...and now for something completely different: SpaceSims

[3./JG51_Specter]

Now I love zooming around Europe in my FW-190 as much as the next guy, but lately I've been bitten by the space bug. Must be all the late night episodes of Battlestar Galactica I've been catching lately.

shush ... I know I'm a nerd, ya don't have to point it out. I'm an engineer its inevitable.

Anyway, back in the day there were a whole slew of space sims on par with flight sims . Sure there was no flight test data for the X-wing or you couldn't know that the third spar in the wing of a Rapier was the weak link. However, sims like the X-Wing and Wing Commander series tried to approach reality as much as possible, given the fantastic nature.

Everything that I've seen for the past few years has been a story driven roll playing game with space combat thrown in as a side project. Half of them don't even have cockpits. I would describe them like Heroes of the Pacific is to the IL2 series, they are to the X-wing/Wing Commander like sims. All flash and no substance.

Since it is quite possible that I might have missed something, I've had my head in the books for the past few years. Does anyone know of any good space sims out or on the horizon that are more realistic based. I know that is kind of an oxymoron, but I hope my thoughts are making it through. Something for the more serious simmer that enjoys a fullswitch online war in IL2/PF?

[CrazySchmidt]

I would like to know this also. My first flight sim (kinda), was X-Wing vs Tie Fighter as I was so impressed as a young fella with the whole StarWars thing and really fancied flying really fast in a dog fight sort of scenario and down through narrow corridors on the surface structure of space stations or similar.

When you watch this stuff it is easy to see that these battles have been heavily influenced by the battles fought in the air during WWII and then applied to a space scenario.

Yep, I'd like a IL-2 equivalent space sim for sure.

Cheers, CrazySchmidt.

[MaXMhZ]

If it's reality you want (and I'm saying a reality level that rivels IL-2) then try the free space-sim Orbiter
There is also a free space-combat sim from http://www.x-plane.com
I never tried the space combat from x-plane, but Orbiter is a great simulator. My biggest accomplishment was landing on Phobos, a moon of Mars which yook me over a month (I crashed quite some times on it before getting it all right. But then even a Mars orbit is very very hard to do lol

[3./JG51_Specter]

CrazySchmidt, me too. I cut my teeth on the first X-wing, I think it came out around '94. Before that I would fly around my parents house saying, "Red Leader, Stay on Target.", "They came from behind, NOOOOOO!!!!!" and "I have you now!" With a whole suite of laser and explosion sounds, I drove my parents nuts.

MaXMhZ, I love orbiter. The most challenging mission I've had was the Apollo missions. With so little fuel, there is almost no margin for error in the delta V burns.

I tried Austin's Space Combat last year. It seemed more like a proof of concept than a sim. The flight models and physics were top notch, but there was no substance otherwise. It was fun to play around with but nothing to keep you hooked.

It seems that freespace2 has a cult following, with further development and modding. I can't really find much in terms of screenshots or videos. Just the odd model update. I also found this BSG mod that is in development. Some of the videos look pretty inpressive for a game from '99, even if they are still dated.

[MaXMhZ]

Thanks for thOSE linkS - the BSG avi teaserI found in the forum sure looks great

I'm downloasing that FreeSpace2 now might cost a couple of hours but what the... lol THANKS!

[3./JG51_Specter]

Found this game today and thought of this thread.

http://www.starshatter.com/game.htm

The next gen in the series, Starshatter II is comming out soon. Its in a similar vein as 1c/Maddox BOB is comming out soon. 2 weeks ... From the little bits and pieces I've gleened from different forums it will have 3d pits and possibly trackir support. Someone on simhq called it the falcon4 of space sims.

[MaXMhZ]

Thanks again Specter! Starshatter looks great. I'll keep an eye on it.