Indie Space Sims - post 'em if you find 'em

[DDZ]

Randomly found this hard sci-fi space mining game on Steam, Delta V: Rings of Saturn.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/846030/V_Rings_of_Saturn/

Has 2D newtonian physics and realistic setting and equipment. Requires a lot of skill, either when utilising the auto pilot modes or flying by the seat of your pants. Its in early access, but the game already plays well and is stable. Very supportive and communicative developer and currently on sale for 50% off (~$4 USD).

Heh, this game is great, good find.

 

[DraQ]

Randomly found this hard sci-fi space mining game on Steam, Delta V: Rings of Saturn.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/846030/V_Rings_of_Saturn/

Has 2D newtonian physics and realistic setting and equipment. Requires a lot of skill, either when utilising the auto pilot modes or flying by the seat of your pants. Its in early access, but the game already plays well and is stable. Very supportive and communicative developer and currently on sale for 50% off (~$4 USD).

Indeed, I've been sort of keeping my eye on this and hang out on a discord where the dev sometimes shows up.
Do spread the word.

It seems to have realistic, yet visually kickass lasers too.

 

[ShaggyMoose]

Yeah, the lasers are great. You can only see them by reflected light when they strike or through dust/debris. I got my monies worth already, which is more than I can say for most EA games I try.

 

[DDZ]

I haven't got the hang of the power/temperature system yet, just hasn't clicked for me yet. So upgrading is a bitch.

 

[ShaggyMoose]

Temperature seems less of problem than ensuring your overall power generation exceeds your draw, otherwise the capacitor takes a hit.

 

[Phaserlight]

Vendetta Online is now free to PC players:

https://www.facebook.com/vendettaonline/posts/10157099696991227

 

[DDZ]

Dude made a collectors edition that you can only win in a competition, looks pretty sweet.

Game is on sale right now for 4,09 euros, anyone who likes sci-fi should get it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/846030/V_Rings_of_Saturn/

 

[rohand]

This one is very interesting.

 

[Catacombs]

This one is very interesting.

Indeed. Has anyone played it?

 

[rohand]

This one is very interesting.

Indeed. Has anyone played it?

I played a bit in fact, and it's quite complex, I don't know if it's a spreadsheet-level complexity but you can check individual stats of each part of the ships and crew member, and also relations between the various factions you interact with.

 

[rohand]

Also in the same subject, this space sim is free on indiegala

https://freebies.indiegala.com/the-tomorrow-war/?dev_id=freebies

"The Tomorrow War is a space sim based on the trilogy of novels written by a famous Russian author, Alexander Zorich. These books are dedicated to the intergalactic war of two mighty empires. Along with the graduates of the military-space academy players will witness different stages of the conflict between United Earth Empire and Konkordia."

 

[Retardo]

This one is very interesting.

Indeed. Has anyone played it?

It's GOOD. They got all the features of your run of the mill space game - plot missions/combat/trade/piracy/smuggling, but instead of grindy it's actually fun.

 

[Borian]

This one is very interesting.

Indeed. Has anyone played it?

Star Traders: Frontiers has a great feel to it because it has a Dune-like world and keeps to a strict feudal atmosphere. The galactic flight map, where you drive your ship around to different systems and planets, plays in a fairly strict manner. You'll have 40-something or more "characters" (the number of which is highly dependent on your ship AND that ship's upgrades. There are many ships and many upgrades) that will sit in your crew list. The point of these characters is to contribute to a perk and skill pool. There are many skills and perks, and each character has access to most of them, so most of your crew should ideally be leveled up automatically - though you can do it manually if you're a psycho. The ship acts like an aggregate of the skills and perks of every single crew member, and it needs them too because skill checks happen every few seconds when traveling - space is dangerous, after all - and upon anything you do, even landing on planets checks your pilots' and engineers' skills and perks for fuel efficiency.
There are three game modes, but perhaps a fourth depending on your opinion. There's crew combat; space combat; flight map and, if you fancy it as major enough, a sort of text adventure. Each mode depends on crew skills. Crew combat is why you manually level up some of your crew. It takes the shape of four of your crew fighting four enemies in a Darkest Dungeon style of encounter. It's rather brutal. Space combat is more of the same, where your ship and weapons, along with the perks of your crew, matter most. Perks are like cards here, where you play them to alter combat. This mode is much easier than ground combat but it's very easy to get in over your head and get caught with your pants down. Space flight is how you get to your missions and trading opportunity. You land on planets and stations, you run into random encounters, you blockade or spy or patrol planets. The text adventure is the precept to all three, and how situations change and get resolved. You choose your actions, you pass or fail skill checks, you make decisions, you do faction stuff.
You have to keep your crew paid and happy. You do that at every landing, usually allowing crew leave to the spice halls (Not-Dune, remember) and paying their wages. If you don't do that, you'll have crew leaving at the first safe port and never coming back.
There's quite a bit to it. I know this can be someone's favorite game but it's a little dry to me. Definitely try it. It's very unique.

 

[Catacombs]

This one is very interesting.

Indeed. Has anyone played it?

Star Traders: Frontiers has a great feel to it because it has a Dune-like world and keeps to a strict feudal atmosphere. The galactic flight map, where you drive your ship around to different systems and planets, plays in a fairly strict manner. You'll have 40-something or more "characters" (the number of which is highly dependent on your ship AND that ship's upgrades. There are many ships and many upgrades) that will sit in your crew list. The point of these characters is to contribute to a perk and skill pool. There are many skills and perks, and each character has access to most of them, so most of your crew should ideally be leveled up automatically - though you can do it manually if you're a psycho. The ship acts like an aggregate of the skills and perks of every single crew member, and it needs them too because skill checks happen every few seconds when traveling - space is dangerous, after all - and upon anything you do, even landing on planets checks your pilots' and engineers' skills and perks for fuel efficiency.
There are three game modes, but perhaps a fourth depending on your opinion. There's crew combat; space combat; flight map and, if you fancy it as major enough, a sort of text adventure. Each mode depends on crew skills. Crew combat is why you manually level up some of your crew. It takes the shape of four of your crew fighting four enemies in a Darkest Dungeon style of encounter. It's rather brutal. Space combat is more of the same, where your ship and weapons, along with the perks of your crew, matter most. Perks are like cards here, where you play them to alter combat. This mode is much easier than ground combat but it's very easy to get in over your head and get caught with your pants down. Space flight is how you get to your missions and trading opportunity. You land on planets and stations, you run into random encounters, you blockade or spy or patrol planets. The text adventure is the precept to all three, and how situations change and get resolved. You choose your actions, you pass or fail skill checks, you make decisions, you do faction stuff.
You have to keep your crew paid and happy. You do that at every landing, usually allowing crew leave to the spice halls (Not-Dune, remember) and paying their wages. If you don't do that, you'll have crew leaving at the first safe port and never coming back.
There's quite a bit to it. I know this can be someone's favorite game but it's a little dry to me. Definitely try it. It's very unique.

Thanks for the thorough review. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

 

[rohand]

This one is very interesting.

Indeed. Has anyone played it?

Star Traders: Frontiers has a great feel to it because it has a Dune-like world and keeps to a strict feudal atmosphere. The galactic flight map, where you drive your ship around to different systems and planets, plays in a fairly strict manner. You'll have 40-something or more "characters" (the number of which is highly dependent on your ship AND that ship's upgrades. There are many ships and many upgrades) that will sit in your crew list. The point of these characters is to contribute to a perk and skill pool. There are many skills and perks, and each character has access to most of them, so most of your crew should ideally be leveled up automatically - though you can do it manually if you're a psycho. The ship acts like an aggregate of the skills and perks of every single crew member, and it needs them too because skill checks happen every few seconds when traveling - space is dangerous, after all - and upon anything you do, even landing on planets checks your pilots' and engineers' skills and perks for fuel efficiency.
There are three game modes, but perhaps a fourth depending on your opinion. There's crew combat; space combat; flight map and, if you fancy it as major enough, a sort of text adventure. Each mode depends on crew skills. Crew combat is why you manually level up some of your crew. It takes the shape of four of your crew fighting four enemies in a Darkest Dungeon style of encounter. It's rather brutal. Space combat is more of the same, where your ship and weapons, along with the perks of your crew, matter most. Perks are like cards here, where you play them to alter combat. This mode is much easier than ground combat but it's very easy to get in over your head and get caught with your pants down. Space flight is how you get to your missions and trading opportunity. You land on planets and stations, you run into random encounters, you blockade or spy or patrol planets. The text adventure is the precept to all three, and how situations change and get resolved. You choose your actions, you pass or fail skill checks, you make decisions, you do faction stuff.
You have to keep your crew paid and happy. You do that at every landing, usually allowing crew leave to the spice halls (Not-Dune, remember) and paying their wages. If you don't do that, you'll have crew leaving at the first safe port and never coming back.
There's quite a bit to it. I know this can be someone's favorite game but it's a little dry to me. Definitely try it. It's very unique.

Thanks for the thorough review. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

And it's today's deal.

 

[cw8]

This one is very interesting.

I was a KS backer. Developers are very dedicated. Till today they're still creating content for the game.

 

[Norfleet]

Star Traders can only nominally be called a space game, though, and the space combat mechanics are easily the weakest and worst part of the game, as there's only one real way to play it: Build an unhittable ship and then faceroll everything. Everything else ends with crippling damage and death to your crew, rendering it purposeless. With the space combat system something you tend to thus actively avoid until late game, the game is rapidly reduced to a trucking simulator with the occasional knife fight that happens to nominally be set in space, but otherwise has little to no actual space in it. The knife fights are pretty okay, but that's probably not the thing you look for in a space game.

 

[Inspectah]

Dude made a collectors edition that you can only win in a competition, looks pretty sweet.

Game is on sale right now for 4,09 euros, anyone who likes sci-fi should get it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/846030/V_Rings_of_Saturn/

Gotta recomend this one as well. The flying phisics are the best I've ever seen in a top down space sim. Everything has a great heavy feeling. It is a Joy to fly with that heavyass dishwasher eating up minerals. It is a pretty slow game, and figuring out what upgrades do and whatnot are a bit on the trial and error side (unless I missed a Guide prompt or something). Recruiting crew is Fun and you can feel the effects of a good hire right away (hear that, X4?)
The developer is pretty comunicative too, engaging in pretty much every topic.

Finding out I had to Control my thrusters so my ship wouldnt Just vomit out my ores was Fun too

 

[ShaggyMoose]

Came across BlazeSky on Steam. Haven't played it, but getting a Freelancer / Rebel Galaxy / Starflight mashup vibe.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1208980/BlazeSky/

 

[Galdred]

Star Traders can only nominally be called a space game, though, and the space combat mechanics are easily the weakest and worst part of the game, as there's only one real way to play it: Build an unhittable ship and then faceroll everything. Everything else ends with crippling damage and death to your crew, rendering it purposeless. With the space combat system something you tend to thus actively avoid until late game, the game is rapidly reduced to a trucking simulator with the occasional knife fight that happens to nominally be set in space, but otherwise has little to no actual space in it. The knife fights are pretty okay, but that's probably not the thing you look for in a space game.

What starting ships and priorities do ou recommend to try to get to an unhitable ship in a reasonable time frame?

 

[ShaggyMoose]

Star Traders is on sale now and Saturn: DV is on sale in a couple of days.

 

[Jinn]

ΔV: Rings of Saturn is $5 right now.

 

[Norfleet]

What starting ships and priorities do ou recommend to try to get to an unhitable ship in a reasonable time frame?

Stats, skills, contacts, XP, Ship. With this priority setup, you don't actually get a choice in what starting ship you get, so there's no need to worry about that, you get the shitty starter ship.

Which is fine, because all the starter ships are shitty. Your stats and skills are forever, though, so they are obviously your first two picks, as everything else, you eventually replace. From there, you COULD change up the 3, but having a good starter contact list lets you start printing out money from missions quickly, and XP at D gives you just enough to pick a second class at start. Leaving you with your shitty starting Juror. But hey, you were gonna die horribly if you got into a fight anyway, no matter what ship it is, because every stock starter ship is COMPLETELY WORTHLESS in a fight, even if it's the SBC, and the early game basically revolves around avoiding all ship fights ilke the plague as a result. Farm cash from Calagan and then buy SBC and try not to die while it's getting rebuilt in the dock.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

It's an interesting trend that original creators of games from 80s/90s updating and re-releasing it by themselves.

 

[ShaggyMoose]

By God that is ugly, even considering the era.