pc space games

itchy elbows

Just wondering if anyone can recommend any good space games for pc, where u have ti scan planets and stuff like that.

Genghiz Cohen

THE Space game.

Be sure to get the mod that allows you to play the FS1 campaign. Just finished it myself.

gizmo

The X series are what immediately spring to mind anyway.

EDIT: The Freepsace games, as Genghiz Cohen points out, are absolutely fantastic, one of my fave series ever. The OP does sound like he's more interested in an open-ended trading type game though which is why I'd recommend X first.

SeantheMan

itchy elbows wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone can recommend any good space games for pc, where u have ti scan planets and stuff like that.

Mass Effect 2 - LOTS of planet scanning !

Krusader

SeantheMan wrote: »

Mass Effect 2 - LOTS of planet scanning !

Oh how i hated that, the OCD in me couldn't let me leave a system without scanning every single planet in it

Wossack

Its old, but Freelancer is great - really reminded me of Elite believe its available for free these days too (legitimately)


Couple of MMO's maybe too.. Star Trek Online (f2p), EVE Online (not), Black Prophecy (f2p too, but bit rubbish :P)..

Kiith

From your description, i'd recommend the X series as well. It's an open ended, trade/fight/space sim with huge depth. Really massive games, and they look amazing. Can be tough to get into though.

Freespace 2 is the pinacle of space combat games though. With the extensive mods available today, it still looks brilliant, and is an absolute blast to play. There are also some player made campaigns to continue the story, which are also excellent.

AnCapaillMor

Homeworld 2, its old now but there was so many mods out for it, it was an RTS, sins of a solar empire would be worth checking out too and again it's got a ridiculous amount of mods, the star trek and star wars mod were actually better than the game itself.

itchy elbows

Yea that's what I'm after, doesn't have to be all about graphics, just good game play. Cheers

itchy elbows

ha ha have that on 360, not really after that type of game play.

MajorMax

I loved Star trek Armada. Space sim for dummies

danthefan

Sins of a Solar Empire is a really good space RTS.

5uspect

Keep an eye on Notch's new project:
http://0x10c.com/

Canis Lupus

Freespace 1 and 2 for fast paced action. Get the mods that make it looks prettier. Simply THE best space shooter there is.

Eve Online as an MMO. Steep and near horrendous learning curve.

X2 or probably better X3 for an offline version (almost) of Eve. Again rotten learning curve and slow to build up steam but if you make it past the hump be prepared to lose days as you set up your own empire. Truly great game. EDIT: Requires a fairly hefty machine.

5uspect

What ever happened to the BSG inspired Beyond the Red Line mod for FS2? The demo was pretty impressive.

Kiith

5uspect wrote: »

What ever happened to the BSG inspired Beyond the Red Line mod for FS2? The demo was pretty impressive.

It's been dead for a good while now iirc.

sarumite

Maybe not exactly what you are looking for, but I really enjoyed Freelancer. I played it again in '09 and it was still a lot of fun.

jcrowbar

If you're on a Mac or iOS, Galaxy on Fire 2 is also well worth a look.

Dermighty

Eve Online.

/thread

NeonTool

Hi there,

You mention that you would like a game where you can "scan planets". The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of that is Spore

Jokes aside, I do have a lot of interest in space sims, and besides the great suggestions made by the other guys so far, I can add the following to the list:

Pioneer - http://pioneerspacesim.net/

"Pioneer is a space adventure game set in the milkyway galaxy at the turn of the 31st century.

The game is open-ended, and you are free to explore the millions of star systems in the game. You can land on planets, slingshot past gas giants, and burn yourself to a crisp flying between binary star systems."

The best thing about this one: the description is actually true! You can land on planets and the game feels very different from other space sims as it relies on Newtonian physics rather than a simplistic physics model. It might need a bit of perseverance at the beginning while you're learning but the reward is great. To top it all it's freeware and updates are released on a regular basis.

Ad Astra - http://www.a-astra.com/

"Ad Astra is an open-ended space exploration game which has attempted to model a Galaxy of over 110,000 real stars based on the 1997 Hipparcos Star Catalogue. The application supports fractal planets, procedural flora and fauna with uninterrupted game play whilst within a particular solar system."

This one is also a freeware and it also allows you to land on planets. A cool thing about it is that, just as the description mentions, it creates flora and fauna in a procedural way, making every planet look different. Just as an example you can actually see flying creatures around you while coming down to land on a planetary base!

Evochron Mercenary - http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmercenary/index.htm

"Trading commodities while sneaking past hostile forces, racing the best pilots in the area, mining for diamonds, negotiating for survival, spying for a curious energy company, cleaning dirty solar arrays, transporting an impatient passenger... and that's just on a Monday. The life of an independent mercenary is rarely without excitement. At times, you may choose to work under contract, while at others, you may want to take matters into your own hands in a quest to build your reputation and fortune. Your spacecraft awaits. Your adventure begins in the Sapphire solar system."

This one is the last in a series of indie games and costs 24.93€. Like the other games, it also allows you to land on planets and has a great multiplayer component. In case you're interested you can download a demo and see for yourself if you're willing to pay for it. It's a one-guy project and he's constantly improving his games taking into consideration feedback from the community, so it's money well-spent.

Enjoy!

KilOit

5uspect wrote: »

Keep an eye on Notch's new project:
http://0x10c.com/

Yeah check back in 5 years

Sephiroth_dude

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Homeworld 2, its old now but there was so many mods out for it, it was an RTS, sins of a solar empire would be worth checking out too and again it's got a ridiculous amount of mods, the star trek and star wars mod were actually better than the game itself.

whats the starwars mod like?

K.O.Kiki

Wait for FTL?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/64409699/ftl-faster-than-light?ref=category

Zillah

If you are mildly autistic you will absolutely love scanning, probing, mining, trading things in Eve.

It takes a sort of thick skin though...

Krusader

Star Ruler is going cheap on GMG
http://www.greenmangaming.co.uk/games/strategy/star-ruler/

AnCapaillMor

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

whats the starwars mod like?

HW2 one was alright but the sins of a solar empire mod was epic the last time i checked, there was empire, trade federation, old republic and rebels and every class of star wars spaceship you could think of, even had the golan defense platforms\eclipse, there was even talk of a yuuzhan vong faction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE0bvAv6hs

itchy elbows

Zillah wrote: »

If you are mildly autistic you will absolutely love scanning, probing, mining, trading things in Eve.

It takes a sort of thick skin though...

Oh iv played eve got bored with it after a month as there's just so much to do before you even.get started.

JohnMarston

I second Mass Effect 2. In hindsight think about what you're doing.

You're pillaging the galaxy of all their resources, and no one tries to stop you

Sephiroth_dude

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

HW2 one was alright but the sins of a solar empire mod was epic the last time i checked, there was empire, trade federation, old republic and rebels and every class of star wars spaceship you could think of, even had the golan defense platforms\eclipse, there was even talk of a yuuzhan vong faction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE0bvAv6hs

thats epic looking....where can I download it?

CrazyRabbit

Dermighty wrote: »

Eve Online.

/thread

So long as you don't mind the sharp learning curve, or the absolutely massive amount of time it takes to level up skills. If I recall correctly, someone told me it would take 100+ real life years to level everything to max.

It's also a very repetitive game...but good for the first 40 hours.

Procrastastudy

Battlestar Galatica Online. Kinda good for a browser based MMO

EDIT: I still play frontier on an Amiga Emulator - some of the retuxuring done on First Encounters in amazing also!