Starwraith 3D Games just released their newest space-sim, Arvoch Alliance.

Some features that are eye-catching to me:

- Joystick support, up to 10 simultaneous devices
- Newtonian style physics flight model
- Planetary decent and atmospheric flight
- 30 missions in the single-player storyline campaign
- Online Coop and PvP including:
- Deathmatch
- Team Deathmatch
- Team Deathmatch with destructible capital ships
- Mission builder
- TrackIR support!
- Multiple ships and loadouts



I've been playing Starwraith's games for years, and they always impress. Check out their site: Arvoch Alliance

Or if you prefer your space-sims open ended and more sandbox-y, check out Evochron Mercenary

I just picked up Mercenary and while I haven't really started a career yet it's still a pretty solid game so far. The multi-player is particularly interesting to me due to a profile system that allows you to cross over single player and multi-player careers.

I've played Mercenary and Legends, and while I haven't really had the time to get into Merc yet, I played the crap outta Legends. I like supporting small developers that put out great content that is in my realm of interest, so I bought Arvoch Alliance outright, without even trying the demo.

Oh yeah, you can download any of Starwraith's games and play a timed demo of the full game for free and continue your same pilot progression if you decide to buy it. Mercenary is $30 and Arvoch Alliance is $25, so not a big investment for such good games, not to mention continued updates and personal support from the sole developer. As far as I know, Starwraith 3D Games is just one guy and he's been developing space-sims since 1989.

They/he has come a long way in his graphics imorovements. Well done!

I really enjoyed mercenary and as previously said a good seemless transition between offline and online gaming.

I will definitely look into this one.

So is this new one not really sandbox ?

Apparently not. From what I read in the newsletter this and merc were developed simultaneously, with this taking longer because of the campaign, I assume. But if you want sandbox, Mercenary is definitely the way to go, especially since it gets updates rather frequently.

After reading authors like Alistar Reynolds I'd love to have a game which let you have space battles at more interesting ranges, like light-minutes instead of being a stonethrow away from each other like that video shows.

I haven't read any of that author's work so I don't know how engaging said battles would be in print, but that doesn't seem appealing to me as a videogame. Shooting from the range of a light-minute at small, maneuverable craft piloted by real intelligence seems like you'd never hit anything. I mean, that's what, 1/8th the distance to Sol?

Even shooting a weapon made of light or something that can move at the universal speed limit, i.e., the speed of light, it would take an entire minute for the weapon to reach the target.

Sounds like you are looking for a capital ship combat sim. Not my cup of tea really, I much prefer to be in the action, in the fray, a stones throw away from my enemy.

On a side note though, you did just turn me on to Alastair Reynolds, whose brand of sci-fi looks really interesting. Gonna have to see if I can get one of his books on my Kindle.

Yes, "realistic" distances would be more like playing Missile Command.

I've not flown any space combat since the space side of SW Battlefront 2 which I stopped playing long ago. This might be worth a look.




The Jedi Master

Looks excellent! I've just about given up on the flight-type of space sims, most just feel like playing a mini game with a mouse. This series and IW2 seem to get it right. I need to go back to Legends. I don't want anything to fast, but that was often too slow. Might pick up after a while?

Mission accomplished

Indeed. I've been reading Revelation Space, and am quite engrossed in it already. It's been taking time out of my visits to Skyrim, which is saying something, since I already have over 50 hours in the game!

So is this comparable to Wing Commander?

From looking at the web site, it *appears* to be more sim, less space opera. But I haven't tried it yet.

I don't have that particular game, but I do have an earlier one. They're very sim-like. One of the few to have Newtonian physics and planetfall. Not really like Wing Commander.

Well its got some very good aspects to it.

Like gravitaional pull.
shield management 4/4
energy management Shield/weapons.
customisable ships
fuel consumption

I wouldn't call it a full sim, more like sim like as it retains its game play. Yes you can rotate whilst travelling in a direction but rotation is still non newtonian. I.e. Roll left and it will stop when no more commands. Pitch up and it will stop with no more inputs.

So newtonian in the sense of forward, back and sideways linear movement. Non newtonian with pitch bank roll.

A good game with a good crowd. Worth the money IMO

Yeah, it's "Newtonian Styled" physics, being able to turn on and off the "IDS" or, "Inertial Dampening System".

But I can totally see how true Newtonian physics would get very annoying, confusing, and vomit-inducing in a combat type game.

And you can easily explain away the lack of Newtonian pitch, yaw, and roll by saying that those are controlled by a very sophisticated computer and precise, powerful maneuvering thrusters, each outputting an amount of force equal and opposite to the direction of spin in order to stabilize the craft when it's time to stop maneuvering. Heck, by starting the opposite forces before the maneuver is finished, but with lesser power, ramping one up as the other faded, you could decrease the time to a full stop considerably.

I would think that by the time we have the technology to pilot small, single seat spacecraft through the vast reaches of space that we would have worked something like this out.

It's what I envision in my mind to help keep the immersion, anyway.

I think that is how they describe it in game renic and I think that satisfies me aswell.

As for technology wise, I think we are already there. Ring laser gyros are very accurate and would be (I assume) able to correct for linear or rotaional forces. Well at least they work well on a plane (which is 3d environment)

Look at the external view, with the IDS off, and start a roll (or pitch or yaw). When the player centres the stick, you will see that the ships fires thrusters to automatically counteract the roll (or yaw or pitch), so the game actually simulates precisely what you mention, and also is perfectly consistent with Newtonian physics. It just does not seem like it, because the system is completely automated, and to maintain the ship spinning on an axis, one would have to continue with a control input, even though no fuel is being used, and there is no atmosphere to slow or stop the spin.