List of Current Space Sim / Space 4x Games

[sabre1]

I am in the mood for some space sims / space empire games. I would appreciate a list from the guys here of the most current, and worth playing games out.

I currently own Gal Civ 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Swords of the Stars / Born of the Blood. I picked up Space Rangers 2 Complete for $4.00. It's alright, but something is missing that is not drawing me in.

I am curious about Matrix's offerings, games like X3: Terran Conflict, or anything else you would recommend.

Thanks for the help.

[JudgeDredd]

X3 Terran Conflict...I've bought it but haven't played as yet.
 
I did, however, play X3 Reunion and the game was quite good...once you worked out what to do. There's plenty in it......thousands of hours of gameplay. You can jump in and out of the plot anytime you like....the plot will wait for you if you want to build your empire, be that through trading, piracy, policing the system or a number of other optional careers.
 
Buyer beware though....it took me months to actually grasp the "point" of X3 Reunion....and the point is...whatever you make it. Also, it can be very very tough to get into...finding out what to do. Also, alot of people might get bored with the repetitiveness of it.

[sabre1]

Thanks JD.  I will check it out and let you know what I pick up. 

[Lützow]

Space Empires V is unmatched in terms of 4x strategy. KI may have it's weak points but the deep level of detail makes up for this. Regarding micromagement and game pace it's sorta WitP in space.

For space operas I'd suggest EvE Online. More details and longevity than every single player title.

[hadberz]

I been thinking of getting X3. I wonder how the mouse controls are for controlling ships. I'm not a big fan of joysticks or gamepads. Right now X3 really cheap on Steam.

Yeah Eve is a great game. That reminds me I need to check my skills.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: sabre1
I am curious about Matrix's offerings

Starships Unlimited v3 is an oldie but a goodie. Every time I play it I get caught again for a while.

[sabre1]

Lutzow, what is "KI"?  I read that Space Empires V was buggy, and IV was the one to own?  Eve looks great, but I'm not sure I want to pay monthly for the privelege of playing.  The world of X3, being so large is interesting. 
 
Erik, thank you, I had forgotten about Starship Unlimited.  The price is right, and I can give it a go.  I will report back on how I like it.   
 
So is anyone going to chime in about Starshatter? 
 
BTW Erik, JD, everyone, Happy New Year!  May Matrix and everyone on this board have a great one.

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: hadberz

I been thinking of getting X3. I wonder how the mouse controls are for controlling ships. I'm not a big fan of joysticks or gamepads. Right now X3 really cheap on Steam.

The mouse/keyboard is just fine, it's actually my weapon of choice for most space sims despite having a HOTAS set-up if I choose to use it. X3 TC is an excellent game, as is Reunion; you are unlikely to need both but if you are buying off Steam you might as well get them. Two more great games are Evochron Renegades and Arvoch Conflict from Starwraith. In some ways the fact it's a one-man indie band shows, but the actual combat element is IMHO the best ever in the genre. Try the demos. I'd also recommend Spaceforce: Rogue Universe if you can find it cheap (which you will), opinions are mixed on it but I think it's a great game.

On the 4X side you already have the best two I've played in Galciv 2 and SotS, although make sure you have all the expansions; all are well worth the money.

[Lützow]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

Lutzow, what is "KI"?  I read that Space Empires V was buggy, and IV was the one to own?  Eve looks great, but I'm not sure I want to pay monthly for the privelege of playing.  The world of X3, being so large is interesting. 

Sorry, my bad. 'KI' is just the German paraphrase for artifical intelligence (AI).

Regarding SEV I'd recommend to at least peek into the demo before making up your mind. It really beats everything from Stardock in terms of depth.

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

I am curious about Matrix's offerings

Starshatter 5: The Gathering Storm

This is what I can tell you about it: it's mostly updated version of the previous title, Starshatter 4: The Ultimate Space Combat. Owners of that used to get discount for the SS5. Anyways both games are military stuff all the way: player is space fleet officer, NOT merchant trading squirrel skins. At the core, game is simulation, but it also has light weight strategy/tactical elements on it.

Player starts first dynamical campaign as fighter pilot. When player has enough missions behind, he can ask transfer for bigger ships. Big ships (like fighters) operate in groups, and player can command other ships (or fighters) of his group: go there, escort this, attack that... Nav points are available, and player can create and move them around. Highest possible position is command of carrier, which offers greatest amount of tactical/strategic elements: full command of all friendly ships in the solar system, which includes planning of fighter missions. Game elements include space and planets. There are TO&Es for both enemies & friendlies: when player gets his ship shot from under him, that is one ship less to continue the campaign! So when odds are really against you, like 8 enemy fighters against you and your 1 wingman, it is often best turn around, hit afterburner, and call for help.

Game's Matrix page
Starshatter home page (demo available)

[sabre1]

Matti,
 
Do you like Starshatter? 
 
Hertston, I do have Born of the Blood, are you recommending I pick up Muder of Crows?
 
I am certainly glad I'm not the only one who delves into other genres every now and then.
 
So for space combat:
 
1. Arvoch Conflict
2. Evochron Renegade
3. Star Shatterer 5
4. Space Force Rogue Universe
 
Space Squirrel Skins:
 
1. X3: Terran Conflict
 
Space 4x Games:
 
1. Space Empires 5
2. Starship Unilmited V3
3. Sword of the Stars: Muder of Crows (I have the other two)
 
Starship Unlimited is a no brainer, not expensive and it supports my favorite game company thank you very much.
 
In terms of space flight sims, I'm still on the fence as to what to get.  I love building ships and equipping them with all the greatest flash bang stuff, and eventually becoming unstoppable, like in the old Wing Commander series where you kept getting bettert ships, great mindless fun after a difficult day at work.  I don't like a lot of graphic violence, just cool weapons that blow up ships.  I don't like seeing body parts flying around.  A plot line where you rise through the ranks based on skill is a fun diversion from DOTD: Kharkov.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

[hadberz]

Thanks Hertston, X3 mouse works great. Can't wait to build my empire

sabre1 you might like Freelancer, I believe it was made by the man who created Wing Commander. Another great space flight sim is FreeSpace

[cdbeck]

I enjoy X3, like JD, bought Terran Conflict and have yet to really get into it (backlog you know). The mouse control is great (I prefer it this way as well), although it takes a bit of a computer to run it super well. You can do nearly anything in this game, build a trade empire, buy/own/operate space stations, go to war, buy large warships, own an armada, etc. It is a lifetime game, like WitP, as you don't ever finish it.

I really enjoy Starships Unlimited. It is old school and a tad simplistic, but has lots of charm and works rather fast. It will suck you in as you play.

SotS is the one of the finest, IMHO, of 4X space games, particularly if you want lots of combat. One should get Gold if they have the choice, as the stock game is inferior to Stock + Born of Blood (BoB). I have not gotten to really put tons of time into A Murder of Crows (AMoC) but what I have done really looks wonderful. The game is much more complex now that its relatively shallow wargame focus in stock release. AMoC + BoB has all sorts of additions, diplomacy, trade, cultural domination, fighters/carriers, six races that play completely different from one another (each is very unique, has certain weaknesses and strengths, different propulsion, and different random tech trees). The random events are huge show stoppers in many cases.

I love the Gal Civ series as well. Much more like Civ and very challenging.

SoM

[Erik Rutins]

Son of Montfort, please replace your political avatar with something else. Thanks.

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

Matti,

Do you like Starshatter?

At some point I played it like crazy, maybe becouse I just got fed up of Star Wars games (TIE Fighter & X-Wing Alliance) and Freespace 2 missed that something that creates urge to find all the fan made missions & mods... Anyways Starshatter has lots of features that I had hoped space sim to have: (nearly) realistic physics, dynamic campaigns, complete freedom with missions, where preservation of own resources may exceed assigned objective... + it's easily moddable and there are many mods available. And there is that playable demo, titled as Starshatter 3.9.4, which is demo of Starshatter 4.x (restricted beta was 3.8.x, and it became 4.x)

Space Squirrel Skins:

1. X3: Terran Conflict

OMG! [X(] [:D]
That gave me best laugh of the day!

[JudgeDredd]

What is "space squirrel skins"?

[noxious]

Sabre1, do you know if the demo for starship unlimited on apezone's site a demo for the latest, or for divided galaxies (su2) ?
Also, is Matrix version upgradeable to the latest 3.5 version that is available from Apezone directly ?
Curious, as there doesn't seem to any patches for startship unlimited matrix edition.
TIA

[sabre1]

JD,
 
Matti made reference to squirrel skins in his post, I just added the "space" to it.
 
Noxious, I'm don't know.  Probably a good question for Erik.
 
Dang, I was just getting ready to download Starship Unlimited.  Now I have to wait until Erik clears up the version issue. [:)]
 
 

[JudgeDredd]

So squirrell skins...? What does it mean?

[sabre1]

LOL, I will let Matti field that one.