other space explorer/trader/fighter games

[Ursus]

I played a couple of other games in this genre back in the old days, and got an itch to try them again which is why I'm here now.

The first game(s) I played in the space-exploration genre that were moderately open-ended were the Space Quest games from Sierra Online. These were puzzle/adventure games mostly, but you didn't have to follow an exact script. Also very bad 8-bit pixel graphics, but it was fun until they went from mystery commands to a pick-list format; once they gave you a pick-list it wasn't a puzzle anymore, more like a retard entrance exam.



I also played some of the Wing Commander games, maybe all of them I can't remember. IIRC once the story was finished you could still run around and do missions and stuff. In privateer you were not required to be in the military, and it was possible to pirate a Kilrathi battleship, at which point you basically had unlimited power to do anything you wanted. Incidentally, there is a clone of Wing Commander Privateer called Gemini, if you haven't seen it already [http://privateer.sourceforge.net/].



In the late 90s I had a mac and played a game called Escape Velocity. Very similar to Freelancer except it was 2D top-down view with 3D sprites, instead of FPS. The game was remade and ported to PC, called it EV NOVA, which I believe is still available for sale. Here's a good review [http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/escapev...locity.htm]

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/escapev...y/ev-5.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/escapev.../ev-10.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/escapev.../ev-12.jpg

I played Freelancer when it came out, played it again a couple of years ago, then got the itch to check out the multiplayer options. FL is basically a conclusion of WC and EV, with some improvements and some weak spots. Biggest weakness is Microsoft has no soul for gaming. Disco is an interesting expansion but there are flaws in the core engine that cannot be modded around.

I am interested in some other games in this genre and am interested in hearing other people's thoughts. I know a little about EVE but haven't ever played it, but don't know much about anything else.

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