Game most like E-D while waiting for it?

Which game is most like E-D while waiting for it?

  • Oolite

    Votes: 24 20.0%

  • First Encounters D3D

    Votes: 8 6.7%

  • Pioneer

    Votes: 10 8.3%

  • Evochron Mercenary

    Votes: 12 10.0%

  • Vendetta Online

    Votes: 7 5.8%

  • Vega Strike

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other (please explain below!)

    Votes: 9 7.5%

  • I don't know - I just want to see the result of the poll

    Votes: 49 40.8%

  • Jumpgate

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • Total voters
    120

Mors Magne

M
While waiting for Elite: Dangerous to come out, I want to play the next best 1st person space sim, but I can't decide - Can you help?!

You see, on the one hand, Oolite is the original Elite with improved graphics: http://www.oolite.org/gallery

But on the other hand, First Encounters D3D is something I haven't tried before, but I don't know if it plays as well: http://www.eliteforever.co.uk/games.html or here: http://spacesimcentral.com/ssc/files/file/1036-ffed3daj/

And to make things even more complicated, there is Pioneer, which looks tempting: http://pioneerspacesim.net/#&panel1-1

There is Evochron Mercenary, which looks amazing, but I've heard that the dogfighting could do with some work: http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmercenary/

Vendetta Online, which is an MMORPG: http://www.vendetta-online.com/

Vega Strike: http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/

And finally, Jumpgate: http://jumpgate-tri.org/

Which do you think is the 'best' out of these and why?
 
Last edited:

Globusdiablo

Globusdiablo
You should have made it a poll ;)

Oolite for my money.

I myself am planning to be a beta backer. Can't wait to get my hands dirty! :)
 

deMangler

deMangler
I have played all of those games. Some of them I have dropped for a while and then gone back to and played for a bit, and then remembered why I dropped them.
Not that any of them are bad just that they don't do that Elite thing that I love, so I usually end up playing Elite on an emulated Amiga.
 

[VR] Mad Mike

[VR] Mad Mike
deMangler said:
I have played all of those games. Some of them I have dropped for a while and then gone back to and played for a bit, and then remembered why I dropped them.
Not that any of them are bad just that they don't do that Elite thing that I love, so I usually end up playing Elite on an emulated Amiga.
Click to expand...

Really, you dont think that oolite does everything elite does on the amiga, but with the added missions etc of first enc? (I even added the amiga sounds oxp just for a bit of nostalgia)

each to their own i guess, but personlly I think oolite is brilliant, esp with some of the extra oxps for additional flavour (though some of them may imbalance the game so care is needed)
 

Chock

Chock
Evochron Mercenary is definitely the most 'Elite Dangerous-like' of the games out there (free demo too). Look at the similarities between it and Elite Dangerous:

• Play it either online multiplayer, with 32 players in an instance, or offline with NPCs
• Set in the real galaxy, only about 35 systems but that includes the Sol system and all the other ones nearby such as Alpha Centurai etc.
• Seamless travel anywhere without load screens, including right down to the planet's surface.
• Planetary exploration on the surface after landing.
• Trading at space stations, on the planet surface at stations, or between ships.
• Trade, fight, do missions, mine stuff etc.
• Upgrade your ship with various bits and pieces.
• 3D cockpit which is very similar to the Elite Dangerous ships, support for Track IR.
• Newtonian flight, but with flight assistance if you prefer it to make it more 'dogfighty'.
• Combat that involves, tweaking your systems to avoid heat signature, boosting weapon systems etc.
• Missiles, lasers, railguns etc.
• Has a federation of pilots, similar to Elite.
• Has various factions and rival corporations.
 

FoxTwo

FoxTwo
Chock said:
Evochron Mercenary is definitely the most 'Elite Dangerous-like' of the games out there (free demo too). Look at the similarities between it and Elite Dangerous:

... snip ...

• Set in the real galaxy, only about 35 systems but that includes the Sol system and all the other ones nearby such as Alpha Centurai etc.
Click to expand...

Slight correction. The map only shows what is "known" (35 systems). Many players (like myself) have explored space BEYOND the mapped areas and found countless more star systems. There are people who have jumped 1 week in REAL TIME to a spot so far outside the map, it would take them 1 week real-time to jump back to the borders of the outlying systems.

Personally my record is just 13 hours real time jumping to 9999,9999,9999 to see what was there. And, that is not the universe limit :) Because I could see a star system around at around the sector 10002,9999,9999 so we could continue going.

Plus we could also go to the Andromeda Galaxy via a wormhole, and that one, if memory serves, is at 28000,<some figure>,<some other figure>.

Just imagine the EM map as a map of only the "core worlds" not the whole galaxy like in ED.
 

Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud
I-War 2 or Tachyon: The Fringe.

Both have elements that replicate the ship controls in a similar way. Handling Strafing in Tachyon will prep you for Flight Assist off.
 

ZeeWolf

ZeeWolf
Evochron Mercenary is awesome value and often pops up on steam sales. It does feel a wee bit like flying a spreadsheet though, maybe just me
 

FoxTwo

FoxTwo
ZeeWolf said:
Evochron Mercenary is awesome value and often pops up on steam sales. It does feel a wee bit like flying a spreadsheet though, maybe just me
Click to expand...

I don't feel the same way actually. EM is my "modern-day Elite" game before I knew about Elite Dangerous being developed :)

Oh I know about Oolite, I played it a little (about 100 hours), but I keep going back to Evochron Mercenary (400 hours and counting). What I can say though, is Evochron Mercenary feels a little "grindy"... you have to keep doing Military contracts to up your rating for military ranks (ED equivalent - elite ratings). My civilian rank is already maxxed, have so much money that I don't know what to do with it.
 

Chock

Chock
FoxTwo said:
I don't feel the same way actually. EM is my "modern-day Elite" game before I knew about Elite Dangerous being developed :)

Oh I know about Oolite, I played it a little (about 100 hours), but I keep going back to Evochron Mercenary (400 hours and counting). What I can say though, is Evochron Mercenary feels a little "grindy"... you have to keep doing Military contracts to up your rating for military ranks (ED equivalent - elite ratings). My civilian rank is already maxxed, have so much money that I don't know what to do with it.
Click to expand...

Yup, Evochron Mercenary could do with a bit more balancing in that regard, but it is absolutely the most 'elite dangerous-like' modern game out there in terms of content and scope. Worth noting that it does still get updates though so balancing may yet come. Even without Steam sales (particularly since I now refuse to buy anything ever again from Steam courtesy of their lack of refunding me for X Rebirth), it is only about twenty quid if you buy it direct from its developers.
 
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