I could never get into any space sims ever, yet they still fascinate me.

On an intellectual level they sound like great games. Going around in a spaceship getting into dogfights in space combat games, exploring the universe and being a space trucker, smuggler or pirate in space sims. It all sounds pretty fucking awesome, but then I play the game and immediately drop it, never to return again.

I tried playing Wing Commander. The game was old and the controls needed a little getting used, and there weren't that many features, but it still had some pretty pixel art graphics annd the dogfighting was still fun, I think. I failed to escort some cargo 3 or 4 missions in, thought to myself "I'm going to replay that mission when I have the time, I know I can do it right". Never played the game again.

I tried playing Strike Suit Zero. It's more modern. Looks the part and all. Played a few missions and I guess I must've enjoyed it. Then I told myself "Tomorrow I pick up where I left off". Didn't play it again for at least 2 years. When I did I was in another space sim kick, thinking "I find the genre so interesting, this time I'll really go for it and get the most out of it". Replayed through the tutorial, figured "Now that I got through that initial chore, tomorrow I can start the game proper again". Never played the game again.

I tried playing Rebel Galaxy. The combat isn't really dogfighting, it feels more like naval combat, shooting cannons from your broadside and all. It may be different but it's still an interesting approach. Plus, it's a proper space sim, where you play a space trucker and haul and trade cargo accross the galaxy. Played it for an hour, thought it was pretty interesting. Never played it again.

Then there's all the controls thing. I bought a flight stick I found for cheap once, when I first got into a space sim kick. Barely used it. Felt a little discouraged to play, frankly, knowing I'd have to learn how to use the flight stick. Then I moved and lost one of the cables in the goddamn thing. The connector is pretty strange, I don't know if I can get a replacement. So now I feel discouraged for the opposite reason, because I feel like I shouldn't be playing it without the flight stick and I don't want to buy a new one or hunt for a replacement cable.

I don't really know what to say. I just never played them again. I don't think I disliked them, they seemed alright, I just didn't ever return to them, for some reason.

But then I look at other space sims now, like Elite: Dangerous, Everspace or House of the Dying Sun and think "Shit, that looks awesome!", and I just want to the plunge and buy them, but I have to get a hold of myself, because for all I know it will end up like all the previous ones where I play for an hour and never touch it again.


I guess I'm just curious about other people's experiences with space sims. If you like it or not, which sort of space sim you like, how you first got into the genre, etc.

STARS!

The exclamation point is part of the actual title.

I don't know, maybe because you can make it, or could (it's kind of hard to get playing now a days), as easy or as hard as you wanted to which made the learning curve so much more casual than your average 'welcome to your empire, everyone wants a piece!' :P

I really can't give an eloquent explanation, perhaps other fans could, but it just seemed more serviceable and user friendly to someone who never liked space strategy and was never good at empire building.

As for shooters, I think that's just the individual games themselves. I HATE the Wing Commander games but I adore the X-Wing/Tie Fighter games as well as The Freespace titles. That has nothing to do with genre or setting, I think it's just the technical flow and design of certain games suit me better than others.

Side note, HOMEWORLD is it's own genre, so I won't get into that one. :P

The only space sim I can really play somewhat well is the X series. Most others are beyond my skills even using a joystick. However I mostly play the X games with keyboard only. Also there's a lot more depth to them than just dogfighting. I love how I can create stations, build wealth, buy capital ships, then watch the galaxy burn if I want. Or to eradicate the Xenon threat. Anyway X3 Albion Prelude is my favorite from thw series with the X3:Terran Conflict plots modded in.

EVERSPACE is very good (In my opinon), the ship handling is just how I like it - floaty and smooth. Weapons, no everything, sounds amazing and the graphics are stunning. The difficulty curve is steep at the begining, levels of a bit and then climbs steeply again, but nothing impossible. I did complete it in one of the later alpha builds - I haven't played it much since release, but the additional story elements look quite good with a nice art style. I would recommend it as a arcade shooter, I even put on my list of games to play before you die. That said, would you play it for more than an hour? Maybe. If you're the kind of person who will finish one run and say: "I only need x many credits more and I can get better scanners/weapons/a new ship!", or even: "One more sector and I get a new loadout!", then yes you probably will.

Note: It may have controller support but if you're finding it difficult, I find that keyboard & mouse are actually better and easier to play with.

I'm terrible at space sims. I'm bad at normal flight sims, and space sims just kill me. Without even the ground for a frame of refrence I'm hopelessly lost within seconds. However, I still like Wing Commander for it's cinematics. I mean, Malcolm McDowell, Mark Hamill and John Rhys-Davis in a space opera together... what more can you want? I even thought the animated Wing Commander Academy series was surprisingly pretty damn great.

I'll second this. I found the game in a bargain bin almost 20 years ago, and it's still one of my favorites. I even keep an old laptop with Win XP loaded, just so I can play it. (If anyone knows of a DOSbox or similar modern update, please don't keep it to yourself!)

What I love most about it is the vast number of options. You define your race (not in the Spore sense, but in terms of its spacefaring capabilities and habitability needs) through an elegant point system of benefits and tradeoffs. Then, you do your best to take over all the star systems within reach: through mining, terraforming, colonizing, stargates, planetary defenses, and direct conflict. There are 6 research trees — some breakthroughs require investment in more than one area — plus the ability to gain tech advances by analyzing the debris after a battle.

You play either single-player turn based (you against the AI), or multiplayer via email (you send the game info as an attachment to the next person in line). In multiplayer, you could choose to form alliances, or stick with every race for themselves. It has a fairly steep initial learning curve, but (at least for me) has become pretty much intuitive with practice.

I'd say you haven't played any space sim. Wing Commander and Strike Suit are mission-based dogfight games, so they lack the roleplaying freedom of a huge galaxy to roam with various activities available. Rebel Galaxy is closer in that respect, but still it plays like a 2D game à la Tempest (flat universe, and 3rd person perspective).

Elite is much closer to what I consider genuine space sims (well, in the space opera sense, let us smartasses put aside Kerbal, Orbiter, Universe Sandbox, etc). It's what I've been playing since the Amiga. You're free in a vast universe to explore, you're in the cockpit or a large or small spacecraft, and you pirate, or hunt bounties, or trade, or whatever, in newtonian or non-newtonian physics depending on the game.

My point is : games like Elite, X3, Freelancer, Independance War 2, Darkstar One, etc, are a very different genre. They do not play or feel like Strike Suit Zero, Starlancer, Wing Commander, X-Wings, or even, in yet another style, Rebel Galaxy. So maybe you should try one of these.

Their complexities and focuses vary, but I enjoyed Darkstar One quite a lot, as a Freelancer-like. Like many of these games, it plays pretty well with keyboard and mouse. But it's just an exemple. And hardcore purists will probably suggest the deeper, fuller and more complex X series.

TinyE is the Tyrant from Resident Evil 3!!!

Thanks. I might check out that one in the current sale, apparently it's 80% off.

Can recommend Everspace. Looks great, is fun to play too.
Also check out Sublevel Zero. Sort of like Descent, but sparklier ;)

As for Elite Dangerous, the game is okay, but it has its problems.
It's heavily time gated, grindy, with silly things like parts of space locked off until you've done certain (other grindy) things, which once the next big patch drops, anyone new or lagging behind will be sort of screwed.

But dayum, it does look good at times.

https://imgur.com/gallery/wxjW1

I used to play spacesimulators and flightsimulators a lot and occasionally I still do.
But I think I know what you mean as I have the same with RTS games, I have an awful lot of those games and there are only a few I actually did play.
Then again I always had too many games in the first place so there was always some other game occupying my attention.

Well, the majority of the so called "space sims" are actually flight sims (or arcade) in space. Not trying to play smartass here, just mentioning it because people often see how these spaceships "fly" in the movies/games and assume it applies in reality too.

Having said that, there are many great space games out there and one can categorize them on how much faithful the simulation of real world physics is (with Orbiter & Kerbal Space Program being closer to reality than Freespace & Starlancer for example) as well as the type of gameplay they offer (for example Action game such as Darkstar One or RTS such as Sins of a Solar Empire & Homeworld as well as Turn Based such as Master of Orion or Fragile Allegiance). There's even the Universe Sandbox which is actually what the name implies: a sandbox to mess with nearly everything and have fun if you're into that sort of thing.

As for my experience, i'd say it's multi-dimensional: i've played a good amount of various space games in nearly every category (except MMOs -- i don't like MMOs but, honestly, if i were to try one, EVE Online would be it) and i enjoyed nearly everything. First experiences begun with Wing Commander & Starlancer among other action games, but nowadays you'll find me playing mostly KSP since it's currently the only one that satiates my real-world space tech & travel interests. As for the space shooter games, they're fun but generally i prefer logging flight hours in flight sims such as FS2004, IL-2 & Falcon BMS instead. I still enjoy a good strategy game such as Homeworld though. ;)