Recommend me a space sim

[Cab00se206]

Hey guys.

My experience with games out of the mainstream is limited, but lately I've been jonesing to unleash some inner space explorer, and I was wondering if any of you guys had recommendations for space sim style games for me to try. Just buying random games on steam is expensive, and Ive been burned in the past (Sword of the Stars 2, looking at you) and research and reviews is exhausting and can't always give you a perfect idea of whether you'd like the game.

I would like to play something like an RPG or space sim with open-ended means of acquiring wealth, like mining or managing a trading fleet or something like that. Bonus points if there's an interesting story to go along with it, but I understand that for a lot of space-themed games that is apparently not a huge priority.

If anyone could give recommendations for games along those lines I would be incredibly grateful.

 

[shrekfan246]

X[sup]3[/sup] and its expansions, Terran Conflict and Albion Prelude.

Er... they're very dense, though. Bad tutorials, lots of poorly explained keybindings and functions, and a pretty massive universe to explore as you will. And X[sup]3[/sup] is the newbie-friendly one of the franchise. Like many space sims and space combat sims, they've got combat similar to Wing Commander, but it's not really the main focus of what you're going to be doing, and one of the consequences of that is that the game is an incredibly slow burn to start out and can be quite difficult to get into.

Might be worth checking out Freelancer, too, though it's a bit older and might be difficult to track down because it was originally published by Microsoft (so it's not available in online stores like Steam or GoG, as far as I'm aware). It's a bit more combat focused than X[sup]3[/sup], I believe, but still has an open-ended universe which allows you to do things like trading and smuggling and is far less complicated than the X games.

Otherwise, I think full-fledged space sims are pretty slim pickings, especially for good ones. Starpoint Gemini 2, an Early Access game currently on Steam, looks like it has a little bit of promise, but the devs' previous game (Starpoint Gemini) was notoriously buggy and poorly-balanced and not very well supported after its release, so who knows? And most of the other titles you'll run across are likely to be space combat sims like Wing Commander rather than anything really complex. You could always wait for Star Citizen, since that's what everyone on the internet is collectively throwing millions of dollars into in the hopes that it'll be the space sim they've been waiting decades to get.

If you want to branch off into strategy games, then there are a few options by way of 4X games, in which case titles such as Master of Orion 2, Endless Space, Galactic Civilizations II, and Sins of a Solar Empire (again more combat focused, and more of a real-time strategy game with heavy 4X influences) are worth checking out. Or there's Startopia, which I understand to be something like a city-building sim where you're managing a space station instead of a city.

 

[raeior]

I second X3 Terran Conflict. Only thing I will add is: Avoid X Rebirth the newest title of the series like the plague. Besides the X series and Freelancer there really isn't much to go by currently.
Besides that there are several titles in development. Limit Theory looks pretty interesting and then there is of course Star Citizen.

 

[CloudAtlas]

EVE might offer what you're looking for. It's actual gameplay is... not for everyone, but at least you do have the freedom to do what you want.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

does FTL count?

 

[Grumman]

X2: The Threat and X3: Terran Conflict / Albion Prelude are pretty good. As has already been said, X: Rebirth is an abomination.

I'd also recommend the game Kerbal Space Program, but that's a different sort of Space Simulator - the sort where you design your own rockets to go to the Moon and other planets.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

If you don't mind running an older game through DOSBox then you should give the superb 'TIE Fighter' a try. Although it has no resource mining it does have an excellent story line, in which the orders the player receives are not always the orders the player should follow, leading to the player choosing to act as the loyal Imperial pilot or a more sinister covert agent for the Emperor.

Easily the best space sim I've played - don't let it's age put you off.

 

[Rangarig]

I would like to play something like an RPG or space sim with open-ended means of acquiring wealth, like mining or managing a trading fleet or something like that. Bonus points if there's an interesting story to go along with it, but I understand that for a lot of space-themed games that is apparently not a huge priority.

I really depends on what you want your focus to be.

If you want no combat, try something like Space Engineers or Kerbal Space Programme. Or maybe even Starbound (Read Space-Terraria).

If you want combat, you can try Tachyon: The Fringe, X² and X² (avoid X Rebirth at this point), Freelancer, or even ye olde Wing Commander: Privateer.

EVE Online offers you a chance to do a lot of mining, building your own fleet (through multiple accounts, or by working together with other players), and even provides a recently fully redesigned exploration system, not to mention tons of star systems. But it is an MMO, it costs a subscription fee (which you can purchase with in-game currency as well), and you are bound to your ship, since planetary exploration is still missing.