I remember playing a demo of Starlancer a long time ago... anyone know how to get ahold of it these days? Can't remember a whole lot, other than a pair of capital ships trading torpedoes, with me and my wingmen trying to shoot them down....
I don't rate freelancer so much, the story is ok, and there's a lot of nice little features, but it's pretty shallow in gameplay terms, especially when compared to the genre heavyweights, such as TIE fighter.
Anyone interested in looking for the old X-Wing series might be interested to know that they were re-released as the X-Wing collectors series a while back, upgraded to run on the X-Wing VS TIE Fighter engine... I think it was for windows 95/98, but I'm not sure.

My vote goes for Tie Fighter (the original version with VESA capability, *not* the one using the XWvTF engine).
Kudos to Clint Bajakian and the LucasArts iMuse folks for the soundtracks. Many of the musical pieces had tie-in points for seemlessly adapting the running music based on events in-mission. The original X-Wing did this to: you' d hear a bar from the rebel anthem seemlessly inserted into the running music when a wingman bough it.

I second that. I managed to track down a copy recently, having heard how good it was. I must say, it is absolutely brilliant. I would go as far to say it's one of my favourite elite-esque games.

Hardwar was a game I forgot to mention.... That was great, and, as with Starlancer, I've got to ask, anyone know if copies are still circulating? Anyone have any idea what upcoming titles we can hope for on GOG, for that matter? It would seem to me, and I gather a number of you out there as well, that space sims, being the neglected genre of the moment, are surely ripe for this kind of service, so can we, I don't know, vote on it or something?
Also, AngelKnight, what's the deal with the hostility to TIE Fighter on the original as opposed to XWvTF engine? I was of the understanding that it was just a graphical improvement, is that not the case?

I found it on Amazon for around 8 bucks. Looks like the intervening years have driven its price up almost three dollars, but even eleven bucks is a good price for it I think. Especially if you have a friend or three to play it with!

If you're wanting to get a hold of the demo it's still on the starlancer link in Post number two on this thread...Which is how I first read your post :p
As for "I don't rate freelancer so much, the story is ok, and there's a lot of nice little features, but it's pretty shallow in gameplay terms, especially when compared to the genre heavyweights, such as TIE fighter." - Comparing Freelancer with Tie Fighter is like saying you don't like your Apple because it doesn't taste enough like an Orange. The only thing they have in common is they're in space :)
Tie-Fighter - Space Combat Simulation
Freelancer - Space Simulation
I like both kinds. I want more of them. Like Infinity: Quest for Earth and Freespace 3
I would LOVE for Terminal Velocity to be on this site :)
Karl

I was lucky enough to find a copy of hardwar on ebay. Other then there, I haven't seen it anywhere. It is an interplay game however, so there is a strong chance it will be appearing on gog sometime soon (hint hint if the gog overlords are reading). It's running at 34 votes on the games wish list at the minute, so there's some interest at least.

There was little differences between the original versions and the collector's edition, but for those who fell in love with the original games those little things meant a whole lot.
For instance, the soundtrack in the collectors edition was a straight out Star Wars OST, where in the original game it was an adaptive piece, made to burst out in a crescendo when the most frantic battles took place, your reinforcements arrived or some critical craft got blown out of space.
All of us old gamers know that back then there was little difference in wich video card you'd got, but your SOUND CARD made all the difference, so attention to in game music was a high ranking piece in a game's review.
Another issue was with the general portrait of missions, where some of the original XWing tours got "dumbed down" due to its increased difficulty, wich of course took away some of the challenge in beating those rebellion-like "wing of A-wings against 3 corvettes w/ fighter escort + star destroyer on its way". In fact, I remember me and some friends used to hate Admiral Ackbar for making such deranged battle plans, but as we grew older it dawned on us that we were the rebellion, undermanned, overwhelmed and fighting "dirty" with guerrilla-like tactics.
So, it's kinda understandable that the Collector's Edition was not quite the same as loading up doxbox and having a blast with those wacky polygons, but the graphical update was welcomed by those who didn't get the chance to play them back when they were kings of all space sims
I don't know if anyone agrees about this, so I would like to read some thoughs on this subject
Cheers!

The only thing I disliked about the updated TIE Fighter which used the XvT engine was the fact that you could no longer fly using the mouse. It was very useful when precise firing was needed such as in minefields.
Otherwise, I prefer it to the original or the Collector's CD-ROM because the graphical update is much nicer and I can live without the MIDI soundtrack.
(For those who don't know, there are 3 different versions of TIE Fighter:
* the original floppy disk release
* the Collector's CD-ROM
* the updated edition which used the XvT game engine)

I think most of the best space sims were already mentioned on this thread.
My original love of space sims started with wing commander 1 and 2... the latest incarnations were ok, #3 was pretty great, but the later ones went downhill in my opinion. That whole movie cut-scene stuff was a little corny at times.
I actually love Starlancer and have the CD for it still. I wasn't quite up there with Freespace, but its got a nice storyline. The combat is arcady but not necessarily in a bad way, it steals a lot of its mechanics I feel from Freespace and Wing Commander (tracking front guns for example).
Privateer was one of my favorite games ever as well. It's old now, but in the wing commander era it was the first free form space sim (at least that I can recall) where you could fight, trade, etc, and do whatever you wanted in a large universe. The main storyline wasn't that awesome (not bad though), but it was one of the first sandbox space sims where you weren't stuck to the linear storyline.

I loved Starlancer. One of my favourite games ever.
It was the story for me. The fighting was good enough but the twists and turns of the plot, and the chatter between the other pilots was great.
The great thing about the demo is that it's a completely separate mission, set right at the outset of the storyline. More companies should make demos like that. I'm tired of them just including the tutorial section, which I probably have to replay when I buy the game...

Amen :)
Karl

Independence War 2 is extreme. The learning curve is extreme but so is the reward too.
Awesome sound effects and music as well as story. Your character starts out as a little kid and after I saw that I thought 'aw this is a little kids game.' and dropped it. Few months later I started it again and it is FUN. Got a ship with 2 terrets and plugged in a new weapon. I find out I can launch the terrets and they become like 2 wingmen. Punching thru the enemy real quick now. Get it on ebay for less than $10. Stick with it and go to the following web site to jump over the learing curve.
http://www.i-war2.com/acts.htm

I have to agree with most of these posts and throw in my own 2c:
Starlancer: I had a copy of this but lent it away and never saw it again, but from what I remember it was a graphically impressive and a high degree of immersion. Both challenging and fun. I would definitely recommend this game for inclusion.
X-Wing Collectors Edition: I still have this and yes it is hard (and frustrating in places) but there's nothing like the sense of accomplishment of beating the mission you've been stuck on for days. Great music added to the experience. Another excellent game that should find a home here.
I-War: Played the original but not the expansion. For me this game was just stunning, and there was a real sense of flying a 'big ship' corvette. This coupled with the Newtonian physics made it my favourite space simulation for quite some time, until I-War 2. I never played the Defiance expansion, but I think I'd buy this again if the expansion was bundled.
I-War 2 - Edge of Chaos: A fantastic sequel to the original I-War, builds on what came before with a interesting and engaging plot. The Newtonian physics is simplified a little reducing the learning curve of the original. My only criticism is that it loses the big ship feeling of the original (I think). Still one of fav space simulations.
Privateer 2: Recently sold this on eBay. Found this engaging but also frustrating in places, success on some missions depends more on luck than skill due to the random pirate encounters through space, but don't let that put you off too much, there still a lot of fun to be had.
Wing Commander 3 & 4: Sold these on eBay recently as well. these were fun but I never found them as much fun as some of the others listed here (which makes me think I missed something, as many others have raved about them). IIRC they are fairly large in size (and hence may be an issue to download) with WC3 taking 3/4 CD's and I think WC4 may have taking up as many as 6.
Hardwar: Played through the single player plot on this a few times. Great game atmosphere great game mechanics good plot and a still thriving fan community with patches and enhancements released regularly that have added a great deal to an originally great game.
Tachyon: The fringe: Voice acting by Bruce Campbell is great. The ability to play either side of the conflict after a plot branch adds to the re-playability value. More gamey than simulation. Fun but there are better, I think I would rank this alongside Privateer 2.
Freelancer: Only ever played the demo, and I did want to buy this, but I just never got round to it. Would probably purchase this if it appeared on GoG.