Looking for a Good Single Player Space Sim

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Looking for a good single player game, sop I'm not to keen on Elite Dangerous.
I'm leaning towards one of the X series games, which would you recommend?
Thanks.

Edit: Oops! I just realised that there's a sub-forum for "Other Games". Mods pls feel free to move this post there. :oops:
 
I can't recommend any good singleplayer ones because I'm not into space sim and have never played any of the good ones I keep hearing about. However, I gotta warn you about a certain game and its toxic fanbase. DON'T go the Star Citizen route. It is a dark path full of lies and the community is full of "passionate", ill-tempered sh... fans.

If you have co-op friends I'd recommend No Man's Sky Next. Supposedly it's really good now.
 
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An old one but Freespace 2 was my favourite back then. If I remember correctly on GOG you can buy it. Search youtube for a gameplay vid. Definitely worth a try!
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Oh, I forget to mention, it has a good story, and during flying around I never felt I'm alone. I remember there was always some conversation on radio, that makes a good atmosphere. Really was pleasure to play this game!
 
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Tachyon: The Fringe is my favorite of the genre. Nice atmosphere, somewhat cheesy, but still decent story, main character voiced by Bruce Campbell, campaign have two branching paths like TW2.
The only shortcoming I can think of is the game being released 18 years ago, so if you haven't played it by now, there's a chance you could find the graphics off-putting.
 
Looking for a good single player game, sop I'm not to keen on Elite Dangerous.
I'm leaning towards one of the X series games, which would you recommend?
Thanks.

X3 Albion Prelude is my favorite X game of them all. Just great all-round. Very, very slow though, if you've never played one before.

Try the latest Evochron if you've never played any of those. They are extremely good. A bit faster-paced than Elite. A bit. Ship customization is awesome, though.

Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos (Both were great., but the graphics in I-War 2 are a bit easier to swallow.)

I can second Freelancer, very fun, but action-oriented. Not sure if you're looking for something more "simulation-ish".

Other considerations, though very different in style (mission structure, not so much open-world):
  • Descent: Freespace and Freespace 2 (Absolutely phenomenal gameplay, even by today's standards.)
  • X-Wing Alliance (Just swallow the graphics -- there's never been a better Star Wars sim, IMO.)
  • Shatterstar: The Gathering Storm (Bit of a hidden gem. It's a sim, but you'll eventually command an entire fleet in a dynamic campaign. I think it's free, now, so nothing to lose.)
And non-simulations:
  • Starpoint Gemini 2 (The first one was a mess. This one is excellent. Like Starfleet Command meets Freelancer meets The X Series.)
  • Rebel Galaxy (A bit one-note, perhaps, but fun nonetheless. I keep going back to it.)
  • Starsector (Absolutely amazing indie project. Far more than the sum of its parts. Like Mount & Blade in space.)
  • Rodina (Very hard to explain. Plus, that would spoil it. Sooo much funs. Look it up.)
 
X3 Albion Prelude is my favorite X game of them all. Just great all-round. Very, very slow though, if you've never played one before.

Try the latest Evochron if you've never played any of those. They are extremely good. A bit faster-paced than Elite. A bit. Ship customization is awesome, though.

Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos (Both were great., but the graphics in I-War 2 are a bit easier to swallow.)

I can second Freelancer, very fun, but action-oriented. Not sure if you're looking for something more "simulation-ish".

Other considerations, though very different in style (mission structure, not so much open-world):
  • Descent: Freespace and Freespace 2 (Absolutely phenomenal gameplay, even by today's standards.)
  • X-Wing Alliance (Just swallow the graphics -- there's never been a better Star Wars sim, IMO.)
  • Shatterstar: The Gathering Storm (Bit of a hidden gem. It's a sim, but you'll eventually command an entire fleet in a dynamic campaign. I think it's free, now, so nothing to lose.)
And non-simulations:
  • Starpoint Gemini 2 (The first one was a mess. This one is excellent. Like Starfleet Command meets Freelancer meets The X Series.)
  • Rebel Galaxy (A bit one-note, perhaps, but fun nonetheless. I keep going back to it.)
  • Starsector (Absolutely amazing indie project. Far more than the sum of its parts. Like Mount & Blade in space.)
  • Rodina (Very hard to explain. Plus, that would spoil it. Sooo much funs. Look it up.)
I'll have to check some of those out, especially X3, Evochron, & Freelancer, I've been chasing the feeling I had back in the 90's when I started playing Wing Commander Privateer, but nothing has really had the same feel.
 
I'll agree with @SigilFey about X-Wing Alliance. Best space flight simulator I've ever played. And it's like 20 years old now.
Stellaris is a decent 4x space game.
 
The X games from Egosoft that Sigil suggested are wonderful IF you are ready to invest a bit of time and do not mind setbacks.

In my view, do not get X3 AP and whatever they are all called because at the end of the month, X4 releases. While the last title X: Rebirth got a lot of flak (rightfully so) for deviating from the core spirit of the games, this one is a return to the roots it seems.

Look up X4: Foundations to see if you get a good feel. If you have a bad feeling for whatever reason (I think most X-fans don't), you can still look up videos from X3 Albion Prelude or whatever.

Although I think X4 will have more modern features and better tech in the background to simulate the various things you can do or influence with your actions, big or small alike.

But just imagine it, a game with a vast settings and different factions that change based on not just your but their moves, and the ability to potentially create a vast economic (or military) power house... that and the management aspect always fascinated me. It's tough, but so rewarding once you establish yourself.


On a closing note, slightly OT...


[...]However, I gotta warn you about a certain game and its toxic fanbase. DON'T go the Star Citizen route. It is a dark path full of lies and the community is full of "passionate", ill-tempered sh... fans.

Not counting the fact it's MP (although the SP portion that might be released could be relevant here, assuming it has sim aspects), I'm a bit baffled by the statement. Perhaps you had bad community interactions. But I think it's usually never a reason to ditch a game or assume it's bad just because you have a portion of people in the community you consider "toxic".

You can play most games and completely detach the forums and arguments from a community. Sure, you can still meet some in-game but whether people blow you up or not for whatever reason is then part of the game.

Not trying to derail, just saying you do not necessarily have to enjoy a community or parts of it on some forum or platform to enjoy a game. Always try to detach the two things at least in some areas.

Less abstract: As people bicker and taunt on the forums you can just play the game and ignore most of that.
 
Not counting the fact it's MP (although the SP portion that might be released could be relevant here, assuming it has sim aspects), I'm a bit baffled by the statement. Perhaps you had bad community interactions. But I think it's usually never a reason to ditch a game or assume it's bad just because you have a portion of people in the community you consider "toxic".

You can play most games and completely detach the forums and arguments from a community. Sure, you can still meet some in-game but whether people blow you up or not for whatever reason is then part of the game.

Not trying to derail, just saying you do not necessarily have to enjoy a community or parts of it on some forum or platform to enjoy a game. Always try to detach the two things at least in some areas.

Less abstract: As people bicker and taunt on the forums you can just play the game and ignore most of that.

Unfortunately, none of that applies to SC or its fanbase. People have just poured in so much money into that game over the last few years that they are now obligated to defend it even if the developers are blatantly ignoring their own goals and feature creeping the living shit out of that game, if you can call it that, while selling dumb $27,000 spaceship bundles to further fund their development. There are so many horror stories of the community wallowing in confirmation bias and ostracizing newcomers for either being too unimportant or not "faithful" enough to the game. You're more likely to get banned for saying anything remotely critical (considered negative) about Star Citizen on /r/starcitizen or the sc forums.

Watch some videos from FailureToReport, BoredGamer, KyPoorShot, Star Criticism or SidAlpha. CI games themselves are shady as hell. They've been providing twitch streamers with really expensive PCs so they can show off Star Citizen alpha gameplay. Meanwhile, the alpha runs like ass on most high-higher end gaming stations. They have shill channels on youtube (Montoya is one of them) that actively condemn people who question the development cycle, too. It's an unending mire of lies and deception by both the studio itself and the compromised community. And make no mistake, this is a community-based game. Or at least it will be until they decide to release Squadron 42 (singleplayer), which has conveniently disappeared.

So to everyone looking for "realistic" space sims, PLEASE Avoid Star Citizen like the plague. You can always buy the game when and if it ever officially releases to the public as a full, finished game.
 
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I was thinking something along the lines of (showing my age here) Privateer. I've played Freelancer and while I did enjoy it I thought it was about average - it did what it said on the tin, unlike, say, Witcher 3 which despite the hype surrounding the game (I was a late adopter) still blew me away.
I'm aware of the controversy surrounding Star Citizen so I'm staying away from it for now. I almost contributed on Kickstarter but for some reason never got around to it.
Which is why I'm looking at games like the X series, Elite and so on. The only hesitation I have, based on my readings, is the steep learning curve and time needed to play.
 
I was thinking something along the lines of (showing my age here) Privateer. I've played Freelancer and while I did enjoy it I thought it was about average - it did what it said on the tin, unlike, say, Witcher 3 which despite the hype surrounding the game (I was a late adopter) still blew me away.
I'm aware of the controversy surrounding Star Citizen so I'm staying away from it for now. I almost contributed on Kickstarter but for some reason never got around to it.
Which is why I'm looking at games like the X series, Elite and so on. The only hesitation I have, based on my readings, is the steep learning curve and time needed to play.

As for Star Citizen: Despite horror stories, I can only suggest to make up your own mind and despite other implications, never try to project bad aspects onto an overall community where it is implied basically everyone is bad. There's surely vocal defenders and controversies depending on your view point. But then I simple suggest to not back or take part in a game when you are not completely sure or confident, and wait for more progress. The game, with all that is intended, is likely still years away to get near completion, but the game itself makes notable steps each year in terms of progression.

As for X4 or any X game: Do not fret. It's not like you have to start such games as "Mogul" or Entrepeneur or something. You can make a career as Freelancer, take odd jobs, work for a faction, do police work, hunt pirates, smuggle goods, be a pirate (or smuggler), be a bounty hunter, etc. Or you simple ship goods or tourists from A to B.

Chances are you need to do some odd jobs to gain money for bigger things in the first place, so you can "learn as you play" if that makes sense. Although once you try to start a company or start owning factories, you really need to think about where you place what.

When I started I usually focused on cheaper factories that are part of a basic production chain: Solar power plants or ore mines for example. People in the universe always need power and also do need ores to produce more things from. And those are among the cheaper factories to buy and easier ones to begin with.

So then you have to think: Where do you play your power plant or mine? Mines usually need an asteroid where you can put them into, unless you decide you mine yourself with a ship. So then you have to look where asteroid fields are and in turn scan them for a good yield. Power plants are less bound to stellar objects, but even then you have to ask yourself: Where do I place it?

Placing it in a system with 5 other power plants is... frankly, stupid. Placing a power plant in a system where no others are close, however, will force other factories and companies to buy at your place instead if you're way closer and thus faster to reach. Maybe you can even go up with the price in turn. Those are just few examples on how you have to think economically once you 'start a business' in the X games.

You can later also create whole connected mega-stations or factories that are completely or partially self-sufficient.

It's really crazy how wild you can go. The game would be even better if it had limited COOP or ground-components with planets, but that's likely too much to ask for.

And never forget: Once you start playing you can always look for tips on the internet on how other people do it. You will see an old X fan-base pick up X4 and provide tutorials and whatnot once it launches.

Long story short, if you truly want a space (and economic or military empire) building sim, you should not fret in terms of X4. Getting into it will be relatively managable. But mastering it, now there's the big reward. I really look forward to the more dynamic reaction system to see how borders and influences of factions likely change.

I wonder if someone manages to conquer the whole X-universe if that is even possible.
 
As for Star Citizen: Despite horror stories, I can only suggest to make up your own mind and despite other implications, never try to project bad aspects onto an overall community where it is implied basically everyone is bad. There's surely vocal defenders and controversies depending on your view point. But then I simple suggest to not back or take part in a game when you are not completely sure or confident, and wait for more progress.

Yeah, I'm not touching Star Citizen with a 2-meter stick even if they paid me to do it. I've been following its development process ever since it showed up all the way back in 2012. In fact, the game's features/goals today don't even resemble what was initially promised back then. At this point in time Star Citizen is more of a scam than lootboxes.

The game, with all that is intended, is likely still years away to get near completion, but the game itself makes notable steps each year in terms of progression.
The game that CIG intends to make will never come out at this rate. They are a studio with ZERO successfully produced games to date. They have no track record for people to assume that they will put out a good game even years down the line. Their only source of revenue is making more ridiculously expensive spaceships and selling virtual land and planets that don't exist in a fully playable state, which is what they are doing essentially. In an unending cycle.

Here, watch this.
 
Regarding SC, I made an investment, now I sit back and wait. And if it fails, that might be a bummer but something else will eventually come close to it or replace it. And if they do it, then it wasn't for nothing. Time will tell what will become of it.

While one could discuss Star Citizen's past, present and future at great length, perhaps we should return to the original topic of singleplayer sims eventually. If we want to we should continue that in another more fitting thread.

https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/star-citizen.10922822/
 
Regarding SC, I made an investment, now I sit back and wait. And if it fails, that might be a bummer but something else will eventually come close to it or replace it. And if they do it, then it wasn't for nothing. Time will tell what will become of it.

While one could discuss Star Citizen's past, present and future at great length, perhaps we should return to the original topic of singleplayer sims eventually. If we want to we should continue that in another more fitting thread.

https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/star-citizen.10922822/

Ah, I must admit that I did assume you were a star citizen backer after reading your first reply regarding the matter. Well, for your sake, I hope it gets released as a proper game. I have three friends who are heartbroken, to put it mildly, after their initial investment back in 2013. They cannot even get a refund anymore. I hope your optimism is rewarded eventually.
 
Going a bit off-road (not simulation at all), but a space game that needs more love:

Space Rangers 2

(Now that there's the HD version, no reason not to dive into this gem.)
 
I followed this thread in the last few days, and decided to try Freespace 2 after so many years. It was a great game and with a MOD it still looks great! It's a bit complicated to install, but even I managed it!
 
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