🚀 go-pugleaf

"Angus" <angus@_ANTISPEM_angusm.demon.co.uk> wrote in message 
news:MPG.258b65a178f6f8a39896b1@news.demon.co.uk...
> In article <MPG.258c19158558e09898c3@news.individual.net>,
> no.one@this.address says...
>>
>> In article <hfrgo3$7o0$1@rumours.uwaterloo.ca>,
>> rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca says...
>> >
>> > Angus  <angus@_ANTISPEM_angusm.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>> > >As somebody knew to PC space sims, where would you say Freelancer, 
>> > >which
>> > >I'm currently playing and enjoying, fits into the genre?
>> >
>> > I never played it, but my understanding is that Freelancer is different
>> > enough from other space sim games that you might not necessarily like
>> > other games in the genre.  Most other games work are designed to be
>> > played with a joystick.
>> >
>> > Ross Ridge
>>
>> One thing that is most noticable: In Freelancer you're pretty much taken
>> by the hand and locked into a fairly narrow corridor of progression. It
>> looks fairly free and footloose to start with, but you soon realize that
>> to improve you have to cross certain T-s and dot certain I-s or a whole
>> lot of content won't get unlocked. Once you have finished the storyline,
>> at least in my personal experience, the game gets fairly pointless and
>> there's little or no replay value ( I am sure some people may violently
>> disagree with me on this point ).
>>
>
> Thanks guys. I've played space games on other platforms, but not the pc.
> I take your points about Freelancer, although I'm certainly enjoying the
> ride for the time being. From what I've seen of it, I think I would like
> I-War.

Theyre all different in small ways. Freelancer is similar to Privateer 
except the latter was first person based, but the trading etc is the same 
essentially. Elite and Frontier were trading games with other elements 
thrown in such as fighting and exploration. The 'X' games are all very trade 
and exploration based but there isnt much else in terms of action they are 
of a more specialist taste, I found them quite boring after a short while. 
Wing Commander games were all about fighting and missions with loads of 
action - they were brilliant games as you also got a storyline and some 
great cutscenes. Hardwar was set in a specific planet had trading elements 
as well as fighting and was quite similar to Privateer except much more 
constrained and claustrophobic in scope. I War is a fighting game I dont 
think there is much trading involved but revolved around you controlling a 
large powerful ship with a crew rather than being a single small trader like 
the rest. The X Wing games were all mission based fighting action based on 
Star Wars but they were brilliantly conceived although linear and 
frustrating at times because of it. Space Shuttle and MS Space Simulator 
were more realistic games simulating actual spaceships - slow and plodding 
but quite interesting especially Space Shuttle. There were other games such 
as Tachyon  that were variations on the above mainly involving mission based 
action.

Of all of the above the best in my view, that stood out amongst the rest 
were Frontier, Privateer, X Wing and Wing Commander. These all had me 
playing for ages but Frontier/First Encounters had me playing for years.