[castor]

I wonder why so many people appear to dislike the genre of Space Flight Simulators. Apparently FS is one of them, that's why few people get to play it, let alone encounter it. Maybe this is the cause for its apparent death?
Any opinions?

"early days": most of the people involved were geeks, inclined to be interested in scfi subjects
now: computer gaming is commonplace among non-geeks -> the relative importance of scifi has declined -> less attractive to developers

[Vidmaster]

"early days": most of the people involved were geeks, inclined to be interested in scfi subjects
now: computer gaming is commonplace among non-geeks -> the relative importance of scifi has declined -> less attractive to developers

That's indeed one of the reasons.
Another one was the rise of the shooter as THE primary 3D game type, plus the emergance of MainStream, along with everything that comes with it. Very complex games are not MainStream enough 

[Kosh]

Space in general is an area that no one really gives a damn about anymore except for a select few die hards, and the fall of the space sim certainly reflects this.


That being said, I actually did try out a space sim that had realistic physics, it was a free b5 game called "i've found her". Certainly fun, but without a joystick and a lot of practice damn hard to fly well.

[General Battuta]

Space in general is an area that no one really gives a damn about anymore except for a select few die hards, and the fall of the space sim certainly reflects this.

Definitely untrue. Things set in space are pretty darn popular.

[The E]

It's the WW2 in space that's unpopular.

[Kosh]

Space in general is an area that no one really gives a damn about anymore except for a select few die hards, and the fall of the space sim certainly reflects this.

Definitely untrue. Things set in space are pretty darn popular.

Such as?

[General Battuta]

Space in general is an area that no one really gives a damn about anymore except for a select few die hards, and the fall of the space sim certainly reflects this.

Definitely untrue. Things set in space are pretty darn popular.

Such as?

Star Trek just ripped open the box office last summer; Moon was a critical hit; Avatar is the highest-grossing movie in the world; District 9's aliens from space were a surprise critical and commercial hit; Alastair Reynolds just got a million-dollar contract (!); Iain Banks continues to grab critical adoration and make bestseller lists; BSG was not only critically successful, but it became the show-to-watch for showrunners...

It's not the post-Wars 80s, but times aren't too bad.

[Kosh]

Point taken. Too bad there isn't more interest in doing stuff in space in real life, but that's for a different conversation.


Anyway if anyone is interested, here's the link to the main I've Found Her homepage.

[Adept]

When did the last good Space Game come out? I suppose the "I've Found Her" Babylon 5 project qualifies. Before that it's Freespace and Wing Commander Prophecy?

You guys should join me in playing Allegiance. It's an awesome space sim. It's fully PvP, and it's totally free since Microsoft didn't know a good thing after they had created it 

It's challenging and people are quite passionate about it (so feelings run hot sometimes). I must say the Squad League that just ended was one of the wildest rides of my ride.

Come check us out fellow space fans.
www.freeallegiance.org

[QuantumDelta]

As "limited" as FS2s' multi is, I .....seriously think I'll stick to that :<

[Adept]

Those of you who show up to try out Allegiance, I'd love to hear from you.

Being skilled in FS2 or Wing Commander or such gives a great head start   

[Woolie Wool]

Indeed. I mean, the DualShock 3 for example has 16 buttons (including the D-Pad), 2 joysticks plus a motion tracker. You can probably get all controls you need for regular gameplay in there.

A context-menu comm system and a simplified "smart" targeting system would make FreeSpace perfectly playable on a console. Hell, Wing Commander is playable on primitive 16-bit console gamepads. You Know What would not have to sacrifice that much compared to FS2 to be a viable multi-platform game.

What I want, really, is a new military mission-based space sim. There are quite a few open-ended sandbox space sims out there, but no mission-based WC- or FS-style space sims. That, and no more Newtonian space sims. They're about as fun as filing tax returns.

[Sushi]

What I want, really, is a new military mission-based space sim. There are quite a few open-ended sandbox space sims out there, but no mission-based WC- or FS-style space sims. That, and no more Newtonian space sims. They're about as fun as filing tax returns.

+1 for truth.

Although semi-newtonian stuff can be a lot of fun... it's one of the things that, IMO, the aforementioned Allegiance gets exactly right. Diaspora is going to get it pretty right too.

[Adept]

Although semi-newtonian stuff can be a lot of fun... it's one of the things that, IMO, the aforementioned Allegiance gets exactly right. Diaspora is going to get it pretty right too.

I'm absolutely hooked on the semi newtonian thing.

Most important is the chance to use up-down-left-right-front-back thrusters freely. That makes for awesome dogfighting.