Space Traders

[Realbumpbert]

I've been thinking of getting a space trading game, but I'm not sure which to pick up. Which of these would you folks recommend?

-Escape Velocity: Nova
-Space Empires: Starfury
-Flatspace
-X2: The Threat

And are there any I am missing? (besides Freelancer, which I heard sucked)

 

[Spazmo]

Definitely EVN. Definitely. Saint tells me Starfury isn't that great and I know from experience that X2 sucks--Exitium will back me up on this. Never played Flatspace, but I can assure you that EVN is really cool.

 

[Psilon]

I haven't played Flatspace or X2, but EVNova is far superior to Starfury. Now that there's a Win32 mission editor, the game's an even better value.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

I have to go with EVN as well. You may wanna look into Vegaspace while you're at it. It's free, and it's open source. While not the best of space-sims out there, it definitely was fun and has a good trade system with LOTS of items you can transport back and forth. Nothing I've found beats EVN though. Nothing.

 

[Astromarine]

VegaSTRIKE, not space ;o)

But yeah, EVN all the way.

 

[EEVIAC]

I enjoyed X2 up until the point where I discovered I didn't like it (took about a week, give or take the first 10 hours.) At the end of it I realized I didn't really enjoy space traders, not unless there was some kind of character customization.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

VegaSTRIKE, not space ;o)

D'oh! Damn painkillers.

 

[Greenskin13]

After a few hours, the X2 controls started to eat my soul. No joke. So I'll drop my two cents in the EVN hat.

 

[chiefnewo]

I gave up X2 the second I was rammed into during a fight. Apparently "don't crash into people" isn't an important function of the ai. Get EVN.

 

[Jed]

Whatever happened to Oxygen?

 

[Realbumpbert]

And EVN wins by a landslide!

I hear you can conquer planets in Nova. Is that as awesomely cool as it sounds?

 

[Greenskin13]

No, it's a long process of mindless space battling.

 

[Realbumpbert]

Dang. What are the payoffs like? Permanent home base, or just some crappy credits?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Dang. What are the payoffs like? Permanent home base, or just some crappy credits?

Crappy credits and major reputation hit. It can take a good hour or so to conquer a planet.

 

[Psilon]

Actually, you do get the "permanent home base." You can always land on conquered planets.

 

[Realbumpbert]

Hmm...the game still sounds darn good. How are the editing tools?

 

[Dhruin]

X2 is worth a look depending on your preferences. It does have a number of flaws and limitations but it's the best first-person trader I've played...provided you have patience (it will take 20-30hours to get going). On the other hand if the first-person bit doesn't count for much and you'd like more strategic options with your ships, definitely get EVN.

 

[Jed]

I loved everything about EVN except for the combat. I was never able to kill a single ship. I just traded and ran from combat and followed the plot arcs as far as I could, which was a blast, but I found the combat to be truly unplayable, for me at least. I wish the rate of fire from enemy ships would have been a little slower in general, and that my ships could take a bit more damage...

 

[Greenskin13]

Mmmhmm, I could only do combat in a Polaris vessel, and those things can take out entire fleets. Regular ships were too dificult for me.

 

[Anonymous]

My Astroid Miner will fuck you all up

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Oh yeah? Bring it!

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

There's also Smugglers 3, but I haven't tried it.