The ones that come to mind are the MMORPG's "Jumpgate," "Darkspace," and "Eve Online." I'm not sure if "Allegiance" is still out there, but it was a space sim with an RTS element. Darkspace is similarly RTS in nature, but less so.

I can't think of anything recent in the non-MMORPG genre.

Well, it depends on how far back you're willing to go and how much effort you're willing to put into the game. There's a game called X:Beyond the Frontier and its expansion X-Tension (personally the easiest way is to go to egosoft.com and order the German version of X-Gold and download the English audio patch). Many people say skip X:BTF and just go right to X-Tension and I agree. The next game in the X series is going to ship in September.

There's also Battlecruiser Millennium Gold. The next title in this series, Generations, is also set to ship in the fall. This game has one hell of a learning curve, and while it's rough around the edges, the degree of freedon within the game is astounding at times. Gold can be bought now in most Electronic Boutiques or Gamestops for about 30$.

EVE Online was already mentioned.

You can also try to go old school and dig up a copy of Freespace 2 or X Wing Alliance. There's also Starlancer (the sort of prequel to Freelancer) that can be had for 2$ if you can find it on the shelf. The EB near me has a few copies, so I'm sure others do as well.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Or if one wants to go back even further (and endure the hassles of getting DOS games to run), Privateer 1 and Elite are the spiritual ancestors of Freelancer. Great games too for their time.

Tachyon the Fringe from Novalogic
Edge of Chaos, Independance War 2
Why do ppl forget those games?

Thanks for all the replies guys...but i was thinking of more recent games like within the last year or so.

Thanks for your replies again.

"Space Trader" on PDA.

y helo thar

Theres one out there called Homeworld.

I think the graphics are at least equal to Freelancer, maybe a bit better, the game engine pay attention to the laws of physics (mostly, iniertial dampeners are an option), but have only played the demo, and my russian isnt what it used to be.

All the text is in english, but the audio is russian. Bit hard piloting a ship, evading fire, locking onto an enemy and reading the little hud display all at the same time.

Definate joystick game though. The more axis on it the better..

Nil Mortifi Sine Lucre

Isn't Homeworld a Real time strategy???

y helo thar

Yea thas what I thought too. Anyway, I went down to EB and checked out some games. Earth and Beyond was only $15 but the mmo games require you to pay monthly, which I cannot do.

If you're looking for Freelancer type games, there's only one that's actually got soul to it; and it doesn't even have a story. Obviously, I'm talking about the Elite series - and specifically Frontier: First Encounters. And it doesn't even have a story (properly at least, although it is possible to follow a story some of the way if you get it right - but there's no guiding as there is in Freelancer; you just have to make sure you;re at the right place at the right time. Best to do it with a solution).
This was one where you could land on planets/asteroids directly (even set up your own mining base with the right equipment and visit in due course), trade (a lot - had a freemarket though, so be careful), be an evil illegal slave trader (and get shot at by police if they scan you), work for the government - including assinate mission that go beyond "Target is here" - rather - "Target is docked here, but if he notices you following him, he'll run. And if you shoot him on planet, you'll be killed by police - so do it covertly". And of course, large battles - only problem was that the game was bloody hard - if you happened to run into a big pirate ship early on, they'd have nothing against looting your sorry carcas and there was nothing you could do about it.

Basically, imagine a more complex Freelancer with less story, but even more freedom in the universe. Only difficulty was getting to ships that needed crews of 6 or more, since there were only ever 3 people on a planet. Oh - and autopilot wasn't built in. If it broke, you were screwed. Unless you learned to land manually - which I never managed to accomplish in about 50 hours of playing the thing.


Its impossible to tell you how much I like this games - especially since its now available as Shareware - also make sure you get the JJFFE executable, since it lets you run it in Windows without fiddling with lots of stuff (and makes the whole thing look really nice anyway )

I think Bogsnot was referring to Homeplanet, a new game by some up-and-coming Russian developers. I think they're called Revolt Games, but I could be wrong... I don't read Russian well, either.

Homeworld is Relic's mastepiece of an RTS Great game, but not a Freelancer-style game by any means!

By the way, the FLYMM engine used for Homeplanet is also being used for a really ambitious B5 freeware game. You can get more information on it at http://ifh.firstones.com/

It might see the light of day by the end of the year, methinks...

Of course, I'm still glued to FL....

-Nightblade