Space Games

[Huntn]

I really was in love with X3, which I would not call a Grand Strategy game, but more of a trading, combat game, although technically it is a 4X game. (There is a separate favorite 4X game thread in the forum already.)

Anyway, I have been eyeing Nebulous Fleet Command fleet combat) which is on sale for the next couple of days at Steam, which I have read is challenging as you appear to have to micromanage all of your ships. Anyone playing this?

Save 50% on NEBULOUS: Fleet Command on Steam

Take command of your hand-tailored fleet of space warships and use realistic radar, electronic warfare, advanced movement controls in 3D space, and precision targeting to outmaneuver and outwit your opponents in a simulation-heavy tactical space game like no other.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Huntn]

I really was in love with X3, which I would not call a Grand Strategy game, but more of a trading, combat game, although technically it is a 4X game. (There is a separate favorite 4X game thread in the forum already.)

Anyway, I have been eyeing Nebulous Fleet Command fleet combat) which is on sale for the next couple of days at Steam, which I have read is challenging as you appear to have to micromanage all of your ships. Anyone playing this?

Save 50% on NEBULOUS: Fleet Command on Steam

Take command of your hand-tailored fleet of space warships and use realistic radar, electronic warfare, advanced movement controls in 3D space, and precision targeting to outmaneuver and outwit your opponents in a simulation-heavy tactical space game like no other.

store.steampowered.com

I played it with my son, and it was too hard. Will check on it later. There is another game called Capitol Command at Steam, but’s not due till next year…

 

[Huntn]

I played it with my son, and it was too hard. Will check on it later. There is another game called Capitol Command at Steam, but’s not due till next year…

Sorry, I confused this with Nebulus: Fleet Command. Capital Command has not yet been released. The AI in Fleet Command kicked our buttocks all over space.

Save 50% on NEBULOUS: Fleet Command on Steam

Take command of your hand-tailored fleet of space warships and use realistic radar, electronic warfare, advanced movement controls in 3D space, and precision targeting to outmaneuver and outwit your opponents in a simulation-heavy tactical space game like no other.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Huntn]

I'm being pulled back to X4, but I think I'll resist it. It's cold and heartless in X4 space, zero social life. I enjoy buying substantial ships and jumping into them to fly around. I REALLY liked building ships in Starfield, being able to walk around in the ship (last time I played X4, you could not do that) but that game (Starfield) let me down on other levels. The RPG element in Starfield, at least it had one.

I'm looking at Stellaris, and I don't think I want a Civilization in Space Game. One thing about X4, the ability to hire a pilot to run your trading ships for you, while you're out doing other things. Trading ships make you $$$ which opens opportunities to do things like build a $$$ making empire. I'm kind of missing X3, but that had no social life either.

 

[lostPod]

Have you checked out Star Citizen?

Star Citizen

Roberts Space Industries is the official go-to website for all news about Star Citizen and Squadron 42. It also hosts the online store for game items and merch, as well as all the community tools used by our fans.

robertsspaceindustries.com

 

[Huntn]

Have you checked out Star Citizen?

Star Citizen

Roberts Space Industries is the official go-to website for all news about Star Citizen and Squadron 42. It also hosts the online store for game items and merch, as well as all the community tools used by our fans.

robertsspaceindustries.com

Yes I did. When I played it I think it was on an older SSD, and a 3xxx card, and the experience was not good, at times excessive lag. I’ve upgraded since then, but have not gone back. Plus it’s online which is something I’ve more or less had my fill of. I might say it’s a philosophical judgement and immersive expectation, the difference of being in a world where I get to shape, vs a world full of tourists crashing the party. Yes, there is a definite attraction to play coop, and I know a couple people playing it, but that also means a time commitment, I’m no longer willing to make.

Yes, while I’m frustrated with X4 Foundations, at least this is a solo game, yet it lacks any kind of personal relationships. My personal sweet spot is in an RPG, with companions and a traditional quest structure. Starfield is in the right vicinity yet the social mechanics are at least a decade behind the times which ruined that experience to some degree. I’ve ranted plenty about it in the Starfield thread.

If you’re going to have companions or ship crewmembers who tell me they’re so happy I’m back on board, or ask me “how’s it going”?, or make a comment that usually signals a desire of another human being to want to speak with you, and then if I stop to talk with them, I expect to have a coherent conversation, not blank stares, or the default set of 3 scripted questions that have already been asked and answered.

Just a heads up for anyone not familiar, we are heading into the territory where AAA games now require not only a graphic card up to snuff, but also a SSD (Solid State drive).

 

[MarkC426]

This was my favourite Space Game (series)….. (showing my age now)

 

[Huntn]

Have you checked out Star Citizen?

Star Citizen

Roberts Space Industries is the official go-to website for all news about Star Citizen and Squadron 42. It also hosts the online store for game items and merch, as well as all the community tools used by our fans.

robertsspaceindustries.com

Are you playing Star Citizen?

 

[dmr727]

My personal sweet spot is in an RPG, with companions and a traditional quest structure. Starfield is in the right vicinity yet the social mechanics are at least a decade behind the times which ruined that experience to some degree. I’ve ranted plenty about it in the Starfield thread.

Welcome to my relationship with Bethesda.

"I hate that they did this, this, I hated this, and this."

"How many hours do you have in the game?"

"Oh, a little over 500."

 

[Huntn]

Welcome to my relationship with Bethesda.

"I hate that they did this, this, I hated this, and this."

"How many hours do you have in the game?"

"Oh, a little over 500."

Starfield: As soon as I finished the main quest, I quit the game and parked my beautiful spaceship. The plot was stupid, or should I say it broke my suspension of disbelief, regarding the multiverse, it never answered my question, “Why, for what purpose”? … 🤔 I did not consider the DLC. While in F4, I played through all of the DLCs, so take that Bethesda! 😳😉

 

[Plutonius]

Are you playing Star Citizen?

It will not run on a Mac under Crossover or Parallels.

It uses AVX2 and the anti cheat that it uses also prevents Macs from running it.

 

[Regulus67]

Yes I did. When I played it I think it was on an older SSD, and a 3xxx card, and the experience was not good, at times excessive lag. I’ve upgraded since then, but have not gone back. Plus it’s online which is something I’ve more or less had my fill of. ...

I am in the same situation. Will I try again? Yes probably. But having played Eve Online for 4 years. I have doubts that I will enjoy it. PvP is catering more to the gamers that like to fight other players. I prefer to co-operate, not combat others.

What I am really looking forward to is Squadron 42. Which is the single player part of the larger Star Citizen universe.

 

[Huntn]

I am in the same situation. Will I try again? Yes probably. But having played Eve Online for 4 years. I have doubts that I will enjoy it. PvP is catering more to the gamers that like to fight other players. I prefer to co-operate, not combat others.

What I am really looking forward to is Squadron 42. Which is the single player part of the larger Star Citizen universe.

I’ll need to read up about that.

 

[Plutonius]

I picked up Everspace 2 a couple of weeks ago when it was on sale. I haven't tried it yet but it looks interesting.

 

[Huntn]

I picked up Everspace 2 a couple of weeks ago when it was on sale. I haven't tried it yet but it looks interesting.

Looking forward to a report. I loved X3, X4 fell through for me, I might go back and give it another try. Starfield, made some good strides and it had good potential as the type of story Bethesda likes to tell, but remained stagnant on the social matrix scale and it’s story while intriguing, became disappointing, because it did not satisfy me, especially the idea of hopping around the multiverse doing repetitive things and leaving my “friends” including a romantic partner behind to do so.

I may have the original Everspace in my library, might take a peak at that.

 

[Plutonius]

Looking forward to a report. I loved X3, X4 fell through for me, I might go back and give it another try. Starfield, made some good strides and it had good potential as the type of story Bethesda likes to tell, but remained stagnant on the social matrix scale and it’s story while intriguing, became disappointing, because it did not satisfy me, especially the idea of hopping around the multiverse doing repetitive things and leaving my “friends” including a romantic partner behind to do so.

I may have the original Everspace in my library, might take a peak at that.

It will probably be awhile. I have lots of games in my queue and I'm currently playing ARK Survival Evolved again (over 4000 hours played over the years) .

 

[Huntn]

It will probably be awhile. I have lots of games in my queue and I'm currently playing ARK Survival Evolved again (over 4000 hours played over the years) .

Did you go for the Survival Ascended version? I read the reviews and said naw. The gist is that they upgraded the graphics but the basic game is still there with the same glitches... Which map are you playing on? Solo or coop?

 

[Plutonius]

Did you go for the Survival Ascended version? I read the reviews and said naw. The gist is that they upgraded the graphics but the basic game is still there with the same glitches... Which map are you playing on? Solo or coop?

Ascended will not run under Crossover or Parallels on a Mac.

The graphics look good but people are calling it the least optimized game ever made. The original (Evolved) runs well, still looks good, and I have all the maps so I would not be playing the update (Ascended) even if I could.

The interesting thin is that many of the ARK YouTube channels have returned to playing Evolved.

I always have only played solo on Ark Evolved and I'm currently playing on the Island (first map).

 

[Huntn]

Maybe there’s something here? I want to build or explore, or something X4 like without their BS.

16 Best NEW Upcoming Space Games of 2025 - Gameranx

Who doesn't love a good space game? In this list we're going to showcase some of the best new space games coming our way in 2025.

gameranx.com

 

[Regulus67]

Maybe there’s something here? I want to build or explore, or something X4 like without their BS.

16 Best NEW Upcoming Space Games of 2025 - Gameranx

Who doesn't love a good space game? In this list we're going to showcase some of the best new space games coming our way in 2025.

gameranx.com

I would love if Mass Effect 5 turns out to be a good game. There is only a 5% chance that it will be, in my opinion.
Like the Dragon Age games, it is no longer similar in any meaningful way. And I will never play the Veilguard.

This got me thinking of an old space game, Freelancer (2003). I didn't play very long, and have forgotten why I stopped. edit: Probably started playing Saga of Ryzom instead, for 4 years
But there is a good chance I will give it a go again, one day. As I still have the game and old PC hardware in storage

 

[Huntn]

Some space thoughts…
What both X3 and X4 have going for them are avoiding having to micromanage multiple trading ships who have their own captains, and while you set up their trade routes, they execute these on their own. What killed X4 for me is they allowed you inside ships to fly them instead of an RTS management style, but they locked you on the flight deck, big beautiful ships that you could not walk around inside and marvel at their technical magnificence. And their space stations, you could get inside them too, but they are so damned empty, sterile, and devoid of humanoids, they are a joke. Think as of in the vast reaches of space, you want space stations to be where you could go meet up with other sentient life and social interaction, not an empty desert.

Starfield as much as I rag on it, has colonies,and space stations that feel alive. The idea of having your own “Dream house” estate should be super cool, but it was out in a place you had basically no reason to visit. And decorating it is a pain in the ass, like I’m going to jump across a vast space to do what exactly there? You have zero abilty to do anything relaxing like, but stare at the walls.

Although its ships are restricted as far as you could not fly in the atmosphere under your own control, it is basically a cut scene to leave and enter the atmosphere, you could fly them in space, fight in them, blasting the hell out of interlopers! 😁 And building ships was fun, and those ship interiors could be walked around in with crew members busy doing little tasks, just don’t expect much in the way of conversation, like moving place holders, but the ships do look and feel like they are lived in. Of note, I never agreed to grinding for the credits to build a $500k ship, I just gave them to myself via consol. ☺️ I might go back an actually play Starfield again.

Empyrion Galactic Survival - Some of the best voxel based ship building around, but they fly like pigs, “oink!”

My dream, Cyberpunk in space! Manage your fleets (without micromanaging), build big beautiful ships, battle cruisers, destroyers, and hot rod dog fighters, manage trade and conflict like the X4 sandbox, and have significant other(s) who you can actually have an organic conversation with of more than 4 sentences… ☺️

 

[Huntn]

18 Indie Space Games That Could Change Everything!​

They might... Green check mark only means worth further investigation.

• Spacecraft ✅
• Xerxes Shadow ✅
• Ascendence- Grand Strategy
• Capital Commad- Combat in a capital command. I'll try it but my experience in Nebulus: Fleet Command by same developer was overly difficult. Played this with my Son, we were on one team. Could not beat the AI team, but this was last year.
• Beyond Astra- Grand Strategy
• C-Beams- ARPG
• G-Rebels- Patrol a huge city taking on missions ✅
• In The Black- Dogfighting ✅
• Verse Project- MMO
• For The Stars- Huge Sandbox, not sure if MMO or Online only✅ (If online or MP only, this would be off my list).
• Jumpship- MP PVE- played demo with my son, it's ok...
• Fragile Existence- Strategy Survival ✅
• Hunternet Starfighter- Combat ✅
• Exodus- RPG ✅
• Starminer- Mining among other things. ✅
• Era One- RTS ✅
• Falling Frontier- RTS ✅
• Starship Simulator- ✅Explore a huge ship (200 rooms, with working monitors, displays, equipment), explore a huge galaxy real time, immersion and scale Not sure what other things there are to do. Deal with threats? Make meaningful discoveries? Don't know. There is a demo I just downloaded but have yet to look at. Game proper is not yet released. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1332100/Starship_Simulator/

 

[Varmann]

I have always had a sweet spot for space games but over the years I have developed more mix feelings.

Starting out with Escape Velocity in the 90s.
After playing Sid Meyers Alpha Centauri, Iwar, Homeworld, X2, Kotor 1&2, Civ: Beyond worlds, Mass Effect, Elite Dangerous and Stellaris and seriously considered Eve Online, X3&4, Star Citizen, No mans sky and Starfield I have hard to find something that match my current preferences.

- I have limited time, so Eve online and other MMOs are out, I also prefer co-op instead of pvp.
- I prefer games where you control the game pace. Realtime action or long cinematics with dialogs you cannot stop is not on my wishlist.
- Spaceflight simulators is not my thing, I struggled a lot with the flying bit in Iwar and ED.
- It is very hard to both show the vastness of space and also fill it with meaningful and varied activities (so long ED, No mans sky and Starfield)

Guess I am stuck with Stellaris for now, dreaming of a rerelease of Alpha Centauri.

 

[Plutonius]

I have always had a sweet spot for space games but over the years I have developed more mix feelings.

Starting out with Escape Velocity in the 90s.
After playing Sid Meyers Alpha Centauri, Iwar, Homeworld, X2, Kotor 1&2, Civ: Beyond worlds, Mass Effect, Elite Dangerous and Stellaris and seriously considered Eve Online, X3&4, Star Citizen, No mans sky and Starfield I have hard to find something that match my current preferences.

- I have limited time, so Eve online and other MMOs are out, I also prefer co-op instead of pvp.
- I prefer games where you control the game pace. Realtime action or long cinematics with dialogs you cannot stop is not on my wishlist.
- Spaceflight simulators is not my thing, I struggled a lot with the flying bit in Iwar and ED.
- It is very hard to both show the vastness of space and also fill it with meaningful and varied activities (so long ED, No mans sky and Starfield)

Guess I am stuck with Stellaris for now, dreaming of a rerelease of Alpha Centauri.

My favorite is "Master of Orion" on Steam. It's the remade version of "Masters of Orion III".

Note: Steam says that the game is 32 bit but it is actually 64 bit and runs great under the latest MacOS.

Master of Orion on Steam

The ascendant spacefaring 4X strategy game returns! A new chapter in the epic Master of Orion saga is poised to once again capture the imaginations of millions of gamers.

store.steampowered.com

 

[maflynn]

My favorite is "Master of Orion" on Steam. It's the remade version of "Masters of Orion III".

Note: Steam says that the game is 32 bit but it is actually 64 bit and runs great under the latest MacOS.

Master of Orion on Steam

The ascendant spacefaring 4X strategy game returns! A new chapter in the epic Master of Orion saga is poised to once again capture the imaginations of millions of gamers.

store.steampowered.com

Wow, I remember when this game came out in the 90s. Talk about a blast from the past

Looks like the game was re-released/re-mastered.