. I am super excited about this! I did fire my weapons immediately and meet the police, and then the second time around I didn't know which way I was pointing, don't know any of the buttons, and only figured out how to look at the maps,, so launched to orbit in the wrong direction,, and then I do need to go and read up on the game to find out how to read the hud and be oriented and such.
I think it's going to be a steep learning curve but overall I'm super stoked. I definitely count as an inexperienced of such players, but between kerbal space program and Flight of Nova I'm getting better at imagining how orbits work and am immediately hoping to spend some time getting some capability within the game. I'm not much of a combatant but will probably spend a lot of time just flying around!
I will visit the rest of the forum later on, as I have to go to work soon, and don't work on a computer....
at another point it still wasn't released yet
Pioneer was released 2008, I think, and for many years we had nightly builds, so I don't know what you mean by "not released". Pioneer will never be finished, development is continuous. Since 4-5 years back, we're aiming (successfully so far) to have a somewhat "stable" release February 3rd every year, with feature freze + bug fix prior to that date. (In reality, releases after that date can of course be more stable, since new bugs will be reported by players of the new build).
I'd recommend playing from latest master branch, as that has the latest features, and bug fixes (and new bugs we want you to find for us). (If you have a github account you can always download pre-built binary install from the github actions page.)
I think it's going to be a steep learning curve but overall I'm super stoked. I definitely count as an inexperienced of such players
We're somewhat suffering from being a clone of Elite II: Frontier, i.e. a game from the 90s, where there were no tutorial modes, and most of our players in the past, knew how to play that game, and thus could seamlessly pick up Pioneer. I'd recommend to check out our wiki, and youtube streams by wkfo (some linked to from our twitter), or keeper1st.
Newtonian physics / (and thus single player) is the cornerstone of pioneer which all else is built on.
With that said, welcome to the game, I we hope you'll enjoy it!
SUGGESTED LINKS:
https://wiki.pioneerspacesim.net/wiki/Manual
https://wiki.pioneerspacesim.net/wiki/Flight_UI
https://wiki.pioneerspacesim.net/wiki/FAQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbFD5Oxc1C9zxqnF4OitGjQ
https://twitter.com/pioneerspacesim/status/1495778048024748038
well,,, I did play this other game one time,, but it did not work the same. It had non-newtonian physics and had a name that reminds.
It is certainly possible that i simply confused them. There is at least one time where I did (i now remember) try the game,, but was not ready for it, and instead was looking for basically drone racing, but as in newtonian space games,, which I still struggle to be satisfied with. There is Fly Dangerous, which has dev options allowing for basically the right controls,, but there's a lot you can't do so easily such as make the right kind of obstacles ... And then I've been playing Kerbal Space Program by making basically drone racing "frames" out of the structure parts, alt+f12ing them to orbit, and then flying around them with a probe that works basically right. That's in some ways the best so far as for realistic space drone racing,, but of course it would be nicer to have a proper FPV racing style game but purposed for space.
anyway in pioneer I've been able to make about 30,000 dollars in the Sol system but don't do any jumps having failed once and not tried since (I jumped of course,, but then I ran out of fuel going somewhere after arriving) .. I don't do any shooting or anything, I basically just try to move around the one system as fast as I can to do surface scan missions.
It's really quite fun so far, and I really love it,,, although I did have a thought. Perhaps I should try a proper suggestion. 2d of the game style has been wildly popular (I want pioneer as is of course) ,, this game is cool but I feel as though a mobile version would have unique benefits,,, for example more people could try it. In this case,, the orbital map would be 2d, and the resulting fewer controls might make mobile work. -- I have recently experienced the conversation that "orbital mechanics are really hard to understand" and I disagree wholeheartedly. It's easy, it's just that the reality is: ,, with the fuel we have available, almost nothing is possible. But in pioneer for example,, it's a different story, and it's easy. Sure, working out a solution for an extreme example of orbital mechanics is hard, but "understanding orbital mechanics" is easy,, and I feel like a pioneer2d would be very interesting for popular conversation.