Best outer space game?

MightyUnclean

Hey guys, I'm currently in the mood for a good space game.  I'm open on genre.  Which modern game offers the best experience?  I've been considering Stellaris, Elite:  Dangerous and No Man's Sky so far.  NMS seems pricey at $60 on Steam, though.  Thanks for any info!

MadFrenchie

If you have a joystick/HOTAS, Elite: Dangerous is pretty atmospheric imo.  It's lonely out in space.  And dogfights are intense as hell.

Stellaris lets you create your own species, down to the government type and ethics (i.e. how accepting they are of alien races living among them), the look (and there are tons of mods out there for the species frames), the name, even their ideal habitat.  And that's all before you even generate the map and start the campaign.  It's a pretty cool strategy game.

MightyUnclean

OK, thanks!  I only have a keyboard and mouse for input.  I'm afraid flight in E:D might me a little complex for my tastes.  Stellaris sounds like a more relaxing experience.

postlarval

Kerbal Space Program

Laugh your ass off while killing off your Kerbals, one by one.

If you want a peek into the physics behind the game, read this: https://github.com/mhoram-kerbin/ksp-physics-documentation/releases

MightyUnclean

postlarval said:

Kerbal Space Program

Laugh your ass off while killing off your Kerbals, one by one.

If you want a peek into the physics behind the game, read this: https://github.com/mhoram-kerbin/ksp-physics-documentation/releases

I watched a review of this.  So many dead, little green men!

Zzad

i love NMS,but get it on sale.
I`m also playing Everspace, a nice space rogue like shooter

MaxBacon

MightyUnclean said:

OK, thanks!  I only have a keyboard and mouse for input.  I'm afraid flight in E:D might me a little complex for my tastes.  Stellaris sounds like a more relaxing experience.

Stellaris for more relaxing, NMS for more casual, would work out.

Gdemami

MightyUnclean said:

OK, thanks!  I only have a keyboard and mouse for input.  I'm afraid flight in E:D might me a little complex for my tastes.  Stellaris sounds like a more relaxing experience.

ED is absolutely fine with k+m.

Octagon7711

Had a lot of fun with Rebel Galaxy.

Grunty

While I enjoy No Man's Sky I have to say it's more about roaming around on various planets than it is about space.  Space in NMS is a means to get to all the planets along with an occasional dog fight. 

Elite Dangerous is more about space with the occasional moon walk.

waynejr2

Lusts

MightyUnclean said:

OK, thanks!  I only have a keyboard and mouse for input.  I'm afraid flight in E:D might me a little complex for my tastes.  Stellaris sounds like a more relaxing experience.

I play Elite: Dangerous on mouse & keyboard and trust me, it's pretty friendly on M/KB users.  Just be sure to do the tutorial missions before stepping into the actual game to learn what the controls are. There are a ton of control options, but the tutorial will tell you the important things you need to know.

MadFrenchie

Lusts said:

MightyUnclean said:

OK, thanks!  I only have a keyboard and mouse for input.  I'm afraid flight in E:D might me a little complex for my tastes.  Stellaris sounds like a more relaxing experience.

I play Elite: Dangerous on mouse & keyboard and trust me, it's pretty friendly on M/KB users.  Just be sure to do the tutorial missions before stepping into the actual game to learn what the controls are. There are a ton of control options, but the tutorial will tell you the important things you need to know.

True, I didn't mean to imply E:D is impossible without a joystick, but it's a much more immersive experience when you have the joystick or a HOTAS.  I feel the same about all first person simulator type games.

Scorchien

If you are looking for a 4x space game , nothing even comes close to Distant Worlds , All 4x are measured by DW and to date there is nothing at its level .....

                       http://store.steampowered.com/app/261470/Distant_Worlds_Universe/

Eldurian

If you want to try an old classic check out Freelancer. It's a very old game at this point but it was the absolute best of it's time, and for many years afterward. Has a fairly fun singleplayer and the multiplayer was amazing for the time, featuring an open universe you can freely roam and run into other players.

This site is the most active multiplayer community left: https://discoverygc.com/forums/index.php

It features instructions on how to download the original game and their mod. I would play through the singleplayer campaign before messing with the mod as it the mod makes singleplayer unplayable.

Albatroes

Osiris: New Dawn is still in EA but its actually shaping up quite nicely and is currently discounted on steam if you wanted to check it out

MadFrenchie

Albatroes said:

Osiris: New Dawn is still in EA but its actually shaping up quite nicely and is currently discounted on steam if you wanted to check it out

That one has beautiful visuals, but I can't get into survival games.

Lusts

Albatroes said:

Osiris: New Dawn is still in EA but its actually shaping up quite nicely and is currently discounted on steam if you wanted to check it out

Someone made an argument about No Man's Sky that could be applied to Osiris as well. It's more of a planet survival game than a space game. Space in No Man's Sky is just pretty much filler and most of your activity is spent planetside unfortunately.

WarWitch

STO  space is still fun but you have to get to the end game for it to shine.

Hysteric

Eve Online

john25301

Octagon7711 said:

Had a lot of fun with Rebel Galaxy.

Great music in that game.

TheScavenger

Scorchien said:

If you are looking for a 4x space game , nothing even comes close to Distant Worlds , All 4x are measured by DW and to date there is nothing at its level .....

                       http://store.steampowered.com/app/261470/Distant_Worlds_Universe/

This would be my recommendation too. Distant Worlds is the 4x of 4x games. And while its expensive (and cheapest I've seen it only goes to 30 dollars), its worth every penny. Not just in my top favorite strategy games, but in my top 5 favorite games of all time.

My other recommendation would be Elite Dangerous. There is a large portion of people who use keyboard/mouse but it takes a lot of customization+fiddling with settings to get it to your liking. Personally I use a controller, but it isn't really required.

It isn't really action packed, but (and this is what I've read it similar as)...Euro/American Truck Simulator...BUT IN SPACE...so if you don't like euro/american truck simulator (its very relaxing to me, but not for everyone), probably best to skip it. Unless the fact Elite Dangerous is in space and that makes it up to you.

TheScavenger

If you want a more "casual" and arcadey "space" game, there is Starbound. But most of the game takes place on planets, so it seems more sci-fi than space focused. I only bring it up because you can add so much to it with mods, that it really adds a lot to the game.

johnjec

Eve Online and NMS are worlds apart in depth and gameplay. It depends on what you're looking for. NMS is fine for casual play. It's fairly straightforward and mildly entertaining. Eve Online is something completely different. EO has an incredibly steep learning curve BUT you will be rewarded with a game that will feel as though it truly exists in an alternate reality. EO is a game that takes literally weeks/months to familiarize yourself with but there is NOTHING out there that compares or comes close to the depth of play that EO offers. I played it for years and have no regrets. One important differentiation is that NMS has NO PVP. Eve Online is ALL about PVP. Oh, I suppose you can hide out in high security space and mine rocks but EOs very nature is to interact with other players. Super intense. Hope that helps.

Octagon7711

Those were the days...

waynejr2

70s and 80s arcades were great!