Jump to content

I'm having trouble finding a space exploration game I like


Recommended Posts

I've found space games in three categories. One of them is all about space exploration and battles. You never land on planets other than trading stations, and you don't actually walk around, the trading station is just an inventory screen with the background picture of like a hanger bay. Others focus on planetside exploration, and space is just an empty hub. No space battles, no real piloting. The third group focuses only on what's going on inside your ship; relations between the passengers. Why can't I have all three aspects in a single game, as such:

 

You have an enormous ship, with maybe 6 to twelve passengers. I don't like being able to switch between any character on the fly, because from my experience, games like that don't have much in the way of dialogue. Maybe you can choose to be anyone on board, but you have to stick with them for the whole game. But that gets a little boring some times, maybe you have only one main character but you can cycle between characters during combat sequences. Any way, you're having a peaceful little cruise to a commerce planet to restock supplies. All of your crew are doing various activities; maybe some are exercising, your science officer is studying new alloys, some are playing cards, two of them are.....getting better acquainted in their private quarters, which makes a few others jealous. Out of the blue, you're attacked, maybe by thieves, maybe you managed to make enemies on the last planet you were on. Some of the hostiles manage to board, some of them are blasting away at your ship. Not all of your crew are pilots And warriors that have both hand to hand and ranged weapons training; different characters have different jobs. Some of them are outside the ship in attack vessels, some of them are manning onboard weapons, some of them are hand to hand, some of them are hiding, some of them are guarding the pilot (who's a gentle soul, he just loves the thrill of flying and space). After the battle, you have a lot of loot, bodies, a few prisoners, and a lot of options. Their weapons, armor, and attack vessels are far superior to yours, but they can be sold for a nice chunk of change. And then there are the bodies of your enemies. Some of your crew wants to jettison them like garbage, others insist that they were still living creatures that deserve a decent burial. A few of your crew think the bodies might have minerals that could be used as fuel. And then there are the prisoners. Some want to cut their throats, some see "good" in them and want to rehab them and make them allies, one particularly ornery crew member wants to sell the prisoners as slaves, which disgusts everyone else.

 

While reading this over, I got a brief flash of Farscape, which is by far my all-time favorite scifi show. That's what I want, a Farscape game, part sandbox, part scripted, maybe based more on the general Farscape universe than the script and cast, because the game they put out was BAD. That game was nothing more than following a blue arrow and blasting away at everything that moved, I was so disappointed. So, that's my two cents' worth; I think Farscape deserves a nonlinear game about planet and space exploration, making your own allies and enemies, kicking a few butts, breaking a few hearts, finding love, stirring up a little trouble, finding redemption for a few of your more hot-tempered and wayward crew members, maybe with a few cameo appearances. My two favorite characters by far are Zhaan and Linfer, before she got all bubbly and gooey. Plus, I'll admit it, I'm a big fan of Grayza's attire.

  • Like! 1
Link to comment

Why can’t we have all 3? Because these are 3 different game styles (space naval battle, world exploration, and community drama), so you basically request for 3 games in 1. That’s 3 times harder to make for 3 times less time to money output. If someone will try to make such a thing, the planet and spaceship interior will be based on the same mechanics, and the space ship combat will probably be 2D and the weakest part of the game.

 

Try looking for something similar in the Star Trek games catalog.

And if you are really desperate, buy 2 or 3 good board games and make one out of them.

Edited by SX255
  • Like! 1
Link to comment

We bought Homeworld 16 years back mainly for the music. A not released song from YES ;)

My daughter played Open-IG recently. It is an open source JAVA version of Imperium Galactica. They have the rights and it is a free standalone. You are promoted to higher ranks and just as in real life you change from tactical combat decisions more and more to stratetic ones the higher ranks you reach. As a fleet admiral you are responsible for everything. As a small pilot you just fly and fight.

  • Like! 1
Link to comment

Don't forget the 'X' series as well. "X-Beyond the Frontier", "X-Tension", "X2 The Threat", "X3 Reunion" and "X-Rebirth" (I don't recommend that last one though). No fleet battles but multiple ships can be owned at once and set on follow or given set orders for trading routes, etc. whle you pilot either a trader, a scout, one of the combat class vessels, or a supersized Carrier/Mass transporter. You can also build your own spacestations, build up a intergalactic trading empire or do anything you want. The whole premise of the game is summed up in the series catchphrase "Trade, Fight, Build, Think!" And what's more it is all in 3D and in my opnion, the best 4X space games since Elite!

Edited by podgie_bear
Link to comment

hmm, now that I think about it,

I realize I have also been looking for some sort of space/sci-fi game that combines all of the three mentioned gameplay-elements, in one single game..

also am a big sci-fi fan in general, but never found any gamy that I can say I really enjoyed playing, except for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (yeah, the first one, non-mmo/offline RPG game)

.. the Mass Effect RPG series also looks interesting, havent played it through though.. (its more about characters, their relations and ground-battles, it has no space ship battles I believe)

that is, I guess, because in general, I prefer RPGs over RTS, MMO or FPS games ..

anyway, besides those titles already mentioned,

 

 

I can only recall Star Trek Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic, regarding 'mixed' gameplay (RPG on planet missions, and FPS-alike space battles.. not much if any RTS stuff like in the civ games, however, I believe? havent really played em so don't know) ..

 

also, there are 2 promising titles in the making that - from what I read - are, or at least were supposed to feature 'cross-genre' gameplay elements..

the first one is running under the working title for a game/engine called Infinity I believe, by I-Novae Studios ..

used to be called Infinity: The Quest of Earth, then Infinity: Battlescape .. or is it just a tech-demo.. I don't know.. anyway here's the link:

https://inovaestudios.com/

.. it's been in the making like forever now, I can hardly find any infos on the actual status of their projects.. sounds pretty revolutionary though,

seamless link between 'space action' and 'on-ground/planet action' meaning no loading screen in between, the world/univerese would feel a lot more 'complete' that way..

the other game I can't remember. but it promised something like almost-infinite numbers of planets/world and that it would actually take 'ages' to visit them all.. anyone knowing a title that would fit the description? it hasn't been released yet either, that's all I can remember..

greetings,

bob

Edited by Rotluchs
  • Like! 1
Link to comment

Sorry, gents, I've been away for a few days, and recreational time's going to be virtually nonexistent for a while . That makes sense that a game with all three aspects would be difficult to make. I have faith that technology will eventually get there , though. After all, when I was a wee lad, Atari used to be cutting edge :) I've had my eye on the game Rotluchs mentioned from I-Novae, in addition to something called Rodina. One thing I've been surprised to learn is that tabletop rpgs are still quite alive. I always thought tabletop= D&D, but there's a whole slew of them, a lot of them use the D20 system. Farscape has one, Supernatural has one, Sleepy Hollow has one, and I think I saw one for the new Constantine show. I'll have to take a look at the X series when I get home.

Link to comment

We bought Homeworld 16 years back mainly for the music. A not released song from YES ;)

My daughter played Open-IG recently. It is an open source JAVA version of Imperium Galactica. They have the rights and it is a free standalone. You are promoted to higher ranks and just as in real life you change from tactical combat decisions more and more to stratetic ones the higher ranks you reach. As a fleet admiral you are responsible for everything. As a small pilot you just fly and fight.

Holee Molee...u just got me remembering about HomeWorld... that was a FANTASTIC game... I remember being totally sucked in! They've just remastered it too... what a mnemonic!

the space battles and narration were just incredible...

 

 

:)

 

gogo

 

p.s. btw, what a fantastic thread... lots of meat in these posts. Thanks for the terrific Friday morning read guys

Link to comment

 

I like star control 2 on my 3do system (yes I still play my 3do). I got loads of games for it. A store sold the games to me for $3.00 each when they got rid of them.

3DO? Wow that's a blast from the past!
  • Like! 1
Link to comment

I'm starting to lose interest in space exploration games. I've found an underwater open world survival game called Subnautica that I'm enthralled with atm. Space is cool, but coral reefs and underwater cave systems are more my speed.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up