Space Sims/Strategy Games Catch-All

Crying Suns is not bad, but I need to play more to determine whether it deserves a place in the rotation. Combat is definitely interesting, though.

Veloxi wrote:

Crying Suns gets boring fast. Play FTL instead. Or Shortest Trip to Earth.

That’s too bad... I was having suspicions, when I was watching streams of it. Glad I held off; maybe if it goes on deep discount...

There was a demo for Crying Suns I tried out a few weeks ago on Steam.

I have finally dipped into Deep Sky Derelicts - I really dig the art-style, and so far the gameplay is fun. Time will tell if I burn out on it, as hard as I did on Darkest Dungeon (which I never finished, but I did play quite a bit of).

Looks like SPAZ 2 is on sale. Can't remember why I held out on it for so long but I loved the first.

Any reason I shouldn't nab it for $6 this week?

Spaz 2, sadly, is nowhere near the game SPAZ is. IT's just missing something.

Stele wrote:

Looks like SPAZ 2 is on sale. Can't remember why I held out on it for so long but I loved the first.

Any reason I shouldn't nab it for $6 this week?

I bought that when it was on sale earlier, but all the reviews I read about it didn't get me excited enough to load it up. It's sitting in my UNPLAYED folder, mocking me. At least it has a lot of company there.

Boy, I just checked and it was February 2018 when I bought it.

Stele wrote:

Looks like SPAZ 2 is on sale. Can't remember why I held out on it for so long but I loved the first.

Any reason I shouldn't nab it for $6 this week?

I have returned 2 games on Steam, this was one of them.

Freespace 2 free on GOG today. I know most of us already have it.

If you don't have it, get it. Then get the Knossos launcher and play it in its full HD glory.

Hey, that was the 10,000th post.

Grenn wrote:

Hey, that was the 10,000th post.

I saw after I posted was 9999 but didn't want to double post. Glad it worked out for a good one.

Holy wow.

Also, FYI, here’s the latest Knossos launcher with the info on how to install it.

https://fsnebula.org/knossos/

Basically, install Freespace 2, then install Knossos, tell it where FS2 lives. Then, download the mods you want from the explore screen, especially MediaVPs. This is essential to run FS2 in HD. Use the gear icon to set your graphical settings, and run the MediaVPs from the home screen, if you want to play Vanilla FS2 in HD. It’s amazing.

Veloxi wrote:

Also, FYI, here’s the latest Knossos launcher with the info on how to install it.

https://fsnebula.org/knossos/

Basically, install Freespace 2, then install Knossos, tell it where FS2 lives. Then, download the mods you want from the explore screen, especially MediaVPs. This is essential to run FS2 in HD. Use the gear icon to set your graphical settings, and run the MediaVPs from the home screen, if you want to play Vanilla FS2 in HD. It’s amazing.

Should pin this to the OP

That's a nice installer, much better than the earlier one with all kinds of weird options depending on arcane processor differences. I hadn't played FS2 in a while so I just nuked my old install and redownloaded everything. I did a manual install of base FS2 from the GOG file rather than using their client, since I don't want the client messing up the extras; this might not have been necessary though.

In other news, finished up RGO last night. The last bit was just running through the story missions with a fully maxed-out ship, but that's OK. I'd have liked a longer upgrade path, but for what it was I certainly got my time and money's worth out of it.

I played an early preorder of SPAZ2 and it was ok-ish. Didn't really grab me, but I don't like putting a lot of time into pre-release games unless they're that weird breed that stays in EA well after they're playable (KSP, Factorio). It's also sitting in my to-play list and maybe I'll give it a shot sometime.

Rat Boy wrote:

There was a demo for Crying Suns I tried out a few weeks ago on Steam.

I'm reading over and over again that the demo is all you need to play because it gets super samey.

garion333 wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

There was a demo for Crying Suns I tried out a few weeks ago on Steam.

I'm reading over and over again that the demo is all you need to play because it gets super samey.

This is 100% correct.

Hello my amazing friends, and welcome to another busy week of space gaming! This week, we only have one game of the week. What would you get if you mixed FTL with Gratuitous Space Battles? You'd get Corpoct, a sector-jumping roguelike in which you have no direct control over your fleet, but use cards to place items or effects on the battlefield. It's a neat twist on the formula! I might get more videos in as I have time during the week as well. At least I do hope so.

Moving on from pre-recorded content, here's this week's streaming schedule (please remember all times are Pacific):

  • Monday - 8:00 AM-??, Freespace 2 20th anniversary stream. I'm gonna try to do the whole campaign in one day!
  • Tuesday - 8:00 AM-12:00 PM, EF2000 stream. 5:00 PM - Looking back at the best and worst of the last decade for the podcast!
  • Wednesday - 8:00 AM-12:00 PM, Notia stream.
  • Thursday - 8:00 AM-12:00 PM, Far Cry 5 stream. 5:00 PM, Din's Legacy LAN Party broadcast.
  • Friday - 8:00 AM-12:00 PM, 3030 Deathwar Redux stream.

You can see all of our planned upcoming streams and events on our calendar, as always!

You can watch any of these streams on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer and Steam.

Finally, I've been trying to do more weekly written content on the website itself. Sunday I'll be doing discussion topics such as wondering if Rebel Galaxy Outlaw will bring about a new era in cockpit space combat games. Mondays will be a gaming check-in where we talk about what we've been playing and what we hope to play, and Wednesdays will be our weekly news digests telling you about all the latest space game news, from patches to developer diaries to new releases. I do hope you'll check it out.

That should do it for this coming week my wonderful friends. Thanks so much, and I hope to see y'all in a stream, chat room or forum thread! Have a great week

Kinda liking Corpoct. I can see replay value written all over it. Lots of choices to change up outcomes.

Hello my wonderful friends, and welcome to another week of spacey gaming! This week, in our game of the week, we'll return to Descent: Freespace, specifically Silent Threat Reborn, because I was basically begged to. With nothing really new having coming out, I couldn't say no. We also have a preview of Undercrewed, and more videos coming throughout the week.

Moving on from pre-recorded content, here's this week's streaming schedule (please remember all times are Pacific). As you can see, we've moved things around a bit, with a 9 AM starting time for the mornings and a 4 PM start time for the evenings. You can read all about why I'm making this change here. Now here's the schedule:

  • Monday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Tachyon: The Fringe stream.
  • Tuesday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Close Combat: The Bloody First stream. 6:00 PM - Everspace 2 podcast!
  • Wednesday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Encased stream.
  • Thursday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, EF2000 stream. 4:00 PM, Deep Rock Galactic LAN Party broadcast.
  • Friday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, 3030 Deathwar Redux stream.

You can see all of our planned upcoming streams and events on our calendar, as always!

You can watch any of these streams on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer and Steam.

Finally, in terms of written content, this week's discussion topic is the list of best starting space games I came up with for those new to the space game genre. This week's gaming check-in has me gushing about an old, yet amazing flight sim. Finally, last week's news digest was a pretty busy one.

That'll do it for what's coming up this week, my friends. I hope to see ya in a stream or in a comment. Thanks for being awesome!

Just remembered to back Everspace 2 on Kickstarter. It's promising a lot of what I'm looking forward to what they say the game will be.

EVERSPACE 2 is a fast-paced single-player space shooter with deep exploration, tons of loot, classic RPG elements for PC (Windows, Mac, Linux) and console (PS4 and XB1). Set in a persistent open world, it is driven by a captivating sci-fi story, picking up shortly after the events of the predecessor. An approximately 20-hour-long campaign and various side missions will lead you into the endgame. Prepare yourself to beat the most vicious encounters, and master difficult challenges which will reward you with that juicy epic loot!

Be still my beating heart!

It's not due for full release until 2021. I'm used to waiting since I backed Wasteland 3 which is taking forever to come out.

We're having the Everspace 2 folks on the podcast tomorrow! Yay!

Hello my wonderful friends, and welcome to another week of spacey gaming goodness. This week's game of the week is the classic 4X space game, Space Empires IV. There will also be more videos incoming as I have time -- recall I'm switching from doing videos in batches on the weekend to doing them either the day of or the day before -- so keep an eye on the channel to catch them as they get uploaded.

Moving on from pre-recorded content, here's this week's streaming schedule:

  • Monday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Tachyon: The Fringe stream.
  • Tuesday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Train Valley 2 stream. 4:00 PM - Dominus Galaxia podcast!
  • Wednesday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, EF2000 stream.
  • Thursday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Far Cry 2 stream. 4:00 PM, Dying Light LAN Party broadcast.
  • Friday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, 3030 Deathwar Redux stream.

You can see all of our planned upcoming streams and events on our calendar, as always!

You can watch any of these streams on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer and Steam.

Finally, in this week's weekly gaming check in, I finally admit to myself it's okay to bounce around between games like a pinball, and absolve myself of the guilt that's been surrounding me about it.

That'll do it for this coming week, my friends. Hope to see you around on a stream or in chat somewhere. Thanks for being awesome!

SE4 is very good, will definitely watch the video on it when I can.

I think I still have my disk(!) I bought from Malfador Machinations somewhere. I also have the disk from SE3 as well. I remember being a little disappointed in SE4 when I first started playing it because it just felt like a "slightly" improved SE3. But the longer I played with SE4, the more I realized how much better it was, from small QoL things to "better" graphics (neither would have won any prizes for beauty even back in the day, but SE4 is a pretty big improvement) to deeper gameplay.

SE5 was a big let-down for me, although I can't remember exactly why as it has been a long time. I still mess around in SE4 from time to time.

SE5 was broken in many ways. In particular, they promised intelligent drones for mining and combat, and that really never happened. As I recall. Maybe it's been patched in the last decade or so?

Robear wrote:

SE5 was broken in many ways. In particular, they promised intelligent drones for mining and combat, and that really never happened. As I recall. Maybe it's been patched in the last decade or so?

IDK, I have not touched it since it came out. Whenever I get the SE itch, I just turn to SE4 by default, fairly or unfairly to SE5 these days.

Hello my wonderful gaming friends, and welcome to another week of spacey gaming! This week, we're traveling all the way back to 1988 to play what I think is the hardest RPG I've ever played, Sentinel Worlds I: Future Magic! We'll also have more videos coming throughout the week, so stay tuned for those as I make them.

Moving on from pre-recorded content, here's this week's streaming schedule:

  • Monday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Deep Space Nine: The Fallen stream.
  • Tuesday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville stream. 4:00 PM - Best of the Decade faux award show!
  • Wednesday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Hitman (2016) stream.
  • Thursday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Aleinautics stream. 4:00 PM, Aliens: Colonial Marines LAN Party broadcast.
  • Friday - 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, Evochron Legacy stream.

You can see all of our planned upcoming streams and events on our calendar, as always!

You can watch any of these streams on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer and Steam.

Finally, in written content, this week's discussion topic is why, as I get older, I prefer games that value my time. In this week's gaming check-in, I just wanna shoot stuff.

That'll do it for this up and coming week, my friends. Thanks so much, as always, for being awesome, and we'll see you somewhere online!

Veloxi wrote:

Hello my wonderful gaming friends, and welcome to another week of spacey gaming! This week, we're traveling all the way back to 1988 to play what I think is the hardest RPG I've ever played, Sentinel Worlds I: Future Magic! We'll also have more videos coming throughout the week, so stay tuned for those as I make them.

Sweet! I picked this game out of a bargain bin at Best Buy back in the late 90's, and had a lot of fun with it. It was definitely challenging; I think even in an age of relatively terrible interfaces, it stood out for being particularly bad. I'm not sure I could get over that particular challenge anymore these days, but I'm happy to watch someone else do so. I'm also happy because I've been trying to remember the name of this game for at least 6 years (I don't remember how long, just that it was from The Time Before Children), so you've done me a big favor by finally answering that question!

Oh it's interface is kind of a nightmare, but shrug, 1988 man.