Getting ready for No Man's Sky.

So I plan to play a lot of No Man's Sky when it launches in just a few weeks, and stream while I'm at it. I want to get my mind ready for NMS and to scratch that itch I already have. I have been playing a lot of Kerbal Space Program and Minecraft lately but am looking for something new and more.

Was hoping some duders could give me some good game recommendations.

Please and thank you!

My twitch page is www.twitch.tv/TheGurns , if anyone wanted to see me play some games sometime. Would be great to have some more like minded people in chat. Hope to see you there!


Here is the list I have compiled so far.

Games-

• Elite Dangerous
• X3: Terran Conflict/Albion Prelude
• Sins of a Solar Empire
• Stellaris
• Galactic Civilizations 2/3
• Star Citizen
• Starbound (play the unstable version on stream, it's close to the 1.0 launch build that hits on July 22nd.)
• Rebel Galaxy
• Startopia
• Terraria
• Factorio
• FTL
• Minecraft
• Kerbal Space Program
• Parkan
• Elite II
• Freespace
• Independence War
• Spore
• Freelancer
• Space Engine
• Proteus
• Dear Esther
• MirrorMoon EP
• Xenoblade Chronicles X
• Mass Effect
• Solus Project
• Evolve

Music-

• 64DaysofStatic

Movies/Shows-

• Dune mini series
• Blade Runner
• The Abyss
• Sphere
• Predator
• Predator 2
• Predators
• Alien
• Aliens
• Prometheus
• Star Wars
• Star Trek TNG
• Farscape
• Stargate

Books-

• Dune

Give Elite Dangerous a go.

Also, consider how good that itch scratching will feel if you don't scratch it until NMS actually comes out.

@spakkle: That is a good point, but I also want to work on my streaming skills so I'm not horrible to watch when it does come out!.

I actually spaced on Elite Dangerous, haven't tried it in some time (since launch). Thanks for the reminder/idea! :D

Just gonna dump some of my space game picks here.

X3: Terran Conflict / Albion Prelude are pretty good space flyin' games, if a little older. Sins of a Solar Empire for RTS/4X space stuff (or Stellaris if you wanna go deep 4X/Part-Grand Strategy). Galactic Civilizations 2 or 3 are pretty fun 4X/turn-based games.

Elite: Dangerous if you wanna fly around awesome looking stuff. Haven't gotten around to getting Horizons though.

And while not a game, I got real into 65DaysofStatic after that stream they put on a long time ago since they're involved in the soundtrack apparently. Some good stuff.

@capum15: Thanks for the list! Now to look them all up!

Oh man I've been playing Stellaris a bunch too! Have a weekly multiplayer game I'm part of, so much fun!

I've been quite hooked on 65DaysofStatic also.

Star Citizen is the closest thing I can think of if you have any interest in jumping in early on a game that isn't complete yet.

@franstone: Is that actually something I can hop in and go explore? Or is it just dog fighting at this point?

Also, watch this:

Starbound is a good No man's sky like game.

@nickolas_moore: No problem! X3:TC/AP were really fun for me, and essentially my first games in the whole "fly around in space" genres. They're older 4X games and can get pretty complicated at points, but it was always fun to cruise around. Especially border systems where two factions would fight. I...sort of liked X: Rebirth but it's definitely not X4, which is what I really wanted. Rebirth has a super rad soundtrack though, and I still listen to it a good amount.

Sins is still something I play from time to time, especially once the space RTS itch sets in (though Stellaris has been a pretty great substitute, less control over fights though).

I haven't played Elite in a long time but I really enjoyed just flying around (it has really good flight mechanics, thinking back about it).

GalCiv is kind of your standard turn-based 4X, but still fun.

There's also always going back to Mass Effect, if you ever got into that. I still adore that game. The combat was super awesome no matter what people say, because as a pure Biotic you were basically God. With an infinite super pistol. Global Cooldown was the worst thing ever for me in 2 and 3. Made me change to Infiltrator and Engineer, respectively.

@soulcake: Ooooo Starbound, reinstalling now. I played this pre-launch, what better time to go back than now!

@capum15: All the info! Thank you!!

I haven't played Mass Effect 1 since it first launched and I beat it once. Maybe I'll go back to that... hrmmm

I've been enjoying your streams (and thankful to be part of a few) I have a few suggestions:

Rebel Galaxy -More story driven, might not bore you out on space flight.
Startopia - Like Stellaris, which you've been already playing, but much smaller and with a sense of humour 'Theme hospital style' this is a strategy game that has a pace that lets you engage with Chat.
Terriria (Not sure how you spell that one) - Might be good for playing with the community?
X3- I saw this mentioned already, it's a BIG space game with a real "do what ever the F*** you want" kind of attitude.
Factorio - Real fun Factory building game, you're stranded on a planet and you have to craft your way up a research tree and build a rocket to get home. Factorio Has co-op
FTL is a good one that's about space but takes a different angle on it.
The only problem with Elite is it has a chance to burn you out on space flight before NMS comes out.

You've been quite awesome at Kerbal Space program, but that game likes to corrupt saves all the time. Wish they'd fix that.

Keep up the good work!

BD

@nickolas_moore: I believe Terraria has a bigger following than Starbound?

@spaceinsomniac: HAHAH such a good laugh, thanks :D

@binarydragon: It's been great having you in chat and co-streaming with you man!

Thanks for adding to my ever growing list. Excited to build more of a community on the stream together in preparation for No Man's Sky and past it's launch.

But Starbound has ships and planet travel!

@nickolas_moore: There isn't much variety at the moment. You buy your ship/game package and get access to your hangar where you can load a flight tutorial and some dogfight type modes. The persistent universe part has been "planted" and is growing (slowly). You can spawn at a space station where you can board your ship and do a small variety of missions which involve warping to different locations, dogfights, even an FPS encounter on a space station.
Star Citizen is supposed to have space to planet transitions a la No Man's Sky eventually as well but who knows when all that will happen. To me it's the closest thing that comes to mind when thinking of No Man's Sky minus the grand scale with more crafted experiences (eventually).
I'd never suggest anyone buy into an incomplete game but thought I'd just chime in, maybe you'd find it interesting.

@nickolas_moore: true, I just don't own starboard, so I'm more for a Terraira stream cos i might be able to join in.

I also had a LOT of fun with Fortresscraft you should check that out.

@franstone: Elite Dangerous seems to do all those things too, but is maybe more filled in at this point? (Not to sure) Also their Horizons update added space to planet transitions i believe. I think I'll go check out that one first. I already own it.
But thanks :D

@binarydragon: noted good sir! Noted. I actually may have an extra copy of Starbound in my stream account. Ill let you know.

@capum15: I would wait like a week or so for Starbound, the official 1.0 launch is literally around the corner. It has been in alpha/beta/whatever for a long time and I've checked in here and there and loved it, but never dove in too deep because I wanted to wait for the 1.0 version. Thankfully that is soon, and should hold me over until No Man's Sky takes over my life.

Read Dune!

@takayamasama: noted!

Starbound has now been bumped HIGH up my stream/play list. Wonder what all 1.0 will bring.

@jonny_anonymous: I didn't know you had access to my currently reading list on my kindle...

GOG got a few classics (sadly not the original Elite games which No Man's Sky pays the most homage to), and just recently released the Russian Parkan from 1997, which was one of the first to let you exit your ship and explore the surface of planets (Elite II had already let you land on planets, but only in order to place mining rigs or trade at space ports).

They currently have a sale on the amazing Freespace and Independence War games, which however are more space combat focused, so if you don't already own those, I'd absolutely recommend picking them up.

@fisk0: My wallet hates you... but thank you so much! I don't own any of the games you mentions, I am now looking into every one of them.

@nickolas_moore: If you don't wanna get all of them, I'd probably recommend going for Freespace 2 or Independence War II. Freespace 2 also has an absolutely amazing modding scene, allowing stuff like this:

@fisk0: what did I just watch... thanks again for all the info!

I know all and see all.

Spore.

You can download the original Elite from Frontier's store, here. It's free.

@nickolas_moore: Dig up an old copy of Freelancer. That was a really fun trading/combat space game with gates, upgradable ships and a fun shooting mechanic. Man they should really remake Freelancer!

Oddly enough playing games like elite dangerous and rebel galaxy have made me more skeptical about how much fun this game will be. I've been on a space game kick for about a year now and have tried almost all of them, and the most fun i've had are with the 4x games. I think stellaris has the best feel of exploration early game of any of the space games i've played including non 4x games like elite and rebel. There is a game that vinny quick looked not to long ago that is early access that is all space combat, i'm blanking on the name right now though.

@paulmako: Oh good idea! My list of games to play is quickly growing, thanks for our input.

@dave_tacitus: Most likely playing this in the afternoon today now, thank you for the link!

@humanity: From just the sound of it I totally agree, they should remake it! Im looking into finding a copy now, thanks :D

@oursin_360: I was a bit worried about my excited level for No Man's Sky also... but then I realized something. I get a CRAZY amount of joy from starting up a new Minecraft world and just walk. See what the game generates for me, find a cool mountain, explore a deep cave. I just love seeing the new stuff that math can give me to find, and that's what this game will be. I mean to a base all we really know about No Man's Sky is that there will be a bunch of world that are variants, be it slight or extremes, from each other. Anything more I get and I'll be ecstatic.

Oh man, the BBC Micro version. That's rad, but when they went that route they probably should've gone with the crazy Acorn Archimedes version, which like the later Elite II had a world that was running without the player's input, NPC ships had trade routes and would fight among themselves and stuff, which the original BBC Micro Elite didn't have.

Looks like Ian Bell, the other creator of Elite (along with Frontier's David Braben) hosts that version + an Archimedes emulator at http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/elite/arc/

@fisk0: Thanks for the info and the link Fisk!

I've tried for a while but am unable to get the Archimedes version working in Windows 10, not sure if it's the emulator or the game file that doesn't work since there's no error messages at all, so I guess you're better off with the BBC Micro version that Frontier Development hosts, that version is confirmed to work.

There's also Oolite, a freeware clone of the original Elite. I've not played it in a while and it seems the graphics have had an upgrade - I preferred the original style, which aped the ST/Amiga version of Elite.

http://www.oolite.org/

@fisk0: I'll let you know if I get it running and what I end up doing.

@dave_tacitus: Thanks :D !! I'll check it out. Man this list is getting going!

I know this is unfair and makes me seem like I'm in some sort of ivory tower, but after experiencing Elite dangerous in the Rift, I've kinda chilled on my excitement for this game. I'm sure I'll have fun with it, but... damn was it cool to fly a spaceship in Elite with the rift.

@nickolas_moore: Oh, Rebel Galaxy! It's all kind of on the one plane and more like a naval ship combat game, but the soundtrack is dope (and customizable!), and the combat is fun. Feels like a real good Space Cowboy game from what I played of it a while ago.

@nickolas_moore: Space Engine, http://en.spaceengine.org/ (ITS FREE) Gives you the best idea of what a procedural generated universe can be. With 3d realistic looking, galaxies, solar systems, black holes, comets, plants moons, and everything else you'd expect to find in space. There's a spaceship mode in the game, bit its really mor fun to just scroll around from planet to planet, seeing what there is to see. Here's a screenshot i took.

Everyone is recommending Elite and other space sims, but so far the gameplay we've seen leads me to compare it to games like Proteus, Dear Esther and other walking simulators, the difference this time is that you fly to the places you then walk on. Other than walking we also know you can shoot a gun at stuff and there are animals, and a "police" presence which punishes you for doing... things.
I hope it's more than that, and that people arn't disappointed.

Honestly, I don't want to ruin anyone's fun, but personally I'm deeply concerned about No Man's Sky. I think it's going to be a cool technical innovation, but not a very good game - at all. I can't even say why really except that even the most exciting stuff they demo has been really boring. I don't think people will be finding unique, neat stuff in the procedural world after experiencing a few hours of it - it'll be different looking in ways, but functionally and aesthetically very samey. Again these are all impressions/fears - certainly not facts or even my official opinions (yet).

I really hope I'm wrong. I love space, and oddly enough, games. Apollo 11 VR simulation actually brought tears to my eyes, and it's not even a game. I want something like that now, in VR, with the potential to explore the vast universe like NMS. I really should finally try Elite it seems, from what people are saying!

@zombievac: Hey, there hasn't been a better time then now to be a "cool technical innovation but not a good game". Those seem to make millions of dollars in the first 5 days of launch.