Fourteen Indie 3D Space Combat Games - And More!
I was eight years old when Star Wars hit the theaters. It was a mind-blowing experience for an entire generation. It was perhaps no accident that space combat themed video games were all the rage for the next decade, letting us pretend to be Luke Skywalker for a quarter. The ones that I loved the most were the first-person perspective 3D games, often using vector-based graphics systems that hurtled wire-frame bad guys at players. From Star Fire to the Star Wars arcade games, I was hooked. On the computer, we got some incredible games like Elite, and Star Raiders.

The big ones for me came out in the early 90's. Wing Commander was almost pure wish fulfillment, and was the game that made me seriously consider a career in game development. X-Wing (and later, Tie Fighter) once again brought back the Star Wars magic. Frontier, aka Elite 2, brought the space-trading game home with an incredible universe. Later, games like Wing Commander Privateer, Freespace, Freelancer, and the X series have kept the magic alive.

Sadly, the space combat or space trading game is something of a disappearing breed in mainstream games. Maybe George Lucas ruined it for us with his Star Wars prequel movies. Or maybe we're just not as inspired by space exploration as we were during the age of the space race and moon landings. And maybe it's just because graphics are good enough now that game developers don't need to stick us out in space to give us a believable first-person fighting experience anymore.

But the indies are keeping the dream alive. When I first released my own 3D space combat game, Void War, I was stunned by how much competition I was facing. And it has continued - both in commercial indie pursuits and freeware projects. When I get a hankering to enjoy a shoot-out in space, I do not have to depend upon my dusty collection of old favorites. There are plenty of great indie space combat games - new and old - worthy of attention.

While I still favor RPGs on this blog, I know many readers here have tastes as eclectic as my own --- so I'm going to share. Here are a dozen indie 3D indie space combat games for your womp-rat shooting pleasure.

Starshatter - The Gathering Storm
I remember Milo, the lead developer on this indie project, describing it to me as the "Falcon 4.0 of Space Combat games." There are a number of games here that would practically qualify as simulators but for their science fiction nature. Starshatter is definitely in the "simulator" category.

Starshatter provides you with the experience of flying both small fighters and big starships, and includes a dynamic campaign. And it includes more hardcore space physics as the default model, though it can be configured for the simpler arcade-style controls familiar to other Wing Commander vets. Both space-based and atmospheric-based flight is permitted. This is a hardcore space combat game for armchair pilots who loved X-Wing but craved something a bit deeper. Oh, and it has modding tools, too.

You can check out the free demo at the Starshatter Website.

Cellblock Squadrons
Super Furious Software's take on the space combat genre was to focus completely on the equivalent of boss battles - flying with a squadron of tiny fighters against big battleships.

Lots of big battleships.

There are five different fighter types to choose from, and a storyline based around the concept that you (and your squad-mates) are actually criminals, prisoners fighting against impossible odds to earn your freedom.

Venture the Void
A cartoony space-combat related single- and multi-player game (public games can have up to hundreds of players) that "refuses to take itself too seriously," it looks to have some monster-bashing and dynamic universe creation.

Evochron Renegades
This is a free-form, open-ended game by the makers of the Star Wraith series. It not only includes a vast universe with a huge number of activities that go far beyond fighting and trading, but also multiplayer modes. It also features a dynamic economy, exploration of planets in atmospheric flying and fighting, and a more realistic Newtonian physics model.

Arvoch Conflict
Another title from indie space combat veterans Star Wraith 3D Games, Arvoch Conflict is a "Squad Based" space combat title that includes a touch of real-time strategy and resource management into the more traditional space combat "simulator." Commanding the other ships in your squadron is as integral to success as your own piloting ability. And just like Evochron Renegades, it features multiplayer gameplay and atmospheric flight.

Universal Combat: Special Edition
Derek Smart, has had a much-storied history in the games biz since the early 90's as sort of an "angry indie." Universal Combat was intended to be a next-generation Battlecruiser 3000, somewhat streamlined, broadened, and more action-oriented for more mainstream audiences, but still sporting a level of detail that screams, "hardcore" (and "high learning curve.") And it has a scope that indies are just not supposed to be able to tackle - including multiplayer gameplay. The Special Edition includes the content from the original release, Universal Combat Gold, and the sequel, Universal Combat: A World Apart.

Dark Horizon
This is kind of a murky area as to whether Russian studio Quazar Interactive is actually 'indie' or not. But you'd be hard pressed to call Dark Horizon a mainstream title. And you'd be just as hard pressed to find out how you are supposed to download and buy the dang thing (hint: GamersGate). Key features include the ability to switch between two different combat modes, and the ability to create upgrades to your ship from salvaged resources.

Void War
Like I could delve into this subject without plugging my multiplayer space combat game! Blending arcade-style action with Newtonian physics, humor, and "special abilities" (and pick-ups) for each ship, Void War is more of an attempt to apply 3D, first-person action to old-school games like Spacewar!, Asteroids, and Star Control. It's less hardcore and more arcadey (particularly with pick-ups scattered across the space arenas) - though the Newtonian-esque physics still gives people fits.

It's now available at a reduced price, too.

FREE Games
All of these indie games are available at an attractive price that will let you stretch your gaming budget, and most of the ones listed here have demo versions you that can play for free. But there are a few games with full free versions available. These may be open-source projects (or using unlicensed content from popular film and TV shows or other games), "living" community projects in flux, or older / discontinued titles that have been made freeware.

Vega Strike
Vega Strike is kind of an open-source space-combat / trading engine, as well as pretty huge game in this genre. There are tons of mods for the it, including a remake of Wing Commander: Privateer called Privateer: Gemini Gold. Vega Strike is freaking huge, clocking in at nearly a half-gig download, and has the level of polish (or lack thereof) that reflects the non-final version of this community project. It may be years before it goes final, but it's playable now. And hey - it's free!

Star Wraith IV: Reviction
This is an older game in Star Wraith 3D Games' collection, which has since been released as freeware. You can definitely see the Wing Commander inspiration here, as well as note the evolutionary difference between this one and the later games.

Babylon 5: I've Found Her
Another quality freebie, taking place in one of the coolest science-fiction universes to grace television. I believe this game used the Freespace engine (which was released into Open Source many years ago) as a foundation, and built an entire story and multiple campaigns into it based on the Babylon 5 series. Perhaps its just the slick engine its built upon, but Babylon 5: I've Found Her contains a much higher level of polish than you'd expect from a freeware game.

Flight Commander
Flight Commander is described very simply as, "A space combat simulator in the style of Wing Commander." It also borrows a few assets from the Wing Commander games. It is designed to be very mod-friendly, so other Wing Commander fans could create their own continued sagas in that universe.

Coming Soon
Some of these games are older than others, but there are a couple here that are not yet out. They may never even see the light of day, but I sure hope so. If you needed any more proof that space combat is alive and well in

Naumachia: Space Warfare
Described as a fast-pace blend of RTS and space combat (with Newtonian Physics!), Naumachia promises to allow the player to build and fly fighters, dropships, and even capital ships. A popular choice. As you can see in the video, it also looks freaking awesome.



Blackstar
This is an upcoming anime-looking MMO featuring both space and ground-based combat. It definitely has a style all of its own, and should be worthy of keeping an eye on.

Bonus Games
These don't count, because they don't quite fit as being "indie 3D space combat games." But they are worthy of mention here for reason that it's my blog and I'll post whatever I want. :)

Flatspace 2
It's like any number of these deep, 3D space combat & trading games, able to match feature-for-feature with some of the others... except it's 2D, with a top-down perspective.

Allegiance
Touted by one reviewer as "The Best Game Nobody Played" (Hey, I bought and played it! What does that make me?), Allegiance has since been released by Microsoft as open source software, and is supported by its community. Not exactly indie to begin with, but I guess it's an adopted indie title.

Discovery Mod for Freelancer
I don't really want to get started on mods - we could be here all month! But I've been playing this one for Freelancer. While there are a couple of issues, it really turns an already awesome game into an awesome game with much longer legs, adding over 150 new or upgraded models of ships, 68 new systems (I think that's like... double the original count... or more), lots of new equipment, "roleplaying" options for roleplaying multiplayer servers, battleship-killing missions, and a lot more. The downside (if you consider it a downside) is that the enemy AI now know how to use their shield batteries and nanobots to repair themselves in mid-combat. This makes battles a lot longer and a lot harder.

Whew! Well, there you go. That's a lot of games. And - I must confess - I haven't played them all. And some I haven't played in a while. And this doesn't represent close to all the indie space combat sims out there - especially not the ones still in development. Or mods. But hopefully this provides a smattering to get you started if you crave for the "good ol' days" of the "Wing Commander Era."

Labels: Indie Evangelism

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