We really need more games like Between the Stars, in that we can captain a big ship and manage our crew. While I love space sims, I would like less fighter sims and more capital ship sims.
I suggest Rebel Galaxy. Corvettes and frigates, huge trading ships, destroyers, lots of cool bigger ships you can play yourself. An okayish story that´s a bit linear, but who needs great story, if you have a great ship and awesome music. You constantly feel like you´re in a western, just casually riding around, chugging broadside volleys left and right and giggle at exploiding enemies.
Its nothing like X4 its Basic as fk its a voxel ship building game that goes no where.. and x4 is nothing like that lol how dumb are you? try playing X4 mate.. cos i dont think you have at all.. lol completely different types of games. thats like saying Minecraft is like all other building games including the RTX 4k raytracing city skylines 2 and anno1800 right .. NO!!! moron lol
There's a more recent game called "The Last Starship" where the premise is you have to build and manage a ship while outrunning a constantly growing anomaly that's tearing apart the very fabric of the universe (Which can be assumed is supposed to be False Vacuum Decay). It's still early in development, but it looks pretty promising.
@@digitalrailroader That's pretty cool. I backed prison architect long ago before they were even on steam, and the dev was very responsive (for a dev who was constantly programming!)
I still remember my first time playing Nexus, and realising the ships were firing thrusters as they maneuvered! The sheer joy of those first few missions, spending most of the time just marvelling at the eye candy on display. Glorious! :D
You need to google it. There is a HD version that's also added a load of new flyable ships including battleships. And you can now build stations. Something that you couldn't do way back then.
A game I always love to return to is Starpoint Gemini Warlords. It has a wide variety of ships to pilot, it has Resource Management, Base Management, RPG RTS and so much more elements crammed in... and the controlls are really easy to learn and master.
never forget Freelancer or the original Elite games or Independence War. so many really good space sims out there. there was a really old commodore game called Halleys Comet, you were asked a trivia question and then you had to answer by flying to the planet in question ( you did have to 'lead' the planet you were headed to) and land on the planet. primitive graphics by todays standards but it was a lot of fun to play.
I love Freelancer and still play it from time to time. There are many features in that game that I wish they would implement in Elite but...well, a man can dream.
I've been playing Evochron Legacy largely at you guys recommendation. The only point I would disagree with is, its not really that hard to pick up, but I would suggest new players, take the Independent Trader Start, for their first few hours of Play, get used to the flight mechanics and Economy, and personalize your keybinds. Somethings like the M-Match Key, really need to be guarded with an Alt or Shift Key so you don't press them inadvertently and find your ship is suddenly really wonky, Once your happy with your controls it is a great world to explore, just start a new ship/pilot as Alliance or Federation and you'll soon enough see plenty of action.
I highly recommend Avorion as well, it's a great "X4 like" and the combat feels great, and the grind is minimal (you can order a fleet to mine for you for example, so you don't have to do the repetitive stuff yourself). Bonus points if you join a multiplayer server, for the RP, fun and giggles.
@@PaulGuy The guys over at Hard Light that manage it all have truly been masterful throughout the years. It's a shame their work doesn't get half as much of the exposure as it deserves.
Not including freespace 2 even if just for the blue planet campaigns is criminal activity. Also, little bonus for people that *have* played blue planet and might not have known, check out a couple short stories called Morrigan in the Sunglare, and especially Morrigan in Shadow, which is basically the ending of the whole blue planet series.
As far as space sims go, Freelancer is still one of the best in my opinion. I wish there could be a sequel made to it because the story and the way they made the world work was amazing.
I wish Microsoft had completed and released a full version of Freelancer. They dropped it and it fell apart due to being released incomplete. Could’ve been an amazing game
Unfortunately Starmade has really gone down hill over the past couple years. There's numerous glitches that can result in one losing all their BPs, the power changes really ruined the game, the tutorials for the game aren't even for the current version of the game, they're for a version years back and much has changed since then so good luck learning how to play as a new player, and overall it seems the devs have largely abandoned it.
I really like this genre, the only downside (also an upside) is the learning curve for some of the games. But, if there's nothing to learn, there's likely no depth. I love Avorion. I have several hundred hours in that game and it's just been a whole lot of fun.
Great to see Void Destroyer 2 on here. It's a gem of an indie space sim, one of my all time favorites. Overall great list. Been playing Evochron for over 15 years. Back in the 2000s it was really something unique among more arcade-y options.
star citizen music in background :) - Agree with all the shout outs for Freespace SCP. Also take a look at Tie fighter total conversion for XWing Alliance
Your video sparked my interest in space sims (for a loooong time I have been a strategy/grand strategy wargamer; e.g. HoI); especially Capital Command and X4 attracted my attention. Can you advise me on the following. 1) PC requirements 2) Do I just need a joystick (and a throttle)? 3) Which joystick (and throttle) are better for space sims? I am a little intimidated by the joystick set up. Are there very basic instructions for absolute beginners on how to set up the controls? Finally, which sims would you recommend to start? I am interested in combat/exploration in a strategic context (absolutely no shooting gallery). Thank you very much.
I'm glad that it did! So honestly I'm playing X4 with just keyboard and mouse and actually prefer it that way. Tend to break out the joystick for flight sims rather than space ones 😃 you do need a decent PC but X4 can technically run on Steam deck so shouldnt be too much of an issue. My old 9400f and 1660ti got about 70fps. Now I'm maxed out 🚀
Thanks for the reviews. These are exactly the games I enjoy playing, but I needed a bit of help for my next purchase. I have enjoyed playing Avorion and X4 for the in depth combination of wide galaxy/sandbox/space flight simulation. I love exploring, building stations, mining, trading, dog fighting and doing missions, so when I find the right game I'm prepared to spend thousands of hours on it in a casual way. I liked the borderlands style of void destroyer 2 so I might go for that one first, but I have put two more from your list into my steam wishlist so thanks again.
I just got back into Avorion and it has one of the best ship building systems you can imagine. Want to build the starship Enterprise, with the Millenium Falcon as your saucer section? Yes you can do that! It also has a very deep manufacturing and economic system. Certainly worth your time for a bargain price.
In avorion I usually end up with fleets of many borg cubes that strip mine entire sectors of anything valuable and the fleet continues to grow. It can get pretty extreme after a while. One of the bosses I fought I had something like 30 cubes jump in with shield stripping weapons and salvage beams to just tear the boss apart.
Avorion made me remember the X series, and how complicated the economy of this game is, maybe I would give it another try later, till I funny understand the mechanics.
yea, as a 40 year old. my patience to learn new games is limited........ x4 foundations, elite dangerous etc omg so much to learn....... as a kid i wanted these types of games. and when elite came out i had lots of fun overall. i try playing it now i just get bored fast...... luckily muscle memory always kicks in lol. that said x4 was new game for me last year.... and wasnt to bad. the game did great job easing you in. but imo wasnt good at teaching most things. but enough vds out there to fill the gaps.
@@NotHappening-b8t The economy of Elite Dangerous is not that complicated is similar to Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, the only difference is that you have to consider how much fuel you have, and you can buy larger tanks to travel longer distance, in Rebel Galaxy Outlaw you have the consider the jumpoint fuel, and that depends of the kind of ship that you have, lighter ships you can make more jumps, eight to ten, heavy ships, six jumps before refuelling, is less riskier to play as a space trucker in this games, but when you known where the pirates would appear you can spoilt the mechanics of the game, X series, is another animal all together, even Starpoint Gemini 2, Warlords and Starpoint Gemini 3 are more easy to play, but have more environmental hazards, like radioactive. clouds
@@NotHappening-b8t X4 in my opinion suffers a lot from it´s either outdated or weak engine. AI doing stupid actions, ridiculous long loading and saving times..you´re constantly fighting the game to just work, once you reach a point in the game where you manage more than just a couple ships and a station. Once you become big, the game starts to show it´s flaws. Great game, love it to bits, but I´m sad to see that the content is built on a weak "foundation", hehe.
I wish so much they'd do another Star Trek Armada game. The classics are great, but imagine a full on 3D modern base-building game set in that universe?
Definitely have to check out House of the Dying Sun. Gives me Freespace and Freespace 2 vibes. Those games are still some of my fav video game experiences of all time
Void Destroyer 2 turns bullet time into a main tactic, its physics is clearly crude but it's fine when you just go with it and figure it out. Makes you feel like John Wick.
Excellent video. My SteaM library is ridiculous as well. The fans of space games are always looking for The Game, THAT GAME to satisfy the ever present need to do any or all of the following: to explore, fight, trade, war, build, taxi, freight hauling, empire build……you know.
i really enjoyed Starpoint Gemini 2 - it was more of an Arcadey Space Sim but it was a very relaxing space sandbox. The story and dialogue are very forgettable but you can disregard that and simply play sandbox mode. Oh and Rebel Galaxy is my guilty pleasure, super casual space sim, it's just awesome.
Thank you for Reminding me of Starpoint Gemini 2. Completely forgot about that game. I got it ages ago (aka 2016) from a bundle but never played it hehe. I'll give it a go. I also apparently have Starpoint Gemini Warlords as well that I got in 2021 hehe.
@@LTGamingUA-cam I see, I am looking forward to more of these lists. I love Space Sim games but it's hard to find decent ones that have a good mix of trading and fighting for me. I've basically played Rebel Galaxy all these years whenever I need my fix hehe. Oh and its Sequel Outlaw. There was also a time when graphics were a deal breaker for me. It's not as much anymore but it's still there 😅.
@@ZecVal yeah I like complexity and been playing X4 and Evochron Legacy SE again. But then tonight I picked up the more arcade Chorus in the Steam sale and its so much fun 🚀😃
As an added bonus, most (maybe all) of these games are for sale on Steam right now, until the 21st. Space Engine is only $17.99, and House of the Dying Sun is $5.99! Looks like I'll be getting myself a couple birthday presents...
Two games I would add to this list on account of being inexpensive but kick arse indie space strategy/RPG hybrids are Starsector and Star Traders Frontiers. They both have unique original mechanics and game play systems. Somewhat similar in scope and setting (you operate in a sector of 100-200 star systems) the big difference between them is that Starsector sports butt-clenching pausable real time fleet combat where as Star Traders offers turn based single ship on single ship duals. Both these games a very, very good.
I played Elite Dangerous for years after it first came out. I even bought the HOTAS Warthog to use all the controls. I got away from it and what is keeping me from going back is the steep re-learning curve. I have about a dozen ships and lots of money and equipment sitting there, you will even find several dozen stars with my name on them (coreward) but relearning what I used to know takes too much time and I just don't... want to. I might have to check out a couple of these though.
I feel the same way with Star Citizen. I play it make lots of money trading then pirates start griefing and it ruins the loop for me. Its not worth the time investment sometimes!
Suggestion for a forgotten game: Space Engineers. It is a really good game with custom ships you can actually walk around in, with tons of mods for it as well, and you can have battles with other players or NPCs. People have also made roleplays of this game, which are generally really good. One series I would recomend watching is Outlands, but there are tons of others, and tons of mods as well.
Great list of games, as usual! I'm not sure about Between the Stars, I need to research that one more, recent reviews are mixed. As for Avorion I'm crap at building stuff that looks good, lol, so I'm afraid that's not for me :/ Evochron is a passion project by a solo dev who has created that franchise like... 20-25 years ago? It's crazy, and it is still regularly updated :)
Glad you enjoyed it. House of the Dying Sun has seen a lot of coverage lately which came out the blue. Between the Stars is good if you can accept its limitations. Evochron I'm trying to find more time to get back into as its such a deep game! Glad you enjoyed it. Plenty of Space Sim goodness on the way in the coming months - Luke
I think X4 (or the whole X series) also deserves a mention, or is it popular enough not to be considered as forgotten? It's my favourite space series that I played since childhood and still keep getting back to. Parkan II is also a really nice atmospheric space sim with an intriguing story and great a sense of depth / vast emptiness of space, with some FPS combat and RPG elements mixed in. Its soundtrack never gets old to me.
What I'm looking for is a spacesim that allows you to with In-Transit ship exploration, that is, a game that allows ship exploration while en route. I wish to embark on long journeys and detach from the helm to explore the interior, check the inventory, doing stuff. I just enjoy that feeling.
It's crazy that how customisable the ship building is in Avorion! You asked for other suggestions... can I add "Liberation" to your list? My classic retro space adventure came out in 2023
I'm still a bit sad that development on Hellion was stopped some years ago. This game had such potential due to its realistic movement in space and challenges it offered. Main problem, besides plenty of bugs, was probably the pure PvP nature of that game that probably distracted many players even though they later added solo game support as well and had plans for PvE servers as well.
I might be late but you HAVE to include universe sandbox as a space simulation game! Sure, it's more like a sandbox game but man is it the best space sandbox game out there, I might be biased but the scale it can get is MASSIVE!
I still play Avorion, but I haven't play Between the Stars, Evochron and a few others in a while due to me being so easily distracted by new games or when I see a content creator play a game that I also own. I do remember Evochron having the ability to switch to enertia flight so once you've built up enough speed you can just drift your way to and from your destination. I'm not sure if the dev made a 3rd game but merc and legend were great fun.
@@LTGamingUA-cam i dont know how hard it will be to find the game, since it came out 20 years ago, it's technically abandonware now, but also open source thanks to a small modding community that's working on mods and the game.
Avorion is one of my favorite games but i'm bad at building ships so i rely on mods heavily and there's tons of awesome ships made by creative players. And one of the pros of the game is giving you the option of playing in newtonian physics when you don't use inertia dampeners which i love the most about this game.
Loved HotDS in VR. I need to replay it (again) at some point. Even more impressive was that it was made by a single developer. Would be great to see a sequel.
House of the Dying Sun is absolutely fantastic, entirely agreed. The developer lost some of the following during dev for a design decision but i thought what we ended up with was really wonderful and special
In my humble opinion on a list of forgotten space games both I-War titles should be present, in particular the first one. Still playable today even though the graphics are heavily dated.
Yeah I kept this very focused and with a more modern twist but defo deserves more iterations with everything that is out there. I've bought I-War titles on GOG so I will check them out 🚀
The first real flight sim space game I played was Elite II Frontier by Dave Brabben. And there was no story to it. Here's you ship. Take off and do whatever you want to do. And it had retractable undercarriage which was new to me. So the first time I took off. I had to re-land and take off a few more times just to see it coming down and retracting. Then there has been Tachyon The Fringe, Freelancer and then I discovered egosofts "X" games and that was it. X: Beyond the Frontier in 1999. X-Tension in 2000. Followed up by X2 and it's DLC's X3 and it's DLCs, X Rebirth and X4. But sometimes I wish someone could re-release Elite II Frontier for today but still keeping the easy controls and uncomplicated flight and game play of 1993 but for PC. The one I had was for the Amiga.
What about Empyrion: Galactic Survival? Nobody ever talks about that one and it has, probably, the best building mechanics of any space game. True it can be a little janky, and don't get me started on the appalling DLC they just released, but with the Steam Workshop scenarios Reforged Eden, Star Salvage and others, it can be vastly improved.
@LT Gaming - Did I understand correctly, that you had made an earlier video with a similar subject? If so, could you please provide a link to it - I browsed through the videos on your channel but could not find it.
@@LTGamingUA-cam 'Upcoming'? I had understood that this video was a kind of 'part 2' of an earlier video about older space games. Anyway, thanks for clarifying.
As a fervent sci-fi fanatic I am feeling appalled for not knowing any other then House of The Rising Sun Thank you for this list, I'm going to check a few if not all of them out for myself. I don't have a VR setup sadly though, so no first person newtonian physics ( say, Babylon5 Space Fury like? ) combat which does sound very very appealing
Awesome! That was my goal with this list and I even left a few deeper cuts off it. So a possible follow up is needed. I will say that House of the Dying Sun can be enjoyed without VR just as much :)
Dude, give me a space logistics/exploration game that I can use my hosas/hotas and actually gives some sort of indication that my decisions impact the outcome of the game. Add space combat to it but there are many space combat focused games already.
I loved the idea of Evochron Legacy but bounced hard off the array of system interactions needed to play and despite revisiting several times I kept returning to the simplicity of Elite Dangerous and the X series.
I'm looking to jump back in this week and give it another shot. Been playing X4 a lot last few weeks and I want to get more of it on the channel. Star Citizen however....Still waiting haha
It's definitely noodging up into Stockholm-syndrome territory, there's a great game in there, *if* you like games that are more about getting good with the systems, not to mention just making sense of them, and less about story. Like, if you like playing Space Engineers on 1-1-1-1-1-1 because that rewards thinking about every detail to boost prospecting/mining/construction efficiency that might translate to liking Evochron: Legacy because that rewards thinking about every detail to boost combat and travel and exploration agility. Both of those games are still getting updates lo these many years on.
I own Elite Dangerous. My problem with it is that i didnt play it more than 1 month, several years ago and i dont remember how to setup controls for Keyboard + mouse. The default settings are just impossible to play. Its just horrible. And the complexity of the setting menu is so huge that i just cant find any solution. If only i i had backup the key binding file, back then.
I would say Empyrion galactic survival but custom scenario for that game because it offers 3x of everything than the vanilla game, scenario is called reforged eden and two creators are finishing Reforged Eden 2.0 in a few months. But that is game that I have more than 2000h in it and I newer seen it coming.
i know x4 foundations probably isnt forgotten. and u def mentioned it. but to me its def under rated. i feel the title and advertising just doesnt do the game justice. i had looked at it off and on for few years thinking ugh.. another turn based galactic sid game...... which were fun. but i had my feel of it. i wanted more..... the few vids i watched on it. like the adds really did NOT do it justice. didnt explain the game at all. imo. finally someone i watch mentioned how great the game was again. so i gave it 1 last try, went and found a playthrough unedited no bs. and watched that. and i was amazed. i was like where is this in any of the above mentioned........ like sure they briefly mention it. but people wanna SEE IT. X4 does well only because they already had a fanbase. i really really think they do a lot better especially since last years DLC update that fixed a lot of core issues. that the game would be a lot bigger and more popular. maybe not star citizen... but it should be imo top 2, 3 space sim easily. well imo its #1 atm..... that i know off. but lack of CO-OP and or online i know hurts a lot of games.
What exactly is the difference between Space Engine and Celestia ? I mean, feature-wise, as I don't know of SE is Open-Source like Celestia... I'll search and if I find an answer, I'll post it.
"If you're anything like me you're always looking for your next old or new game to play, I mean my steam wishlist is an absolute joke." - Looks at my steam wishlist - 1334 games Sounds about right.
Arvoch Alliance is another great game from the developer of Evochron Legacy (not on Steam, available directly on their website). Basically it's a set of campaigns for Evochron focused on combat. I was really disappointed with House of the Dying Sun though. I was playing during early access and a) the developer abandoned it with a number of serious bugs still outstanding and b) it's extremely short and because it is not moddable and has no mission editor, you can see everything there is to see in under 2 hours.
My all time favorite is X4 and it is also my all time most hated space sim game. The late game ship AI is breaking it for me. The issues with X4 is really what stopping it from being a great Space Sim game.
I've always heard good things about freelancer, and people wishing there was a modern version of it. Well, this game doesn't look modern, but I read it is similar to freelancer: Underspace Underspace is in early access on Steam. I'd provide a link but you know we can't do that here.
For me, Space games are fun when I feel the immersion, exploring, extracting ressources, building bases, homes and ships. The combat part is the least appealing to me. I still play Empyrion Galactic survival. I may give a try to Avorion. And about Space Engine... if only we could extract ressources, build not only ships but also bases and houses with a lots of freedom for creativity.
Independance War for its tremendous Hard SciFi universe and its original lore with punk-creative rebels vs cold-organized regular army. The Expanse remind me that game. It definively desserve a reboot. I also spent good time withe Nexus, the Jupiter Incident.
Avorion is quite a fun game if you like its style. I've only got 240 hours or so on it but it is a good game to play when you've got nothing else you want to play
We really need more games like Between the Stars, in that we can captain a big ship and manage our crew. While I love space sims, I would like less fighter sims and more capital ship sims.
Yeah I really get behind this vibe tbh. I want to have a Capital ship under my command!
I suggest Rebel Galaxy. Corvettes and frigates, huge trading ships, destroyers, lots of cool bigger ships you can play yourself. An okayish story that´s a bit linear, but who needs great story, if you have a great ship and awesome music. You constantly feel like you´re in a western, just casually riding around, chugging broadside volleys left and right and giggle at exploiding enemies.
Great suggestion actually! On the next list :)@@Morpheus-wt7yb
@@LTGamingUA-cam You're welcome!
maybe avorion? mentioned before i checked the playbar tags.
I like Avorion, it's like X4 lite. You can build fleets or establish a station in a sector and start your own empire.
Yes very much so 🚀🚀
Its nothing like X4 its Basic as fk its a voxel ship building game that goes no where.. and x4 is nothing like that lol how dumb are you? try playing X4 mate.. cos i dont think you have at all.. lol completely different types of games. thats like saying Minecraft is like all other building games including the RTX 4k raytracing city skylines 2 and anno1800 right .. NO!!! moron lol
@@LTGamingUA-cam what is the game name of X4 lite
@@DarkSoul45456 AVORION he said it in the original comment
There's a more recent game called "The Last Starship" where the premise is you have to build and manage a ship while outrunning a constantly growing anomaly that's tearing apart the very fabric of the universe (Which can be assumed is supposed to be False Vacuum Decay). It's still early in development, but it looks pretty promising.
its actually made by Introversion Software; Developers of Prison Architect and is made using the same engine as Prison Architect.
@@digitalrailroader
That's pretty cool. I backed prison architect long ago before they were even on steam, and the dev was very responsive (for a dev who was constantly programming!)
I’d like to give a shout out to Nexus the jupiter incident. An oldie but goodie but still worthwhile to this day.
Yes it really is. Included it on a list at Xmas! 🚀
I still remember my first time playing Nexus, and realising the ships were firing thrusters as they maneuvered! The sheer joy of those first few missions, spending most of the time just marvelling at the eye candy on display. Glorious! :D
They tried to make a Kickstarter for Nexus 2 but it failed..so yeah.. 😔
But what we really want is for Microsoft to re-release Freelancer.
You need to google it. There is a HD version that's also added a load of new flyable ships including battleships. And you can now build stations. Something that you couldn't do way back then.
Well, That's Star Citizen, but then, it won't ever be finished.
@@DavidBrown-in3oj Star Citizen is a text book example of feature creep
Does it _have_ to be MS? :(
There is a game called underspace. Its early access and goes in that direction.
A game I always love to return to is Starpoint Gemini Warlords. It has a wide variety of ships to pilot, it has Resource Management, Base Management, RPG RTS and so much more elements crammed in... and the controlls are really easy to learn and master.
Yeah needs to feature on the follow up. Enjoyed that game!
own that one
FreeSpace SCP - just try it out with the 2023 level graphics. Mind-blowing. They don't do games like this anymore...
FreeSpace 2 was hands down the best story based fighter game i've ever played. It did so much with what we had for technology back then.
had freespace and freespace 2 crazy playing online lol if you were not the host computer only missiles got kills and guns where useless.
There's a vr mod too :)
never forget Freelancer or the original Elite games or Independence War. so many really good space sims out there. there was a really old commodore game called Halleys Comet, you were asked a trivia question and then you had to answer by flying to the planet in question ( you did have to 'lead' the planet you were headed to) and land on the planet. primitive graphics by todays standards but it was a lot of fun to play.
I love Freelancer and still play it from time to time. There are many features in that game that I wish they would implement in Elite but...well, a man can dream.
House of the Dying Sun in VR with a HOTAS is an amazing experience. Dang... now I need to go play that again.
haha I'm the same! Been playing it VR and on Steam deck. The loop is short but amazing :)
Really like the bold TN on this one, knew it was you guys right away! Really cool list and id never heard of Void Destroyer so checking it out now :)
I've been playing Evochron Legacy largely at you guys recommendation. The only point I would disagree with is, its not really that hard to pick up, but I would suggest new players, take the Independent Trader Start, for their first few hours of Play, get used to the flight mechanics and Economy, and personalize your keybinds. Somethings like the M-Match Key, really need to be guarded with an Alt or Shift Key so you don't press them inadvertently and find your ship is suddenly really wonky, Once your happy with your controls it is a great world to explore, just start a new ship/pilot as Alliance or Federation and you'll soon enough see plenty of action.
@@trlavalley9909 it just takes a time investment to learn it all. But yes it isn't the hardest overall 🚀
I highly recommend Avorion as well, it's a great "X4 like" and the combat feels great, and the grind is minimal (you can order a fleet to mine for you for example, so you don't have to do the repetitive stuff yourself). Bonus points if you join a multiplayer server, for the RP, fun and giggles.
Problem is there's really only one half decently active US avorion server, and it's set on insane difficulty
Descent: FreeSpace The Great War and FreeSpace 2 would have been worthy inclusions on this list.
Freespace 2 has VR now... Blue Planet series in VR! Yay
@@acidtwin It wild what the community has done with Freespace 2 over the years. Definitely one of the best space games ever made.
@@PaulGuy The guys over at Hard Light that manage it all have truly been masterful throughout the years. It's a shame their work doesn't get half as much of the exposure as it deserves.
Not including freespace 2 even if just for the blue planet campaigns is criminal activity. Also, little bonus for people that *have* played blue planet and might not have known, check out a couple short stories called Morrigan in the Sunglare, and especially Morrigan in Shadow, which is basically the ending of the whole blue planet series.
Replayed Galaxy on Fire more than I'd wish to share. Definitely my favourite growing up.
They had a colonization rts mmo that was alot of fun. They shut it down several years ago, I miss it.
As far as space sims go, Freelancer is still one of the best in my opinion. I wish there could be a sequel made to it because the story and the way they made the world work was amazing.
I've been waiting for a FreeLancer remaster or a follow up for about 20 years!
I wish Microsoft had completed and released a full version of Freelancer. They dropped it and it fell apart due to being released incomplete. Could’ve been an amazing game
amazing game. I keep the ISO on my google drive and I still have the CD with the demo xD
starmade and Empyrion - Galactic Survival both where amazing back when i played them
In consideration for the next Space Sims list!
Empyrion still is amazing. I have starmade on the whislist
Unfortunately Starmade has really gone down hill over the past couple years. There's numerous glitches that can result in one losing all their BPs, the power changes really ruined the game, the tutorials for the game aren't even for the current version of the game, they're for a version years back and much has changed since then so good luck learning how to play as a new player, and overall it seems the devs have largely abandoned it.
@@datmanydocris thats a shame the early days where amazing in it
Not sure if you covered it yet, but Empyrion Galaxtic Survival is a personal favorite, especially with the reforged eden scenario.
it's flipping awesome
I really like this genre, the only downside (also an upside) is the learning curve for some of the games. But, if there's nothing to learn, there's likely no depth.
I love Avorion. I have several hundred hours in that game and it's just been a whole lot of fun.
House of the Dying Sun is almost like the perfect answer to "What if Raiden was made more realistic & with fully fleshed out 3D environment?"
Great to see Void Destroyer 2 on here. It's a gem of an indie space sim, one of my all time favorites.
Overall great list. Been playing Evochron for over 15 years. Back in the 2000s it was really something unique among more arcade-y options.
star citizen music in background :) - Agree with all the shout outs for Freespace SCP. Also take a look at Tie fighter total conversion for XWing Alliance
That music is awesome!
My old favourite is Darkstar 1. Really enjoyed that one
What a great game, i put it almost at the same level as Freelancer
@@harko705 About to coment that, only game that was to me like Freelancer. I adore space sims btw.
Descent 1 & 2 were quite something back in the day.
Nothing touches that first cut scene and the fade to yellow and volition. "Send FIGHTERS".
Your video sparked my interest in space sims (for a loooong time I have been a strategy/grand strategy wargamer; e.g. HoI); especially Capital Command and X4 attracted my attention. Can you advise me on the following. 1) PC requirements 2) Do I just need a joystick (and a throttle)? 3) Which joystick (and throttle) are better for space sims? I am a little intimidated by the joystick set up. Are there very basic instructions for absolute beginners on how to set up the controls? Finally, which sims would you recommend to start? I am interested in combat/exploration in a strategic context (absolutely no shooting gallery). Thank you very much.
I'm glad that it did! So honestly I'm playing X4 with just keyboard and mouse and actually prefer it that way. Tend to break out the joystick for flight sims rather than space ones 😃 you do need a decent PC but X4 can technically run on Steam deck so shouldnt be too much of an issue. My old 9400f and 1660ti got about 70fps. Now I'm maxed out 🚀
I was gonna play all of these.....then I heard the star citizen music and had to install that again. Thanks lol
Now I wanna play again lol
Thanks for the reviews. These are exactly the games I enjoy playing, but I needed a bit of help for my next purchase. I have enjoyed playing Avorion and X4 for the in depth combination of wide galaxy/sandbox/space flight simulation. I love exploring, building stations, mining, trading, dog fighting and doing missions, so when I find the right game I'm prepared to spend thousands of hours on it in a casual way. I liked the borderlands style of void destroyer 2 so I might go for that one first, but I have put two more from your list into my steam wishlist so thanks again.
Void Destroyer 2 is very good and rather cheap. I think you would enjoy it. If you like the artstyle :)
Is it just me or is House of the Dying Sun getting a lot of love as of late? (such a fun game)
Yeah I saw other videos for it!
Maybe that would convince the guy who made it (it was just one guy!) to make a sequel?
We would be fully behind that!@@RocketToTheMoose
Lap is 11 years old and is still unrivaled!!! Shoutout to the amazing work at squad
I just got back into Avorion and it has one of the best ship building systems you can imagine. Want to build the starship Enterprise, with the Millenium Falcon as your saucer section? Yes you can do that! It also has a very deep manufacturing and economic system. Certainly worth your time for a bargain price.
Yes one for the creative minds for sure 🚀🚀
In avorion I usually end up with fleets of many borg cubes that strip mine entire sectors of anything valuable and the fleet continues to grow. It can get pretty extreme after a while. One of the bosses I fought I had something like 30 cubes jump in with shield stripping weapons and salvage beams to just tear the boss apart.
Avorion made me remember the X series, and how complicated the economy of this game is, maybe I would give it another try later, till I funny understand the mechanics.
yea, as a 40 year old. my patience to learn new games is limited........ x4 foundations, elite dangerous etc omg so much to learn.......
as a kid i wanted these types of games. and when elite came out i had lots of fun overall. i try playing it now i just get bored fast...... luckily muscle memory always kicks in lol.
that said x4 was new game for me last year.... and wasnt to bad. the game did great job easing you in. but imo wasnt good at teaching most things. but enough vds out there to fill the gaps.
@@NotHappening-b8t The economy of Elite Dangerous is not that complicated is similar to Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, the only difference is that you have to consider how much fuel you have, and you can buy larger tanks to travel longer distance, in Rebel Galaxy Outlaw you have the consider the jumpoint fuel, and that depends of the kind of ship that you have, lighter ships you can make more jumps, eight to ten, heavy ships, six jumps before refuelling, is less riskier to play as a space trucker in this games, but when you known where the pirates would appear you can spoilt the mechanics of the game, X series, is another animal all together, even Starpoint Gemini 2, Warlords and Starpoint Gemini 3 are more easy to play, but have more environmental hazards, like radioactive. clouds
@@NotHappening-b8t X4 in my opinion suffers a lot from it´s either outdated or weak engine. AI doing stupid actions, ridiculous long loading and saving times..you´re constantly fighting the game to just work, once you reach a point in the game where you manage more than just a couple ships and a station. Once you become big, the game starts to show it´s flaws. Great game, love it to bits, but I´m sad to see that the content is built on a weak "foundation", hehe.
I wish so much they'd do another Star Trek Armada game. The classics are great, but imagine a full on 3D modern base-building game set in that universe?
You would not have to sell that concept too hard to me! :P
Definitely have to check out House of the Dying Sun. Gives me Freespace and Freespace 2 vibes. Those games are still some of my fav video game experiences of all time
Thanks for letting us know that Between the Stars is finally out of Early Access. I didn't even know that until I saw this. Love your channel!
Much appreciated! I'd lost touch with the game a bit also. So was a good reminder to me also 😂
Void Destroyer 2 turns bullet time into a main tactic, its physics is clearly crude but it's fine when you just go with it and figure it out. Makes you feel like John Wick.
I wish there was a remastered Freelancer. Spent too many hours exploring after finishing the main story. Still remains my favourite
Excellent video. My SteaM library is ridiculous as well. The fans of space games are always looking for The Game, THAT GAME to satisfy the ever present need to do any or all of the following: to explore, fight, trade, war, build, taxi, freight hauling, empire build……you know.
i really enjoyed Starpoint Gemini 2 - it was more of an Arcadey Space Sim but it was a very relaxing space sandbox. The story and dialogue are very forgettable but you can disregard that and simply play sandbox mode. Oh and Rebel Galaxy is my guilty pleasure, super casual space sim, it's just awesome.
Solid game! Defo one that would fit on this list well :)
Thank you for Reminding me of Starpoint Gemini 2. Completely forgot about that game. I got it ages ago (aka 2016) from a bundle but never played it hehe. I'll give it a go.
I also apparently have Starpoint Gemini Warlords as well that I got in 2021 hehe.
@@ZecVal both are actually good and may be featuring on upcoming list 🚀🚀
@@LTGamingUA-cam I see, I am looking forward to more of these lists. I love Space Sim games but it's hard to find decent ones that have a good mix of trading and fighting for me. I've basically played Rebel Galaxy all these years whenever I need my fix hehe. Oh and its Sequel Outlaw.
There was also a time when graphics were a deal breaker for me. It's not as much anymore but it's still there 😅.
@@ZecVal yeah I like complexity and been playing X4 and Evochron Legacy SE again. But then tonight I picked up the more arcade Chorus in the Steam sale and its so much fun 🚀😃
As an added bonus, most (maybe all) of these games are for sale on Steam right now, until the 21st. Space Engine is only $17.99, and House of the Dying Sun is $5.99! Looks like I'll be getting myself a couple birthday presents...
Two games I would add to this list on account of being inexpensive but kick arse indie space strategy/RPG hybrids are Starsector and Star Traders Frontiers. They both have unique original mechanics and game play systems. Somewhat similar in scope and setting (you operate in a sector of 100-200 star systems) the big difference between them is that Starsector sports butt-clenching pausable real time fleet combat where as Star Traders offers turn based single ship on single ship duals. Both these games a very, very good.
We covered Star Traders! Awesome game and Star sector im waiting to dive into having purchased it. Really great suggestions!
That Star Citizen soundtrack in the background threw me for a minute,.. :D
It's one of my favourite 🚀
Refreshingly different… I’d forgotten some of these gems…. Do ye remember “house of the rising son”… that was a cracker…bye 🐸🤗
haha insanity! Quiz on this list later :P
@@LTGamingUA-cam ready and waiting 🐸🐌👍🏻💪💪💪
I played Elite Dangerous for years after it first came out. I even bought the HOTAS Warthog to use all the controls. I got away from it and what is keeping me from going back is the steep re-learning curve. I have about a dozen ships and lots of money and equipment sitting there, you will even find several dozen stars with my name on them (coreward) but relearning what I used to know takes too much time and I just don't... want to. I might have to check out a couple of these though.
I feel the same way with Star Citizen. I play it make lots of money trading then pirates start griefing and it ruins the loop for me. Its not worth the time investment sometimes!
@LTGamingUA-cam join a Org and play with friends for protection
Suggestion for a forgotten game: Space Engineers. It is a really good game with custom ships you can actually walk around in, with tons of mods for it as well, and you can have battles with other players or NPCs. People have also made roleplays of this game, which are generally really good. One series I would recomend watching is Outlands, but there are tons of others, and tons of mods as well.
Great list of games, as usual!
I'm not sure about Between the Stars, I need to research that one more, recent reviews are mixed.
As for Avorion I'm crap at building stuff that looks good, lol, so I'm afraid that's not for me :/
Evochron is a passion project by a solo dev who has created that franchise like... 20-25 years ago? It's crazy, and it is still regularly updated :)
Glad you enjoyed it. House of the Dying Sun has seen a lot of coverage lately which came out the blue. Between the Stars is good if you can accept its limitations. Evochron I'm trying to find more time to get back into as its such a deep game! Glad you enjoyed it. Plenty of Space Sim goodness on the way in the coming months - Luke
@@LTGamingUA-cam Glad to hear there will be more coming, thanks! :)
I think X4 (or the whole X series) also deserves a mention, or is it popular enough not to be considered as forgotten? It's my favourite space series that I played since childhood and still keep getting back to.
Parkan II is also a really nice atmospheric space sim with an intriguing story and great a sense of depth / vast emptiness of space, with some FPS combat and RPG elements mixed in. Its soundtrack never gets old to me.
Yeah we consider X4 to be popular and its one of my fave games of all time! Parkan II is a great callout :)
What I'm looking for is a spacesim that allows you to with In-Transit ship exploration, that is, a game that allows ship exploration while en route. I wish to embark on long journeys and detach from the helm to explore the interior, check the inventory, doing stuff. I just enjoy that feeling.
It's crazy that how customisable the ship building is in Avorion!
You asked for other suggestions... can I add "Liberation" to your list? My classic retro space adventure came out in 2023
I will be checking this out and thanks for the suggestion!
I'm still a bit sad that development on Hellion was stopped some years ago. This game had such potential due to its realistic movement in space and challenges it offered. Main problem, besides plenty of bugs, was probably the pure PvP nature of that game that probably distracted many players even though they later added solo game support as well and had plans for PvE servers as well.
I saw this in my research and was sad I couldnt get a copy to try! Defo an extreme case of 'forgotten'...abandoned now!
For a remake of the old Elite you can play on modern PC's I would try Oolite. It is moddable
I might be late but you HAVE to include universe sandbox as a space simulation game! Sure, it's more like a sandbox game but man is it the best space sandbox game out there, I might be biased but the scale it can get is MASSIVE!
I still play Avorion, but I haven't play Between the Stars, Evochron and a few others in a while due to me being so easily distracted by new games or when I see a content creator play a game that I also own. I do remember Evochron having the ability to switch to enertia flight so once you've built up enough speed you can just drift your way to and from your destination. I'm not sure if the dev made a 3rd game but merc and legend were great fun.
Starshatter: The Gathering Storm is honestly my favorite space sim
will check this out!
@@LTGamingUA-cam i dont know how hard it will be to find the game, since it came out 20 years ago, it's technically abandonware now, but also open source thanks to a small modding community that's working on mods and the game.
Still playing Avorion since it came out, just bought Void Destroyer 2. 🙂
Awesome video and channel, thanks for putting all the info and links on the description. Subscribing and liking for sure!
Avorion is one of my favorite games but i'm bad at building ships so i rely on mods heavily and there's tons of awesome ships made by creative players.
And one of the pros of the game is giving you the option of playing in newtonian physics when you don't use inertia dampeners which i love the most about this game.
Loved HotDS in VR. I need to replay it (again) at some point. Even more impressive was that it was made by a single developer. Would be great to see a sequel.
Id really like to see a sequel!
House of the Dying Sun is amazing in VR. Extremely immersive and the theming/music is great.
Man I’ll have to boot up avorion again, it’s such a good game.
You should also take a look at Astrox Imperium -- like Evochron Legacy, but somehow held my interest much longer.
Covered it on the channel awhile back also 🚀
House of the Dying Sun is absolutely fantastic, entirely agreed. The developer lost some of the following during dev for a design decision but i thought what we ended up with was really wonderful and special
Short but incredibly enjoyable!
As an indie space game developer, I approve of these lists :)
In my humble opinion on a list of forgotten space games both I-War titles should be present, in particular the first one. Still playable today even though the graphics are heavily dated.
Yeah I kept this very focused and with a more modern twist but defo deserves more iterations with everything that is out there. I've bought I-War titles on GOG so I will check them out 🚀
Dark Star One is another great space sim that has a very decent story attached to it.
Yarr matey! Ye be doin' a darn good job at these reviews
Thanks my dude!
The first real flight sim space game I played was Elite II Frontier by Dave Brabben. And there was no story to it. Here's you ship. Take off and do whatever you want to do. And it had retractable undercarriage which was new to me. So the first time I took off. I had to re-land and take off a few more times just to see it coming down and retracting.
Then there has been Tachyon The Fringe, Freelancer and then I discovered egosofts "X" games and that was it.
X: Beyond the Frontier in 1999. X-Tension in 2000. Followed up by X2 and it's DLC's X3 and it's DLCs, X Rebirth and X4.
But sometimes I wish someone could re-release Elite II Frontier for today but still keeping the easy controls and uncomplicated flight and game play of 1993 but for PC. The one I had was for the Amiga.
What about Empyrion: Galactic Survival? Nobody ever talks about that one and it has, probably, the best building mechanics of any space game. True it can be a little janky, and don't get me started on the appalling DLC they just released, but with the Steam Workshop scenarios Reforged Eden, Star Salvage and others, it can be vastly improved.
its good to see evochon.
It's very old (2006) but I quite enjoyed Darkstar One.
Evochron Legacy dev is soooo good the entire game was only around 500 mb created by one guy who built an entire universe.
Totally agree!
@LT Gaming - Did I understand correctly, that you had made an earlier video with a similar subject? If so, could you please provide a link to it - I browsed through the videos on your channel but could not find it.
Hey on the phone so can't link. It's a couple of videos back ' Top 8 Upcoming Space Sims'
@@LTGamingUA-cam 'Upcoming'? I had understood that this video was a kind of 'part 2' of an earlier video about older space games. Anyway, thanks for clarifying.
@@BannorPhil that's coming next week. This was a follow up to the first video and the genre.
I already have 2 from this list! ;)
Between the Stars
Avorion
(My pc struggles a little with Avorion though)
Great job !! Thank you!!
As a fervent sci-fi fanatic I am feeling appalled for not knowing any other then House of The Rising Sun
Thank you for this list, I'm going to check a few if not all of them out for myself.
I don't have a VR setup sadly though, so no first person newtonian physics ( say, Babylon5 Space Fury like? ) combat which does sound very very appealing
Awesome! That was my goal with this list and I even left a few deeper cuts off it. So a possible follow up is needed. I will say that House of the Dying Sun can be enjoyed without VR just as much :)
That's why I am subbed to the channel, to not miss these uploads ;)
Thanks again, and looking forward to the follow up!@@LTGamingUA-cam
Dude, give me a space logistics/exploration game that I can use my hosas/hotas and actually gives some sort of indication that my decisions impact the outcome of the game. Add space combat to it but there are many space combat focused games already.
Orbiter spaceflight simulator ... It's free!
House of the Dying Sun was exactly what i needed to play after watching Dune: Part 2.
I loved the idea of Evochron Legacy but bounced hard off the array of system interactions needed to play and despite revisiting several times I kept returning to the simplicity of Elite Dangerous and the X series.
I'm looking to jump back in this week and give it another shot. Been playing X4 a lot last few weeks and I want to get more of it on the channel. Star Citizen however....Still waiting haha
It's definitely noodging up into Stockholm-syndrome territory, there's a great game in there, *if* you like games that are more about getting good with the systems, not to mention just making sense of them, and less about story. Like, if you like playing Space Engineers on 1-1-1-1-1-1 because that rewards thinking about every detail to boost prospecting/mining/construction efficiency that might translate to liking Evochron: Legacy because that rewards thinking about every detail to boost combat and travel and exploration agility. Both of those games are still getting updates lo these many years on.
A game that I think gets ACTUALLY forgotten is the open source space trader game Vega Strike.
I've gone off to look at this and will get it tonight. Also noticed there is a Star Trek mod. Appreciate the suggestion 😃
Thanks for the recommendation
should try Space Engineers game. criminally underrated game.
long live clang!!
I own Elite Dangerous. My problem with it is that i didnt play it more than 1 month, several years ago and i dont remember how to setup controls for Keyboard + mouse. The default settings are just impossible to play. Its just horrible. And the complexity of the setting menu is so huge that i just cant find any solution. If only i i had backup the key binding file, back then.
I would say Empyrion galactic survival but custom scenario for that game because it offers 3x of everything than the vanilla game, scenario is called reforged eden and two creators are finishing Reforged Eden 2.0 in a few months. But that is game that I have more than 2000h in it and I newer seen it coming.
Its looking good for a follow up list thats for sure!
i know x4 foundations probably isnt forgotten. and u def mentioned it.
but to me its def under rated. i feel the title and advertising just doesnt do the game justice.
i had looked at it off and on for few years thinking ugh.. another turn based galactic sid game...... which were fun. but i had my feel of it. i wanted more.....
the few vids i watched on it. like the adds really did NOT do it justice. didnt explain the game at all. imo.
finally someone i watch mentioned how great the game was again. so i gave it 1 last try, went and found a playthrough unedited no bs. and watched that. and i was amazed.
i was like where is this in any of the above mentioned........ like sure they briefly mention it. but people wanna SEE IT.
X4 does well only because they already had a fanbase. i really really think they do a lot better especially since last years DLC update that fixed a lot of core issues. that the game would be a lot bigger and more popular. maybe not star citizen... but it should be imo top 2, 3 space sim easily.
well imo its #1 atm..... that i know off. but lack of CO-OP and or online i know hurts a lot of games.
Its on the Space Sims list we did before this with the new DLC :) Agree its a very underrated Gem and we plan more content on X4!
What exactly is the difference between Space Engine and Celestia ? I mean, feature-wise, as I don't know of SE is Open-Source like Celestia... I'll search and if I find an answer, I'll post it.
House of the dying sun reminds me of colony wars. Not a bad game but too short and needs more variety with loadouts and ships.
"If you're anything like me you're always looking for your next old or new game to play, I mean my steam wishlist is an absolute joke."
- Looks at my steam wishlist
- 1334 games
Sounds about right.
That's literally what I do! I cant stop looking for games :)
Arvoch Alliance is another great game from the developer of Evochron Legacy (not on Steam, available directly on their website). Basically it's a set of campaigns for Evochron focused on combat.
I was really disappointed with House of the Dying Sun though. I was playing during early access and a) the developer abandoned it with a number of serious bugs still outstanding and b) it's extremely short and because it is not moddable and has no mission editor, you can see everything there is to see in under 2 hours.
I got myself a copy of Arvoch Alliance! :)
house of the dying sun was pretty good, but incredibly short, i finished the main story in an hour and a half
My all time favorite is X4 and it is also my all time most hated space sim game. The late game ship AI is breaking it for me. The issues with X4 is really what stopping it from being a great Space Sim game.
Space engine looks brilliant!
@@TotalyRandomUsername it is phenomenal!
been bingeing Avorion for the last 3 weeks, looking for something else to scratch the same itch but isn't Avorion...
Then I found number 5 X'D
I've always heard good things about freelancer, and people wishing there was a modern version of it. Well, this game doesn't look modern, but I read it is similar to freelancer: Underspace
Underspace is in early access on Steam. I'd provide a link but you know we can't do that here.
We covered Underspace 🚀
For me, Space games are fun when I feel the immersion, exploring, extracting ressources, building bases, homes and ships. The combat part is the least appealing to me. I still play Empyrion Galactic survival. I may give a try to Avorion. And about Space Engine... if only we could extract ressources, build not only ships but also bases and houses with a lots of freedom for creativity.
Independance War for its tremendous Hard SciFi universe and its original lore with punk-creative rebels vs cold-organized regular army. The Expanse remind me that game. It definively desserve a reboot. I also spent good time withe Nexus, the Jupiter Incident.
As I listened to your commentary, I realized you were using the Star Citizen music.
Children of a Dead Earth - a sci-fi "space wargame" that is more of a sim than any other sci-fi project called a "space sim".
Have talked about this game previously also!
Avorion is quite a fun game if you like its style. I've only got 240 hours or so on it but it is a good game to play when you've got nothing else you want to play
Should include Empyrion galatic Survival. One of the best survival and building type space games.
Void destroyer 2 is one 70% sale atm