Looking for a Good Single Player Space Sim

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Tachyon still holds up as an SP game and it's pretty cheap on GoG

X Universe games are fun, even going back as far as 2. they are slow to build though (mods strongly recommended for 2) and end up being a bit RTSish

I wouldn't look at Star Citizen/Squadron 42 right now. The single player side is a good year plus away. it'll be gorgeous when it's done, but when is still being measured in years.

I can't recommend No Man's Sky as a space game... TBH it feels like space is just tacked on as a way to get to planets to explore. It's greatly improved from launch, it just doesn't really focus on space IMO.

honorable mention to Freespace (which has mods) but feels really old, and Homeworld remastered (which is more RTS).
 
Question about the X series games - what's the pacing like? I read, but can't remember which game, that flying from point A to point B was tedious. For instance 15 minutes to make a planetary hop. Similarly traveling from a system to another also took a long time.
Now in Witcher 3 I hardly ever fast travel, prefering to travel on foot/boat/Roach as you never know what's round the next hill. But space is empty and I gathered that flying is something you could start, make some coffee and return later and nothing much would've happened.
And what about the game saves? Could one save anywhere, or only at stations, or designated stations?
 
Question about the X series games - what's the pacing like? I read, but can't remember which game, that flying from point A to point B was tedious. For instance 15 minutes to make a planetary hop. Similarly traveling from a system to another also took a long time.
Now in Witcher 3 I hardly ever fast travel, prefering to travel on foot/boat/Roach as you never know what's round the next hill. But space is empty and I gathered that flying is something you could start, make some coffee and return later and nothing much would've happened.
And what about the game saves? Could one save anywhere, or only at stations, or designated stations?

Disclaimer: It has been a while since I last played, so this comes from memory.

Crossing just a system did vary. Mostly because it depends on the ship. I used faster ones, so it did not take long to get around. In addition the game allowed you to install some kind of time acceleration machine onto ships where you could speed up time by x4 or x8 I think.

In addition I remember auto pilot features across systems.

Pacing should not be an issue if they add the time speed thing to X4, too.

The thing is, in X the time you travel isn't just "lost" once you turn to running factories or several cargo, trading or military ships.

Use the train IRL sometimes? See people with or without suits and laptops who seemingly work?

That's what you turn into. The train bit is important: you move somewhere, but work at the same time. Alternative: using a car without being the driver.

As your ship flies from A to B with or without auto pilot, you run your assets or study sector or system maps, look at the enemy or potential opportunities, plan your next move, etc.

You are never "locked out" from game play as you travel in those games, if you could manage your assets or plan stuff at the same time.

As for save games, I recall you could save at any station, but I think there were also purchasable save game objects or items that let you save on the spot, anywhere.

Since stations were plentiful this was usually not needed most of the time in my eyes however.
 
Question about the X series games - what's the pacing like? I read, but can't remember which game, that flying from point A to point B was tedious. For instance 15 minutes to make a planetary hop. Similarly traveling from a system to another also took a long time.

I'd say 10-15 minutes between stations is about right, until you get that time compression thing. I'll put it this way: when I had a few factories and a small trade fleet, I'd often set my sights on a capital ship. I'd dock in a nice little quiet corner, set up a simple trade route, and leave the game running overnight or while I was at work. It might take a day or two of that to afford my new ship.

That doesn't ruin the energy of the game, though. I could easily have spent a week taking on missions or hunting down really lucrative trade runs to achieve the same result. It's no worse than most games in the genre, and still way faster than grinding for stuff in most multiplayer games.
 
I'd say 10-15 minutes between stations is about right

😂😂😂

Once when I was young I saw Das Boot. After that I played Silent Hunter II for months. I was "hard as rock" and I didn't shave for 5 weeks (as the crew on the submarine during a mission). At one point I started to play in real time. I turned on the speakers so I could hear the game from every point of the house. I run out from the harbour and after 5 hours my wife asked me how long I would like to do this. At that point I thought about it and I quit immediately. Since I never played such a game. So 15 minute? That's the maximum limit! :)
 
So 15 minute? That's the maximum limit! :)

Careful around Elite: Dangerous, then. :p I did a run to a station around a secondary star that was over 6,000,000 light seconds from the main star / entry point. Took over an hour of super-cruising in a straight line. The ~1.5 mil I made for a couple of deliveries was not worth it...but I stand by my choices.


X4: Foundations seems a good choice. It'll be released November 30 this year.

I was very disappointed by the direction they took X Rebirth. One of the few games I've ever bought at launch, and I returned it within about 12 hours. Bugs aside, I found the gameplay to be extremely dry and very limiting. I bought it again when Rebirth 4.0 was released after reading a lot of ongoing debate. I have to say, it was a noticeable improvement, but the soul of the game was still missing. That one went back, too.

Foundations I intend to watch. It certainly looks like they've gotten back to their roots. My virtual fingers are crossed.
 
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Careful around Elite: Dangerous, then. :p I did a run to a station around a secondary star that was over 6,000,000 light seconds from the main star / entry point. Took over an hour of super-cruising in a straight line. The ~1.5 mil I made for a couple of deliveries was not worth it...but I stand by my choices.

'The aim is the way itself', so maybe the problem is with me 😂
 
Darn, for some reason I thought X4 would come out 30th October, so next week.

But it's 30th November.

Hnnnnngh!
 
Curious no one mentioned Kerbal Space Program, it's the only "real" Space Sim out there (except for the oldie "Orbiter") and it will accompany you for years. Build rockets & fly them with real physics, it does not get better than this.
https://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/en/

As for the X-Series - prepare to sink alot of time into it for minor satisfaction, I don't see why they should be a better alternative to ED lol.
 
As for the X-Series - prepare to sink alot of time into it for minor satisfaction, I don't see why they should be a better alternative to ED lol.

Depends on what everyone finds satisfying. I think there are definitive pros and cons between ED and the X series. X takes far less time to get into the meat of the game; Elite offers a far more in-depth flight model. X offers the freedom of saving and reloading; Elite forces players to deal with catastrophes. X is a much more expansive game with the ability to command fleets, establish industry, wage wars, etc.; Elite is focused exclusively on the player's present ship and situation.
 
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