Which space game to get?

EoinHef

Couldnt think if a better title for the thread but just looking for opinions on which game to get, the games im currently looking at are X:Rebirth, Star Citizen and Elite:Dangerous.

I know there not all released yet but I only wish to get one of them, as id imagine there time intensive and dont wanna spread time over more than one and achieve little in either.

Is there any other games I should be looking at? Has anybody played alpha/beta/full release of them?
I wouldnt mind getting an older game of a similar nature jus to try out, I have never played this genre before. So any recomendations there?
I know the X series has a few older titles I could play but are they too dated?

Useful.Idiot

Freelancer is the king of space sims for me, it's a bit repetitive at times but a great experience overall. Made by the same guy who's behind Star Citizen I believe.

Wossack

since they're not out yet (bar x:rebirth), its all a little moot, right?

second the recommendation for freelancer - I believe its available free now too (legit)

Kiith

X Rebirth is the only one of those out yet, but it's supposed to be buggy as hell. Wait a few weeks, and hopefully Egosoft will fix some of the issues. Star Citizen and Elite are a long ways off yet, though the dogfighting part of Star Citizen is supposed to be out next month. We'll see if it is though.

If you want a proper space game, just get Freespace 2. There's a ton of mods that make it look great, and it's probably the finest example of a space sim you could play. Others will say Xwing / Tie Fighter, but Freespace 2 always edged it for me.

EoinHef

Wossack wrote: »

since they're not out yet (bar x:rebirth), its all a little moot, right?

second the recommendation for freelancer - I believe its available free now too (legit)

Point taken, probably a little early to ask for opinions on the newer titles. I know X:Rebirth is the only of the 3 released but I thought star citizen had a form off early access? I could be wrong.

Also the recomendations for similar games in the genre would be great, as I said never played any of these games so its all new to me.

Cool, ill check out Freelancer and Freespace 2

Wossack

I think the only thing out now for Star Cit is the ship hanger - which I imagine to be similar to the creature generator that preceeded Spore; so not terribly indicative of gameplay unfort!

Speaking of upcomers - EVE:Valkyrie has me pretty wistful!

Skerries

Wossack wrote: »

Speaking of upcomers - EVE:Valkyrie has me pretty wistful!

with Occulus Rift

EoinHef

Quick google suggests both freelancer and freespace 2 have a bunch of mods for each which is always a good thing imo

The subscription fee would put me off Eve Online, is it worth it?

Although probably getting ahead of myself again, should probably play a few games in the genre first

Wossack

eve online would be very different to eve:vk - I doubt it will be sub based, and may even be console only (though who knows at this stage - its being really hyped as a Occulus game, and I didnt think they're console compatible)

Mantel

Another vote for Freespace 2. You can get it easliy from gog.com. If you sign up for the newsletter and wait a bit you'll be able to grab it cheaply in a sale.

If you want the trading aspect then Freelancer could be one way to go. X3: Terran Conflict would be another good choice. I'd wait a few months before taking a serious look at X:Rebirth or at least watch a few of the let's play youtube videos that have come out. You'll get a feel for the game and see if it'll suit you. There are already mods coming out for it to get rid of some of the more annoying aspects of the game, we might see a good improvement in the next month or two via community patches.

I've pledged for both Star Citizen and Elite, they're both quite a bit off from being playable games if your willing to wait. Sure the Alpha for Elite is coming early in the new year but it's an alpha, it's there for finding bugs and making the game better, that's really the only reason to pledge to get alpha access, to help make the end product better for everyone. Star Citizen will be the same whenever the first release is out.

If your willing to wait then both still have pledge options open on their respective sites, Star Citizen seems to be going with a more aggressive campaign, they've got options where you can buy in-game ships, items and ship-insurance if you've got money burning a hole in your pocket.

Potatoeman

EoinHef wrote: »

Quick google suggests both freelancer and freespace 2 have a bunch of mods for each which is always a good thing imo

The subscription fee would put me off Eve Online, is it worth it?

Although probably getting ahead of myself again, should probably play a few games in the genre first

Eve takes a long time to do anything. It can be fun but you spend a lot of time waiting around.
Freelancer is great. I must check the mods, never used any of those.

Dave_The_Sheep

I'd also say that getting X3 - Albion Prelude or X3 - Terran Conflict wouldn't be a bad shot. They haven't aged that much, and if you get some of the scripts and mods that the community has brought out - then they improve the game immensely. They still look pretty damn good too.

If you like space trading, I'd heartily recommend them.

marshbaboon

There's a hd mod for freespace 2. Fs2 open I think it's called. Makes it look like a modern game. The gameplay needs no updating, it's still as awesome as it ever was.

EoinHef

@wossack
Just had a quick look at a Eve:VK trailer there,id say that is quality with a OR. Talk about immersion!

@Mantel
Thanks man, just checked there on gog and freespace 2 is $10,held its value pretty well considering its age!! Ill do as you suggested and wait for a sale,it seems to have a bit of dlc aswell so ill wait till its all on sale.
Ill also follow your advise and wait a bit on decideing which of the new ones to get.
Ill pick up freelancer for free for the moment and see how I get on amd try freespace when it goes on sale, which will help fill the gap to release of the others and can make a decision then.

EoinHef

Potatoeman wrote: »

Eve takes a long time to do anything. It can be fun but you spend a lot of time waiting around.
Freelancer is great. I must check the mods, never used any of those.

The site with the mods and info for Freelancer I was looking at was www.the-starport.net.
Still seems theres an active community around it:)


Anybody an idea where I can pick up freelancer for free or a minimal fee?
I see its a microsoft game, hopefully no windows live messin!!!

EoinHef

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

I'd also say that getting X3 - Albion Prelude or X3 - Terran Conflict wouldn't be a bad shot. They haven't aged that much, and if you get some of the scripts and mods that the community has brought out - then they improve the game immensely. They still look pretty damn good too.

If you like space trading, I'd heartily recommend them.

Thanks man, ill add them to my wishlist on a few sites and see if I can get them for a good price. I love games that support mods, one of the best thing about pc gaming ive found

Wossack

had a quick check and looks like I was incorrect in my previous post about thinking it was available free online (I was almost certain!) - sorry bout that

EoinHef

Wossack wrote: »

had a quick check and looks like I was incorrect in my previous post about thinking it was available free online (I was almost certain!) - sorry bout that

No worries man, all the info ive got here has been helpful. Had a dig around and it seems it may be quite a hard game to get, gog have it on there community wishlist but not on the site. There seems to be a few illegitimate ways to get it but id rather a legit copy. Ill have more of a dig around after work later to see if I can find it anywhere. Physical copies are available(amazon, ebay) but id be a bit worried it might have issues with windows 7 being supported

returnNull

Wossack wrote: »

since they're not out yet (bar x:rebirth), its all a little moot, right?

second the recommendation for freelancer - I believe its available free now too (legit)

is it? do you have a link? lost my disc of it years ago....

returnNull

Wossack wrote: »

had a quick check and looks like I was incorrect in my previous post about thinking it was available free online (I was almost certain!) - sorry bout that

AH bollox

EoinHef

Cant find Freelancer anywhere:(

So its either Freesapce 2 on GoG for about €14 with all its DLC or X3:Terran War Pack (Includes Terran Assault and Albion Prelude) on steam for €20.

Im leaning towards Freespace 2 at the moment and maybe pick up the X3 pack in the steam sale whenever it is.
Good choice or go Straight to X3?

Thanks for the info lads, know nothing about this genre:(


EDIT:Actually nvm, quick scan through a few reviews online and Freespace 2 it is and ill mod the crap out of it!

Moon54

+1 on X3: Albion Prelude (or X3: Terran Conflict).

I've just started playing it and it's actually a very cool game.
A lot of space trading early on with the Humble Merchant start, but it's a good way to get into the X Universe.
As you get further in the trading can be automated and that frees you up for lots of pew-pew.

If you want to go straight to space combat you can pick other start points, like the Bankrupt Assassin start.

Check out CdrDave's beginners guide to see if you'll like it;
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2BC4835802365FF1

CrazyRabbit

Whatever you do, don't get X:Rebirth. It's not a game. It's a pre-alpha demo of something that may possibly become a real game after a year of patches.

Skerries

Wossack wrote: »

had a quick check and looks like I was incorrect in my previous post about thinking it was available free online (I was almost certain!) - sorry bout that

no you're right it used to be free at one stage but looks like they have commercialised it again

Friend Computer

I'll mention but won't recommend two games I've seen come up in threads like this: Oolite and Evochron Mercenary.

The former is, as the name suggests, an object-oriented implementation of the classic Elite or is at least heavily inspired by it. The graphics are pretty basic but people still talk about Elite's scope and it's gameplay so it may be worth looking into.

Evochron Mercenary is, I believe, quite an open game but more heavily mission based than its predecessors. I've briefly played it and it controls... okay. It's not quite as clunky as X but, if memory served, was a little finicky.

Lastly, someone mentioned a "HD mod" for Freespace 2 and "open". They're probably talking about the Freespace 2 Source Code Project which is a group of people maintaining and updating FS2. There's also a number of mods for it, including Freespace 1's campaign in the FS2 engine.

Beyond those I'd agree with others saying X. Personally, going from X2 to X3, I found the latter a lot more complicated but that might be your thing or it might not bother you too much. There's a wealth of mods, though and the game can be richly rewarding if you get into it.

EoinHef

Moon54 wrote: »

+1 on X3: Albion Prelude (or X3: Terran Conflict).

I've just started playing it and it's actually a very cool game.
A lot of space trading early on with the Humble Merchant start, but it's a good way to get into the X Universe.
As you get further in the trading can be automated and that frees you up for lots of pew-pew.

If you want to go straight to space combat you can pick other start points, like the Bankrupt Assassin start.

Check out CdrDave's beginners guide to see if you'll like it;
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2BC4835802365FF1

Just watched a few videos there,after seeing how complicated this game can be im sure these videos will come in handy,thanks

EoinHef

Skerries wrote: »

no you're right it used to be free at one stage but looks like they have commercialised it again

Yeah seems like a few people on that starport site were trying to get it viewed as abandon ware so could be freely distributed but someone else obviously disagreed.......microsoft maybe? Wouldn surprise me:(

EoinHef

Friend Computer wrote: »

I'll mention but won't recommend two games I've seen come up in threads like this: Oolite and Evochron Mercenary.

The former is, as the name suggests, an object-oriented implementation of the classic Elite or is at least heavily inspired by it. The graphics are pretty basic but people still talk about Elite's scope and it's gameplay so it may be worth looking into.

Evochron Mercenary is, I believe, quite an open game but more heavily mission based than its predecessors. I've briefly played it and it controls... okay. It's not quite as clunky as X but, if memory served, was a little finicky.

Lastly, someone mentioned a "HD mod" for Freespace 2 and "open". They're probably talking about the Freespace 2 Source Code Project which is a group of people maintaining and updating FS2. There's also a number of mods for it, including Freespace 1's campaign in the FS2 engine.

Beyond those I'd agree with others saying X. Personally, going from X2 to X3, I found the latter a lot more complicated but that might be your thing or it might not bother you too much. There's a wealth of mods, though and the game can be richly rewarding if you get into it.

Thanks for information,i shall have a look at the two you mentioned. Scope is one of the reasons i would like to try this genre,to many games are so linear these days. Full of set-piece scripted action,id rather it happened naturally if you know what i mean.

Great,sounds like the source code site is the place to look for freespace related content,thanks. Be handy to have all the knowledge base in one place

Im going to go ahead and purchase Freespace 2 on GOG.com for now,i made a mistake,its actually $9.99 on there,the dlc was for Freespace 1.
Might be a good place to start,and gonna put the X3:Terran War Pack on my steam wishlist and hopefully see a reduction some time soon and ill grab it.

Everywhere i look Freespace 2 has got absolutely rave reviews so figured as good a place to start as any

Also ill have a look at the two games you mentioned

Cheers

Kiith

You won't regret it. $10 is an absolute bargain for the game, even after all these years. Once updated with F2O, it even looks great. Fantastic campaign, and it will keep you busy for ages. Definitely recommend using a joystick if you have one, but mouse and keyboard are fine as well.

There are some fantastic fan made campaigns available for it. Blue Planet in particular is a continuation of the story, set after Freespace 2 (beware of spoilers when reading about some campaigns though)
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Campaign_List

Also, there are some great total conversion for it, such as the Battlestar Galactica mod (Diaspora or Beyond the Red Line), or the Babylon project.
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Total_conversions

God damn...i'm reinstalling this and seeing if it works on my laptop later

EoinHef

Kiith wrote: »

You won't regret it. $10 is an absolute bargain for the game, even after all these years. Once updated with F2O, it even looks great. Fantastic campaign, and it will keep you busy for ages. Definitely recommend using a joystick if you have one, but mouse and keyboard are fine as well.

There are some fantastic fan made campaigns available for it. Blue Planet in particular is a continuation of the story, set after Freespace 2 (beware of spoilers when reading about some campaigns though)
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Campaign_List

Also, there are some great total conversion for it, such as the Battlestar Galactica mod (Diaspora or Beyond the Red Line), or the Babylon project.
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Total_conversions

God damn...i'm reinstalling this and seeing if it works on my laptop later

Ive watched the intro in all its original glory and then stopped to get all the F2O info,and install it just to get a comparison. As someone who just played The Secrets of Monkey Island 2 in original graphics mode i do appreciate a bit of nostalgia:)


$10's does seem like so little(€7.87),seen as literally everywhere i checked had this game at above 9/10,90%,9/10 gold stars or whatever:)

Just have to figure out how to get F2O installed

Kiith

This is your best bet for installing it. I used this last time, and it worked perfectly. Some of it might seem tough enough, but just follow the steps and it's actually pretty easy.

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Installing_FreeSpace_2_Open

Wossack

EoinHef wrote: »

Yeah seems like a few people on that starport site were trying to get it viewed as abandon ware so could be freely distributed but someone else obviously disagreed.......microsoft maybe? Wouldn surprise me:(

surprisingly, I think I recall downloading it from a microsoft site

EoinHef

Thats actually the one i was looking at,reckon ill be ok. Looking forward to this now:D

GarH

There's always Tachyon: The Fringe. Starring Bruce 'The Chin' Campbell.
A bit old, but not a bad game.

And +1,000,000 on Freespace 2.

Now if only someone would release new, updated versions of XWing and Tie Fighter.

EDIT: I forgot to mention (and I'm surprised nobody else did) but Independance War 2 is an epic space game

Wossack

Wossack wrote: »

surprisingly, I think I recall downloading it from a microsoft site

Hmm, I wonder if Im confusing it with 'Allegiance' actually.. sorry, am all over the shop lol. Its old old old, and was released under common license by microsoft

Actually, another game I quite enjoyed - though not on the same level as games mentioned, is 'DarkStar One'. Tis relatively new too (2008), so maybe more easily sourced

Venom

Considering how the game industry loves sequels it's a crime the Freespace franchise was allowed to fade away

I'v always liked the X games but as others have said it tends to be best to wait a while for them to be patched up a bit first.

Star citizen looks just to good to be true but maybe the gaming gods will favor us this time.