SciFi outerspace sandbox games?
- Thread starter RoJoHen
- Start date
There's the X-series. I've only played X3: Terran Conflict. It's a really big universe and you fly around in a personal starship. You can buy other ships, upgrade current ships, engage in ship-to-ship combat accept a variety of missions (protect stations, kill a target, deliver x-number of goods somewhere, transport people to locations, etc), purchase stations and set up your own little empire. It's a pretty neat game, but you have to be patient early on. It has a fairly steep learning curve, and it starts off really slow. You're generally not put in a very good ship and there's not a lot that you'll be able to do successfully. But if you can hang in there past the beginning, you'll get better ships that will allow you to do more and things will go a lot better.
They're also coming out with a new one later this year, X Rebirth, and they're apparently rebuilding the whole game engine from the ground up.
They're also coming out with a new one later this year, X Rebirth, and they're apparently rebuilding the whole game engine from the ground up.
There was a series of games called the Battlecruiser series, but I wouldn't wish those games on anyone because while the concept is interesting, the execution leaves a lot to be desired and the result are frustrating games due to their interfaces making them much more difficult than they need to be. But you'd have a ship and a crew, which you could order around. You'd have a whole universe of planets that you could visit and explore, which you could actually set foot on, I believe. Enemies could board your ship, and you'd be able to try to gun them down FPS style through the halls of your own ship.
There were, i think two versions, one older and one more modern that were released for free.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlecruiser_3000AD
There were, i think two versions, one older and one more modern that were released for free.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlecruiser_3000AD
The Battlecruiser games are the perfect example of a great concept executed terribly. Plus, Derek Smart is like the biggest asshole in the industry.
Exactly, Robert, which is why I don't wish them on anyone. Such potential gone to waste, and it's almost a model of how bad UI can break your game. I do wish someone would take the concept and make an MMO out of it though. Anyone but him, however. I was reluctant to say his name because it's almost like a curse. 
The closest I've come across is Mass Effect 2. It's nit exactly an open world sandbox, but it's more like an open universe RPG, but more action heavy. It really plays like an open world sandbox third person shooter.
I can't recommend it enough. It's really TV/Movie ready, IMHO.
I can't recommend it enough. It's really TV/Movie ready, IMHO.
Yeah, I am another vote for Freelancer.
Also, Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos is good for that. There's a fan-made expansion called "Torn Stars" that really makes it into an open-ended sandbox game. That game can still be had for dirt cheap, too.
Also, Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos is good for that. There's a fan-made expansion called "Torn Stars" that really makes it into an open-ended sandbox game. That game can still be had for dirt cheap, too.
I guess you could call EVE-online kind of a sandbox style game..
You don't HAVE to do any missions. You can just plow along mining and salvaging and of course pirating.
Some systems are totally safe. But then again some areas you'll die as soon as you pop out of the jumpgate.
You don't HAVE to do any missions. You can just plow along mining and salvaging and of course pirating.
Some systems are totally safe. But then again some areas you'll die as soon as you pop out of the jumpgate.
If you dont mind old school top-down graphics, SPAZ (Space Pirates and Zombies) recently came out on Steam.
There is a demo available and the game itself is pretty fun, it took me 36 hours to play through my first generated galaxy.
Replay value is not that great because its pretty repetitive after a while but ist still a lot of gameplay for 14 €
There is a demo available and the game itself is pretty fun, it took me 36 hours to play through my first generated galaxy.
Replay value is not that great because its pretty repetitive after a while but ist still a lot of gameplay for 14 €
Basically, RoJoHen, you're looking for an Elite-style game (a subgenre of space combat games named after the BBC Micro game that started it all 
). Lots of great examples have been given in this thread already.
I think I introduced you to the X series back when X3TC came out.
I could talk about this series all day...
The games in that series all have a big learning curve, although not as bad as they used to be. The first game, X - Beyond the Frontier, literally threw you in at the deep end with a bare bones ship with no weapons or time accelerator mode, and a mere 100 credits (and a debt to pay off later too!), and an unknown universe to explore painstakingly. It could take several hours - even days - to just get on your own feet at first, but once you do, the rest comes very naturally. There weren't even missions to do in that first game, plus you were stuck with the one ship to fly, so no flying others (although you could hire freelance wingmen by talking to them if friendly enough, and of course hire large transports to carry the stations you buy) and no capturing and selling enemy ships.
Thankfully the later games gave you better starts, a gradually bigger universe, more gameplay options including buying and flying capital ships, a much more detailed manual to read, and of course much tougher enemies.
In a way, depending on how far you progress, I think the later games (and in particular the later stages of those games) can be played either as an Elite-style game, or a business simulation game, or even a Homeworld-style real-time strategy - although in the latter two styles the interface is not at all a patch on the real things, and do take the series away from its Elite-clone roots, despite it being an example of a logical progression of how such games would have developed. Maybe the series reboot, Rebirth, may do something with this. Or maybe not.
But yeah. Flying around the Universe. Helping some people and destroying others. Earning cash by scavenging discarded goods. Being a space taxi driver, or even a space bus driver. Building and living in your own station. Starting a trade empire and a goods haulage company. Prospecting and mining asteroids. Working for the police. Killing for fun and profit. Piracy and murder and making a quick getaway. Doing missions with interesting rewards. Stealing ships and selling the pilots to slavery. Leading your own privately-funded invasion fleet against the pirates. Good times.
). Lots of great examples have been given in this thread already.I think I introduced you to the X series back when X3TC came out.
I could talk about this series all day...The games in that series all have a big learning curve, although not as bad as they used to be. The first game, X - Beyond the Frontier, literally threw you in at the deep end with a bare bones ship with no weapons or time accelerator mode, and a mere 100 credits (and a debt to pay off later too!), and an unknown universe to explore painstakingly. It could take several hours - even days - to just get on your own feet at first, but once you do, the rest comes very naturally. There weren't even missions to do in that first game, plus you were stuck with the one ship to fly, so no flying others (although you could hire freelance wingmen by talking to them if friendly enough, and of course hire large transports to carry the stations you buy) and no capturing and selling enemy ships.
Thankfully the later games gave you better starts, a gradually bigger universe, more gameplay options including buying and flying capital ships, a much more detailed manual to read, and of course much tougher enemies.
In a way, depending on how far you progress, I think the later games (and in particular the later stages of those games) can be played either as an Elite-style game, or a business simulation game, or even a Homeworld-style real-time strategy - although in the latter two styles the interface is not at all a patch on the real things, and do take the series away from its Elite-clone roots, despite it being an example of a logical progression of how such games would have developed. Maybe the series reboot, Rebirth, may do something with this. Or maybe not.
But yeah. Flying around the Universe. Helping some people and destroying others. Earning cash by scavenging discarded goods. Being a space taxi driver, or even a space bus driver. Building and living in your own station. Starting a trade empire and a goods haulage company. Prospecting and mining asteroids. Working for the police. Killing for fun and profit. Piracy and murder and making a quick getaway. Doing missions with interesting rewards. Stealing ships and selling the pilots to slavery. Leading your own privately-funded invasion fleet against the pirates. Good times.
Well...
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE5ecIpTEb4[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qweXN9V2IvI[/yt]
I recently picked this one up at gog.com for $6. Another similar open-world space game is DarkStar One, also available at gog for $10. DS1 also has a console version that's available for the Xbox 360.
Similar threads
