Yes yes, but riddle me this: from which game is that handsome fellow? (no. it is not really a picture of me)

One thing that annoyed me with X (X2 more specifically) was the sound. I was used to Elite, and still on my perpetual quest for more of Elite, and the X silence felt wrong. I understand it's supposed to be realistic -space vacuum and all that- but I couldn't even feel I was in a spaceship with engines and thrusters behind my seat. I think I need a bit of roaring in my space sims, a bit of more audible machinery.

But again, it was long ago. Maybe I don't remember well, But I seem to recall having been struck and unsettled and disappointed by the lack of "spaceship sound effect". And I've been told it's a characteristic of the X series.

It does look vaguely familiar. But I thought of maybe a Manga I read years ago ...

The ancient Greek scholars used to argue that if there really were Star Trek/Wars like space battles in vacuum, your on-board computers would generate synthetic aural 3D surround sounds for enemy ships, their weapons, hits to your (or enemy) ship etc.

So, even though there would be no real sounds in vacuum, you would still hear them coming roaring, the sounds of their lasers etc. This helps you to understand where the enemy ships are and what is happening around you, much better than just trying to visually look at a radar or read on-screen data.

So in that sense you could still consider the space combat games with sounds realistic.

In that case I'd still prefer a warm female synthetic voice saying directly "woosh, whooosh" and "pew pew pew" and "boom".

(And I wouldn't either mind Sigourney Weaver repeating it at my side.)

Not the same controls or combat, but the vast universe is there and its a great game.

Im going to toss my hand in for X3 terran Conflict aswell... best of the series best controls and story... months of my life were spent playing X3:TC and X3:Reunion... if you happen to get X3:Gold and you have both i recommend the XTM mod for Renunion... Terran Conflcit can stand alone very very well... but make sure to get there official addon content and fully patch it for more goodies!

X³: Albion Prelude is coming soon which hopes to expand and encompass all the changes for the better of the prior X universe titles... plus there will be cockpit views again!

Still some guys around that play this type of games. ;) Thanks for the suggestions so far. Should one read the books before beginning the games? Is it worth buying them at all? Is Freelancer not a sort of spiritual successor? I could swear, that I’ve read something about it someplace.

I’ve read that every planetary system in Darkstar One is built up the same way. One of the things I really like about Freelancer is the big variety of different systems. That's one of the most important aspects for me. Can Darkstar One offer this?

Mass Effect 3 actually lampshades this in a dialogue. In that universe, this is excactly what happens.

Well, here's a pic of the full system map: http://andrewore.web.fc2.com/en/ds1map_files/DSO-Systemkarte.jpg

Each one of those little stars is a system, the larger borders represent factions in control of those systems. As you explore systems, you unlock further ones, in addition to story missions unlocking certain systems. Some systems never enter into the story and are just there for you to explore. The variety in the appearance of the systems is not as a varied as Freelancer (some systems feel like carbon copies of others), but I believe there are actually more of them in DSO than there are in Freelancer.

Oh, and Freelancer is the successor of the Starlancer series. Like most games of its genre, it owes much of its basics to games like Wing Commander, but I wouldn't really call it a spiritual successor to it.

Unfortunately the link's broken.

Edit: But it's okay, I used the name of the file to find an other example.

Yeah, sorry, I should of mentioned the combat in EVE is nothing like Freelancer combat.

You could try Evochron Mercenary available at [url=]http://www.starwraith.com[/url] It has an open expansive universe, completely sandbox (note there is a quest but it is completely optional) there are also seemless planetary decents, I found this series about 4 years ago and have enjoyed it since, also multiplayer is full of friendly helpful individuals that will not treat you like a noob and help you when needed.

Wasn't [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachyon:_The_Fringe] Tachyon: The Fringe[/url] much like Freelancer? I don't remember much about it...

Check out Star Citizen, which is in development currently... Star Citizen It's going to be amazing when completed!