Top 14 Space Simulation Games to Buy in the Steam Summer Sale!

[@egosoft]

Thanks for including us, guys! Much appreciated. /greg

[@LTGamingYoutube]

We really enjoy X4 Foundations! :)

[@IIAndersII]

X4 is an auto include. Your game is awesome!

[@3komma141592653]

Yea i don't even have time for any other game due to X4. 😅

[@nevilleneville6518]

I've heard its not great on the Steam Deck, gets quite chuggy and can't cope with everything going on in the background?

[@Painless50]

Love X4 !!

[@jonathanj.3695]

The X series is so underrated. They're basically what would happen if you took Elite Dangerous and EVE Online and smashed them together into a single-player sandbox.

[@zman_o7]

it is a dumpster fire with a learning curve far worse than either ED or EVE.

[@Daryl673]

Yeah I recently discovered x4 and true to what everyone said, I’ve loved it more the longer I’ve played. There’s nothing quite like starting out as a miner, gunfighter, etc and growing into an entire galactic empire with multiple facets of income. 100.% recommend jumping in. The learning curve is steep but surprisingly not overwhelming if you just hop in and play. Everything falls into place

[@hariszark7396]

That's the problem. ED sucks and Eve online is obsolete and boring. If they combined Star Citizen, No Man's sky and Starfield it would be great.

[@jkl9984]

@@zman_o7 I would have to ask if you accidentally hit a brick wall with your face. X4 is far simpler and easier to understand that both ED and EVE Online combined. Both on how to fight and how to build an empire.

[@GlitchedVision]

I described X4 as "I wanna play Elite: Dangerous and Stellaris at the exact same time because I just can't be bothered to choose between them." lol

[@Snerdles]

How to know you're an addict: 1) find a great new game to try from a youtube video 2) log in to steam to purchase game because it sounds awesome 3) Game is already in your library...

[@LTGamingYoutube]

haha I appreciated this! :)

[@harag9]

LOL yea, I did the same. paused every now and then looked it up on steam, WHAT. I already have it... really why haven't I played it. some even under 2hrs. Arrhhh Mind boggles.

[@akaSanka89]

haha same!

[@marktutaj2124]

Thanks for mentioning Avorion! I play it every day just to relax and bringing my spaceship ideas to life.

[@usf22raptr1]

Spacebourne 2 is an absolute hidden gem, but if you're only getting one of these, X4 is criminally underrated, it is the single, best space sim and empire management game on the market not named EVE (and does some things better).

[@Rijoaoajoo]

another victim of the "absolute" mind virus.

[@uk-3000]

Thanks for including Liberation! It's made a big difference to our little game and the LT Gaming community have been really friendly

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Well it's certainly here on merit and a great game. So glad we could have an impact!

[@homeopathicfossil-fuels4789]

You included Children of a Dead Earth! It is my favorite space game despite the fact I play it the least, why? Because it is one big slapstick about the absurdity of literally every single aspect of sci-fi ever. It and furiously reading projectrho and its linked sources for several years combined together to make me realize that sci-fi is an oxymoron, that no matter how hard you make it, its fantasy, nothing but fantasy in space.

[@twoseventyone713]

Glad to see Delta-V getting the recognition it deserves. Amazing and unique title.

[@LoneTiger]

Agreed, "ΔV: Rings of Saturn" is a great game, do recommend it. 👍

[@callum4796]

Empyrion is one of the most underrated games on steam. Yes it's like a cross between space engineers and no mans sky but with what feels like more content than both combined. There's just something special about travelling the galaxy in my supremacy class star destroyer. Taking a shuttle down to a planet to make contact with a new faction and inadvertently set off a massive new quest line. Then as I'm leaving discovering an abandoned military bunker infested with monstrosities and puzzles before heading back to the star destroyer to try and fend off an incoming Zirax Fleet. They've recently added a new boarding feature where if enemies get your shield down they'll board your ship. I've not experienced it yet but looking forward to trying it out

[@PaddyyYY]

Starsector and Space Engineers are also good space sim games. Space engineers will get more sim/sandbox content in the next update.

[@OfTheOldWorlds]

Space Engineers is one of my favorites!

[@Bobamelius]

Starsector is an all-time favorite for sure

[@joshcreek9531]

Starsector isn't on Steam, though, and would be a bit out of place in a video about good deals in this year's summer sale.

[@seemslegit6203]

Space engineers is a joke, years of being cuckolded and trickle fed content by devs while the game was kept alive solely by player driven mod life support, and now that the dews started releasing a lot of content, its mostly paid DLC

[@Muldaak]

X4 is EXTREMELY underrated. It's an amazing game, that you can just keep playing. It is a must have for anyone interested in space.

[@LTGamingYoutube]

@@Muldaak very well said and currently amazing value!

[@Empiro3]

Between X: Gold, X2, X3:R and X3:TC, I must have put 1000+ hours into the series. I don't think I'll ever recover from setting up the 100 Microchip factories for the X3 Hub quest though.

[@michaelgiertz-rath7994]

Give it some love with additional mods and it's pretty much surpassing X3 (trilogy). One of my all time favorites. Does a lot right and some wrong, but no one game grants you hundreds or even thousands of gameplay hours. That is, if you can stomache that steep learning curve and hours of doing not much except exploration and waiting for something to finish. A self-sufficient station for instance may take several realtime hours to be constructed. A self-sufficient wharf takes even longer. It's one of the few games where every single of your actions matter and have actual influence on the game, yet nearly none of the actions have an impact the second you do it, but several hours later. For instance: don't simply build a station in a random sector. At first it might be a good idea because there are tons of asteroids, high valuable ore and easy access to most of the local market. A couple of hours later you might face several Xenon battlecruisers pounding your poor little base to dust - not because they hate you. They're machines and they hate nobody. It's their faulty AI that causes this and you simply happen to be in their way. Game is at its best when you got your own economy running so you start building own ships and wage war against whomever you don't seem to like. Or you turn into the galaxy's savior. It's up to you.

[@Ricolaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

No FPS combat being included in it should be criminal.

[@jh5kl]

​@@Ricolaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa agreed

[@chaosavy1]

Thanks for mentioning Void Destroyer 2 :) Best of luck with the channel!

[@Magnumaniac]

List seems to be missing Everspace 2 - 50% off currently, and is a superb take on the space genre. Full HOTAS support.

[@irassss1]

its not a simulation, more like acrade

[@TlalocTemporal]

​@@irassss1-- Space Engine is hardly more than a walking sim, yet it's on the list.

[@Jcewazhere]

I have about 480 hours in Empyrion, it's pretty good. It is similar to space engineers, but with more surivival/rpg stuff. Avorion also has eaten about 420 hours, the building is a bit different in the game, but intuitive and fun. I've got about 1200 in X4, and just restarted a playthrough for 7.0. I've tried to get into NMS a few times, it just never held me.

[@Ashmodai]

I hate gamers for the X4 score. Despite some of its shortcomings and clunkyness it's without the shadow of a doubt one of the best space games ever made.

[@Zalta-gg4es]

Its a big title

[@t1ckles0117]

I love seeing Starbourne and Evochron Legacy on the list! Both of these are little games that I love seeing pop up in lists; they need so much more love! Great list and thanks for digging these up!

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Evochron Legacy is an awesome game. It just takes some time to learn. Well I guess any Space Sim takes a lot of time haha!

[@Qikdraw]

I love seeing any small team games pop up and those hit that mark from what I hear. I've played other Evochron games, but not legacy, and currently the original Starbourne is game #2 I'm playing right now. lol In a different genre is Kenshi, originally a one man team, and got larger as more people bought it before full release. I think I bought it for family and friends about 10 times. lol It's currently on sale, and it should be a definite buy for any sandbox lover. Tons of mods as well.

[@t1ckles0117]

@@Qikdraw Kenshi is so good! It's so unique and one of those cult hits that doesn't get talked about enough!

[@dachhh]

Which of those is the more relaxing and chilled out ?

[@dereksherwood3794]

Glad ya highlighted Void Destroyer 2, really underrated gem by a solo dev :) Also, will point to Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw for six bucks. It's basically a modernization of the classic Wing Commander Privateer, so good!

[@MavicAir1]

Elite and X4 for such a low price is amazing. In Elite just landing on a distant moon and driving around in a srv is worth that price.

[@VonEldrich]

Both are a great title, played a lot of them both. Elite for its ship gameplay and sound and played x4 for its simulation and huge space fleet battle.

[@wargrunt2002]

@@VonEldrich I could not agree with both of you more. I absolutely love X4, and the detail in Elite is pretty great. 🚀

[@tj7094]

@@wargrunt2002I loved Elite and pretty much played it daily until a friend told me about Star Citizen. I’ve put Elite down and never returned. No matter the game I try to play for a space sim nothing tops what I’ve experienced in Star Citizen. The best is still yet to come.

[@wargrunt2002]

@@tj7094 When it comes to Star Citizen, it really is a true masterpiece in game construction, except when it comes down to all of the shady activities of the company developing it. That being said, I cannot hold the guys down in the trenches actually making it what it is today. The talent creating it is truly superb. You really don’t get that level of detail in even the smallest things, by having garbage artists and coders. I really believe it would be one of, if not the, best games ever made if it just had more financial transparency with backers money and at least the slightest estimate towards completion. The company has just lost all credibility with its financial backers. I, as well as others have been waiting for the single player campaign for years, but there’s (like everything else) still no official timeline for its completion. Sorry for the massive speech here lol. 🚀👨‍🚀☄️

[@heneagedundas]

"If you haven't played Elite before"... way to make me feel old, I played Elite on the BBC Micro in the mid-80s. Hmm, right, it isn't you that makes me feel old ...

[@johnbradshaw7525]

Same here.

[@3komma141592653]

It's because you are old. I have T-shirts who are older then some co workers. It's a fact.

[@VonEldrich]

@@3komma141592653hi gramps

[@jclosed2516]

Same here - But I admit I really AM old (69). For me the X series (with X4: Foundations as the latest entry) is the real successor to the Elite I played on the BBC-B (and later on the Acorn Archimedes and RiscPC). I got that feeling right at the moment I played the demo of X - Beyond The Frontier that was included with a PC magazine. I remember that after playing that demo I sought several stores to finally get my hands on it. I still have the original CD by the way. Of course X4 is not the only space game I play. I like NMS for instance. Most games I play these days are JRPG's (Nihom Falcom's Trails series is my most loved one), but I still have a sweet spot for that old Elite (and X4 of course).

[@markhackett2302]

I still have the OG manual for Elite on the Speccy.... In fact that manual is right behind me now.

[@markandbeck]

The ocean of Elite Dangerous is getting deeper. So much new development has happened this year that this review is already out of date! It is AWESOME!

[@jaffarebellion292]

Do you know if they've added VR support for Odyssey yet?

[@Acehalo2]

Thank you for covering Children of a Dead Earth, that game is absolutely awesome and I always love to see it get some appreciation! Subbed because of your hard work pronouncing "Magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters" correctly. ;)

[@umbrashadowgaming4974]

once you figure out empyrion there are some phenomenal player created campaigns. The biggest is probably reforged eden its like an entire new game. The developers of reforged eden are working on reforged eden 2, and that completly remakes the game again. They are very challenging campaigns but worth it once your done playing with vanilla empyrion.

[@spaceengine]

Really appreciate the review/inclusion! Thanks, guys! -Alex/SpaceEngine Team

[@LTGamingYoutube]

You have a wonderful game/experience with Space Engine and its a joy to feature it! Will do so again in future lists!

[@munsterlandr1644]

I'm so glad ΔV: Rings of Saturn is getting attention here, and also Children of A Dead Earth

[@LTGamingYoutube]

@@munsterlandr1644 great games 🚀

[@NNextremNN]

If you include Empyrion as Space Sim it certainly is missing Space Engineers.

[@azurmon]

Amazing video man , everythong spot on 🎉

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Appreciate it! :)

[@Mutos4]

Thanks for mentionning DeltaV ! This is one of my favs of the moment !

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Its amazing! New Space Sim video coming today!

[@johnvl6358]

Whelp, that's 2 I don't have. Time to get busy. Good vid!

[@alphaomega154]

love seeing X4 at the final top in thye list. thats also would be my top choice. for those who are in your twenties, if you think X4 is a "dad game" (those complicated things that requires commitment to play it) be warned though, if you try the game, you might become a "dad" too.

[@MK-vw6vm]

Timelines is underrated. As soon you start to uncover the secrets you get it. I honestly wish there would be many more missions like that.

[@davocc2405]

AAAH THANK YOU - was trying to remember the name of "Void Destroyer 2" and couldn't ever find the video I saw it in...

[@gavinpowell4607]

Thanks very much for the really tight chapters and info. liked.

[@michaelmacdonell4834]

Evochron? Damn! That's one to blow the dust off! I ADORE the X- series, and really enjoyed X4 right up until the first major update ( not DLC). Suddenly the lag and stuttering became crippling, from a seriously smooth experience before.

[@Abbadon_the_Despoiler]

I recommend to check Starpoint Gemini 2 and Starpoint Gemini Warlords. You can fly huge capital ships there.

[@lcdregjlandry8528]

X4 is an absolute jewel!

[@Bobamelius]

I bounced off X4 quite a few times since it came out, but it finally stuck with the 7.0 update. It sounds weird but the actual usable third person camera is what did it for me.

[@LTGamingYoutube]

First person is the main reason I play but hey! 😂

[@markhackett2302]

Often what does it is the UI is complicated because it has to show 100% of what you CAN do, but you can ignore 90% of its options, you "just have to" learn the logic to discover where the 10% you need is hidden in. X4s UI IS logical, but it isn't a logic you learned using Windows and ITS UI, a UI you still had to learn ITS logic, before you could use it. But since you learned Windows UI, "you" want X4 to use that logic too, because that saves learning its UI.

[@LTGamingYoutube]

@@markhackett2302 well said. Tbh the alien UI is always part of the joy for me. And overall the X4 UI is logical to me!

[@markhackett2302]

@@LTGamingKZbin Aye, just not a logic that people have found before, necessarily, and so since it isn't what they are used to, claim the UI CANNOT be logical, at all, because they can't be wrong or anything, so it MUST be the UI is bad!!!! If you've had to use Maya, or a Lighttable app to deal with photo retouching, or similar, you'd know the UI has to be learned for any application. It is just that it isn't "pick up and play" like, say, Doom, and it isn't a problem either with the UI or the person playing.

[@LTGamingYoutube]

@@markhackett2302 exactly this and for me when a game has new systems I just enjoy it even more. Why I enjoy a lot of Japanese strategy games. They break my conceptions of UI totally 😂

[@cutterstrophe]

The Soundtrack of Star Citizen in the Background is still the very best. Nice Easter Egg :)

[@Mika-ph6ku]

x4 foundations has proved to be a really fun one for me. My only complaint is that the ai pilots you hire on get themselves killed too easily. You really have to pay close attention to them when engaging enemies.

[@danielp.espinosa1093]

Thanks for the list! I finally bought X4 after seeing here it is discounted :)

[@Rohrkrepierer88]

Good profits , pilot

[@nightspirit72]

I only discovered X4 some days ago and my only regret is to not have know it's existence sooner. It reminds me Eve online but with more interactions, it's hard to get in it but when it's done you don't play to anything else.

[@LordDivine1]

X4 with VRO + tons of other mods is the ultimate Space game to dive into in 2024. Nothing really compares on the same level.

[@terrapinflyer273]

Underspace looks awesome! And a title I haven't heard of until now. Might pick up DeltaV Rings of Saturn too, just because I specifically look for asteroid mining in space games and it seems to hit the specific way of space mining I'm looking for. Picked up X3 War Pack in the sale. Surprised I hadn't heard of the X series before with how elaborate and expansive it is.

[@JDtheHutt]

DeltaV is worth it. The dev is incredibly active and it keeps getting more stuff added. You could play, put it down for a bit then come back to a bunch more.

[@eidolontyr]

since everyone's only talking about the steam summer sale, gog also has a summer sale for 7 more days, and both everspace 1 and 2 are on sale there

[@SabrinaBraden-n7n]

Other older titles offered by Egosoft is well worth a look, i own most of the X series titles and highly recommend them if you are into the space saga, also recommend, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, normally $60 us dollars, now $6 dollars.

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Awesome suggestions!

[@scoso1313]

Thank you for making this! Many I'd never even heard about

[@LTGamingYoutube]

@@scoso1313 most welcome 🚀

[@delvos]

@LTGAming - No love for Space Engineers? Have you played it? I know it is a sandbox game, but so are several you included here.

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Yes been suggested a lot here. I haven't played it enough to include!

[@liang99]

I have played X4 Foundations since 2018 with thousands hours. I played every big version. Egosoft is doing well. They keep update the game all the time without break;

[@Leopardts]

I'm talking my friend into another campaign of Empyrion, such a good game and definitely under rated for the amount of stuff you can do in it :)

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Yeah something I'd like to do also 🚀

[@michaelgiertz-rath7994]

I just wish they'd add proper AI. I mean there are NPCs everywhere, you get attacked by drones and hostile NPCs - but you can't even have a single AI friend in your base. You can build kilometer long starships, but never hire a proper crew beyond expensive props. In that regard, Avorion does a better job, 'though you don't even have faces, but abstract numbers. Yet you know, your massive starship is crewed by 200 people, there are 30 gunners, 40 mechanics, 20 engineers, a captain with a name and if you don't watch out, you suddenly are in command of a large fleet by your own. Imagination beats display, always, but Empyrion really lacks friendly NPCs for your ships.

[@rosevfx]

Empyrion is one of the very best games out there, not just space themed, but generally. If you like free form playing more than following prompts, this is a MUST, even at the regular price.

[@link14444]

Stationeers is also 33% off. Stationeers puts you in control of the construction and management of a space station to run by yourself or online with your friends. Complex atmospheric, electrical, manufacturing, agriculture, and gravitational systems require your thought and management at all times!

[@stevencherry12]

Best space Sim there is imo. I've sunk 2500 hours into that one. My most favorite game of all time.

[@casianvulpe2055]

i saw the other comments, space engineers is a sandbox only if you play on creative it has survival

[@montymantis3947]

Over 13k hours on Empyrion now. One of the little known gems of this genre. 👍🏻

[@rntzh690]

I've got 3000 hours on Empyrion. Absolutely awesome and massive universe.

[@tazman8487]

I have played most of these games and I have to say the only game I have spent more than 1000 hours in is Empyrion, I absolutely love this game but can no longer play it due to motion sickness. I've had to give up quite a few games that have 1st person view because of it and I really miss playing Empyrion..

[@rntzh690]

@tazman8487 I'm sorry to hear that... that really sucks... if I couldn't play empyrion anymore, I'd probably lose my sanity. It's where I find freedom.

[@robinfox4440]

I played Void Destroyer 1, saw a lot of potential but it was not fully realized by the sheer insane scale of its difficulty. Nice to see a second game came out and experimented more with the single-ship vs fleet control mechanics the dev created.

[@madrax5733]

Empyrion but not Space Engineers?? I play both and they are such good sandboxs to play in. :)

[@efxnews4776]

Starship Evo...

[@discodex]

Still very curious why Space Engineers continually doesn't make the list

[@titansquirrel4408]

Empyrion is so much greater than I expected, I've got hundreds of hours in just make sure you check out reforged Eden 2 mod for a more complete storyline/progression

[@CeresRider]

I picked up Avorion during that sale and got hooked instantly! Don't know ho it could be under my radar for so long

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@trax1794]

Excellent list brother!

[@strydyrhellzrydyr1345]

Whoa... How... How has no body been covering that first game.. that's AMAZING. Spacebourne 2... No one has covered it.. that's Insane

[@ulfhenarveiimar8638]

The Star Citizen music playing in the background is hilarious

[@Drax658]

Got my copy of X4 and I can't wait until I have time to play 😁

[@LTGamingYoutube]

@@Drax658 now I wanna play lol

[@Gsoda35]

I can recommend rings of Saturn if you can handle the strange steering. Avorion is fun to play for me and got excellent control and the game has similar block building features to Space Engineers but less complicated and more freedom on design.

[@lphoenix1091]

Oh here we go! Great list with a real mix of games. I agree you shouldn't define the genre too strictly...its fun after all!

[@davidliefrink9818]

Avorion is a good buy its a mix of X3/x4 and minecraft where you build (or download through the workshop) all of your ships factories and your turrets as well.

[@vkotis]

Not sure if it's on sale, but Flight of Nova is a newtonian physics based space sim which is definitely worth checking out, regardless.

[@atheist101]

I've been using Space Engine since years before it moved to steam. I think I first got it around .95. There wasn't even magma yet. It's definitely worth having for anyone who loves the beauty of space and wants to just explore.

[@red-merlin]

Gotta say. Where's space engineers? This is a great list and you've given me games to check out. Legit bought a few of these games cuz of your list. But i can't believe space engineers didn't make the list. At first i thought you accidentally cut off part the name when i saw in the list "space engine" lol. Perhaps it's because it's not on sale (don't actually know because i already own the game) but it's a great space sim that is soon to see an update to expand pve elements. Believe that also entails survival aspects and solo play in general expanded upon. They are also adding new buildable blocks and has full mod support for all platforms (console rules permitting of course) as well as shareable builds like space ships and base builds. The game has constant dev support and they are always looking to evolve the game. Really should check it out.

[@markhackett2302]

Is it because Space Engineers wasn't on Steam sale? There are a few good space games that were not on Steam sale.

[@fredashay]

Thanks for the video recommendations! I'll skip the pure combat games, but there's a lot of RPG/exploration games here that pique my interest!

[@strydyrhellzrydyr1345]

This is a great vid... For a smaller channel. Definitely punching above your weight mate... I'm sure this will get LOTS of views

[@LTGamingYoutube]

We are growing quick! Thankyou :)

[@LordClunk]

What I want is for Freelancer to be remade.

[@purpletacos4609]

Great video!

[@Fairyhell]

Starsector is a good 2D Space Sim, but since it's not on Steam, not a lot know about it.

[@syoung2333]

I'm a big fan of the X Series as well and it does a lot of things outstanding or just enough put the difference or what I should say what needs to happen is Planetside missions weather at settlements combat diplomacy whatever that would really round out this game to a whole new levels . That's why I think space born is looking good to a lot of people these days

[@markhackett2302]

All planetside would do is change your skybox, under X, same as Star Citizen or Elite Dangerous does. SC's USP is "you can walk around a "real ship"". ED's USP is its VR abilities. X has neither the scope nor the people to chase either place, it would need 100s of millions of dollars and 200+ people working on it to compete.

[@artificialdeathgaming2031]

Kinda surprised that space engineers was not mentioned

[@BlazingDrag00n]

nice video, decent list and it feels honest, since also some (slightly) negative aspects of each game are mentioned as well.

[@Tiyrant]

100% agree with house of the dying sun. Really wish they could do an expanded sequel in the same universe / style

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Glad you agree 😃

[@NoahLoydOG]

I wish some of the Novalogic games could get a modernized face-lift; Tachyon: The Fringe is a real gem.

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Yes I bought that on GOG!

[@TM1701D1]

X4, Emyprion, nms and Avorion are my fav games. But ones not on your list that are fun is Space Haven and Stardeus.

[@jiiaga5017]

It takes a bit to GET to the space sim part, but Terra Invicta has a pretty cool space combat model for fleet combat alongside the 4x gameplay.

[@LTGamingYoutube]

@@jiiaga5017 great suggestion!

[@BlightJJ]

You guys make the best videos!

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Kind words! We have a lot of improvement to make and always listening :)

[@black2burn211]

great vid! scooped up a few of the titles:) I kind of wish the team that made Bannerlords took a swing at a space sandbox game

[@LTGamingYoutube]

Appreciate it and glad you found value here!

[@DavidWhite-d4d]

Play Starsector or X4 ;)

[@unab84]

Everybody always forget about SPACE ENGINEERS !

[@TM1701D1]

Too complicated

[@viktoriaalden3452]

I mean. This list includes CoaDE, so I don't think complexity is an issue... 😆

[@unab84]

@@viktoriaalden3452 *Exactly*

[@seemslegit6203]

Because its not worth mentioning

[@murphy9147]

What about KSP

[@comensee2461]

No mention of Space Engineers?

[@joe78man]

An underwater replica of this in a water world could have exotic underwater creatures, it could be a mix of barotrauma and this kind of games

[@wedge_one]

Can't recommend X4: Foundations enough! But don't just grab the base game for this dirty cheap price, also grab at least the Cradle of Humanity DLC! You gonna have a blast once you learn the game, and it's not that hard to be honest. It's part of the fun of the game!

[@LTGamingYoutube]

LT Gaming approves of this comment! haha

[@Furzkampfbomber]

To be honest, I am flirting with buying this game for quite some time now, but what I read about the learning curve has discouraged me so far. I even have a HOTAS, so that would be not problem, but when I read the reviews, see all those DLC and read reviews saying the game looks great but they don't even know where to start, I feel kind of disencouraged.

[@jclosed2516]

@@Furzkampfbomber Yep - The learning curve is steep, but there are tutorials in the game, and once you get used to it, it becomes almost a second nature to fly around and do stuff with your ship. You know what they say. You can't make a omelette without breaking a few eggs. In other words, you have to put in some effort, but there is a nice reward in the end...

[@markhackett2302]

@@Furzkampfbomber Don't believe the dis-hype! The X games are complex beasts UI wise, but that is because you aren't forbidden by the UI not containing a thing that you can do, but the UI "declutter" makes forbidding to access. So play the base game as just a single lone pilot. The map is therefore only to find where to go next, and very little of the UI is needed. And then try playing with orders so that a miner can mine a rich area and then you get pinged with "completed orders", and you send that, via map commands, to a place that buys that resource, and the UI is cluttered with things you never use, but are completely ignorable because you don't need it. Then sort out more miners (or traders) with commands to auto mine or auto trade or scouts to auto map for you. You will learn that the UI makes a lot of things available, but it is only a steep learning curve if you "want to" remote order, set up patrols, start wars, be a pilot, empire commander etc all on the first possible day. It isn't necessary for you to do it all right now, and those complaints of "steep learning curve!!!" are people who got used to being able to do everything possible in the first week on other games. And importantly, like the card game Solitaire or similar, you may get a set up that is doomed from the get-go, that no matter what you do, the universe will, before you can afford to "save the day" Dudley Do-Right style, fall apart and be explodified or limited well before you discover what you CAN do, but you will not be able to find out in 20 hours. That many games 20 hours is well on through what you can do is why people often give up and never come back to X4. The expectation is different from what the game allows and/or engineers to happen. Heck after 100 hours you will still be a n00b at it, but you will know how the game works, basically, yet still come across new things or methods you didn't know before. This is why, IMO, if you aren't sure, and you don't have it, get the base game first. Put at least your first game in it as just faffing about and learning the game. If you can't put 20-30 hours in (in however many restarts that takes) to just throw away, this almost definitely isn't the game for you, not because it is bad, but because, like DOTA or WoW et al, this can see you lose thousands of literal hours of your life playing, and you cannot afford that time in just one game. But be ready to throw those invested hours away, entirely, and restart yet again. If you find you like its way of being played worthwhile, get any DLCs you like to extend the game further, Egosoft intended each DLC you buy to be a restart, and whether it is on sale or not is almost irrelevant, in "dollars per hour" a DLC that costs 15 dollars but gets 200+ hours is still entirely worth it. And if you find the game isn't worth the time it requires to "get good", you're only out a small amount, the cost of the base only game on sale, and that cost is what you pay for any other game and risk not liking. If you already have it, just play it knowing IT DOESN'T MATTER that you throw away 20 hours, it doesn't "waste" anything, and if you still don't understand 90% of the UI when you restart after finding out the game is going to fail any day now, it still doesn't matter: you learned 10% of the UI, and the next play you know that and can build up and learn 20%. Etc. It isn't necessary to learn 100% of the UI, but it is necessary that the UI contain 100% of what you can do. That difference is why the complaining about "UI bad" is heard all round the place (noise, however, doesn't indicate numbers, just how loud someone can be). Just don't demand you must learn all the UI and eventually you find it is logical, just not a logic you might find in a Windows UI or a Playstation UI, etc, both of which you had to learn before you set your default ui expectation to that UI's methodology. X4's UI is meant to make what X4 can do available, and tries to be logical in presenting that, not aping Windows. As an aside, that is often what GNU Image Processing is complained at: it isn't Adobe's UI, so it MUST be bad. However, if you learned Photoshop later, although having learned GIMPs UI first, means Photoshop's UI is easier, the obverse isn't true, because Photoshop's UI is aping Windows Way, not Image Processing ways of doing things. Same for UNIX vs Windows. There's a difference in how things work, and if you learn THAT way of doing things (Multiple Document Single Interface) then Windows (Single Document Single Interface) is simpler but less logical (the old Mac way was MDSI too, the app added/changed the bar available, the document was in its own window. that is a UNIX way of doing a GUI).

[@vahnn0]

House of the Dying Sun and Evochron are absolutely top-tier and severely underrated. Go check them out!

[@RMMinc]

HotDS such an awesome game yet 2 hour long campaign is just criminal. It's 6 hours for 3 walkthroughs and another hour to figure out survival build to autowin all stages. In the end it's just made me sad that other games somehow unable to provide as enjoyable space fighter experience as this game. Just give us longer Diaspora campaign with HotDS flight model...

[@MrPodpilot]

Avorion is such a great game, and a real hidden gem. Give it a chance, you will be happy you did.

[@kergeller]

Xwing Tie fighter, Xwing alliance, Everspace 2 just to name a few

[@raysstlyn6346]

Empyrion all the way!! Honorable mentions to Spacebourne 2, Elite, Space Engineers and Avorion

[@Meltz-e3r]

empyrion is absolutely a great game. i would highly recommend it. the best part is when you are finished with the base game and are looking for a challenge there are many custom scenarios on the workshop. star salvage and reforged eden both the first and the second which is currently in beta are absolute gems. in my mind all three are better than the base game.

[@Mutos4]

Now which of them would be suitable as engine to make a TC for a universe ? Required features are realistic orbits, acceleration-driven travel and wormhole jumps.

[@TheyCalledMeT]

delta V is the most realistic physics sim space sim i have ever played, it's entertaining and truly something different, for my taste it just lacks SOME sort of goal or late game it's a bit too sandbox

[@schappsi]

Thank you for the list! One comment regarding Spacebourne : I bounced off of this, due to the voice acting. I don't mind a couple of rough edges here and there, but AI voices for some reason are a no-go for me.

[@LTGamingYoutube]

It Is a consideration for sure!

[@Christfollower89]

Absolutely love Empyrion! I've been playing it since Alpha 2.0 in 2016. I really hope they continue to improve it. My two gripes are: Combat and lack of NPC employees and companions. Although you can place npcs on your ship, they still serve no actual function outside of the Reforged Eden scenario where they give you a stat boost. My recommendation is to play reforged eden on easy for a first playthrough.

[@Pa1ad1no]

Nice list. 07

[@stahlknecht7872]

X4 is awesome!

[@VincentNajger1]

Liberation gives me hardcore Elite vibes....the original one. I played it to death on my C64 and then my Amiga 500. Amazing game that actually looked remarkably like Liberation. I take it as an excellent homage to that OG King of games.....Braben was a real genius. (the C64 version had a 64k executable....and it was a ridiculously massive, complex game with real space physics etc etc. All in 64kilobytes. That's serious talent that is lost today with the endless resource creep....there is no incentive to streamline any software today.... that's why we have endless bloat without any noticeable increase in...well....anything really. Any speed or memory increase is instantly soaked up by pointless and endless updates. Products are never 'complete'....all to keep a room of programmers busy, so they're already there for your next product. Its just easier than rebuilding a new team for each project. Its the same now for many industries. And the consumer is the one that loses. My laptop is way faster and bigger than it was 15 years ago....but nothing has really changed. They still seem to have about the same level of productivity and are just as frustrating and bloated with updates as ever!) /endrant lol

[@uk-3000]

I love the original Elite... always wished I could land on the planets though!

[@Thor_Asgard_]

As Star Citizen is turning into a timewaste generator its good to have alternatives. Sometimes if a idea is bad and you find out late, just leave it be

[@GraniteRock]

EMPYRION is on humble choice for June and would be worth while if people were interested in that game and 1 other in the bundle.