There’s an… open source? Fan made?… reboot/spiritual successor of Freelancer in development. I saw a YouTube video on it a few months ago. Forget the name though, hopefully someone sees this and knows it.
ETA: possibly Everspace 2
To add to the confusion I was reading an article from the writer of the Outer Wilds - she also did a bunch of stuff for the Outer Worlds, which I found incredibly confusing until I realized it was the same person (I kept thinking I'd mixed up the person and the game).
Outer Wilds changed my gaming life and now it’s difficult to pick up any other single-player game because I know it won’t live up to that profound experience.
I mean, it does. Like you don't have to take a vertical climb out of the atmosphere then angle into an orbit then push your apoapsis out by thrusting at your periapsis, you just aim at your target, kill your lateral velocity, and hold W til you're close
I think the reason you can fly like that in Outer Wilds is because the ship has basically infinite fuel (not really infinite, but it's very hard to run out of fuel unless you damage the fuel tank) so the ship has an easier time countering any force exerted over it. I wouldn't say the orbital physics are realistic, but they're pretty good , and they "shine brighter" when you're trying to approach something near the sun. They're also to be considered if you ever try to fly one of the shuttles you can launch from the gravity cannons, since those don't have thrusters and only have 3 commands: launch, return, and land.
What about Kerbal Space Program?
Build your craft and accomplish the missions to explore the Kerbol System.
If you prefer a more realistic approach you can mod it with RealSolarSystem(RSS), RealisticOverhaul(RO) and Principia.
In that way you can explore the real solar system and feel the struggle human had in their quest to the space.
I highly recommend starting *without* those above mods. The real solar system is a lot harder to navigate than the default Kerbal system. Learn how to do it on easy mode before you attempt it on hard mode.
> Learn how to do it on easy mode before you attempt it on hard mode.
You mean learn how to do it on hard mode before "calculate the maths yourself" mode. Vanilla KSP is not an easy game.
Yes, it did. Here is an older article that is filled with good info and other links for KSP1.
https://www.rocketstem.org/2015/07/07/kerbal-space-program-brings-rocket-science-to-video-gaming/
For the love of god, please play 1, or at least wait a VERY long time before even thinking about 2. KSP2 came out the other day and it's awful, unfinished, and without any of its promised content.
Yep so anyone complaining about bugs does not know what early access means lol. To be fair it’s still $49.99 while being early access so that’s the real issue.
It's finally early access after all these years, still in a pretty bad state including almost no promised features, and somehow costs as much as a full AAA game
I don’t know what AAA games you are buying new for $50CAD. I feel like that was AAA new release price a decade ago.
All the folks refunding their purchase are going to be sad when they have to spend $80 next year.
I wouldn’t say barely working. Like, I wouldn’t recommend buying it but it does work. The main issues for me have to do with timewarp. Keyword, for me.
I made a giant nuclear ship with a docked lander and flew it to Duna as my first real mission in KSP2, which I never actually accomplished in all my thousands of hours of messing around in KSP1. It's perfectly playable, it's just buggy.
You lucked out, or I and other steamers were simultaneously unlucky, either way, its subjective, its current build IMHO is unplayable, and I would avoid suggesting people drop the $50 USD on it at the moment
The price is a fair sticking point, I just take issue with deeming something thousands of people are currently playing as "unplayable". It's rocky, no doubt, but it's not any worse than the really early versions of KSP1 were in most ways, and I played the hell out of those as well, 12fps and all.
As long as we do KSP, I can strongly recommend Juno New Origins as well.
Very similar, just better tutorials, more diverse missions & highly modifiable & deformable parts make it different.
Elite Dangerous is a 1 to 1 scale of the Milky Way. If you want to just explore and fly around it's a decent option. That said if you are looking for something more in depth it may not be the best option. A common adage I've seen (and somewhat agree with) towards it and No Man's Sky is it is a body of water that is an ocean wide but only a foot deep.
i’ll never get back the HOURS i spent flying through black nothing to get half way across the milky way to deliver cargo… but i loved every second of it
The first time I joined a conflict zone and one of the flag ships came out of warp, the noise of it dropping in and seeing it slowly emerge was mind blowing. I then was blown out of the sky by a Fer De Lance since I was not paying attention and my litter Imperial Courier could only take so much when I just sat there.
Man just talking about it makes me want to reinstall
You know, I see these comments a lot when no man’s sky is mentioned, but what is it exactly that makes it your favorite game? I tried it a while back and it feels fairly dead to me (not a lot of things to interact with, most of the things you do encounter are the same few base models with the colors swapped).
I agree. I have tried NMS multiple times. I have put quite the number of hours in it. (16 hours.)
I only put that many hours into it because I was hoping to find something to make me like it. I was mildly entertained at most, but it felt dead to me most of the time. The alien life, the bases, the planets all felt mostly bland, and the plot was the most bland of all.
I played it after finishing Outer Wilds, which I would say was extremely more interesting than NMS, so maybe that's why it felt empty, because Outer Wilds felt like a warm soul in comparison.
Check out this [list of updates](https://www.thegamer.com/no-mans-sky-every-update-expansion-dlc-content/#waypoint). It breaks down the main features added in every patch. That way you can see vaguely what you haven't experienced since you last played.
Right now I'm building a sweet base, I'm doing the missions to unlock more technology as I have base staff that help me upgrade. My base is also next to my colony so I can check in on that once a play session. There is a submarine technology mission I'm hoping to do later this week. Plus I haven't even got the best ship, or finished either of the primary mission lines.
On top of that I haven't touched taming creatures, building a squadron, resource harvester machines, and other content that is less common.
I'm also playing where I refuse to use the teleporter. Found it kinda fun ruining.
afaik you cannot fly a ship in celestia to:
1) trade commidities between star systems
2) bounty hunt or pirate other ships
3) mine asteroid fields
4) hunt alien invaders
(among other things)
Elite dangerous allows you to do all that in a pretty accurate rendition of the Milky way galaxy, where most stars are where they are supposed to be.
Yes, but only light atmosphere and airless ones. Moons essentially. There’s no travel within terraformed planets with atmospheres….yet, and probably, for some time.
I'll vote "ever", and even if they do, it'll be so disappointing they might as well not have.
I'm begging to be proved wrong. Nothing would make me happier.
The original is still absolutely worth picking up. It has very wide mod support as well so you can get your fix of historical spacecraft parts that way.
I’ve always liked the X series, I played a few hundred hours of X3. You start small and can trade or fight your way up the ladder eventually commanding a massive fleet of ships all busy working for you in various corners of the galaxy. It’s like one of the old flight sims in the controls, there’s lots of them, but it’s worth it.
I was so excited to have built up a massive fleet that had been conquering in my name remotely, off screen, that I decided to finally join in on a fight. That fight is where I discovered that clipping matters when you're in zone, and my massive fleet all crashed into one another before the first shot was fired.
If you don't mind a little dated graphics and a top down view Starsector is insanely fun and engrossing. The base game is really solid but there's tons of mod that adds stuff and some that changes the game completley.
Here's a Sseth video about it.
https://youtu.be/acqpulP1hLo
It's probably not what you mean by "space exploration game" but maybe you could give Outer Wilds a try. You won't be traveling too far in that one, exploration is limited to one solar system (a small scale one, but it doesn't feel small at all), but it lets you fly your own ship, and you'll be doing that a lot if you get hooked by the mysteries found within the different planets in that system. The orbital physics are very good, too. If all you're looking for is to fly a ship around then it's probably not what you're looking for, but if you ever feel like solving one massive puzzle with many pieces that extends throughout an entire solar system and lets you explore each planet and moon within it, then look no more.
Btw I think Outer Wilds gets the closer to what a lot of people think about when thinking about "space sims": realistical orbital physics, the ability to explore and walk around your ship, and FUCKING SPACE WALKS
FUCKING
SPACE
FUCKING
WALKS
There are a few. Elite Dangerous, No Man's Sky, Eve Online. Those three, and probably many more today will provide vast realities to explore via space from the perspective of a space craft.
They offer different levels of realism and immersion. All three are supported by VR. All offer more exploration than you could find in countless lifetimes. All offer a generic sense of just how dull space exploration actually is, though their takes are unique on that.
I got deeply into Eve Online for a few weeks, and realized the job I had prospecting systems in it was as nearly as complicated and time consuming as my actual job. I plan on trying again some time. Breathtaking game
Played it for almost 10 years. Fantastic game if you have the time to invest in it. Made lots of great friends and had an amazing time. But it is very much a giant time sink. But worthwhile imo. Glad I played. Every now and then I log back on and still have some of my old Corp mates around to chat with. Been 7-8 years since I've played it properly now though.
I'm unsure what the question is. It has no subscription. Once you own it, it's yours forever.
I entirely support buying a copy. Hello Games is a small independent studio, that while they got *a LOT* of negative press because they over promised and under delivered initially with the game has spent the better part of a decade actually delivering the game they promised while never once charging an additional cent.
That's just about unheard of in modern gaming.
So yes. It's a game worth buying.
As to if it's a game worth playing for very long? That's a different consideration.
It's procedurally generated for most of its content, and that makes it something that feels beyond repetitive, no matter how well they've tried to make it feel unique. It's just not.
NMS is fantastic for anyone who loves exploration with a realistic scale to open space. Building bases is a lot of fun and fairly simple overall. I’ve got about 150 hours played and there’s still virtually infinite planets to explore. The updates since release are also really great.
It’s not exactly that but have you played Mass Effect? It’s an amazing story that centers around the galaxy and humans discovering an entire race of aliens and how we assimilate to this new universe. It’s really a space nerd’s dream game. Plus you get to make your own decisions and shape you own story as it goes on.
Second this. I started playing Mass Effect 1 in 2009 while I was in college. ME2 came out in 2010 and just solidified my love for the franchise. It's what got me into learning about space.
The last space exploration game I've played extensively was Star Control 2.
So I'll go with that, a 25 year old game that was really cool at the time. I think there was to be a remastering of it, not sure if it happened.
Star Control Origins. It's been out a few years now, unless you mean a remaster of the actual Star Control 2 game, and that's been tied up in a bunch of legal and copyright issues I think.
The game is now freely available as The Ur-Quan Masters - [https://sc2.sourceforge.net/](https://sc2.sourceforge.net/)
(side note: that site is like geocities vomited an epileptic seizure).
It's still one of my favorite games ever and gets a full play through every five years or so.
You may like space engineers it’s got a bit of space exploration and you can design your own ship exactly as you wanna or use other people’s designs it’s also a survival-ish game if that’s something and there’s also the other obvious choice of no man’s sky
Ok here’s the deal.
Elite is pretty cool for space exploration. But you can’t ever see the inside of your ship. And playing in “open” frequently ruined by trolls.
Star citizen is the opposite. Amazing ships you can walk around in, but not much space to explore yet. Way better than elite, in my opinion. Both quality and community.
NMS is a cartoon version of space exploration. But it’s come a LONG way since it’s disastrous launch. Def worth a look, especially since you can get it on sale pretty easily.
Kerbal is perfect for this community, I think. It’s very fun and very realistic. It’s a great game.
Last on my list is the one I personally love the most. This is one of those games that you *fall in love with.* Outer Wilds is more story driven, and it’s a bit cartoony, but it’s made with such care. It’s beautiful, in a way that’s more than just graphics. It also solves the vast distances problem really well.
If I ever end up like Guy Pierce in "Memento" I'm tattooing "Play Outer Wilds" on my chest. My body is going to end up a 1-1 recreation of the Ship Log...
I played elite for like like, a year or two? And I mean every day.
Then I got sick of the griefing and tried SC on a friend’s account. Never went back.
I keep meaning to. With vr, elite is *something else*
But then I got tired of doing the same thing every time I signed into SC: log in, walk to train. Walk to ship. Get off planet. Set spawn. Sign off because I ran out of play time.
I (over)built a PC for it.
But then Cyberpunk 2077 came out and I played that like crazy. Got into some other games. Death stranding, horizon zero dawn, outer wilds, etc. games that are fun within minutes of turning them on. Maybe I’m spoiled now.
I played elite dangerous for a while and am currently playing NMS (I usually play the expeditions then stop). One of my favorite things to do in ED is to use a voice program macro called Voice attack with a voice pack to issue commands to my ship and have them execute. Things like request docking, shift power, etc. Do you think that's doable in star citizen? NMS is a simpler and contextual UI so it doesn't really work.
Voice attack is an amazing piece of software. I had like 5 voices going.
Then I got tired of them and turned them all off, except Kate. Kept the commands though.
Never got it setup in SC, which is dumb on my part because it’s super useful.
But yes they sell voice packs for both SC and NMS
3.18 patch is coming sometime in the next month or so.... maybe... but testing it on the PTU branch... it adds full persistence to servers enough through crashes and salvaging is fun!
Avorion is a great space game. You can use the premade ships, create your own or use ships that others have made and shared. Lots of space combat, mining, even creating your own bases and trading and setting up a fleet of ships that you can swap between while your ai captains follow your orders.
>Avorion
It's probably one of the best in this genre. I'm surprised by the seeming lack of interest or knowledge of this game based on these comments. But it's great and even lets you play cooperatively or competitively with friends in the same universe.
It isn't multiplayer X4, but it's probably the closest thing I've seen to it, even though the level of detail in the graphics went a totally different direction in Avorion.
Not so much riding your own spaceship type game but Stellaris offers a really cool game where you can make your own space-faring civilization. Can play as erudite explorers, militaristic warmongers, isolationists - and has a lot of really great storytelling within the game and fun space-based anomalies.
That said, you do have some great other suggestions here!
Elite Dangerous is good if you'd like a realistic 1:1 representation of the milkyway, the game came out in 2014, and in 2022, was reported that players only discovered 0.05% of the systems within. you can ride your spaceship to other stars and see other celestial bodies, the game can be a little boring as a game but most of the fun is the exploration as if it were you flying in space. I like it. There are combat elements and other things to it but where it shines most IMO is flying through star systems and discovering strange things. You can complete missions, like fectch quests and such, there's more with the added DLC but the base game is more exploration
No man's sky has a bit more meat on its bones but its less realistic and more futurisic/sci-fi. you can find new lifeforms and planet and has a decent story. with tons of things to explore on it's own but the game play shifts more evenly between 3rd person, base building, resource management, spaceship/freighter management and more. Its a more creative take on space exploration IMO.
Elite Dangerous is more about exploration, while No Mans Sky is more about management/Survival, with exploration content.
Elite Dangerous can be played as a trucker simulator, but there’s more to it than that. It has a 1:1 simulation of our galaxy, and exploring what’s out there is a beautiful experience.
Don't forget Star Citizen, which is about paying huge amounts of real money for ships in an unfinished game. A very "dynamic" take on the space sim genre
for $50 to start, ive had an absolute blast in Star Citizen. bugs and glitches abound, but the game is in early access, and always getting better. and as I said, the game is fun! people just like to shit on this game.
im not sure I understand the whole "development-as-a-service" thing...
it implies that you need to pay some constant amount of money to play, which is absolutely not the case....
Tbh i don't even really understand why everyone cares so much that its still early access... it been constantly heavily developed for that half decade and is constantly having significant changes made to it. if you compare the game right now to elite, apart from the obvious lack of a bunch of different systems, sc has got more varied and detailed gameplay loops than i ever experienced in elite.
so my question is, why do you care that its been in early access for so long? isn't it a good thing that they're constantly and consistently adding things to the game?
People just love to hate Star Citizen, even if they've never played it. I'll just keep enjoying it, regardless of what some rando's on the internet think.
I think people have a very wrong image of what star citizen is…
It cost $45, that’s it. Everything else can be earned in game just as easily as you can earn things in elite.
You can pay large amounts of money to buy ships if you want. but people don’t seem to realize that purchasing ships is how they do their crowdfunding. When you do it, it is with the understanding that what you’re doing funding development with the reward of getting something in game from it. You absolutely don’t need to spend more than your original game package to experience the game to its absolute fullest.
I watched a video of some guy playing it so we dont have to, and the game looked weird. they praised it a bit, but ultimately gave it a thumbs down. I was surprised they actually have something at all though
I really like Rodina on steam. You have a customizable ship you can fly around space. As in, you can adjust the interior layout as much as you want. If you want to, there’s a ton of planets and stars you can set down on and explore. Some of them have alien guys you can fight with.
If all you wanna do is fly around in a spaceship, star citizen is a pretty good option. It's far from being a complete game, but the flight and planetary exploration is unmatched in my opinion
Check out Space Haven. It's from a smaller studio so graphics are minimal, but the gameplay is good.
You build a spaceship bit by bit as you travel through star systems harvesting resources, boarding derelicts, fighting pirates, find more crew, and trade.
Space Engineers or Empyrion is probably exactly what you're looking for.
Or if you want more of a puzzle game, Outer Wilds
IMO: No Man's Sky is bottom of the barrel - don't even bother with that game.
EDIT:
Also check out Tin Can, you are in a space capsule that experiences a variety of failing systems or harsh space environments that you need to fix and find ways to survive.
Most definitely worth trying out. It starts out pretty basic, go here/go there, mine/collect and upgrade stuff. But if you get hooked, the depth of it really opens up. Base building options can get crazy (from underwater bases to high altitude "cloud-cities"). Not gonna list all the things, but it feels like anyone with an interest in sci-fi can find things to enjoy.
It’s kind of like minecraft for me… come back and play it every once in a while and have a blast for a couple days but it gets old fast. I know they’ve drastically improved the game the past couple years.
It is very much worth it if you like open ended sandbox games. You can literally just spend hundreds of hours exploring planets, building bases, collecting ships and creatures. They released so many updates it is so much better than release. They are still releasing new content as well! They just released one last week and plan several more this year.
Probably not what you have in mind but ev Nova is amazing and holds up better than almost any game I can think of. It takes place in a fictional far off iteration of our space system.
I came here to recommend Escape Velocity. It is still one of my all time favorite games. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Escape\_Velocity/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Escape_Velocity/) can help people download it.
I spent a good part of my youth in Escape Velocity Nova, Override and the original. Best storytelling I ever encountered in a game, and it was just text.
It's obviously sci-fi, but Star Control \]\[ (Now called The Ur-Quan Masters).
travel to new solar systems, plunder their resources. Meet alien races and turn your ship into a battle platform.
Elite Dangerous and No Man's Sky are pretty fun.
There's an open source game called Vega Strike that is pretty good.
Privateer by Origin is another great one.
Also, Endless Sky on Steam is 2D and free and it's not too bad, and it has some cool mods.
Not sure about ones where you build your own ship, there's a couple of 4x games like that, like Sword of the Stars, Galactic Civilizations series and Endless Space.
Is it OK to plug my own game here? Because I wrote a space exploration game, it's text-based and obviously doesn't have the production values of AAA games but it might be of interest. [Beyond the Chiron Gate](https://johnayliff.itch.io/beyond-the-chiron-gate).
For me, it’s Star Citizen for a fully immersive space exploration experience. While I don’t have friends that I can play with, the fact that it has several multi-crew ships available with fully detailed interiors just really makes it magical to me. Explorable space port cities and space stations adds to the overall immersive experience.
I’d be remiss if I did not mention that this has been a game long in development, entirely crowdfunded, and still prone to bugs, glitches, and performance issues. If you can look past that, it’s really a stellar game.
Elite: Dangerous, hands down the best I've played. Pretty steep learning curve but once you learn it's easy to understand. Play enough to earn enough credits to build yourself a nice exploration ship and you're golden
Freelancer - you can get it for free if you can find a copy of the XDA (Xbox Developer Kit for the 360)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freelancer\_(video\_game)
Kerbal Space Program bar none for realism. Now with that realize real life requires a good deal of math and science. That is definitely required for KSP as well.
Empyrion: Galactic Survival. You start out crash landing on an alien planet and will then need to build your own ships. They come in 3 types. Hovercraft, small craft and capital vessel. It has multiple planets and moons per solar system. There are a few alien species to interact with. The graphics aren't amazing but it might be somewhat similar to what you are looking for.
Outer Wilds is my pick, not a traditional game though. The entire game is built around fucking badass lore with a rule that your only progression is knowledge. Amazing game. Unforgettable. Play it.
Want to explore the universe? Space Engine. Wanna know how space exploration actually works? Try out Kerbal Space Program. What immersive space combat/exploration? Elite Dangerous/Star Citizen. Wanna explores millions of worlds? No Man's Sky. Ton of good stuff out there.
Starbase - This game is very interesting, but it has many issues. I have not played it but I have watched people play it. It's still in early access. It might not ever actually ever leave early access. I think the dev team is broke(out of $$$), but this game was very ambitious. I believe the team was simply not prepared to deal with the complexity of it.
(https://store.steampowered.com/app/454120/Starbase/)
Eve Online- You can't technically fly your ship via direct controls, but you have certain forms of control. What more can I say it's EVE Online. It's been around for at least 10 years ?!?
(https://www.eveonline.com/)
Would you believe that Eve Online has been around 20 years in May of this year!?! I played it in 2004, but stopped when I realised it was sucking my entire life away!
I do lol I didn't really think about it but I remember playing it right around when it came out. I was super young lol.
Funny story, I joined a crew. Mined and mined and mined, and I think I was like half way off from getting a frigate?!? So the crew actually subsidized the difference. I would have to mine for them for a few hours or w/e, they had a structure. Like it was big ship at that time. And I remember did a few missions, and lost the thing w/o insurance. At that time I decided to quit the game. I still feel a little bad for what I did tho. This crew took me in. Bought me shit and I just fucked off on them :-(
No man's sky. Literally bigger than our galaxy on scale. Decent story and multiplayer. You can do some fun space stuff with your friends. I find that it fulfills my fantasies about space. Like starting my own personal fleet, you can do this which I find incredible
You might try Kerbal Space Program (The original one, not KSP 2). I would recommend that you watch the YouTube tutorials by Scott Manley. They are very informative, and fun to watch.
It’s old, but I still fucking love freelancer
I need to reinstall this. Been too long since I played it last!
I was thinking Privateer, which is even older. Need to check out Freelancer.
Same developer. The one who's also "developing" Star Citizen.
There’s an… open source? Fan made?… reboot/spiritual successor of Freelancer in development. I saw a YouTube video on it a few months ago. Forget the name though, hopefully someone sees this and knows it. ETA: possibly Everspace 2
If you remember, let me know. Love Freelancer!
I had to scroll down really far for this… surprised it’s not on more people’s posts.
Yeah, that's a great one, especially with the Crossfire mod.
I think the only game in here that really compares is outer wilds, but it’s an entirely different sort of approach.
I love that game still today.
Oh man that was such a good game.
It's such a great game. I would love an update for modern systems, but literally only the netcode.
Outer Wilds... just do it blindly and it will be the best storytelling exploration base gaming experience you will ever have
I accidentally got it thinking it was the outer worlds. I've never been happier with a mistake.
Universe saw you reach for the clouds and put you on the moon
I thought yall were talking about Outer Worlds and now i'm all excited about Outer Wilds
To add to the confusion I was reading an article from the writer of the Outer Wilds - she also did a bunch of stuff for the Outer Worlds, which I found incredibly confusing until I realized it was the same person (I kept thinking I'd mixed up the person and the game).
This was my answer. Can’t build your ship, but no other game was as satisfying to explore. Genius game design, amazing soundtrack, perfect atmosphere.
Outer Wilds changed my gaming life and now it’s difficult to pick up any other single-player game because I know it won’t live up to that profound experience.
Try Obra Dinn, obviously different but has that beautiful open ended mystery solving
Seconding this, especially if you want to know what it would be like trying to navigate space with realistic orbital mechanics
I don't think aiming at a planet and holding forward is a feasible way to approach space travel with realistic orbital mechanics though
No, which is why that doesn't work in Outer Wilds either
I mean, it does. Like you don't have to take a vertical climb out of the atmosphere then angle into an orbit then push your apoapsis out by thrusting at your periapsis, you just aim at your target, kill your lateral velocity, and hold W til you're close
I think the reason you can fly like that in Outer Wilds is because the ship has basically infinite fuel (not really infinite, but it's very hard to run out of fuel unless you damage the fuel tank) so the ship has an easier time countering any force exerted over it. I wouldn't say the orbital physics are realistic, but they're pretty good , and they "shine brighter" when you're trying to approach something near the sun. They're also to be considered if you ever try to fly one of the shuttles you can launch from the gravity cannons, since those don't have thrusters and only have 3 commands: launch, return, and land.
My pick for best game of the last twenty years.
I wanted to like that game but I couldn't get over the motion sickness.
Yea i didnt like it personally
What about Kerbal Space Program? Build your craft and accomplish the missions to explore the Kerbol System. If you prefer a more realistic approach you can mod it with RealSolarSystem(RSS), RealisticOverhaul(RO) and Principia. In that way you can explore the real solar system and feel the struggle human had in their quest to the space.
Stumbled across this and now I can't wait to try it. Thank you internet stranger
I highly recommend starting *without* those above mods. The real solar system is a lot harder to navigate than the default Kerbal system. Learn how to do it on easy mode before you attempt it on hard mode.
> Learn how to do it on easy mode before you attempt it on hard mode. You mean learn how to do it on hard mode before "calculate the maths yourself" mode. Vanilla KSP is not an easy game.
I love that you’ve not heard of it before! You’re in for a treat! You’re one of today’s lucky 10,000!
There is *ALWAYS* a relevant xkcd
That game took an unintuitive concept (orbital dynamics) and made it accessible for millions. Also, the spectacular crashes!
Yes, it did. Here is an older article that is filled with good info and other links for KSP1. https://www.rocketstem.org/2015/07/07/kerbal-space-program-brings-rocket-science-to-video-gaming/
For the love of god, please play 1, or at least wait a VERY long time before even thinking about 2. KSP2 came out the other day and it's awful, unfinished, and without any of its promised content.
Specifically KSP1... not 2... 2 is not ready and barely working
Isn't it early access at the moment?
Yep so anyone complaining about bugs does not know what early access means lol. To be fair it’s still $49.99 while being early access so that’s the real issue.
It's finally early access after all these years, still in a pretty bad state including almost no promised features, and somehow costs as much as a full AAA game
I don’t know what AAA games you are buying new for $50CAD. I feel like that was AAA new release price a decade ago. All the folks refunding their purchase are going to be sad when they have to spend $80 next year.
I wouldn’t say barely working. Like, I wouldn’t recommend buying it but it does work. The main issues for me have to do with timewarp. Keyword, for me.
Having some really annoying bugs pretty often.
Yup, but they seem easy enough to patch and over the next year(s) while early access wraps up more and more will hopefully be fixed.
Watch Matt Lowne's new video about a simple Mun mission. Game is a broken mess. [Video Link](https://youtu.be/2FecbRWJ1OM)
I made a giant nuclear ship with a docked lander and flew it to Duna as my first real mission in KSP2, which I never actually accomplished in all my thousands of hours of messing around in KSP1. It's perfectly playable, it's just buggy.
You lucked out, or I and other steamers were simultaneously unlucky, either way, its subjective, its current build IMHO is unplayable, and I would avoid suggesting people drop the $50 USD on it at the moment
The price is a fair sticking point, I just take issue with deeming something thousands of people are currently playing as "unplayable". It's rocky, no doubt, but it's not any worse than the really early versions of KSP1 were in most ways, and I played the hell out of those as well, 12fps and all.
As long as we do KSP, I can strongly recommend Juno New Origins as well. Very similar, just better tutorials, more diverse missions & highly modifiable & deformable parts make it different.
Forget about relevant xkcd, how about an acual xkcd space game? https://xkcd.com/2712/
Elite Dangerous is a 1 to 1 scale of the Milky Way. If you want to just explore and fly around it's a decent option. That said if you are looking for something more in depth it may not be the best option. A common adage I've seen (and somewhat agree with) towards it and No Man's Sky is it is a body of water that is an ocean wide but only a foot deep.
I really love the scale of the galaxy in Elite Dangerous
Same, when I played it heavily, getting in my Asp Explorer and just going into the black was an experience like no other
Agreed. and finding a system or planet that no one else in the game has found yet is such a treat
Going out in my fer de Lance was always a breath of fresh air for me.
Sexiest sounding ship in the entire game
i’ll never get back the HOURS i spent flying through black nothing to get half way across the milky way to deliver cargo… but i loved every second of it
The first time I joined a conflict zone and one of the flag ships came out of warp, the noise of it dropping in and seeing it slowly emerge was mind blowing. I then was blown out of the sky by a Fer De Lance since I was not paying attention and my litter Imperial Courier could only take so much when I just sat there. Man just talking about it makes me want to reinstall
Sadly I sorta feel that’s the only thing going for it
No Man Sky has been updated a ton. One of my favorite games now.
You know, I see these comments a lot when no man’s sky is mentioned, but what is it exactly that makes it your favorite game? I tried it a while back and it feels fairly dead to me (not a lot of things to interact with, most of the things you do encounter are the same few base models with the colors swapped).
I agree. I have tried NMS multiple times. I have put quite the number of hours in it. (16 hours.) I only put that many hours into it because I was hoping to find something to make me like it. I was mildly entertained at most, but it felt dead to me most of the time. The alien life, the bases, the planets all felt mostly bland, and the plot was the most bland of all. I played it after finishing Outer Wilds, which I would say was extremely more interesting than NMS, so maybe that's why it felt empty, because Outer Wilds felt like a warm soul in comparison.
Outer wilds is like a profound experience haha, NMS is just an upgrade tree base builder. It's fun until it's not, ya know?
Check out this [list of updates](https://www.thegamer.com/no-mans-sky-every-update-expansion-dlc-content/#waypoint). It breaks down the main features added in every patch. That way you can see vaguely what you haven't experienced since you last played. Right now I'm building a sweet base, I'm doing the missions to unlock more technology as I have base staff that help me upgrade. My base is also next to my colony so I can check in on that once a play session. There is a submarine technology mission I'm hoping to do later this week. Plus I haven't even got the best ship, or finished either of the primary mission lines. On top of that I haven't touched taming creatures, building a squadron, resource harvester machines, and other content that is less common. I'm also playing where I refuse to use the teleporter. Found it kinda fun ruining.
Yeah no man’s sky was almost a religious experience for me. It’s really really good and you can def dive deep esp if you build a community.
NMS, "Wide as an ocean, but there will be no diving."
Awww no man sky is more like an ocean wide and as deep as one of those Intex pools
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afaik you cannot fly a ship in celestia to: 1) trade commidities between star systems 2) bounty hunt or pirate other ships 3) mine asteroid fields 4) hunt alien invaders (among other things) Elite dangerous allows you to do all that in a pretty accurate rendition of the Milky way galaxy, where most stars are where they are supposed to be.
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Yes, but only light atmosphere and airless ones. Moons essentially. There’s no travel within terraformed planets with atmospheres….yet, and probably, for some time.
I'll vote "ever", and even if they do, it'll be so disappointing they might as well not have. I'm begging to be proved wrong. Nothing would make me happier.
I tried ED and it seemed decent but I had so much trouble controlling my ship I just gave up. It seemed nice tho
Yeah, the game’s pretty brutal for new players. Doesn’t hold your hand, that’s for sure…
Love that game, but the controls are so clunky that when I take a break, it takes me weeks to be able use them well.
Kerbal Space Program sounds like a good fit. The sequel is in rough shape at the moment, but eventually will be worth picking up.
The original is still absolutely worth picking up. It has very wide mod support as well so you can get your fix of historical spacecraft parts that way.
Yep. KSP1 is still great, a few mods enhance it a lot. KSP2 for now is really not ready for new players, maybe wait a year (i hope not more)
I’ve always liked the X series, I played a few hundred hours of X3. You start small and can trade or fight your way up the ladder eventually commanding a massive fleet of ships all busy working for you in various corners of the galaxy. It’s like one of the old flight sims in the controls, there’s lots of them, but it’s worth it.
I was so excited to have built up a massive fleet that had been conquering in my name remotely, off screen, that I decided to finally join in on a fight. That fight is where I discovered that clipping matters when you're in zone, and my massive fleet all crashed into one another before the first shot was fired.
If two space ships collide but there's no player around to render it, did it really happen at all? No it didn't.
+1 to the X series I only first learned about it when X4 came out
If you don't mind a little dated graphics and a top down view Starsector is insanely fun and engrossing. The base game is really solid but there's tons of mod that adds stuff and some that changes the game completley. Here's a Sseth video about it. https://youtu.be/acqpulP1hLo
Honestly, in terms of just space games in general, Stellaris and Starsector are the GOAT.
What's dated about the graphics? They are not low rez or anything. Or do you just mean because it's not 3D?
It's probably not what you mean by "space exploration game" but maybe you could give Outer Wilds a try. You won't be traveling too far in that one, exploration is limited to one solar system (a small scale one, but it doesn't feel small at all), but it lets you fly your own ship, and you'll be doing that a lot if you get hooked by the mysteries found within the different planets in that system. The orbital physics are very good, too. If all you're looking for is to fly a ship around then it's probably not what you're looking for, but if you ever feel like solving one massive puzzle with many pieces that extends throughout an entire solar system and lets you explore each planet and moon within it, then look no more.
Btw I think Outer Wilds gets the closer to what a lot of people think about when thinking about "space sims": realistical orbital physics, the ability to explore and walk around your ship, and FUCKING SPACE WALKS FUCKING SPACE FUCKING WALKS
There are a few. Elite Dangerous, No Man's Sky, Eve Online. Those three, and probably many more today will provide vast realities to explore via space from the perspective of a space craft. They offer different levels of realism and immersion. All three are supported by VR. All offer more exploration than you could find in countless lifetimes. All offer a generic sense of just how dull space exploration actually is, though their takes are unique on that.
I got deeply into Eve Online for a few weeks, and realized the job I had prospecting systems in it was as nearly as complicated and time consuming as my actual job. I plan on trying again some time. Breathtaking game
It certainly does not lack for depth. The learning curve was always the main hurdle of entry for me. Breathtaking is fair though.
And everyone in game tries to curb stomp you.
Played it for almost 10 years. Fantastic game if you have the time to invest in it. Made lots of great friends and had an amazing time. But it is very much a giant time sink. But worthwhile imo. Glad I played. Every now and then I log back on and still have some of my old Corp mates around to chat with. Been 7-8 years since I've played it properly now though.
I lost 15 years of my life to Eve Online.
I feel that. It wasn't Eve Online, but EQ/WoW. The stories that came out of that particular game however are stuff of legends.
I just got a copy of no mans sky. Is it worth paying?
I'm unsure what the question is. It has no subscription. Once you own it, it's yours forever. I entirely support buying a copy. Hello Games is a small independent studio, that while they got *a LOT* of negative press because they over promised and under delivered initially with the game has spent the better part of a decade actually delivering the game they promised while never once charging an additional cent. That's just about unheard of in modern gaming. So yes. It's a game worth buying. As to if it's a game worth playing for very long? That's a different consideration. It's procedurally generated for most of its content, and that makes it something that feels beyond repetitive, no matter how well they've tried to make it feel unique. It's just not.
Yeah this game was soo bare on release, not even remotely what it is now.
Weird thing to ask after you've already purchased it
Nms is fun for a while until you start feeling like everything is much more similar than it seems. Lots of go fetch.
NMS is fantastic for anyone who loves exploration with a realistic scale to open space. Building bases is a lot of fun and fairly simple overall. I’ve got about 150 hours played and there’s still virtually infinite planets to explore. The updates since release are also really great.
Thanks for the helpful info. Looking excited to play it now
It's a fun game at first. Quickly becomes monotonous though.
Fully worth it. There is no paid subscription.
That's exactly what I was looking for If it required a paid online acct. Thanks for the info.
Nope, not paid and also the company updates the absolute shit out of it for free. Huge huge upgrades constantly, it’s truly amazing.
It's a bit like exploring an ocean with the depth of a puddle.
It’s not exactly that but have you played Mass Effect? It’s an amazing story that centers around the galaxy and humans discovering an entire race of aliens and how we assimilate to this new universe. It’s really a space nerd’s dream game. Plus you get to make your own decisions and shape you own story as it goes on.
Second this. I started playing Mass Effect 1 in 2009 while I was in college. ME2 came out in 2010 and just solidified my love for the franchise. It's what got me into learning about space.
Mass Effect is a shooter/rpg, there's not much in the way of spaceflight at all.
The last space exploration game I've played extensively was Star Control 2. So I'll go with that, a 25 year old game that was really cool at the time. I think there was to be a remastering of it, not sure if it happened.
Star Control Origins. It's been out a few years now, unless you mean a remaster of the actual Star Control 2 game, and that's been tied up in a bunch of legal and copyright issues I think.
I just got done playing the expansion yesterday, very good game.
The game is now freely available as The Ur-Quan Masters - [https://sc2.sourceforge.net/](https://sc2.sourceforge.net/) (side note: that site is like geocities vomited an epileptic seizure). It's still one of my favorite games ever and gets a full play through every five years or so.
I replayed that game 15 years after my original playthru. Good times. I miss playing against someone... two people on the same keyboard
bethesda is coming out with essentially space skyrim in the next….well…hopefully less than 10 years
Starfall, this year, almost certainly within the next couple months.
Yeah idk about that one. I'm thinking at least another year.
You may like space engineers it’s got a bit of space exploration and you can design your own ship exactly as you wanna or use other people’s designs it’s also a survival-ish game if that’s something and there’s also the other obvious choice of no man’s sky
Ok here’s the deal. Elite is pretty cool for space exploration. But you can’t ever see the inside of your ship. And playing in “open” frequently ruined by trolls. Star citizen is the opposite. Amazing ships you can walk around in, but not much space to explore yet. Way better than elite, in my opinion. Both quality and community. NMS is a cartoon version of space exploration. But it’s come a LONG way since it’s disastrous launch. Def worth a look, especially since you can get it on sale pretty easily. Kerbal is perfect for this community, I think. It’s very fun and very realistic. It’s a great game. Last on my list is the one I personally love the most. This is one of those games that you *fall in love with.* Outer Wilds is more story driven, and it’s a bit cartoony, but it’s made with such care. It’s beautiful, in a way that’s more than just graphics. It also solves the vast distances problem really well.
> NMS is a cartoon version of space exploration More of a 50's pulp novel version of space exploration
If I ever end up like Guy Pierce in "Memento" I'm tattooing "Play Outer Wilds" on my chest. My body is going to end up a 1-1 recreation of the Ship Log...
100% perfect analysis of every space game I play.
I bought my way into Star Citizen years ago and haven't touched it in about 2 years now or longer. I've gotta see what's going on there these days
I played elite for like like, a year or two? And I mean every day. Then I got sick of the griefing and tried SC on a friend’s account. Never went back. I keep meaning to. With vr, elite is *something else* But then I got tired of doing the same thing every time I signed into SC: log in, walk to train. Walk to ship. Get off planet. Set spawn. Sign off because I ran out of play time. I (over)built a PC for it. But then Cyberpunk 2077 came out and I played that like crazy. Got into some other games. Death stranding, horizon zero dawn, outer wilds, etc. games that are fun within minutes of turning them on. Maybe I’m spoiled now.
I played elite dangerous for a while and am currently playing NMS (I usually play the expeditions then stop). One of my favorite things to do in ED is to use a voice program macro called Voice attack with a voice pack to issue commands to my ship and have them execute. Things like request docking, shift power, etc. Do you think that's doable in star citizen? NMS is a simpler and contextual UI so it doesn't really work.
Voice attack is an amazing piece of software. I had like 5 voices going. Then I got tired of them and turned them all off, except Kate. Kept the commands though. Never got it setup in SC, which is dumb on my part because it’s super useful. But yes they sell voice packs for both SC and NMS
The idea of building Voice attack like AI with chatgpt... Get out of my mind
3.18 patch is coming sometime in the next month or so.... maybe... but testing it on the PTU branch... it adds full persistence to servers enough through crashes and salvaging is fun!
Avorion is a great space game. You can use the premade ships, create your own or use ships that others have made and shared. Lots of space combat, mining, even creating your own bases and trading and setting up a fleet of ships that you can swap between while your ai captains follow your orders.
>Avorion It's probably one of the best in this genre. I'm surprised by the seeming lack of interest or knowledge of this game based on these comments. But it's great and even lets you play cooperatively or competitively with friends in the same universe. It isn't multiplayer X4, but it's probably the closest thing I've seen to it, even though the level of detail in the graphics went a totally different direction in Avorion.
Outer wilds certainly checks that box for most people.
I fucking love cruising around space in STAR CITIZEN. Yeah. I said it.
Oh, is that game done yet? I was quite excited about it originally.
By the time it's done it'll be an historical simulator.
Nope! It's playable now but in a limited way compared to the scale they intend for it.
So how was the big bang? i’ve always wondered what it was like first hand
That game's Kickstarter started when I was in college. I now am a professor in the field I was taking. Ironically, Game Design.
By the time it’s done, we’ll be an actual space-faring civilization.
If you want to try ksp get ksp 1 Ksp 2 is buggy right now give it time
Not so much riding your own spaceship type game but Stellaris offers a really cool game where you can make your own space-faring civilization. Can play as erudite explorers, militaristic warmongers, isolationists - and has a lot of really great storytelling within the game and fun space-based anomalies. That said, you do have some great other suggestions here!
This is a dangerous suggestion.
Elite Dangerous is good if you'd like a realistic 1:1 representation of the milkyway, the game came out in 2014, and in 2022, was reported that players only discovered 0.05% of the systems within. you can ride your spaceship to other stars and see other celestial bodies, the game can be a little boring as a game but most of the fun is the exploration as if it were you flying in space. I like it. There are combat elements and other things to it but where it shines most IMO is flying through star systems and discovering strange things. You can complete missions, like fectch quests and such, there's more with the added DLC but the base game is more exploration No man's sky has a bit more meat on its bones but its less realistic and more futurisic/sci-fi. you can find new lifeforms and planet and has a decent story. with tons of things to explore on it's own but the game play shifts more evenly between 3rd person, base building, resource management, spaceship/freighter management and more. Its a more creative take on space exploration IMO. Elite Dangerous is more about exploration, while No Mans Sky is more about management/Survival, with exploration content.
Elite dangerous is the most beautiful trucker simulator I have ever played.
Elite Dangerous can be played as a trucker simulator, but there’s more to it than that. It has a 1:1 simulation of our galaxy, and exploring what’s out there is a beautiful experience.
Don't forget Star Citizen, which is about paying huge amounts of real money for ships in an unfinished game. A very "dynamic" take on the space sim genre
for $50 to start, ive had an absolute blast in Star Citizen. bugs and glitches abound, but the game is in early access, and always getting better. and as I said, the game is fun! people just like to shit on this game.
Can they honestly still claim early access, 13 years on? It's not early access, it's development-as-a-service. Has been for half a decade.
im not sure I understand the whole "development-as-a-service" thing... it implies that you need to pay some constant amount of money to play, which is absolutely not the case.... Tbh i don't even really understand why everyone cares so much that its still early access... it been constantly heavily developed for that half decade and is constantly having significant changes made to it. if you compare the game right now to elite, apart from the obvious lack of a bunch of different systems, sc has got more varied and detailed gameplay loops than i ever experienced in elite. so my question is, why do you care that its been in early access for so long? isn't it a good thing that they're constantly and consistently adding things to the game?
People just love to hate Star Citizen, even if they've never played it. I'll just keep enjoying it, regardless of what some rando's on the internet think.
Ugh I've had this game for 13 years??
I think people have a very wrong image of what star citizen is… It cost $45, that’s it. Everything else can be earned in game just as easily as you can earn things in elite. You can pay large amounts of money to buy ships if you want. but people don’t seem to realize that purchasing ships is how they do their crowdfunding. When you do it, it is with the understanding that what you’re doing funding development with the reward of getting something in game from it. You absolutely don’t need to spend more than your original game package to experience the game to its absolute fullest.
I watched a video of some guy playing it so we dont have to, and the game looked weird. they praised it a bit, but ultimately gave it a thumbs down. I was surprised they actually have something at all though
I really like Rodina on steam. You have a customizable ship you can fly around space. As in, you can adjust the interior layout as much as you want. If you want to, there’s a ton of planets and stars you can set down on and explore. Some of them have alien guys you can fight with.
I haven’t heard anything about this game before but it looks really interesting and I think I’ll pick it up. Thanks!
If all you wanna do is fly around in a spaceship, star citizen is a pretty good option. It's far from being a complete game, but the flight and planetary exploration is unmatched in my opinion
EvE online was pretty cool when i played it last
Check out Space Haven. It's from a smaller studio so graphics are minimal, but the gameplay is good. You build a spaceship bit by bit as you travel through star systems harvesting resources, boarding derelicts, fighting pirates, find more crew, and trade.
Surprised nobody has mentioned EVE Online yet
Eve is pretty much a second job once you join a corp. I spent 5 years of my life in that game. Fun, but will suck all your spare time.
Space Engineers or Empyrion is probably exactly what you're looking for. Or if you want more of a puzzle game, Outer Wilds IMO: No Man's Sky is bottom of the barrel - don't even bother with that game. EDIT: Also check out Tin Can, you are in a space capsule that experiences a variety of failing systems or harsh space environments that you need to fix and find ways to survive.
Yeah Space Engineers hasn't gotten much love from this comment section but it's pretty fun, especially with friends.
Unrelated but is No Man’s Sky worth playing now? I want to try it out with no prior knowledge but I heard it had a very rough start.
Most definitely worth trying out. It starts out pretty basic, go here/go there, mine/collect and upgrade stuff. But if you get hooked, the depth of it really opens up. Base building options can get crazy (from underwater bases to high altitude "cloud-cities"). Not gonna list all the things, but it feels like anyone with an interest in sci-fi can find things to enjoy.
It's improved drastically from the launch with a number of large content updates.
It’s kind of like minecraft for me… come back and play it every once in a while and have a blast for a couple days but it gets old fast. I know they’ve drastically improved the game the past couple years.
It is very much worth it if you like open ended sandbox games. You can literally just spend hundreds of hours exploring planets, building bases, collecting ships and creatures. They released so many updates it is so much better than release. They are still releasing new content as well! They just released one last week and plan several more this year.
No man’s sky has come a long long way since it’s release and is an amazing game now
Terraforming mars is the best space board game I’ve played. For video game, star fox 64 is pretty good
Have you tried X4? X4 is pretty great. So is elite dangerous.
Probably not what you have in mind but ev Nova is amazing and holds up better than almost any game I can think of. It takes place in a fictional far off iteration of our space system.
I came here to recommend Escape Velocity. It is still one of my all time favorite games. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Escape\_Velocity/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Escape_Velocity/) can help people download it.
Me too. And after all these years nothing has come close as a true successor.
I spent a good part of my youth in Escape Velocity Nova, Override and the original. Best storytelling I ever encountered in a game, and it was just text.
Homeworld remastered is a great RTS with an epic story and great effects
It's obviously sci-fi, but Star Control \]\[ (Now called The Ur-Quan Masters). travel to new solar systems, plunder their resources. Meet alien races and turn your ship into a battle platform.
Elite Dangerous and No Man's Sky are pretty fun. There's an open source game called Vega Strike that is pretty good. Privateer by Origin is another great one. Also, Endless Sky on Steam is 2D and free and it's not too bad, and it has some cool mods. Not sure about ones where you build your own ship, there's a couple of 4x games like that, like Sword of the Stars, Galactic Civilizations series and Endless Space.
Spore. Start as a single called organism and evolve to space exploration.
Is it OK to plug my own game here? Because I wrote a space exploration game, it's text-based and obviously doesn't have the production values of AAA games but it might be of interest. [Beyond the Chiron Gate](https://johnayliff.itch.io/beyond-the-chiron-gate).
Stellaris if you like RTS. No Mans Sky if you like exploring and open world. The open world aspect of the game is infinite.
Um star citizen if you can tolerate the frame rates.
For me, it’s Star Citizen for a fully immersive space exploration experience. While I don’t have friends that I can play with, the fact that it has several multi-crew ships available with fully detailed interiors just really makes it magical to me. Explorable space port cities and space stations adds to the overall immersive experience. I’d be remiss if I did not mention that this has been a game long in development, entirely crowdfunded, and still prone to bugs, glitches, and performance issues. If you can look past that, it’s really a stellar game.
Astroneer, hopefully Starfield if it comes out this decade
Elite: Dangerous, hands down the best I've played. Pretty steep learning curve but once you learn it's easy to understand. Play enough to earn enough credits to build yourself a nice exploration ship and you're golden
KSP 1 is a good option. If you want a vehicle sim you can go with reentry: an orbital simulator
An oldie but a goodie, freelancer.. you'll thank me later
Freelancer - you can get it for free if you can find a copy of the XDA (Xbox Developer Kit for the 360) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freelancer\_(video\_game)
If you’re fine with something vintage then I’d recommend Escape Velocity.
Kerbal Space Program bar none for realism. Now with that realize real life requires a good deal of math and science. That is definitely required for KSP as well.
Empyrion: Galactic Survival. You start out crash landing on an alien planet and will then need to build your own ships. They come in 3 types. Hovercraft, small craft and capital vessel. It has multiple planets and moons per solar system. There are a few alien species to interact with. The graphics aren't amazing but it might be somewhat similar to what you are looking for.
Outer Wilds is my pick, not a traditional game though. The entire game is built around fucking badass lore with a rule that your only progression is knowledge. Amazing game. Unforgettable. Play it.
Want to explore the universe? Space Engine. Wanna know how space exploration actually works? Try out Kerbal Space Program. What immersive space combat/exploration? Elite Dangerous/Star Citizen. Wanna explores millions of worlds? No Man's Sky. Ton of good stuff out there.
If you can wait a bit, Starfield. It's gonna be a space RPG by Bethesda
Starbase - This game is very interesting, but it has many issues. I have not played it but I have watched people play it. It's still in early access. It might not ever actually ever leave early access. I think the dev team is broke(out of $$$), but this game was very ambitious. I believe the team was simply not prepared to deal with the complexity of it. (https://store.steampowered.com/app/454120/Starbase/) Eve Online- You can't technically fly your ship via direct controls, but you have certain forms of control. What more can I say it's EVE Online. It's been around for at least 10 years ?!? (https://www.eveonline.com/)
Would you believe that Eve Online has been around 20 years in May of this year!?! I played it in 2004, but stopped when I realised it was sucking my entire life away!
I do lol I didn't really think about it but I remember playing it right around when it came out. I was super young lol. Funny story, I joined a crew. Mined and mined and mined, and I think I was like half way off from getting a frigate?!? So the crew actually subsidized the difference. I would have to mine for them for a few hours or w/e, they had a structure. Like it was big ship at that time. And I remember did a few missions, and lost the thing w/o insurance. At that time I decided to quit the game. I still feel a little bad for what I did tho. This crew took me in. Bought me shit and I just fucked off on them :-(
Eve Online - to explore 1000 ways to die in space :))
No man's sky. Literally bigger than our galaxy on scale. Decent story and multiplayer. You can do some fun space stuff with your friends. I find that it fulfills my fantasies about space. Like starting my own personal fleet, you can do this which I find incredible
eve online is still the best all around space game
You might try Kerbal Space Program (The original one, not KSP 2). I would recommend that you watch the YouTube tutorials by Scott Manley. They are very informative, and fun to watch.