(borrowed the article title)
Saw this and got excited. Wouldn't bother, but they do say it's coming soon, so maybe that's actually true.
They're fans of the classics, so maybe this will be good. Set in our solar system, they could do some very detailed planets with all the info out there.

The article about it at Ars: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/07/sol-exodus-wants-to-bring-back-the-space-combat-sim.ars

The trailer:

From the article,

Where did space combat games go wrong?

So let's start at the beginning. Why did space combat games fall away from the mainstream? Magaha said the games lost touch with what gamers want to play."I want to be Luke Skywalker flying an X-Wing and taking down the Death Star, not a guy micromanaging an array of sensors and flight controls. I want to be Apollo from BSG, annihilating enemy ships and winning massive battles, not a Ferengi trader banking credits hauling goods from point A to B, that just happens to be in space," he explained.



So basically Magaha is saying that there is only a viable market out there for space combat games that are pretty simplistic and arcade-like and which are essentialy "Space Quake".

I don't think he's saying that's the only viable type of game, he's saying that's the hole in the market. Other than EVE, space based games are not in favor now. Even the X games are a small niche. Between X1/2/3, Eve, the "living the life" thing is covered extremely well.
Freespace 1&2, Wing Commander, Star Lancer, Free Lancer, Independence War, Tie Fighter/X-Wing, Rogue Squadron...some big names that people miss. That's why Freespace is still modded today. There are some others out now, like Black Prophecy, Dark Horizon, but no BIG names to really grab people again. I'm not sure that can be done without a name like Star Wars, but I'm glad for them to try.
A game like this doesn't have to be all action 100% of the time, it should have a story and with any luck, a Free Lancer type of interaction system out of the ship. It's the resource gathering, mining, trade routes and that kind of thing that seems to dominate these games now. Picture Mass Effect, but with space combat instead of being land based. A variety of weapons, ships...that would be incredible. Won't be easy though.

Both the Freespace and Wing Commander series of space sims had plenty of the "guy micromanaging an array of sensors and flight controls" that Magaha complains about. Even the X-Wing series of space sims had a decent amount of energy and system management involved.

Those are missions, not economy though. I think that's the point he's making. You don't make merchant trading runs in an X Wing.
At least I hope that's what he means. I don't want mindless either, I just don't want so much grinding at chores, price shopping and inventory type things to keep up with.

Since you've not played any of those games post-XWA/Freespace 2, you haven't seen what he's talking about. Compared to games like Eve and X, those games WERE arcade. The systems management was quite easy. It's like the difference between Falcon 4 and A-10C.



The Jedi Master

My first 3d space game was Elite on my Commodore 64. A most definate genre-defining game. As such it had trading and combat both. Earn money to upgrade you ship, new weapons etc.

But should a game like Eve Online even be compared when we are supposedly talking about "space combat" games? Yes, both take place in space but that's where the similarities end.

I think Lucasarts dumped the X-Wing series simply because the company was going through some artistic and business changes. I highly doubt that X-Wing Alliance sold poorly compared to the previous titles. I dont know why Volition stopped after Freespace 2. Bad sales? Change in direction? Interplay published the outstanding "Klingon Academy" in 2000 but I know what happened there. Interplay got into serious financial trouble soon afterwards.

Where did space combat games go wrong? That's easy- they disappeared. Glad to hear of a new one on the horizon. Better offer a cockpit-POV however, no external-only view nonsense.

PS- the developer has his email posted on the site for the game, so I sent him a few suggestions (cockpits, joystick support, subsystem targeting)

Sales of Space Combat games collapsed after 2000. Maybe because many required a joystick to play them properly, lack of innovation or stunning graphics compared to 3D shooters? Years ago these numbers (for US market only) circulated in the web:

I miss Wing Commander. I always got my ass kicked on my 386sx but it was fun. I dont' want to play "Farmville in Space", that's what I seem to see out there today.

Wing Commander 3 is a classic. The story was just so well written and it had Malcolm McDowell AND Mark Hamill in it! Just how awesome is that?

Yeah, I loved Wing Commander III.

Back in the day when cutscenes ruled and hollywood actors were happy to be seen in them.

I think Privateer II: The Darkening probably rules the 90's cutscene roost.

Don't forget WC4, the sequel to 3, that had all the same actors. McDowell, Hamill, Tom Wilson as Maniac, John Rhys-Davies as Palladin...

The sales are bad after 2000 because the games are. The last I bought were the ones in 1999, after that I had no interest in those games that were still coming out. I liked Freespace, WC, and X Wing. Didn't care about the others.


The Jedi Master

Bring me a game that would be something like Mass Effect 2 + Independence War 1/2 Sci-Fi PC space-sim orgy!

Good going, let us know if he offers any insight please.

Dammit, now I've got to revisit these games. IW2 pretty much hit the sweet spot for me in gameplay and physics. Not quite Newtonian, but fun. If we got that with X3 graphics and ME2 story, interaction and voice work, it would be perfect.
Got to make some progress on Black Prophecy to see how it goes when you get to the meat of it.

Space games aren't dead--they're just alive in the modding community, that is all plus the indie movement.

With that said, classics like Independence War 2 still hold up well to this day (it even will do widescreen nicely). For Wing Commander nuts, I bet a lot of you have missed Wing Commander Standoff:

http://standoff.solsector.net/

Or how about the X-Wing Alliance upgrade project (pretty graphics):

http://www.xwaupgrade.com/

Or, how about Evochron Mercenaries (follows along the lines of Elite):

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

And then there is vaporware that might come out someday (that will rock your socks off) called Infinity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7eREddMjt4


But yeah, the whole hunt, gather thing gets old after a while. A lot of us (myself included) would LOVE for another Wing Commander like game to be made and sold. I want epic story, laid out the same way Wing Commander 1 and 2 did it and I don't even need live actors but it'd be nice. At least animated so the story flows better than Freespace 1 / 2 do (which are still awesome regardless, especially with mods). I find I spend more time sitting around playing modded old space games than worrying about new ones. There's so much to play.

Evochron is like the X games though, a single player Eve, not really an action title.
The modding community with these games is impressive, especially with Freespace. I still need to try that B5 version.