Any WC-like game you recommend?

[Jdawg]

Yeah, it really was weird as a Wing Commander fan. All those decades later and the art of camera work has been utterly forgotten. And it's not like you could move freely around the ship.
Just one static camera, dull dialogue and acting with no investment really hurt the single player for me; I never completed it.
Put in a fair few hours on the multiplayer; but also not enough variety there.

I beat it, but it was the exact definition of meh, as far as the story goes. I feel like so much more could be done with the power control too, between Shields, engines and weapons but it was all kind of just there. Saying that I did enjoy the gameplay especially the multiplayer, and I'm not a multiplayer person at all anymore in my older age.

 

[Spertallica]

Any of you ever play X4 and its expansions? If so, what did you think of it?

 

[Oceankhayne]

Any of you ever play X4 and its expansions? If so, what did you think of it?

I played X BTF when it came out. It was pretty subpar. Played X2 for a couple of hours and then got bored again. Tried again with X3 TC. Still haven't tried X4 other than watching a video or two. They're just not for me, it seems. Though I will say this: Never buy anything from Egosoft day one. Give them a few years after any release to polish it up before taking the plunge. They've gotten into the bad habit of using their consumers as beta testers like a lot of game devs nowadays. At least that's what a friend that swears by the game says.

I liked Independance War 2, Rebel Galaxy & Outlaw, Archimedian Dynasty & Aquanox 1&2, Tachyon, Star & Freelancer, Dark Star One somewhat, Freespace 1 & 2, Evochron Legacy was interesting, HAWX 1&2, some of the Ace Combat games, the Rogue Squadron games. I could go on and on.

Starfleet Command 1 & 2 were great. 3 had a proper storyline and fans of the arcade gameplay like WC might like it better though. There's also Star Trek Invasion and Shattered Universe. Star Wars Starfighter 1 & 2 happened, though I never played them. Galaxy on Fire 2 wasn't bad for a mobile game. Between the Stars shows some promise but we'll see. Eterium was good. So was Everspace 1; haven't played 2 yet. Allegiance was interesting. Starfox 64 was pretty good. Starpoint Gemini 2 was fun at times. The X-wing series of games were pretty good if a little too tedious for my tastes. Star Trek Online can be pretty fun but it's just a generic tab targeting mmo. Crimson Skies was good. XCom Interceptor could be fun if you knew what you were doing. Sol Exodus wasn't bad for what it was. Project Sylpheed could be bloody terrific at times. Strike Suit Zero was pretty good.

Galactic Starfighter was an expansion for The Old Republic but I never really got into it.

Echelon should be mentioned but I didn't really like it. Didn't care for Starlight Inception. Dakka Squadron... exists? I know about the Star Wolves and Space Rangers series of games but haven't played them. If you liked Independance War 1 then Subwar 2050 is a thing.

Star Conflict was okay years ago but I stopped playing when they introduced premium currency in a real way.

Chorus is new.

A lot of those aren't quite like Wing Commander though.

Now go out and get a good Virpil stick with a long extension and have fun! The Alpha R grip with MongoosT-50CM2 base and 200mm extension is pretty sweet.

 

[tarsus]

About the X series... it's a slow build up game. Consider it space tycoon in the 1st person, not wing commander.

 

[st3lt3k]

Depending on how retro you want to go, Microprose's F-19 Stealth Fighter from 1988 . . .

There's even a Roland sound driver retrofit which sounds incredible!

 

[Bob McDob]

Yeah, it really was weird as a Wing Commander fan. All those decades later and the art of camera work has been utterly forgotten.

What's the term, institutional memory? It's pretty interesting looking at newer games, especially the ones trying overtly to be retro, and what they don't pick up on. I watched a video on the EVE VR fighter game, Valkyrie, and the developer talked about how the problem was that battles always devolved into turning fights. Well, maybe if your mechanics were more detailed than a percent damage model for the entire ship they wouldn't be.
The Squadrons lead posted a crayon drawing of an X-Wing cockpit he drew when he was a kid. I'm sure he loves the game, but that doesn't translate into being able to recreate it, or finding people that can.

Echelon should be mentioned but I didn't really like it.

I know you're probably talking about the 2001 game but when I looked at GOG I found out that they added Echelon, which I once bought in a shovelware pack along with Apollo 18 and a third game I can't remember, but was unable to play because it came on a 5 inch floppy or something. Is it any good? I have no idea. I remember looking at the screenshots and being amazed it was only two years older than Wing Commander when it looks closer to ten. The manual was incredibly detailed, though.