IN SPAAAAACEEEEE

[Nyxos]

Go buy a spaceship irl for teh full experience.

^ this too

I looked at freespace 2 a bit and it looks pretty old, also, its just a combat simulator, unlike X3:TC, where you can build your own trade empire and build you own ships and stuff. Also, the graphics in X3 are pretty amazing if your computer can handle them. But, you might need a joystick to enjoy fully the game (at least when you only have a fighter), because mouse and keyboard controls are hard to get used to (not impossible, but very hard).
Damn, I just made myself want to play X3 again

 

[HansDuet]

Old or not FS2 is gold. With Open Freespace it won't hurt your eyes and has tons of free material.

 

[PerXX]

I looked at freespace 2 a bit and it looks pretty old, also, its just a combat simulator

Hence, why you go get the OpenFreespace thingy to help upgrade the graphics. Using graphics to determine how great a game is, is a pretty poor choise though.
Also, it's "just" a combat simulator, but that's also what the OP wanted.

Given the age of the games, you should probably be able to get both of 'em fairly cheap.

 

[Nyxos]

Hence, why you go get the OpenFreespace thingy to help upgrade the graphics. Using graphics to determine how great a game is, is a pretty poor choise though.
Also, it's "just" a combat simulator, but that's also what the OP wanted.

Given the age of the games, you should probably be able to get both of 'em fairly cheap.

the graphics are just a plus, but I can't play for long at a game that has very poor graphics, I saw some vids of the OpenFreespace thing and you're right, the graphics aren't that bad.

But its just a combat simulator, to quote the OP :

Id just like some suggestions of good space games.


Ive played Freelancer, and that was pretty sweet, if a bit Linear.


Ive got X2 floating around here somewhere too, but i bought that when i was younger and didnt have much patience for a steep learning curve.


If its still a decent game, ill give it a go.


I dont really want a strategy game, im thinking more about flying my own ship around etc etc.

for all we know, the game that would him off would be "trading universe : be a space merchant" (does that kind of game exist ? Apart from X3 where you can do that if you want)

What make X3 such a great game is the total freedom you have, you can build a trade empire, a military empire, have huge fleets of hundreds of fighters, dozens of battleships.

One of the most fun thing that has happened to me is getting almost killed by a gigantic space ship coming out the gate I was about to go into : space traffic accidents ! They should create a mod where you have a stop sign for those gates


oh and watch this, you can fly those ships btw

 

[Gordon Freynman]

But, you might need a joystick to enjoy fully the game (at least when you only have a fighter), because mouse and keyboard controls are hard to get used to (not impossible, but very hard).

I'd disagree with that. The mouse and keyboard controls are very fluid once you get used to them and it's not very hard to do so, at least in my experience. I'd even go as far to say that the game is much better with a keyboard and mouse than with a joystick. I'm a little biased though since I'm a mainly an FPS and RTS player, but I have played a fair share of combat flight simulators in my day (with joystick of course).

EDIT: here are the build, think, trade, and fight trailers for TC.

Spoiler

 

[Nyxos]

I'd disagree with that. The mouse and keyboard controls are very fluid once you get used to them and it's not very hard to do so, at least in my experience. I'd even go as far to say that the game is much better with a keyboard and mouse than with a joystick. I'm a little biased though since I'm a mainly an FPS and RTS player, but I have played a fair share of combat flight simulators in my day (with joystick of course).

[/SPOILER]

Yeah, but when you start, a joystick makes everything much faster, but in the long run, you are right, when you get to big ships and fleets, you need your keyboard.

 

[Turkeys!]

X³ TC with a few choice mods and you'll be flying your own huge destroyer, command an entire fleet of fighters, frigates and more in enormous space battles.

It's also fun to just watch two AI factions duke it out and just clean up the battlefield, combine this with some salvage mods and you could potentially loot yourself an entire fleet.

Which mods would you recommend for it?

 

[Gordon Freynman]

Yeah, but when you start, a joystick makes everything much faster,

Maybe its just that I've grown so accustom to the M+K combo, but I still much prefer the mouse over joystick when flying fighters and corvettes and I find it very smooth and intuitive. Using mouse follow and the auto aim feature (or manual aiming if it's REALLY early) dogfighting is a piece of cake for me.

 

[Kanaric]

Also, Star Control 2.

That game is gold.

This and X3 are both my recommendations.

SC2 is also a RPG, a VERY VERY good RPG. In fact its considered by most to be one of the best of all time.


Eve is a very complicated game, if you dont mind a complicated MMO that is also a timesink its a very good game. I like simple MMORPGS myself so I can never get into it.


I am sad that most of these games mentioned are quite old, the age of good space games is done. What happened to gaming?

 

[mic1402]

I am sad that most of these games mentioned are quite old, the age of good space games is done. What happened to gaming?

nothing happened to gaming. space optimism and general interest in space died.
people just aren't interested anymore. for a bit trek even died, the last star wars movie came out in 2005. there just isn't much interest.

 

[jimkatalanos]

I am sad that most of these games mentioned are quite old, the age of good space games is done. What happened to gaming?

Agreed. CoD and WoW happened.

 

[Magic Man]

I don't fancy getting an MMO like Eve, never really been my cup of tea.


I think ill give X3 a look first, thanks a lot dudes.

 

[Tankfriend]

Well, you might have a look at this thing here.
I don't know whether or not they're going to publish it outside of Germany, but in any case: It's the entire X series in one package, with some extras added in and in multi-lingual version. All of that for ca. 34€.
http://www.amazon.de/Deep-Silver-X-..._1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1286906281&sr=1-1

 

[Manco]

It's on steam

 

[Manco]

Which mods would you recommend for it?

Start with combing out this list

I recommend either Race Response Fleets or Improved Races (both enable sector invasions which means big space battles with huge ships)
A loot/claim plug-in: especially handy early game if you're primarily a fighter
Combine it with NPC bailout that improves the NPC pilot ejection mechanic and potentially enables large ships bailing out as well.
Get Terrans revitalised as well, the Terran economy tends to fail due to a lack of certain products (which is very stupid since the Terrans are supposed to be the powerhouse)

 

[saxdude]

I would get X3, but it seems very heavy on the computer.

 

[Gordon Freynman]

I recommend either Race Response Fleets or Improved Races (both enable sector invasions which means big space battles with huge ships)
A loot/claim plug-in: especially handy early game if you're primarily a fighter
Combine it with NPC bailout that improves the NPC pilot ejection mechanic and potentially enables large ships bailing out as well.
Get Terrans revitalised as well, the Terran economy tends to fail due to a lack of certain products (which is very stupid since the Terrans are supposed to be the powerhouse)

Just to add to that:

CODEA: Adds considerable depth to fleet management. Allows you to hire pilots, train them in combat, get them promoted to higher ranks which makes them better fighters and allows them to command larger ships, keeps track of their kills and flight time and other stuffs. You can create a battle group centered around a flagship carrier and have it patrol a series of sectors or order it to make coordinated attack against a target. It really adds to the strategic and RPG elements of the game, but is pretty useless until the later stages of the game though when you get your first frigate/carrier.

MARS: Makes turrets intelligent and a million times more effective and eliminates the need to micromanage them.

If you get Improved Races (which you definitely should) then get the Ship Rebalance Mod and Combat Mod 4 to go with it because they're all designed to work together (although can function without one another). the SRM does basically what its name suggests and also integrates a plethora of new ships made by the community. CMOD4 completely revamps the weapons and makes combat a hell of a lot more interesting and varied.

 

[Turkeys!]

Start with combing out this list

I recommend either Race Response Fleets or Improved Races (both enable sector invasions which means big space battles with huge ships)
A loot/claim plug-in: especially handy early game if you're primarily a fighter
Combine it with NPC bailout that improves the NPC pilot ejection mechanic and potentially enables large ships bailing out as well.
Get Terrans revitalised as well, the Terran economy tends to fail due to a lack of certain products (which is very stupid since the Terrans are supposed to be the powerhouse)

Thanks for the link and suggestions +rep