I would personally not recommend the X series. The concept is interesting but the implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

The game is tediously slow, AI path-finding is terrible, ships do not have cockpits and lack a lot of character, UI is needlessly convoluted.

I'm not sure what you mean about what state it is in.  It has been in full release state for a while.  Version 3.6.12 is the latest, but you need a full installation of FreeSpace2 retail to use FS2Open since only the game coding and not the art assets were released open-source.  GoG.com can get you a DRM-free copy for six bucks.

I mean, I didn't know.

Oh, sorry if I sounded harsh then.

Look up Starpoint Gemini.  Recently released on GG.

Feels like SFC.  Damn I used to love my D6D. 

Hey guys,

It looks like our dreams for an immersive ship simulator might be coming true!    Not surprisingly, Egosoft is behind the effort.  In this month's X-Universe newsletter, Egosoft revealed a lot of tantalizing info concerning their forthcoming game, X-Rebirth. And I have to say: wow!

First off, there will be a bridge view with full crew interaction:

Rooms and NPCs

This one ship, however, is not just another ship like those you know from our past games. For starters, it has several rooms that you can see and use, it has a crew of NPCs who work for you, their captain, and who you can meet face to face.

The Co-Pilot

Some of these NPCs can be hired and exchanged, others you meet by destiny (or as we refer to it: The plot). The best example of that latter kind will be your co-pilot. She will be your interface to the ship and helps you control many of the more complex aspects of the game.

The story of the ship

It has a long history and that history is far from over.
You can influence what this ship is and how it develops.

Expanding the ship

It is a fast and maneuverable ship and can be expanded. Weapons systems, engines, shields, but most importantly: Drones.

Also, Egosoft is embracing a conversational command system as well:

Talking to people - NPCs working for you

I have already mentioned the NPCs who help you operate your ships (all of them). This is another of these BIG things for us.

We want to make the game easier to understand by controlling many of the complex things you can do in an X game through conversations.

Instead of dry and hard-to-interpret text menus, you will be talking to people. You will give them commands and they willl tell you about their progress - all in the form of conversations.

Examples

Some examples of NPCs working for you:

Managers onboard your factories run the economy side. They buy and sell wares, but will only do what you allow them to do.

Captain of a ship: He or she is the person on the bridge who steers the ship according to your commands. You can tell them what you want them to do in very fine detail, or you give them more freedom or assign them to work for a station manager.

Your Co-Pilot: She was already mentioned above and she is the most important of all NPCs in this game. You will learn more about her soon.

Boarding crew: Just one example of crew members working for you.

 

In the words of Carl Brutananadilewski, "friggin' awesome!"

Even the construction portion of the game is getting much more immersive:

Building - The Economy and how you make a difference

With X Rebirth, we wanted to add a whole new level of depth and complexity to building of space stations.

Build platforms - Decide on a category

The first step in building a station is similar to what one would do in our previous games. You hire a large ship. This ship, however, does not contain the whole factory in a single large module anymore. Far from it.

This ship is a so-called 'builder platform'. It hosts a large amount of welder ships and works as a hub during the process of constructing your station.

When you buy a builder platform, you decide on the category of station you want to build. After you have decided on the place to start the new building, you can then land on the platform and discuss what station from that group you want to start building.

You can already see what resources are needed to build the modules of this station and estimations on how expensive this will be, but you don`t just "buy" a station anymore. You really build it.

The build process - Supplying and missions

Every module of a station is built by welder ships. Transporters bring the needed resources for building and only once the resources are there, can the welding begin. You can see how your new station is created literally wall by wall.

At every step of the way you can (together with the NPC who operates this for you) decide whether you want to bring resources yourself or if you simply put up an offer to buy the resources from other traders.

While the station is being built, you sometimes receive special missions to progress the building process. Once the first module is finished for example, you can search for the best manager to run the new station for you, pick him up and personally bring him to your new station.

 

There are loads of other fascinating changes as well (read them here: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=306346).

I hope Egosoft can pull off this very ambitious game. If it does, it could be the best space sim ever (and finally give me a good reason to buy a new rig!)!

PS: Station walking is confirmed, too! 

I really liked Spaceforce: Rogue Universe despite its total lack of support after launch. It had a great concept of making sure that weapons and ships had advantages but steered clear of having one ship be better than any other. Every launch into space meant that you had to either kill something or get to mining because the harshness of space would literally eat away at your ship. The player was prevented from ever making so much money that he became rich. Money always mattered, space was always dangerous. I think you can probably get a copy for maybe 10 dollars. 

Kind of a great distraction if you are waiting for a new one. 

I have to say, it's good to see a thread on this topic that is still (somewhat) active.  Most of the time I find anyone discussing this sort of topic it's somewhat dated.

It is truly sad that proper space simulation games have, for the most part, fallen by the way-side, and I feel that it is largely due to the fact that today's audience are, as has been mentioned, looking for more instant gratification than something that is actually intellectually challenging.  Big explosions, fast action, cool-looking pointy things - that's about as far as most people go.

I have been looking for a starship simulator for a long time as well, and have almost gotten to the point of giving up.  I do have to say that I have rather high expectations, but given the capabilities of today's computer systems, I don't think it's too much to ask.

Games such as X2/X3 are great games, allowing you to branch out from the typical mission-based "I'm going to go kill some bad guys today, same as I did yesterday, and the day before (etc)", but as has been mentioned lacks the appropriate feel.  Jump into a capital ship and it's basically like a painfully slow fighter.  The point that (almost) made my day was the so-called Manual Ship Computer Interface (MCSI).  When I first read about that, I almost fell over myself - a game that allows you to interact properly with the ship's computer? Brilliant!

Unfortunately, once I learned that it is more-or-less just a scripting console I was sorely disappointed.  It allows you to script your vessel to act more as an AI, and in that regard it's great, but not what I was hoping for.

Universal Combat, however, deserves some more consideration.  The concept as described by Derek Smart and 3000AD is actually quite impressive, particularly considering the capabilities of computers when he first came up with it.  Even playing the game, I can see the concepts attempted; the main killer was the fact that it was a garage development with essentially no budget.

Independence War and I-War2: Edge of Chaos were both brilliant games in terms of the engine and implementation, but unfortunately for me the downside is the lack of interactivity - each action seems to be basically one-shot - fire and forget.

I was around on the Starshatter forums when it was in development, and even then it showed a lot of promise.  Particularly given the fact that it also started as a garage development, the transition between concept and implementation as far as I can see is great.  It is, however, focused more on tactical simulation rather than command of a single starship, so while a good game, it's still not quite what I was looking for.

The common fail-point for me with most of the games available is also the fact that they are generally arena-based.  Space is supposed to be infinite in all directions.  I understand the fact that creating such a universe is complicated, but it would be a vast improvement in my eyes - particularly the removal of the typical Gates, Wormholes, Single-System 'L-Points'.  My idea is that you should be able to pick a direction and fly - you'll hit something eventually.  Think Minecraft - procedurally generated starsystems, perhaps with a core of pre-defined systems.  Oh, and people?  SPACE IS THREE-DIMENSIONAL!  All well and good to have 3D control in-game, but 2D navigation is unrealistic and, in my opinion, looks 80's-ish.

What I would like to see is something coming out that is a combination of each of these games: the complexity and openness of the X-series and the implementation of an actual ship computer, the (conceptualised) system control of Universal Combat as well as the multi-platform game play (from flying your ship to running around like a lunatic on the ground), also being able to walk around on your ship and interact if not with the crew then with the consoles, the relativistic distances and Newtonian physics of I-War2, and the tactical complexity of Starshatter.

Oh, and another thing that really bugs me: so many games say that you put your ship in orbit.  Someone should really tell them that entering an orbit isn't as simple as flying nose-first towards a planet till you get close enough to be able to either transport to jump into a smaller ship, then giving your ship the Halt/Stop command.  Space is not a road, and orbits are complex things.  Think Orbiter - it isn't that hard to set up an orbit, and it gives you both a much greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and makes it feel so much more realistic.  I'm not saying it needs to be as complex as in real life, but the implementation of an actual orbit around a planet would be a great step forward - think of the potential tactical implementations!

Seriously, how cool would it be park yourself in a mid-range orbit and take a stroll to the observation deck on your ship and pick out continents you want to visit on the planet below!

Like I said, high expectations, but I think it's within some sort of reason.

And yes, I understand that having a developer come up with both models and maps of ships is something of a tall order, but there is a massive community of people with extraordinary talent who could design and implement their own vessels with the right kind of modding system/API.

For me, StarWars-based flight simulators are the best, escecially X-WING! Of course, my opinion is pretty biased. 

Mass Effect

This may or may not be what some are looking for. http://www.ftlgame.com/

Closed beta will be out soon but it's only for those that supported the kickstarter project.

Another starship simulator to keep a look out after: http://www.indiegogo.com/starshipcorp?c=home

And FTL is now released, FYI.

Evochron Mercenary - brilliant game.

http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmercenary/index.htm

I haven't really played any of these since a really old star trek game. Are any of these games really deep strategy games or RPGs or is it mostly just adventure?