Flying/space games
Discussion
Following a major PC upgrade, I find myself looking for some new games. I'm not in to first person shooters though, which takes out a lot of modern games, but do quite fancy hooking up a joystick and shooting some stuff from the air or in space.
A bit of Googling suggests there's not many new flight sims worth looking at since IL2. In the more spacey sim genre I plan to have a look at Elite: Dangerous, and X4 is due out soon, having been a plan of Frontier and the X series in my youth.
Anyone played with Star Citizen or No Mans Sky? Looks like they've got quite a lot of first person shooteriness to them as well as the flying bits.
Don't really want to join a MMORPG though, I've been clean for several years now since kicking Eve Online.
Any other recommendations? I guess I really fancy a spiritual successor to Tie Fighter but I'm not sure it exists, and the original looks rubbish on a modern PC.
A bit of Googling suggests there's not many new flight sims worth looking at since IL2. In the more spacey sim genre I plan to have a look at Elite: Dangerous, and X4 is due out soon, having been a plan of Frontier and the X series in my youth.
Anyone played with Star Citizen or No Mans Sky? Looks like they've got quite a lot of first person shooteriness to them as well as the flying bits.
Don't really want to join a MMORPG though, I've been clean for several years now since kicking Eve Online.
Any other recommendations? I guess I really fancy a spiritual successor to Tie Fighter but I'm not sure it exists, and the original looks rubbish on a modern PC.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Monday 5th November 13:10
Freespace 2 would satisfy all your space ship blasting requirements, although it's 15 years old now. Supported by a community who have been updating it graphically for years.
I'm playing Elite at the moment on the XBox. My wife hates it (says that nothing happens) but I am enjoying it a lot. Steep learning curve, I've had to use the internet in order to work out how to play it and make any money, and I haven't ventured into open yet.
I'm playing Elite at the moment on the XBox. My wife hates it (says that nothing happens) but I am enjoying it a lot. Steep learning curve, I've had to use the internet in order to work out how to play it and make any money, and I haven't ventured into open yet.
Part of me is dismissing games that old as I need something to justify the GTX1080 
I hadn't realised it was being updated though so could be worth a look.
I actually bought Elite when it first came out, but didn't get in to it, which I think was a combination of the PC not really being up to the job, and the steep learning curve. So plan to install that again (when I get bored of Crossout) and see if I get more in to it when it runs better.
I hadn't realised it was being updated though so could be worth a look.I actually bought Elite when it first came out, but didn't get in to it, which I think was a combination of the PC not really being up to the job, and the steep learning curve. So plan to install that again (when I get bored of Crossout) and see if I get more in to it when it runs better.
Elite has consumed a major chunk of my gaming time in the last year. I'm not sure about the learning curve being steep. You can fly, jump, trade and dock without much trouble. BUT many many many many in game systems are opaque and it's pretty much a given you will need a web browser running all the time to check stuff. How to make money, where to find the best mining sites, where to get unique materials. It is a gorgeous game to look at, often referred to on Reddit as " space screenshot simulator" because you will want to share all the cool sights you see.
Plus. It's in the midst of a major graphical and gameplay update for version 3.3 that is in open Beta. So you could jump into the Beta knowing nothing you do will permanently effect the main game and just go bananas.
Plus. It's in the midst of a major graphical and gameplay update for version 3.3 that is in open Beta. So you could jump into the Beta knowing nothing you do will permanently effect the main game and just go bananas.
Elite is fantastic, but very much a space sim (so imagine FSX with spaceships and missions)
No Man’s Sky is more planet based as you do very little in space and the handling of the ships is painful. However it is very relaxing and I quite enjoy exploring new planets.
X4 foundations is looking fantastic, apparently going back to more of an x3 Terran conflict/ Albion feel.
Everspace is a fun shooter, but very arcadey
No Man’s Sky is more planet based as you do very little in space and the handling of the ships is painful. However it is very relaxing and I quite enjoy exploring new planets.
X4 foundations is looking fantastic, apparently going back to more of an x3 Terran conflict/ Albion feel.
Everspace is a fun shooter, but very arcadey
Elite was best described in a review I read a while back. As vast as an ocean, but as deep as a puddle. It's a great game in the beginning, but you start running out of stuff to do after only 20 hours. I've logged 200 odd hours myself, but I really feel like it was out of habit rather than because I enjoyed the grind. You'll spend half the time flying to an objective which is basically just you staring at the screen while the distance counter shrinks. If you can get it cheap however, it's a no brainer.
To answer your question though, I thoroughly recommend Kerbal Space Program. It's geared more towards building the rockets/planes, but uses a lot of real world physics to actually get them in to orbit. An excellent game.
No Mans Sky has come leaps and bounds since the botched release, and is a decent game too. Quite cheap at the moment and worth a punt.
If you're in to RTS games, I've got to mention Homeworld Remastered. Utterly excellent game which I still play to this day.
To answer your question though, I thoroughly recommend Kerbal Space Program. It's geared more towards building the rockets/planes, but uses a lot of real world physics to actually get them in to orbit. An excellent game.
No Mans Sky has come leaps and bounds since the botched release, and is a decent game too. Quite cheap at the moment and worth a punt.
If you're in to RTS games, I've got to mention Homeworld Remastered. Utterly excellent game which I still play to this day.
I'm already a KSP regular. Installed 1.5 the other night and working my way though adding various graphics mods, did a quick test launch in a prebuilt ship and the upper atmosphere effects look great compared to the standard game. Think I need a second monitor though as in my last game I was programming all my manoeuvres in KOS and having to keep switching windows all the time becomes a pain.
Think I bought Homeworld Remastered in a Humble Bundle having enjoyed the original. I'll have to check my steam library
Think I bought Homeworld Remastered in a Humble Bundle having enjoyed the original. I'll have to check my steam library
X3: AP which is a bit like Eve online but ... offline. It's a fair few years old now itself but I recall that being an amazing game that you can get very deep into without risking some 12 year old claiming to have copped off with your mum.
If you fancy something easy to drop in and out of with nice visuals there's a F2P called Dreadnought that I've enjoyed recently, as it's easy to put down and pick back up again later with short arena based matches. Not sure I have a clue what's happening most of the time but who cares... PEW PEW PEW
If you fancy something easy to drop in and out of with nice visuals there's a F2P called Dreadnought that I've enjoyed recently, as it's easy to put down and pick back up again later with short arena based matches. Not sure I have a clue what's happening most of the time but who cares... PEW PEW PEW
Edited by GrumpyTwig on Wednesday 7th November 10:24
Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff