WildWeasel
Spaceman
Originally posted by Wedge009
I'm not very afterburner 'trigger-happy', so I find it hard to imagine that people can run out of fuel.
You've never had that last Salthi try to make a run for it?
Originally posted by Wedge009
I'm not very afterburner 'trigger-happy', so I find it hard to imagine that people can run out of fuel.
Actually, all but Denise Graves, I know.Originally posted by milo
So if I ask people on this board which name is more familiar:
Bruce Willis or Jose Carreras
Sandra Bullock or Denise Graves
Tom Hanks or Placido Domingo
which do you think they will answer?
Absolutely true, and in this case I yield . Yet, that doesn't disprove the idea of a cycle... the fact that jazz hasn't been extremely popular in the last forty years doesn't imply that it's never going to be popular again.Originally posted by milo
It's not nonsense. Swing and jazz were mainstream entertainment in the 1940's. [...] Jazz and swing have not enjoyed the same level of mass popularity since the ascendancy of rock music with Elvis and the Beatles.
As I said, musicals are a form of opera. How many people here, do you think, haven't heard of Ewan McGregor or Nicole Kidman?Bruce Willis or Jose Carreras
[...] which do you think they will answer?
True enough. On the other hand, if we apply that analogy to space sims, it could imply that in a few years, most space sims will be mouse-driven RPG style games like Earth & Beyond. Yes, I'm stretching a point here, and no I don't believe that outcome is likely.Originally posted by Quarto
As I said, musicals are a form of opera. How many people here, do you think, haven't heard of Ewan McGregor or Nicole Kidman?
Actually, I think that opera and classical music in general were the dominant forms of popular music in Mozart's era. But we've beat this topic into the ground already. I will agree that opera (in whatever form) is not as "marginalized" today as I suggested earlier.Besides, you look at it the wrong way, really... opera never had the sort of mass appeal that action movies have. And yes, in spite of this, I say that it's just as well known as action movies.
Well, this will certainly be an interesting year, won't it? We have Episode 2 and a new Star Trek movie. In the gaming world we may see Freelancer, and a couple of high profile multiplayer space games (EVE, Earth & Beyond). The major licenses will be sure to chime in with games of their own (Star Wars Galaxies, whatever the next Trek game is). If there is going to be a turnaround in space-based science fiction, now would be a good time for it to happen.All in all, I do not believe space-sims are gone forever, or even for long. Star Wars Episode 2 will generate some interest, which in turn will hopefully fuel Star Wars Online's success. This in turn will fuel other online space-sims, and this will probably result in the reappearance of the single-player space-sims, too.
Now, this is the kind of attitude I was looking for!Originally posted by milo
If there is going to be a turnaround in space-based science fiction, now would be a good time for it to happen.
Originally posted by Wedge009
Now, this is the kind of attitude I was looking for!
a hundred years ago, operas were not televised and broadcast, which they are these days.
Originally posted by milo
http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/~martins/orbit/orbit.html
Warning: This sucker is the real deal and it is hard.
Originally posted by milo
The major licenses will be sure to chime in with games of their own (Star Wars Galaxies, whatever the next Trek game is). If there is going to be a turnaround in space-based science fiction, now would be a good time for it to happen.
Originally posted by WildWeasel
Then they operate much like afterburners do in Privateer. What's wrong with that?
Well, none of the major developers is really working on a new WC style game. They tend to be really expensive to make (especially if you include filmed actors) and they haven't sold well. Most new development is being done on MMO RTS/RPG games like EVE, E&B, Ace of Angels, Jumpgate Ep 2. The only major single player space sim in development is Freelancer, and that will probably not have the WC feel either.Originally posted by junior
Unfortunately, Star Wars combat is about as dissimilar to WC as you can get...
Originally posted by milo
Well, none of the major developers is really working on a new WC style game. They tend to be really expensive to make (especially if you include filmed actors) and they haven't sold well.
For what its worth, the demos are available here:Originally posted by RFBurns
Independence War and its sequel are games that I have not had the pleasure of trying out, probably because I was so wound up into going thru some FPS games during the time I-War came out. But yes, I did fail to mention that there were probably other sim games out that closely resemble Newtonian physics.
Originally posted by RFBurns
I know what you mean by embarrasing afterburner slides. Probably could have been adjusted better in the ships characteristics within the game. One can seriously foul up the settings for the ships in WCP/SO using the ship editor program and slide forever with one hit of the afterburner! (ok, im guilty, I messed with settings and slid for what seemed like thousands of light years in WCP/SO!)
Originally posted by Wedge009
I'm not very afterburner 'trigger-happy', so I find it hard to imagine that people can run out of fuel. Oh well, different flying styles, I guess. I did run out of AB in a Devastator a few times, though. Pesky bugs.
But even if you are a heavy AB user, there's always the near-infinite AB sliding technique, where available.
Originally posted by RFBurns
Downloading your sim milo! This is great! So many fan made sims, I think I am going to have a busy weekend!
Yup, I sure did. Everything is relative. The gameplay is different only in the context of comparing one scripted space combat sim to another. When you compare them to a Mahjong game or Sim City, XWA and WC are almost indistinguishable from one another.Originally posted by junior
You misunderstood me.
The gameplay between the Star Wars games and the Wing Commander games is about as different as you can get.
Actually, I do not believe you are stretching the point. I do not see a reason to discount the above possibility. In fact, when you think about it, unless this happens, the genre will not become popular again. Space-sims, with one or two exceptions, have virtually identical gameplay. This thread illustrates that point perfectly - any genre where people hate or love a game because it has afterburners with infinite or finite fuel desperately needs change.Originally posted by milo
True enough. On the other hand, if we apply that analogy to space sims, it could imply that in a few years, most space sims will be mouse-driven RPG style games like Earth & Beyond. Yes, I'm stretching a point here, and no I don't believe that outcome is likely.
Indeed, it will be an interesting year. Never have the hopes of so many depended on so few products .Well, this will certainly be an interesting year, won't it?