[Space Sim] (Starwraith games)

[XMEN Gambit]

http://starwraith3dgames.home.att.net/go.htm


I found Evochron: Renegades the other day by accident and have puttered around in it for a few minutes. Looks very nice, price is $25. Entirely free-form sandbox game, there is no plot you can/must follow. Don't know how "deep" it really is. Supposed to be not as complicated and easier to get into than the X games. Production quality may be higher than X...

Anyway, if you don't like E:R, there's a lot of other space sim games on that page. Some are current Starwraith games, some are from other developers, and a few are older freeware titles.

[XMEN Gambit]

It seems I forgot to mention that Renegades has multiplayer as well.

[TimberWolf]

Can you explain more about the game? It sounds like you only get one ship, which you can customize, and that there are more career options than Freelancer and X-series combines. How is the travel time between stations or trading posts? What are some of the ship components you can have and how do they change your ships stats? How is the combat system? Whats the difference between Primary and Secondary weapons? What are the best ways of making money that you have found so far?

[XMEN Gambit]

To be honest I've not played enough to have discovered a lot of that, but I'll give this a shot.

Yes, only one ship. Configuration changes include chassis, engines, shields, and wing configuration (for manuverability, I think. Maybe atmospheric handling?). Supposedly you can customize your cockpit and hud but I've not tried that. Travel time kind of depends on how much fuel you want to expend. Changing delta-V costs fuel, as it should, and you can operate either in fly-forward mode or in drift mode where your bearing may not match your velocity. Your "jump drive" isn't for disappearing from point A and reappearing at point B, it's more of a slipstream kind of thing where everything in the universe just goes by in a blur for a few seconds. Better jump engines allow longer jumps. There are also jump gates which I've not used but appear to work as expected.

Equipment is purchased at stations. I've not got the primary/secondary weapon thing yet, but it appears that one is particle based and one is beam based. Then missiles are extra. Other equipment I've seen include repair systems, tractor beams, cloaking devices, and EMP weapons.

For combat I've only ever shot at is asteroids. They don't shoot back... but you can mine them with your tractor beam if you buy one. That's a good way to make money early on. Can also harvest fuel - supposedly very profitable but need the right equipment to do.

The demo is 25 MB, can be unlocked with a key into the full game, and lasts for only 90 minutes of playing time. Hard to do very much in that time period.

[TimberWolf]

Here are some forum threads that have some info or hints:

http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=2367
http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=2887
http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewthr ... 1#pid21335
http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=2834

From what I have read:

*Mining can be done on asteroids or planets. Platinum and diamonds are worth the most and can be found this way.
*Ships are modular so you can build one that can fit into several careers.
*There are a lot of unexplored space that can take hours by jump drive
*You can mark locations on your map such as profitable nebula's and asteroids. You can also preset jump points so you can quickly escape or return to a station, just be mindful of which direction you are facing when you jump.
*If you run out of fuel, you better have a tractor beam and the fuel converter to make use of a star or nebula to refuel, or have a really good jump drive and hope you have enough fuel to dock in one piece. Other wise you are lost in space and need to find a kind soul to give you some.
*Apparently you can speed right into the docks of a station and their tractor system will catch you, so if you don't have enough fuel to stop yourself the station will.
*Mining is the best way to get money early on.
*Crew will request increase in pay each time you dock and make money or complete contracts successfully. Or else they may leave you.
*Better the crew experience the better you ship operates. Better weapon officer means more shots, better recharge rate, and so on.
*The community is still small and they help each other out for the most part. So if your in multi player and get stuck, lost, or run out of fuel, don't hesitate to ask for help as most will either tell you a way out, a direction to a station, or bring fuel.