Mersadeon said:
Well, guys, this is slowly eating up my sanity. I am itching for a game.
So, what kind of game?
- in space!
- with starships!
and then it kinda branches. Either:
Something where I can play the aliens - taking over some kind of space hulk or ship. I'm always open to recommendations that have some kind of infection or infestation mechanic, even if it isn't on a ship!
or:
Managing a spaceship relatively directly. No grand RTS like Sins of a Solar Empire. Already played FTL, and that doesn't scratch the itch.
I need something where I can feel that I own that ship - and where I can run around inside the ship (or control it FTL-style).
So please, please recommend stuff to me. I need to scratch that itch, or I will have to pick up game development and make something myself. It's driving me crazy.
Captcha: full of stars - how fitting!
EDIT: Ok, so maybe I should say which ones I already played, otherwise this might get a bit weird:
I've already played Startopia. It was fun!
Freelancer? Played it to death!
The Privateer games? Yup! (ok, ok, only the first one, because I didn't enjoy the second)
Knights of the Old Republic? Yes! But you know what, thanks for reminding me, now that the restoration project for number two is complete, I might give it another spin...
The Aliens vs. Predator games were also great. I am pretty sad that the second instalment doesn't have servers for the multiplayer anymore.
Space Engineers looks great, but not far enough in development to really be worth it yet.
The other recommendations? I'll try them! Thanks!
Someone already Mentioned X Rebirth. It's coming out soon enough and it looks like it will check off most of your demands.
*In space
*with starships
*With ship and fleet management.
Hoever the X series is notorious for demanding heavy investment. I'm currently playing a modified version of Albion Prelude which, even with the modifications streamlining many of the time consuming elements, I've played it for 4 days real time and I'm only just getting my first fleet up and running.
I recommend picking up the X superbox. It contains the entire series up to Albion Prelude. It should tide you over until Rebirth is released. With that said, Rebirth is changing much of what had become common place in the X series:
-In prior X games before Rebirth (with the exception of X beyond the frontier) one could purchase or pilot any ship they wished, from any race and of any size (small scout ships to huge Carriers and Destroyers). Rebirth changes this by given the player One HIGHLY detailed ship to pilot. You can still own a large variety of ships, but they will be piloted by NPC's that you hire.
-The X universe was expansive. It would take hours to get from one end of it to the other without use of Jumpdrives. The downside is that the universe, though highly populated, felt somewhat vacant. Rebirth is significantly dropping the size of the explorable universe, at least in terms of sectors, and instead making each unique location far more vibrant and alive and full of mystery.
-Up until rebirth, all activities took place from a 1st person cockpit perspective. Now they are changing that to allow you, as a character, get up and move about the ship and wander around the stations or large capital class vessels you are docked at (That last bit about capitals is speculative, haven't seen it in any footage, but people have talked about it, though nothing official... station walks are a thing though).
-There are many other changes, but most of which are on in how the interface works and how you go about managing your ships and building your empire, which won't be apparent to anyone who hasn't played prior x games.
So as for your 2nd criteria:
*You manage your own ship and ship you hire to perform missions for you. You can also set up your own infrastructure by buying station modules for various types of item production. Though they are trying to make it as eash to manage as possible, if prior X game are anything to go by, prepare for heavy investment and quite a lot of menu navigation when it comes to starting trade routes and organising fleet logistics.
*You can get up and walk about, both on your ship (I believe, either that or its just an animated sequence that repeats every time you enter your ship), which is relatively small, and on stations. It won't be like FTL, where you are running to save a section of your ship from a variety of hazards. Walking around stations is the means to which you hire pilots for jobs and also receive jobs yourself. By the looks of trailers though, the larger ships under your command can suffer localised damage (same with stations), so you might be called upon for utility and repair services (if you can't just do it remotely).
You can, at a point, remotely do any job bar main plot lines. But if you prefer to take a more personal approach you can just fly to where you need to be and get stuck in yourself.
There are loads of space sims out there, many offering their own unique twist on the genre. Some are more narrative heavy while others offer unparalleled depth in mechanics. There are a few potential winners coming out in the next year or so, but X rebirth, being the closest to launch, could be exactly (or as close to exactly) as you want.
That or the Mandate game mentioned above, though it's still waiting to get funded, so you might be waiting sometime for that.
