OK So everyone knows that when playing the legacy of games such as Wing Commander, Privateer and Descent: Freespace, we don’t want too much in the way of realism. There are some great real simulators for space which are tedious and take too much time. If you really want to fly the space shuttle, great. If you want shield management, missles, explosions and lasers that take their time to hit the enemy, then you want one of these games. Where they used to be common, there haven’t been many of them lately. This is the list of cockpit sims – so no Eve online, no Homeworld, allthough they are very well known and respected in their genre.
Starwraith is an independant publisher with quite a history of space sims.
Sure there are others, but these are the ones I found most interesting. Have fun!
[Edit 20080523]
Jumpgate Evolution promises to be a beautiful space based MMO with some gorgeous screens so far. Very much in development, so no idea how long to wait untill we can play it, but you can sign in to the Beta allready.
Then there’s Starshatter which has been developed by one man(!) since 1997. So the graphics are directx 7, but they’re good enough for the job. The main claim to fame is that as you advance in rank, you get to fly and command more and more powerful ships – fighters, cruisers, destroyers, culminating in being in command of a carrier with wings of fighters and bombers and other capital ships to control. It also comes with a complete SDK allowing you to mod the game to your hearts’ content.
