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Ben Nerevarine posted:Rocket League This is the way my video game buddy and I wrap up sessions regardless of whatever else we're playing. You can play for five minutes or two hours depending on how competitive you're feeling. 3-4 people is perfect because you won't have to play against other humans. The skill ceiling is so unbelievably high that you won't be able to compete at all without sinking double- or triple- digit hours into it. Bonus is that it's free so it costs nothing but bandwidth to check out and I don't think any of the micro transactions are P2W or even P2P. I think they're just themed cars and stuff.
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Oct 5, 2022 20:42
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grate deceiver posted:Troubleshooter is a cool game, but it has nothing in common with X-Com other than it's turn based on a square grid I mean, it's basically X-Com Chimera Squad but the base interludes are replaced with jrpg party management. Battletech is probably closer to what the op is looking for though. The latest in-development sequel to Jagged Alliance looks like it might actually be good, unlike the previous 5. So keep an eye on that too.
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Oct 5, 2022 21:19
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Diogines posted:I truly love the older X-Com games, they are among my favorites. UFO Unknown and Terror from the Deep especially, even if they are clunky and rough around the edges. The new X-Com games are great too but they have one feature that I really, really did not like. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1574870/USC_Counterforce/ Not out yet but there's a demo you can try.
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Oct 6, 2022 03:39
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There are essentially 3 games in existence like the true original x-com lineage: x-com, and mods - the mods are very good, I got into them earlier this year and sunk dozens of hours into UFO Defense and TFTD each Xenonauts - good, still waiting on xenonauts 2 Silent Storm - I reviewed this game on Steam in 2013 (before Xenonauts) by saying "This is the best X-Com game that isn't named "X-Com: UFO Defense" or "X-Com: Terror from the Deep"" - I find old 3d engines harder to deal with than old 2d games personally and the WW2 setting isn't quite as interesting as aliens to me (but it does have some sci-fi in it, like pilotable walking tank mecha suits). But it is missing the rookie meatgrinder factor - you use small squads and want to keep them alive. Then for some similar stuff that deviates a bit from the formula: Chaos Gate (the old one, on GOG, not the new one) is fairly similar to oldschool x-com Then there are the janky early 2000s x-com knockoffs. Some of them were pretty alright but they were all just x-com slapped into a 3d engine with a really bad generic early 2000s IP attached: UFO: Extraterrestrials Gold was alright as far as I remember but I tried to play it recently and couldn't handle the engine jank The same devs released a sequel last year that has mixed reviews on steam, I never played it though: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1049850/UFO2_Extraterrestrials/ UFO: Aftermath, UFO: Aftershock, and UFO: Afterlight I barely remember these games but I remember them being bad, but I have not played them since the early 2000s Then there's Incubation which is only available digitally through gog bundled with Battle Isle, a very different type of strategy game (hex based wargame) that Incubation shares a setting with https://www.gog.com/en/game/battle_isle_platinum Incubation is very good and a hidden gem of the early 2000s. It's quite different from x-com on the strategic layer but is a mission-based tactical strategy game with a persistent campaign that is 1000% a rookie meatgrinder simulator vs an alien onslaught, and IMO one of the best "x-com-like" games. It's this screenshot from the gog page:  Then there's Abomination: The Nemesis Project. There is nowhere to buy it digitally, I guess Square Enix owns the rights now. Also if you do manage to get your hands on a physical copy it doesn't run well on any modern OS. It was very ambitious and very flawed but I loved it - it was pretty much x-com apocalypse's real-time mode done right (well, except for the bugs), with a lot of the same DNA that later become Phoenix Point, with a dash of lovecraftian cosmic horror and SCP thrown in (long before SCP was a thing).  It's way too flawed to be worth going out of your way for but if it ever shows up on a digital distribution platform it'll be an easy buy for me And finally while I'm writing this post I will give Phoenix Point a shoutout: I actually like it! It's pretty much a bridge between classic x-com and new xcom, and I'd say it leans harder toward classic x-com. Absolutely a game with problems, it was the victim of massive pre-release hype about features it never had and a lot of people rightfully hate it for that, plus it has some very gamey systems (e.g. one of the strongest weapons is the heavy cannon... except used as a melee weapon, because it's so heavy it can one-shot most things), but it strikes a great balance between soldiers being expendable and soldiers being customizable units that you nurture and grow throughout the campaign. Its biggest actual flaws are a painful lack of enemy variety, and the last few major DLCs adding annoying mechanics that you can't really play against. But IMO it's worth playing if you like old x-com and buying the positively-reviewed DLCs if you like the vanilla game. Here are quotes from a post I made about it in the steam thread a long time ago: deep dish peat moss posted:This might be cool. I actually liked Phoenix Point quite a lot when I played it back around early 2021. They fixed the broken balance it had at launch which let you combo skills in sometimes unintuitive ways (at launch the strongest build in the game was melee bashing with a heavy cannon on a jetpack-equipped high-strength character) to break the game over your knee. It's still a game that you can outplay your opponents in though. deep dish peat moss fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Oct 6, 2022 |
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Oct 6, 2022 04:43
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I have three issues with phoenix point 1) not great gear progression 2) too many game mechanics gated behind setpiece missions 3) all the choices are presented in the most grimdark we're-all-vilains way possible
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Oct 6, 2022 10:43
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Diogines posted:I truly love the older X-Com games, they are among my favorites. UFO Unknown and Terror from the Deep especially, even if they are clunky and rough around the edges. The new X-Com games are great too but they have one feature that I really, really did not like. This is a long shot, but there's an older game that I think has the right feel: Spellcross. There was an LP (https://lparchive.org/Spellcross/) of it a few years back which was the first time I'd heard of it so you may not have played it even though it's an older game. The plot is that you are in charge of part of Earth alliance's military when Earth is invaded by a fantasy world. So you end up fighting elves and dragons and demons with tanks.
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Oct 6, 2022 15:09
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LLSix posted:This is a long shot, but there's an older game that I think has the right feel: Spellcross. There was an LP (https://lparchive.org/Spellcross/) of it a few years back which was the first time I'd heard of it so you may not have played it even though it's an older game. Hoooly poo poo, what a blast from the past. I remember playing this some 20 years ago. It's pretty cool, though a bit larger scale than X-Com. I think each unit you control is an entire infantry squad or a vehicle like helicopter or tank
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Oct 6, 2022 15:17
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Anyone have recommendations for games about exploring derelict starships/space stations? I've played and enjoyed Void Bastards, but honestly something like Scavenger SV-4 but in space would be even better. Some recent reading of mine has involved some "boarding long-abandoned orbital infrastructure to scavenge supplies/spare parts/information" scenes and that's put me in the mood.
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Oct 6, 2022 17:52
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ToxicFrog posted:Anyone have recommendations for games about exploring derelict starships/space stations? I've played and enjoyed Void Bastards, but honestly something like Scavenger SV-4 but in space would be even better. Some recent reading of mine has involved some "boarding long-abandoned orbital infrastructure to scavenge supplies/spare parts/information" scenes and that's put me in the mood. Duskers is exactly the game you want. From the store page: "In Duskers you pilot drones into derelict spaceships to find the means to survive and piece together how the universe became a giant graveyard."
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Oct 6, 2022 18:06
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ToxicFrog posted:Anyone have recommendations for games about exploring derelict starships/space stations? I've played and enjoyed Void Bastards, but honestly something like Scavenger SV-4 but in space would be even better. Some recent reading of mine has involved some "boarding long-abandoned orbital infrastructure to scavenge supplies/spare parts/information" scenes and that's put me in the mood.
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Oct 6, 2022 18:18
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Hardspace: Shipbreaker and Viscera Cleanup Detail might scratch that itch, but they also might be very different moods from what you're looking for. More exploration-focused games would be Subnautica and Outer Wilds, but with Subnautica you're exploring crashed spaceships and most of Outer Wilds is planet-bound.
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Oct 6, 2022 18:29
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^^ Hardspace Shipbreaker, Subnautica, and Outer Wilds were all excellent, but not the right vibe, yeah. I've considered Duskers in the past but it has very strong "we made the UI bad on purpose so that most of the difficulty comes from friction in actually communicating to the game what you want it to do and understanding what it tells you in response" vibes. I've seen enough recs for it that maybe I should give it another look, though. (I also like the idea of being able to poke around the ship in first person and see what my drone(s) actually see, which AFAIK is not an option in Duskers. Honestly, the more I think about it the more I think I just want Scavenger SV-4 but in space and with some sort of cross-run continuity, which AFAIK does not exist.)
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Oct 6, 2022 18:30
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ToxicFrog posted:Anyone have recommendations for games about exploring derelict starships/space stations? If you're a bit desperate, there's Deadnaut. You're sitting in front of a console with knobs and switches, guiding a crew through alien hulks. It's kinda neat and atmospheric for a bit, but I've never managed to finish more than one ship. It's interesting but not fun. Space Beast Terror Fright (FPS) is more of a panicky action game, but the free demo captured my attention for a good week. If I could get a four-pack for a really cheap price I'd drag some friends into playing it with me. No Man's Sky, if you already own it, has a play segment built in where you explore simple randomly generated wrecks. It's almost fun once. Thinking way back, I think Space Engineers had an introductory mission where you have to restore power or something to a space station, but the play was so convoluted I didn't make any headway. I remember playing it and thinking, "man, just gimme a game where you board abandoned space stations, and try to survive, but not like this."
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Oct 6, 2022 18:50
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The derelict spaceship in Metroid Prime 3 was fantastic, by far the best environment in the game. A shame it's like less than 5% of the game's content.
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Oct 6, 2022 19:01
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System Shock 2 and Environmental Station Alpha
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Oct 6, 2022 19:05
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ToxicFrog posted:Anyone have recommendations for games about exploring derelict starships/space stations? I've played and enjoyed Void Bastards, but honestly something like Scavenger SV-4 but in space would be even better. Some recent reading of mine has involved some "boarding long-abandoned orbital infrastructure to scavenge supplies/spare parts/information" scenes and that's put me in the mood. It's not precisely this, but SOMA might scratch that itch?
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Oct 6, 2022 19:10
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Fruits of the sea posted:System Shock 2 and Environmental Station Alpha Seconding System Shock 2. I've played it several times. Supposedly they're working on a remaster and that will be a day one purchase for me if it happens. In the same line, maybe Prey? SS2 is a much better game for my money, but Prey is a lot newer so if graphics matter...
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Oct 6, 2022 19:21
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LLSix posted:Seconding System Shock 2. I've played it several times. Supposedly they're working on a remaster and that will be a day one purchase for me if it happens. SS2 is one of my all-time faves and Prey is, IMO, a worthy successor, but (a) I've played them both to death and (b) neither is really what I'm looking for -- I want that experience of cruising up to a drifting station, evaluating the layout and entry points, sneaking on board, running around grabbing stuff and then getting out, repeatedly. There's a reason I cited Void Bastards and Scavenger SV4 specifically in the original post. Cryptark probably also deserves a mention, although both it and Void Bastards are very combat-focused at the expense of everything else. It is kinda looking like Duskers is the closest thing out there to what I want, and it's on sale right now, so...
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Oct 6, 2022 19:46
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e;fb
deep dish peat moss fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Oct 6, 2022 |
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Oct 6, 2022 20:28
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ToxicFrog posted:SS2 is one of my all-time faves and Prey is, IMO, a worthy successor, but (a) I've played them both to death and (b) neither is really what I'm looking for -- I want that experience of cruising up to a drifting station, evaluating the layout and entry points, sneaking on board, running around grabbing stuff and then getting out, repeatedly. There's a reason I cited Void Bastards and Scavenger SV4 specifically in the original post. Cryptark probably also deserves a mention, although both it and Void Bastards are very combat-focused at the expense of everything else. What about Heat Signature? It's all about breaking into spaceships in transit and accomplishing missions goals ranging from assasination to hijacking the ship. Lots of really dope tools and weapons, very chaotic and fun. I've described it as "playing Hotline Miami against people that are playing FTL"
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Oct 6, 2022 20:50
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Heat Signature is loving fantastic. Cryptark also hits very similar notes.
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Oct 6, 2022 21:03
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Sandwich Anarchist posted:What about Heat Signature? It's all about breaking into spaceships in transit and accomplishing missions goals ranging from assasination to hijacking the ship. Lots of really dope tools and weapons, very chaotic and fun. I've described it as "playing Hotline Miami against people that are playing FTL" That's a good recommendation. The ships you are breaking into are very much not abandoned, so if that derelict setting is a dealbreaker then it might not work, but the gameplay is great, with the requirement to use a lot of stealth, action, and creativity with items.
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Oct 6, 2022 21:08
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There's also Deep Sky Derelicts. It's kind of repetitive but decent fun for a playthrough (about 15-20 hours).
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Oct 6, 2022 21:16
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ToxicFrog posted:SS2 is one of my all-time faves and Prey is, IMO, a worthy successor, but (a) I've played them both to death and (b) neither is really what I'm looking for -- I want that experience of cruising up to a drifting station, evaluating the layout and entry points, sneaking on board, running around grabbing stuff and then getting out, repeatedly. There's a reason I cited Void Bastards and Scavenger SV4 specifically in the original post. Cryptark probably also deserves a mention, although both it and Void Bastards are very combat-focused at the expense of everything else. I'll second SOMA as a not what you asked for but might enjoy recommendation. e: https://www.darkestskygame.com/ this exists and I know nothing else about it Splicer fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Oct 6, 2022 |
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Oct 6, 2022 21:17
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I think Starcrawlers would fit. The flavor of the game is more that you're mercenaries who mostly do corporate sabotage missions, but the main story does revolve around you stumbling across an abandoned luxury cruise starship and exploring the ship while dealing with multiple factions who all want access to the ship for various reasons. It's a first person party based dungeon crawler, something like an ultima or wizardry. Do keep in mind that in between main story missions you'll be doing side missions that involve raiding corporate offices, mines, laboratories, and yes, the occasional abandoned starship.
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Oct 6, 2022 22:01
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For everyone who took the time to suggest games like xcom, thank you very much. It was appreciated.
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Oct 6, 2022 23:16
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I've actually got Deep Sky Derelicts and StarCrawlers via various bundles, just never checked them out before. Between those and Duskers it looks like I have some possibilities, even if none of them are what I'd envisioned in my head as my Ideal Derelict Scavenging Game¹. I'll give them a look -- thanks for all the recommendations. (As for the other recs, Darkest Sky isn't out yet and its "only run in the browser" bit is probably a dealbreaker, Heat Signature is fun on a bun but not at all the vibe I'm looking for, and SOMA would be about 80% of what I'm after if it involved nonlinear exploration of a whole bunch of different underwater bases and also I didn't hate it.) ¹ which would basically be the ships from Cryptark, but explored in first person using the drone from Scavenger SV-4, complete with ability to drag bits of relic technology back to your ship, analyze them, and bolt them onto the drone (and hope that none of them are actually a rampant AI in a can or a facehugger egg or a still-armed antimatter mine or something else similarly spicy).
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Oct 7, 2022 00:30
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Diogines posted:For everyone who took the time to suggest games like xcom, thank you very much. It was appreciated.
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Oct 7, 2022 12:01
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Obligatory age of wonders planetfall mention for the xcom-like rec. It's a soft rec as it's a 4x (treat it like a wargame) but the tactical combat is the most fun I've had in any tactics game and not entirely dissimilar to xcom
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Oct 7, 2022 18:49
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Yeah Planetfall and Age of Wonders 3 have incredibly solid tactical combat. The combat AI is good as well, which is basically a first for the entire 4x genre.
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Oct 7, 2022 18:52
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Controversial opinion I think the planetfall combat is miles ahead of what xcom offers (at least the new ones, haven't played the old ones). I've also almost exclusively done it pvp though.
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Oct 7, 2022 21:15
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ninjewtsu posted:Controversial opinion I think the planetfall combat is miles ahead of what xcom offers (at least the new ones, haven't played the old ones). I've also almost exclusively done it pvp though.
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Oct 7, 2022 22:52
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Is there anything close to the Fight Night games nowadays for PC? Something that isn't VR.
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Oct 8, 2022 22:10
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There's an unreleased boxing game called Undisputed (formerly eSports Boxing Club) but it's been "coming soon" on Steam for years now.
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Oct 9, 2022 11:37
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I'm looking for co-op asynchronous games on Android. Do games like that even exist? The use case is two people who want to play games together but are kind of busy and have different schedules. Something like Words with Friends except you're working together
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Oct 9, 2022 20:09
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Update: Duskers would be exactly what I'm looking for if (a) you were driving around a single drone in first person rather than trying to coordinate four of them using a tty and (b) you didn't spend 90% of your time looking at a graph paper map. Fantastic vibes but as predicted the UX is a problem for me.
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Oct 10, 2022 00:58
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ToxicFrog posted:Update: Duskers would be exactly what I'm looking for if (a) you were driving around a single drone in first person rather than trying to coordinate four of them using a tty and (b) you didn't spend 90% of your time looking at a graph paper map. Fantastic vibes but as predicted the UX is a problem for me. Hellpoint - is a shockingly good low budget Souls-like set in an abandoned space station with a surreal sci-fi story with vague analogies to Event Horizon or Sunshine, while the combat is a bit janky (still fun enough if you like that kind of combat) it is absolutely jam-packed with rewards for exploration; hidden passageways and shortcuts, loot you wouldn't find otherwise, sequence breaking, etc. If you're okay with Souls-like games and you're okay with exploring one giant derelict you might dig it Quasimorphosis: Exordium is a traditional roguelike about exploring a derelict spacestation. It's good, and also free (this is the prologue, full game isn't out yet). Similar gameplay to DoomRL or Jupiter Hell. Xenomarine is a very similar game and not as good (imo), also it's not free, but it's on sale for $3.50 Approaching Infinity is another traditional roguelike but with a very different flavor, you can do pretty much anything you'd expect out of a, like, Star Trek ship and crew in it. Exploring derelicts is one of those things. Stellar Tactics is a very ambitious open-world space RPG with tactical x-com-esque combat. It's not a game about derelicts but there are explorable derelicts in it IIRC Dungeon of the Endless is a very neat tower defense roguelike about exploring a derelict space dungeon Monolith is an incredibly good twin-stick bullet hell roguelite set in a... derelict ancient temple. Might not be what you're looking for but it's a good game about exploring an abandoned place. Deep Rock Galactic is about exploring dangerous asteroid caves withup to three buddies. It's a very good game, but the places you're exploring are like 95% natural caverns with some derelict mining equipment scattered about Sunless Skies is technically kind of game that is entirely 100% about derelict "vessels"? But it's a very unique game - it's very good, but also heads up that it's by Failbetter Games and written by notable creeplord Alexis Kennedy Savage Vessels is top-down roguelite space combat game that largely takes place not in derelict vessels, but in space junkyards filled with the scraps of derelict vessels. Warframe is an MMO looter shooter (and an actually good one) that largely takes place in derelict or derelict-feeling space stations or ships. "Explore this abandoned weird facility" is a common theme in player-made custom missions for recent Boomer Shooter release Prodeus (a very good game) but it's a loose tie to your request at best Aliens: Fireteam Elite is another 4-player co-op shooter about exploring abandoned sci-fi locations, though it's kind of lacking in mission variety which makes me think it's not what you want. Templar Battleforce is a good tactics game by the Trese Brothers that's very heavily WH40k/Space Hulk inspired and includes lots of derelict ships, but Trese Brothers game have very low visual production value, heads up. Star Traders: Frontiers, also by the Trese Brothers, is an extremely good open-ended largely undirected space RPG where you can do all kinds of things. Salvaging derelicts is one of those, though you don't ever actually go inside them and explore IIRC. There's also the classic: Air Fortress  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK7DJfIuVVs (that opening song is burned into my memory more than any other videogame song) e: You may also be interested in the goon-made Ostranauts - I haven't played it (though I'd love to, it's my kinda weird and I loved Neo Scavenger) so I can't give you a full rundown and I'm not sure if it actually includes any derelicts but it sounds like it'd be up your alley if you can deal with (intentionally) clunky, immersive UIs: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1022980/Ostranauts/ https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/256799788/movie480_vp9.webm?t=1599218961 deep dish peat moss fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Oct 10, 2022 |
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Oct 10, 2022 01:58
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Ovine By Design made a game called CHOLO, a remake of a really old game of the same name. You're in a bunker somewhere and you're remote piloting drones in first person, trying to navigate a wasteland of some kind to free yourself. I never got very far in it, and it's so incredibly old it may not run anymore. Definitely had a feel I liked, though. Their site: https://www.ovine.net/ The game they remade: https://www.mobygames.com/game/cholo Functional dl from archive.org (which I am not responsible for): https://archive.org/details/Cholo_201506 quote:Using the popular bunker game 'RAT', you have access doctorfrog fucked around with this message at 05:54 on Oct 10, 2022 |
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Oct 10, 2022 05:47
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deep dish peat moss posted:Sunless Skies is technically kind of game that is entirely 100% about derelict "vessels"? But it's a very unique game - it's very good, but also heads up that it's by Failbetter Games and written by notable creeplord Alexis Kennedy Worth mentioning that Kennedy didn't write Sunless Skies, he'd already left Failbetter by the time work on it began. Of course it does take place in the Fallen London setting which he co-created but he didn't contribute anything to Skies.
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Oct 10, 2022 07:12
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Tagra posted:Our usual gameplay loop is to play a shitload of Sea of Thieves or some other buildy or shooty game (7D2D, Conan, Borderlands, whatever) for hours, and then sometimes we wrap up our mission at the end of a round and it's too late to start a new one, so we'd hop over to Overwatch for a couple matches to wrap up the night. Now Overwatch 1 has been deleted and Overwatch 2 is a microtransaction bullshit hell, and none of us want to support Activision, so we're looking for something new. If you like PVE and squad based stuff, you might enjoy: - Deep Rock Galactic (4 classes with unique equipment, skills and weapons, there's a fast guy, a digger, gunner, builder, enemies have weak points). - Sanctum 2 (Tower defense, progression in the form of leveling up to unlock new equipment and skills. Can probably unlock everything in a week or less of playing). - Earth Defense Force (More action packed with less of a focus on roles, they are just different ways of killing. 4.1 and 5 are both enjoyable, but 5 has better item management between classes - in 4.1 you only upgrade the class you are currently using). - Warframe (Free to play, lots of progression and things to get, different classes/characters to earn with different builds. Main downside IMO is new gear is unlocked in real time e.g you find all the parts for a new weapon or frame and it takes 24-72 real hours to build). - Morrowind multiplayer mod (If you want to configure it, you can create character classes and play specific roles).
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