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Massive Scope Games: The Debate.


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I present to you a discussion of EPIC proportions over which games out there, in this is vase game universe of ours, compares or is better than the games of the battle cruiser series.

The purpose of this discussion is to also help people, who are interested, find that space game they've always wanted which could provide deep immersion and boundless never ending gameplay.

Some ones out there already are:

Elite

X: Beyond the Frontier

Freelancer

yada yada and others....

Personally, I think BCM and the upcoming UC are probably the best examples. But havenÔÇÖt never really played any others, only elite, I really donÔÇÖt know.

So, with whatever game(s)you mention, try to add personal experiences, the various features/details and generally why you think it fits in this category...

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quote:

The purpose of this discussion is to also help people, who are interested, find that space game they've always wanted which could provide deep immersion and boundless never ending gameplay.

Well, if they are reading this thread, then they already have found THE ultimate space sim.

But ok, I'll bite. For deep immersion, and boundless, open ended gameplay, there is only UC/BCM and X2 in the present. And they both bring different strengths to the table. I never got the chance to play Elite or Frontier unfortunately. Freelancer was a disappointment to say the least.

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My only experience with space sims outside of BCM(G) is Freespace (I and II)and Independence War (I and II). And, Of course, everyone played Wing Commander (I and II and III and IV or however many they had ), but all of them were games with very linear gameplay, so Battlecruiser was like an entirely different kind of game for me. I don't think ANYTHING compares with it, at least not a space sim.

Oddly enough, though, I LOVED Independence War, and I never would have bought BCM had I not played that game. I did get tired of it after a little while, and I have played Battlecruiser for over a year now with no end in sight!!

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freelancer is great, the universe feels alive. When you move around, you got some idle chatter, you've got stations asking radar contacts to ID themselves (and they answer), most factions have fixed patrol routes (especially the police), navy and police crafts randomly scan ships for contraband, stations answer to your docking requests, and wish you good luck when you launch .. criminals pirating you (of course there was this single idiot that sent a pirating request .. with ~20 ships around .. the result can easily by guessed) ... it's pretty awesome.

While the scale of the sectors is far from realistic, everything looks great .. planets, sun, etc. You have dust fields which clearly show on your screen, debrid fields, minefields (those are dangerous!) It's quite a hazard to fight in a debrid field, but the AIs seem to handle it decently.

Sector travel is seamless - when you enter a warpgate you have an animation showing you travelling in a wormhole then exiting on the otherside, with a short load (usually barely noticeable) in the middle.

The story is great - a pretty deep one of conspiracy, deception and sides that keep changing ...

Your reputation is solely based on who you shoot. If you shoot the Liberty police, the police, navy and the Liberty coporations will dislike you, while criminals will grow to like you.

There are 4 factions (read : countries) in the game, clearly inspired from Earth (where they come from) .. "Liberty" (US) with the (female!) president, Bretonia (UK) with the queen, Kusari (Japan) with the Shogun and Rheinland (GER) with their Chancellor.

All locations are based on Earth origins. For example, You have the Manhattan, Pittsburg planets, Colorado, New York, Texas Systems, Newark station, Norfolk Shipyard, Battleship Missouri, Yukon for Liberty, while Bretonia has planets named Leeds, New London, Cambridge, Systems named Dublin, Manchester ..Battleships Essex, Hood, Suffolk .. Southampton Shipyard, Thames outpost.. you get the idea

You cannot command capital ships. Well, not without mods, but even then, giving yourself a battleship to go around is pretty impractical.

Combat is higly level based - you level up as your net worth increases, and you get increasingly better and more powerful guns and ships. Movement is fully 3D although you don't have a way to deliberately roll. Despite that, you can end up on the side or upside down. Guns on your ship can always aim at an angle from the front, making combat more n00b friendly. All ships move at the same speeds (standard-80/AB-200/cruise-300), but some are more manoeuvrable than others.

The freelancer universe is LARGE, at least as large or bigger than the BCM universe (sector-count-wise), and there are countless places to go .. tons of stations/battleships to dock at, planets to land on. Beside the warp gates, you move around mostly using the tradelanes, a system of gates that propell you at great speeds. There is also the jump holes, which are basically the same as flux fields - uncharted natural jump points.

Planets are merely landing points. You get a cool scenery, but it's the same as a station.

You can get in the bar to get jobs, hear latest rumors, read the news or get some deal with a dude. When you go meet someone there's an actual conversation that begins, which lots of facial expressions and detailed speech, although it's still becomes "predictable" after a while, it's far better than having only a menu with a "accept" or "decline" button under the description.

My general opinion of Freelancer is that it's what Earth and Beyond should have been like for the most part.

Cool screenie

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The only other space sims I've played besides BC3K/BCM are Freelancer,the I-war demo,Starlancer, and I'll throw in Homeworld(although it's not a sim per se). I liked I-war but never purchased it. The physics were enjoyable, but gameplay was linear. Freelancer looks GREAT, but I HATE the combat. It's too much like arcade game combat. I also dislike being relagated to a small vessel only. I also enjoyed homeworld but never finished it. Starlancer....YUCK!!!

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Freelancer looks kind of cool, but it seems sort of linear...

Starlancer?? Hmmmmm never heard of it all that much. I think it might have been on the dreamcast though?

Hmmmm...

Does anyone know of any UPCOMING massive scope space games? Like ones in development that looks promising Has anyone been watching any of those?

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starlancer is the precurser to free lancer. kinda helps set the back story a little bit. It's pretty cheap (1.99) right now and it's not a bad game for that price.

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I've played Freelancer, i have the X2 rolling demo, have Homeworld, etc.

Only problem is, there is no real difinative game that has immersion on a massive scope[in my opinion].

Freelancer

Pro: Great graphics, multiplayer was flawless with never ending random missions, and being able to roam the universe.

Con: you couldn't leave your ship, and everyone was trent when u played online, lol

X2 - The Treat

Pros: Possibly the best graphcis in a space sim yet. Massive universe, including underwater and everywhere.

Cons: only one player, how massive can something be with one player.

Universal Combat (from how it looks)

Pros: Massive world, multiplayer, a combination of what most gamers are looking for.

Cons: GFX are looking aged, they need an over hall to keep up with more current games like, Freelancer and games running on the Unreal Engine.

of course, thats just my opinion. I'm really looking forward to BC Online, I'm hoping the graphics get a complete over hall. I think that that would be the best bet for a truely immersive space game(thats not out, lol).

My Space Game Picks:

Massive Scale (Mult Players): Freelancer, Homeworld, UC*

For Single Players: X2 - The Treat, UC*

* = after release, lol

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Guest BaBaBooey

I've been playing X2 for a few days and I love it. Singleplayer might be a drawback no doubt about it but if they do go multi with this title it will be near perfect. Obviously it will still lack the depth of UC as far as ground based combat and planetary action is concerned but there is still a lot to like about X2. I am a relic from the Privateer and Wingman days like a few of you and man this is all of the "wish" list we had for those games minus the multiplay.

The atmosphere is set by a stunning utilization of graphics and music that to date has not been seen. The Paranid might be pains in the butt however they sure did pick a beautiful portion of space to occupy. The game has it all, fighters, capitol ships and medium sized all around bad ass ships. The cutscenes as has been mentioned SUCK. Give me a text mission rather than bad voice acting by THREE people who play multiples of that number in game. The alien races look ridiculous when you communicate with them too. These things look like the leftovers from a Jim Henson garage sale. Even still the game overcomes these flaws with grace and sophistication and a computer that sounds downright sexy. OK, so I have issues.

I hated the game, then I went out and grabbed an Extreme 3d Pro joystick (did you know Microsoft doesn't make joysticks anymore?) and I love it. Please tell me that UC will use this joystick to its full potential I LOVE THIS THING.

Anyway if you have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket and a good flightstick go get X2 The Threat. I like the music so much I might burn a CD of it for the car. Yeah the music is in mp3 format in its own folder (nice touch). Like I said I have issues.

BaBa

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I've tried several of the previously mentioned games. Most when they originally hit the shelves.. 'like Elite. what was that 1985? anyway great game for its time but very thin on plot.

Then Wing Commander hit the scene.. mega cool.

Great graphics interesting story line..But when ya finished the missions.. you were DONE...

Privateer was eagerly awaited for,promising to offer more versatility and an open galaxy.

It did these things , but you were stuck in small ships that were quickly maxxed out.. not enough variety to maintain your interest more than a run through or two. I have now came across BCMG turned on to it by a coworker whom received a copy of BCM a year or so ago.. and finally got around to trying it. Right off I noticed it seemed to offer many things that Privateer did.. but better.. more ship classes, first person missions.. an AI that will get smarter the longer you play..That should keep the game playable long past when other games would have gotten dull.

I look foward to UC. More ship classes, more multiplayer focus. I forgot to mention a wonderful game that kept many people up late at night. that was TradeWars. multiplayer text based game. terriblyaddictive and proved that a intriguing game,even if it is text based,will far outlive a game that puts too much focus on graphics and not enough on game play. People often talk about this graphic or that new rendering. Who cares.. graphics beyond those in Wing Commander are fluff. Spend Time on options. customization of assets keeps ya loving your ship.The quest to acquire that latest upgrade will keep you at the keyboard many hours past bedtime. This is what keeps a game fresh. This and a constantly improving AI. One other thing that separates games is multiplayer. No AI will ever match the clever manuvers of a REAL opponent.

One that uses the PTA's like they were meant to be used and is just plain sneaky. Destroying a Firestorm with a Light Fighter is certainly nice,

But blowing LoudMouthXX into a space pod is a victory that will be relieved over and over. If only in a forum!

On another note I signed up in the Online Database many days ago and have yet to be approved or disapproved. Perhaps this is why the insurgancy is shrinking!!!!! Accept me or Reject me. But do something.

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The space-games I've enjoyed the most (except for the BC-series) are:

Elite: Great game for its time.

Final Frontier (Elite II): Enjoyed it a lot. Especially since my version (Amiga) had a cool bug wich you could use to jump several 100 million Light years in one jump.

Final Frontier - First Encounter (Elite III): Great game, but too many bugs.

Hardwar: Very good

The reason why I liked them so much? No story - only me and my imagination Seriously, what I think makes the BC-series so great, is that you are not forced into a story and you can do whatever you want. Very few games have that, and especially new games.

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quote:

On another note I signed up in the Online Database many days ago and have yet to be approved or disapproved. Perhaps this is why the insurgancy is shrinking!!!!! Accept me or Reject me. But do something.


Please go into your profile and turn private messages on. Then we can talk without cluttering the board and going off topic in this thread. Are you reading the Insurgent roll call thread? I just mentioned about ditching a guy 'cause the registration was wrong. Is that you?

On Topic: X:BTF was decent bet couldn't quite get enthused enough to finish it. I liked the trading and the map was large but once it got into fighting I didn't like it so much.

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quote:

Originally posted by Vixef:

...Hardwar: Very good...


Yes, was it ever a good game!!!! Hardwar was my lifeline for the past couple of years!! You couldn't get me away from it...

Oh no, I hope you didn't revive any old urges to play that game Vixef. Because man, I got exams this week!!! That would keep me up for hours!!

Anyone looking for a GREAT game experience should definitely check out Hardwar. You would certainly being doing yourself a favor erhm well sort of.

If you go to Home of the Underdogs and search for it, you'll most likely find it.

Or you can just click here

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