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Is it just me or....

This is a free discussion forum on Freelancer. This is the place to discuss Freelancer issues NOT covered by the other boards!

Post Tue Oct 18, 2005 10:50 am

Is it just me or....

Is it just me or does it seem like Space sims in general are being slowly strangled to death?

there are so few left, and what is left is rapidly getting turned into Combat only by the developers seeking more interest from the console gamers, and then catering to the console gamers & totally ignoring the major fanbase which is the PC Gamers.

Stand back and take a look for a bit, Freelancer seemingly has "0" chance of a Sequel or even a frigging update, X3 has just been announced to not have any Cockpits (a Sim without Cockpits is like a PC without a Keyboard) most likely in favor of the XBox 360 Crowd who want a combat only game where they don't have to think, and the few other games are nothing like the kind of Open ended game we prefer like Freelancer.

Its kindof depressing in all....

Post Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:21 am

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it's true! It's all true

Post Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:35 pm


XBox 360 Crowd who want a combat only game where they don't have to think

LMFAO I take it you have never actually tried this game then... because X2 was never renowned for its fighting at all, infact - if you wanted a combat only game you would be strenously pushed to attempt to include X anywhere in that. Indeed, Egosoft no longer offer any comment about whether it will go for an Xbox release either - which considering they originally said that it would should be taken as an indicator that they may not.

And since Eve online has broken its own record, as well as the world record for the most games online at the same time in a persistent universe (16,330) - I would say its far from dead.

There are 130,000 registered users at Egosoft, and 70,000 monthly paying customers for Eve... whilst the game genre maynot be competing in popularity with FPS, it is certainly holding its own small niche corner.

(it was only a few months ago that the record stood at 15,000 online at the same time players, and only 60,000 monthly paying customers. Eve continues to grow, and I am sure X3 will bring a whole new load of players into the space sim market too (as they will have improved interface, graphics and other areas - something which will appease those not immediately taken with the original X2 game).

Edited by - Mike G on 10/18/2005 2:37:33 PM

Post Tue Oct 18, 2005 5:28 pm

FYI I Have X2 and play it quite a bit, Combat may be more difficult than in some games but it makes it more interesting.

What do you get when you focus a Space Sim mostly on combat?
It ceases to be a Sim & Becomes a form of FPS game, It's no longer a Sim.

And with the quote you made in reference to XBox 360 I don't know where you are going with that.

Post Fri Oct 21, 2005 2:03 am

Good space sims have long been hard to find. The great Wing Commander series hasn't had an addition in some time, and other games that were supposed to have sequels didn't. Whatever happened to Privateer? Why no more???

I loved "Hard Wars", which left you with the anticipation that there would be more to come. But for whatever reason, it didn't sell that well and there has been no sequel. The same with Freelancer. At the end of the story line, you are sure there is more to come ... but now it doesn't look like it.

It seems that most people only want the kind of games that bore me silly, such as those empire building things or the run around and kill everybody in sight Doom clones. We must be a minority ...

Post Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:48 am


And with the quote you made in reference to XBox 360 I don't know where you are going with that.



Erm, yeah - okay - I read it in your own post


X3 has just been announced to not have any Cockpits (a Sim without Cockpits is like a PC without a Keyboard) most likely in favor of the XBox 360 Crowd who want a combat only game where they don't have to think


Now since originally Egosoft and magazines had been stating that it would be ported to the Xbox, it seemed 100% logical that you were referring directly to that being the "dumbing down for the Xbox360" - since otherwise:
Why reference X3 in your statement?
Why reference the Xbox360 in the same sentance as X3?

Draw your own conclusions. Now Egosoft have said that they didn't have time to do the cockpits for the new ships in any form of justice. So rather than just leave some with/ some without - OR to NOT put the same cockpits in every single ship - they removed them. This is also because the new mouse interface (I say mouse because everyone immediately says "oh that was done for the Xbox..." - erm, no - it wasn't, it was slated for having a poor menu navigation system with most reviewers saying a mouse method would be better and more indate!) overlapped directly on the old cockpits looking crap.
Now they would obviously have changed this - and give the interpretation that is exactly what they "didn't have time to do it" was all about.

Draw your own conclusions, but at least read up properly on the subject first.

But anyway.. getting away from disagreements upon things - there are more space sim games on the way/being planned. Whilst sims will not get the kind of volume that FPS are certainly having, there are several titles per year that are released. The fact that most sucked is because most are trying for a quick game/buck. Egosoft, and the creators of Eve are in it for the long haul - hence why their games are successful. What the games that do get made need is dedication and plenty of time to develop them fully.

Edited by - Mike G on 10/21/2005 6:52:28 AM

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