MMP in Space

Where have all the PC space simulation (space-sim) games gone? Only a few years ago, the market was thriving with Wing Commander and X-wing products left and right. Today there only a few space-sim shreds left in the videogame market which has since turned its full attention to medieval real-time strategy and role-playing games. Today's medieval role-playing games were most likely inspired by no other than Dungeons and Dragons, the grandfather of role-playing games. D&D is a game played with pen and paper according to set rules published by the creators, which used to be TSR but they've since been bought out by Wizards of the Coast. The game's origins are traced way back to the early 1970's and it allowed people to create and upgrade fantasy characters and interact with any players all over the world. It really became international with the advent of the Internet, which allowed people to interact with one another even more. In fact it's been such a popular underground movement that a Dungeons and Dragons movie will be released on Dec. 8, 2000 almost 30 years after the idea was developed. But because of the Internet, D&D has since been superceded both financially and in popularity by its computer counterparts, like Baldur's Gate, Diablo2, and Asheron's Call which are role-play video games. But in addition to that, these games have also left the space-sims in the dust. "The space simulators simply aren't selling," says John Caldwell of Microplay. "Mostly it's the Diablo type games that are selling. All the real-time strategy or role-play games." According to CanadianGamer.com Diablo2, a medieval role-playing video game is still the best selling computer game in Canada despite being released several months ago. Medieval strategy game Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors which is only an expansion pack, not even a full video-game, is at #9 on Canada's best sellers list. There are about 10 space simulators on the market right now with the majority of them being trashed by critics and gamers alike. There are no space sim on any best-seller list, not even the much coveted FreeSpace 2 and not even Homeworld: Cataclysm which is an improved sequel to the 1999 PC Gamer game of the year, although it's more of a strategy game in space than a space simulator. In strategy or role-playing games your character or army is only as good as its statistics, and you usually end up watching the battle instead of interacting actively. A space simulator puts you in the cockpit of a space ship and lets you take out the enemies personally, it is your dog fighting and piloting skills that allow you to win. Usually a space-sim is accompanied by some sort of plot, which is presented to you in the form of a movie. Some space-sims have limited strategy involved,like 1994's Wing Commander: Armada and to some extent Privateer 2 but both of these Origin products are much outdated. Wing Commander: Armada is so old it doesn't even play on Windows. Regardless, the space-sim movie plots limit a game to be played by one player only, which is a big reason why these games have dropped in popularity. "A lot of people are looking for real-time strategy or role-playing games. Its main appeal is Internet play. Diablo 2 alone has more than 40,000 people playing all over the world (through the net)," says Caldwell. A big reason is because Blizzard, the makers of Diablo 2, have set up Battlenet which players can use to log on and play Diablo 2 with others on the Internet. It's the one place where everyone meets. ~ If you take the multiplayer aspect away from Diablo 2 it would be a lot less popular," says the Gameshack's Rommel DeMesa. Microsoft's Age of Empires 2 is supported by MSN Gaming Zone on the Internet, which thousands of people use every day. Both Battlenet and the Zone are free. "None of the space-sims have a set site from which to interact with other people," says Caldwell. Tony Espinola, 23, an avidgamer says, "Most people don't like playing single games anymore because they prefer to interact with human players than with artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is often limited while human players are more challenging." But why are video game companies not setting up multiplayer space-sims on the net then? The answer is not simple. In fact only a few months ago, Origin still had plans to create Privateer Online, a space simulator which would enable people to interact on the net. But on March 30, 2000 the Wing Commander Combat Information Center received an internal memo, which stated that "Origin president Jack Heistand announces that Privateer Online was cancelled in favor of the Ultima Online series. There are currently no plans to revive the Privateer or Wing Commander series." A day later the news was confirmed by Origin. Ultima Online is Origin's own medieval role-playing game. But the truth is that space-sims are limited because of their movie plots which appear repetitive after a while and don't allow any flexibility to the player. In a role-play game you create your own plot and develop your character to your specifications. Wing Commander 4 and Wing Commander Prophecy - the last installments in the Wing Commander series - received bad reviews because of the repetitive plots, "We can only hope that the next two (Wing Commander) games in this new trilogy really do provide something different, because Origin can't keep on doing this forever." Not even last year's Wing Commander theatre movie was able to rescue the franchise. But in a statement to encourage fans to remain loyal to Wing Commander and space-sims in general the Wing Commander Combat Information Center says, "in an effort to promote fan made Wing Commander projects, hopefully we can make (the Web site) a world-class forum for helping the fans keep the Wing Commander Universe alive."