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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → Whatever happened to the whole space/flight sim genre?
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Whatever happened to the whole space/flight sim genre?
2010-12-04, 4:23 PM #1
What happened to the games that involve being in a spaceship and shooting crap in space (including other spaceships). Or the ones you are in an aircraft gunning down other crafts for arcade fun? I see nothing on the horizon. Just first-person-shooter #23234 and third-person-shooter-with-cover-system #3243. And it has been this for years. The only real major title in this genre that I can name off the top of head that came out "recently" was Lair, and now Factor5 is gone for good. I know LucasArts won't push out a space shooter anytime soon seeing they are preoccupied with the TFU and Clone Wars junk.

I always thought with the current technology, we could have massive battles and open-ended environments as a playground for space/flight sims. So why did the genre die? Were the games not exciting enough? Too much of a niche audience? Technological limitations?
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
-----------------------------@%
2010-12-04, 4:40 PM #2
Nobody owns a joystick anymore.
2010-12-04, 4:56 PM #3
I have 3, but nobody who doesn't have them doesn't want to buy one.
2010-12-04, 5:08 PM #4
The prevalence of Call of Duty terrifies me.

I always knew that when video games went mainstream people would latch on to the most boring ones.
Epstein didn't kill himself.
2010-12-04, 5:33 PM #5
I have this one.
666, The Number of the Beast.
664, The Bloke Next Door.
Matt Bonner, The Lebron Killer
2010-12-04, 5:35 PM #6
I played the hell out of TIE, XWA, and even Freelancer for a while even though that can't use a joystick. Mechwarrior benefited a lot from a HOTAS (X52 here). IL42 is another series I played a lot of. Sadly, these days me x52 is plugged into my secondary rig due to issues with W7, but I would be all over another flight/space sim if a suitable one came out. Too bad no publisher gives a **** these days :(

I'm still actively modding and programming for the X-wing series
$do || ! $do ; try
try: command not found
Ye Olde Galactic Empire Mission Editor (X-wing, TIE, XvT/BoP, XWA)
2010-12-04, 6:08 PM #7
The joystick isn't it. A console flier could do just fine with the thumbsticks. Rogue Squadron did.
2010-12-04, 6:13 PM #8
Ehhh, it still would have benefited from a stick.
(Sup X-52 bro Darkjedibob)
2010-12-04, 6:28 PM #9
First person shooters are popular, as are 3rd person action games. Don't worry, it won't be like that forever. In the past, sidescrollers and racing games were super popular. It's all cyclical.
Furthermore, flight sims have managed to live on in spirit through freeroaming action games like Grand Theft Auto and the Battlefield series. A straight up flightsim done with a full budget behind it would be excellent, though.

-Anyways... Cyborg 3d Gold here, saying that if you want a joystick, it might as well look like a horse penis.
2010-12-04, 6:55 PM #10
Flight sims were made back in the early days of home computers, because big empty space with only a few ships/airplanes, and maybe a flat horizon, was a lot easier to render on computers back then than complicated terrain such as what you see with first person shooters.

Freelancer was the last good space sim game that I remember playing.
2010-12-05, 8:41 AM #11
You want to drop like 30 grand and you can get a flight sim so complex you can get a IFR license with it.
2010-12-05, 10:06 AM #12
Originally posted by Jon`C:
Nobody owns a joystick anymore.


Nah I do, actually it's still plugged in from my random X-Wing Alliance adventures
2010-12-05, 10:10 AM #13
Originally posted by Jon`C:
Nobody owns a joystick anymore.


No, they own gamepads, which are way more prevalent than joysticks were in their prime.
2010-12-05, 10:10 AM #14
Originally posted by JM:
The joystick isn't it. A console flier could do just fine with the thumbsticks. Rogue Squadron did.

Freelancer's mouse flying was wonderful. I found it far more precise than using any joystick. Really shouldn't be an issue.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2010-12-05, 10:51 AM #15
I still own a joystick! It's covered with dust.

This thread is making me feel nostalgia for the X-Wing and Tie Fighter games. I loved those games. My XWA CD1 has a crack in it, and I never got to finish playing it. :(
I'm just a little boy.
2010-12-05, 11:41 AM #16
Originally posted by ECHOMAN:
What happened to the games that involve being in a spaceship and shooting crap in space (including other spaceships).

? :)
2010-12-05, 11:43 AM #17
I'm still waiting for TF2.

Forever and moooooooooooooooooooore..
Star Wars: TODOA | DXN - Deus Ex: Nihilum
2010-12-05, 1:26 PM #18
X3 doesn't really count because of the massive learning curve, how niche it is, and becaise of the fact it doesn't focus on combat. Still a cool game.
2010-12-05, 2:54 PM #19
they still exist... the problem is they aren't the most widely advertised games

even when tom clancy's name is put on a flight game (HAWX) it doesn't get the level of advertisement as the latest big name first/third person shooter or [gamehere] from rockstar

but you have stuff like Wings of Prey and Rise of Flight which came out in the last couple years but these being serious combat sims they get overlooked by the majority of people

a number of arcade style games from various indie developers have come out

though now that i think about it most of the flight games i can think of that are somewhat recent don't include flying in space

someone needs to make a big budget space flight combat game and bring that genre back into the light
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2010-12-05, 2:57 PM #20
Originally posted by Tibby:
X3 doesn't really count because of the massive learning curve, how niche it is, and becaise of the fact it doesn't focus on combat.


All reasons why the flight sim genre is so unpopular. I have FreeFalcon 5 installed, but I've never actually played it because I don't feel like setting up X52 profiles, memorizing buttons, start up procedures etc etc. All that and more needs to be done before you can start shooting missiles or dropping bombs.

They're way too involved for anyone but the serious hobbyist. Today's gamers want something they can insert into their gaming box and pick up in five minutes or less, with absolutely no downtime. Rap music tie ins are a plus.

There's still some popular flight sims. IL2 1946 is pretty active, Falcon 4.0 has a large modding scene and the Lock On/DCS series is both recent and popular. It's a small genre that's probably not going to grow in popularity any time soon but there will always be a small section of dedicated flight sim players.
:master::master::master:
2010-12-05, 3:17 PM #21
DCS: A-10C is ****ing AMAZING. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAP

2010-12-05, 3:36 PM #22
Originally posted by ragna:
DCS: A-10C is ****ing AMAZING. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAP



I'll see your A-10 and raise you a Black Shark.
<Rob> This is internet.
<Rob> Nothing costs money if I don't want it to.
2010-12-05, 9:15 PM #23
Originally posted by ragna:
DCS: A-10C is ****ing AMAZING. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAP


That was awesome. Then the Transformers score kicked in. Then it became crazy awesome.

-Anyways, I love space sims, a new X-Wing game would be all kinds of excellent.
2010-12-06, 3:00 AM #24
I just reinstalled Freelancer and have been tooling about with Discovery 4.85 on the UK server because it's more laid back.

Also I found a trade route that gives you about 15000% profit on superconductors. I can sell a whole load for about 90 million.

Edit: Holy mother of kak that video
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2010-12-06, 5:13 AM #25
[url]www.blackprophecy.com[/url] ?
woot!
2010-12-06, 7:32 AM #26
Originally posted by ragna:
DCS: A-10C is ****ing AMAZING. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAP



Holy ****!! Is this like a remake of that old A-10 Cuba game? I played the F outta that demo.
"Nulla tenaci invia est via"
2010-12-06, 7:44 AM #27
CRIMSON ****ING SKIES.
2010-12-06, 8:04 AM #28
Originally posted by zanardi:
Holy ****!! Is this like a remake of that old A-10 Cuba game? I played the F outta that demo.


I'm not sure, the guys who make DCS: A-10C are the same people who made the Black Shark one and the Lock On series.

The DCS series games are ultra-realistic simulators, where the entirety of the virtual cockpit is interactive, start-up, navigation, and weapons procedures are true to the "real-steel", etc. I prefer the A-10 sim over the Black Shark sim because helos are a ****ing ***** to fly and because of the ridiculous nose gun. Fun fact: The GAU 8 was engineered first, followed by the design of the plane around it: the A-10. Why? Because it's the most powerful autocannon in the world. The recoil force is more than the output of one of the A-10's jet engines. Sorry, I flog the log to the A-10 in my spare time.

Here is a clip of some A-10 "close" air support almost killing some dudes. That delayed roar of the GAU-8 gives me boner action.
2010-12-06, 8:05 AM #29
Games like the X-Wing/Tie Fighter and Wing Commander series have so little to do with simulation that they should be called something like "spaceship shooters".
Looks like we're not going down after all, so nevermind.
2010-12-06, 8:28 AM #30
Oh, for anyone who wants a "real" space sim, there is Orbiter. You take off from the Cape and rocket into orbit or beyond in the "Delta Orbiter", which is basically the Space Shuttle 2.0. The graphics aren't too shabby, the space-flight model is supposed to be pretty accurate, and you can do **** like dock with the ISS, or fly to the moon... and OTHER PLANETS (with time compression of course). Best of all, it's free. The learning curve isn't too steep (even a monkey can get into space), but re-entry is going to be a ***** to get right without cooking yourself and your crew.
2010-12-06, 8:49 AM #31
Man Im going to have to blow the dust of my joystick.
"Nulla tenaci invia est via"
2010-12-06, 8:54 AM #32
Originally posted by zanardi:
Man Im going to have to blow the dust of my joystick.


heh heh heh
[01:52] <~Nikumubeki> Because it's MBEGGAR BEGS LIKE A BEGONI.
2010-12-06, 9:07 AM #33
I'm betting DCS: A-10C is going to be the last of the series.
:master::master::master:
2010-12-06, 9:08 AM #34
Originally posted by mb:
heh heh heh


8uyreeuritoypuiugf
2010-12-06, 7:00 PM #35
Space is big. Really big.

And pretty much empty.

Not very fun.
2010-12-06, 7:20 PM #36
except sci-fi space is big and full of enemy ships

very fun
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2010-12-06, 9:42 PM #37
And asteroids! And sometimes giant worms and squids and stuff!

-And sometimes... sometimes... RUN COWARD RUN
2010-12-06, 9:55 PM #38
Originally posted by Vin:
Space is big. Really big.

And pretty much empty.

Not very fun.


This is also why there are very few games that take place in Canada.
I'm just a little boy.
2010-12-06, 9:58 PM #39
or Arizona :cool:
2010-12-06, 10:13 PM #40
or mb's cavernous gut
If you think the waiters are rude, you should see the manager.
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