I've been playing space sims for a quite a while now (first was elite for the c64) and it seems to me that after a certain point as most things got better the core flying/fighting bits got ignored. So I was wondering if maybe someone here could point me in the right direction, either to a game or a set of mods to help.
Looking for elite style open explore and advance 3d in cockpit gameplay, no rts, top down or linear mission games.
Now, here's the big issues.
Missiles.
I am SO tired of ships carrying 5000000000 missiles that do less damage than my lasers. Where am I carrying these things, and if the damage is that bad why even bother? So Hardpoints would be nice, not just for missiles but everything really. I'm a big battletech fan and I like the idea of ships being different because they're capable of different loadouts. Capital killing torpedoes for bombers but no one else, can carry 4 because that how many fit under the wing, only this ship can use ion cannons because of it's unique reactor, that kind of thing.
AI
No cheesy insta spawing track you anywhere enemies like in freelancer. Oh yeah its a patrol.. right, one that happens to be "patrolling" wherever I happen to be. Again this is a battletech thing. I like the idea of using tactics in battle. Note good ambush/hiding places like asteroids, power down my ship so scanners can't see me etc. Sadly I have never found a game where you could do that kind of thing, due to the DOOM style omniscient follow the blinking dot AI these games use. Same goes for the routines most games use for smuggling, piracy, laws etc. Most are cheesy cheap shot gotcha tactics that really defeat the point and require/allow for no thought or planning.
Less Bigger is Better mentality.
Almost all these games I've played use the linear upgrade path for weapons and ships. There's no point in the lesser stuff other than it's cheaper. I'd like to see a balanced spread of weapons and ships where each suited its purpose. The closest I can relate is Quake 1. Every weapon is usable, all are deadly, each has a unique style of play associated with it. Just because you get the rocket launcher does not mean your invincible. This is important for fun in my opinion but also for longevity of play, in the linear path once you have the best there's no point in going on but senseless mayhem.
There's others but those are the big ones. So if you can point me in a direction that leads away from those three I'd be in your debt.
Thanks
Jack.
Jack
Would be helpful to know what more recent games you already have tried since Elite 😉
Fair enough, fair enough. Should have tacked that on to begin with.
ok in no particular order,
Darkstar One, I tried to get into this one but when I updated it to allow mods, it refused to play nice with my 8800. tried a bunch of fixes nothing worked, gave up and uninstalled.
Battlecruiser (et al) yeah..... I'm not sure what to say about this one. Suffice that its not what I'm looking for.
Freelancer, I really want to like this game but it suffers from all the things on the list.
Parkan I & II, never could get a feel for these, mostly seems a lost in translation thing.
Privateer I & II, these are close, especially privateer I. Aside from the small, somewhat dull universe these games mostly just suffer from horrible AI.
Evochron series, Don't care for the flight model or combat. Other than that ok I guess; but nothing that really draws me in.
Vega Strike, too buggy and lately (the last four years or so) the developers seem more interested in making it shiny than making it play well. ugh. Every post in the dev logs these days is shader this and fmv that. who cares.
X 1, 2, & 3, Decent games, the first had the best gameplay, second had a great cockpit and overall interface, 3 is mostly just eye candy to me. Suffers from cheap AI, too easy to exploit, and horrible balance issues. tried many mods but most seem to just try making it harder while sticking to the same Bigger is Better junk of the original.
Xcom interceptor, cheesy good stuff but not the style of play I'm looking for. funny though.
Ad Astra, another game I want to like but is just not finished enough yet to really draw me in.
Terminus, not bad. It's has definite merit but is a tad to sparse for me, kills the exploration part.
Xenocracy, hmmm been so long since I've played it I really don't remember much about it honestly.
Hardwar, a friend got this for me yesterday. So I haven't got to try it as yet but it's on the todo list as soon as its installed.
I have lots of other space games (mostly older stuff, lots of dos based. darkstar or parkan ii is the newest I think) but none that really hit that 3d elite model I'm looking for besides these.
Thats hard. I'am looking for such a space sim very long.
If it comes to challanging combat and interesting tactics than I-War 2 could be to your liking. You have many tactic options there, like power down your reactor core and deactivate your active sensor to be less visible for the enemy sensors, and stuff like that. But the fly model is newtonian and very hard. And you have to play a pirate, but the gameplay is quite open.
Than maybe you like Tachyon. It is not completely open like privateer, but you choose on which side you fight and which missions you take. The combat is also not only run and gun, you have to use your skill and tactics.
Don't forget to check the Privateer Gemini Gold remake of the original Privateer if you liked the game.
Hmm... i can't think of more games with the mentionend features right now. Sad...
I've been wanting to try I-War 2, but I think I'll be waiting for another really good stick setup first. 😉 I liked the flight model in the original I-War, took some getting used to but it was worth it for the cool tricks you could pull off.
I have Tachyon it is nice but .... it's still mission based, and I really play more for the exploration. (I just hate it when bad combat ruins the exploration.)
Privateer Gemini Gold, I have that, it's a good remake. Though I always remove the civilian ai for looping because it can make those bloody talons circle you infinitely, to the point where it's physically impossible to shoot them on some pc's. My two biggest gripes with it, remake wise, are the reduced damage on missiles; (about 1/10th original. Sigh again, why do people insist on gimping missiles, one hit kills is what they're for. Limit quantity carried not power.) and the dynamic difficulty based on money, which basically means every pilot is uber elite by the time you're half way through the main plot. Though the missile damage is easy to edit the dynamic difficulty is... trickier.
What I'd really like is something with a low-tech level, mostly projectile weapons instead of energy, no shields except on massive ships and other such things, but i don't think one exists.
If you liked the orignial I-War combat than i defenitely recommend you I-War 2, cause its basically the privateer version of I-War. And there are some nice mods out there for this game. But of course you need a good joystick for that game.
After reading through the posts I noticed no one mentioned Oolite (tons of cool oxp add-ons), FFE3D (still needs finishing though, but playable) or (given enough time once its finished) Pioneer.
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