Hi there !
I have been looking for a good space sim to play lately. **SINGLEPLAYER** And binge watching Firefly and Serenity sure has increased my urge ! 😀
Criteria:
1) Free roam
2) Without a steep learning curve (although i am flexible)
3) Living sort of universe with lots of traffic, space stations, random events, interactive NPCs, player / NPCs actions influencing the game and such
4) Different sectors to explore
5) Variety of ships to fly (classes)
6) different things to do (Trading, Freelance merc, Security, Pirates, treasure hunting ?!)
7) Planetary landing is a thing now, but hey, i know i cannot ask for it all ! XD
I have really enjoyed Freelancer. It is just an amazing game with an amazing scope if it were made with today's technology !
I've not gotten around to playing Elite:Dangerous, but the gameplay looks quite promising. I really like the part where you have to manually land your vessel on space stations. Very detailed interface.
X:Rebirth is a game i had been waiting for a long time to play! but the game is so poorly optimized, it just runs poorly on my machine (Not that i have a monster rig or anything 😛 ). I did give X:Rebirth a try though, and i found it quite good as much as i played, although i found the combat to be a bit tricky.
Star Citizen looks to be quite promising, and i would love to try it out if possible !
I am looking for some modern day games with decent graphics, although it is not much of a concern if the game has all the criteria i mentioned above.
Games still in development and worth waiting for are also welcome !
Thanks !
Hi hypn0tist,
There are a lot of games that can fit your requirements, but no one will shine in all your points, but more in ones and less in others. Because you don't seem to require a high quality of space 'combat' in particular, but more exploration and variety of ships and sectors, I will recommend you 2 titles with different budgets:
- No Man's Sky (65$)
- Rebel Galaxy (20$)
Both games have a procedurally generated world, No Man's Sky is shining for your points 1,4,5,7, especially the planet landscapes and general artwork, while the other points are also included but not focused on, except you can do base buildings and farming which will take you occupied for quite a while. The game focuses clearly on Exploration and has currently the biggest galaxy to explore. While mostly free roaming is in the centre, there are also quests to achieve both in exploring, building and unlocking interesting ships to fly. There is a trading system but not very elaborated at the moment. Space combat is simplified compared to other concurent titles like Elite Dangerous or Evochron series, you will confront pirates and eventually observe individual battles involving big freighters (which you can own and land on).
Rebel Galaxy has also these features but - as the budget says - with a much smaller scope, but still interesting. It has a 2D control for ships in a 3D procedurally generated world including most of your points above, but no one shining in particular.
Both games are rather recently released games, single-player games, full games and not beta or pre-releases.
Of course there are plenty other such games, take a look at the 'Space/SciFi combat...discussion' section. I almost would have recommended you Evochron Legacy, but this game focuses on space combat which is one of the most demanding and difficult you can find in a space game, and a requirement that you left off; else it has all your points above, but it is not procedurally generated (except the planets which you also can land on).
Cheers,
XenonS
Hey there,
Thank you for commenting XenonS !
The thing is, i have played bot the games you have mentioned above, and both of them do not interest me.
No Man's Sky was fun the first hour, but then it kind of became repetitive as there is no ongoing story to it. It is like playing Skyrim without the story or any of the side quests. Sorry !
Rebel Galaxy somehow did not capture my attention for some reason, just did not feel right, probably because of the 2D control.
I am kind of looking for something that is a mixture of Freelancer, X series, and E:D i guess ....
Cheers !
The mixture you want probably doesn't exist yet, you will have to wait for Star Citizen, but it will mainly be a multiplayer game. As for No Man's Sky: With the recent update (see my post in its section), a 'lot' has been added since the rather poor start, so you may want to look again for it, but yes, it has no main story line to follow.
A good pre-release, but with a lot of building content (I don't know how you take this) is Empyrion Galactic Survival, you can land, explore planets in a big procedural world in FPS and 3D.
XenonS
Hmmm .... maybe i will checkout No Man's Sky again then.
For me, i really need an aim in a game. Something to drive me forward and get me hooked up.
Skyrim does that too well what with the main story line, side quests and stuff. Sometimes it can be overwhelming
Mass Effect series and Freelancer did that in a very balanced manner !
I think i'll just have to wait for something that i am looking for. quite a lot of Space sims under development now. : Good times seem to be upon us, in the future!
Cheers!
The Wing Commander series have a very good storyline, but such a playing style contradicts free roaming...you will have to follow the story - and the series of missions.
XenonS
Try everspace...for the moment is early access but it should be on final release very soon.
Seems a very good space sim inspired by old glories like wing commander.
If you are looking for a budget game try the battle for sol.