If you’re willing to forego the ability to have wingmen, then Evochron Legacy has your name all over it.
This would’ve been my answer as well.
You can always try X3: Albion Prelude. It’s a lot deeper than Rebirth, and the most complete game of that specific “universe simulator” sim that I know.
If trading/pirating is your thing, you can also try I-War 2, but that one has no factions to destroy/take over.
You can also try the Starpoint Gemini games, particularly Warlords, but that one is still early in its Early Access phase.
Finally, there’s SPAZ 2, but that one is also in Early Access.
Thank you all for your recommendations. I had Evochron Legacy on my list since it came out, mostly because of piloting and exploration. I’m not sure if it’s what I’m looking for right now.
Maybe it’s a paradox* what I was hoping for: A sandox that I can ‘win’ or at least break/crash/control. *Yeah, maybe like Paradox-Game ;) Meaning: The universe works fine without me, the simulation goes on and on, but as soon as I decide to become meaningful involved, I really can make a difference, I can bring it to somekind of end, like ‘winning’ the session because there are no enemies left or because I ruined them financially ;-)
In X Rebirth I can become the richest guy, but ultimately the factions will keep going on like they ever did, they really don’t care. In Star Nomad 2 I could play sandboxy while carefully watching the galaxy map and it was up to me, to make a final move to end the game (if I had been good enough; I will play that one again).
Well, I’ll definitely try Evochron Legacy soon.
Unending Galaxy might also scratch that itch.
FYI folks. IIRC this has Brian Rubin seal of approval, or at least SEIV does.
Gotta love the pricing scheme here.
That’s completely appropriate pricing, since SEV adds nothing to the pack. :P
Perfect.
As I recall the AI was lacking in SE IV. Did it improved over time?
It’s never been great, but it’s not terrible either.
Multiplayer SEIV was one of my favorite gaming experiences ever.
Single player is just fun to run around absolutely destroying the CPU opponents. So yeah, probably the AI wasn’t great. :D
Actually you can now get SEIV alone for just two bucks. Save a dollar and donate it to some worthy barista.
I believe the deluxe version (now $2, see above) improved the AI over the original and Gold editions… and it includes some fan-made mods that supposedly improve the AI even more. I am only now trying to play, so I’m basing this ‘improvement’ only on what I’ve read, not first hand.
Hey there, sorry, I can’t find the EVE topic. Lately I’ve struggled finding SPACE. Just when I thought I found it within ASTROX (great game btw!)… there came EVE. I’ve never played it before, but wow… this feels like space! I’m totally liking the first 30 minutes, everything looks so SPACE and I don’t mind point and click traveling through deep space. What I’m skeptical about is: Is this a game that can be played with a loser’s or globetrotter’s attitude (and not that much time to invest)? I’m really not interested in social competition although I don’t mind PVP and I do like tough games; and I don’t mind dying or losing stuff. But what I actually want is traveling through space, read some stories, do some mining, fight some aliens or other players… and do some sightseeing. Can EVE be played with this attitude?
Eeeehhhh…
Ok, so here’s the deal. The ‘story’ of Eve is completely player generated. Oh, sure, there are missions, and faction things going on, but it’s all irrelevant. This spoken as someone who was a solo mission runner. I was in a corp, and did get involved in a few non sovreignity skirmishes, but it was never my game. I was a care bear type, my gig was flying Tier 2 cruisers and being the ultimate wingman. Find some miners being harassed by pirates, and help out. Get a corp ally who is stuck on a mission? Run over and clean out the problem.
But that is never the story of Eve. The story is the things that play out over weeks and months, often outside of the game. The sleeper agents, the betrayals, the mega wars. That’s where the ‘true’ game of Eve is.
And it’s not something you would ever experience 95% of the time. Even for those players deep in PVP, in claiming systems, in player stations and titans, they spend most of that time in low level affairs. Those big world shaking events only happen rarely. It happens in the background over alliance forums, chat services, and email. It happens when people aren’t even logged into the game.
In fact some of the biggest movers, like the Mittani, claim that they rarely actually log in to do their thing. Wheels behind wheels and such. Big alliance battles may take weeks to arrange, and that is all done outside of the game.
but you can read about it, follow it, and enjoy it without ever participating. And if you are a tourist, that’s about the best to hope for. It sounds like, as I was, you aren’t able to commit to the realities of those big events, the hours on demand to arrange and participate in a battle. Lots of work for rare payoffs, you see.
But there is a place in the game for you. There are ways to get in on the deeper aspects. The corp I was in I would often arrange and host ‘friendlies’ between allies. Competitions like cost limited frigate tourneys. ‘here, kit out any frigate you want for $100k isk, single elimination bracket’. Suicide runs into deep space. Guerilla mining in someone else’s territory, looking for the rarer elements, one or two miners, a transport, and a few ‘heavies’ at the gates. I’d fly a stealth bomber and wait.
But if you are expecting to experience some meaningful story for yourself, firsthand, you’ll probably be left cold, sadly.
I loved my time with eve, over 10 years ago. I do miss the experience, but I also would never go back. However I do keep my eyes out for when big things go down, always love hearing about the alliance game.
Go track down Earth and Beyond emulator, ginger. It’s an older game, but is free and is far more story based than EVE. It’s also pretty fun.
Hey Brian. I can tell you’re a fan of Stars! from your response to my comment in the new MOO thread. I’m playing the final 2.60j version via DOSBox with win3.11. It’s a massive install at 11MB. 3MB of that is the Stars! executable.
I have a show idea for you. Wouldn’t it be cool to have an interview with “the Jeffs” (Jeff Johnson and Jeff McBride)? I haven’t seen anything about them since Stars: Supernova Genesis failed to release.
Not a bad idea! Also, how does one run something under win3.11 using DOSBox? I’ve been using an XP virtual machine to run it, but your solution sounds way better.
Sent a long PM with details on getting DOSBox/win3.11/Stars! to work.Let me know if you need help.