[RoyBatty]

Hi guys,

I used to LOVE "Tie-Fighter" back in my Doom/Myst days, and loved my Wingman Extreme joystick. Ha - pretty dated now I know.

I've recently got back into computer gaming and my room-mate has a new and amazing machine that's capable of running even Crysis on high settings.

So my question is: what's the "best" space combat sim for me to dive into? I've been doing a little research and it sounds like the s-c-s world has a lot of multiplayer trading/fighting games but that doesn't appeal to me at all. I just recently discovered the recent Battlestar Galactica TV show and have fallen in love with it. So I would love a game with a good, immersive single-player storyline/campaign, the best visual effects possible (we've got SLI'd GeForce 8800 GTS's w/ a 22" monitor), and a level of difficulty/complexity that'd make a $100+ joystick (maybe even a HOTAS system - is that overkill?) worth buying and learning how to use.

So any suggestions? Are there any absolutely-can-NOT-miss games for me out there? It seems like I've seen a lot of mention of Freespace 2, but I see that it came out in 1999. Can a game that is 9 years old still be the top dog???

Feedback would really be appreciated, and I figured this would be the site to ask at...

Thanks guys.

-RB

[Poseidon]

Yes it can. Especially with OpenFS2 development that is updating the engine to more modern standards. Also check out Wing Commander Saga, a total conversion mod of FS2, they got a prologue out. Wing Commander Saga - Home

Another one to try is a B5: IFH Babylon 5: I’ve Found Her — Space Dream Factory . Babylon 5 based sim.

For multiplayer, there is a beta of taikodom going on that is free for now, space based. WW2 multiplayer sim Aces High 2 is pretty damn good, too (Welcome to Aces High II)

[ZeroZ95]

Before giving Taikodom a try, I was playing a little 1 player of the Freespace Babylon5 conversion. It's pretty fun, but single player is too quiet for me. And some of the missions didn't feel like they made sense (i.e. if you follow orders, you fail...you're supposed to "think on your feet" which is fine, but actually means you just have to play each mission a couple of times so you know where you need to be at what time).

Freespace open sourced their code, and it's been updated a ton to modern quality. I have not tried the Galactica conversion of FS, but the B5 mod borrowd it's Inertia setting, so I'm guessing that it has more people working on it (since it's based on a current show instead of a 10 year old one).

[Aphelion]

Unfortunately, I don't think there ARE any modern space sims out there. The ones mentioned above are great for gameplay, but won't even begin to touch a Crysis system.

[RoyBatty]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

Looks like Black Prophecy might be pretty amazing!

-RB

[quillo]

Someone mentioned Evochron on the Jumpgate Evolution forums, took a look at the demo and it seems kinda cool. It's also only $20 once off fee and online with joystick support.

Anyone else keen to give it a go?

Freeform Space Combat / Trader and Mercenary Simulator (PC Space-Sim) - Evochron Alliance

[Wolfkin]

The latest space sim that comes to mind is X3: The Reunion by Egosoft - EGOSOFT · News · Current - but it's not only a space shooter, you need to do some trading as well to get through the story.

Good part with the game is that it got a rather big universe, great graphics, very active modding comunity so there are lots of mods and scripts, fly anything from the smallest scout ship to a several miles big battleship or carrier, own and opperate stations, you can live a pirate life.

Bad part with X3 is that the story is a bit short and when it's done it is up to your own imagination what you want to do in the game, but trying a some mods and scripts can keep it alive for months.
Very steep learning curve but they have a very good forum that are very helpful.